Malaysian mothers hail win for equality in citizenship case

 Yahoo – AFP, September 9, 2021

A group of Malaysian mothers won a landmark case overturning unequal
citizenship rules in the Southeast Asian country (AFP/Handout)

A group of Malaysian mothers won a landmark legal challenge Thursday, overturning what they described as discriminatory citizenship rules affecting women who gave birth overseas. 

The rules had meant a woman with a foreign spouse who had a child abroad was barred from automatically passing on her Malaysian nationality. 

Similar restrictions did not apply to men from the Southeast Asian country, who enjoy a straight path to citizenship for their offspring. 

Socially conservative Malaysia was among only a handful of countries worldwide with such rules, with campaigners long complaining they were discriminatory. 

But on Thursday, the High Court in Kuala Lumpur ruled in favour of a challenge brought by six Malaysian mothers, who argued the regulations breached the constitution. 

"This judgement recognises Malaysian women's equality, and marks one step forward to a more egalitarian and just Malaysia," said Suri Kempe, president of NGO Family Frontiers, which helped bring the case to court. 

The judgement applies to all Malaysian mothers, not just the plaintiffs in the case, she said. 

The lawyer for the mothers, Gurdial Singh Nijar, hailed a "momentous decision", saying the rules had "disrupted family structures". 

There was no immediate reaction from the government, and it was not clear whether they would appeal the ruling. 

Campaigners said the law had sometimes left women trapped in abusive relationships. 

If they brought their children back to Malaysia, the youngsters faced obstacles in accessing public services like free education and healthcare. 

Women could apply for their overseas-born children to be granted citizenship but authorities rarely agreed. 

According to Family Frontiers, the home ministry received over 4,000 applications between 2013 and 2018, but only approved 142. 

The government had sought to get the mothers' challenge dismissed, insisting the rules were in line with the constitution. 

But campaigners said they breached constitutional guarantees to equality before the law, and the court allowed the case to proceed.

Latest Thailand pro-democracy protest draws at least 10,000

Yahoo – AFP, Lillian SUWANRUMPHA, August 16, 2020

Student-led groups have held near-daily protests across the country for the past month

An anti-government protest in Thailand drew more than 10,000 people on Sunday, the largest political demonstration the kingdom has seen in years as a pro-democracy movement gathers steam.

Student-led groups have held near-daily protests across the country for the past month to denounce Premier Prayut Chan-O-Cha -- a former army chief who led a 2014 coup -- and his military-aligned administration.

By Sunday evening the protesters -- who are demanding major democratic reforms -- had taken over the busy intersection around Bangkok's Democracy Monument, which was built to mark the 1932 revolution that ended royal absolutism.

Police closed off surrounding main roads to stop incoming traffic, and an official at Bangkok's Metropolitan Police Bureau told AFP the crowd size had grown to 10,000 by 6:00 pm (1100 GMT).

"Down with the dictatorship," the students chanted, many holding signs critical of the administration. Others held bird-shaped cutouts representing peace.

The peaceful gathering at Democracy Monument is the largest the kingdom has seen since Prayut staged a putsch in 2014.

The protesters are demanding major democratic reforms in Thailand

Partly inspired by the Hong Kong democracy movement, the protesters claim to be leaderless and have relied mostly on social media campaigns to draw support across the country.

"Give a deadline to dictatorship" was the top Twitter hashtag in Thailand on Sunday.

They are demanding an overhaul of the government and a rewriting of the 2017 military-scripted constitution, which they believe skewed last year's election in favour of Prayut's military-aligned party.

Organiser Tattep Ruangprapaikitseree reaffirmed the call Sunday, adding that the government must "stop threatening the people".

"If there's no positive response from the government by September, we will step up," Tattep shouted to a sea of supporters holding up their mobile phones as flashlights.

Tensions have risen over the last two weeks with authorities arresting three activists. They were released on bail after being charged with sedition.

Thai activist Parit 'Penguin' Chirawak also participated in the rally, flanked by 

cheering supporters

They were told not to repeat the alleged offences, but two of them -- prominent student leader Parit Chiwarak and human rights lawyer Anon Numpa -- arrived at the protest venue on Sunday flanked by cheering supporters.

A rally last week by around 4,000 demonstrators called for the abolition of a law protecting Thailand's unassailable monarchy, and for a frank discussion about its role in Thailand.

