Torture report: UN, rights groups demand prosecutions

Yahoo - AFP,  Paul Handley, 9 Dec 2014

Rights groups and the UN's top rights defender said the report shows the CIA's

 secret efforts to extract information from detainees after the 9/11 attacks repeatedly

violated international law and basic human rights Photo By Saul Loeb/AFP)

The United Nations and human rights groups called Tuesday for the criminal prosecution of US officials after a Senate report detailed a brutal CIA torture program.

But the Justice Department rejected pursuing charges against anyone involved in the interrogations, saying it had not found anything in the scathing, heavily detailed report that could lead to a successful conviction.

The rights groups and the UN's top rights defender said the report shows the Central Intelligence Agency's secret efforts to extract information from detainees after the 9/11 attacks repeatedly violated international law and basic human rights.

The 524-page summary report from the Senate Intelligence Committee details extensive waterboarding, beatings and other extreme "interrogation techniques" used on detainees.

The report "confirms what the international community has long believed -- that there was a clear policy orchestrated at a high level within the (George W.) Bush administration, which allowed to commit systematic crimes and gross violations of international human rights law," said Ben Emmerson, UN special rapporteur on counter-terrorism and human rights.

"It is now time to take action. The individuals responsible for the criminal conspiracy revealed in today's report must be brought to justice, and must face criminal penalties commensurate with the gravity of their crimes."

Anthony Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union, called the report "shocking," saying: "It is impossible to read it without feeling immense outrage that our government engaged in these terrible crimes."

"The government officials who authorized illegal activity need to be held accountable," Romero said.

The ACLU called on President Barack Obama to appoint a special prosecutor to examine "the role played by the senior officials most responsible for it and by those who tried to cover up crimes."

"If there is sufficient evidence of criminal conduct, the offenders should be prosecuted," it said.

The group acknowledged that Obama has already ended the torture program, but said the CIA needs to be forbidden from other activities related to it, including holding people in custody or operating detention centers like those where the torture took place.

And it said that the government should apologize to and compensate victims of US torture policies, in compliance with international law.

Such moves would "help ensure that the United States never tortures again," it said.

 'Time for accountability' 

The calls came after the long-awaited release of the report -- which is actually a 524-page summary of the 6,000-page full report, with numerous details and especially the names of people involved blacked out.

Amnesty International said the report makes clear that the CIA was acting unlawfully "from day one" and its brutal interrogations were not a rogue operation.

Steven Hawkins, executive director of Amnesty's US branch, said the program "gave the green light to commit the crimes under international law of torture and enforced disappearance -- with impunity. It’s time for accountability, including a full investigation, prosecutions and remedy for victims."

Human Rights Watch executive director Kenneth Roth said the report "shows the repeated claims that harsh measures were needed to protect Americans are fiction."

He noted that the Obama administration had ended many of the practices described in graphic detail in the report.

But Roth added: "Unless this important truth-telling process leads to prosecution of the officials responsible, torture will remain a 'policy option' for future presidents."

Emmerson said the torture carried out by the CIA could not be defended by the fact that it was authorized by top officials.

"Indeed, it reinforces the need for criminal accountability," he said.

"International law prohibits the granting of immunities to public officials who have engaged in acts of torture," including senior officials who authorized them, he added.

But prosecution of anyone -- which would put the Obama administration against that of his predecessor, Bush -- appeared doubtful.

The Department of Justice said that since 2009, it had already pursued two investigations into mistreatment of detainees and decided the evidence was not sufficient to obtain a conviction.

The DOJ said in a statement that investigators had reviewed the Senate report "and did not find any new information that they had not previously considered in reaching their determination."

Related Article:

GOP lawmaker: You will ‘rethink everything’ when full 9/11 report is released

EU announces nearly 700 mn euros in aid for Myanmar over 7 years

Yahoo – AFP, December 9, 2014

EU announces nearly 700 mn euros in aid for Myanmar over 7 years

Brussels (AFP) - The European Union announced Monday it will send nearly 700 million euros in aid to Myanmar over the next seven years to boost the country's transition from army-led isolation to international player.

The announcement came after US President Barack Obama added his voice last month to concerns that the transition is backsliding in certain areas, including press freedom and human rights.

The EU said Myanmar will receive 688 million euros ($900 million) from 2014 to 2020 to "reinforce support to the country's multiple transition," including efforts to promote peace within the country.

