U.S. Certifies Human Rights Gains in Colombia, Releasing Aid - NYTimes.com
This article was published yesterday in the New York Times and many may have missed it. We are talking about Columbia and to most American readers of course what is the first thing that comes to mind? Drugs right? Of course. Well, the big reason that I can determine that the United States have apparently let up a little bit on the pressure on Columbia's human rights record, is because there is a tremendous need to aid the "war on drugs" being waged minute by minute in this country.
When we look at official CIA Factbook report for 2008, the biggest problem the United States has with Columbia is a no-brainer:
"illicit producer of coca, opium poppy, and cannabis; world's leading coca cultivator with 167,000 hectares in coca cultivation in 2007, a 6% increase over 2006, producing a potential of 535 mt of pure cocaine; the world's largest producer of coca derivatives; supplies cocaine to nearly all of the US market and the great majority of other international drug markets; in 2005, aerial eradication dispensed herbicide to treat over 130,000 hectares but aggressive replanting on the part of coca growers means Colombia remains a key producer; a significant portion of narcotics proceeds are either laundered or invested in Colombia through the black market peso exchange; important supplier of heroin to the US market; opium poppy cultivation is estimated to have fallen 25% between 2006 and 2007; most Colombian heroin is destined for the US market (2008)".
The human rights problems we have in the US and that they have in Columbia as well, are almost all accounted for by the these facts meted out by the CIA alone and are "insurmountable". This mass quantity of illegal drugs, lead to ALL kinds of human rights abuse as well as domestic abuses, and the list is endless... Lets just hope that we do not have to second guess the decision to aid a country with this type of track record.
William
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Friday, September 11, 2009
Unrest in East Turkestan; Regional Capital of Urumchi.
I received a thoroughly lengthy email from a subscription that I had forgotten that I had signed up for, it had been so long ago it seemed! But anyways it is so worthy of a Fridays post for you! Refer to this link at Wikipedia:
There is no love lost between the Uyghurs and the Chinese. This dilemma is centuries old. Furthermore in a report from an official email I received from the Uyghur American Association(UAA) September 10, 2009, there are much more serious concerns on the ground with human rights in China and the Uyghurs:
"A lack of clarity has surrounded the most recent outbreak of HanChinese demonstrations in Urumchi. Chinese authorities admitted
that five people had died in the recent unrest; however, reports from
Urumchi, unconfirmed in the official Chinese media, indicate that an
ethnic conflict is escalating in the regional capital, with eyewitness
accounts describing attacks on Uyghurs and Uyghur businesses in the
most recent wave of unrest[iv]. Two prominent blogger s in China, Ilham
Tohti and Woeser, reported the beating to death of Uyghur singer
Mirzat Alim on September 2, 2009, and a severe beating suffered by
Uyghur calligrapher and journalist Kaynam Jappar on September 3,
2009[v]. Both attacks were carried out by Han Chinese mobs, according
to the blogger s. UAA believes that the Chinese government has been
instrumental in increasing tensions in East Turkestan by blaming
Uyghur's for the alleged syringe attacks, in which official reports
claim 476 victims have been affected. UAA calls on the official
Chinese media to balance its reporting and to accurately reflect the
situation on the ground in Urumchi."
The situation is nearly insurmountable between these two groups. Ask around, not too many people have even heard of the Uyghur's before this post quite likely. Furthermore, What about the Han Chinese sect? Nevertheless these are human rights we are talking about! This has got to be brought in to the public blogo- sphere don't you think so? The link to this post will give you much more detail about the Uyghurs if you want to learn more about here history and culture and how they don't fit in with the Chinese government at the moment. It really is an interesting political dilemma that gets very little attention in the media. Nevertheless, Global Human Rights are For Everyone!
William
Thursday, September 10, 2009
EU Sanctions And Zimbabwe; New Talks to Begin
ZimOnline - Zimbabwe's Independent News Agency
According to this article published in Zimonline, new talks are scheduled to occur between the head of the EU delegation and president Mugabe of Zimbabwe."The EU and other Western governments still maintain a travel ban and asset freeze on Mugabe and his ZANU PF inner circle in protest at controversial elections and alleged human rights abuses by his government."
It is Human Rights Watch African director Georgette Gagnon who has aspirations that the summit to be held between the EU, Mugabe, and the ZANU PF Inner circle breathe new life into normalizing relationships and possibly lifting the sanctions which are hurting an already desperate country like Zimbabwe. Unfortunately for Zimbabwe, they have had a horrendous human rights record since the EU first placed sanctions in 2002. Official US State Department Report
"The March 2002 presidential election was preceded by months of intensive violence and intimidation against MDC supporters, and more than 50 people, mostly opposition supporters, were killed. President Mugabe was declared the winner over challenger Morgan Tsvangirai by a 56% to 42% margin. Most international observers condemned the election as seriously flawed--the pre-election environment was neither free nor fair, and the election itself was marred by significant fraud and rigging--but regional opinions were mixed. Soon after the election, the MDC filed a petition challenging Mugabe's victory, citing flaws in electoral laws, electoral irregularities and pre-election violence. As of the end of 2004, the case had not yet been decided.
