Australian MP Clive Palmer retracts anti-China insults

Want China Times, Staff Reporter 2014-08-22

Cliver Palmer in an interview with Agence France-Presse in Sydney on
Aug. 27, 2013. (Photo/CFP)

Australian businessman and politician Clive Palmer has released a full statement retracting his earlier comments in which he called Chinese people "mongrels" and "bastards."

"I have been an admirer of China and its people for many years," Palmer wrote in an apologetic statement released Wednesday, adding that he has been "a major supporter of the Chinese for a long time."

The 60-year-old Palmer, a member of the Australian parliament, also praised China's "art, culture, technology and economic advancements" as well as the "virtues the Chinese people have for their families and the lives of so many," and singled out the first China-born Western Australia senator Dio Wang, saying that his Palmer United Party is fortunate to have the senator in its ranks.

According to Palmer's statement, his remarks made Monday night on Australian TV program Q&A, were only directed at "one Chinese state-owned company that has failed to honour its agreements and announcements made to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in early 2006," adding that it is "unacceptable" for the company to abuse the legal system "for commercial gain in a global strategic effort to control resources."

While the statement did not specify the name of the company, it has widely known that Palmer is engaged in a bitter legal dispute with Citic Pacific, his partner in the Sino Iron project in Western Australia. Citic Pacific is listed in Hong Kong and is 58% owned by the state-owned Citic Group in Beijing.

Despite Palmer's statement, many of his comments on Q&A appeared to be directed at the Chinese government, including, "they're communist, they shoot their own people, they haven't got a justice system and they want to take over this country."

It also did not help matters that after filming the segment, Palmer told the Australian Financial Review that he made "no distinction" between Citic Pacific and China's leadership, and that if he went to China "they'd shoot me."

Palmer also continued his assault against China on Australian radio on Tuesday, saying, "They have one-day trials, they don't have any democracy," and "there's no doubt that the Chinese government shoots thousands of people every year and suppresses political discussion."

"I feel for the Chinese people that live under such tyranny," he added.

The Australian government went into immediate damage control after Palmer made the remarks, reassuring Beijing that the relationship between the two countries is important and that China is still respected in Australia.

Australian prime minister Tony Abbott also went on national radio to brand Palmer's outburst "just over the top, shrill and wrong," adding that Palmer was not speaking for the whole country because it was a merely a "personal bitterness issue."

"What Clive Palmer said the other night was so destructive and really it's very hard to understand why someone who wants to be influential in our nation's life would be so simplistic and counterproductive," Abbott said.

Palmer also clearly hit a nerve in China, with the Chinese embassy in Canberra releasing a statement labeling his comments "absurd and irresponsible" and "full of ignorance and prejudice."

China's nationalistic tabloid Global Times also lambasted Palmer as well as Australia for the comments, saying the politician's "rampant rascality serves as a symbol that Australian society has an unfriendly attitude toward China."

"China cannot let him off, or show petty kindness just because the Australian government has condemned him," the opinion piece said, adding that China must "let those prancing provocateurs know how much of a price they pay when they deliberately rile us" by cutting all ties with Palmer's companies and those doing business with him.

Palmer had previously made comments in support of China, having accused the Australian government of racially discriminating against Chinese investment back in 2001, and stating that Chinese people need to be treated with the "dignity they deserve" in 2009.

According to Forbes, Palmer's net worth was estimated to be US$550 million as at January 2014, while BRW magazine had the figure much higher at A$1.22 billion (US$1.13 billion) as at June this year. Prior to his recent outburst, Palmer was best known outside of Australia for signing a deal with a Chinese shipyard in 2012 to construct a replica of the Titanic called the Titanic II, though the project has reportedly been suspended.

Related Article:

Australian MP Clive Palmer denounced for anti-Chinese rant

Malaysia pauses in solemn homecoming for MH17 dead

Yahoo – AFP, M Jegathesan, 22 Aug 2014

Soldiers carry a coffin with the remains of a Malaysian victim from Flight MH17 

during a ceremony at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang on August 22, 

2014 (AFP Photo/Manan Vatsyayana)

Kuala Lumpur (AFP) - Black-clad Malaysians observed a minute of silence and a nationwide day of mourning on Friday as the first remains of the country's 43 citizens killed in the MH17 disaster returned home.

People across the country of 28 million went silent at 10:55 am (0255 GMT), about an hour after a Malaysia Airlines jet landed with the remains of 20 people killed when MH17 was blasted from the sky by a suspected surface-to-air missile over Ukraine on July 17.

Malaysia's King Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah, Prime Minister Najib Razak and dozens of other top officials were on hand for a sombre reception ceremony at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

Soldiers carry a coffin with the remains of

a Malaysian victim from Flight MH17 during

a ceremony at Kuala Lumpur International

Airport in Sepang on August 22, 2014

(AFP Photo/Manan Vatsyayana)

Flags flew at half-mast nationwide and various entertainment events and other festivities in the Muslim-majority country were cancelled or put on hold out of respect.

