Rights activists draft strategy to stop violence against Arab women

Women in the Arab world face violence in the home, in the community, in institutions and as a result of armed conflicts, according to activist leaders who met in Tunis this week to strategise.

By Jamel Arfaoui for Magharebia in Tunis – 11/12/09

Women's rights activists this week drafted a strategy to prevent violence against women in the Arab world that promotes legislative and awareness-raising campaigns, training, and wider dissemination of data and research.

The strategy was drawn up by participants in a Tunis workshop aimed at sharing experiences in the field of fighting violence against Arab women. The three-day event kicked off on December 6th and was organized by the Arab Women Organization (AWO).

"The strategy ... stress[es] the need to protect women from violence and to prevent it through laws, legislation, awareness, training, dissemination of the women's rights culture, the culture of non-violence, and provision of national data, research and statistics on the phenomenon," AWO member and secretary-general of Jordan's National Council for Family Affairs, Haifa Abu Ghazala, said on Tuesday at the event.

Participants examined a range of themes and ways to prevent violence against Arab women. They also shared experiences and experiments in the field of strategies, policies, programs and methods of intervention on the national level.

Experts at the event said that Arab women suffer from four forms of violence: domestic violence, community violence, institutional violence and violence in armed conflicts.

According to AWO Secretary-General Waduda Badran, the forms of violence against women in Arab countries "differ according to environments, regions, social classes, and cultural and age categories. As a result, the confrontation mechanisms also vary."

Badran added that the Arab world's current situation "requires ... comprehensive strategies that include short, medium and long-term measures based on an in-depth and comprehensive vision of the nature of societies and nature of women's standing therein".

For her part, the head of Morocco's Department of Women, Family and Children's Affairs, Saida Idrissi, said that Tunisia's presidency of the AWO would "give renewed momentum to joint Arab action through supporting and activating the commitments of Arab countries, foremost among which is the drafting of an Arab strategy for combating violence against women".

"The main aim of this workshop is to share experiences and experiments, and to draft a unified Arab strategy with guidance from several successful experiences, such as those of Tunisia and Morocco, especially in the field of activating women's participation in public and political life," added Idrissi.

At the close of the workshop, participants issued a statement urging AWO "member states to issue periodic national reports on the reality of violence against women, and to draft an Arab pilot law in the field of protecting women from violence".

Hajeera Ait Ahmed, a women's affairs official in Algeria, said in a speech during the workshop that her country in 1979 "ratified the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, which constituted a main reference point for reviewing some laws, especially the Family Law, Nationality Law, Prisons Organization and Social Re-Integration of Prisoners Law, Health Protection and Promotion Law, and the Labour and Social Security Law".

Ahmed said the review also prompted a 2008 constitutional amendment that encourages women's political participation through a quota system for representation.

"Civil society has to communicate with all women, without any discrimination, because this shouldn't be restricted to the salons of intellectuals," the head of the Egyptian Centre for Women's Rights, Nehad Abul Qumsan, said in a statement to Magharebia. "They have to go to female workers and farmers."

Mohammed Zuabi, director of the Family Protection Department in Jordan, said the workshop "shows each country how advanced it is in the field of fighting violence against women, as compared to other countries".

Iran FM says ready for uranium-fuel swap

By BARBARA SURK, Associated Press Writer

MANAMA, Bahrain – Iran is ready to exchange the bulk of its stockpile of enriched uranium for nuclear fuel rods — as proposed by the U.N. — but according to its own mechanisms and timetable, the foreign minister said Saturday.

Speaking to reporters at a regional security conference in Bahrain, Manochehr Mottaki said Iran agreed with a U.N. deal proposed in October in which up to 2,600 pounds (1,200 kilograms) of its uranium would be exchanged for fuel rods to power its research reactor.

"We accepted the proposal in principle," he said through a translator. "We suggested in the first phase we give you 400 kilograms of 3.5 percent enriched uranium and you give us the equivalent in 20 percent uranium."

Iran has about 3,300 pounds (1,500 kilograms) of low-enriched uranium and needs to refine to 20 percent to operate a research reactor that produces medical isotopes.

Uranium enriched at low levels can be used as fuel for nuclear energy, but when enriched to 90 percent and above, it can be used as material for a weapon. The United States and five other world powers have been trying to win Iran's acceptance of a deal under which Tehran would ship most of its low-enriched uranium stockpile abroad to be processed into fuel rods, which can't be enriched further.