King Maha Vajiralongkorn sits at the apex of Thai power, flanked by the military and the country's billionaire business elite.

A draconian "112" law can see those convicted sentenced to up to 15 years in jail per charge.

During Sunday's demonstration, which drew a diverse crowd of all ages, many said they agreed with the student demands.

"We can't let the students walk on this difficult path alone," a 68-year-old woman told AFP, declining to provide her name.

Growing discontent

But the increasingly bold pro-democracy movement also has its detractors.

There were royalist counter-protesters as well, who chanted 'Long live the king'

Standing at one corner of the monument's intersection were dozens of royalist protesters carrying portraits of the king and queen, shouting "Long live the king".

Prayut last week described the protesters' demands as "unacceptable" for Thailand's majority, calling the pro-democracy movement "risky" a day before Parit was arrested.

Sunday's massive turnout is meant to send a message to the government that "they cannot forever use legal mechanisms against the people", said political analyst Titipol Phakdeewanich of Ubon Ratchathani University.

"They can see that it's only used to serve the interests of the military and the establishment parties."

After the eight-hour rally, the activists linked arms and marched to a nearby police station to challenge authorities on arrest warrants that local media reported were issued for various leaders.

The police did not arrest anyone, and after a brief stand-off, the activists left.

The growing discontent also comes as the kingdom goes through one of its worst economic periods since 1997 because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Millions have been left jobless, and the crisis has exposed the inequalities in the Thai economy, which is perceived to benefit the elite, pro-military establishment.

Tibetan exile govt urges China to reveal whereabouts of Panchen Lama

This isMoney – AFP, 17 May 2020

The whereabouts of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima - the boy recognised as the reincarnation
of the Panchen Lama by the Dalai Lama on May 14, 1995 - have not been known
since he was taken into custody three days later by Chinese authorities aged six

Tibet's parliament-in-exile on Sunday called for Beijing to confirm the "well-being and whereabouts" of the Panchen Lama, the second-most important figure in Tibetan Buddhism's largest school, a quarter of a century after he disappeared.

The whereabouts of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima -- the boy recognised as the reincarnation of the Panchen Lama by the Dalai Lama on May 14, 1995 -- have not been known since he was taken into custody three days later by Chinese authorities aged six.

"China must provide verifiable information on the wellbeing and whereabouts of the 11th Panchen Lama," the Tibetan parliament-in-exile, which is based in Dharamsala in the foothills of the Indian Himalaya, said in a statement.

"The disappearance of the Panchen Lama is not only an injustice to one person, but it is an injustice to six million Tibetans and their right to religious freedom."

The US Thursday renewed calls on China -- which has appointed its own Panchen Lama -- to free the Tibetan, who rights activists have called the world's youngest political prisoner.

The Dalai Lama has made India his home since fleeing Tibet in 1959, and resides in Dharamsala in the north of the country.

In February he marked the 80th anniversary of his enthronement as the spiritual leader of Tibet, a position held almost entirely in exile and as a target of constant vilification by the Chinese state.

China's officially atheist government has said it could seek to name a successor to the 84-year-old Tibetan spiritual leader.

In 2015 the official Xinhua news agency quoted an official in Tibet as saying that the Panchen Lama was healthy, enjoying an education and "does not want to be disturbed".

Japan minister becomes first to announce paternity leave

Yahoo – AFP, January 15, 2020

Koizumi said it had been a difficult decision to balance his duties as minister
and his desire to be with his newborn (AFP Photo/STR)

Japan's environment minister said Wednesday he would take two weeks of paternity leave, the first time a cabinet minister has publicly committed to such a move in the country.

Shinjiro Koizumi, a media-savvy 38-year-old married to a former television anchorwoman, told a ministry meeting it had been a difficult decision to balance his duties as minister and his desire to be with his newborn.

"I want to take a total of two weeks off flexibly, making exceptions for important public duties," he said, adding he hoped his decision would help change perceptions and encourage other fathers to follow suit.

He will not take the weeks off consecutively and said he expected to work remotely or have shortened days during the leave period -- which will be spread over three months from his child's birth.

The government's top spokesman backed the move, saying it was "important to create a conducive work-place atmosphere and social acceptance and support for men to ask for and take parental leave."