Residents of the capital Kuala Lumpur were overwhelmingly black-clad, including many Muslim women in black Islamic headscarves, as state television aired recitations from the Koran and photos of the Malaysian victims.

"No words can express the sense of loss in seeing the bodies return, my prayers are with the victims and families of #MH17," Najib said on his Twitter feed.

Dozens of Malaysia Airlines cabin crew and pilots in their work uniforms, some weeping, gathered near the welcoming ceremony holding Malaysian flags and white flowers to remember their lost colleagues.

'Life must go on'

Shazly, 40, a flight attendant who gave only his first name, citing a company request regarding contact with the media, mourned Nur Shazana Mohamed Salleh, who joined the airline with him in the same 2004 recruitment class.

Relatives attend a ceremony for the return

 of the remains of Malaysian victims from

 Flight MH17 at Kuala Lumpur International

 Airport in Sepang on August 22, 2014

(AFP Photo/Manan Vatsyayana)

"She was a very jovial girl. She loved her job very much. She was very close with all her friends," he said.

"Life has to go on, even though it's very difficult for us to accept what has happened to our airline. They are our friends."

Some wore T-shirts with their dead colleagues' names and the Arabic phrase for "See you in Paradise." Fifteen crew were aboard.

The first batch of remains included those of Ariza Ghazalee, 46, and her son Muhammad Afif, 18, part of a family of six wiped out in the disaster.

It was a far different homecoming than what they had planned -- the family was returning to live in Malaysia after three years abroad, and Ariza's final Facebook post had said, "Starting our new migration. Praise God."

Friday's special flight arrived from Amsterdam, where remains have been taken for identification by Dutch authorities investigating the tragedy.

All 298 on board Amsterdam-Kuala Lumpur flight MH17 were killed, including 193 Dutch nationals.

Malaysia Airlines flight attendants cry

 during the arrival in Sepang of the remains

of the Malaysians who perished onboard

Flight MH17, on August 22, 2014 (AFP

Photo/Mohd Rasfan)

The West accuses Russian-backed separatists of shooting down the plane, while Moscow blames Ukraine.

A military guard conveyed the coffins and urns -- at least three people have already been cremated -- from the plane and into waiting hearses.

Some were to be put aboard other aircraft for transport to their final resting places throughout the country.

A number of prayer sessions and funerals were planned for Friday in mosques, churches and temples, reflecting Malaysia's multi-ethnic make-up.

The MH17 tragedy has compounded Malaysian grief over the troubling and still-unexplained disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 just four months earlier.

Healing process

The airline and the Malaysian government came under fire worldwide for their chaotic response to MH370, which disappeared on March 8 with 239 people aboard en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

Soldiers carry a coffin with the remains of a

Malaysian victim from Flight MH17 during

a ceremony at Kuala Lumpur International 

Airport in Sepang on August 22, 2014

(AFP Photo/Manan Vatsyayana)

The plane is believed to have inexplicably diverted to the Indian Ocean, but no trace of the jet has been found. Some angry relatives have alleged a cover-up.

Malaysia Airlines, now in a financial crisis over the double disasters, said in a statement it was "deeply saddened" by MH17, noting that Friday ends a "long and painful wait" for next of kin.

The government has said 30 Malaysians on MH17 had so far been identified. Further remains will return in coming days.

Malaysian Twitter feeds filled with sorrow as MH17-related hashtags dominated top-trending rankings.

Many expressed hope that Friday's homecoming could help Malaysia find closure from both air disasters.

"Welcome home #MH17, and please come back to us #MH370," read one.

Indonesia court upholds Joko Widodo poll victory

BBC News, 21 August 2014

Supporters of defeated presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto gathered
outside the court ahead of the verdict

Indonesia's top court has rejected an appeal from defeated presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto over the results of July's presidential poll.

The constitutional court's decision upholds the results from the elections, which Joko Widodo won by a 6% margin.

Mr Subianto had claimed widespread electoral fraud, and taken his case to the court.

Hundreds of Mr Subianto's supporters gathered outside the court ahead of the verdict, clashing briefly with police.

The court decision means that Mr Widodo, who was declared president last month, has his position firmly sealed, the BBC's Karishma Vaswani in Jakarta reports.

The constitutional court is the highest authority in the country - and the decision from the court is final, our correspondent adds.

Mr Widodo's win was seen as heralding a new era for Indonesia, whose leaders have generally been drawn from the military and political elite.

Mr Prabowo is a former army general closely associated with the traditional elite, while Mr Widodo, a former furniture-maker who grew up in a small village, has promised a decisive break with Indonesia's authoritarian past and better social welfare for the poor.

