Ambon deadly riot “allegedly orchestrated” : Komnas HAM
ACEH MINUTES | Certain parties might have intentionally provoked residents in Ambon, Maluku, prior to the recent deadly riot in the provincial capital city which claimed seven lives and left 65 others injured, Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) Ifdhal Kasim said on Monday.“Our team was deployed to Ambon and has just finished its one-week investigation. Our preliminary findings show that the riot might have erupted due to provocation by certain parties,” Ifdhal told The Jakarta Post in the sidelines of a seminar in Jakarta.
The fatal clash, which also saw around 200 buildings damaged, broke out on Sept. 11 after text message rumors spread that a Muslim ojek (motorcycle taxi) driver, who had been killed in a road accident, was actually tortured to death by a Christian group.
“The rumor was false, as we have interviewed the forensic doctor who conducted the autopsy on the ojek driver’s body. The doctor told us that the man had been killed in a road accident … no indications of torture,” Ifdhal said.
The police previously said that the text message had also been spread to some cities in Java, such as Surabaya and Surakarta.
The Komnas HAM has yet to conclude who was the mastermind of the riot and whether it was politically motivated or not. “Our investigation is still ongoing,” Ifdhal said.
He added that the commission had also been concerned over the police’s poor efforts to respond and prevent the clash from becoming deadly.
The Komnas HAM, he said, would find out if the police’s inability to overcome the riot was due to the force’s lack of personnel and resources or deliberate ignorance.
Ambon was swept by Muslim-Christian conflict between 1999 and 2002, when thousands were killed and hundreds of thousands displaced throughout the Maluku Islands.(the jakarta post)
Police to investigate brutal attack on journalists by students
ACEH MINUTES | South Jakarta Police say that they will launch an investigation into an attack against journalists allegedly by a group of high school students.South Jakarta Police Chief Sr. Comr. Imam Sugianto said that students of state high school SMA 6 in South Jakarta would be questioned about their involvement in the attack. “We will launch an investigation against anybody involved in the attack on the journalists,” he said.
Earlier on Monday, the National Police Chief Gen. Timur Pradopo said that any high school students involved in the attack would be brought to justice.
Timur told reporters before joining a Cabinet meeting that police would collaborate with the school in the investigation.
Students from SMA 6 high school allegedly assaulted journalists from various media organizations who staged a protest against an earlier attack last week on a TV journalist implicating students at the school in violence.
The journalists who were victims in the incident are Panca Syaukani from Media Indonesia, Aldi Gultom from Rakyat Merdeka, Wahyu from Elshinta Radio, Anton from Metro TV, Banar Fil Ardhi from Kompas images and Media Indonesia photographer Yudhistiro Pranoto.
Yudhistiro is now receiving intensive care at the Pertamina Hospital.
On Friday, some students seized video tape from Trans7 journalist, Oktaviardi, when he recorded a brawl involving students of SMA 6 and the nearby SMA 70.
More journalists came to the school on Monday to stage a protest and ask the school to take responsibility for the incident.
“I was beaten while taking pictures of today’s protest,” said Panca as quoted by kompas.com.
Eyewitnesses to the attack said that the students were brutal in their treatment of the journalists.
A throng of students chased the protesting journalists down through the back alleys of the Blok M shopping district.
The students appeared undeterred by a number of warning shots fired by police officers who arrived at the scene to break up the crowd.
In photographs taken by Banar on the kompas.com website, several students were seen beating and kicking some of the journalists who were being shielded by police officers.
Banar himself suffered cuts and bruises to his face while fellow photographer Fransiskus Simbolon of Kontan weekly left the sene unharmed.
“After taking some pictures, I took a break and bought some drinks. Suddenly from two directions, these students appeared and chased us down. I ran away and fell and they started mobbing me. Thank God local residents and fellow journalists came and rescued me,” Banar said.
A poster on the Twitter social network site claiming to be one of the SMA 6 students said that he was proud of what he had done.
