GHANA TAKES BOLD STAND: On Economic Partnership Agreement with EU

Ambassador Kwesi Quartey

By Ekow Mensah

Ghana has taken a courageous stand on the signing of the Economic Partnership Agreement with the European Union (EU).

In what appears to be the clearest stand, new Deputy  Foreign Minister, Thomas Kwesi Quartey says that Ghana will not allow itself to be stampeded into signing any Economic Partnership Agreements which will negatively affect its people.

He went on the say that sometimes the behaviour of the EU was damaging to itself  and other nations such as Ghana.

Mr. Quartey was reacting to the discomfort of Mr. Claude Maerten, EU  Representative in Ghana over the apparent reluctance of Ghana  to sign the EPA which has a 2014 deadline.

 Many critics including the Third World Network and the Socialist Forum of Ghana have said that the EPA will substantially reduce Ghana’s tax revenue and widen the budget deficit.

There is also concrete evidence that the EPA  will lead to significant job losses and dumping of goods from the European Union.

Mr Quartey said there was a tendency  for the European Union to always present a position as if it was doing Africa a favour and that “We must take it or shut up”.

 He recalled that he had accompanied a Ghanaian Ambassador to  complain to the EU about its threat to introduce Shea butter oil into chocolate production.

This situation he said could greatly affect Ghana’s export of cocoa but an EU official looked them in the face and said “This is a concession we are giving you; you either take it or leave it”.

Although Ghana protested at the arrogance of the EU official who later apologised, Mr. Quartey said such posturing by such EU officials was not the best.

Editorial

WELL SPOKEN

 Mr. Thomas Kwesi Quartey, Ghana’s new Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs is standing up for Ghana  and Africa and we applaud him loudly.

He has told the representative of the European Union in Accra that Ghana cannot be stampeded into talking decisions that are not in the interest of its people.

The EU representative had complained about  Ghana’s apparent reluctance  to sign the EPA.

Indeed, Mr. Quartey speaks for all progressive Africans who insist that the continent must not be returned to the gambling house of colonialism.

The Insight believes that Africans are capable of making their own decisions based on the aspirations and needs of the African people.

We completely reject attempts to stampede Ghana and other African countries into signing  the EPA which will lead to a substantial reduction of tax revenues and significant jobs losses.

 The Insight joins the Third World Network and the Socialist Forum of Ghana (SFG) in calling on the people of Africa to reject the EPA .

We salute Mr Kwesi Quartey for making the stand of Ghana so clear.

Palestinian gather to commemorate Nakba (The Catastrophe)

PALESTINE NAKBA DAY
Let us remember the greatest human catastrophe in modern history
On 15 May, 1948, an event that changed the life of millions and
created suffering and tensions in the Middle East and the world as a
whole. That is to say sixty fifth years ago, the Zionist gangs forcefully
uprooted and caused the displacement of nearly one million
Palestinians from their homes and lands. They confiscated their homes
and their lands, committing collective massacres and destroyed
hundreds of Palestinians villages and cities, forcing the over one
million of Palestinians to become refugees in other foreign nations and
lands all over the world. 

They changed the names of these places and wiped them from the
map, which amounts 531 Palestinian villages and cities. The names of
the villages and cities were changed from their original Arabic names
into new Jewish names, leading to the emergence of the phenomenon
of Palestinian refugees in other nations and lands in the world. The
number of the Palestinian refugees in the world represents currently the
biggest, largest, and long-standing story of torment known to humanity
in recent history.

The suffering of Palestinian people are still going on for the past
65 years, because all the Israel governments since the establishment of
Israel state in 1948 refused to solve the Palestinian refugees issue based
on the directives of UN resolutions. Unfortunately the leaders of Israel
until today have not realized the fact that the Palestine that they
expelled us from, did not exist from us. It was our people land from
ages and did not exist from the dreams of millions of Palestinian
people. With time a lot have changed and even if, all of the Palestinian
refugees and their sons and their grandsons are still keeping the keys of
their houses destroyed by the Zionists.

After the expel of the defenseless Palestinian citizens from their
lands by Israel, the General Assembly of the UN has issued on
1111211948 the resolution number 194, which includes the rights of
Palestinians refugees to return to their homes and lands, and demanded
Israel government to facilitate the return of Palestinian refugees, but
the Israeli government refused commitment and implementation of the
UN resolution number 194. 

Regrettably also, the leaders of Israel did not seize the historic
opportunity by the Palestinian leadership to establish a just and
comprehensive peace in the Middle East region, by refusing the
implementation of the two-state solution and the right to return of the
Palestinian refugees. Our call is for the international community to put
pressure Israeli leadership to put in place the right conditions for the
return of the millions of Palestinian refugees as well as ending the
multiple apartheid activities and segregation policies against the
Palestinians. Our refugees need to come back to a land they can call
theirs and live fully and freely their lives in a state they can call their
own independent state, with all their rights restored and respected.

By Dr Jubrael Alshomali
Charge d' Affaires

Embassy of the State of Palestine
Accra - Ghana.