Some 14 of 16 major rebel groups have signed ceasefire agreements with the quasi-civilian government as part of reforms in recent years. But deals with the Kachin Independence Army in northern Kachin state and the Ta'ang National Liberation Army in the eastern state of Shan have proved elusive.

In a statement, the European Commission, the EU executive arm, said the funds will also help develop rural areas and agriculture, improve food supplies and nutrition, support education as well as improve governance and the rule of law.

"With this support over the next seven years, the EU will build on its ongoing initiatives for the benefit of all people in Myanmar," the statement added.

Myanmar, formerly known as Burma and ruled by the British until 1948, was plunged into isolation by a military regime that seized power in 1962.

But in the past three years, its reforms have earned international praise and the removal of most sanctions.

The quasi-civilian leadership, which remains dominated by former generals, has freed most political prisoners, allowed pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi and her party into parliament and ended draconian media censorship.

But Suu Kyi cannot stand for the top post of president because a clause in the constitution, 59f, bans those with a foreign spouse or children. Her late husband and two sons are British.

Obama last month raised concerns about clause 59f, saying "the amendment process needs to reflect inclusion rather than exclusion".

Iran supports Russian effort for Syria, says Muallem

Business Recorder - AFP, Monday, 08 December 2014

TEHRAN: Syria's Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said on Monday during a visit to Tehran that Iran is backing the latest Russian effort to end his country's more than three-year conflict.

A delegation of Syrian dissidents tolerated by President Bashar al-Assad's regime will travel to Moscow this week for meetings, days after government members discussed a new peace process there.

A meeting with Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov will include talks on a political solution and the role of Syria-based opponents.

Muallem, after meeting his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif, said at a joint news conference: "I heard Mr Zarif support this plan. There is no doubt Iran will help achieve a political solution."

A plan by UN envoy to Syria Staffan De Mistura to "freeze" fighting in local areas, allowing aid deliveries and to lay the groundwork for peace talks, will also be discussed in Russia.

Iran is Assad's main regional ally, and Tehran has acknowledged sending military advisers to assist his forces in their fight against rebels and jihadist militants.

Assad last month called De Mistura's plan "worthy of study".

In Tehran, Zarif did not specifically refer to the Russian initiative, but said: "We have said from the beginning that we should find a political solution without destructive foreign intervention.

"All Syrian parties must be present. I hope these efforts bear fruit."

In Tehran, Muallem also referred to the battle against the militant Islamic State (IS) group, noting "there are ongoing contacts" between Iran, Iraq and Syria "because we all struggle against terrorism".

Iran has helped Iraq politically and militarily in its fight against IS extremists who currently control swathes of Iraq and Syria.

Tehran is not part of the US-led international coalition carrying out air strikes against IS in both countries.

Erwiana Tells Court of ‘Torture’ by Hong Kong Employer

Jakarta Globe – AFP, Dec 08, 2014

Erwiana Sulistyaningsih arrives at the Wanchai Law Courts to begin giving
 evidence against her former employer who is accused of abuse and torture, in
Hong Kong on Monday. (AFP Photo/Isaac Lawrence)

Hong Kong. A former Indonesian maid on Monday told a court that she was starved, beaten and ritually humiliated by her Hong Kong employer in a case that sparked international outrage.

Erwiana Sulistyaningsih described in vivid detail how for months on end she lived on nothing but bread and rice, slept only four hours a day and was beaten so badly by her former employer Law Wan-tung that she was knocked unconscious.

“I was tortured,” she told the packed courtroom through a translator on the opening day of Law’s trial. “She often hit me … sometimes she would hit me from behind, sometimes she hit me in the front. I was hit so often sometimes I got a headache … She hit me in my mouth [so] I had difficulty breathing.”

Erwiana’s case has shone a spotlight on the plight of Hong Kong’s nearly 300,000 domestic workers, drawing angry crowds onto the streets in May to protest for better working conditions.

Opening the prosecution, solicitor Louisa Lai detailed the harrowing litany of abuse the former maid allegedly suffered, including how she was told to wrap her sores-covered feet in plastic bags “because of the smell.”

International condemnation

Pictures of the 23-year-old, who was admitted to a hospital in Indonesia in January emaciated and in critical condition, drew international condemnation as they spread on social media.