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters that he hoped Koizumi's decision would have a positive impact on attitudes to male parenting.

There are no official records on whether cabinet ministers have previously taken parental leave, but Koizumi is the first to publicly announce he is doing so.

'Paternity harassment' cases

The son of a former Prime Minister, Koizumi was named environment minister in a cabinet reshuffle in September, becoming the third-youngest Japanese minister since the end of World War II.

He has been closely scrutinised as a potential rising star in the government, with his comments and behaviour subject to intense media dissection.

By law, Japan offers comparatively generous parental leave to employed workers.

Both parents can take up to a year off, with additional renewable six-month periods if a nursery place is unavailable.

But only six percent of fathers take parental leave, compared to more than 80 percent of mothers who use their allowance beyond the mandatory eight weeks after birth.

And of those men who take any leave, more than 70 percent are away for less than a fortnight.

Activists say that is the result of pressure from employers and a society that prizes long work hours.

A handful of men have sued their employers alleging they were subject to what is known in Japan as "pata-hara", short for paternity harassment, after taking parental leave.

The issue is a particular concern given Japan's birthrate, which in 2018 was one of the world's lowest -- and far below the rate the country needs to maintain its population.

There are diverse causes for the problem, some of which the government has sought to address by increasing nursery spaces and encouraging women to return to work after having children.

Young Taliban must be heard, says new UN youth envoy

Yahoo – AFP, Pierre CELERIER, October 29, 2019

For Aisha Khurram, reaching out to all young Afghans -- including those joining
the ranks of the Taliban insurgency -- is critical (AFP Photo/WAKIL KOHSAR)

Afghanistan's ruling elite and international power brokers must listen to the fast-growing youth population -- including junior Taliban members -- if the war is ever to end, the country's new youth delegate to the United Nations says.

In a nation at war for 40 years and where two-thirds of the population is aged 24 or under, twenty-year-old Aisha Khurram says the younger generation's concerns have been shunted aside even as they inherit the conflict.

"For decades and even centuries, our fears and future have always been decided by the warring parties, irrespective of our perspective, irrespective of our opinions and our part in the process," Khurram told AFP in the UN's Kabul compound.

The international relations student at Kabul University was picked from 100 candidates for her high-profile role in early October, at the end of a tough selection process.

For Khurram, reaching out to all young Afghans -- including those joining the ranks of the Taliban insurgency -- is critical.

"Before they join the militant groups... we have to make the opportunities for them," she said.

"We have to hear their voices, we have to consider their right for education, their right for work opportunities and their right for life," she added.

"My own peer groups... do not enjoy the access to education, do not enjoy the opportunities that we have right now in Afghanistan."

Afghanistan's mainstream media -- concentrated in Kabul -- only reflect the views of urban Afghans she said, effectively blacking out opinions of vast swathes of the country, especially young people.

"It's not inclusive", she said.

She offered the #MyRedLine social media movement as an example in which young Afghans -- mostly educated -- state the "red line" they are not prepared to see Afghanistan cross in any eventual peace deal with the Taliban.

The campaign is "ignoring the needs and demands of the Afghan youth that are living outside of the Kabul (region)," she said, noting their urgent need for security trumps many "secondary" rights.

Global youth

Khurram, who was born in Pakistan after her family fled violence in Afghanistan, came of age at a time when the gruelling conflict is worsening.

According to the UN, the period of July to September this year was the deadliest on record for civilians, with more than 2,500 killed.

With half of the world's population now aged under 25, the UN is trying to amplify young voices at major summits through a youth delegation programme.

Countries can select representatives to advocate on several priority areas including the environment, juvenile justice and employment. But for Khurram, the key issue is peace.

She first went to Afghanistan in 2004, three years after the US-led invasion to topple the Taliban and hunt for Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

In recent years the security situation has only deteriorated, and the US spent the past year pushing for a deal with the Taliban that would have seen the Pentagon pull thousands of troops from Afghanistan in return for security guarantees.

But President Donald Trump nixed talks last month as Taliban attacks continued.

Khurram said many Afghans were suspicious of the negotiations, which cut out the government of President Ashraf Ghani, who is currently seeking election for a second term.

"There are three parties in the conflict, and only two of them now are engaged in negotiations," she said. "Afghan people deserve to be a part of this process."