In the Twitter feed the poster, whose online name is Gilang_Perdanaa, is reported to have said that he was pleased about beating up the journalists.
“I feel relieved now after beating up the journalists. I was so angry,” the poster said as quoted by kompas.com.
He went on to say that people should be more careful when trying to expose how tough the neighborhood around SMA 6 was.
“Mahakam neighborhood is tough, man, don’t try to disrupt the peace, even journalists could be victims,” he said.(the jakarta post)
Obama takes jobs message on the road
ACEH MINUTES | President Barack Obama vowed to take his US$447 billion jobs message to "every corner of this country" and begins honoring that pledge Friday in Richmond, Virginia, a city represented by one of his harshest Republican critics in the House of Representatives.
'Generous' Kadhafi Welcome
Obama's fiery Thursday night speech to a joint session of Congress foreshadowed a new toughness and readiness to sidestep Congress and take the fight to the American people in regions that sent vocal Republican opponents to Washington.
At one point the president said "there's a bridge that needs repair between Ohio and Kentucky" - the states represented by House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell respectively.
While some top Republicans, like Boehner and his No. 2, Eric Cantor, who hails from Richmond, said they were willing to study Obama's ideas, there was no expectation that the party fighting to regain control of the White House next year was ready for a wholesale reversal of its steadfast opposition to the president's vision for the country.
Still, Cantor on Friday said he believed the Republicans can work with the Democrats to act fairly soon as long as the president doesn't insist on an "all-or-nothing" approach. He appeared on CBS's "The Early Show."
The newest and boldest element of Obama's plan would slash the payroll tax for the Social Security pension program both for tens of millions of workers and for employers, too. It also includes $105 billion in public works projects and the renewal of $50 billion in unemployment benefits for about 6 million Americans at risk of losing jobless insurance.
While Obama repeatedly said his plan would not add to the ballooning U.S. deficit, the method to fund the big stimulus spending package was certain to hit a wall of Republican opposition.
The president insisted he would continue battling to roll back tax loopholes for big corporations and expected to see taxes increased for affluent Americans. Most Republicans hotly oppose either measure, and the nearly 90 new members of the House of Representatives aligned with the tea party wing have signed pledges to block any tax increase.
Economists offered mainly positive reviews of Obama's plan. Some predicted it would put hundreds of thousands of people back to work next year, mainly because a Social Security tax cut for workers would be deepened and extended to small businesses.
"Payroll tax cuts are very powerful," said Allen Sinai, chief economist of Decision Economics. "They provide a boost to direct income and, in turn, spending, which is important to growth."
Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics, estimated that the president's plan would boost economic growth by 2 percentage points, add 2 million jobs and reduce unemployment by a full percentage point next year compared with existing law.
The heart of Obama's plan is an expansion of the Social Security tax cut, which took effect this year and is scheduled to expire by year's end. The tax cut now applies only to workers; it reduces their Social Security tax from 6.2 percent to 4.2 percent. Employers still pay the 6.2 percent rate.
Obama would renew the tax cut for a year and deepen it: He would drop workers' Social Security tax to 3.1 percent.
Under his bigger tax cut, an extra $1,550 would go to taxpayers earning $50,000 a year. The Social Security tax is imposed on the first $106,800 of taxable income. That means the maximum savings would be about $3,300 for an individual and $6,600 for a couple.
Obama would also halve Social Security taxes for businesses whose payrolls are $5 million or less. The White House says that would include 98 percent of U.S. businesses.
Obama's message was unmistakable to the point of repetition, as he told Congress more than 15 times in one way or another to act quickly. That was meant as a direct challenge by a Democratic president to the Republicans running the House of Representatives to get behind his plan, especially on tax cuts, or be tarred as standing in the way.
"This plan is the right thing to do right now," Obama said after a divided body rose in warm unison to greet him. "You should pass it. And I intend to take that message to every corner of this country."