But on Monday, Erwiana, dressed in a purple jacket and white woollen jumper, remained calm as she told the court how Law had even “scratched my nose and my face” with her bare hands.

In one incident, she described being stripped naked, sprayed with water and made to stand in front of a fan in the bathroom in the middle of winter.

Prosecutors also allege Law used household items such as a mop, vacuum cleaner and a clothes hanger as “weapons” against Erwiana.

“She put a vacuum cleaner into my mouth … and twisted it round my lips. It was bleeding and very painful,” Erwiana said.

‘Slavery-like’ conditions

Law faces 21 charges — also relating to two other former domestic helpers — including grievous bodily harm with intent, criminal intimidation and failure to pay wages. The most serious are punishable by up to life in prison.

The 44-year-old mother-of-two was arrested in January as she tried to board a flight to Thailand but was released on bail pending the trial.

Dressed in a light brown coat and thick-rimmed glasses, Law kept her head down as her former maid described the alleged abuse, occasionally shooting her a glance.

Earlier she had pleaded not guilty to all but one of the charges against her, admitting only that she had failed to arrange insurance for Erwiana.

Hong Kong is home to nearly 300,000 maids, mainly from Indonesia and the Philippines.

Amnesty International last year condemned the “slavery-like” conditions faced by some domestic helpers in the southern Chinese city, and accused authorities of “inexcusable” inaction.

On Monday around 20 members of an organization representing domestic workers in the city staged a protest outside the court, waving signs saying “No to modern day slavery” and featuring pictures of Erwiana.

“Justice for Erwiana!” and “We are workers, we are not slaves!” they shouted.

Virtual prisoner

Erwiana on Monday said she became a virtual prisoner in the house where she worked after she was caught trying to run away. After that Law took her passport and wallet and locked her in the house at all times, she said.

It was only when she was too weak to talk that Law bought her a ticket for home.

“She threatened to kill my parents back home if I talk about the torture to anyone,” Erwiana said.

The case is continuing.

Agence France-Presse

Indonesian maid Erwiana Sulistyaningsih is seen in her
hospital bed in Sragen district, central Java, on February 5,
2014 (AFP Photo/Anwar Mustafa)

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Indonesia Remains Committed to Asean, Envoy Says

Jakarta Globe, Dec 08, 2014

Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, left, and Indonesian President Joko
 Widodo arrive for the Asean-US Summit at the Myanmar International Convention
Center in Myanmar's capital Naypyidaw on Nov. 13, 2014. (AFP Photo/Mandel Ngan)

Jakarta. Indonesia remains very committed to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and it is involved in finding solutions to the grouping’s problems despite the emphasis of President Joko Widodo’s government on pressing domestic issues, the country’s envoy to the regional bloc said.

In an interview with the Jakarta Globe, Indonesian Ambassador to Asean Rahmat Pramono said many foreign leaders and diplomats were concerned that Indonesia’s preoccupation with domestic issues would see the country scale down its involvement in regional and global matters.

“There are no grounds for these doubts. President Joko Widodo has guaranteed that Indonesia would actively participate in efforts to make the world a more peaceful place,” Rahmat said.

He said Joko was aware of Indonesia’s constitutional duty to play an active role in creating and maintaining world peace.

“As far as Asean is concerned, Indonesia will continue to be actively involved in the community building process,” Rahmat said.

In fact, the ambassador said, his main focus now was preparing for the launch of the Asean Economic Community by the end of next year.

“All our resources are geared to meet the requirements for a regional community, such as the free movement of people, goods and services, as well as closer people-to-people contacts,” he said.

Just after his inauguration in October, Joko attended three crucial global meetings — the APEC meeting in China, the Asean Summit in Myanmar and the Group of 20 Summit in Australia.

Experts have praised Joko’s performance at the gatherings, saying that he showed other leaders that Indonesia would not isolate itself from the world as many have feared.

But Joko has insisted that he would prioritize diplomatic relationships that provide significant benefits for Indonesia.

“Our [foreign] policy is free and active: befriend all countries but [we will put first] those who benefit our people the most,” Joko said. “What’s the point of having many friends but we only get disadvantages? Many friends should bring many benefits.”

His comments follow similar sentiments from Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi last month. The country’s first female foreign minister said “pro-people” diplomacy would be the soul of Indonesia’s foreign policy, a shift from former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s “thousand friends, zero enemies” principle, which was seen in the country’s increasing presence and roles in international forums.