 

HASSAN AYARIGA CALLS FOR DECENCY

A Statement Read At A Press Conference In Accra

Mr Hassan Ayariga, 2012 PNC flagbearer

Mr. Chairman, party members present, friends of the media, fellow Ghanaians, ladies and gentlemen. Let me welcome you once again to my office and to use this opportunity and platform to address some few issues and concerns that has recently come to my notice regarding the level of hot and unpalatable political language in our daily discourse, characterized by insults, threats and sometimes physical attacks in our TV and radio stations as well as in our daily newspapers across the country. This in my opinion should not be allowed to continue as it poses so many dangers to us as a nation in many aspects of our lives. 

Mr. Chairman, utterances of participants in our TV and radio stations in recent times have become more or less a gorilla war fare or even close to animals farm where the best insulting participant is hailed and praised by host or hostess and many at times producers of those shows. Some of these participants surprisingly, constantly appear on these shows to continue their verbal attacks on each other and against people who are not even on the show with them. Some producers believe that the general public enjoys these hot exchanges between participants on their show and as such, always invite the best insulting participants to their shows. 

Ladies and gentlemen, what some of these producers do not realize is that after the public have finished listening to these hot and insulting exchanges from some of these media houses, the public quickly label and tag these media houses with all manner of ridiculous names which does not give these stations a good name in the eyes of the general public, and as such, contrary to the perception by producers that their stations are widely listened to by many people, the reputation of these stations are rather tarnished /doubted in the eyes of the public because the public would see these media houses as encouraging insults and misinforming the general public. 

Fellow Ghanaians, even comments on our social networks such as political websites, face book and twitter have all lost credibility among many Ghanaian public due to the infiltration of political insults and hot political comments on these web pages. Some of these web pages contain insults from very young and upcoming politicians against statesmen and very remarkable men and women in our society just to score a political point. We are appealing to the managers of these websites or web pages to always read through people's comments or articles before posting them on their websites since some of the comments are distractive and condemnable. 

Mr. Chairman, if all these insults and hot comments are not checked, the state would face serious dangers and consequences because political insults can only do one thing for us as a nation and that is giving us a bad reputation as a country in the eyes of the international community and could also cause chaos and anarchy amongst ourselves. 

These insults are capable of reducing investor confidence since every investor wants value for money and as Such would like to invest in 1I political stable country. Political insults in any country including Ghana do not give a picture of a peaceful country or a country which would remain forever peaceful or stable anytime soonest and does not attract investors.

Ladies and gentlemen, this rampant abuse of freedom of speech by some political communicators on our airwaves can no longer be accepted since it is capable of destroying the nation's development if left unchecked. Freedom of speech does not mean freedom to insult. 

As a nation, we should be discussing issues and matters affecting or confronting us and finding possible solutions to solving them than insulting people who have offered themselves to serve mother Ghana. We can always agree to disagree without necessarily insulting one another directly. 

Ladies and gentlemen, the role of political parties in shaping and directing their party's communicators is very crucial. We all know that political parties in this country usually decide which of their members appears on radio or TV shows/programs and as such can easily tell who is accommodating and who is not. So as such, they should decide who appears on shows or who does not for the sake of descent political discourse for peace and stability to prevail in this country. Again, the role of regulatory institutions of state such as the national media commission-NMC should not be undermined as it is very crucial in
determining the way forward for the media landscape in Ghana. We are therefore calling on the national media commission-NMC to develop the hard and sharp teeth to bite. 

Punishment such as banishment or suspensions may be introduced by the NMC to sanction media houses who do not comply with the ethics of responsible media practice in Ghana.

 

Finally Mr. Chairman, as indicated earlier, we have many problems/challenges in our hands as a country. We think our media should be concern about the major challenges confronting us as a people and try to disseminate credible information on Government policies intended to solve our basic problems for us as a country and as a people. 

Fellow Ghanaians in conclusion, we all know the role and purpose of the media is to educate, inform and entertain the general public in all aspects of our social, political and economic life. Though the media have tried in one way or the other to educate the public, however, just as we have in descent political comments by some political communicators, the media too have some short comings, but I believe they can still do better. 

I therefore want to thank all of you for coming and to entreat our friends from the media present to let this call reach far and beyond so that together we can have a descent political discourse in our media to help build a peaceful and a great nation. 

We cannot end without also recognizing the good work done by the media over the years in their role in carrying news and information across the length and breadth of this country and over the world. 

We say to our media AYEEKO!

Thank you.

Yours faithfully

Hassan Ayariga

2012 Presidential Candidate - PNC.

 

Rule Britannia for global crimes

Queen Elizabeth II

By Finian Cunningham

It’s an anthem that is usually sung with chest-thumping pride and misty eyes by British imperialists. “Rule Britannia, Britannia rules the waves”. This jingoistic celebration of Britain’s former global conquest may yet degenerate into “Rue Britannia, Britannia rues the waves”. 