The deal would leave Iran — at least temporarily — without enough enriched uranium to produce a bomb. However, after signaling in October that it would accept the proposal, Iran has since balked, giving mixed signals over the deal, including several statements from lawmakers rejecting it outright.

Mottaki maintained, however, that a clear proposal had been given involving the simultaneous exchange of uranium for fuel rods in stages.

"We gave a clear answer and we responded and our answer was we accepted in principle but there were differences in the mechanism," he said, suggesting the exchange take place on Iran's Kish island, in the Persian Gulf.

It is not clear, however, if the low-enriched uranium would then remain on the island or could be shipped out of the country — a necessary condition to any deal from the standpoint of the international community.

The world powers are also unlikely to accept a long drawn out exchange in stages, as it would allow Iran to maintain enough enriched uranium inside the country to possibly build a weapon.

Iran, meanwhile, wants to receive the fuel rods immediately in exchange for its uranium for fear that France or Russia could renege deal.

Last month, the 35-nation board of the International Atomic Energy Agency endorsed a resolution from the six powers — the U.S., Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany — criticizing Iran for defying a U.N. Security Council ban on uranium enrichment and continuing to expand its operations.

It also censured Iran for secretly building a second facility and demanded that it immediately suspend further construction.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said last month that the U.N. offer has been "comprehensively rejected" by Iran. A diplomat from one of the six powers said Wednesday that America's Western allies were waiting for Washington to formally declare the wait for an Iranian response over, probably by the end of this month.

The six countries are expected to meet next week to discuss what action to take over Iran.

EU leaders said they would support further U.N. sanctions unless Tehran starts cooperating over its nuclear program.

Pakistan PM says South Waziristan offensive over

(WARNING): Article contains propaganda!

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By MUNIR AHMAD, Associated Press Writer

ISLAMABAD – The Pakistani army has finished its offensive against the Taliban in South Waziristan, but may soon pursue militants in another part of the lawless tribal belt along the Afghan border, the prime minister said Saturday.

Yousuf Raza Gilani's suggestion of an operation in Orakzai tribal region is another sign that Pakistan did not deal the death blow it had intended against the Taliban by taking them on in their main base.

It also illustrates the intractable nature of the extremist challenge facing this nuclear-armed nation: Even as troops flood one militant stronghold, the insurgents can regroup in another stretch of the rugged, barely governed tribal districts.

The conundrum comes amid U.S. pressure on Pakistan to crack down on militants on its territory, although to Washington's chagrin Islamabad has focused on the groups that threaten its citizens rather U.S. and NATO forces across the border in Afghanistan.

"The operation in South Waziristan is over. Now there are talks about Orakzai," Gilani told reporters in televised remarks from the eastern city of Lahore. He did not give a timeframe or any other details.

Pakistan's army launched a ground offensive against the Taliban in South Waziristan in mid-October, saying it was determined to terminate its No. 1 internal enemy from its most forbidding stronghold.

But the operation prompted a slew of retaliatory suicide and other bombings nationwide that have killed more than 500 people, attacks that have continued even as the military's battlefield activities have slowed down in South Waziristan.

Many of the Taliban fighters in South Waziristan are believed to have fled to North Waziristan and Orakzai. The latter has been the home base for Pakistani Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud.

In recent weeks, the military has launched several airstrikes against militant targets in Orakzai. Such airstrikes could be a prelude to a ground offensive, just as they were in South Waziristan.

Some 40,000 people are estimated to have fled Orakzai in the weeks since the South Waziristan offensive began, the U.N. said in a statement Friday.

Spokesmen for Pakistan's powerful military did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the prime minister's statement.

In the past, the military officials have been hesitant to put a time frame on how long troops will stay in South Waziristan even after major operations end. That region also has witnessed a civilian exodus.

Orakzai is a smaller tribal region, covering roughly 600 square miles (1,538 square kilometers). It is sandwiched between the Khyber and Kurram tribal region and does not directly border Afghanistan.

Although the U.S. has applauded Pakistan's pursuit of the Pakistani Taliban, American officials have also expressed hope that Islamabad will also pursue other militant groups who are more directly focused on attacking Western troops stationed in Afghanistan.

Pakistan has reached peace agreements with some of those groups — including a major one led by Hafiz Gul Bahadur in North Waziristan — so that it can attack the Pakistani Taliban fighters without interference. It shows no sign of making any moves against militants whose top priority is battling the U.S. and NATO.

Lebanon parliament backs unity government

By Ferry Biedermann in Beirut

Lebanon’s parliament overwhelmingly approved the country’s new national unity government on Thursday night, headed by the leader of the pro-western majority, Saad Hariri.

