The News Review:
- UN seeks extradition of Taylor
- Market forces
- An Oasis of Indulgence Amid Brazil’s Poverty
- Post-Soviet danger: Vulnerable munitions depots
UN seeks extradition of Taylor
Independent Online – Jul 17, 2005
Winding up a three-day visit to Sierra Leone crisscrossing the former war-torn country to evaluate the state of human rights, Arbour added her voice to the growing campaign to extradite Taylor to the Special Court in Sierra Leone. “I call and will continue to call publicly not only on (Nigerian) President Obasanjo but all African leaders to stand up and say very firmly that they believe in justice just as they believe in peace and that they support the immediate transfer of Taylor to Sierra Leone to stand trial. At the request of ECOWAS and the African Union, Obasanjo agreed to allow Taylor to settle in Calabar, southern Nigeria. The former head of state is wanted by the UN-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone who is seeking to indict him for his presumed support for rebels of the Revolutionary United Front who sparked a civil war in this West African country in 1992.
Market forces
Guardian Unlimited – Jul 16, 2005
Talk among traders is that on Monday it will split itself into a diamond business and a gold and iron ore business. The diamond business, dealers reckon, is likely to very quickly find itself prey to Aim-listed rival Petra Diamonds which last month completed its merger with Crown Diamonds and is understood to still feel in an acquisitive mood. In fact Petra and Mano have a diamond joint venture in Sierra Leone which is expected to start early-stage production in the first quarter next year. Shares in Mano were unchanged at 9. 875p while Petra dipped 3.
An Oasis of Indulgence Amid Brazil’s Poverty
New York Times – Jul 16, 2005
But Daslu (pronounced daz-LOO) is more than just an indulgence for the wealthy. Since it moved last month to a new, heavily guarded $50 million building between a highway and a shantytown, it has become a symbol of extravagant consumption in a country with one of the world’s most skewed income structures. Only days before Daslu moved, a government study said the gap between rich and poor in Brazil was second only to that in Sierra Leone. The minimum wage is $125 a month, and nearly a third of Brazilians live on less than $2 a day. Daslu’s new store has become a flashpoint for debate on social inequities. At the store’s opening in June, guests went through 2,680 bottles of free Veuve Clicquot Champagne, spawning dozens of articles on Daslu in the local press — some praising it, others reviling it as a metaphor for social injustices. ”A store like that is an absolute affront in an unjust society like ours,” said Maria Luiza Marcílio, a history professor at the University of São Paulo.
Post-Soviet danger: Vulnerable munitions depots
International Herald Tribune – Jul 16, 2005
Shipments of the more modern munitions and equipment have departed Ukraine in suspicious arms deals and reappeared in conflicts in Africa and the Middle East. Western governments worry that some of the stocks, including explosives and portable antiaircraft missiles that can down civilian aircraft, might find homes with terrorist groups. In one deal alone, extensively documented by the United Nations and human rights organizations, 68 tons of munitions were transferred in 1999 from Ukraine to Burkina Faso to Liberia, ending up in the hands of the Revolutionary United Front, which sacked Sierra Leone. 25Ukraine has not been alone in such circuitous deals. In a report released July 5, Amnesty International claimed that 400 tons of surplus ammunition were shipped from Albania and Serbia to Rwanda in 2002 and 2003, and then channeled to armed groups in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Allegations of illegal arms dealing have also adhered to Trans-Dniester, the breakaway region of Moldova, which, according to estimates provided by Russia to the Organization for the Security and Cooperation in Europe, has 42,000 small arms and 20,000 tons of munitions, including aircraft bombs, rockets and 39,000 land mines. Russia is thought to have the largest stockpiles, but has been less forthcoming about them than Ukraine.