Obama will likely have a hard time getting much of his plan through Congress. Republicans control the House of Representatives and can use procedural tactics to block bills in the Senate.
Beyond their ideological opposition to Obama's plans, Republicans would seem hesitant to hand Obama a major legislative victory that could boost his re-election prospects. The president's poll numbers are sagging as he moves toward the 2012 election.(thejakartapost)
'Generous' Kadhafi Welcome
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| reuters |
GAO | Acehminutes - Moamer Kadhafi’s circle of friends on the international scene is fast shrinking but in the Malian town of Gao, residents say they would be happy to welcome the fugitive Libyan leader.
“Let Kadhafi come here. We will offer him bed and board,” said a chemist in Gao, the impoverished Sahelian country’s main eastern hub.
A school headmaster looked slightly more nervous when asked if he would open his home to Kadhafi but argued Mali had long benefited from the maverick leader’s largesse and could not leave him out in the cold.
“I agree to welcome Kadhafi. We are not ungrateful people. He opened his wallet to us Africans. Today he is experiencing difficult times, we should not forsake him,” he said.
Mali’s relations with Kadhafi’s regime were manifold. The oil-rich regime welcomed thousands of Tuareg rebels from Mali and neighbouring countries in the 70s, many of whom are now returning with expensive cars and weapons.
But more recently, Kadhafi also showered African leaders with billions of dollars and got traditional leaders all over the continent to call him the “King of Kings”.
While cases of mistreatment of sub-Saharan immigrants in Libya spurred some controversy in Mali and elsewhere, many simply remember the man who sprinkled dollar bills on the crowd when he toured the region to launch his drive for the “United States of Africa” a decade ago.
Mali is one of the countries that benefited the most from Kadhafi’s generosity. Libyan investments financed a gleaming government office complex which bears Kadhafi’s name and is on the brink of completion.
Libya also has significant stakes in the hotel and banking industries. “I never received a penny from Kadhafi but I like him. There is a man who knows how to share. Just look at what he’s done for countries like Mali,” said Nouhoun Kone, a Gao airport employee.
“How many other Arab leaders offered any help to black Africa?” he said.
Two other residents sitting in front of their plot in this former Sahelian trading hub agree and say they would be happy to give Kadhafi hospitality.
“We are ready to protect him, offer him shelter and assistance. Nobody can root him out from this place. Tell him to come,” said one of them, who asked not to be named. One of the richest men in Gao, who also wished to remain anonymous, concurred.
“Why not build him a house in Gao or allow him to stay in his residence in Timbuktu,” he said, referring to the Malian town that was once a renowned centre for Islamic learning and where Kadhafi owns land covering several hectares.
The Libyan leader once had himself declared the Imam of Timbuktu and flew in African leaders to pray with him in the city’s stadium. Ibrahim Ag Kina, a former Tuareg rebel, said he had received more than 250,000 dollars from Libyan envoys as part of an operation to disarm the rebellion in northern Mali.
Speaking to AFP, he claimed that Libyan diplomats came to see him last year to “ask me to organise a disarmament operation with people from my tribe and tell me that Kadhafi was going to give money.” “I got my money and the envoys took their cut. Kadhafi was a generous man,” he said, displaying a photograph of himself standing next to the Libyan leader.
Unconfirmed reports said Kadhafi and two of his sons, including Seif al-Islam, were hiding around 100 kilometres (60 miles) south of Tripoli. Mali has seen several demonstrations of support for Kadhafi’s regime in recent months. They were organised by several prominent writers and involved a number of political parties and associations.
The conflict in Libya has nonetheless polarised Malian opinion. “What is happening to him is unfair but it has to be said he was violating people’s basic rights,” said Zoueratt, a young student in Gao.
“I am nonetheless in favour of granting him asylum. He was not a democrat but one should not forget that the Libyan rebels who now control most of the country are not either,” she said. (kompas.com)
Immigration officers ‘extort’ tourists
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| ilustrasi |
ACEH MINUTES] Thai and Malaysian tourists have complained that immigration officers at Polonia Airport in Medan, North Sumatra, extorted them when they entered the country.