Afghans under 18 make up around half the estimated population of 37 million, but Afghanistan's political class does not reflect the country's youth.

A grizzled crew of old-school warlords and bickering elders still dominate the political scene, focused on consolidating power instead of strengthening national governance.

Khurram said she is helping to organise a "youth jirga" -- a meeting in which young people from all over the country can come together and brainstorm ways to influence any peace process.

USAID launches latest clean-up for Vietnam War-era Agent Orange site

Yahoo – AFP, April 20, 2019

A Vietnamese soldier stands next to a sign warning of toxic hazard at Bien Hoa
air base, on the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh City (AFP Photo/Thomas WATKINS)

Hanoi (AFP) - The US launched on Saturday a $183 million clean-up at a former Vietnam storage site for Agent Orange, a toxic defoliant used in their bitter war which years later is still blamed for severe birth defects, cancers and disabilities.

Located outside Ho Chi Minh City, Bien Hoa airbase -- the latest site scheduled for rehabilitation after Danang airbase's clean-up last year -- was one of the main storage grounds for Agent Orange and only hastily cleared by soldiers near the war's end more than four decades ago.

US forces sprayed 80 million litres (21 million gallons) of Agent Orange over South Vietnam between 1962 and 1971 in a desperate bid to flush out Viet Cong communist guerrillas by depriving them of tree cover and food.

The spillover from the clearing operation is believed to have seeped beyond the base and into ground water and rivers, and is linked to severe mental and physical disabilities across generations of Vietnamese -- from enlarged heads to deformed limbs.

At Bien Hoa, more than 500,000 cubic metres of dioxin had contaminated the soil and sediment, making it the "largest remaining hotspot" in Vietnam, said a statement from the US development agency USAID, which kicked off a 10-year remediation effort on Saturday.

The dioxin amounts in Bien Hoa are four times more than the volume cleaned up at Danang airport, a six-year $110 million effort which was completed in November.

"The fact that two former foes are now partnering on such a complex task is nothing short of historic," said the US ambassador to Vietnam, Daniel Kritenbrink, at Saturday morning's launch attended by Vietnamese military officials and US senators.

Hanoi says up to three million Vietnamese people were exposed to Agent Orange, and that one million suffer grave health repercussions today -- including at least 150,000 children with birth defects.

An attempt by Vietnamese victims to obtain compensation from the United States has met with little success. The US Supreme Court in 2009 declined to take up the case while neither the US government nor the manufacturers of the chemical have ever admitted liability.

While US officials have never admitted direct links between Agent Orange and birth defects, USAID on Saturday also issued a "memorandum of intent" to work with government agencies to improve the lives of people with disabilities in seven Vietnamese provinces.

Kim-dergarten: Vietnam's N. Korea nursery pines for visit by Supreme Leader

Yahoo – AFP, Quy Le BUI, 19 February 2019

The school was built almost entirely with North Korean donations

Wearing traditional dress, the children in Hanoi's only North Korean-founded kindergarten belt out Korean songs and recite their Korean vocabulary -- skills they hope to show off to Kim Jong Un when he visits Vietnam next week.

The reclusive North Korean leader is making his first trip to Vietnam to meet with US President Donald Trump between February 27 and 28.

It is their second summit, during which Washington hopes to see progress on dismantling Pyongyang's nuclear programme.

The serious summit agenda was far from the minds of toddlers at the Vietnam-DPRK Friendship Kindergarten on Tuesday.

Instead the three-to-five-year-olds sang and danced in the 'Kim Il Sung' classroom named after Kim Jong Un's grandfather, one of Hanoi's closest allies during the Vietnam War.

"Jal gaseyo!" the kids chanted -- goodbye in Korean -- at the school where portraits of communist leaders past -- Kim Il Sung, his son Kim Jong Il and Vietnam's revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh -- hang on the wall.

Established in 1978 at a time when conflict-battered Hanoi still received aid from Pyongyang, the school was built almost entirely with North Korean donations, from the blankets and mattresses for naptime to the bowls and utensils used at mealtime.

Pupils learn about North Korean culture, from kimchi and kimbap to traditional dress

Today some of the school's 450 pupils learn about North Korean culture, from kimchi and kimbap to traditional dress, and occasionally receive visits from North Korean officials and embassy personnel.

