Archive for December, 2016

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16/12/2016

‘Aleppo Now Synonym for Hell’ – Ban Ki-Moon 

Human Wrongs Watch

In his last press conference as United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon on 16 December 2016 delivered stark warnings on two issues at the forefront of international concern: that “the carnage in Syria remains a gaping hole in the global conscience;” and that South Sudan faces a risk of genocide as the country leaders have “squandered a peace agreement.”

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WHO partners in Syria vaccinate children who have fled eastern Aleppo. Prior to the crisis, Syria had one of the highest vaccination rates in the Middle East. Now, half of all children are missing out on life-saving vaccines. Photo: WHO Syria

“Aleppo is now a synonym for hell,” Ban said at UN Headquarters in New York, bidding farewell to the UN press corps.

“We have collectively failed the people of Syria. Peace will only prevail when it is accompanied by compassion, justice and accountability for the abominable crimes we have seen,” he added.

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16/12/2016

Are There Human Rights Abuses in Your Seafood?

Human Wrongs Watch

By Anchalee Pipattanawattanakul*

16 December, 2016 (Greenpeace)* – Migrant workers from Cambodia and Myanmar are being used as forced labour in the Thai fishing industry. Using tricks of deception, non-binding verbal agreements and induced debt, these workers catch fish both for human consumption and the pet food industry. 

Burmese workers sort freshly-landed fish at the public fishing port in Ranong, southern Thailand.

Burmese workers sort freshly-landed fish at the public fishing port in Ranong, southern Thailand.

Now, a new report from Greenpeace Southeast Asia exposes how crackdowns on human rights abuse in the Thai fishing industry has forced vessels to operate further…decreasing their chances of being caught and continuing their illegal practices out of sight, out at sea.

Last year, the Associated Press exposed human rights violations in Thailand’s notorious fishing industry, sending shockwaves around the world.

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16/12/2016

Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Heads for 50 Years of UN Failure

Human Wrongs Watch

By Thalif Deen*

UNITED NATIONS, Dec 15 2016 (IPS) – Come 2017, the United Nations will mark the 50th anniversary of one of the world’s longstanding unresolved political problems firmly entrenched on the UN agenda: the Israeli-Palestinian conflict dating back to the Six Day War in June 1967.

Credit: IPS

Credit: IPS

When Antonio Guterres takes over as the new UN Secretary-General on January 1, he will inherit a rash of ongoing political and military conflicts, including the six-year-old civil war in Syria, the devastating bombings in Yemen, the Shia-Sunni killings in Iraq, the widespread political chaos in Libya, renewed violence in the Central African Republic, the continued atrocities in Darfur and South Sudan and the rise of global terrorism.

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16/12/2016

Caught in ‘Poverty Trap,’ Least Developed Countries Being Left Behind – UN

Human Wrongs Watch

15 December 2016 – Even as the international community pledged to ‘leave no one behind’ with the adoption of the 2030 Agenda, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has warned that without stronger global support, 48 of the world’s most vulnerable countries will lose ground in economic development and face increasing levels of poverty.

Stacking bricks at a factory near Dhaka, Bangladesh, a least developed country. Photo: World Bank/Scott Wallace | Source: UN News Centre

UNCTAD’s The Least Developed Countries Report 2016: The Path to Graduation and Beyond – Making the Most of the Process, released earlier this week, underscores the need for more action from the international community to help these countries progress.

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16/12/2016

More of the Same: World Bank Doing Business Report Continues to Mislead

Human Wrongs Watch

By Anis Chowdhury and Jomo Kwame Sundaram*

SYDNEY and KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 15 2016 (IPS) – The World Bank’s Doing Business Report 2017, subtitled ‘Equal Opportunity for All’, continues to mislead despite the many criticisms, including from within, levelled against the Bank’s most widely read publication, and Bank management promises of reform for many years.

