(SomaliNet) Human Rights Watch said in a report published on Tuesday that the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo has killed "at least 500" suspected political opponents in the last two years.
The New York-based rights campaigners accused President Joseph Kabila's government of "brutal repression," saying "about 1 000 more" have been detained since July 2006 elections aimed at bringing democracy to the vast central African nation. The NGO said many of those held reported having been tortured.
The report stated that government security forces deliberately killed or summarily executed an estimated 500 individuals mainly in north-west and southern DR Congo - away from the current conflict with rebels centred on eastern Nord-Kivu province - and that unlawful force was used to intimidate and eliminate political opponents.
HRW found that Kabila himself set the tone and direction by giving orders to "crush" or "neutralise" the so-called "enemies of democracy," during the elections.
The rebellion in eastern DR Congo stems from an unresolved conflict from the country's 1998-2003 civil war that ended with a transitional government and the elections two years ago - but HRW says the ongoing strife there must not be allowed to detract from abuses elsewhere.
"While everyone focuses on the violence in eastern Congo, government abuses against political opponents attract little attention," Anneke Van Woudenberg, senior researcher in HRW's Africa division, said in a statement. "Efforts to build a democratic Congo are being stifled not just by rebellion but also by the Kabila government's repression."
Through 250 interviews with victims, witnesses and officials, HRW documented how Kabila subordinates using state security forces cracked down on perceived political opponents, especially suspected supporters of defeated presidential candidate Jean-Pierre Bemba, and members of a political-religious group Bundu Dia Kongo (BDK) in Bas Congo that favours greater provincial autonomy.
State agents tried to cover up the killings of opponents by burying the bodies in mass graves or dumping them in the Congo river, and then blocking investigations by UN human rights staff, the 96-page HRW report said.
Those who ended up as detainees told HRW of beatings, mock executions and the use of electric batons on their genitals and other body parts. Many claimed they were forced to sign confessions saying they were involved in coup plots against Kabila. "As they beat me with sticks and whips, the soldiers repeatedly shouted, 'We will crush you! We will crush you!' Then they threatened to kill me and others who opposed Kabila," a political party activist detained in March 2007 told HRW.
At least 200 people are still being held in politically related cases, HRW estimated.
The HRW report also noted that armed groups linked to Bemba and the BDK have been blamed for killing state agents and civilians, but added that the police and army response, while appropriate, was often conducted with excessive force.
The HRW report also criticised foreign governments seeking to win favour with the Kabila government for keeping silent about increasingly repressive rule. "We all saw this coming, but again we did not do enough to avert the crisis," a European military adviser with close ties to the Congolese army told HRW about March 2007 violence in Kinshasa that left hundreds dead.
The international rights group has called on the Kabila government to set up a high-level task force from the Justice Ministry to investigate the abuse claims.
All that kvetching and the demand in the end is for a 'task force'.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/27/2008 00:00 ||
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A strategy of testing adults every year for HIV and immediately treating every person found to be infected could virtually end the AIDS epidemic in Africa in about a decade, new research suggests.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/27/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
This sounds about as accurate and useful as the financial modelling that "helped" us get to this recession.
#2
People create models because they don't want to pay attention to real history. Seems the plague finally burned out of Europe too. Though the people finally developed cultural behaviors which when practiced had a great tendency to reduce flareups of the problem. However being 'modern and enlightened' we would rather sacrifice millions of other humans than institute old fashion 'taboos' and practices that work.
#3
For years, doctors have proposed a system in the US for each and every blood test to also be tested for a whole range of venereal diseases. If the results are positive, then they are forwarded as anonymous results but associated with that patient's other blood work, to their physician.
This means that the government would have very accurate VD statistics, but without the names of those who are infected, yet their physician would know, tell them to their face (only), and recommend a course of treatment if one exists.
There are lots of people out there with more than four concurrent VD infections of different diseases. They are like Typhoid Marys of VD, and if they could be treated, or at least persuaded to use condoms, the US infection rate could be slashed.