The complaint was conveyed directly by the tourist representatives to the North Sumatra legislative council through the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) faction. They demanded back the money that was allegedly extorted from them by immigration officers, and that the guilty parties be processed legally.
PDI-P faction treasurer Brilian Mukhtar said the complaint against a number of immigration officers was submitted in a written letter by a tourist representative form Thailand, Amporn Vecharapo.
“We have received the tourist representative who has put the cases into chronological order in a letter, which he submitted by hand,” Brilian told The Jakarta Post on Friday.
Brilian said that during the meeting, the tourists expressed their dismay at being extorted by immigration officers.
Brilain said the tourists claimed they had arrived in the country via Polonia Airport in Medan on Aug. 16 on an AirAsia flight. At the airport, immigration officers demanded money from them without any reason, they said.
“The immigration officers demanded that we hand over between Rp 300,000 [about US$35] and Rp 500,000, failing which we would face difficulties, especially in arranging immigration documents,” Vecharapo told Brilian in the meeting at the legislative office.
Vecharapo said immigration officers at Polonia Airport had extorted 41 Malaysian and Thai tourists.
Brilian said the officers’ actions were shameful and tarnished the dignity of the nation in the eyes of other countries.
He added that the legislature would follow up with the complaint by reporting it to the police for thorough investigation.
“We will meet the North Sumatra Police chief in the near future to resolve the extortion [case],” Brilian said, adding that his office had received evidence and was ready to hand it over to police.
Brilian said the tourists were also ready to testify in court and identify the immigration officers who had extorted them.
When asked for confirmation on Friday, Polonia Airport Immigration administrative affairs division head Chairil acknowledged that he had been informed of the extortion case.
However, Chairil said his office’s attempts to investigate the case had been hampered by a lack of evidence.
Chairil added that his office hoped the extortion victims would immediately report the case to the Polonia Immigration Office.
“We urge anyone who has proof of the extortion, including tourists and legislative members, to immediately hand it over to us so we can take action against the perpetrators,” Chairil said.(Thejakartapost)
Death toll from Southeast Sulawesi ferry accident rises to 12
ACEH MINUTES] The death toll from an overcrowded ferry sank off eastern Indonesia early Saturday has risen to 12, officials said, as search-and-rescue teams scoured the choppy waters.
Ninety-three people, including the captain were rescued, but officials feared others were trapped inside the sunken vessel, said Brig. Gen. Sigit Sudarmanto, a police chief on Sulawesi island.
The Windu Karsa, traveling from the town of Bajoe to Kolaka, went down just after midnight in waters off southern Sulawesi as many passengers were sleeping.
Survivors told investigators that the ship capsized hours after a leak was discovered in the rear.
"Many of those pulled from the water were not wearing life jackets," Sudarmanto said. "They just had on pajamas or sarongs."
Two of the dead were children, he said.
It's not clear how many people were aboard the ship.
The manifest - generally unreliable in Indonesia because tickets are sold onboard to passengers who are never registered - listed only 57 passengers and 20 crew, Sudarmanto said.
Many were heading home to celebrate the end of the Islamic fasting month, Ramadan.
Search and Rescue official Budi Rahardjo said two more bodies recovered at nearby Lasuroro island in mid Saturday as rescue teams took to the air and sea by a helicopter, six ships and a speedboat to search for more victims, but that high waves were hampering their rescue efforts.
Ferries are a main source of transportation in Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago nation, with more than 17,000 islands and a population of 240 million. Sea accidents are common due to overcrowding and poor safety standards.(Thejakartapost)
No law to prosecute same sex marriage in Aceh: Public Order
ACEH MINUTES] Southwest Aceh regency’s Public Order Office chief Muddasir said Thursday he found it difficult to prosecute a same sex married couple caught by local residents in Gampong Blangpadang, Tangan-tangan district.
