Talk Radio News’ Managing Editor Victoria Jones speaks with Dr. Eva Busza, the Principal Officer in the Strategic Planning Unit of Executive Office of the Secretary General (9:22)

 

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Talk Radio News’ Managing Editor Victoria Jones sits down with Edward J. Flynn, the Senior Human Rights Officer with the U.N. Counter-Terrorism Committee about the world-wide state of human rights (7:53)

 

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Talk Radio News’ Managing Editor Victoria Jones speaks with Christopher de Bono, Chief of Media at UNICEF about the international plight of children (9:30)

 

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Talk Radio News’ Managing Editor Victoria Jones speaks with Kiyo Akasaka, U.N. Undersecretary General of Communications and Public Information about the U.N.’s relevancy (5:46)

 

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The Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Luis Moreno-Ocampo, is this week providing an update to the Security Council regarding the recent ICC’s investigation in Darfur, Sudan. This is the first briefing following the ICC judges’ issuance of an arrest warrant for the President of Sudan, Omar Hassan Ahmad Al-Bashir, in response to allegations of attacks and human rights violations on civilians in Darfur.

The Coalition’s  for the ICC’s (CICC’s) Omar Ismail, Advisor of the ENOUGH project based in El-Fashir, Sudan said “The Prosecutor is right. Al-Bashir should be brought to justice. We must end this –it has been six years. It is the government of Sudan against its own people with the intention to do harm.  I know the women who were raped. The marching orders were given by Sudan, dismembered bodies were thrown in water resources.”

Ismail urged President Obama and the government of the United States to support the Darfurians and to “ensure Darfurians will see their day in court.” He added the government of Sudan is doing everything in their power to cause suffering in  Darfur and the world should say “no this cannot happen. ”

The Enough Project, the Save Darfur Coalition, and the Genocide Intervention Network today issued a statement in response to President Barack Obama’s remarks in Cairo:

“If the Cairo speech was intended to outline shared challenges that America and the Muslim world should confront together, President Obama’s failure to call for a joint push for peace in Sudan is a glaring omission. A passing reference to suffering in Darfur is insufficient.

“The President rightly called the situation in Darfur ‘a stain on our collective conscience,’” said Enough Project Executive Director John Norris, “but that is not enough. The president needs to articulate a clear vision of how a lasting peace is going to be achieved for all of Sudan, and demonstrate through his actions rather than just his words that this is a political priority. The situation in Darfur deserves more than a single sentence of the president’s attention.”

The ICC Coalition claims there are strong public indications that following the ICC’s March 4 2009 arrest warrant for Al-Bashir, the Sudanese government has “grown increasingly more uncooperative.” Members believe that in response, the government has stepped-up attacks on innocent civilians ignoring United Nations Security Council Resolution 1593 was approved in March 2005 which states:

“The Council decided also that the Government of the Sudan and all other parties to the conflict in Darfur would cooperate fully with the Court and Prosecutor, providing them with any necessary assistance.

The Council decided further that nationals, current or former officials or personnel from a contributing State outside the Sudan which was not a party to the Rome Statute would be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of that contributing State for all alleged acts or omissions arising out of or related to operations in the Sudan authorized by the Council or the African Union, unless such exclusive jurisdiction had been expressly waived by that contributing State.”

Richard Dicker from Human Rights Watch added “There are these charges approved by the judges, that Al-Bashir is wanted for war crimes and crimes against humanity-but it is essential to scrap away diplomatic double speak. There are over 700,000 dead in Darfur. Several hundred thousand have been forced into a miserable exile as refugees in Chad.”

He added when the Security Council meets, the expectation should be to make clear that Sudan is obligated to cooperate with the court on a legal basis — Resolution 1593. Sudan must surrender Al-Bashir, Ahmad Harun and Ali Kushayb and support an end to impunity and justice for victims. Dickers said the closed door discussions are unfortunate and should be merited by the specific constructive nature of the discussion to support Security Council Resolution 1593.