However, these suggestions have always been ignored. Not because of the expense, oddly enough, but just because it is too much work for the government.
#4
I can remember the 80s, when the models had Africa being pretty much depopulated by now.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/27/2008 10:06 Comments ||
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I've found it pretty easy to live a life without VD in the absence of government assistance. I suggest we keep it that way. Let nature work things out.
* Plane on test flight after maintenance
* Plunges into Mediterranean Sea
* Official says there's no hope of survivors
AN Air New Zealand passenger jet has plunged into the Mediterranean Sea off France, with officials saying there is no hope that any of the seven people on board survived.
The wreck of the Airbus A320 has been located off the southern city of Perpignan, where it had been undergoing maintenance.
Rescuers found the bodies of two crew members, but five others were missing this morning.
However, Dominique Alzeari, assistant prosecutor at Perpignan, said there was "no hope of finding survivors".
The plane was on a flight to check that it was operating normally when it fell from the sky, said other officials in Perpignan.
A surveillance plane, two rescue helicopters and five ships were scouring the seas around the crash site 3.5 nautical miles (2.5km) from the shore.
Five of those on the plane were from New Zealand and the two pilots were German.
The aircraft was owned by Air New Zealand but had been on lease to XL Airways for the past two years.
Air New Zealand chief executive Rob Fyfe said the aircraft was being flown by XL Airways to Frankfurt where it was due to be handed back to Air New Zealand.
Today is the 29th anniversary of Air New Zealand's biggest disaster, when Flight TE901 crashed into Mt Erebus while on a scenic trip over Antarctica. All 257 people on board died.
UNITED NATIONS - The UN Security Council on Wednesday unanimously endorsed a plan by Secretary Genral Ban Ki-moon on the deployment of an EU police and justice mission in Kosovo. "The Security Council welcomes the Secretary-General's report" and "welcomes the cooperation between the UN and other international actors, within the framework of Security Council resolution 1244," said the council's declaration, which was read by the representative of Costa Rica, which is this month's council president.
The declaration meant the council had given the green light to the planned EU mission, known as Eulex, which will gradually take over from the UN mission in Kosovo, diplomats said. The vague wording of the text sidestepped the question of Kosovo's independence.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in a report published Tuesday said Eulex would observe strict neutrality regarding Kosovo's independence, meaning the law and order mission did not convey any UN recognition of the territory's political status.
The council also "welcomes the continuing efforts of the European Union to advance the European perspective of the whole of the Western Balkans, thereby making a decisive contribution to regional stability and prosperity," it said.
During a debate preceding the statement, the foreign ministers of Serbia, Vuk Jeremic, and Kosovo, Skender Hiseni, promised their governments' cooperation with the Eulex mission. "I want to assure all the nations that will participate in Eulex, that Eulex will enjoy the full support of the institutions and the people of Kosovo," said Hiseni, adding it was crucial the EU mission "deploys throughout Kosovo."
Jeremic said: "We are now getting close to the point where we can unite behind the Secretary-General and the report he produced. I invite the Council to support it in the strongest possible terms."
The UN has not made a decision on Kosovo's independence, which Pristina's majority Albanian authorities declared unilaterally in February in a move rejected by Serbia. Some 50 countries, including the United States and most European countries, backed the move.
Kosovo's independence might take longer than a Hague tribunal ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/27/2008 00:00 ||
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Aswat al-Iraq: The Iraqi Ministry of Oil is planning to build a new oil refinery in Missan province at a cost of $4 million U.S. dollars, Missan's mayor said on Wednesday.
