UN : THE WEST DICTATES SECURITY COUNCIL AGENDA
by Analysis by Thalif Deen
NEW YORK (IPS) (IPS) - The continued political deadlock over a rash of ongoing crises -- including Iran, Myanmar (Burma), Palestine, Kosovo, Zimbabwe and Sudan -- is threatening to paralyse one of the world's most powerful political bodies, harking back to the days of the Cold War when it was turned into a battleground for U.S.-Soviet confrontation.

The 15-member Security Council, the only UN body with the power to make war and peace, remained incapacitated when China and Russia double vetoed two different resolutions, over the last 19 months, aimed at punishing Burma and Zimbabwe.

In January last year, a Western-backed and U.S.-led move to castigate the Burmese government for human rights violations suffered the first double veto in recent memory.

And in early July, history repeated itself, when these two big powers exercised their vetoes again -- this time to stall a resolution aimed at imposing sanctions against Zimbabwe for its disputed presidential elections.

The Zimbabwe resolution co-sponsored by Western nations -- led by the veto-wielding United States, Britain and France -- was dismissed by China and Russia primarily on the grounds that domestic issues, including human rights and presidential elections, do not constitute threats to international peace and security: the primary mandate of the Security Council.

Dr. Stephen Zunes, professor of politics and international studies at the University of San Francisco, told IPS that although the double veto was "very disappointing and certainly a setback in terms of UN's ability to stand up for human rights, it does not represent a significant precedent."

For example, there were the multiple triple vetoes by the United States, Britain and France, which blocked sanctions against South Africa during the apartheid era, he said.

"There have been the multiple U.S. vetoes blocking UN action over ongoing Israeli violations of international humanitarian law in the West Bank, which -- unlike the Zimbabwe case -- did not even involve issues of national sovereignty, since they involved territories under belligerent occupation," he added.

Similarly, France and the United States have repeatedly prevented the Security Council from enforcing its resolutions on Western Sahara due to their support for the Moroccan monarch, said Zunes, who has written extensively on issues relating to Security Council vetoes.

"Indeed, one would have to wonder what the three Western powers on the Security Council would have done if there was a similar resolution involving Equatorial Guinea or any of the other dozen Western-backed dictatorships in Africa," Zunes told IPS.

While Western hypocrisy is no excuse for China and Russia to block strong action against Zimbabwe, he argued, the Western nations should not expect those countries to be more responsible in enforcing international standards of human rights as long as they fail to do so themselves.

If the Western powers had their way, as one political observer pointed out, the Security Council would have imposed international sanctions against Sudan, Burma, Iran and Zimbabwe, and also admitted Kosovo as a new UN member state (a move that will be vetoed by Russia).

If China and Russia had their way, the Security Council would have penalised Israel for the increasingly brutal occupation of Palestinian territories (a move that will surely be vetoed by the United States, along with France and Britain).

So, the conflicting political scenario has continued to leave the Security Council in a state of permanent deadlock.

Speaking just after the double veto on Zimbabwe, an Asian diplomat told IPS that "the Security Council has been paralysed once again on a topical issue."

Many had expected China and Russia to abstain, he said. "That was the feedback many of us had, but something happened in between."

Russia's decision to veto, he said, toughened the Chinese position. "There was a view prior to this that China would try to be accommodating given the Olympics. Clearly, this consideration did not stop them, as evidenced by the veto."

He also said: "I understand that they wanted an up-front assurance from the three Western powers that the Security Council would suspend any indictment of Sudanese President (Ahmad) Al-Bashir by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in return for an abstention" -- an issue that could come up before the Security Council in the near future.

But the Western powers were apparently unwilling to agree to this, claiming that justice had to take its course.

He said the double veto could herald a period of greater division and tension in the Security Council.

"If this is the case, we can expect the Security Council to be paralysed further," he added.

Commenting on the failed resolution on Zimbabwe, Bill Fletcher Jr., executive editor of BlackCommentator.com, said: "U.S.-inspired sanctions against the Mugabe regime in Zimbabwe lack any moral authority. This does not excuse President (Robert) Mugabe for his autocratic approach to the situation in his country."

Rather, with the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq -- and its threats to Iran, Venezuela, Cuba and other countries -- the United States lacks the ability to play a leading role in resolving the Zimbabwe crisis, Fletcher told IPS.

As is happening now, the African Union (AU) must be pressured to play the leading role, along with the Southern African Development Community (SADC), he added.

"This means that Africans must lead in putting the pressure on the Mugabe regime," Fletcher said.

