News archive: December 2013
9 December 2013
The lawyers for two Guantánamo Bay detainees claimed before the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) that the detainees were tortured in a secret ‘black site’ in Poland. Poland has been brought before the ECtHR for allowing US officials to use ‘enhanced’ interrogations and ‘waterboarding’ technics within its territory. Ben Emmerson, the UN special rapporteur on counter-terrorism argued before the Court, where ‘systematic human rights violations are alleged to have occurred, the right to know the truth is not only an individual right that belongs to the immediate victim of the violation, but also a collective rights that belongs to the whole of society.’ (more…)
Source: The Guardian | Guantánamo Bay detainees claim Poland allowed CIA torture
6 December 2013
The UN Security Council approved the French-sponsored Resolution 2127, which authorises the increase in military action in the Central African Republic (CAR) by French and African troops. The resolution provides for the deployment of African Union forces, known as the International Support Mission in the Central African Republic (MISCA), with the authorisation to use ‘appropriate measures’ to protect civilians and restore security. Additionally, French troops are now authorised ‘to take all necessary measures’ to support MISCA. Such mandate will last for a year and MISCA is expected to increase its troops from about 2,500 to 3,500, while French troops will double from the 600 currently present in the CAR.
The Central African Republic, a predominantly Christian country, has been plagued by Muslim-Christian violence after the ousting of President Francois Bozize by Muslim rebels from Chad and Sudan. The violence in the CAR includes waves of killings, torture, and rape that are attributed to the rival armed groups – the Christian Balaka fighters and the Seleka Muslim rebel army. Despite being rich in gold, diamonds, and uranium, the CAR is a poor and unstable country which often suffers from the spillover of conflicts in neighboring countries.
Source: Al Jazeera | UN passes resolution on CAR military action
Source: United Nations Security Council | Resolution 2127 (2013) | Adopted by the Security Council at its 7072nd meeting | 5 December 2013
5 December 2013
Speaking at the launch of the Fourth Replenishment of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (Global Fund), United States Secretary of State John Kerry called on global health partners to embrace all available tools to defeat AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, saying that shared responsibility was the only way to succeed.
The Fourth Replenishment launch, entitled: ‘No Time to Lose: Sharing the Responsibility to Save Lives’ is convening leaders in global health in Washington to consider joint action and to secure sustained funding for the next three years to support programmes that prevent, treat and care for people with AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.
Also, Mark Dybul, Executive Director of the Global Fund, said in his closing remarks at the meeting: ‘The 21st century ideals that led to the founding of the Global Fund are now stronger than ever: partnership, shared responsibility, and mutual accountability. In many ways, this is a replenishment of hope. It is a lifting up of the human spirit.’
Source: The Global Fund To Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria | Replenishment Partners Talk Shared Responsibility
Source: The Global Fund To Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria | Global Fund Donors Pledge US$12 Billion
4 December 2013
A Danish cargo vessel is due to load Syria’s chemical arms stockpile and transfer it to a US ship in early January 2014. The plan, which has not yet been finalised, has been drawn up by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.
The Guardian reports that it is not yet clear whether the transfer between the two ships of about 500 tonnes of lethal chemicals, including nerve agents, will be done at sea or when both vessels are docked, and that both options have serious challenges. So far, no Mediterranean port has agreed to host the transfer on land.
Source: The Guardian | Syria's chemical weapons to be shipped in delicate US-Danish operation