“How could we prosecute them if no qanun [bylaw] can be used as a basis to do so,” Muddasir said Thursday as quoted by Tribunnews.com.
Meanwhile, residents had yet to file any charge against the couple, making it harder for law enforcers to prosecute them, he added.
The couple, Ranto alias Rohani, 35, and Nuraini, 21, were captured on Sunday by Gampon Blangpadang residents. The two were taken to the police before the police transferred them to the Public Order Office. They have been married since March.
Aceh began to implement sharia in 2006. source: The jakarta post
Probe sought on CIA role in Muslim 'spying'
ACEH MINUTES] A US Muslim civil liberties group has called for a federal investigation and Senate hearings into a report alleging that the CIA helped the New York Police Department (NYPD) in spying on minority communities.The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said it suspects the joint CIA-police intelligence gathering described in an Associated Press (AP) report violates the US Constitution, and the US Privacy Act of 1974, which bans the intelligence agency from spying on Americans.
"The government was using fear tactics to erode our civil liberties, we are organising this very strongly to stop it," Cyrus McGoldrick, a civil rights manager for CAIR, told Al Jazeera on Thursday.
CAIR is preparing a formal request for Senate hearings into the allegations in the report, as well as a Justice Department probe. The Justice Department said on Wednesday night that it would review the request.
The AP report alleges undercover NYPD officers known as "rakers" were sent into minority neighbourhoods to monitor bookstores, bars, cafes and nightclubs, and police used informants known as "mosque crawlers" to monitor sermons.
"The NYPD operates far outside its borders and targets ethnic communities in ways that would run foul of civil liberties rules if practiced by the federal government," wrote the AP, which described the collaboration between the CIA and a US police department as "unprecedented".
'We don't apologise'
A spokesman for the NYPD said "we don't apologise" for aggressive techniques developed since the September 11, 2001, attacks. He said "those techniques have helped thwart 13 plots on the city".
Paul Browne, the NYPD deputy commissioner, said in an email to the Reuters news agency, "We commit over a thousand officers to the fight every day to stop terrorists who have demonstrated an undiminished appetite to come back and kill more New Yorkers."
Referring to CAIR's assertion that the NYPD collaboration with the CIA might be illegal, Browne said, "They're wrong."
The AP investigation was based on documents and interviews with more than 40 current and former New York Police Department and federal officials.
The news agency said many were directly involved in planning and carrying out the secret operations for the department.
Though most said the tactics were appropriate and made the city safer, many insisted on anonymity, because they were not authorised to speak with reporters about security matters, it reported.
But Preston Golson, a CIA spokesman, said the AP story had mischaracterised the nature and scope of the CIA's support to the NYPD, which he described as an important counterterrorism partner in a city that has been the target of numerous plots.
"Our co-operation, in co-ordination with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, is exactly what the American people deserve and have come to expect ... The agency's operational focus, however, is overseas and none of the support we have provided to NYPD can be rightly characterised as 'domestic spying' by the CIA. Any suggestion along those lines is simply wrong," Golson said.Source Aljazeer.net
Indonesian airline in hot water over bizarre recruitment process
light attendant applicants take physical checkups half-naked, reports say
Is it a simple cultural difference or a sexual insult? Garuda Indonesia has come under fire for its flight attendant recruitment method of requesting palpation and semi-naked physical checkup. While the Indonesian flagship carrier insist the system is based on cultural and religious beliefs and conducted with the consensus of applicants, Korean flight attendants do not buy them, calling them sexist and insulting.
According to Yonhap news agency on Wednesday, a health check up for Garuda’s recruitment of female cabin crew candidates was conducted last month. There, the applicants were asked to remove all their garments, except for their underwear, and lie on a bed. Then an Indonesian male doctor began to palpate their breasts and elsewhere.
After the test, many applicants complained the procedure was embarrassing and that they have felt extremely uncomfortable about being naked and touched.