The Congress of South African Trade Unions has suggested a policy of complete non-cooperation with the Mugabe regime and this makes sense if led by Africans rather than introduced by those in the West who have unhelpful agendas, he added.

On Monday, in a dramatic turnaround, the Mugabe government and the opposition agreed to a dialogue "with a view to creating a genuine, viable, permanent and sustainable solution to the Zimbabwe crisis."

This agreement was reached as a result of the intervention both by the AU and SADC. The talks are scheduled to take place later this week in Pretoria, presided over by South African President Thabo Mbeki.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a Third World diplomat told IPS that there is also a disturbing tendency by the "West" to try to broaden the definition of what is a "threat to international peace and security".

While the UN Charter leaves some room for interpretation, this definition of a "threat" has generally been confined to wars and violence.

"What we were seeing now is an attempt by the West to include all manner of transgressions as possible reasons that require Security Council action," the diplomat said.

In the Zimbabwe case, the argument was that democracy, elections, and human rights all fall under possible new definitions of "threats". "This is the same sort of reasoning that we have seen the West try to apply to Myanmar over the political process and the humanitarian crisis."

Related to this, he said, there is also a tendency on the part of the West to impose its own standards of behaviour on the world.

"You can see this being done throughout the UN, most noticeably in the committee dealing with social, humanitarian and cultural issues, and increasingly now so in the Security Council," he said.

"I am not sure whether the double veto will stymie these Western efforts. I doubt so. They will keep pushing the envelope," he declared. (END)

DEATH PENALTY : FINAL QUARTER YET TO BE CONVINCED
by Petar Hadji-Ristic
ROME (IPS) (IPS) - Nine countries have taken major steps towards jettisoning the death penalty over the past 18 months, leaving just a quarter of nations left to abolish the practice, according to the 2008 report from the group Hands off Cain.

"The worldwide trend towards abolition for the last decade was again confirmed in 2007 and the first six months of 2008. There are currently 149 countries and territories that, to different extents, have decided to renounce the death penalty," according to the organisation's annual report, The Death Penalty Worldwide, presented at a press conference in Rome Thursday.

Forty-nine countries now retain the death penalty. Twenty-six of these carried executions last year.

"There have been so many positive moves towards abolition of the death penalty in the course of 2007 and the first six months of this year," Elisabetta Zamparutti, editor of the report, told IPS.

"Nine countries -- Rwanda, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Comoros, South Korea, Guyana, Zambia, Cook Islands and Albania -- have moved in different ways to become abolitionists," she said. Five of these -- Rwanda, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Cook Islands and Albania -- have now abolished the death penalty for all crimes.

In Africa, Zamparutti cited developments short of total abolition in Burundi, Gabon, Mali, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Tanzania. Amnesties were also handed down in Cameroon, Congo, Ghana, Nigeria and Morocco. In 2007, no executions were recorded in Nigeria and Uganda, although there were at least nine in 2006.

"We are seeing many positive moves in Africa," she said.

But in 2007 the number of executions worldwide increased to at least 5,851, compared to a minimum of 5,635 in 2006, Hands off Cain reported.

This was due to a big increase in executions in Iran and Saudi Arabia, ranked second and third on the rights organisation's "podium of inhumanity". In 2007, Iran was known to have executed at least 355 people, a one-third increase over 2006. Saudi Arabia -- the country with the highest number of executions per capita -- executed at least 166 people, four times the number in 2006.

"In Iran the situation is worsening by the day," Zamparutti said. At least 127 executions have been recorded up to the end of June this year.

"In 2007, and in the first months of 2008, death sentences and executions for essentially political motives were confirmed in Iran," according to the report. In 2007, Iran also executed at least seven juvenile offenders, Saudi Arabia three, and Pakistan and Yemen one each.

Most of the world's executions in 2007 -- at least 5,000 -- were registered in China, according to the report.

Hands off Cain acknowledged that in some countries, such as China and Vietnam, official statistics on the death penalty are a state secret. Local newspapers and independent sources monitored the death penalty but "only a part of the phenomenon." From some countries, such as North Korea, there was no information at all.

"The U.N resolution did ask states that use the death penalty to provide information on the number of their executions and death sentences. But we are calling now for a U.N. special envoy on the death penalty. We think this would be very useful (in monitoring the numbers precisely)," Zamparutti said.

The rights organisation described the passing of the U.N. General Assembly resolution in December 2007 calling for a moratorium on executions as a "historic achievement." The resolution was passed by 104 votes to 54, with 29 abstentions.