Australian MP Clive Palmer denounced for anti-Chinese rant

Want China Times, Staff Reporter 2014-08-21

Clive Palmer. (Internet photo)

Australian billionaire Clive Palmer has been roundly condemned for an anti-Chinese diatribe on TV, reports China's Beijing News.

Palmer, a mining tycoon and the head of the Palmer United Party who was elected to parliament last year, launched a tirade asked about his dispute with his business partner, the Chinese state-owned Citic Pacific, on the ABC's Q&A program on Aug. 18.

"So far they've (Citic Pacific) shifted AUS$200 million (US$186 million) worth of iron ore out of this country without paying for it. I don't mind standing up against the Chinese bastards and stopping them from doing it," he said.

Later he referred to Chinese people as "mongrels" who "shoot their own people." "They haven't got a justice system and they want to take over this country," Palmer said.

On Aug. 19, Palmer said on Twitter that his statement on ABC was aimed at Citic Pacific and not Chinese people in general. His words were attacked however by politicians and business leaders. Treasurer Joe Hockey said Palmer's remarks were "hugely damaging."

Hockey said Palmer has been the beneficiary of Chinese investment. "He is in a very obvious legal dispute with his Chinese partners but I'd say to Mr Palmer, please don't bring down the rest of Australia because of your biases."

Australia's foreign minister, Julie Bishop, also said Palmer's words were "offensive, unnecessary and unacceptable for a member of parliament to make."

Opposition leader Bill Shorten called Palmer's words "irresponsible and certainly not in Australia's best interests," while the premier of Western Australia, Colin Barnett, referred to Palmer as an "embarrassment" who shows the worst of Australia.

The Australian Industry group condemned Palmer in a public statement, saying his comments may damage the reputation of Australia as a destination for investment and partner for trading.

The Chinese embassy in Australia denounced Palmer's comments as "absurd and irresponsible"

"We believe that a sound China-Australian relationship serves the fundamental interests of both countries. It is and always will be supported by the two peoples," the embassy said in a statement.

Palmer and Citic Pacific have been in a disagreement regarding mining rights and the management of Cape Preston in Western Australia. In July, Citic Pacific alleged that Palmer removed US$12 million from their joint account for inappropriate use including election campaigning. Palmer rejected the accusation.

Palmer made about US$1.2 billion through Citic Pacific by mining ore at the Pilbara on the northern coast of Western Australia.

In 2012, the mogul announced plans to build a replica of the RMS Titanic, Titanic II, with China's CSC Jinling Shipyard but the plan has reportedly been suspended.

My plea to the people of Israel: Liberate yourselves by liberating Palestine

Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, in an exclusive article for Haaretz, calls for a global boycott of Israel and urges Israelis and Palestinians to look beyond their leaders for a sustainable solution to the crisis in the Holy Land.

Haaretz, By Desmond Tutu, Aug. 14, 2014

A child next to a picture of Nelson Mandela at a pro-Palestinian rally
in Cape Town. August 9, 2014 Photo by AP

The past weeks have witnessed unprecedented action by members of civil society across the world against the injustice of Israel’s disproportionately brutal response to the firing of missiles from Palestine.

If you add together all the people who gathered over the past weekend to demand justice in Israel and Palestine – in Cape Town, Washington, D.C., New York, New Delhi, London, Dublin and Sydney, and all the other cities – this was arguably the largest active outcry by citizens around a single cause ever in the history of the world.

A quarter of a century ago, I participated in some well-attended demonstrations against apartheid. I never imagined we’d see demonstrations of that size again, but last Saturday’s turnout in Cape Town was as big if not bigger. Participants included young and old, Muslims, Christians, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, agnostics, atheists, blacks, whites, reds and greens ... as one would expect from a vibrant, tolerant, multicultural nation.

I asked the crowd to chant with me: “We are opposed to the injustice of the illegal occupation of Palestine. We are opposed to the indiscriminate killing in Gaza. We are opposed to the indignity meted out to Palestinians at checkpoints and roadblocks. We are opposed to violence perpetrated by all parties. But we are not opposed to Jews.”

Earlier in the week, I called for the suspension of Israel from the International Union of Architects, which was meeting in South Africa.

I appealed to Israeli sisters and brothers present at the conference to actively disassociate themselves and their profession from the design and construction of infrastructure related to perpetuating injustice, including the separation barrier, the security terminals and checkpoints, and the settlements built on occupied Palestinian land.

“I implore you to take this message home: Please turn the tide against violence and hatred by joining the nonviolent movement for justice for all people of the region,” I said.

Over the past few weeks, more than 1.6 million people across the world have signed onto this movement by joining an Avaaz campaign calling on corporations profiting from the Israeli occupation and/or implicated in the abuse and repression of Palestinians to pull out. The campaign specifically targets Dutch pension fund ABP; Barclays Bank; security systems supplier G4S; French transport company Veolia; computer company Hewlett-Packard; and bulldozer supplier Caterpillar.