Garuda’s spokesperson did not answer The Korea Herald’s phone call, but earlier told a local newspaper that the examination was an ordinary process for all branches of the airline.
“The candidates have given their consensus to proceed with the process,” the spokeswoman was quoted as saying. “In case of the breast palpation, we conduct it to screen out those who have breast implants. We have a regulation to screen those persons because a sharp drop of air pressure inside the carrier could sometimes cause them health damage. Also, we conduct full examination of skin on the basis of the religious guideline prohibiting tattoos,” she added.
The company has also reportedly said that the same examination process is conducted in other branches including Japan and Australia, and argued that all other airline companies have similar examination processes.
However, many industry insiders said such all-over-the-body palpation is not common.
“I cannot believe that an international carrier has actually conducted a test in such way,” a domestic airline company insider confided. “Of course there is a medical test. But it never involves getting semi-naked and touched on the breasts. The checkup closer to revealing the skin is taking an X-ray with their gowns on,” he added.
A flight attendant of a foreign airline said the examination was “insulting and inhumane.”
Women’s rights groups were furious. “It is unconvincing in any situation. I cannot help but question whether it is a sexual assault,” LeeKoo Kyung-sook of Korean Women’s Association United told Yonhap.
“The ban on breast implantation sounds almost absurd. Does that mean people who have received plastic surgeries shouldn’t be on board? Taking into account all the cultural differences, there needs to be a clear explanation,” she added.Source The Korea Herald.
Bosscha astronomers to help in observing Idul Fitri new moon
Astronomers from the Bosscha Observatory in Lembang, West Java, plan to conduct observations from 14 spots across the country to determine the presence of a new moon (hilal) which will signal the start of the Islamic month of Syawal.
Muslims end their month-long fast with Idul Fitri celebrations on the first and second day of Syawal.
According to Bosscha Observatory spokesman, Evan Irawan Akbar, one to two astronomers equipped with portable telescopes will be stationed in locations such as Aceh, Biak and Yogyakarta.
“Telescopes will be used to support the observations done with the naked eye,” he said on Tuesday, as reported by tempointeraktif.com.
The government's network of hilal observers will work on Aug. 29 and 30 to determine the first day of Syawal. The results will be published directly on the websites of Bosscha Observatory and the Religious Affairs Ministry. sumber: The jakarta post
Strauss-Kahn's Hurried Sex with A Hotel Maid
Muslims end their month-long fast with Idul Fitri celebrations on the first and second day of Syawal.
According to Bosscha Observatory spokesman, Evan Irawan Akbar, one to two astronomers equipped with portable telescopes will be stationed in locations such as Aceh, Biak and Yogyakarta.
“Telescopes will be used to support the observations done with the naked eye,” he said on Tuesday, as reported by tempointeraktif.com.
The government's network of hilal observers will work on Aug. 29 and 30 to determine the first day of Syawal. The results will be published directly on the websites of Bosscha Observatory and the Religious Affairs Ministry. sumber: The jakarta post
Distinguished Aceh figure passes away
Hasballah M Saad, one of Aceh's most distinguished figures, passed away Tuesday in Jakarta due to critical illness.
The deceased is currently resting at his private residence in Jati Bening, Bekasi.
Tribunnews.com reported Tuesday that the family intends to bury the deceased in Sigli Cemetery, Aceh, in the immediate future.
Hasballah was a former law and human rights minister and a member of the human rights commission (Komnas HAM). He was among those figures largely concerned about Aceh and its people during military oppression in the New Order. sumber: The jakarta post
India PM asks activist to end hunger strike Manmohan Singh writes to Anna Hazare, saying he will ask for discussion on his version of anti-graft legislation.