As a result of the 2002 election, the United States, the EU, and other European countries imposed travel restrictions against senior Zimbabwean officials and embargoed the sale of arms to Zimbabwe. The U.S. and the EU also froze the financial assets of selected ruling party officials. The Commonwealth suspended Zimbabwe from council meetings for one year after its election observer team found the election neither free nor fair. At the mid-term suspension review in March 2003, the three-country committee charged with deciding Zimbabwe's fate decided to continue the suspension until the next Commonwealth meeting in December 2003. At this meeting, despite vigorous campaigning by South Africa, Zimbabwe was not invited to attend the meeting and the Commonwealth decided to continue with the suspension. Immediately after this, Mugabe withdrew Zimbabwe from the Commonwealth."
It has not been good for Zimbabwe or the regime of Mugabe. Furthermore, regarding human rights, according to the US State Department: "Since 2000, the United States has taken a leading role in condemning the Zimbabwean Government's increasing assault on human rights and the rule of law, and has joined much of the world community in calling for the Government of Zimbabwe to embrace a peaceful democratic evolution. In 2002 and 2003, the United States imposed targeted measures on the Government of Zimbabwe, including financial and visa sanctions against selected individuals, a ban on transfers of defense items and services, and a suspension of non-humanitarian government-to-government assistance.
The US does not want to punish the "people" of Zimbabwe because of a questinable government."Despite strained political relations, the United States continues as a leading provider of humanitarian assistance to the people of Zimbabwe, providing more than $900 million in humanitarian assistance from 2002-2008, most of which was food aid."
Lets hope that Human Rights Watch encouragement of the European Union delegation, can encourage the European Union to "renegotiate" there terms with Mugabe to "straighten"up his human rights record for the sake of his people, to stop the suffering of further unnecessary human rights abuses. We will see what happens in the future.
William
According to this article published in Zimonline, new talks are scheduled to occur between the head of the EU delegation and president Mugabe of Zimbabwe."The EU and other Western governments still maintain a travel ban and asset freeze on Mugabe and his ZANU PF inner circle in protest at controversial elections and alleged human rights abuses by his government."
It is Human Rights Watch African director Georgette Gagnon who has aspirations that the summit to be held between the EU, Mugabe, and the ZANU PF Inner circle breathe new life into normalizing relationships and possibly lifting the sanctions which are hurting an already desperate country like Zimbabwe. Unfortunately for Zimbabwe, they have had a horrendous human rights record since the EU first placed sanctions in 2002. Official US State Department Report
"The March 2002 presidential election was preceded by months of intensive violence and intimidation against MDC supporters, and more than 50 people, mostly opposition supporters, were killed. President Mugabe was declared the winner over challenger Morgan Tsvangirai by a 56% to 42% margin. Most international observers condemned the election as seriously flawed--the pre-election environment was neither free nor fair, and the election itself was marred by significant fraud and rigging--but regional opinions were mixed. Soon after the election, the MDC filed a petition challenging Mugabe's victory, citing flaws in electoral laws, electoral irregularities and pre-election violence. As of the end of 2004, the case had not yet been decided.
As a result of the 2002 election, the United States, the EU, and other European countries imposed travel restrictions against senior Zimbabwean officials and embargoed the sale of arms to Zimbabwe. The U.S. and the EU also froze the financial assets of selected ruling party officials. The Commonwealth suspended Zimbabwe from council meetings for one year after its election observer team found the election neither free nor fair. At the mid-term suspension review in March 2003, the three-country committee charged with deciding Zimbabwe's fate decided to continue the suspension until the next Commonwealth meeting in December 2003. At this meeting, despite vigorous campaigning by South Africa, Zimbabwe was not invited to attend the meeting and the Commonwealth decided to continue with the suspension. Immediately after this, Mugabe withdrew Zimbabwe from the Commonwealth."
It has not been good for Zimbabwe or the regime of Mugabe. Furthermore, regarding human rights, according to the US State Department: "Since 2000, the United States has taken a leading role in condemning the Zimbabwean Government's increasing assault on human rights and the rule of law, and has joined much of the world community in calling for the Government of Zimbabwe to embrace a peaceful democratic evolution. In 2002 and 2003, the United States imposed targeted measures on the Government of Zimbabwe, including financial and visa sanctions against selected individuals, a ban on transfers of defense items and services, and a suspension of non-humanitarian government-to-government assistance.
The US does not want to punish the "people" of Zimbabwe because of a questinable government."Despite strained political relations, the United States continues as a leading provider of humanitarian assistance to the people of Zimbabwe, providing more than $900 million in humanitarian assistance from 2002-2008, most of which was food aid."
Lets hope that Human Rights Watch encouragement of the European Union delegation, can encourage the European Union to "renegotiate" there terms with Mugabe to "straighten"up his human rights record for the sake of his people, to stop the suffering of further unnecessary human rights abuses. We will see what happens in the future.
William
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