Joko used his time at the Asean Summit to showcase his vision of turning the world’s largest archipelago into a global “maritime axis.” At the G-20 Summit in Brisbane last month, he renewed his vow to make Indonesia’s business climate more investor friendly by implementing tax reforms and cutting fuel subsidies to pay for infrastructure development.

Rahmat said Indonesia’s two foreign policy priorities are securing the country’s territory and protecting its migrant workers abroad.

“We will finalize our border agreements with all Asean countries plus Timor-Leste,” he said.

He added that Indonesia would also push for a legally binding labor treaty within the Asean region.

The way of doing business is changing in China

Want China Times, Chien Li-hsin & Staff Reporter 2014-12-06

An anti-corruption agency in Taiyuan, Shanxi province, Nov. 3. (File photo/CNS)

Beijing's introduction of rules of conduct for government officials two years ago has had positive impacts, according to Taiwan's former vice president Vincent Siew and several Taiwanese businessmen working in China.

The rules of conduct, which require government conferences and receptions to be streamlined, formalities to be simplified, and spending on officials' travel to be reduced, were passed by Chinese president Xi Jinping on Dec. 4, 2012.

During a recent meeting with media outlets in Taiwan, Siew said that these rules changed China dramatically, citing what he saw while attending the Boao Forum for Asia in April 2013.

Major conferences like the Boao Forum, Siew said, always had corporate sponsors in attendance in the past, but they were nowhere to be seen last year. This indicates the determination of Chinese authorities to implement the rules.

Chai Suo-ling, head of the Taiwan Businessmen Association in Dongguan, stated that the number of meetings with government officials has been greatly reduced in the last two years, along with flower arrangements and banners seen at public events.

"In the past, meetings were followed by meals, which could take several hours. Now, the meals are either served in the canteens of government offices and completed in an hour, or there are no meals at all," Chai said.

Among other improvements, is that government officials now travel only in economy class, stay in three-star or lower rated hotels, have fewer business meals, and are banned from receiving holiday gifts, according to the Dongguan association head.

"All government officials at every level support the policy. I didn't hear any opposition, which, I think, this is a sign of improvement," he added.

Huang Chun-cheng, a Taiwanese restaurant owner in Beijing, said that business had dropped by a third because of the policy, as government officials, and even policemen, no longer dine at restaurants in fear of disciplinary actions.

Policemen have to report to their superiors before dining at his restaurant, which serves a buffet for 289 Chinese yuan (US$47) per person, and also have to provide details about whom they dine with, what they eat, and whether alcohol was consumed, according to Huang.

There are also Taiwanese businessmen who, wishing to remain anonymous, complained about government officials not doing their work because they can no longer receive bribes. This has caused trouble for businesses that are used to paying bribes to officials can speed up their paperwork.

Reforms Urged as Australia Better at Keeping Aborigines in Jail Than School

Jakarta Globe – AFP, Dec 05, 2014

An aboriginal protester demanding human rights for Australia's aboriginal community
 is pictured during a march near the venue of the annual Group of 20 leaders summit
in Brisbane, on Nov. 14, 2014. (Reuters Photo/Jason Reed)

Sydney. Australia is better at keeping Aboriginal people in prison than in school, the country’s indigenous rights commissioner said Friday, describing the phenomenon as an “urgent issue”.

Australia’s human rights commission said in a report the Aboriginal re-imprisonment rate was 58 percent within 10 years, higher than the Aboriginal high school retention rate from the first to the last years of 46.5 percent.

“I find it shocking,” wrote Mick Gooda, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social justice commissioner, in his annual Social Justice and Native Title Report.

“It’s shameful that we do better at keeping Aboriginal people in prison than we do in schools and universities,” he said in launching the report.

The high rate of imprisonment of Aborigines, about 15 times that of non-indigenous people, is one of Australia’s most urgent human rights issues, the report said.

The commission’s report found indigenous people were markedly over-represented as both victims and offenders in the justice system.

“Nationally, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults are 15 times more likely to be imprisoned than non-Indigenous Australians, while around half of the young people in juvenile detention facilities are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander,” Gooda wrote in the report.

“It is also simply unacceptable that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women are hospitalized for family-violence related assault, at 31 times the rate of non-indigenous women.”