This is because, as The Guardian newspaper reports this week, the London government has at long last been forced into recognizing compensation payments for as many as 50,000 Kenyan nationals who were victims of torture and other crimes against humanity during that country’s independence struggle in the 1950s. The eventual bill for compensation could run up to tens of millions of pounds. 

But the bad news for financially bankrupt Britain does not end there. With this precedent established of compensation for past British imperialist crimes, that now leaves the way open for a global flood of similar claims. 

Jingoistic British imperialists may therefore soon rue their often-made reference to Britain ruling the waves and so many countries the world over - at the height of the British Empire some 20 percent of the globe’s land mass was under colonial domination. That’s a lot of people who can claim recompense for past British horrors and deprivation. 

If the bill for Britain’s crimes against humanity in Kenya alone runs into tens of millions of pounds, then we can easily multiply that sum manifold if the millions of other victims from across the world who suffered under the British jackboot come forward to claim justice.

The Guardian listed just a handful of additional class-action cases for compensation against the British government. They included the former colonies of Cyprus, Yemen, Swaziland and British Guiana. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg when measuring Britain’s global legacy of crimes and human suffering. Many others would include Britain’s dirty wars and repressive colonial regimes in Bahrain, British Somaliland, Burma, Ghana, Nigeria, Northern Ireland, Oman and Zimbabwe. Even that list is far from complete. 

Iran presents a challenging case too. After the British-assisted coup in 1953 that led to the 26-year reign of terror under Shah Pahlavi, tens of thousands of Iranians were subjected to torture by the Western-trained and armed Savak secret police. Iranians therefore have a case for compensation against the British government. 

Previously, the British House of Lords decreed arbitrarily that no cases for compensation stemming from before 1954 can be brought to an English court. Fortunately for the British establishment, that ruling excludes millions of more potential litigants from former British India, which gained independence in 1947. 

Given the appalling suffering inflicted by the British overlords in India - from starvation, massacres, mass imprisonment and destruction of farming and textile livelihoods to give British exporters a competitive advantage - the resulting claims if filed to the Exchequer would definitely spell good night for Britain’s sputtering economy. Far from ruling the waves, Britannia would sink to a watery grave. 

But the real point perhaps is more about principle than money - important though material redress is to victims of injustice. What the case of the Kenyans against the British government is really achieving is to strip bare the truth about Britain’s imperial legacy. British national conceit and history books are replete with double standards and moral relativism. It is too widely and fatuously assumed that Britain’s Empire represented somehow a benevolent contribution to history. British people, and unfortunately English-language academia and media across the world, tend to perceive Britain’s “decolonization” - its retreat from imperial territories - as a magnanimous gesture of granting independence. This delusional notion is best summed up in the Orwellian term “the British Commonwealth of nations”.

With conceited moral duplicity, Britain insists that Imperial Japan and Nazi Germany must pay out compensation to victims of their conquests. But no such obligation pertains to Britain, according to the British rulers. Why not? Only imperial arrogance and a certain sense of victor’s justice stemming from the Second World War are invoked to subjectively justify that contradiction. In the world of objective facts and evidence, Britain is equally liable for redress to its global victims of crimes against humanity. 

When Britain set out to destroy the Mau Mau struggle for Kenya’s political independence during the 1950s, the British were not interested in benign, passive “decolonization”. For the British rulers, it was a life-or-death challenge to the entire global system of British Empire and its exploitative excrescence on the world. The same British “siege mentality” manifested ruthlessly against the independence movements in all its colonies. 

UK Prime Minister David Cameron

 Up to 300,000 Kenyans were incarcerated in concentration camps during what the British euphemistically called “The Emergency”. That same quaint word - “Emergency” - was used by the British to dissemble their barbarism and brutality in Burma against pro-independence communist guerrilla. During Bahrain and Northern Ireland’s struggle for freedom from Britain’s unlawful dominance, the preferred euphemism for repression was “The Troubles”. 

But these semantics aside, the nature of repression meted out by British rulers and their officers was systematically criminal and brutal and comparable to the worst genocidal regimes the world has known. 

The Kenyan Mau Mau may have suffered the most, probably owing to a twist of racist depravity among the white British counterinsurgency practitioners. Kenyan prisoners were castrated and roasted over fires by British officers using methods of torture that even classified British records explicitly sanctioned as “Gestapo techniques”. 

During the British suppression of the Cypriot insurgency during the 1950s, inmates were routinely tortured by water-boarding sessions in which Kerosene was added to the drowning water. Later, during the 1970s in Northern Ireland’s conflict, Irish prisoners were incarcerated without charge and tortured by hooding, prolonged wall-standing, sleep deprivation, white noise and intimidation with guard dogs, not to mention routine physical beatings.

If such torture and generally repressive regimens sound similar to what has since been uncovered in Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantanamo Bay it is because they are wholly consistent. These are the standard operating practices of British military doctrine and that of its close American ally. 

The reason why such barbarity continues to be practiced is because of the moral duplicity and propagandized version of history that the Western media and academia instill. Barbarity is something that others perpetrate, not us. 

