Archive for January 21st, 2015

21/01/2015

“We Are All Charlie” – But Is That Story so Simple?

 Human Wrongs Watch

‘U.S., NATO and EU’s agenda at the moment is – “we kill people who kill people because it is wrong to kill people” and thus we bomb IS, fight terrorist groups we have nurtured to quite an extent ourselves and move from one crisis (mis)management to the next.’

**US Army soldiers in a firefight near Al Doura, Baghdad" by Sean A. Foley - [1]. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons

**US Army soldiers in a firefight near Al Doura, Baghdad” by Sean A. Foley – [1]. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons

By Jan Oberg*, 20 January 2015 – Transnational Foundation for Peace & Future Research

Eleven points as a reflection on the terror in Paris and – not the least – the reactions to it*:

1. What was this an attack on?
Was that attack an attack on freedom of speech as such, on democracy, even on the whole Western culture and lifestyle, as was maintained throughout? Or was it, more limited, a revenge directed at one weekly magazine for what some perceive as blasphemy?

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21/01/2015

America: The Undemocratic ‘Democracy’

Human Wrongs Watch

By Eric Draitse*

20 January 20 (RT) — Despite being the world’s self-appointed champion and proselytizer of the gospel of democracy, the United States is clearly and unmistakably an undemocratic nation.
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**Photo: White House, the executive mansion of the President of the United States, located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C. | Author: Matt H. Wade | Wikimedia Commons

**White House, the executive mansion of the President of the United States, located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C. | Author: Matt H. Wade | Wikimedia Commons

Though it is no longer the world’s foremost industrial producer, the United States still does lead in one important export: “democracy.” Washington has taken the lead in undermining, demonizing, and otherwise destabilizing Russia and China, Venezuela and Iran, Syria and North Korea – countries in need of regime change because, according to Washington, they are undemocratic.

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21/01/2015

Children, Women Suffer ‘Dire Consequences’ of Conflict in Nigeria – UNICEF

 Human Wrongs Watch

Women and children make up the vast majority of the latest wave of refugees fleeing violence in northern Nigeria, the United Nations Children’s Fund on 20 January 2015 warned, spotlighting its ongoing efforts to provide basic assistance, including safe water, nutrition, health, education and protection services to affected children in the region.

Children at a primary school in the town of Toro, Bauchi State, Nigeria. Photo: UNICEF/NYHQ2014-0710/Eseibo

“Children are suffering the dire consequences of the conflict in Nigeria, losing their homes, missing out on education and risking their lives,” UNICEF’s Christophe Boulierac told reporters in Geneva.

Boko Haram’s recent attacks on Baga drove a fresh wave of refugees into neighbouring countries, worsening a humanitarian crisis in the region that has already seen 1 million people displaced from their homes and more than 135,000 seeking refuge in Cameroon, Chad and Niger.

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21/01/2015

ISIL ‘Courts’ Carry Out ‘Monstrous’ Punishments against Men, Women and Children — UN

Human Wrongs Watch

The United Nations human rights office on  20 January 2015 confirmed that the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has established unlawful, so-called ‘shari’a courts’ in the territory under its control that have been carrying out cruel and inhuman punishments against men, women and children.

Children in the Khanke Camp near Dohuk city, Iraq, which mainly houses Yazidis fleeing from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). Photo: UNAMI

Those who are punished are accused of ‘violating the group’s extremist interpretations of Islamic shari’a law or for suspected disloyalty,’ said Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), at a Geneva briefing.*

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