Eight of The World Bank's "Doing Business" report 2017’s ‘top 10 improvers’ including Kenya, Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain have, in fact, worsened workers’ rights, according to the International Trade Union Confederation. Credit: IPS

Eight of The World Bank’s “Doing Business” report 2017’s ‘top 10 improvers’ including Kenya, Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain have, in fact, worsened workers’ rights, according to the International Trade Union Confederation. Credit: IPS

 

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15/12/2016

Europe Must Not Be a Vassal to Trump’s USA

Human Wrongs Watch

By John Scales Avery*

OSLO, 15 December 2016 – Today human civilization and the biosphere face two existential threats: catastrophic climate change, and thermonuclear war. Each of these disasters could cause mass extinctions, and each could make large portions of the earth permanently uninhabitable.

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John Scales Avery

The hubris of oligarchic leaders in the United States is leading the world directly towards both these threats; and this is particularly true after the nightmarish 2016 November election, which brought an unstable, violence-advocating, racist, narcissistic, climate change denier to the White House.

Donald Trump’s proposed Cabinet is heavy with aggressive retired generals, and for Secretary of State, he has picked Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson.

In his campaign speeches, Trump promised that of elected, he would pull the United States out of the Paris Agreement.

As President-Elect he has said that he would end NASA’s climate research, and he has threateningly demanded a list of all scientists who worked with the Obama Administration on the issue of climate change.

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15/12/2016

Rise of Wood Production Driven by Housing and Green Energy Markets

Human Wrongs Watch 

 14 December 2016 – According to new data from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), global production of wood products has been increasing for the past six years, while wood trade saw a slight decline.
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A worker building a house out of Oriented Strand Board (OSB). Growth in global wood production was mainly driven by a recovering housing market and an increased demand for biofuels. | Photo: FAO

“Our data registers a healthy growth in the global production of wood products and a rapid growth in production and trade of relatively new products […] indicating that the forest industry is adapting to changes and has huge potential to become a key player in emerging bio-economies,” said Mats Nordberg, FAO Senior Forestry Officer.

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15/12/2016

Northeast Nigeria: 400,000 Children Could Suffer from Malnutrition – UNICEF

Human Wrongs Watch

With about two-thirds of health facilities in parts of Nigeria’s restive north-east region either completely destroyed or partially damaged, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has estimated that 400,000 children there could suffer from severe acute malnutrition over the next year.

A 7 month old boy is assessed for malnutrition by a UNICEF Nutrition Officer at a UNICEF-supported health clinic at Muna Garage IDP camp, Maiduguri, Borno State, northeast Nigeria. Photo: UNICEF/Katerina Vittozzi

“If they do not receive the treatment they need, 1 in 5 of these children will die. Cases of diarrhoea, malaria and pneumonia are on the rise, further endangering children’s lives,” on 14 December 2016 said UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake in a statement.

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15/12/2016

President Trump and the Christian Right

Human Wrongs Watch

By Chris Shannahan*

14 December 2016 (openDemocracy)* – Does Trump’s election represent a victory for reactionary religion or a prelude to faith-based opposition?

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**Image: Donald Trump speaking to supporters at an immigration policy speech at the Phoenix Convention Center in Phoenix, Arizona. | Author: Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America |  Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Generic license.

Do religion and politics mix or should faith be a purely private matter confined to home, church, synagogue or mosque?

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15/12/2016

Trump Does Taiwan

Human Wrongs Watch

By Pepe Escobar*

14 December, 2016 (RT)* – Did President-elect Donald Trump turn a 10-minute phone call with the president of Taiwan into a Hellfire missile, instantly vaporizing the US’ ‘One China’ policy? Of course not.
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**Image: New Taipei City Hall, Banqiao, Taiwan | Date: 8 February 2010 | Author: Undefined | Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license. 

This is a riddle inside an enigma. Let’s start with a cool-headed interpretation, as published in a report by the National Academy of Development and Strategy at Beijing’s Renmin University, which for three years has been advising the Chinese leadership.

Yang Qijing, the author of the report, cuts to the chase: “The unspoken words behind ‘Make America Great Again!’ is that China’s economy, especially its manufacturing industry, is making the US not so great as before…So we should not question [the determination of the] Trump administration to mobilize any political, economic and military resources to protect and advance US economic interest, or even make it its first priority.”

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