The glacial pace of justice - as shown by the more than six decades’ delay for the Mau Mau victims of British crimes - is reflective of the massive public deception instilled by Western media on behalf of their criminal governments. 

However, thanks to the courageous pursuit of justice by many people across the world, this edifice of deception will eventually be broken down. This is imperative as a matter of justice for the millions of victims of British crimes against humanity. 

But, in addition, the exposure of British criminality is crucial to deleting the duplicity that serves to give contemporary British and other Western governments a veneer of legitimacy. Britain has no right to pontificate and brow beat Syria, Iran or any other nation about “international obligations”. With the full record of British criminality on display, this is a country that, far from lecturing others, should be made to hang its head in shame and remain silent.

BRUNO RODRIQUES SPEAKS

• Speech by Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cuba, at the presentation of the national report to the Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review

Comrade Bruno Rodriguez

Mr. President:

Cuba is honored to present its second National Report to the Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review (UPR) mechanism. It does so proud of its humanistic work and its achievements in guaranteeing the exercise of all human rights for all its citizens.

The economic, political and media blockade imposed by the United States, which Cuba has resisted, undefeated, for more than 50 years, is a massive, flagrant and systematic violation of human rights which provokes damage, shortages and suffering, but it has not detained the country’s equal opportunities, equity in the distribution of wealth, or social justice.

Persistent efforts on the part of the United States to impose a "regime change" on Cuba are a serious violation of the nation’s right to self-determination. These efforts have been unable to prevent the active, democratic and direct participation of its citizens in the construction of constitutional order, in government decisions and in the election of its authorities.

Before this Council is a country without homeless persons or people deprived of dignity, in which no child lacks an education of quality, the sick enjoy sterling medical attention and the elderly social protection. A nation in which the rights of workers, farmers, intellectuals and students are protected by law. A country with citizens’ security, without organized crime, or drugs. Before this Council is a united people, with profound social cohesion. A state in which no one has been executed without trial, tortured or disappeared, and there are no kidnappings or secret prisons. 

This exercise coincides with International Workers’ Day, joyfully celebrated in Cuba’s plazas and streets by millions of compatriots and hundreds of friends from all over the world. They do so as free women and men, in defense of rights that have been won. They are not masses of justly angry people, workers on strike, students besieged by education costs and debt, immigrants persecuted by self-interest, racism and xenophobia. We offer our solidarity to all those fighting – everywhere on the planet – for human rights for all, for peace, for development, for the survival of humanity, threatened by colossal military arsenals and climate change.

Mr. President:

This report is the result of a wide-ranging and participative consultation process which involved countless government institutions, Parliament, civil society organizations and other relevant institutions.

The follow up on the recommendations accepted in the first UPR cycle was the principal objective of the work of the National Group, which coordinated the process and prepared the report.

From Cuba’s first presentation to this mechanism in 2009 through today, significant changes have taken place in the economy and society. Advances have been made in the institutional perfection process, greater citizens’ participation and control as a fundamental aspect of our democracy, and the undertaking to achieve sustainable development with social justice has been maintained.

Cuba remains committed to its irrevocable decision to advance its socialist, national, original, democratic and freely participative socialist development. 

We did not come here to present a completed task, nor do we pretend that the Cuban socialist model should be considered for anyone or everyone. Nor do we accept that there is a unique or universal model of democracy, and far less the imposition of the political system of Western industrialized countries which have entered into crisis. We likewise reject the political manipulation, hypocrisy and double standards frequently present in the debate on human rights issues.

Mr. President:

One of the most significant events since the previous session is the adoption by the National Assembly of People's Power of the Economic and Social Policy Guidelines, which constitute a body of decisions essential to the updating of the Cuban economic and social model and a government program.

The guidelines were adopted after an extremely wide-ranging popular debate in which millions of Cuban women and men formulated, with total freedom, more than 400,000 amendments modifying two thirds of the draft document, and voted on each one of its 12 chapters. This was a unique experience of citizens’ direct popular consultation in order to reach consensus on government economic, monetary and social policies, in con junction with measures to overcome the effects of the global economic crisis and problems of the Cuban economy without neoliberal austerity formulas, without saving banks at the cost of unjust social cuts.

Cuba has continued strengthening the democratic nature of its institutionality with laws, policies and programs of a popular and participative nature, in accordance with the people’s aspirations.

New regulations have been adopted to expand the legislative base of human rights, such as those related to social security, housing, employment and exclusively self-employed work, the granting of land in usufruct, among others. In parallel, advances are being made in perfecting and updating the country’s legal system, by implementing a number of modifications responding to the needs of Cuban society and the highest international standards in this context.

Outstanding among these amendments is the Migration and Travel Act, which has had a notable impact and has benefited the Cuban nation’s relations with its émigré community, despite constant manipulation of the migration issue.