"During the coming few days, the Ministry of Oil will sign a contract for the establishment of a refinery with a capacity of 150,000 barrel per day (bpd)," Adel Mahodar told Aswat al-Iraq, noting that the completion period is 18 months. "The project will be referred to the cabinet for approval given the high cost of the project," the mayor explained.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/27/2008 00:00 ||
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The article says $4M. I would think that was kind of cheap for a refinery.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
11/27/2008 13:55 Comments ||
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I would think that was kind of cheap for a refinery
Outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is to be charged in one of the corruption cases over which he has faced police questioning, Israeli broadcast media reported on Wednesday. Attorney General Menachem Mazuz "notified Ehud Olmert that he wants to meet him in order to press charges in the Rishon Tours case," public radio reported.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/27/2008 00:00 ||
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Thailand's powerful military stepped into a battle Wednesday between the government and protesters occupying Bangkok's international airport, calling on the government to resign and the protesters to leave the buildings they have seized.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/27/2008 00:00 ||
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General Motors Corp. is studying possible elimination of some of its brands, with options including Pontiac, Hummer and Saab, the Free Press has learned.
I'd suggest splitting them off into their own companies and letting them stand or fall on their own, but nobody listens to me because I'm an old crank.
A person familiar with the company's deliberations told the Free Press that all options are being considered as executives look at potential savings and devise a plan to submit to Congress in GM's bid for government loans to help it through a cash crisis.
In addition to the storied Pontiac brand, Hummer and Saab, Bloomberg reported Wednesday that the review included the Saturn brand. GM declined comment.
Saturn only made sense if the idea was to introduce the Toyota way to GM. Now that Saturn cars are just clones of whatever Chevy has there's no need for them. Aura = Malibu, and Vue = Equinox.
The real issue: which divisions are selling cars? Which divisions have any sort of brand identity that one can build on in a new GM? Buick should be toast: it's lost its identity, and if the idea is to sell upscale cars, sell Cadillacs, not Buicks. Pontiac used to be the muscle car division, the glamour cars. If that's gone then there's no need for Pontiac. Hummer made no sense and was an acquisition back when GM had cash. Ditto Saab: Ford did the same thing buying Volvo and Jaguar and had to sell them both to raise cash. GM should do the same.
You could argue that a new GM has but four divisions: Chevrolet (basic and family cars, and trucks), Saturn (upscale small cars), and Cadillac (upscale medium and large cars), and GMC (trucks for the Cadillac dealers who need something more). But each division has to have a brand identity distinct enough to make sense. Toyota has three divisions: Toyota, Scion and Lexus. Each division is clear enough such that there is no confusion in the marketplace. GM lost its way, in part, because people couldn't see any difference between a Buick, a Pontiac and an Oldsmobile. And they were right: there was no difference.
"There is a lot is a lot speculation about what will or won't be in the plan next week, and we are going to decline to comment on it," said company spokesman Tom Wilkinson. "We are not likely to say anything in advance of the plan."
GM and its Detroit brethren, Chrysler LLC and Ford Motor Co., are preparing plans to send to Congress next week in their bid for $25 billion in emergency loans. Faced with frozen credit markets that have prevented consumers from getting auto loans, U.S. sales hit a 25-year low last month.
GM has said it could reach the minimum levels of cash it needs for operations by the end of the year, and its board has reviewed the possibility of bankruptcy.
Keep reviewing.
Before the U.S. economy crashed this year, the automakers already were losing money as they restructure to bring production capacity -- and workforce levels -- in line with demand and to shift their lineup toward more fuel-efficient vehicles and away from the pickups and SUVs that brought them huge profits in the 1990s.
The companies' chief executives were sent back to Detroit last week after lawmakers criticized them for coming to Washington, D.C., without showing a plan for how they will run their businesses differently if they get the money. They were told to come up with plans by Tuesday, and new hearings are set next week.
Critics have long called for GM to pare its offerings, as it did with Oldsmobile in 2000, and eliminate overlap as its market share in the United States has slipped.
The first Pontiac -- the Series 6-27 -- debuted in 1926 at the New York Auto Show, according to GM. Pontiac -- GM's affordable performance brand -- created icons like the Firebird and GTO. Sales have fallen for years, and Pontiac now shares all its dealerships with Buick and GMC. The brand has seen its U.S. sales drop 20.9% so far this year, according to Autodata Corp.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/27/2008 10:15 ||
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I'd suggest splitting them off into their own companies and letting them stand or fall on their own, but nobody listens to me because I'm an old crank.
