IDN-InDepthNews

Latin America & the Caribbean2017-10-072023-07-10

Giving Visibility – and Land Rights – to the Indigenous

By Fabíola Ortiz

STOCKHOLM (IDN) – Indigenous peoples are all but invisible on the development agenda but a hoped for change is on the cards with the launch of the world’s first and only funding institution to support the efforts of local and native communities to secure rights over their lands and resources.

“Include us, so that we can protect our lands for our children and protect the planet’s biodiversity for all the world’s children,” said by Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples during the launch. Recognising the land rights of native and traditional peoples is a low-cost solution toward achieving the world’s development, environment and climate agendas.

UN INSIDER2017-10-062023-07-10

UN Observes Mahatma Gandhi’s 148th Birthday Reaffirming Commitment to Non-Violence

By Joan Erakit

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) – During a country music festival outside of the Mandalay Bay hotel and casino in Las Vegas, a gunman opened fire on concertgoers killing 50 and wounding over 200. Hours later, some 2230 miles away, the United Nations commemorated the International Day of Non-Violence at its headquarters on October 2, remembering Mahatma Gandhi, leader of the Indian independence movement and pioneer of the philosophy and strategy of non-violence, born 148 years ago.

According to General Assembly resolution A/RES/61/271 of June 15, 2007, which established the commemoration, the International Day is an occasion to “disseminate the message of non-violence, including through education and public awareness”. The resolution reaffirms “the universal relevance of the principle of non-violence” and the desire “to secure a culture of peace, tolerance, understanding and non-violence”.

ACP Group of States2017-10-052023-07-10

79 ACP Countries Resolve ‘Blue Growth Initiative’

By Jaya Ramachandran

BRUSSELS (IDN) – The African, Caribbean and Pacific countries, constituting the ACP Group of States, are determined to develop the fisheries and aquaculture sector in their countries, and unlock the potential of the ‘blue economy’ through a new 40 million Euro (about US$46.8 million) “ACP Blue Growth Initiative”.

The decision to that effect was announced at the conclusion of the 5th ACP Meeting of Ministers in charge of Fisheries and Aquaculture, who gathered in Nassau, the capital city of the Bahamas – the coral-based archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean Bahamas with 700-plus islands – from September 18 to 21, 2017.

Africa2017-10-052023-07-10

Orphans of Conflict in DR Congo Learning a Brazilian Martial Art to Overcome Pain

By Fabíola Ortiz

GOMA (IDN) – Since February this year, 16-year old Melvin* lives in a shelter for former child soldiers in the suburbs of Goma, the capital city of North Kivu province in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). He belongs to a small community.

His story resembles that of many Congolese boys living in the faraway communities in eastern DRC. He was abducted from his home village to forcedly join the Nyatura rebels – a Mayi-Mayi ethnic community-led armed group founded in 2010 mainly by the Congolese Hutus. Among the human rights violations they have been accused of is the recruitment of child soldiers – one of the most heinous crimes they have committed.

It is two years now that the introverted Melvin, who has lost track of his family, has not been able to return to his community. He is likely to be one among thousands of orphans from the conflict.

Asia-Pacific2017-10-042023-07-10

Asians Urged to Demand Reparations for Colonial Crimes

By Janaka Perera

This report first appeared on LankaWeb on October 3, 2017, and is being re-published because it addresses an important issue which has been persistently highlighted by Shashi Tharoor, an eminent Indian politician, prolific writer and a former senior UN official. – The Editor

COLOMBO (IDN-INPS) – At a seminar on Foreign Policy and International Law held at the Organisation of Professional Associations (OPA) auditorium, Colombo on October 2, 2017, a member of the audience, Attorney Senaka Weeraratna, called for unity among Asian countries in claiming compensation from Western colonial powers which ravaged Third World nations including Sri Lanka (then Ceylon), during question time.

Weeraratna said: “The biggest proponents of Human Rights today are the very same countries that had decimated ancient civilizations in the two Americas (Aztec, Inca, Mayan and other Native American – the so-called Red Indian), Australia ( 40,000 year old Aboriginal civilization), Africa, Middle East, and Asia, within the last 500 years. There is mounting evidence of these crimes.”