Mr. President:

The legal system for the protection of human rights in Cuba is not confined to their constitutional drafting. The system is duly developed and implemented in other substantive, procedural regulations, in accordance with rights recognized in the Universal Declaration and other international human rights instruments.

Cuba has made significant advances in the realization of economic, social and cultural rights. Education has is universally accessible and is free of charge at all levels of teaching.

Through its various programs, the Cuban state guarantees every girl, boy and young adult the possibility and right to study within the National Education System and to continue in their education as far as their aptitudes and efforts allow them, with equality of opportunity. The First Vice President of the Council of State and Ministers was invested with the responsibility to protect and supervise children’s rights.

The right to education is assured for every child and young adult with any kind of mental or physical disability through the Special Education Program, in cases where the full integration of differently-abled children in general educational institutions is not possible. Attention is given to these children throughout the country in different forms and at all levels of teaching.

In the most recent UNESCO World Report on the follow-up of Education for All (2012), Cuba appears in 16th place, given its educational development indices. UNESCO recognized Cuba as the Latin American and Caribbean country to direct the highest proportion of its national budget to education.

Under the Martí doctrine of "being educated in order to be free," Cuba is outstanding in terms of its cultural development, its population’s full access to art and literature, for the preservation and defense of our culture and the enrichment of our spiritual values.

Cuba is equally recognized for its outstanding results and the high quality of its public health system, with universal coverage and free medical attention. With an infant mortality rate of 4.6 per 1,000 live births, Cuba has established indicators higher than those of many industrialized countries. With one doctor for every 137 inhabitants, Cuba is – according to the World Health Organization – the most endowed nation in this sector.

From 2009 through 2011, 19,371 mothers of children with severe disabilities received social security protection, thus giving them the possibility of personally caring for their children.

Attention to older adults is a priority and for that reason, multidisciplinary and cross-sector work is underway to guarantee quality of life for this growing population sector. Life expectancy at birth stands at an average of 78 years. In the next decade, more than 87% of Cubans will have exceeded 60 years of age.

Rights to life, freedom and personal security are sustained by the principle of respect for human dignity and constitute pillars in the conduct of Cuban authorities and the functioning of the entire society.

The five Cuban anti-terrorist fighters who are enduring unjust and long prison terms in the United States lack protection. They were tried without guarantees of due process, in an atmosphere of revenge and hatred, under a slanderous press campaign paid for by the District Attorney’s Office, subjected to prolonged solitary confinement, impediments to their legal defense, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, and a number of them have been deprived of visits from their families.

We are deeply concerned at the legal impasse which is sustaining the permanent and atrocious violation of human rights occurring on the illegal Guantánamo Naval Base, Cuban territory usurped by the United States, a center of torture and deaths in custody, where 166 detainees have been held for 10 years, without guarantees, a trial or defense. Currently, 100 of them are on hunger strike, with 17 of these, whose lives are in danger, being force fed through tubes. This prison and military base must be closed and this territory returned to Cuba.

Cuba recognizes, respects and guarantees religious freedoms without discrimination of any kind.

Approximately 400 religions and religious institutions exist in the country.

The freedoms of opinion, expression, access to information and the press are recognized for all citizens. The high educational and cultural level of the people; the social and public nature of communications media; the inexistence of giant for-profit media corporations which in other places impose economic and political interests; the absence of generally stultifying commercial publicity; and the exercise of popular power, all facilitate the material conditions which allow for the enjoyment of these freedoms.

The right to truthful information, free of charge, should be guaranteed by the state. The democratization of internet, the transference of resources and technology appropriate for social communication, is an urgent need. The technological and content monopoly; the political and military use of networks; linguistic and cultural discrimination must be ended. The digital gap must be closed.

The blockade prevents Cuba from connecting to nearby underwater cables, making services more expensive and access for the population more difficult. It prohibits international providers from supplying Cuba with services, software and technology. Our country is denied, for example, diverse Google services and access to international digital platforms.

Between 2010 and 2013, the United States has, as well, allocated 191.7 million dollars to finance organizations, paid agents, the subversive use of information technology and illegal radio and television broadcasts promoting regime change in Cuba. Additionally, millions more are channeled through special services and private groups. Some U.S. allies participate in this effort.

Mr. President:

In Cuba, equality and non-discriminatory policies are fully guaranteed. Advances in terms of gender equality are outstanding. The Cuban government continues to implement numerous laws, policies and programs directed toward reaffirming these.

The percentage of Cuban women in the National Assembly of People’s Power, our Parliament, has reached 48.86%. Cuba occupies second place on a world scale in terms of the percentage of female parliamentarians. For the first time, two women are now Council of State Vice Presidents, and women constitute 41.9% of this body. A third of our ministries are headed by women.

Institutional racism has been eradicated, ample opportunities for development and concrete benefits are provided for less favored sectors, and we are struggling to assure complete, effective equality of opportunity to sectors historically marginalized and to dysfunctional families. Not yet overcome are certain racial prejudices and stereotypes surviving from slavery during our colonial past and a neocolonial regime which institutionalized racism and racial segregation.

