IDN-InDepthNews

ARMAMENTS2016-11-072023-07-10

NATO Shores Up Hegemonial Power Through Nuke Deterrence

By Xanthe Hall, IPPNW and ICAN Germany

Note: This article first appeared in the IPPNW Peace and Health Blog on November 3, 2016.

BERLIN (IDN-INPS) – For once, the United States, France and the United Kingdom are in agreement with Russia: plans to negotiate a nuclear weapons ban need to be stopped. Before the vote on October 27 in the UN First Committee, they pulled out all the stops to pressurise other states to vote against or abstain on a draft resolution co-sponsored by 57 states for a conference to be convened in 2017 to negotiate a nuclear ban.

UN INSIDER2016-11-062023-07-10

Kudos for Kazakh Commitment to Peace and Nuke-Free World

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – A close look at the voting on a ground-breaking resolution adopted by the Disarmament and International Security Committee of the United Nations General Assembly on October 27 underlines Kazakhstan’s unflinching commitment to a nuclear-weapons free world. And a U.S. foreign policy expert has commended this.

The resolution Taking forward multilateral nuclear disarmament negotiations approved by 123 votes – as against 38 rejections and 16 abstentions – establishes a UN conference in 2017 “to negotiate a legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons, leading towards their total elimination”.

UN INSIDER2016-11-052023-07-10

A Lot of Sticks for the UN Human Rights Council

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – An array of nations have criticised the Human Rights Council for overstepping its mandate among others by delving into matters that fell within the domestic jurisdiction of States, politicising human rights and unfairly targeting some countries.

As the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) discussed the Council’s annual report on November 4, several other countries – including the U.S. and those from Europe – however spotlighted the link between ensuring fundamental freedoms and achieving sustainable development.

Climate Action2016-11-042023-07-10

Ban Lauds CSOs for Making Paris Climate Accord a Reality

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – Less than two months before UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon concludes his second term, he has described the entry into force of the Paris Agreement on climate change on November 4 “an emotional moment” for him, “a credit” to all civil society organizations (CSOs), and “historic for the world”.

He praised CSOs for their leadership, commitment and engagement, inviting them to “work together to make this world better for all”. In rather impassioned remarks, he said: “Today we celebrate, reflect and give thanks. I am deeply grateful to all of you and your organizations – representing millions of people. At a time when civil society is under attack in so many parts of the world, you have shown that citizens’ groups are essential partners for progress.”

OPINION2016-11-042023-07-10

Celebration & Reality Check as Paris Accord Enters into Force

By Patricia Espinosa and Salaheddine Mezouar

Patricia Espinosa is UNFCCC Executive Secretary and Salaheddine Mezouar, President of COP22 and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of the Kingdom of Morocco.

MARRAKECH (IDN-INPS | UNFCCC COP22) – Humanity will look back on November 4, 2016, as the day that countries of the world shut the door on inevitable climate disaster and set off with determination towards a sustainable future.

The Paris Climate Change Agreement – the result of the most complex, comprehensive and critical international climate negotiation ever attempted – came into force (on November 4).

Climate Action2016-11-032023-07-10

Beware of Euphoria as Paris Climate Accord Enters into Force

By Jaya Ramachandran

BERLIN (IDN) – United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and independent experts are cautioning against euphoria about the entry into force of the landmark Paris Agreement on climate change.

Ahead of the forthcoming meeting of Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), known by the acronym COP 22, beginning on November 7 in Marrakech. Morocco, UNEP’s annual Emissions Gap report said the world must cut a further 25% from predicted 2030 greenhouse gas emissions, “to meet the stronger, and safer, target of 1.5 degrees Celsius” global temperature rise.

Asia-Pacific2016-11-022023-07-10

Philippines and Malaysia Unplug Obama’s Asian Pivot

By Kalinga Seneviratne

BANGKOK (IDN) – Philippines’ outspoken President Rodrigo Duterte while unplugging U.S. President’s much-publicized “Pivot to Asia”, has also challenged the United States to help promote cooperation in the region not confrontation.

Duterte provoked alarm in diplomatic circles last month (October) by announcing his country’s “separation” from the United States and realignment with China while on a visit to Beijing.

Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Razak has also signaled a similar realignment of foreign policy during a visit to Beijing. In a commentary published in the China Daily he said that former colonial powers should not be lecturing to countries they once exploited on running their internal affairs.

NEWSBRIEFS2016-11-012023-07-10

Nigerian Soldiers Accused of Raping Boko Haram Victims

NEW YORK | ABUJA (IDN | GIN) – Dozens of young girls, rescued from Boko Haram kidnappers, were made victims again by the Nigerian soldiers and policemen assigned to protect them, according to accounts documented by investigators for Human Rights Watch.

The New York-based rights group found forty-three cases of “sexual abuse, including rape and exploitation.” Four victims told HRW they were drugged and raped. Thirty-seven said they had been coerced into sex through false marriage promises and material and financial assistance.

NEWSBRIEFS2016-11-012023-07-10

Millions Earmarked for Maternity Care Go Missing in Kenya

NEW YORK | NAIROBI (IDN | GIN) – Dizzying amounts of taxpayers’ money are alleged to have gone missing from Kenya’s Ministry of Health including 800 million shillings (close to US$8 million) designated for free maternity care for poor mothers to be.

The scandal has stunned even the most jaded media pundits who have seen the theft of public monies throughout their careers.

“This is official corruption at its most cruel and unbelievable,” wrote Otieno Otieno of Kenya’s Daily Nation. “You know Kenya has gone to the dogs when they steal from Kenyatta National Hospital, the country’s largest referral health facility mostly in the news for its stone-age problems like the single broken down cancer machine.”

OPINION2016-11-012023-07-10

Africa Should Not Leave the International Criminal Court

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – Many African leaders have been angry for a number of years that the International Criminal Court and the affiliated Rwanda and Sierra Leone war crimes courts appear to have focused exclusively on African war criminals – in Rwanda, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Congo, Ivory Coast, Uganda, Kenya and Somalia.

The South African government announced on October 21 its intention to withdraw from the ICC. Burundi said it had already made such a decision. Then, after those two, came Gambia and now observers are saying there may be others that will follow.