Nuclear Weapons2017-10-032023-07-10

The Complementarity Between Nuclear Ban Treaty and the NPT

By Sergio Duarte, Ambassador, former U.N. High Representative for Disarmament Affairs*

This article is based on a presentation by the author at a Pugwash Conference in Castiglioncello, Italy, on September 1, 2017. The full text is available at: http://www.uspid.org/Eventi/Archivio/2017_09Castiglioncello_main.html)

NEW YORK (IDN) – At least in one sense, the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons adopted on July 7, 2017 can be considered an offspring of the 47-year old Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). The negotiators of the former clearly intended to provide a path for the fulfilment of the obligation contained in Article VI of the latter. The two texts must not be seen as antagonistic toward each other, but rather as indispensable tools in the effort to eliminate the threat to humanity as a whole posed by the existence of nuclear weapons. This is a common objective of all multilateral instruments concluded by the international community since such weapons began to proliferate in 1945.

OPINION2017-10-032023-07-10

Things Are Suddenly Not Looking Good For India’s PM Modi

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – Recent reports estimate that India’s annual economic growth rate is now down to 5.5%. The government of Narendra Modi which until recently seemed to be on a public opinion roll could fall off its log – but that depends on the Indian electorate ending its self-deceit.

Three years ago Modi at the helm of his Hindu nationalist party, the BJP, gave Congress a thumping defeat. Suave and persuasive on the podium, Modi rammed home a simple message that in the state of Gujarat where he was the chief minister more had been achieved in a short space of time than anywhere else in India. It was industrializing fast, building more roads, modernizing its ports and communications and helping the poor.

Asia-Pacific2017-10-022023-07-10

The UNHRC Resolution and Implications for Sri Lanka

By Dr Palitha Kohona

The writer is a former Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations. The following are extracts from his presentation to the Organisation of Professional Associations, Colombo.

COLOMBO (IDN) – The UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) adopted the resolution entitled “Promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka” on October 1, 2015, Resolution 30/1. This has been described by some critics as a constitution amendment project for Sri Lanka. Interestingly, it was cosponsored by Sri Lanka. In 2017, Sri Lanka obtained a two-year grace period to implement the resolution, further confirming the country’s acquiescence with Resolution 30/1.

Ominously, this year, the High Commissioner commented that in the absence of progress on the implementation of Res. 30/1, other countries could invoke the “universal jurisdiction” principle to start judicial proceedings against persons accused of having committed war crimes.

Africa2017-10-022023-07-10

Nigerian ‘Unsung Hero’ Honoured with Major UN Award

By Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – Zannah Mustapha, a champion for the rights of displaced children growing up amid violence in north-eastern Nigeria to get a quality education, was honoured with the UN Refugee Agency UNHCR‘s Nansen Refugee Award on October 2 for his dedication and commitment to ensuring children and orphans affected by the conflict in Borno State can attend school. A lawyer turned property developer in Borno state, Mustapha also took part in mediating between Boko Haram and the Nigerian government.

Mustapha took home prize money of $150,000, funded in partnership with the Norwegian Refugee Council, the Swiss Government, the Norwegian Government and the IKEA Foundation.

Nuclear Weapons2017-10-022023-07-10

Trump Should Reaffirm That “A Nuclear War Must Never Be Fought”

By Daryl G. Kimball

Daryl G. Kimball is Executive Director of the Arms Control Association. This article first appeared with the headline ‘Prohibit, Do Not Promote, Nuclear Weapons Use’.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (IDN-INPS) – At an emergency UN Security Council briefing on September 4 following North Korea’s sixth and largest nuclear test explosion, Nikki Haley, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, lectured Pyongyang’s leaders that “being a nuclear power is not about using those terrible weapons to threaten others. Nuclear powers understand their responsibilities.”

Days later, in his inaugural address to the UN General Assembly on September 19, U.S. President Donald Trump called North Korea’s leader “rocket man” on “a suicide mission.” Trump warned, “We will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea” if it threatens U.S. allies in the region. North Korea’s foreign minister replied by saying Trump’s insult makes “our rockets’ visit to the entire U.S. mainland inevitable all the more.”