The report comes after the government’s Productivity Commission last month found the adult imprisonment rate for indigenous people increased 57 percent between 2000 and 2013.

“I think that’s a sad indictment when you think of kids getting their education in prison instead of at a high school,” Gooda said.

The commission said the high rate of incarceration was having a knock-on effect on younger generations.

“We know people in houses, or families, where people have been put in jail are more likely to go to jail themselves,” Gooda said.

Aborigines, who number about 500,000 of a total population of 23 million, are the most disadvantaged Australians, suffering disproportionate levels of disease and social problems as well as lower educational attainment, employment and life expectancy.

Agence France-Presse

China arrests former security chief Zhou Yongkang

Yahoo – AFP, Felicia Sonmez, 5 Dec 2014

Zhou Yongkang, pictured giving a speech in Beijing on May 18, 2012, has been
 expelled from the Communist Party and arrested, the state-run Xinhua news
agency reports (AFP Photo)

China's powerful former security chief Zhou Yongkang has been arrested and put under a judicial probe after being expelled from the Communist Party, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported early Saturday.

Zhou -- who retired from China's all-powerful Politburo Standing Committee (PSC) in 2012 -- "leaked the party's and the country's secrets," Xinhua said, adding that the once-influential official was found to have "accepted a large amount of money and properties personally and through his family".

The announcement makes Zhou the most senior member of the Communist Party to be investigated since the infamous Gang of Four -- a faction that included the widow of founding leader Mao Zedong -- were put on trial in 1980.

An official's dismissal from the party paves the way for a criminal prosecution which usually leads to guilty verdict at a trial, followed by a prison sentence.

Zhou became ensnared in President Xi Jinping's much-publicised anti-corruption drive in July when he was put under investigation for "serious disciplinary violation".

Xinhua said the decision to expel Zhou was made at a Politburo meeting on Friday, indicating that the move was approved by the party's innermost circle of leaders, including Xi.

'Huge profits'

Communist Party authorities have been waging an anti-graft campaign since Xi ascended to the leadership two years ago.

The campaign has netted high-level "tigers" as well as low-level "flies" -- although critics say the Communist Party has failed to introduce systemic reforms to prevent graft, such as public disclosure of assets.

According to the Xinhua report, which cited a Politburo statement, Zhou "abused his power to help relatives, mistresses and friends make huge profits from operating businesses, resulting in serious losses of state-owned assets".

In unusually frank language, the official news agency also said that Zhou was found to have "committed adultery with a number of women and traded his power for sex and money".

"What Zhou did completely deviated from the Party's nature and mission, and seriously violated Party discipline," Xinhua reported, citing the Politburo statement.

"His behaviors badly undermined the reputation of the Party, significantly damaged the cause of the Party and the people, and have yielded serious consequences," it added.

Adultery is not illegal in China, but the Communist Party has for years been embarrassed by reports of its cadres keeping multiple mistresses.

Authorities said in June that officials guilty of affairs "could be removed from their posts, or stripped of party membership".

Zhou's expulsion from the party had been rumoured for months, and a number of officials with close ties to the former security czar have recently been ousted from the party.

They include Ji Wenlin, Yu Gang and Tan Hong, all former secretaries to Zhou, according to overseas Chinese reports.

In addition to Zhou, Xi's anti-corruption campaign has also led to the ousting of Xu Caihou, a former vice-chairman of China's Central Military Commission.

Xu, who was a Politburo member until 2012, in July became the first of the body's former members to fall in the current crackdown on graft, which follows the ascension of Xi to power as the head of the party.

Even as Xi has pledged to battle corruption, a recent Transparency International report suggested that corruption has actually worsened in China.

The report, released by the Berlin-based group on Wednesday, showed China dropping four points from its previous ranking to 36, the same as Rwanda, Malawi and Angola.

Despite the anti-graft crackdown, "too many corruption cases take place behind closed doors and the manner in which people are prosecuted needs greater transparency," the group said.

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Police Hunt One of Thailand’s Richest Men in Police Graft Scandal

Jakarta Globe – AFP, Dec 03, 2014

Horse-mounted Thai soldiers in ceremonial uniforms take part in a parade ahead of
 King Bhumibol Adulyadej's 87th birthday in Bangkok on Dec. 2, 2014. Thailand's
monarchy is protected by strict lese majeste laws. (AFP Photo/Christophe Archambault)

Bangkok. Thai police on Wednesday said they are hunting one of the kingdom’s richest men as part of a sprawling graft probe that has rocked the country’s elite.

