Archive for February, 2012

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03/02/2012

Criminal Gangs Steel Ice from Glaciers

Human Wrongs Watch

Criminal gangs are becoming a threat to the world’s glaciers, which are already receding as a result of climate change, the UN reported, citing a case in Chile where police are investigating the theft of some 5,000 kilograms of millennia-old ice from the Jorge Montt glacier.

*Perito Moreno Glacier, Patagonia, Argentina. Author: Luca Galuzzi http://www.galuzzi.it | Wikimedia Commons

Mining for ice could pose a major additional threat to the 454 square-kilometre glacier, which is situated in Chile’s Bernardo O’Higgins National Park, and is part of the 13,000-square kilometre Southern Patagonian Ice Field, the third largest frozen land mass in the world after Antarctica and Greenland, according to the UN International Strategy for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR).

The Jorge Montt glacier is melting at a rate of one kilometre per year, making it one of the world’s most iconic symbols of global warming, UNISDR noted on 2 Feb.The Jorge Montt glacier is melting at a rate of one kilometre per year, making it one of the world’s most iconic symbols of global warming.

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Posted in Market Lords, Mother Earth | 1 Comment »

01/02/2012

‘Most Ships Involved in Arms and Drugs Trafficking Are Based in Western Countries’

Human Wrongs Watch

More than 60% of ships involved in reported cases of sanctions-busting or illicit transfers of arms, drugs, other military equipment and sensitive dual-use goods that could be used in the development of missiles and weapons of mass destruction (WMD) are owned by companies based in the EU, NATO or other OECD states, according to the first comprehensive study on maritime trafficking by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

*Image: Emre Dogan | Public Domain

The owners of the ships are primarily commercial shipping lines based in Germany, Greece and the USA, according to the study, which looks at all reported incidents involving larger ships during the past 20 years.

‘This doesn’t mean the ship owners, or even the captains, know what they are carrying. But it is relatively easy for traffickers to hide arms and drugs in among legitimate cargoes,’ says report co-author Hugh Griffiths.

The majority of ships involved in reported destabilizing military equipment, dual-use goods and narcotics sail under so-called flags of convenience and are registered in flag states with limited regulation and control of their merchant fleets. Nevertheless, the ship-owners are mainly companies based in European Union (EU), North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) member states.

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Posted in Market Lords, Others-USA-Europe-etc., War Lords | 1 Comment »

01/02/2012

Jordan: No Return Ticket for Foreign Domestic Workers

Human Wrongs Watch

By Abeer S. Abusaud*

Amman – When Moni Bakhti left her village in late 2010 heading for Jordan, she was apprehensive about the three-day trip and the long hours of waiting before reaching her employer’s house.

**Image: Amman. By Spaza000 | Wikimedia Commons

She was also apprehensive about her employer and his family of total strangers. But she tried to curb her fears with day dreams of building a beautiful house for her two children instead of their poor shack.

Moni knew that she will certainly miss her husband and children for two long years… but she will return to her village much richer than she left … little she knew that she will return in her coffin!

She fell from the 4th floor balcony of her employer’s apartment in Amman. Her death was reported by Ad-Dustour Newspaper on 28 January 2011, with the least possible details and without mentioning her name.

Interestingly enough, the newspaper reported the District Attorney saying that investigations were under way to determine if she committed suicide or tried to escape and fell. Obviously, no other options pertaining to her treatment, or rather abuse, were mentioned.

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Posted in Asia, Market Lords, Middle East, The Peoples | Leave a Comment »

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