health: Lincoln Tribune

الخميس، 22 ديسمبر 2011

Lincoln Tribune

Dozens of Indonesians sew mouths shut in deforestation protest
Dozens of Indonesians sew mouths shut in deforestation protest
More than 200 people killed in Syria this week, opposition claims
Ethiopia court finds Swedish journalists guilty of supporting terrorism
UN raises concern about ‘dire’ conditions in Canadian aboriginal community

Dozens of Indonesians sew mouths shut in deforestation protest

Posted: 22 Dec 2011 12:37 AM PST

JAKARTA (BNO NEWS) -- A group of Indonesian protesters have sewed their mouths shut in a protest against deforestation which took place in front of the parliament's House building in the capital of Jakarta this week, the Jakarta Globe reported on Thursday.

Ten more people sewed their mouths shut on Wednesday, joining other protesters who did the same on Monday and Tuesday. The protesters from "Communication Forum to Save Padang Island" are demanding the government revoke a permit issued for a paper company to clear forest which has been categorized as an industrial plantation forest.

Before Wednesday's protest, eight people sewed their mouths shut on Monday and another ten did the same on Tuesday. Some of the protesters' conditions have weakened because they have not been able to eat, according to reports.

House Speaker Marzuki Alie on Wednesday promised protesters that the House will request that the regional government solves the problem. "Don't sew your mouths shut because you cannot eat, work and it's useless," he told the protesters, as quoted by the newspaper.

The group claimed the company Riau Andalan Pulp and Paper cleared land during its operation that has made local people worry about the possibility of erosion caused by deforestation.

Indonesia has one of the world's fastest rates of deforestation. As the world's third largest forest area - behind Brazil and Congo - Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono signed earlier this year a Presidential Instruction on deforestation moratorium to fight climate change impacts and preserve the remaining tropical forests and its biodiversity.

Dozens of Indonesians sew mouths shut in deforestation protest

Posted: 22 Dec 2011 12:37 AM PST

The group claimed the company Riau Andalan Pulp and Paper cleared land during its operation that has made local people worry about the possibility of erosion caused by deforestation.

More than 200 people killed in Syria this week, opposition claims

Posted: 22 Dec 2011 12:30 AM PST

DAMASCUS (BNO NEWS) -- More than 200 people have been killed since Monday alone as violence continues to escalate in Syria, the country's main opposition group claimed on Wednesday. If accurate, it would raise the overall death toll since March to more than 5,250.

The Syrian National Council (SNC), a Turkish-based opposition government in exile, condemned the regime of Bashar al-Assad for its "appalling massacres" which have left nearly 250 people killed over a 48-hour period. The group urged the Arab League and the UN Security Council to take "the necessary measures" to protect civilians.

"[The Syrian National Council] stresses the need to take action to stop the bloody campaign targeting more cities and town during the military build-up by the system," the group said in a news release.

The SNC called for an emergency UN Security Council meeting to discuss the regime's 'massacres' in the Zawyiyeh mountain, Idlib, and Homs and to issue an international condemnation therefore. It also urged the UN to declare cities and towns which are being attacked as 'safe zones' which enjoy international protection, forcing the regime's forces to withdraw from these areas.

The SNC further called for the intervention of International Red Crescent and other relief organizations. It said it wants to declare the areas under attack as "disaster areas exposed to large-scale genocide and displacement operations by the Syrian regime's militias."

Other groups also reported a surge in killings this week. The Local Coordination Committees said 84 people were killed across the country on Tuesday alone, while the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported a higher death toll of 100 on Monday and 111 on Tuesday.

The violence came as Syria agreed on Monday to an Arab League peace plan aimed at ending the violence in the country. The United Nations earlier this month said the death toll in Syria as a result of the ongoing government crackdown against protesters and civilians in general has surpassed at least 5,000.

Pro-democracy demonstrations have spread across the country since mid-March, resulting in a fierce government crackdown. The Syrian government has claimed violent acts against protesters have been carried out by 'terrorists dressed as soldiers,' although international observers have rejected these claims.

Ethiopia court finds Swedish journalists guilty of supporting terrorism

Posted: 22 Dec 2011 12:17 AM PST

ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA (BNO NEWS) -- An Ethiopian court on Wednesday convicted two Swedish journalists of supporting terrorism after they attempted to meet a group which has been declared a terrorist organization, officials said.

Ethiopian troops captured Johan Persson and Martin Schibbye in July during a clash with a rebel group in the Ogaden region near the border with Somalia. They entered the region illegally to meet with the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF), which was declared a terrorist group by the Ethiopian government a month earlier.

The journalists, who face up to 18 years in prison, said they were on a journalistic mission following a story allegedly linking a Swedish company to controversial oil exploration in the area. Their next court appearance is scheduled for December 27, when they will be sentenced.

"Our starting point is and remains that they have been in the country on a journalistic mission," Swedish Prime Minister Frederick Reinfeldt said in a statement. "They should be freed as soon as possible and be able to rejoin their families in Sweden."

Reinfeldt added that they were examining the situation with the journalists and their families. "But we are already making high-level contact with the Ethiopian government in this matter," he said.

Human rights groups have also called for the journalists' immediate release, and the London-based group Amnesty International said the men were convicted on the basis of their legitimate journalistic work.

"Amnesty International believes there is no evidence that the men were supporting the objectives of the ONLF, or were guilty of any criminal wrongdoing. We believe that these men are prisoners of conscience, prosecuted because of their legitimate work," said Claire Beston, Amnesty International's Ethiopia researcher.

Access to the Ogaden region is severely restricted by the government of Ethiopia, which is listed as one of the worst countries in the world in regard to press freedom. According to Amnesty, there have been reports of serious human rights violations being committed by the Ethiopian government troops and allied militias in the area.

UN raises concern about ‘dire’ conditions in Canadian aboriginal community

Posted: 22 Dec 2011 12:09 AM PST

NEW YORK (BNO NEWS) -- The United Nations has raised its concern about the 'dire' socio-economic conditions in the Attawapiskat aboriginal community in east-central Canada, and called on the government to take action.

James Anaya, Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, said in a news release that many members of the reserve live in unheated shacks or trailers with no running water. The Attawapiskat First Nation, which declared a state of emergency earlier in the fall over a lack of suitable housing, is a remote community in northern Ontario comprised of about 1,800 members.

Anaya said he has been in touch with the Canadian Government to voice his deep concern about the conditions, adding that the situation is particularly serious as winter approaches. The area faces temperatures as low as minus 28 degrees Celsius (-18.4 degrees Fahrenheit).

"The social and economic situation of the Attawapiskat seems to represent the condition of many First Nation communities living on reserves throughout Canada, which is allegedly akin to Third World conditions," he stated. "Yet, this situation is not representative of non-aboriginal communities in Canada, a country with overall human rights indicators scoring among the top of all countries of the world."

Anaya also noted that aboriginal communities face higher rates of poverty and unemployment, and poorer health compared to non-aboriginal people. He asked the Canadian government to clarify what it is doing to address the disparate social and economic conditions of First Nations communities.

health

الخميس، 22 ديسمبر 2011

Lincoln Tribune

Lincoln Tribune

ليست هناك تعليقات:

إرسال تعليق