In a letter sent on Tuesday to Hazare, whose ongoing fast for the last eight days has mobilised tens of thousands of corruption-weary Indians and left the government scrambling to respond, Singh proposed a series of compromises. Hazare insists a new government bill to tacke corruption is insufficeint, and claims he will continue his fast unless parliament adopts and passes his own, more aggressive, version by August 30. In his letter, Singh stressed that parliament's "supremacy" as the sole elected body with the mandate to determine legislation had to be respected. Nevertheless, "in view of my deep and abiding concern for your health", Singh said he was willing to request that the speaker of parliament refer Hazare's version of the bill to the committee that is reviewing the government's draft. He also said the committee would be asked to fast-track its deliberations. "I do hope that you will consider my suggestions and end your fast to regain full health and vitality," Singh said. The concessions marked a significant shift by the prime minister, who last week had condemned Hazare's demands as "totally misconceived" and a threat to India's parliamentary democracy. Supporters gather The 74-year-old Hazare has called his campaign a "second revolution'' and drawn comparisons to India's fight for independence in 1947 from its former British colonial rulers. Since then, "several traitors have dragged our independence in the mud", Hazare said earlier on Tuesday to about 10,000 supporters at a New Delhi park. "I'm sitting here to get this country its correct independence.'' Tuesday's crowd was a fraction of the turnout over the weekend and on Monday, which was a national holiday. The government has scheduled an all-party meeting for Wednesday to discuss the conflict over Hazare, whose aides said they were growing increasingly concerned about his health. Authorities are required to intervene if Hazare's life is at risk, as suicide is illegal in India. Some have criticised the hunger strike as undemocratic and verging on demagoguery, saying Hazare was falsely claiming to represent all of India. Critics have also objected to Hazare's proposed legislation as unconstitutional. Representatives of India's lowest-caste dalits, or untouchables, planned a counter protest on Wednesday, saying Hazare's proposal offered little to protect the country's poor masses. 'Demands will not change' Hazare, whose vital signs are constantly monitored by a large team of doctors, has lost 5.6kg during his fast. Yet the AFP news agency reported tha he was in a feisty and defiant mood when he spoke to cheering supporters earlier in the day. "It would be my good fortune to die for the country," he told AFP. "My demands will not change. You can cut off my head but not force me to bow down." Indian parliament was forced to shut down its morning session amid shouting by lawmakers from the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party demanding Hazare's protest be discussed. While both the opposition and governing parties have been implicated in major scandals over the past year, opposition leader Sushma Swaraj blamed the government for the country's graft and said "ministers are looting'' millions of rupees. source: Gaza pays the price ... again | ||||||||
Palestinians in Gaza share their reactions to the recent Israeli attacks with Al Jazeera. | ||||||||
The ongoing deadly Israeli air strikes on Gaza, and the exchange of home-made rockets fired from Gaza, has drawn mixed reactions from Palestinians in the besieged Gaza.
First, seven Israelis were killed in two attacks on buses in southern Israel, according to Israeli medics.
The attacks began when gunmen fired at an Israeli bus that was traveling near the Egyptian border.
Palestinians deny any involvement in the attack.
Then, Israel blamed Gaza's Popular Resistance Committees for the attack and retaliated with Israeli missiles killing 15 Palestinians, with 55 injured, including 12 women, 15 children, three elderly and one ambulance worker.
On Saturday, Israeli sources said one Israeli was killed and about a dozen injured in southern Israel in a barrage of Palestinian home-made rockets fired from Gaza.
The deadly attacks have gotten little international reaction, but regional reactions from the Arab League have condemned the attack on Gaza and called for an immediate stop to the attacks and military operations against Gaza. However, the Jordanian government, through Abduallah Abu Rumman, condemned Israel for its "military escalation and operations in Gaza that have killed civilians as well as Egyptian officers", urging an immediate halt to the strikes in order to avoid regional instability.
Yaser Othman, the Egyptian representative to the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah, said that Cairo was "in contact with all parties to restore the truce in Gaza".
Al Jazeera asked a number of Palestinians in Gaza Strip for their reactions to the ongoing attacks on Gaza.