Energy tycoon Nopporn Suppipat is the latest high-profile figure to fall foul of the ever-widening corruption scandal, which has already snared several top cops and saw the family of a Thai princess stripped of their honorific title.

“The military court approved his arrest warrant on Dec. 1 on charges of lese majeste and illegal detention,” Lt. Gen. Prawut Thavornsiri told AFP.

Nopporn was ranked Thailand’s 31st richest man in 2013 by Forbes magazine, with an estimated fortune of $800 million, and is thought to be on the run.

He is alleged to have hired men to abduct a businessman in Bangkok in order to have a debt he owed relieved, the police spokesman added.

US-educated Nopporn, reported to be in his early 40s, is the founder of Wind Energy Holdings, which operates lucrative wind power plants.

“It is likely he has fled Thailand,” the spokesman said, adding police are mulling warrants for two more people over the corruption case.

Twenty-two people have been arrested so far in a case that has cast light on graft at the highest echelons of the force as the junta-backed police chief trumpets an apparently fearless anti-corruption crusade.

But it has also seen the palace fall under a rare spotlight after Thailand’s Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn asked the country’s junta to ban anyone from using the surname “Akkharapongpricha”.

Three people with the surname — an honorific given to relatives of Princess Srirasmi following her marriage to the Crown Prince — were arrested last week on graft charges.

Princess Srirasmi married the Crown Prince in 2001 and was most recently seen in public last week accompanying her husband at a royal ceremony.

They have a son who is thought to be Vajiralongkorn’s most likely heir.

The graft case exploded at the end of November when three senior officers — including the head of the elite Central Investigation Bureau — were arrested on a string of bribery charges.

Some of those detained were also charged with lese majeste, with police saying they had made “false claims” about a royal to justify committing crimes that allegedly ranged from running illegal casinos to oil smuggling, kidnapping and extortion.

Thailand’s monarchy is protected by strict lese majeste laws. Both local and international media must heavily self-censor when covering the country’s royal family.

Under section 112 of Thailand’s criminal code anyone convicted of defaming, insulting or threatening the king, queen, heir or regent faces up to 15 years in prison on each count.

Even repeating details of the charges could mean breaking the law.

Agence France-Presse

Pope and Welby joined by imams and rabbis for anti-slavery declaration

Religious leaders gather at the Vatican to commit to working together for the eradication of slavery by 2020

The Guardian, John Hooper in Vatican City, Tuesday 2 December 2014

Pope Francis and other religious leaders at the Vatican. Photograph: AP

It began with a 17-year-old Australian schoolgirl’s horrified discovery. And on Tuesday it brought together in the Vatican Jewish rabbis, turbaned Sunni imams and Shia ayatollahs, Pope Francis, the archbishop of Canterbury, a Hindu guru and the orange-robed Buddhist chief high priest of Malaysia, among others.

For a brief couple of hours, they found something on which they could agree: that slavery in its many contemporary forms is an unmitigated evil, “a disgrace to God, a dishonour to humankind,” as the Orthodox ecumenical patriarch Bartholomew called it.

The patriarch was speaking by video link. The others were present at the signing of a declaration in which they committed to working together for the eradication of what Francis has called a crime against humanity. They set a deadline of 2020.

That looks ambitious: according to the latest edition of the Walk Free Foundation’s Global Slavery Index, almost 36 million people are trapped in slavery of some kind. But the declaration is intended to give the issue a higher international profile, and is a tribute to the energy and determination of the Walk Free anti-slavery movement’s founder, the Australian mining tycoon Andrew Forrest.

His first contact with the issue came after his daughter, Grace, went on a school visit to Nepal. “I chose to work in a home for girls rescued from sex slavery,” she told the Guardian. “But when I went back, when I was 17, they had all gone.” They had been trafficked by the people who were meant to be looking after them.

“We started researching the supply chain,” her father said. “It led from Nepal to India to the Middle East.” His research led him to check his own group’s supply chains for other kinds of slavery. What he found was horrific, he said. One firm was using workers whose passports had been confiscated; the annual death rate among them was 20%. “Half were suicides,” he said.