Dickers emphasized the efforts to suspend proceedings against Al-Bashir have failed. He also said the efforts of Libya and Algeria to label the ICC as biased against Africa are invalid and are causing a delay in prosecuting these war criminals.

When prompted by TRNS with a question on the recent debate by critics that the ICC is a colonial system set up as racist against African countries, Dickers replied that it is this precise ideological agenda that is being used as the reference to past crimes under colonial rule by a number of European regimes which were horrific, “but hardly provide justification for the crimes being committed today.”

He also said that serious crimes against humanity have been committed in Gaza and Southern Lebanon in recent months by Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), which has yet to be properly held accountable.

Mr. Maxwell Gaylard, Deputy Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process and UN Coordinator for Humanitarian and Development Activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, briefed reporters today on the humanitarian situation in Gaza. The Gaza war from 27 Dec to 20 January he said “increased the limitations of food items and medical supplies.”

“The blockade continues,” he said. “What was once a thriving trading area, these days, is a welfare society.”

He added that 80 percent of the civilians in Gaza now rely on some sort of assistance either through the United Nations or another international aid institutions. The UN states pledges made at the Gaza reconstruction conference were received, but the blockades by the Israeli government have continued so the goods remain on the border. No cement, wood or other housing item has been allowed in. Over 4,000 homes were damaged and 40,000 displaced due to broken glass by missiles and gun fire.

On the West Bank, Gaylard said the key word is “fragmentation.” He said UNRWA (UN Relief and Works Agency) remains a major player, “but in a system with two sets of roads–one for the Israeli settlers and one for the Palestinians–it makes it a great challenge for anyone to move.”  UNRWA continues to try to provide water, food, and educational materials. The area has also been greatly affected by drought and many Palestinian farmers remain cut off.

“There will be no significant economic development in the West Bank, until movement and access is eased,” Gaylard added. “We do not want to continue to provide humanitarian relief–the answer is economic and social development.”

He also said there are about 630 blockades in place to protect what he believes are “Israeli settlements”–there are 450,000 people in 139 outposts according to the UN’S OCHA (Organization for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs). He added that lines of communication with Israel at the operational level have remained good–”at the senior levels– and policy-making levels though, we don’t see any change than before.” On the blockades, he claimed “while some are lifted, there are an awful lot left throughout the region.”

The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) downgraded its economic forecast for 2009, claiming a further pessimistic decline in the world economy by 2.6 percent —0.5 percent below what was originally predicted. Developing countries are hardest hit by the crisis.

The launch today of the mid-year report entitled: World Economic Situation and Prospects 2009-2010(WESP) rounds up a half year and claims “The failure of the international community to get its act together at the international level contributed to this steady decline.”

Robert Vos, who authored the report said “nearly the whole world has ended up in recession.” He also underscored that unemployment is rising and recovery will take much longer. “Poverty reduction will be greatly slowed down.”

Vos said credit lending and loans in financial markets have tightened economic tensions and world trade growth is collapsing in countries like China where trade has fallen by one-quarter as compared to last year.

“Full recovery is uncertain” added Vos. “But we hope there will be some recovery in 2010.”

In the developed countries the US economy dropped 3.5 percent, Japan by 7.1 percent, the European Union by 3.7 percent and the Baltic states by 1.7 percent.

The mid year report states primary exporters of oil and net food are holding steady but suffering mainly from declines in exports. South Africa will be hit hard by a decline but some South Asian and Middle East oil exporting countries may be able to witness a significant recovery in 2010.

Vos said a total of 60 developing countries will see further declines in their incomes in 2009.

UN JUSTICE,  a non-profit independent international committee for the safeguarding of individual rights in the United Nations system and other women’s activist groups issued a statement calling on the United Nations to reexamine is staff policies in regards to sexual harassment and exploitation. The group says a senior human resources official may face criminal prosecution and a civil law suit.
UNJustice says the  “disturbing” documented allegations of abuses suffered by an Italian intern at the hands of officials of the UN Secretariat, UN-WFP and World Health Organization were ignored or “bagged” to prevent any public embarrassment.  These allegations are contained in a criminal complaint made on 25 March 2008 to the Office of the Attorney-General of Italy against a senior UN-OHRM (Office of Human Resources Management) official.