Before he received the confidence of parliament, the prime minister reached out to the country’s big neighbor, Syria, with which relations had been strained during the past five years.

”We especially look forward to Lebanese and Syrian relations founded on brotherly ties ... based on respecting the sovereignty of both countries,” said Mr Hariri.

The country’s media have speculated that he will visit Damascus soon to emphasise the improved ties.

Mr Hariri has headed an anti-Syrian coalition since 2005, when his father, the former prime minister Rafiq Hariri, was assassinated in what many Lebanese regarded as a Syrian-backed plot. Damascus has always denied any connection to the murder.

Parliament approved the cabinet’s policy statement, which includes a clause that recognizes the Hizbollah movement as the national resistance and allows it to keep its arms, in spite of UN resolutions demanding that it disarms.

The vote of confidence came six months after the pro-western bloc of Mr Hariri defeated a coalition including the pro-Syrian Hizbollah movement in parliamentary elections. It followed one month of deliberations over the controversial policy statement since Mr Hariri formed his cabinet.

The statement follows similar lines to earlier ones and demonstrates the continuing power of Hizbollah and its allies.

During the debate in parliament preceding the confidence vote, some of Mr Hariri’s close allies were sharply critical of the clause allowing Hizbollah to keep its arms. Sami Gemmayel of the Christian Phalange party called the clause illegal and told Hizbollah: “You can’t impose your ideas on us.”

The new cabinet includes two ministers from Hizbollah, as well as another eight from its allies. The pro-western bloc holds 15 seats while the country’s president, Michel Suleiman, nominated another five. This formula is meant to preserve a balance between the political and sectarian groups.

As a national unity government, the cabinet could count on overwhelming support in parliament. Out of a total of 128 MPs, 122 voted for the government, one abstained and one voted against, while four were absent.

The government will have to address some urgent economic and social issues, including a mounting debt of $50bn, slow economic reform and a crumbling infrastructure.

UN chief appoints Spanish general to lead peacekeeping operation in Lebanon

UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 10 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Thursday announced the appointment of a Spanish Major General as Force Commander of the UN peacekeeping operation in Lebanon.

Alberto Asarta Cuevas will be heading the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), where he had been UNIFIL Sector East Commander from December 2008 to April 2009.

A statement, released here by Ban's spokesman, said that Cuevas, who is currently adviser to the Chief of Staff of the Spanish Army, will bring to his new position "extensive and wide-ranging experience, including significant command experience and prior experience with United Nations peacekeeping."

He succeeds Major General Claudio Graziano of Italy, whose tenure will end on Jan. 28, 2010.

Among his distinguished command appointments, which include up to the level of Armored Brigade Commander, he was also deputy brigade commander of the Spanish Brigade in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Cuevas also served two terms in NATO Stabilization Force (SFOR)in 1997 and early 2000s, in addition to being a UN Military Observer in the UN Observer Group in Central America (ONUCA) in 1991.

UN Security Council Resolution 1701 ended the 34-day war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006, which also reinforced the UNIFIL to conduct peacekeeping missions in south Lebanon.

New Lebanon Cabinet allows Hezbollah to keep arms

By BASSEM MROUE (AP)

BEIRUT — The Lebanese parliament overwhelmingly approved a national unity government Thursday that will allow Hezbollah to keep its weapons, despite strong criticism from pro-Western lawmakers angry at the militant group's refusal to disarm.

The vote in parliament was a further indication that Hezbollah will continue to defy a U.N. resolution calling for it to give up its weapons, which include rockets that can reach deep into Israel.

It was also a sign that Hezbollah will continue to wield great political influence at the expense of pro-Western rivals with whom it shares seats in the Cabinet and parliament — and it will retain the military muscle to back it up.

"Why do some Lebanese have the right to have weapons while others don't?" asked Hezbollah critic Sami Gemayel of the right-wing Christian Phalange party.

Elie Keyrouz of the right-wing Lebanese Forces group said Hezbollah's weapons "no longer have any justification" after Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon in May 2000, which ended 18 years of occupation.

Despite that sentiment, shared by many in parliament's pro-Western majority, the 128-member assembly approved the new Cabinet by a vote of 122 to 1 with one abstention. Only 124 lawmakers attended the session.

Hezbollah says it has thousands of rockets and missiles, some of which can hit far inside Israel, which says it is preparing to deploy a defense system to shoot down rockets from Lebanon.

