Pax Christi Victoria

Thursday, August 30, 2007

Weapons inspector fears new arms race

Sarah Smiles
August 27, 2007

Former top UN weapons inspector Hans Blix has warned that Australian uranium sales to India could help the country generate nuclear weapons.

He said Australian uranium sales could free up India to use its own uranium to create weapons-grade material and heighten tensions in the region. Dr Blix said the world had entered a dangerous period of re-armament.

To read the full article from The Age, click on:
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/weapons-inspector-fears-new-arms-race/2007/08/26/1188066946419.html

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Indonesian Military Operation in Jamo Valley causes starvation and displacement

Reports from Human Rights workers confirm that the Indonesian military (TNI) and police launched a new military offensive in the Jamo (also spelt Yamo) Valley in the remote Puncak Jaya region of West Papua, in the first week of August 2007.

These sources said that a mother and two children died from starvation when they were hiding in the forest after fleeing the military operations.

Local people are reported to have been beaten by Indonesian security forces and many people have fled to the surrounding forests and mountains to hide.

Human rights workers say that the affected area includes the villages of Wundu and Propalo. The only way in and out of this rugged area is by walking or light aircraft or helicopter.

The troops involved in the operation were reported to be from TNI Battalion 756 in Wamena and Battalion 752 Nabire and the paramilitary Mobile Police Brigade (Brimob) from Jayapura.

One source said that the military operations began when the TNI and police came from Mulia to surround a hideout of the OPM/TPN guerrilla leader Goliat Tabuni. It was reported that this military operation was unsuccessful.

Another report said that the entire population of young people (men and women) in some villages had fled into the forests and mountains in fear of reprisals from the Indonesian security forces. The Indonesian security forces are said to have accused the villagers of supporting Goliat Tabuni and the OPM/TPN guerrillas. This source also said that only young children and old people are left in Wundu and Propalo villages and that they are traumatised.

“The security forces surrounded our church, forced us out of church and beat us. They destroyed our houses, pigs, and food gardens. We villagers become the victims, caught between the TPN/OPM on one side and the Indonesian military on the other. That is why people have fled their villages” said a source from the area who did not want to be named.

The Institute for Papuan Advocacy and Human Rights (IPAHR) is deeply concerned about the welfare and security of local people in the Jamo valley in Puncak Jaya.

“Over the past year the people in this region have been repeatedly been displaced from their homes by military operations. The repeated military offensives and ongoing occupation of this region by the Indonesian security forces makes the lives of the people very difficult and means that people have had to flee their homes, pigs and food gardens and live from the little they can find in the mountain forests,” said Paula Makabory representing Institute for Papuan Advocacy & Human Rights.

“The capacity of local human rights and church workers to assist is also severely constrained by the Indonesian security forces and the Goliat Tabuni’s OPM/TPN group.”
“The Indonesian Government ban on international media & humanitarian organisations in West Papua means that international community cannot assess of the situation or provide humanitarian assistance in the Jamo valley.”

For more information contact:
Paula Makabory, Institute for Papuan Advocacy & Human Rights Tel +61 402547517Matthew Jamieson, Institute for Papuan Advocacy & Human Rights Tel + 61 418291998
Matthew Jamieson
Institute for Papuan Advocacy & Human Rights
PO box 1805, Byron bay NSW 2481 Australia
matthew@hr.minihub.org
tel +61(0) 418291998

Prepare for long war: UK general

Michael Evans, London August 29, 2007

THE head of the British army has ordered his senior staff to make preparations for "a generation of conflict", in a speech the Ministry of Defence tried to keep secret.

General Sir Richard Dannatt gave warning of the dangers posed by a "strident Islamist shadow" and suggested the British army was "on the edge of a new and deadly great game in Afghanistan".

He also told senior staff that the trust and respect of the public could be "increasingly difficult to gain" in the context of conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"The challenge of this generation is as great as any that have gone before us," he added.
General Dannatt's thoughts were revealed in a speech given to a conference on future land warfare at the Royal United Services Institute in London in June. The speech remained secret because the Ministry of Defence did not allow the media to attend.

But, under a Freedom of Information request, the contents of the address to senior British and overseas military have now been released.

In his address, General Dannatt underlined the importance of achieving success in Iraq and Afghanistan, which he said were the "all-consuming focus" of the army at present.

But he appeared to play down the prospects of achieving all of the main objectives.

To read the full article from The Australian, click on:
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22323187-31477,00.html

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Uranium sales to India 'in breach of treaty rules'

Anne Davies, Washington
August 28, 2007

AUSTRALIA will be in breach of an international anti-nuclear treaty, as well as specific undertakings given by Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, if the Government goes ahead with plans to sell uranium to India.

Critics of the proposed agreement with India have seized on a statement made by Mr Downer 10 years ago, in which he said Australia could only sell uranium to countries that had signed up to "full scope safeguards" on their nuclear plants.