The resolution came after 15 years of campaigning by the organisation, including hunger strikes by its president Marco Pannella, to put pressure on the Italian government to be more energetic in tabling the resolution before the world body.

"The real work begins now," the report says. "It is necessary to double our efforts so that this success doesn't wear out and fade away. It is necessary to use the moratorium to finally arrive at abolishing the death penalty completely."

Former Italian prime minister Romano Prodi, credited with successfully getting the resolution before the U.N., was presented the Hands off Cain's 'Abolitionist of the Year 2008' award.

At the presentation, the organisation called for a moratorium on the death penalty for Tariq Aziz, Iraq's former deputy prime minister, now on trial in Baghdad on charge of executing a group of merchants in 1992.

"This is an important non-violent initiative for us," said Zamparutti, who joined a hunger strike with Pannella and other members of Hands off Cain five days ago to bring attention to the "bogus" trial.

"It is not clear what is going on. We are calling for the Italian parliament to send a delegation to meet with Tariq Aziz to understand the situation better."

The organisation also has an online appeal for the Tariq Aziz moratorium. (END)

LEBANON : BODIES SWAP BRINGS UNEASY TRIUMPH
by Mona Alami
BEIRUT (IPS) (IPS) - The image of 199 coffins covered with Lebanese, Palestinian and Hezbollah flags neatly aligned in a southern Beirut compound was broadcast last week on all national Lebanese TV stations. On Tuesday this week, 144 of these remains were transferred to Syria, their final place of rest. Such images have stirred varying emotions among the Lebanese population.

On Jul. 16, a massive prisoner swap operation between Israel and Hezbollah -- the eighth since 1991 -- took place on the southern Naquoura Lebanese border, leading to the release of the last five Lebanese prisoners in Israeli jails and 199 bodies of Lebanese and Palestinian fighters. About two years after the July 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel -- which erupted after Hezbollah crossed the border and captured two Israeli soldiers, paving the way for the prisoner exchange -- the Lebanese are again divided.

Israel was given in exchange the bodies of the two Israeli soldiers and the remains of some others.

Hezbollah organised celebration of the release of the detainees with careful attention to minute detail: the party's fighters paraded on horseback, and hordes of supporters waved al-Moqawama (the resistance, as the group calls itself) flags. The sky was blue and faces cheerful when the former prisoners and the bodies of others arrived.

Samir Qantar -- a Lebanese Palestinian Liberation Front member imprisoned for 29 years on several counts of murder, including the killing of a four-year-old girl and her father -- as well as Khodor Zeidan, Maher Kourani, Mohammed Srour and Hussein Suleiman, Hezbollah fighters captured during the 2006 war, enacted a breaking of the barriers of their Israeli jail before the attentive crowds.

"I cried while watching the rally! Can you believe that Lebanon is the first Arab country to close its detainee file with Israel, while neither Syria nor Jordan have been able to?" said Abed, a shoe store owner from Dahyeh, Beirut's southern suburb and a Hezbollah stronghold. He and others present seemed in awe of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, who they say "always keeps his promises."

Hezbollah built a media campaign around "al waad", or the promise of victory, after its July war with Israel. "This event makes me proud to be Lebanese, Sayyed Hassan (Nasrallah) has been able to effectively defend and restore our honour," said Dohaa, one of the shoemaker's clients.

The swap operation was dubbed al-Radwan in reference to the 'Hajj Radwan' alias of Hezbollah's Imad Moughnieh, who was on the FBI's most wanted terrorist list. A controversial figure among Lebanese, he is believed to have masterminded many of Hezbollah's military operations before his assassination in Syria this year Feb. 12.

When asked if Lebanese would be ready to face another war with Israel, Hanna, a chocolate store owner in Hamra, a shopping area in Beirut, said: "Now that we have recovered our prisoners, let us live in peace! The last war was more than enough."

Many Lebanese, like Hanna, found it admirable that in addition to the freed Lebanese prisoners, Hezbollah successfully reclaimed the remains of 199 Arab fighters. In all 144 were buried in Syria Wednesday. "Lebanon has definitely been able to achieve yet another victory against the Jewish state, and provided Arabs with a powerful and successful resistance model," Hanna says.

Not everyone, however, shares Hanna's viewpoint. At a rally organised in celebration of his return in Obay, Qantar's hometown, the prisoner was booed when he declared his loyalty to Syria, the main supporter of Hezbollah, and accused by many to be provoking trouble by creating discord among the different religious communities.

"I might be happy about the prisoner release from a humanitarian perspective, but I have a feeling that the chapter on Israel is not yet closed," said Beirut resident Salam. "Israel will definitely find a new way to teach Hezbollah a lesson."

