|
Post by www on Feb 23, 2013 6:36:17 GMT -8
U.N. invokes diplomatic immunity on Haiti cholera epidemic Posted By Colum Lynch Thursday, February 21, 2013 - 6:07 PM For nearly two and a half years, the United Nations has sought to skirt responsibility for a ravenous Haitian cholera epidemic that killed at least 8,000 Haitians -- and sickened several hundred thousand more -- since the first outbreak was detected in October 2010, downriver from a sewage outlet used by a contingent of Nepalese blue helmets. Today, Ban Ki-moon phoned Haitian president Michel Martelly to inform him that the United Nations has no intention, or legal obligation, to pay compensation to the families of Haiti's cholera victims. turtlebay.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/02/21/un_invokes_diplomatic_immunity_on_haiti_cholera_epidemic
|
|
|
Post by www on Feb 23, 2013 6:42:33 GMT -8
Pope Immunity: Vatican Will Protect Benedict From Sexual Abuse Prosecution Reuters | By Philip Pullella Posted: 02/17/2013 10:10 pm EST | Updated: 02/17/2013 10:54 pm EST LATERAN PACTS That would continue to provide him immunity under the provisions of the Lateran Pacts while he is in the Vatican and even if he makes jaunts into Italy as a Vatican citizen. The 1929 Lateran Pacts between Italy and the Holy See, which established Vatican City as a sovereign state, said Vatican City would be "invariably and in every event considered as neutral and inviolable territory". There have been repeated calls for Benedict's arrest over sexual abuse in the Catholic Church. When Benedict went to Britain in 2010, British author and atheist campaigner Richard Dawkins asked authorities to arrest the pope to face questions over the Church's child abuse scandal. Dawkins and the late British-American journalist Christopher Hitchens commissioned lawyers to explore ways of taking legal action against the pope. Their efforts came to nothing because the pope was a head of state and so enjoyed diplomatic immunity. In 2011, victims of sexual abuse by the clergy asked the International Criminal Court to investigate the pope and three Vatican officials over sexual abuse. The New York-based rights group Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) and another group, Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), filed a complaint with the ICC alleging that Vatican officials committed crimes against humanity because they tolerated and enabled sex crimes. The ICC has not taken up the case but has never said why. It generally does not comment on why it does not take up cases. www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/17/pope-immunity_n_2708518.html
|
|
|
Post by www on Feb 23, 2013 6:45:21 GMT -8
Peacekeepers gone wild: How much more abuse will the UN ignore in Congo? Gerald Caplan | Special to The Globe and Mail Last updated Friday, Aug. 03 2012, 5:36 PM EDT Yet by 2008, new allegations had arisen. Human rights observers found that a child prostitution ring had been formed and some100 UN troops from India were accused of paying for sex with young Congolese girls. An investigation by the Indian army chose to blame the messenger. The real culprit, it seems, was the UN for bringing charges against their soldiers, all of whom were found innocent. In 2010, for various political reasons, MONUC became MONUSCO, but changing names doesn’t change a culture. Once again evidence of sexual violence has raised its ugly head, uncovered by investigations conducted in recent weeks by Dr. Victoria Fontan, head of the Department of Peace and Conflict Studies at the University for Peace in Costa Rica. (Full disclosure: I am a visiting professor at UPeace based in her department.) Her work in eastern Congo builds on her substantial first-hand experience in conflict zones ranging from Bosnia to Iraq. Despite zero tolerance, Prof. Fontan accuses MONUSCO peacekeepers of continuing the dishonorable MONUC tradition of committing violent and abusive acts against Congolese girls, and doing so with complete impunity. www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/second-reading/peacekeepers-gone-wild-how-much-more-abuse-will-the-un-ignore-in-congo/article4462151/
|
|
|
Post by anon on Nov 11, 2013 9:15:45 GMT -8
|
|
|
Post by clone on Apr 3, 2015 2:24:07 GMT -8
|
|