Complementary to government efforts and full protection under the law, a decision was made to assign a Council of State Vice President the task of following up on and supervising the struggle against racism and racial discrimination.

We are proud of our African heritage. We share, in a disinterested fashion, the fate of our African brothers and sisters in their battle against colonialism and apartheid.

Another area in which sustained progress is being made is the struggle against discrimination based on sexual orientation. The National Sexual Education Program has incorporated an ongoing educational strategy promoting respect for all sexual orientations and gender identities, establishing multiple opportunities for exchange based on the principles of equality and non-discrimination.

In relation to the promotion and protection of the rights of disabled persons, we have assured that the majority are able to access education and join the workforce. Support is offered in diverse arenas of social activity.

Mr. President:

Cuba’s penitentiary system is based on the principle of human betterment. Cuba fulfils all precepts of the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners and prioritizes a preventative focus through a number of social programs, among them those directed toward converting prisons into educational centers.

All inmates are guaranteed medical and dental attention free of charge, under the same conditions as the rest of Cuba’s population. They receive a wage commensurate with the work they perform.

In Cuba, 27,000,095 inmates, approximately half of the total, are studying at different levels in every penal institution in the country. Many of them are additionally learning a trade. This educational system has supported inmates’ reintegration into society and the workforce.

Mr. President:

Despite shortages and difficulties, in a disinterested fashion, our people have shared and share what we have with other nations, offering solidarity to contribute to the realization of human rights of other peoples around the world.

Since 2004, tens of thousands of citizens have regained their sight through Operation Miracle and 2.4 million ophthalmologic surgeries have been performed in 34 Latin American, Caribbean and African countries.

Since 2005, the (Henry Reeve) International Contingent of Doctors Specializing in Disaster and Serious Epidemic Situations has offered medical assistance to more than three million affected persons.

Cooperation with Haiti, a sister Caribbean country in need of resources for reconstruction and development, has been maintained. More than 12,000 Cuban collaborators have worked there.

Beginning in 2004, cooperation has expanded in literacy learning and development through the Cuban programs Yes, I can (UNESCO King Sejong Prize), I can read and write now and Yes, I can do more. As of November, 2012, 6.9 million people had completed the basic Yes I can literacy program and 976,000 had completed Yes, I can do more.

Mr. President:

Cuba maintains a high level of cooperation and interaction within procedures and structures established by the United Nations in terms of human rights, which are universally applicable, on a non-discriminatory basis.

We have always demonstrated out unequivocal openness to dialogue on all issues, with all states, on the basis of mutual respect, sovereign equality and recognition of the right to self-determination.

Cuba has established a positive dialogue with bodies created in accordance with international treaties in the area of human rights.

Since 2009, five National Reports have been prepared; three of which have been presented before the respective committees. Currently in the final stages of revision are Cuba’s Initial Report in accordance with the Optional Protocol of the Convention on the Rights of Children in relation to the sale of children, child prostitution and the use of children in pornography; as well as our Initial Report in compliance with the Convention on the Rights of Disabled Persons.

Cuba is a signatory to 42 international human rights treaties and has complied with all of their stipulations. Other human rights instruments, including two Pacts, are being studied by relevant authorities.

Our country maintains cooperative relations with diverse humanitarian and human rights organizations throughout the world, both within our own territory and in the development of collaborative missions internationally.

Mr. President:

We are open to constructive, respectful dialogue which adheres to the facts. We will provide necessary information and clarifications.

Thank you very much. 

Homeless In Tunnels

Homeless Europeans live in tunnels

 In the principal cities of the United States, one of the most prosperous countries in the world, thousands of people live beneath the streets, in underground tunnels.
Underneath Kansas City, police discovered last week a group of homeless persons living in tents, in deep underground tunnels. They were removed because of the "insecure environment."

Authorities reported that these individuals lived in misery surrounded by piles of garbage.
It is not clear exactly who these homeless people are or how they dug the tunnels. This is not the only report of this type. In 2010 a story emerged about some 1,000 people who lived in 320 kilometers of tunnels located under the streets of Las Vegas. Improvised furnishings filled the rooms, some had beds, closets and small libraries of books discarded by others.
Journalist Matthew O’Brien reports that these are normal people from all age groups who have lost their way, generally after some traumatic event. He came across the ‘tunnel people’ while investigating a murder, founded an organization to help then and wrote a book about their existence, Beneath the Neon.

He writes that many are war veterans suffering post-traumatic stress syndrome and additionally noted evidence – toys and stuffed animals – that children lived in the tunnels.
Authorities in New York City are constantly evicting persons living in the many tunnels under that city, known as ‘mole people.’ Their attempts to locate all such individuals have, however, failed.

In addition to the thousands of homeless who live in tunnels, there are many living in tents. This is the case of some 80 indigent persons in the New Jersey city of Lakewood, who erected a tent city complete with chickens, a church and piano.

Early in April, residents of the camp reached an agreement with authorities on details of a plan to clear the area, "after the residents have found homes."