I agree entirely, but I'm another Old Crank.
(ask my wife)
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
11/27/2008 10:33 Comments ||
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I was a GM employee for 7 years and left several years ago becuase I didn't see a hopeful future. Their assembly operations are very good but tooled for products that have been rendered inappropriate. Their stamping plants provide poor quality that no customer would tolerate from a vendor ... other than themselves. Retooling plants to vehicles that are saleable will cost billions that they don't have. Unfortunately for GM the automotive market now has become a commodity type market where most offereings are similar and the buyer makes a purchase decision based on price. In order to be successful in the automotive market GM will have to hold down costs. Its Asian competitors now own brand new American plants that are non-union shops in Southern rural areas while GM owns aging facilities in dying Northern welfare states with employees that are socialist deadbeats. Other thatn that their future is rosy.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
11/27/2008 13:52 Comments ||
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How about doing this first: Go for bankruptcy, get rid of the present CEO and upper management, get rid of the board of directors and sue the sh*t out of all them for fiscal irresponsibility, and then figure out what is marketable to the public, makes economic sense, efficient, etc etc. Get the hell out of Michigan and away the unions and go to places where people have a work ethic and favorable tax laws. I mean the US.
Throwing money at the same methodology is insane, but what would expect of govt? One definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/27/2008 13:54 Comments ||
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I wish GM would make a line of cars that doesn't change every year. Make a mid-sized 4-door family car that stays the same every year. Parts (and therefore repairs) would be inexpensive, GM wouldn't have to re-tool production lines every year, and they would become a favorite of tinkerers.
World oil prices have claimed after China's Central Bank announced 1.08 percentage points decrease in its benchmark one-year rates. The market was also supported by the prospect of a possible cut in OPEC's output when the oil exporting organization meets this weekend in Cairo.
Light sweet crude for January climbed 3.67 dollars to close at 54.44 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In London, Brent North Sea crude for delivery in January added 3.57 dollars to settle at 51.55 dollars a barrel.
The price of crude oil has collapsed by about two-thirds since hitting record high points above 147 dollars per barrel in July. Last week, oil slumped under 50 dollars to levels not seen since early 2005.
Meanwhile in Wall Street, US shares surged Wednesday as investors extended a bargain-hunting rally. The Dow Jones industrials rose 2.88 percent or 244 points at the close.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/27/2008 00:00 ||
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Household spending and investment in big-ticket items plummeted in October in the United States, as major world economies announced new plans to try to boost demand to fight a deepening economic downturn. I dunno about you guys, but every time I got by a gas station price placard I've got one word in my mind, and often on my lips: "Ratbastidsunofabitches."
Posted by: Fred ||
11/27/2008 00:00 ||
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Be difficult to have an economic upturn if you never had a downturn. I'm still buying green bananas, clutching my Bible and....
#2
Haven't altered my spending habits for years. Thrift is always a sound plan. I start holding back normally around August in anticipation of buying for the extended family at this time of year.
#3
It's my way of getting back at the cretins who elected Bama. My money stays in my pocket, out of the country, and out of Dem clutches. The folks that wanted Bama can starve as far as I'm concerned. No sympathy whatsoever here.
Don't count on any help from me in getting out of the recession. Saving and being debt-free is the new "in" thing and this is one fashion trend I'm fully supporting.
#4
Wel-l-l, compare wid WORLD MIL FORUM [paraph = GOOGLE Chinglish translation] > THE NEXT BANK BAILOUT:BANK OF AMERICA MAY FOLLOW CITIGROUP STEP-BY-STEP???
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is to be charged in one of the corruption cases over which he has faced police questioning, Israeli broadcast media reported on Wednesday. Attorney General Menachem Mazuz "notified Ehud Olmert that he wants to meet him in order to press charges in the Rishon Tours case," public radio reported.