“At the end of the chain was a British company. I rang the CEO who originally tried to deny it, and then said taking away people’s passports was legal.” Forrest gave him half an hour to agree to cut off relations with the company using slave labour, or else he would go to the media. When the British CEO complied, Forrest undertook not to divulge the name of his firm.

Seldom if ever has the Vatican seen such a varied gathering. The pope was flanked by a shaven-headed Vietnamese Zen nun, the Venerable Bhikkhuni Thich Nu Chan Khong, and an Indian holy woman wearing a nose stud, Her Holiness Mata Amritanandamayi, regarded by her followers as a saint and known to them as Amma, or “mother”.

She said finding traffickers was like trying to catch “a black cat in a dark room”, but practical steps could be taken. Children in poor countries were often ensnared using mobile telephones given to them by traffickers. She said she would like to see mobile operators mounting awareness campaigns.

The archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, set out a number of other ways ahead, including consumer pressure for more information about supply chains.

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"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)

“.   New Tolerance

Look for a softening of finger pointing and an awakening of new tolerance. There will remain many systems for different cultures, as traditions and history are important to sustaining the integrity of culture. So there are many in the Middle East who would follow the prophet and they will continue, but with an increase of awareness. It will be the increase of awareness of what the prophet really wanted all along - unity and tolerance. The angel in the cave instructed him to "unify the tribes and give them the God of Israel." You're going to start seeing a softening of intolerance and the beginning of a new way of being.

Eventually, this will create an acknowledgement that says, "You may not believe the way we believe, but we honor you and your God. We honor our prophet and we will love you according to his teachings. We don't have to agree in order to love." How would you like that? The earth is not going to turn into one belief system. It never will, for Humans don't do that. There must be variety, and there must be the beauty of cultural differences. But the systems will slowly update themselves with increased awareness of the truth of a new kind of balance. So that's the first thing. Watch for these changes, dear ones. ...."

Pope urges Muslim leaders to condemn Islamist terror

Pope Francis has urged Muslim leaders to condemn terrorism carried out in the name of Islam. The leader of the Roman Catholic Church rejected misrepresentation of Islam as he wrapped up his Turkey visit.

Deutsche Welle, 30 Nov 2014

Speaking to reporters on board the plane carrying him back to Rome, Pope Francis said he raised the issue of Islamic terror in Ankara during his talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

"I told the president that it would be nice if all Muslim leaders, whether they are political, religious or academic leaders, would speak clearly and condemn this, because this would help the majority of Muslim people," the Pope said.

During his three-day visit to Turkey - his first to the Muslim country - Pope Francis condemned the self-fashioned Sunni group "Islamic State" more than once. Turkey is helping the international coalition against the Middle Eastern Islamist outfit, which has taken over vast swathes of territory in Syria and Iraq.

The Vatican officials have long urged the Muslim leaders to be more vocal against Islamic terrorists.

"We all need a global condemnation (of terrorism)," Francis noted.

The Pope, however, went on to say that it would be unjust to call Muslims terrorists just like "we cannot say that all Christians are fundamentalists."

"We have them also. All religions have these groups," he added.

shs/glb (Reuters, AFP, dpa)

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"Revelations of Darkness" - Oct 1, 2014 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Text version)

“ .. Do Not Despair

There's too much information to give you in one channelling, in one sitting, so I refer to past messages for you to better understand and reference the information in order to get the bigger picture. So I wish to remind you of something I also told you in a recent channelling called Do Not Despair. You're winning! It's because you're winning that the dark consciousness on this planet is feeling it, and the humanity that represents darkness is pulling out everything it has to survive.

It Has Always Been There

Let's look at it, because it's all over the news. Are you shocked at the sudden existence of the organization that will remain unnamed [for this channelling]? Where did it come from? How could it be so organized? How could it be so well funded? This organization could have its own country soon! They might as well name it, “The Old Energy Dark Country”, for that's what it will represent.

The barbaric past of humanity comes forward to show its face. It has always been there, hiding under the rocks and between the cracks of civilized humanity. It couldn't show itself until now, but now it has to. It's ugly and it's not for the faint at heart, is it, dear ones? Seeing evil personified in Human action is abhorrent. It is so ugly and so dark that you cannot look upon it with a gentle heart. God is not a part of it and this is obvious.