Despite all U.S. government declarations that the recession is over and the economy improving, these families are a clear demonstration of the reality that poverty and the number of homeless continue to increase.

The FBI’s Bomb Factory

By Jeffrey St. Clair

“IT’S nearing dusk on November 26, 2010. More than 25,000 people have gathered in a light rain at Pioneer Square in downtown Portland, Oregon to watch the annual lighting of the holiday tree, a 100-foot-tall Douglas-fir logged from the Willamette National Forest. Three men in a nearby hotel room have just finished eating a take-out pizza. The TV turned to a local news channel, which is covering holiday celebration. The men spread towels on the floor and say an Islamic prayer, asking that Allah bless their operation. The men pat each other on the back, leave the room and walk to their vehicle, a white van.

One of the men is a teenager named Mohamed. The other two men are older. One is called Youssef. The leader of the group is a man in his fifties who known only as Hussein. Hussein is a bomb-maker for al-Qaeda. He’s been making explosives for three decades. Their operation to set off a massive bomb in the heart of Portland has been in the works for more than three months. Hussein unlocks the doors to the van and takes the driver’s seat. The young Mohamed, who is wearing a hard-hat, slides into the passenger seat. In the cargo hold of the van sit six 55-gallon blue drums filled with nearly 2,000 pounds of fertilizer-based explosives. Each drum has an explosive cap. They are linked together by a detonation cord, which runs up to a toggle switch.

As Hussein pulls the van, which reeks of diesel fuel, out into traffic, the bomb-maker begins to chant loudly in Arabic. Hussein parks the van on Yamhill Street, directly across from Pioneer Square. He orders Mohamed to flip the toggle switch, arming the bombs. The two men get out of the van and scurry down Broadway Street and then up to 10th avenue, where Youssef is waiting for them in an SUV. They drive to the Portland train station, where they drop Youssef off, and then park the vehicle in a lot a couple of blocks away.

Hussein mutters “Allahu Akbar.” Then turns to his teenage sidekick and asks, “You ready?” Mohamed nods his head, “Ready.” The bomb-maker hands Mohamed a cell phone. The phone is meant to activate the bomb. He reads out a number. Mohammed nervously enters the digits on the phone. There is no explosion.

Hussein suggests that the signal may be poor and that they should step out of the van. The two men get out of the van and Mohamed reenters the numbers. The phone begins to ring. Then dozens of voices shatter the tense scene, screaming “FBI! FBI!” The two men are ordered to the ground. As Hussein is being handcuffed, he struggles with the federal agents and continues to chant “Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar!” 

When Mohamed spits at an officer, Hussein says, “I love that.” The federal agents have arrived, it seems, just in the nick of time. Their felicitous intervention has disrupted a sophisticated terrorist operation and saved thousands of innocent lives. The bomb plotters had been caught and trundled off to prison: another triumphant day in the battle to protect the homeland from al-Qaeda’s terror cells.

But wait a minute. Almost nothing about this scenario was true. The cell phone wasn’t connected to the toggle switch. The detonation cords weren’t wired to an explosive device. The blue drums weren’t filled with diesel-saturated fertilizer, but harmless grass seed. Mohamed wasn’t a member of al Qaeda. Of Somali origin, he was a troubled college dropout from Beaverton, Oregon, home of Nike. Youssef wasn’t a member of al Qaeda. Hussein was not one of al Qaeda’s top bomb makers. Youssef and Hussein were not really arrested and neither was charged with being part of a terrorist plot. Youssef and Hussein were both federal agents.

The bomb plot itself was not an al Qaeda idea. It was hatched by the FBI. Young Mohamed Mohamud did not seek out the bomb plotters; they found him and seduced the young man into joining their conspiracy. The teenager did not build the bomb. The fake bomb was actually constructed by John Hallock, who later testified that he designed the device for “maximum effect.” Mohamed did not select the target. The order to activate the device came from a federal agent. The order to detonate the bomb also came from a federal agent. From conception to execution, the infamous Portland Christmas Tree Bomb Plot was scripted by the FBI.

Yet it was Mohamed Mohamud who was arrested, slapped with federal terrorism and conspiracy changes, subjected to a bruising trial in January and convicted on all counts by a jury that deliberated less than six hours. After the verdict was read, the gleeful FBI agents and federal prosecutors hailed their victorious sting operation, braying that they had rid the streets of a dangerous jihadist. But this was not a government sting. It was a textbook case of entrapment, where federal agents recruited a disaffected kid, whose only previous legal entanglement had been an unproven allegation of date rape during his freshman year at college, into a fake bomb plot that they had concocted.

Mohamed Mohamud was not a terrorist when the FBI began spying on him while he was still in high school. In the two years he was under FBI surveillance, he did not commit a terrorist act or join a terrorist group. It took the FBI to recruit him into a terrorist cell, indoctrinate him into terrorist ideology and lure him into participating in its bomb plot.

