Democracy & Civics

Families a Casualty of Kashmir Split

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As many as 50,000 Indian-Pakistani families have been divided by the disputed Kashmir province since 1989. Among them are several hundred women who have not seen their husbands in decades, and are subject to harassment and worse. According to Women’s E News, Hanifa Aktar has lived alone for years on the Indian-controlled side of the border, separated from her husband and daughter in nearby Pakistani territory. Although the official peace process has allowed some 2,000 people to reunite in Kashmir, Aktar’s petitions to cross have been repeatedly denied. The Web site reports that Indian authorities, convinced that her husband is a separatist, have registered her name on a computerized blacklist, confiscated her passport, block phone contact, and periodically raid her home.

Democracy & Civics

The World's Prison Crisis

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Overcrowding, poor hygiene and drug addiction aren’t just issues that affect U.S. prisons, but extend to those of other regimes worldwide. In Iraq, several prisoners in Interior Ministry facilities have been diagnosed with scabies — though it’s not clear whether the problem extends to U.S.-run prisons. The government denies that scabies are a problem, and refuses to accept medication from an Iraqi advocacy group, which is now calling for international intervention. “Bad management of prisons isn’t something new in Iraq but sometimes I think it is worse now than it was during Saddam Hussein’s regime,” said one Iraqi prison guard, speaking anonymously to the United Nations news service. In Zimbabwe, overcrowded prisons — crammed with 40,000 people, but designed for only 16,000 — are rife with filth, and have become home to a mass outbreak of dermatomyositis.

Nation

U.S. Leads in Weapons Trade — For Now

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The United States still dominates the global arms trade, but its modus operandi has come under increased scrutiny, even as competitors battle for first place. Australia, Britain, Japan and mush of Africa are among 100 countries that would like to create a U.N. treaty regulating the arms trade. The NRA vehemently opposes the proposal — which would focus only on arms imports and exports, but which the advocacy group perceives as a slippery slide toward domestic gun regulations. The United States has studiously avoided taking a position on the treaty, but last December was the lone dissenting vote among 153 nations on a General Assembly resolution creating the treaty process, reports Australia’s Herald Sun. U.S. arms exports totaled $17 billion last year, giving it close to a 42 percent market share, according to the Congressional Research office.

World

Political Asylum Becomes Private Detention

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“Untouchable” refugees — including the elderly, certain ethnic groups, large families, single men and poorly educated individuals — remain unwelcome in many prospective host countries, according to a new U.N. report. The report notes that even if their asylum claims are justified, refugees from countries like Iraq, Sri Lanka and Somalia face a poor reception depending on where they go. Some countries even refuse to allow ocean-traveling refugees to disembark when their ships make landfall. Those that are permitted entry may be treated no differently than criminals, facing “legal limbo” in private detention centers, according to Reuters. A U.N. official said the surge of private detention centers allows governments to shed their responsibility for the refugees, creating prison-like conditions that are reinforced by a growing detention industry.

Democracy & Civics

French DNA Bill Stirs Anti-Immigrant Fears

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If a French bill becomes law, any immigrant seeking to join relatives in France will have the option of taking a DNA test to prove they are related. The controversial bill is described as voluntary, but opponents say they fear anyone who refuses will be discriminated against when they apply, and that the law has been proposed to stir up anti-immigrant sentiment ahead of municipal elections. The legislation also requires would-be immigrants to prove their understanding of the French language and cultural values, and that their family can support them and earn minimum wage. Sources
“France: Senate backs controversial migrant DNA tests”
ADNKronos, October 4, 2007

Nation

Genocide Resolution a Threat to Turkey's Jews?

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Turkey’s Foreign Minister issued a cryptically threatening remark in response to a non-binding resolution before the U.S. Congress that would declare the World War I killings of Armenians in eastern Anatolia to be genocide. The Turkish government still denies the murders happened on such a large scale, and warned that if the U.S. were to pass the resolution, it would “further damage” U.S.-Turkish relations, reports the Istanbul-based newspaper Today’s Zaman. Foreign Minister Ali Babacan also said the move would create a backlash directed at Turkey’s Jewish population. “We have told [the American Jewish groups] that we cannot explain it to the public in Turkey if a road accident happens. We have told them that we cannot keep the Jewish people out of this,” he said.

World

Refugees: A Risky Route to Yemen

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Thousands of Somali and Ethiopian refugees attempting to flee to Yemen are risking their lives in covert smuggling voyages across the dangerous Gulf of Aden, reports ADNKronos. Of the 4,741 people who crossed in September alone, 89 were killed and 154 are missing and presumed dead. Many refugees are killed by asphyxiation below board or drown when smugglers throw them into the water before reaching shore. Refugees say the smugglers also beat them with pipes, while the Yemeni coast guard opens fire when they see the boat approaching. The United Nations has committed to building a new refugee camp on the Yemeni coast, and will train the coast guards and immigration officials on refugee law, humanitarian law and rescue at sea.

World

Russia and the Muslims

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A series of unprovoked attacks on native Russian families living in Ingushetia, a Muslim Republic in Southern Russia, have brought hundreds of Russian security forces into the area and increased the level of carnage in recent days. Accusations abound as to who is responsible for the killings. Some believe the assailants are boyeviki, or Muslim rebels based in the mountains, who want to gain power in the region. Others think the killings are organized by opponents of President Murad Zyazikov as a way to get him out of office. For its part, the opposition points out that the killings make it easy for Zyazikov to argue that he needs to stay in office.

Democracy & Civics

A Nuclear "Renaissance"

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Although it is a long way from becoming a reality, pundits are already predicting a “nuclear renaissance” in America for the first time in 30 years, even as plans for new plants take shape around the world. A New Jersey company has filed an application with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to built two nuclear power plants in Texas, and the NRC expects to receive applications to build 28 more reactors in the next 15 months, according to the Christian Science Monitor. The traditional arguments against nuclear energy — that it is dangerous, costly, offers terrorist attack targets and creates radioactive waste — have not changed. What has changed is the fact that the U.S. government is offering to guarantee investors against loan defaults, and the potential of nuclear power as an energy source with low greenhouse gas emissions. Given the history of nuclear power plants in the U.S. — many of which were never built, at huge cost overruns, after the Three Mile Island meltdown — many experts predict taxpayers will have to pay up when companies default on their loans.

World

Bhutto Promises Nuclear Access

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Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto said that if she were to return to power, she would permit the United Nations — but not the United States or other Western powers — to interview the nuclear weapons expert AQ Khan. Khan, who was pardoned in 2004 by President Pervez Musharraf for passing nuclear secrets to Libya, Iran and North Korea, has “lived under virtual house arrest” since then, reports Agence France-Press. Bhutto, who plans to return from exile to Pakistan on October 18, is jockeying for power amid growing dissatisfaction with Musharraf. According to Reuters, negotiations with Musharraf have “stalled,” and could lead to mass resignations by her political allies ahead of contested elections there. Source:
“Bhutto would give UN access to nuclear expert AQ Khan”
Agence France-Presse, September 26, 2007
“Pakistan’s Bhutto says talks with Musharraf stalled”
Reuters, October 3, 2007