"Even though North Korean friends are in difficult conditions, they still pay due attention to this kindergarten," former head teacher Hoang Thi Thanh told AFP.

The school's current headmaster Ngo Thi Minh Ha is hoping that support extends to North Korea's top leader, who will meet Trump in Hanoi.

"We really hope to welcome North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to visit Vietnam and the Vietnam-DPRK friendship kindergarten, we have proposed our wish (to the embassy)," she told AFP.

Pyongyang has not yet confirmed the summit, with news about its date and location coming only from the White House, and details of the ultra-secretive leader's trip remain unknown.

The meeting is aimed at building on Trump and Kim's first summit in Singapore in June, the first ever meeting between sitting leaders from the US and North Korea, who have never formally ended the 1950-53 Korean War.

Former head teacher Thanh said she would love to see Kim visit the school, but is also hoping for a productive summit.

"I hope for peace and stability in Korean peninsula in the next meeting. I also hope this meeting will bring closer the two sides of Korea like (north and south) Vietnam," she said.

Saudi asylum case prods Thais towards reform of tough refugee policy

Yahoo – AFP, Joe Freeman and Sophie Deviller, January 21, 2019

Thai authorities have signed an MoU to end the detention of all child refugees
and asylum seekers (AFP Photo/Romeo GACAD)

Bangkok (AFP) - On a television set in a grim, overcrowded Bangkok detention centre refugees closely followed Saudi woman Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun's quest for resettlement, as the 18-year-old asylum-seeker's case spurred hopes of a major policy turn from Thailand -- a country that does not recognise refugees.

Qunun fled her family to Bangkok, barricaded herself in an airport hotel room and staved off deportation with her Twitter feed, ultimately gaining refuge in Canada on January 12.

Thai authorities were initially caught flat-footed by the young Saudi's bold social media campaign.

But in the days since they have promised to address some of the lingering issues of indefinite detention and deportation of asylum seekers.

On Monday Thai authorities signed an MoU to end the detention of all child refugees and asylum seekers.

It was welcomed by the UNHCR as a "positive example" of the kingdom's increasingly humane approach to the issue.

Rights groups have for years condemned Thailand, which is not a signatory to the UN's convention protecting refugees, for its hostility to asylum seekers -- often trapping them on a carousel between detention and work in the black economy.

An estimated 900 adults remain in grubby immigration detention centres (IDCs) hoping to be resettled like Qunun but fearing an endless extension to their months, or years, of limbo.

Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun ultimately gained refuge in Canada after barricading
herself in a hotel room in Bangkok (AFP Photo/Cole BURSTON)

Nazir, a Pakistani-Christian in Bangkok's biggest IDC, said he watched Qunun's case unfold on the news, discussing the twists and turns with his wife over the phone.

He shook his head in amazement at the "days" it took for Qunun's refugee status to be determined by the UNHCR before Canada stepped in with the asylum offer, while he has been locked up for several months.

"My wife is alone with my daughter outside.. they are very sad," Nazir, whose name has been changed to protect his identity, told AFP.

Despite its hardline to asylum seekers, Thailand's lax visa rules, multiple entry points and graft-prone officials have made it an easy staging-post for those escaping conflict, persecution and poverty.

The kingdom wants that reputation to change.

But in the wake of Qunun's case immigration police chief Surachate Hakparn has also vowed to recalibrate the detention policy, saying the kingdom will no longer deport anyone "involuntarily".

Knocking the issue over to the UNHCR, which finds countries to resettle asylum seekers, Surachate says the agency must speed up its processes.

"Otherwise they have to live in anxiety and spend six to seven years (here)."

An estimated 900 adults remain in Thailand's grubby immigration detention
centres (AFP Photo/Romeo GACAD)

'Holding on' 

At the end of 2018 there were around 1,000 asylum seekers in Thailand compared to more than 7,000 in 2014. The UNHCR cites the drop as evidence of faster processing of cases to resolve the backlog.

But less than one percent of the world's refugees are resettled each year while the number of places available "continues to decline", according to a UNHCR spokesperson.

Ahmed, a refugee from Somalia, was locked up at the Bangkok IDC with his brother.

Like Qunun, he too hopes to be resettled in Canada. But the similarities end there -- he has been in detention for four, long years.