Our government increasingly fantasizes about blowing things up here at home. This is the sixth case where the FBI has invented a bomb plot aimed at snagging hapless, often alienated, individuals who were not terrorists until they were enticed into joining the agency’s own conspiracy.  So what is the point of these operations? To scoop up a handful of estranged, young Muslim men? To make suburban Americans feel safer?

Hardly. The point is fear. The government needs to keep the public in a state of terror anxiety in order to justify its own ever-encroaching powers. So, Mohamed sits in prison. The Constitution lies in tatters. Fear rules the land.”

Our Wealth of Poverty

By John Igoli

In Africa, we do not walk dogs; we walk lions….Guest Speaker at an African forum Scotland

Africa is full of potentials: potentials for investments in oil and gas, solid minerals, agriculture, communication, construction, education, hotels and tourism, movie making, collaboration in research etc., etc.  At every opportunity African leaders are quick to remind foreign investors, academia and industries about these potentials for investment in Africa. Our leaders boast of owning the land, the oil wells and mining pits and in fact, every other natural asset bestowed on the continent or the country. From the way they treat Africans or their fellow nationals, they unwittingly pass across a message saying “move away Africans, foreigners are coming!”

While Africa and Africans are naturally and potentially rich and wealthy, we are realistically and unexpectedly poor. Our wealth has become our poverty. The more we point to our wealth the poorer we become. Our problem seems to be that of transforming our wealth to be our wealth! If the amount of energy and resources spent in wooing foreign investors is expended in Africa, we would have moved much further than where we are today. Looking abroad for solutions to our economic or development problems is like star gazing. While star gazers do not go to the stars to find answers to their problems, African leaders must go abroad to find solutions to our problems no matter the cost.

One of such ambitious efforts or “wooing of foreign investors” packages was the recently held (25-26^th April, 2013) Scottish African International Business Conference and Exhibition 2013 at Glasgow Caledonian University hosted and organised by the African Forum Scotland. The conference is expected to be an annual event and the theme for this year’s conference was “Towards a Sustainable Africa: The Changing Perspective of the African Business Environment” which according to the organisers will be a “reflection of the evolving market trend in Africa, and how the world’s perspective of Africa must evolve too.”
Some points we fail to note are, if investors are not coming to our continent or country, it is not because they have stopped investing it is because they are either going elsewhere or they are remaining at home. Secondly a collaboration or business investment is between people and not just the agencies or institutions. 

Investors will not go to places where they will not benefit or are not sure of the security of their lives, properties or investments. The fact that African leaders are law or even above the law is quite scary to investors. The corruption toga does not help either as foreign investors fear they must get their hands stained to invest or sustain investments in Africa. We compare security situations in some countries to those in Africa and conclude that Africa is much safer than those countries but this is half-truth. Security in investments has more to do with human attitudes at peace time rather than in times of violence or military interventions.

Our attitude to business is simply poor. Apart from the of lack of infrastructures such as power or poor intra-continent or country transport network (air, road, water, rail), weak banking systems and networking with foreign banks, money laundering and other prevalent economic crimes, Africans do not like to pay. Our wages (when they are paid) are only fit for humour. There is no dignity of labour, no insurance and no security of properties. The government or the indigenes can wake up one day and confiscate all you have laboured to build. When we add to this social insecurity, armed robbery, kidnapping and communal clashes or conflicts, we do not need any sacrifice or ask a native doctor what the sex of our baby will be. The answer is obvious.

While foreigners are advertising or promoting investing in Africa (see “Invest in Africa” Jerseys worn by footballers or billboards publicizing same), Africans are busy investing abroad. The message is for us to imbibe the culture first then others will follow. We must befriend science and its ethics for research and development. We must develop and maintain sustainable databases for information exchange. We must learn to obey laws and live under acceptable rules of business and corporate management and social responsibility. Things cannot be different in Africa just because we are Africans and investors should understand that.

The fact that we do not have enough food for our population in spite of the available land is quite unnerving too. No visitor will come to your house when he knows you are unable to feed yourself and you will still struggle to give them gifts. Gifts such as import or tax waivers or provision of personal bodyguards are not so enticing to many or the discerning investor. Similarly the parallel demands for kickbacks, building structures (houses, schools, hospitals or worship centres) in hometowns or localities and meeting other selfish demands of those in power or control is frightening. The rapid changes in policies following equally rapid or unexpected changes in government personnel/leader also scares away many would be foreign investors.

We should remember our foreign investors are not just businessmen seeking to invest their funds and reap profits, they are also tourists (when their friends and families visit), they also seek quality education for their children, require good health system and may desire social engagements or contracts such as marriage etc. It is a package and such packages are not sold by word of mouth but by what is on ground. 

As our leaders globe-trot let them remember that the amino acids that make up the DNAs of foreigners are the same ones that make up the DNA of Africans. We therefore deserve equal opportunities to life and living as our foreign brothers. The audacity to walk lions in our Safari parks and Game Reserves must be extended to providing a better living and business climate in Africa rather than the present perplexing situation we have.