The young man says Hezbollah's "publicity stunt" has strengthened its regional position while significantly weakening the government and the general image of Lebanon.

"Lebanon (the government) was completely sidelined in the recent negotiations," he said. "This is unacceptable if we truly believe in building our nation together."

Carlos Edde, head of the Lebanese National Block, told IPS that though he was happy about the return of Lebanese prisoners to their homeland, the swap only undermined Lebanon's sovereignty.

"Lebanon was bypassed by Germany, which acted as an intermediary during the negotiations between Hezbollah and Israel, with the blessing of the UN secretary-general," he said.

Hezbollah has been accused of becoming 'a state within a state', and its weapons and independent telecommunications system have been criticised by many Lebanese, who want them handed over to the government. Hezbollah is the only Lebanese faction officially allowed to keep its arsenal. (END)

AFRICA : CROP FAILURE INTERTWINED WITH CLIMATE CHANGE
by Miriam Mannak
CAPE TOWN (IPS) (IPS) - Climate change has a profound effect on food security in Africa, as increasing temperatures and shifting rain patterns reduce access to food across the continent.

This transpired at a conference on global warming and climate change July 21-July 24 in Cape Town, South Africa.

The discussion was organised by South Africa’s Fynbos Foundation, which aims to realise investment in the media, publishing, arts and culture sectors, and the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University in the United States.

The relationship between climate change and food security is complex. Many factors influence food security, which means that often ‘‘the link is not even made between failed crops and changing weather patterns,’’ Dr Gina Ziervogel, senior researcher at the Climate Systems Analysis Group at the University of Cape Town, told the conference.

Over the past decade Ziervogel has conducted extensive research on people and the environment in southern Africa.

Climate change affects African food systems in the broadest sense of the word: ‘‘It affects the availability of, access to and utilisation of food,’’ she explained.

‘‘Changing weather patterns or extreme weather events, such as floods or droughts, can have negative consequences for agricultural production. As a result people have less access to food, which forces them to buy food products. This affects their financial situation.

‘‘It also influences their health as people often buy cheaper food which is frequently less nutritious. Especially for those who need a nutritious diet -- the chronically ill, for instance -- this poses a problem,’’ Ziervogel indicated.

Increasing temperatures and the change in precipitation and frequency of extreme weather spells also threaten African food systems, Ziervogel continued.

Changes in precipitation ‘‘are not merely about increasing or decreasing rainfall. Rainy seasons that begin later or earlier than normal or sudden rain spells hitting a region when it is supposed to be dry, have a greater impact on crops failing than a wetter rainy season that starts on time’’.

Another scenario where the effects of climate change on the vulnerability of food systems become visible is where arable land is lost. This happens as a result of declining ground water levels and rising sea levels. It can lead to aridity of the soil or increasing levels of saline.

‘‘It reduces the suitability of land for cultivation of crops,’’ Ziervogel argued.

Such changes require farmers to alter their agricultural practices. Sorghum, for instance, is more heat resistant and therefore does better than maize in places where rainfall decreases.

‘‘However, the question is whether communities that are used to and have a preference for maize will switch to sorghum or another more suitable staple crop,’’ Ziervogel pointed out.

Another consequence of climate change that affects food security in Africa is the increasing frequency of extreme weather events such as floods, droughts, hail and heat waves. These can be fatal to crops.

‘‘A couple of years ago, I was in Lesotho during December. A sudden spell of frost destroyed much of the country’s maize harvest,’’ Ziervogel told delegates. ‘‘This is unusual for summer.’’

Apart from damaging crops directly, extreme climatological events may damage infrastructure such as roads: ‘‘This may prevent people from buying and selling food on the markets and therefore also undermines food security.’’

Climate change also leads to pest outbreaks that further weaken food systems. ‘‘Climate change induces outbreaks of pests such as the desert locust,’’ Professor Onesmo ole-MoiYoi of the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology told the conference.

The centre, which has its headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, aims to alleviate poverty, ensure food security and improve health in the tropics by developing management tools against harmful insects.

‘‘In case of an outbreak, locusts are capable of destroying crops. I have seen a locust outbreak. They eat everything they can find, within days.’’

Despite the disastrous effect of locusts on food security in Africa, the world has yet to take action. ‘‘That is because outbreaks only occur every seven or so years. But the frequency could change in the future.’’