"Nothing is moving forward," he told AFP."But we are holding on."

Others have given up hopes for resettlement.

Lama, a Syrian, fled the war-ravaged country four years ago while pregnant with twins.

She and her husband sold their belongings and bought a plane ticket to Thailand.

They obtained UN refugee status in 2017 but were placed in detention centres to await possible resettlement.

The monotonous, overcrowded life in the IDC wore them down and they decided to give up their quest for asylum in early January and head back to Syria.

"It's very hard to be here again," Lama told AFP from Damascus. "We never leave home (because of) security issues... but at least we are all together."

Shamim lives with her daughter in a Bangkok suburb while her husband remains

detained in an immigration centre (AFP Photo/Romeo GACAD)

 'So quick'

Inside the Bangkok IDC the fast-tracking of Qunun's case -- and the accompanying scrutiny of Thailand's immigration policy -- has offered a glimmer of hope for change.

In Nazir's case, he and his wife Shamim were granted UN refugee status three years after fleeing Pakistan when Shamin converted from Islam to Christianity and married Nazir in secret.

In Thailand they lived on the margins but enjoyed happy moments, including the birth of their daughter, until an immigration crackdown saw Nazir swept into detention for visa overstay.

His wife now lives with her daughter in a small one-room apartment in a Bangkok suburb, visiting Nazir every week.

The Saudi "case was so quick... (I have) never seen (anything like it) before. She is very lucky," Shamim said. "But our lives are being wasted."

'We failed them': Australia apologises to child sex abuse victims

Channel News Asia  - AFP , 22 Oct 2018

Child sex abuse survivors attended Parliament House to hear the apology.
(Photo: AFP/Sean Davey)

CANBERRA: Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison issued a national apology to victims of child sex abuse in an emotional address to parliament Monday (Oct 22) acknowledging the state failed to stop "evil dark crimes" committed over decades.

"This was done by Australians to Australians, enemies in our midst, enemies in our midst," Morrison told parliament in a nationally televised address.

"As a nation, we failed them, we forsook them, and that will always be our shame," he said, his voice cracking as he recounted abuse that permeated religious and state-backed institutions.

Decrying abuse that happened "day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year, decade after decade" in schools, churches, youth groups, scout groups, orphanages, sports clubs and family homes, Morrison declared a new national credo in the face of allegations: "We believe you."

"Today, we say sorry, to the children we failed. Sorry. To the parents whose trust was betrayed and who have struggled to pick up the pieces. Sorry. To the whistleblowers, who we did not listen to. Sorry.

"To the spouses, partners, wives, husbands, children, who have dealt with the consequences of the abuse, cover-ups and obstruction. Sorry. To generations past and present. Sorry."

The state apology comes after a five-year Royal Commission that detailed more than 15,000 survivors' harrowing child sex abuse claims involving thousands of institutions.

In parliament, lawmakers stood for a moment of silence following the remarks as hundreds of survivors looked on or watched in official events across the country.

Normal parliamentary business, a session of prime minister's questions, was suspended in a bipartisan show of respect.

Outside the parliamentary chamber, relatives of victims wore tags with the names of departed daughters and sons, brothers and sisters, for whom the apology came too late.

After meeting some of the victims, Morrison told journalists "I've never felt such pain in one room, ever."

A series of Australian institutions have already apologised for their failings, including Australian Catholic leaders who have lamented the church's "shameful" history of child abuse and cover-ups.

According to the Royal Commission, seven percent of Catholic priests in Australia were accused of abuse between 1950 and 2010, but the allegations were rarely investigated, with child victims ignored and even punished.

Some senior members of the church in Australia have been prosecuted in relation to the abuse.

POWER OF APOLOGY

The Australian government has previously issued formal apologies for the mistreatment of Aboriginal Australians, for forced adoptions and homosexual convictions.

There are growing calls for an apology for the military's treatment of gay, bisexual and transgender personnel.

For many Australians there will still be questions about how the child sex abuse and cover-ups took place.

And for some of the victims, the government's atonement rings hollow - a step short of removing public funding for offending institutions, or far-ranging legal reforms.

At an event attended by the leaders of both major political parties, protesters shouted demands that the government do more to punish the guilty and dig into the past of other institutions like the military.

"Today's apology to victims of institutional child abuse highlights the power of a public apology to heal past wounds," said Professor Noah Riseman of the Australian Catholic University.