In particular,  UNJustice is seriously worried that the UN-OHRM’s deliberate actions may represent an attempt to cover-up the allegations of specific illicit behavior by UN personnel and to uphold, with all means at its disposal, the written formal request made by a UN-OHRM Director to the intern “to refrain from communicating about this matter with any third party”.

The group and other women activist organizations including Equality Now are deeply concerned that the complaint to the Office of the Attorney-General of Italy also contains evidence of a request made by a UN-WFP official to the intern for a bag as payment for the minutes of a UN-DPI meeting on the Oil for Food Programme scandal, “material of a masochistic and degrading sexual nature, reference to false allegations of harassment by a WHO official and to other irregularities by the UN-Department of Safety and Security.”

The UN Legal Counsel, in a 18 June 2008 memorandum addressed to the Government of Italy,  “respectfully request(ed) the Government of Italy …take all necessary steps to ensure full respect for the privileges and immunities of the United Nations and its officials, in particular, the immunity from legal process…”, and stated that “Under Article VIII, Section 29 (b) of the General Convention…(the intern) must be provided with an appropriate mode of settlement” of this matter.

No matter which way the cases go, they mishandle it,” says George G. Irving, a former U.N. attorney who now represents clients on both sides of such cases.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has acknowledged that the system is troubled. “I fully share your concerns regarding sexual harassment and sex discrimination,” he wrote in February to Equality Now, a women’s rights group that had complained to him. “This scourge remains a high priority issue for me.”

On July 1, the U.N. plans to make changes to its internal justice system for handling all employee disputes, including harassment complaints.

Activist groups are urging the UN Secretariat, UN-WFP and WHO authorities concerned to comply sincerely with their strict legal obligations and to act as is required to give effect to the relevant determination contained in the memorandum addressed by the UN Legal Counsel to the Government of Italy.

Brad Adams, Director for Asia Programs at Human Rights Watch (HRW) says the “scuttle” in the ceasefire agreement in Sri Lanka is due to both sides failure to uphold humanitarian law. He shares his insights on the recent report issued by HRW entitled: War on the Displaced: Sri Lankan Army and LTTE abuses Against Civilians in the Vanni.

The report chronicles a twenty-five year war has resulted in little negotiation to ease the current conflict between the Sri Lankan government and the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The report highlights that both parties have “committed serious violations of international humanitarian law with respect to the conduct of hostilities.”

A victory was declared by President Mahinda Rajapaksa in May. Yet the current crisis has trapped or displaced hundreds of thousands of civilians seeking to escape LTTE controlled areas.

(audio and video on website)

 

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By Courtney Ann Jackson-Talk Radio News Service

The Congressional Black Caucus welcomed actress and activist Mia Farrow Tuesday for the launch of the Darfur Fast for Life Campaign. According to a press release form Congressman Donald Payne’s office, the campaign calls on the CBC and others “to fast in solidarity with the Darfuri people who are suffering at the hands of the Omar al-Bashir regime in Sudan.”

Farrow discussed her experiences while in the region and said, “I was there when a school on the edge of the Darfur-Chad border was named the Obama school and with it there were so many expressions of hope.”

Farrow also said that as she stood in front of the Capitol she was reminded of how the American people are defining themselves. She commented that Americans are “bystanders to a genocide.”

Farrow is working to change this image and fasted for twelve days to call attention to the problems in Darfur. United States Representative and Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health, Donald Payne (D-NJ) began a three-day water-only fast of his own on May 11, 2009, to prompt congressional leaders and the Obama administration to keep Darfur high on their list of priorities.

Omer Ismail, a Sudanese and senior advisor for Enough:the project to end genocide and crimes against humanity said, “We are trying to see to it that the United States is going to help end this tragedy in Darfur and bring peace to the whole Sudan because Darfur is a state or a region in Sudan that is ridded with problems. But it is part of the bigger problem of Sudan that is security, democracy, peace and a rule of law.”