Climate change not only impinges on the cultivation of crops, Ziervogel stressed. The fishing industry is being threatened as well. ‘‘Fish stocks in large lakes across Africa are declining -- not only because of over-fishing but because of declining water levels due to evaporation as a result of rising temperatures.’’ (END)

HEALTH-SWAZILAND : AIDS CREATING A SOCIETY IN DISTRESS
by James Hall
MANZINI (IPS) (IPS) - In a narrow and still winter-brown valley, little more than a crevice between rocky mountains, Gogo Ndlovu looks after her five young orphaned grandchildren.

The slight, stooped grandmother leans over her stick at the edge of a field planted, with the help of neighbours, with maize. The stalks are brittle and withered and the maize cobs are stunted.

"The rain came but it stopped. The maize stopped growing. We have nothing, nothing. I don't know what to do. When you go to the store for food they want money," she said.

The boys, Famuza (9), Sifiso (11), Sandla (11) and Mbuso (10), and their sister Nelisiwe (12) have little to wear to school. Two boys share a pair of shoes while the others are barefoot. They usually go to school hungry, and wait for a United Nations Children's Fund lunch.

Relatively speaking, Gogo Ndlovu's brood is fortunate in that they are on the radar of aid agencies, while some households are not. The family receives emergency food rations from the World Food Programme (WFP) and the children attend school, their fees paid by a government programme.

This family is just one of many facing the same situation in this small mountainous kingdom in Southern Africa. With an HIV prevalence of 19 percent -- the highest in the world -- AIDS is having an unprecedented impact on Swaziland. Life expectancy has fallen from 60 years to 31 years, the world's lowest figure, and one in three children are orphaned or left vulnerable from AIDS. Last year, about 40 percent of the population needed food aid.

"AIDS has been a contributor to the food shortage. Families lose their household heads, the able-bodied men and women. What is left are grandparents who are at that time of their lives when they expect to retire and they often need care themselves, but they must again raise a new generation of children. The grandparents are too old to tend the fields, and the children are too small," said Abdoulaye Balde, country representative for the WFP.

The land goes fallow, which by Swazi custom puts the children in jeopardy. On Swazi Nation Land where 80 percent of Swazis reside as subsistence farmers, chiefs allocate homesteads for families to live as long as the land is utilized. Some chiefs have expelled old and young residents of a homestead after the middle-generation dies of AIDS. Either the remaining family is absorbed into relatives' homesteads or they are left destitute and homeless.

The Swaziland branch of Women in Law in Southern Africa has made orphans' property rights a priority. An organisation of HIV-positive women Swazis for Positive Living (SWAPOL), as well as UNICEF, work to ensure that children are not severed from the places they call home.

Siphiwe Hlope, founder SWAPOL said; "We engage in projects to assist people affected by AIDS. Since we started in 2003, at least one quarter of the money we earn from our agricultural and sewing projects goes to orphans ."

Another member of SWAPOL, a 45 year-old widowed seamstress named Sunshine Kunene, said; "The danger facing (orphans) is neglect, because the numbers are so high. One out of five people in this country will be children under 15, orphaned after both parents die of AIDS, and that will only be in two or three years. Where are the resources to take care of them?"

Social worker Agnes Khumalo added; "Swaziland cannot cope on its own. How can it? No country could handle an AIDS crisis on top of a food and humanitarian crisis. Almost half of pregnant women in Swaziland are HIV positive."

Her views are echoed by recent research produced by the Health Economics and HIV/AIDS Research Division, based at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. It has brought attention to the fact that although Swaziland is being devastated by AIDS, it is not getting the priority it needs from the international community. The country is handicapped because the economic successes of the past mean it is categorised as a middle-income country, and thus cannot access the support that low-income countries receive from the international donor community.

The report, 'Reviewing Emergencies for Swaziland' (2007), indicates that by the time Swaziland's rapidly declining economy plunges it into the low-income category, it may be too late for any intervention to be effective. Death rates now exceed the daily mortality thresholds used by agencies as an indicator of an emergency, the report states, and a new response is needed.

Despite the implementation of many support programmes, their ability to respond to the overall need is apparent.

While international agencies debate the terms, Gogo Ndlovu struggles on. Her grandchildren trudge two kilometers of rocky pathway to a community care point for orphans. They sit against an outcropping of stones with other children, while a pot of porridge bubbles over a wood fire.

A woman ladles the porridge into bowls, and the children blow on it to cool it because they have no spoons and must eat with their fingers.

The silence lasts a few minutes, then a soccer ball made of plastic bags wrapped layer over layer is produced. They kick it over a small patch of dirt, shouting.

Scrubbing the big iron pot, the cook looks at them. "It really takes so little to make them normal, doesn't it?" (END)