Last month, 17 EU governments urged their citizens to avoid doing business in or investing in illegal Israeli settlements.

We have also recently witnessed the withdrawal by Dutch pension fund PGGM of tens of millions of euros from Israeli banks; the divestment from G4S by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; and the U.S. Presbyterian Church divested an estimated $21 million from HP, Motorola Solutions and Caterpillar.

It is a movement that is gathering pace.

Violence begets violence and hatred, that only begets more violence and hatred.

We South Africans know about violence and hatred. We understand the pain of being the polecat of the world; when it seems nobody understands or is even willing to listen to our perspective. It is where we come from.

We also know the benefits that dialogue between our leaders eventually brought us; when organizations labeled “terrorist” were unbanned and their leaders, including Nelson Mandela, were released from imprisonment, banishment and exile.

We know that when our leaders began to speak to each other, the rationale for the violence that had wracked our society dissipated and disappeared. Acts of terrorism perpetrated after the talks began – such as attacks on a church and a pub – were almost universally condemned, and the party held responsible snubbed at the ballot box.

The exhilaration that followed our voting together for the first time was not the preserve of black South Africans alone. The real triumph of our peaceful settlement was that all felt included. And later, when we unveiled a constitution so tolerant, compassionate and inclusive that it would make God proud, we all felt liberated.

Of course, it helped that we had a cadre of extraordinary leaders.

But what ultimately forced these leaders together around the negotiating table was the cocktail of persuasive, nonviolent tools that had been developed to isolate South Africa, economically, academically, culturally and psychologically.

At a certain point – the tipping point – the then-government realized that the cost of attempting to preserve apartheid outweighed the benefits.

The withdrawal of trade with South Africa by multinational corporations with a conscience in the 1980s was ultimately one of the key levers that brought the apartheid state – bloodlessly – to its knees. Those corporations understood that by contributing to South Africa’s economy, they were contributing to the retention of an unjust status quo.

Those who continue to do business with Israel, who contribute to a sense of “normalcy” in Israeli society, are doing the people of Israel and Palestine a disservice. They are contributing to the perpetuation of a profoundly unjust status quo.

Those who contribute to Israel’s temporary isolation are saying that Israelis and Palestinians are equally entitled to dignity and peace.

Ultimately, events in Gaza over the past month or so are going to test who believes in the worth of human beings.

It is becoming more and more clear that politicians and diplomats are failing to come up with answers, and that responsibility for brokering a sustainable solution to the crisis in the Holy Land rests with civil society and the people of Israel and Palestine themselves.

Besides the recent devastation of Gaza, decent human beings everywhere – including many in Israel – are profoundly disturbed by the daily violations of human dignity and freedom of movement Palestinians are subjected to at checkpoints and roadblocks. And Israel’s policies of illegal occupation and the construction of buffer-zone settlements on occupied land compound the difficulty of achieving an agreementsettlement in the future that is acceptable for all.

The State of Israel is behaving as if there is no tomorrow. Its people will not live the peaceful and secure lives they crave – and are entitled to – as long as their leaders perpetuate conditions that sustain the conflict.

I have condemned those in Palestine responsible for firing missiles and rockets at Israel. They are fanning the flames of hatred. I am opposed to all manifestations of violence.

But we must be very clear that the people of Palestine have every right to struggle for their dignity and freedom. It is a struggle that has the support of many around the world.

No human-made problems are intractable when humans put their heads together with the earnest desire to overcome them. No peace is impossible when people are determined to achieve it.

Peace requires the people of Israel and Palestine to recognize the human being in themselves and each other; to understand their interdependence.

Missiles, bombs and crude invective are not part of the solution. There is no military solution.

The solution is more likely to come from that nonviolent toolbox we developed in South Africa in the 1980s, to persuade the government of the necessity of altering its policies.

The reason these tools – boycott, sanctions and divestment – ultimately proved effective was because they had a critical mass of support, both inside and outside the country. The kind of support we have witnessed across the world in recent weeks, in respect of Palestine.

My plea to the people of Israel is to see beyond the moment, to see beyond the anger at feeling perpetually under siege, to see a world in which Israel and Palestine can coexist – a world in which mutual dignity and respect reign.

It requires a mind-set shift. A mind-set shift that recognizes that attempting to perpetuate the current status quo is to damn future generations to violence and insecurity. A mind-set shift that stops regarding legitimate criticism of a state’s policies as an attack on Judaism. A mind-set shift that begins at home and ripples out across communities and nations and regions – to the Diaspora scattered across the world we share. The only world we share.