Experts says that the proposed sales to India will be subject to a regime that falls well short of "full scope safeguards".

To read the full article from The Age, click on:
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/india-uranium-sales-in-breach-of-treaty-rules/2007/08/27/1188067032740.html

Monday, August 27, 2007

West Papua: Special Treatment

By: Erica Vowles

Wednesday 22 August 2007

The rights and revenue that were supposed to flow from West Papua’s Special Autonomy Law — implemented by the Indonesian Government in 2001 — are yet to transpire for the majority of West Papuans, according to delegates at a conference in Sydney last week.

‘Most of them don’t know what Special Autonomy is,’ said J Budi Hernawan, director of the Jayapura-based Office for Justice and Peace, at the Paths to Justice and Prosperity conference at Sydney University last Thursday. ‘They hear that the money will be available but they are waiting and nothing happens.’

Hernawan believes that the Papuan political elite are too distracted by the fight over resources to implement real changes in the standard of living for Papuans.

To read the full article from The New Matilda, click on:
http://www.newmatilda.com/home/articledetailmagazine.asp?ArticleID=2422&HomepageID=217

Saturday, August 25, 2007

How ASIO is eroding the rule of law

Anne Gooley
August 25, 2007


IF YOU have been following the coverage of the detention of Indian doctor Mohamed Haneef and feeling a sense of deja vu, you are not alone.

Many aspects of Haneef's case bear strong similarities with those of my clients, deported United States peace activist Scott Parkin and Iraqi refugees Mohammed Sagar and Mohammad Faisal. The cases also provide similar illustrations of the Australian Government's willingness to undermine civil rights in the name of national security and to use the migration system with political intent.

Sagar, Faisal and Parkin were all given adverse security assessments by ASIO, leading to the deportation of Parkin from Australia in 2005, and the extended forced detention on the island of Nauru of Mohammed Sagar and Mohammad Faisal from 2001.

To red the full article from The Age, click on:
http://www.theage.com.au/news/opinion/how-asio-is-eroding-the-rule-of-law/2007/08/24/1187462515474.html

'Solution' branded a costly flop

Jewel Topsfield
August 25, 2007

EVERY asylum seeker processed in offshore centres such as Nauru under the Federal Government's controversial Pacific Solution has cost taxpayers more than half a million dollars, a report says.

The report, by aid organisation Oxfam Australia and refugee advocacy group A Just Australia, says the "flawed system" fuelled mental illness in refugees, failed to uphold Australia's commitment under international law and squandered taxpayers' money.

It says that since the Pacific Solution was introduced six years ago, the Government has spent $1 billion — more than $500,000 a person — to process fewer than 1700 asylum seekers on Nauru, Christmas Island and Manus Island.

To read the full article from The Age, click on:
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/solution-branded-a-costly-flop/2007/08/24/1187462524633.html

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

West Papua: Mysterious killings are a return to the Suharto era style of repression

21 August 2007

Two West Papuan men have been murdered in separate incidents in what appears to be a return of the ‘mysterious killing’ style of political repression, which was carried out by the Indonesian security forces during the Suharto era.

The Institute for Papuan Advocacy & Human Rights holds grave concerns that this new information from Nabire suggests that the Indonesian security forces have moved to increase the intimidation of West Papuan community by engaging in a campaign of brutal extra-judicial killing & torture.

Statements from the senior military commanders, like Lt General Zamroni and Col. Siagian, to repress political descent, which they characterize as ‘separatism’, coincides with a deteriorating the human rights environment in West Papua.

“What is particularly distressing is that in the past few days the Indonesian President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, has also said he will not tolerate ‘separatism’ or any interference that would slow down the development of Papua province. The statements of the President parallel those of the military commanders in West Papua and will likely increase the human rights abuses occurring in West Papua.”

Spokesperson for the Institute for Papuan Advocacy & Human Rights, Matthew Jamieson said, "The information coming to us signals that the human rights situation in West Papua is deteriorating fast. In the past two months there has been increased threats to human rights defenders, reports of militia being formed in regional centers, torture of Papuan activists at the hands of security forces, a report of the killing by Police of three public servants in the Star Mountains region, and shootings of Papuans by military personnel in Jayapura and the case of the server torture of a man by military near Tanah Merah."

Church workers investigating the murders of the two Papuan men in Nabire believe that these killings were examples of ‘mysterious killings’ and were committed by the Indonesian security forces. The mutilated bodies of both men were dumped on a street in Nabire.

The dead men were Matius Bunai (29 years old), a youth leader of the Maranatha Kingmi Church and civil servant with the Police department, and Ones Keiya (31 years old), a farmer. Both men were residents of Siriwini neighbourhood in Nabire, were from the Mee tribal group and were members of the Kingmi church.