You're winning! Light is winning! The uprising of dark consciousness would not have shown itself with this strength, or this quickly, if this were not so. This is exactly what I told you to look for, and it is proof that those representing this dark consciousness are in trouble. Dear ones, dark consciousness has always had a tried-and-true system. It lurks in the shadows and influences all the power places of the planet - government, commerce, finance. Suddenly, it can't hide there as well anymore and it's out in the open.

Where is the funding coming from? It is coming from a storehouse that has always been there, dear ones. It uses income that has been generated from low consciousness acts, collected for a very long time. Funding didn't just appear. It has been stored, waiting to be used in order to spread fear and darkness to save what they believe is their way.

Who Will Win?

Dear ones, they haven't got a chance! But it looks like they do, doesn't it? Everything that they are doing is calculated to scare you into submission. Are they winning? Now, that's a question I want you to take from here and examine every day.

Fear is black. If you're in fear, there is no light. You can be the grandest Lightworker, or even be the channeller, but if you're in fear, it doesn't matter how many years you've done light work, or how much light you've accumulated personally. It all goes away with fear, and then they've won the battle for your mind. Do you understand this?

The Strength of the Old Soul - YOU

Old souls, Lightworkers reading this, the experiences you have had over lifetimes and lifetimes are incredible! The old soul knows fear. I don't want to be too graphic, but I want you to understand! What was it like when you put your head in the guillotine because you talked about God in a way that was inappropriate? What was it like to be bound hand and foot when they lit the match at your feet? Old soul, that's fear! You carry those experiences in your Akash.

I want to tell you they haven't got a chance to scare you! You absolutely know what fear is, and they haven't got a chance as long as you cling to that part of you that is the strength of God. You've been through it all. That means you've got the weapons of truth, wisdom and light. Don't forget it. Don't forget who you are!

Do you see how fast they assembled? It seemed like only yesterday that there was no organization at all. Where did they come from? Have you noticed a certain hesitancy to fight them? Why is it that the citizens of the lands that they are invading are hesitant to fight them? Instead, these leaders are calling on others to help. Why is it that the others are also hesitant? I want to show you that there are some anomalies of logic that are not making sense, because this is a battle you have never seen before on this planet. We've expected it, but you haven't. It's about consciousness, not land or resources.

How to Win?

We gave you the secret before of how to defeat them without taking even one life: Simply take away their funding. They cannot exist without their funding. The funding has to be organized, stored, and distributed. It has to be generated in such a way that it must also go through institutions. Did you hear that? All you have to do is stop the system. Winning won't be done with bombing. It's going to be done with intelligence, clever thinking and financial forensics. It's time to get smart on some of these things and not to be afraid to look at this puzzle differently than you have before. Do not apply the energy they are using in order to fight them, because you won't win. Figure it out. It's the last bastion of organized darkness and evil thinking on this planet coming together to try to survive the assault of your light. Don't be afraid to look at the funding trail, no matter where it takes you.

Fear is Their Weapon

I want you to know something as you look at your news. It may appear that you are unable to stop them. In many places, they will gain strength as they create fear. The fear is easily created in those who are not old souls and who don't know fear like you do and who don't have the armor of your spiritual experiences. This puts you in the front line, dear one. Did you realize that? But you don't have to go fight them on their terms. All you have to do is broadcast light. High consciousness will beat fear any day.. .”

Amsterdam ships abandoned bikes to refugee camps in Jordan

DutchNews.nl, November 30, 2014

Hundreds of bikes which have been abandoned by their owners in Amsterdam are being shipped to refugee camps in Jordan, the Parool reported at the weekend.

Every year, some 30,000 bikes are left uncollected from the city’s central bike depot and the first shipment of 350 will be loaded into a container for Jordan on Wednesday.

In total, the city plans to send 1,400 bikes to two refugee camps, after they have been repaired by a team of volunteers. Bikes which otherwise may well be destroyed can be put to good use by Syrian refugees, city official Ton Buffing told the paper.

Not only can they be used as forms of transport, but the bikes can also be rebuilt into rickshaws or cargo bikes, which is good for stimulating trade within the camps, he said.

The bikes have all been collected by the city’s ‘bike police’ who remove illegally parked two-wheelers and take them to a depot in the western port area of Amsterdam. Only a small proportion of their owners ever collect them.