People united in pursuit of a righteous cause are unstoppable. God does not interfere in the affairs of people, hoping we will grow and learn through resolving our difficulties and differences ourselves. But God is not asleep. The Jewish scriptures tell us that God is biased on the side of the weak, the dispossessed, the widow, the orphan, the alien who set slaves free on an exodus to a Promised Land. It was the prophet Amos who said we should let righteousness flow like a river.

Goodness prevails in the end. The pursuit of freedom for the people of Palestine from humiliation and persecution by the policies of Israel is a righteous cause. It is a cause that the people of Israel should support.

Nelson Mandela famously said that South Africans would not feel free until Palestinians were free.

He might have added that the liberation of Palestine will liberate Israel, too.

Related Article:

"The Evolution of Belief" - July 26, 2014 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (>26 Min - reference to the current conflicts in the Middle East)

Pakistan anti-government protesters march on parliament

Yahoo – AFP, Nasir Jaffry, 19 Aug 2014

Pakistani supporters of Canada-based preacher Tahir-ul-Qadri march towards

 the parliament as they take part in an anti-government demonstration in Islamabad

on August 19, 2014 (AFP Photo/Farooq Naeem)

Tens of thousands of protesters led by ex-cricketer-turned politician Imran Khan and a populist cleric marched on Pakistan's parliament Wednesday in a bid to depose the prime minister, bringing a week-long political drama to a head.

Khan, the former cricket star who leads the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) party, and preacher Tahir-ul-Qadri say last year's general election was rigged and have demanded Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif resign.

Supporters of Canada-based preacher 

Tahir-ul-Qadri remove containers to

 march towards the parliament as they

 take part in an anti-government 

demonstration in Islamabad on August 19,

2014 (AFP Photo/Farooq Naeem)

Their five-day protest rally in Islamabad, and the two-day "long marches" from the eastern city of Lahore that preceded it, have piled pressure on the government little more than a year since its landslide victory.

The government had ordered them not to enter the capital's "red zone", which houses key buildings including parliament, the prime minister's house and numerous Western embassies.

But Khan and Qadri defied the call and soon after midnight on Wednesday thousands of their supporters entered the high-security red zone, using cranes to remove shipping containers put in place to seal the area.

Tens of thousands of security personnel have been deployed to maintain order and on Tuesday evening the government doubled the contingent of soldiers guarding sensitive buildings in the red zone to 700.

Despite fears of violence, there were no major clashes as the protesters entered the red zone, and the government pledged restraint.

"We will avoid use of force, human lives are much more precious for us, they have brought innocent children and women," said information minister Pervez Rashid.

Pakistani supporters of Canada-based

 preacher Tahir-ul-Qadri stand for the

 national anthem during an anti-
government march in Islamabad on
August 19, 2014  (AFP Photo/Farooq 
Naeem)

Both Khan and Qadri have ordered their followers, who number an estimated 35,000, to avoid violence as they stage sit-in protests outside parliament.

"We will protest in front of the parliament, we will not enter inside but will stage such a big crowd that people will forget Tahrir Square," Khan told cheering followers.

He said if Sharif did not resign by Wednesday evening, he would lead his supporters to the prime minister's official residence.

Troops on the streets

The decision to beef up the troop deployment was taken at a meeting chaired by Sharif and attended by army chief General Raheel Sharif.

Nuclear-armed Pakistan has experienced three military coups and the protests triggered speculation about possible intervention by the armed forces.

Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) party has accused the protesters of trying to derail the nation's perennially fragile democratic system as the government struggles with Taliban militancy and a flagging economy.

Canada-based preacher Tahir-ul-Qadri 

shows the victory sign on his arrival at

 an anti-government march in Pakistan's

 capital Islamabad on August 19, 2014

 (AFP Photo/Farooq Naeem)

Opposition parties have shunned Khan's call to unseat the government, while newspapers and business leaders have also criticised Khan's tactics, which include a call for "civil disobedience".

Britain, one of Pakistan's leading partners and a major aid donor, urged the two sides to find a democratic solution to the crisis.

"We strongly support a democratic Pakistan and the use of democratic institutions to resolve political disputes," British foreign minister Philip Hammond said in a statement.

"I hope that all parties in Pakistan can work together under the Constitution to peacefully resolve current political differences."

The European Union also voiced its support for democracy in Pakistan -- and linked it to a highly prized trade deal.

PTI on Monday dramatically announced it would resign all 34 of its seats in the 342-member parliament and three out of four provincial assemblies.

Planning and development minister Ahsan Iqbal on Tuesday said the protesters had no mandate for their proposed "revolution".

Pakistani opposition politician Imran Khan addresses his supporters during a

 protest march against the country's Pakistan Muslim League, Nawaz-led government

 in Islamabad on August 18, 2014 (AFP Photo/Aamir Qureshi)

"You have a few thousand crazy guys but 180 million people who have elected this government are guarantors of this government," Iqbal told reporters.