"But in the midst of today's acknowledgement there was a reminder that other victims of institutional trauma remain unacknowledged." 

Sex abuse claims rock Dutch Catholic Church

Yahoo – AFP, 15 September 2018

People in Australia, Europe, and North and South America have charged they
were sexually abused by clergymen and lay people

More than half of the Netherlands' senior clerics were involved in covering up sexual assault of children between 1945 and 2010, a press report claimed Saturday, further engulfing the Catholic Church in a global abuse scandal.

Over the course of 65 years, 20 of 39 Dutch cardinals, bishops and their auxiliaries "covered up sexual abuse, allowing the perpetrators to cause many more victims", the daily NRC reported.

"Four abused children and 16 others allowed the transfer of paedophile priests who could have caused new victims in other parishes," the Dutch newspaper added.

Church spokeswoman Daphne van Roosendaal told AFP the church could "confirm a part" of the report.

Other elements were based on anonymous information provided by a victims' assistance unit set up by the church.

"The names of several bishops correspond to those named in a report commissioned by the Church in 2010," the spokeswoman said.

Most of the accused clerics have since died, and the statute of limitations has expired in all cases, she added. Those still alive declined to comment, NRC said.

Meanwhile in France, a priest has been charged with sexually abusing four brothers, now aged from three to 17, his lawyer said Saturday.

The family brought the complaint against the 64-year-old priest, whose parish is in the central Cantal region. All four boys were said to be in the church choir.

The lawyer, Komine Bocoum, did not say when the alleged offences were said to have taken place.

Local bishop Bruno Grua said Saturday the his diocese was "shocked by these unspeakable acts".

They are the latest in a slew of assault allegations against the Catholic Church spanning several continents.

People in Australia, Europe, and North and South America have charged they were sexually abused by clergymen and lay people, in what German Archbishop Georg Gaenswein has called the Church's "own 9/11".

In August, Pope Francis declined to comment on a claim that he ignored sexual abuse allegations against a senior clergyman in the United States.

On Wednesday, the German Catholic Church said it was it was "dismayed and ashamed" by decades of child sex abuse by priests.

Pope Francis meets with leaders from the US church at the Vatican on Thursday

to discuss claims of sexual abuse by clergy (AFP Photo/Handout)

Related Articles:

Pope meets with US church leaders over clergy sex abuse

US cardinals defend themselves over cover-up storm

Pennsylvania report lists more than 300 'predator' priests

US cardinal caught up in abuse scandal resigns

Pope accepts resignation of 3 Chilean bishops in sex abuse scandal

Australian archbishop gets 12 months for concealing child abuse
Germany's Catholic Church 'ashamed' by child sex abuse 

Part of the painting, said to one of the highlights of the Vatican collection

Jesus and Joseph, UK, May 27, 2018 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll)

"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems  (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it),  Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse),  Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version)

“… I gave you a channelling years ago when Pope John Paul was alive. John Paul loved Mary, the mother. Had John Paul survived another 10 years, he would have done what the next Pope [The one after the current one, Benedict XVI] will do, and that is to bring women into the Church. This Pope you have now [Benedict XVI] won't be here long.* The next Pope will be the one who has to change the rules, should he survive. If he doesn't, it will be the one after that.

There it a large struggle within the Church, even right now, and great dissention, for it knows that it is not giving what humanity wants. The doctrine is not current to the puzzles of life. The answer will be to create a better balance between the feminine and masculine, and the new Pope, or the one after that, will try to allow women to be in the higher echelon of the Church structure to assist the priests.

It will be suggested to let women participate in services, doing things women did not do before. This graduates them within church law to an equality with priests, but doesn't actually let them become priests just yet. However, don't be surprised if this begins in another way, and instead gives priests the ability to marry. This will bring the feminine into the church in other ways. It will eventually happen and has to happen. If it does not, it will be the end of the Catholic Church, for humanity will not sustain a spiritual belief system that is out of balance with the love of God and also out of balance with intuitive Human awareness. …”

Women should play a greater role in the training of priests to fight the child abuse 'crisis' that has engulfed the #CatholicChurch, Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet has said https://t.co/UmGvrcnIZI #MarcOuellet

— AFP news agency (@AFP) September 16, 2018