Church sources report that Matius Bunai was killed sometime after midnight on the 6th August after returning home from a church worship service. His beaten and lacerated body was dumped on the street and found at 7am on the 7th of August by a primary school student walking to school. Ones Keiya was found bleeding and close to death by the side of a road at 7pm on the 23rd of July by a motorcycle courier. He died hours later in the Nabire hospital. There were no witnesses to both attacks.

The bodies of both men showed similar signs of injuries: smashed forehead, deep cuts on the head, lacerations on the feet and hands, and cuts by a knife.

A Church worker in Nabire accused the police of refusing to investigate the killings of the two men. “The Police treat us as if we were animals. If non-Papuans are killed the police are very busy looking for the culprit, but if Papuans are killed the police do nothing. This behaviour makes Papuans feel as if the police want to wipe us out in our own land. As long as the Indonesian military is in our land we feel these mysterious killings will continue” said the Church worker from Nabire, who asked not to be named.

For further information contact

Matthew Jamieson, Institute for Papuan Advocacy & Human Rights Tel +62 418291998
Paula Makabory, Institute for Papuan Advocacy & Human Rights & Els- Ham West Papua Tel +62 402547517

Monday, August 20, 2007

Australia is backing a nuclear rogue

Andy Butfoy

THE Australian Government will be seen around the world as pulling the rug from under global arms control. This is an obvious consequence of its decision to pave the way for uranium sales to India, a country that rejects treaties aimed at stopping the nuclear arms race. The Government, apparently led by Foreign Minister Downer, believes boosting mining profits, and following Washington's lead on nuclear co-operation with India, are more important than reinforcing global non-proliferation rules.

To read the full article from The Age, click on:
http://www.theage.com.au/news/opinion/australia-is-backing-a-nuclear-rogue/2007/08/19/1187462081031.html

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Israeli soldiers express pain of war

By Colin Hinshelwood

"One day I saw an elderly Palestinian. Really old. With a long white beard, his face all wrinkles, carrying two shopping bags, passing by a small religious Jewish boy, probably a first-grader, six to seven years old, maximum nine. The child came up, looked at the Arab in the eye - mind you, this is a street that both Jews and Arabs are allowed to use - and said to him: 'You filthy Arab!' spat in his face and ran off. Far away, he climbed some roof and threw stones at him. I was shocked." This is just one excerpt from a catalogue of testimonies from Israeli soldiers who have recently come forward and spoken out for the first time about the mind-numbing situation they find themselves in while on duty in the Palestinian occupied territories. Many of the accounts make for macabre reading.

To read the full article from Asia Times, click on:
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/IH15Ak04.html

Hollywood tears up script to make anti-war films while conflicts rage

For Americans sitting in cinemas watching the summer's fun movies, such as The Simpsons and Hairspray, the trailer for Lions for Lambs is jarring and unexpected. It opens with a moody shot of the Washington Memorial, and shifts to a series of quick-fire scenes about President George Bush's "war on terror".

Lions for Lambs, scheduled for release in the US on November 9, is not a documentary nor an art house film nor even a Michael Moore-style piece of agitprop. It is mainstream Hollywood, starring Tom Cruise, Meryl Streep and Robert Redford, who also directed it. It is one of about a dozen Hollywood films due for release or being made that deal with America divided, the national debate over Iraq and Afghanistan, and other consequences of 9/11.

This is a departure for Hollywood. During the second world war, there were almost no films made other than propaganda ones. The same happened during Vietnam: it was three years after the fall of Saigon before film-makers felt brave enough to make explicit anti-war movies - Mash hid its colours behind humour and a previous war.

To read the full article from The Guardian, click on:
http://film.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,2148221,00.html

Tuesday, August 07, 2007

Doves fly as Hiroshima delivers nuclear plea

Toru Hanai in HiroshimaAugust 7, 2007

JAPAN marked the 62nd anniversary of Hiroshima's atomic bombing with a solemn ceremony as the city's Mayor criticised the United States for refusing to give up its nuclear weapons program.

Tens of thousands of elderly survivors, children and dignitaries gathered at the Peace Memorial Park yesterday, near ground zero where the bomb was dropped, to remember the 250,000 people who died.

To read the full article from the Syndey Morning Herald, click on:
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/doves-fly-as-hiroshima-delivers-nuclear-plea/2007/08/06/1186252630714.html

Friday, August 03, 2007

Dodgy outcome demands review

George Williams - posted Friday, 3 August 2007


The Howard Government repeatedly defended its anti-terror laws during the 25 days it detained Mohamed Haneef.

Attorney-General Philip Ruddock, for example, said: "The system is working as intended." In fact, key parts of the law did not operate as intended and, to the extent that they did, this only strengthens the case for reform.

No one should be allowed to judge their own mistakes, especially where extraordinary powers have been exercised and national security is at stake. There should be an inquiry into Haneef's case by a respected, independent person such as a former High Court judge. It should not be left to a Senate committee to deliberate for months, only to provide a partisan report.

To read the full article from Onlineopinion, click on:
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=6195