Last week Sharif tried to head off the protests by setting up a judicial commission to investigate rigging allegations, but Khan dismissed the proposal immediately.

The government has also set up a parliamentary committee to look at electoral reform.

At a joint press conference of all opposition parties except PTI, Khurshid Shah, a senior figure in the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) urged Khan to come to the negotiating table.

The general election of May 2013 which swept Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) party to power -- and brought PTI its best-ever result -- was rated as free and credible by international observers but both Khan and Qadri insist it was fixed.

Indian court orders release of woman on hunger strike for 14 years

Irom Sharmila has been force-fed in prison hospital since beginning hunger strike in protest at human rights abuses

The Guardian, Maseeh Rahman in Delhi, Tuesday 19 August 2014

Irom Sharmila began her protest after seeing the army kill 10 people at a bus
stop near her home in Manipur. Photograph: Sajjad Hussain/AFP/Getty Images

An Indian judge has ordered the release of human rights campaigner Irom Sharmila Chanu, who has been on hunger strike for nearly 14 years in protest at a law granting sweeping powers to security forces in the country's troubled north-east.

Sharmila, 42, had appeared before a sessions court in the state capital Imphal to appeal against the decision of a lower court to put her on trial on a charge of attempted suicide. Under Indian law any attempt to take one's life is punishable by a year's imprisonment.

Popularly called the Iron Lady of Manipur, she began her hunger strike on 5 November 2000, three days after soldiers from the paramilitary Assam Rifles allegedly shot and killed 10 civilians.

She has become a figurehead for campaigners seeking repeal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA), which was introduced in 1958 as a response to anti-government insurgencies in Indian-ruled Kashmir and also in parts of the country's remote north-east. The controversial law allows troops to make arrests without warrants and even shoot suspected rebels without fear of prosecution. It also gives police sweeping powers of search and seizure.

Since her last meal on 4 November 2000, Sharmila has been held in the security ward of Imphal hospital, where she is force-fed liquids through a pipe in her nose. She is kept in isolation and the authorities control her meetings with visitors. Once every year, the police go through the ritual of releasing her and then promptly re-arrest her on the same charge of attempted suicide.

But on Tuesday the Manipur sessions judge ruled that Sharmila had been wrongly charged with attempting to suicide, since her protest was "in support of a political demand through lawful means".

"We argued that a hunger strike is not illegal or unconstitutional," said Irom Sharmila's lawyer, Khaidem Mani. "Even the British had not treated Mahatma Gandhi as a criminal when he fasted for a just cause."

"The judge upheld our stand that Irom Sharmila cannot be accused of a crime when she is only demanding the repeal of a draconian law," he told the Guardian.

Human rights activist Babloo Loitangbam said the court had accepted that the charge of attempting suicide was not sustainable.

"Sharmila is not trying to take her life, she is trying to make a political point which is to repeal the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act," he told the NDTV network.

Human rights campaigners say the armed forces use the law to detain, torture and kill rebel suspects, but oppose reform of the legislation, saying it needs extraordinary powers to deal with insurgents.

Though Sharmila had been told about the judge's order, Mani was unable to meet her, he said. He plans to visit the hospital on Wednesday.

"I am confident she will be released on Wednesday, though the authorities may try to get a stay from a higher court and keep her inside," he said.

But other human rights activists in Manipur expressed doubt that the state government would release Sharmila. "She is held in very high regard in our society for her principled and steadfast struggle," said Bobby Laishangbam, a doctor in Imphal who assists victims of torture. "The sessions court has given a landmark judgment, but the Manipur government will definitely appeal."

Sharmila's brother Irom Singhajit also said he feared Sharmila faced rearrest. "Until and unless the AFSPA is repealed, she is going to continue her protest," Singhajit told AFP. "That is what I fear. Even if she is released, she will be arrested again within a day or two."

There is another legal complication. Sharmila is facing a second court case on the charge of attempted suicide, filed in a Delhi court in 2006. The authorities could refuse to release her, saying she is required to be produced in Delhi.

Amnesty International, which describes Sharmila as a prisoner of conscience, has demanded that all other charges against her be dropped and called for her immediate release.

"Irom Sharmila should never have been arrested in the first place," said Amnesty's Shailesh Rai. "Authorities must instead pay attention to the issues this remarkable activist is raising."

One human rights activist who met Sharmila this year said she is likely to continue campaigning after her release, but would not be reckless. "Since last year the jail authorities have relaxed the restrictions a bit, so she gets a few more visitors.

"What's remarkable is that after so many years of virtual solitary confinement and force-feeding, she has amazing clarity of thought. She was a small town girl, but in custody she has educated herself quite a bit, and displays huge will power."