A United Nations resolution that ended Hezbollah's 2006 war with Israel calls on the group to disarm, but Hezbollah says it must retain its weapons to fight off any future Israeli threat and persistent violations of Lebanon's airspace. Hezbollah says its weapons are needed until Israel fully withdraws from disputed border areas, including the Chebaa Farms.

Prime Minister Saad Hariri formed his 30-member Cabinet a month ago, and last week it permitted Hezbollah to remain armed under the new government's policy platform.

The Western-backed coalition, headed by Hariri, holds a slight majority in parliament, but was forced to form a shaky coalition government with Hezbollah, which has virtual veto power over the government.

Hezbollah legislator Nawaf al-Moussawi asked those who criticized his group's weapons, "What is the alternative and how will the government face Israeli aerial violations?"

He cited news reports that on Independence Day last month, Israeli warplanes were flying over Beirut as senior officials were attending a military parade. "The whole state was there. What is your answer?" he asked.

Israeli warplanes fly over Lebanon almost daily in violation of U.N. resolutions.

China Shares Blame for Financial Crisis

by Peter Hannaford
12/11/2009


Like the sound of one hand clapping, silence greeted the release of the annual report the other day of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission. The “mainstream” media were too preoccupied with how Mr. and Mrs. Salahi crashed the White House dinner to notice that the Commission had concluded that China bore a lot of the blame for the global financial crisis.

The bipartisan 12-member Commission in this, its seventh annual report, wasn’t bashful about laying out its assertions. They say that while the economic crisis originated in the United States it “has its roots in massive global economic imbalances. The responsibility for these...can be placed partially on the U.S. as the world’s biggest spender and borrower and partially on China as the world’s biggest saver and lender.”

The reports says that China pursues policies that promote exports over all else by pushing increased savings, restraining domestic consumption, keeping its currency undervalued and directing subsidies and incentives to exporters. As a result, China’s booming export business means that the country now has the world’s largest foreign exchange reserves, $2.27 trillion.

The perverse effects of China’s obsession with exports are spelled out: “In response to the crisis, China introduced a fiscal stimulus package, raised rebates to exporters” and supported them with other measures. “This will only exacerbate overcapacity, aggravating the overall problem.” Indeed, production overcapacity increases pressure to push the products out in ever greater numbers, with prices kept rock-bottom in order to keep consumer interest (such as here) at a high level.

According to the Commission, China provides generous incentives to foreign manufacturers who relocate their plants to China. Labor costs are kept low because workers are not allowed to bargain collectively or join independent unions. Chinas also uses a Value Added Tax (VAT) as an export weapon. It charges 17 percent on everything that is manufactured, but rebates the proceeds to domestics companies that export, but does not do so for importers. This puts imports at an even greater disadvantage.

In the early days of China’s industrialization a joke went around to the effect that China would “buy one of everything; reverse-engineer it, then mass produce replicas at half the going price.”

That impulse still is apparent in the current industrial policy set by the Chinese government, but the Chinese are using other means to sharpen their competitiveness. Take cyber-espionage. The Commission reports, “There has been a marked increase in cyber intrusions originating in China and targeting U.S. government and defense-related computer systems. This malicious activity has the potential to destroy critical infrastructure, disrupt commerce and banking systems and compromise sensitive defense and military data.”

The number of incidents of malicious cyber activity has gone from 23,031 in 2005 to 43,880 in 2007 and 43,880 this year.

Free speech is not tolerated by the Chinese government which also monitors dissidents and others with almost paranoid intensity. The report cites one Chen Yonglin, a defector who was once a senior government official in China. He produced an internal government document that referred to “Five Poisonous Groups,” namely, the Falun Gong, Tibetans, Uighurs, Taiwanese and pro-democracy activists. Operatives were instructed to list activists, monitor them and use propaganda against them.

Carolyn Bartholoew, chairwoman of the Commission, in an Epoch Times interview, said, “Every year there is sufficient information out there to put together 300 to 400 pages of documentation of troubling things that are going on.”

The Commission's report delivers to Congress no fewer than 42 recommendations on dealing with China. Among these:

• The U.S. should use World Trade Organization trade remedies more aggressively;

• Congress should make adequate funds available for defense, law enforcement and intelligence agencies to implement sophisticated techniques to counter Chinese espionage and cyber attacks;

• Push China to draw down its military forces opposite Taiwan (including missiles) to demonstrate “its desire for improved cross-Strait relations”;

• Assess the adequacy of U.S. export control policy and make necessary changes to prevent transshipment of controlled technologies (that is, those that can be used for consumer and military purposes) through Hong Kong into China itself.

Will Congress dig into these and the other 38 recommendations? Don’t bet on it.