Sri Lanka says will refuse entry to UN war crimes investigators

Yahoo – AFP, Amal Jayasinghe, 19 Aug 2014

File picture shows Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa in the southwestern
 town of Beruwala, about 58 kms from capital Colombo, on June 18, 2014
(AFP Photo/Lakruwan Wanniarachchi)

Colombo (AFP) - Sri Lanka will not grant visas to UN investigators probing war crimes allegedly committed during the island's decades-long separatist conflict, President Mahinda Rajapakse said Tuesday.

Sri Lanka has refused to accept the authority of the UN Human Rights Council, which voted in March to investigate allegations that the military killed 40,000 civilians in the final months of the separatist war, which ended in 2009.

But it is the first time that Rajapakse has said UN investigators will not be allowed into the country, effectively barring them from face-to-face access to Sri Lankans wanting to testify.

"We will not allow them into the country," said Rajapakse, who is under international pressure to cooperate with the UN-mandated investigation.

Rajapakse said however that his government was cooperating with all other UN agencies.

"We are saying that we do not accept it (the probe). We are against it," he told Colombo-based foreign correspondents at his official residence.

"But when it comes to other UN agencies, we are always ready to fully cooperate and fully engage with them," he said.

Leaders urge cooperation

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and other leaders have urged Colombo to cooperate with the UNHRC after ending a prolonged separatist war that pitted ethnic minority Tamil rebels and the largely Sinhalese army in a drawn out ethnic conflict.

Outgoing UN rights chief Navi Pillay earlier this month suggested that her investigators looking into allegations of mass killings may not have to travel to Sri Lanka at all.

She said there was a "wealth of information" outside the country.

Her remarks prompted allegations from Sri Lanka's foreign ministry that her investigation was on a "preconceived trajectory" and that her "prejudice and lack of objectivity" were unfortunate.

Colombo insists that its troops did not commit war crimes while crushing the Tamil Tiger rebel movement at the end of a conflict which stretched for more than three decades and claimed more than 100,000 lives.

Pillay, who visited Sri Lanka last year, has previously accused Rajapakse's government of becoming authoritarian, and warned that rights defenders and journalists were at risk in the country even after the end of the war.

The government conceded a degree of ground last month when it asked a panel already investigating missing persons to expand its work and investigate actions of both troops and Tamil rebels.

Rajapakse said Tuesday that he was naming two more foreign experts -- an Indian and a Pakistani -- to join three other international legal experts already on a panel of advisors helping the presidential Commission of Inquiry.

Rajapakse said he was willing to give "even two more years" to the commission to complete its work. The commission said it was probing 19,471 cases of missing persons as of Tuesday and completed hearings only in respect of 939 cases.

The president on Tuesday added Indian rights activist Avdhash Kaushal and Pakistani lawyer Ahmer Bilal Soofi to join British lawyers Desmond de Silva and Geoffrey Nice and US law professor David Crane, all former UN war crimes prosecutors.

The president denied that the foreigners were named as part of a whitewash and insisted that the government was serious about investigating rights abuses.

"We appointed these foreign experts because the commission itself asked for it. They (the commission) thought it would be helpful if we had these experts to advise them," Rajapakse said.

In a government decree published last month, Rajapakse said the commission would investigate the military's "adherence to or neglect... of laws of armed conflict and international humanitarian law".

The commission is the latest investigation initiated by Colombo. Experts and activists have said earlier attempts amounted to a whitewash.

Sri Lanka's president said that only Sri Lankan authorities
could investigate allegations of war crimes

Related Article:

Sri Lanka visa ban won't stop UN inquiry - Navi Pillay

Ukip MEP apologises for insulting Thai supporter

Janice Atkinson says she 'deeply regrets the words I used', after referring to woman as 'a ting tong from somewhere'

The Guardian, Nicholas Watt, chief political correspondent, Monday 18 August 2014

A Ukip rosette. Photograph: Craig Shepheard/Demotix/Corbis

A Ukip MEP has apologised after she described a Thai constituent and party supporter as "a ting tong from somewhere".

Janice Atkinson, an MEP for the south of England, apologised to Fa Munday for using the words, which are used colloquially in Thai to describe a mentally ill person. It was also the name of a Thai transsexual character played by Matt Lucas in the BBC1 comedy Little Britain.

Atkinson made the remarks after recording an interview with BBC South East Today on Friday. The MEP was still wearing a microphone after being filmed meeting local people and Ukip members in Ramsgate, Kent.

Atkinson was heard to say of the filming: "So that was good. We got Fa who's, I don't know, she's a ting tong from somewhere."

Munday told the BBC: "I'm from Thailand. I'm married to an Englishman and now I'm British. No one has ever spoken about me like that before."

Her husband, Vincent Munday, who is also a Ukip supporter, said: "I don't think Ukip are a racist party, but that comment certainly wasn't the brightest thing I've ever heard."

Atkinson said: "I deeply regret the words I used and am incredibly sorry. It was poor judgment and naivety on my part rather than words spoken with any malice. I am devastated that I have caused hurt and apologise profusely to both Mr and Mrs Munday."

A Ukip spokesman said: "Janice has apologised for the words she used. Ukip in no way condones the use of language that may reflect prejudice or cause offence and we sincerely hope this matter can be resolved privately."

Pope makes plea for Koreas to unite as 'one people'

Yahoo – AFP, Jean-Louis de la Vaisierre, 18 Aung 2014

The pope's appeal, made at a special inter-Korean reconciliation mass in Seoul, came as South Korea kicked off a military drill with US troops that the North has condemned as a prelude to war.

In his homily to the congregation in Myeongdong cathedral, which included President Park Geun-Hye and a handful of North Korean defectors, Francis said the road to reconciliation was always hindered by unpalatable demands.

"It challenges you, as Christians and Koreans, firmly to reject a mindset shaped by suspicion, confrontation and competition," he said.

Pope Francis shakes hands with bishops 

before boarding his plane as he leaves for

 the Vatican at Seoul Air Base in

Seongnam on August 18, 2014 (AFP

Photo/Kim Hong-Ji)

Church officials in the South had sent several requests to Pyongyang to send a group of Catholics to attend the mass, but the North declined the offer, citing its anger at Seoul's refusal to cancel the joint military exercise.

"Forgiveness is the door which leads to reconciliation", although it may seem "impossible, impractical and even at times repugnant", Francis said.

"Let us pray then, for the emergence of new opportunities for dialogue, encounter and the resolution of differences ... and for an even greater recognition that all Koreans are brothers and sisters, members of one family, one people," he added.

Outreach to China

The mass was one of the most anticipated events of the pope's five-day visit to South Korea, during which he reached out to Asian countries such as North Korea and China which have no formal relations with the Vatican.

Inside the cathedral, Francis made a special point of greeting a number of elderly "comfort women" -- Koreans forced to work in Japanese wartime military brothels.

His reunification message was cloaked in a religious context that avoided any overt political statement, with no mention of the repressive level of control exerted by the regime in Pyongyang over all religious activity.

The mass coincided with the launch of the annual Ulchi Freedom Guardian drill, a largely computer-simulated test of combat readiness for a North Korean invasion involving tens of thousands of South Korean and US troops.

North Korea had repeatedly called for the exercise to be cancelled, and on Sunday its military joint chiefs of staff threatened to "mercilessly open the strongest... pre-emptive strike" if it goes ahead.

Pope Francis (C) waves to the faithful during a mass concluding the 6th

Asian Youth Day in Haemi, on August 17, 2014 (AFP Photo/Kim Hong-Ji)

The Korean peninsula was divided in 1948 and the split was solidified by the 1950-53 Korean War, which concluded without a peace treaty leaving the two Koreas still technically at war.

At the very moment Pope Francis landed in South Korea at the start of his visit on Thursday, North Korea carried out a series of short-range rocket launches into the sea off its east coast.

In his first public comments on arriving, the pope had stressed that peace on the divided peninsula could only be achieved through dialogue, "rather than ... displays of force".

The Catholic Church, like any other religion, is only allowed to operate in North Korea under extremely tight restrictions, and within the confines of the state-controlled Korean Catholics Association.

It has no hierarchical links with the Vatican and there are no known Catholic priests or nuns.

A recent report compiled by a UN Commission of Inquiry into human rights in North Korea concluded that practising Christianity outside the state-sanctioned church amounted to a "political crime".

South Korea has a thriving Catholic community, and large crowds followed the pope everywhere, including a gathering of around 800,000 people Saturday for an open-air mass in Seoul.

'Cancer' of despair

Pope Francis celebrates a mass in

 Seoul's Myeongdong Cathedral on

August 18, 2014 (AFP Photo/

Vincenzo Pinto)

In his speeches and sermons, Francis repeatedly returned to the theme of the high human cost of rampant economic development that allows the poor and vulnerable to fall by the wayside.

In a stark message to wealthier Asian nations, he spoke of a "cancer" of despair in materially obsessed, outwardly affluent societies and urged South Korean Catholics to reject "inhumane economic models".

The message resonated in a country still mourning the death of 300 people -- mostly schoolchildren -- in a ferry disaster in April that was blamed on a corrupt culture of regulatory negligence that placed profit over safety.

And on Sunday, he reached out to China, urging a closer dialogue and insisting that Catholics did not view Asia with the mentality of "conquerors."

"I honestly hope that those countries of your continent with whom the Holy See does not enjoy a full relationship may not hesitate to further a dialogue for the benefit of all," he told a meeting of Asian bishops.

Related Articles:

Pope pushes dialogue with Asian nations like China

Pope Francis flies through China's airspace on way to South Korea