This is what they said:
Ahmed Al Najjar, 27-year-old documentary film producer:
I see these attacks as the first Israeli nail in the coffin of our bid for UN state recognition in September.
What is happening in Gaza right now is a message from Israel to the world that no political force can impose anything on Israel, including the US administration.
All in all, what we are going through, from violations of rights, is the accumulation of international silence since the birth of our plight until today's Israeli bombing.
Moreover, on the timing of the Israel attacks, everyone notes that Israel is targeting us, a civil population, even in the holy month of fasting and worshipping ... this brings Israel's claim of religious sanctity and rituals into question.
Kholoud Al Massri, 23-year-old university graduate:
I think in such a situation of frequent Israeli attacks on Gaza, firing rockets towards Israel seems to be our only means of resistance, when the rest of the world has abandoned us to face the illegal occupation alone.
Amina Oudeh, 61-year-old housewife:
I think Egypt will succeed in restoring the truce and end the blood-shed, and this will be at the cost of the Egyptian soldiers murdered by the Israelis.
However, Israel has always been looking for trouble, and today's attack adds to the ominous image of the occupation.
Sahar Salem, 24-year-old labourer:
If an Israeli is killed on the moon, Israel would attack Gaza for revenge. By continuous terror attacks on neighbours, Israel thinks it can bring peace to its people, but in fact it only brings more hatred toward them.
As for the home-made rockets fired on Israel, that is meaningless, because they hit the poor, marginalised areas of Israel that the government of Israel doesn't care about. I hate that the poor and marginalised everywhere are always the less fortunate and the most likely to suffer.
Hisham Jaber Abdelhadi, 37-year-old unemployed labourer:
I see how the lack of international reaction could be taken as encouragement for Israel to go on. However, one gets tired of sending appeals to the world. The world is busy with Syria and Libya and in Gaza we only have God to watch over us.
Moayyad Abu Imran, 34-year-old engineer:
I think this time, Israel is not aiming to kill for the sake of killing, but for more. Two main reasons: first, to thwart the Palestinians' application for statehood on September. And secondly, for Netanyahu to export his internal economic crises and failure in dealing with the Tel Aviv protests.
Now, protesters are home, and Netanyahu's goal has been achieved: to split the protesters by making them do their military call-up.
Wafa Yussef, 29-year-old public health employee:
I think what is happening now is the expected result since Israel was looking for a way out of its internal crisis, and an effort to prevent Palestine from declaring itself as a country at the UN in Septmember. So the Gaza Strip, as usual, has to pay the price.
As regards the Arab League: as Palestinians we are not used to expecting too much from the Arab League, but I think this time we should expect more from the Arab peoples to support us, and not just our leaders.
First, seven Israelis were killed in two attacks on buses in southern Israel, according to Israeli medics.
The attacks began when gunmen fired at an Israeli bus that was traveling near the Egyptian border.
Palestinians deny any involvement in the attack.
Then, Israel blamed Gaza's Popular Resistance Committees for the attack and retaliated with Israeli missiles killing 15 Palestinians, with 55 injured, including 12 women, 15 children, three elderly and one ambulance worker.
On Saturday, Israeli sources said one Israeli was killed and about a dozen injured in southern Israel in a barrage of Palestinian home-made rockets fired from Gaza.
The deadly attacks have gotten little international reaction, but regional reactions from the Arab League have condemned the attack on Gaza and called for an immediate stop to the attacks and military operations against Gaza. However, the Jordanian government, through Abduallah Abu Rumman, condemned Israel for its "military escalation and operations in Gaza that have killed civilians as well as Egyptian officers", urging an immediate halt to the strikes in order to avoid regional instability.
Yaser Othman, the Egyptian representative to the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah, said that Cairo was "in contact with all parties to restore the truce in Gaza".
Al Jazeera asked a number of Palestinians in Gaza Strip for their reactions to the ongoing attacks on Gaza.
This is what they said:
Ahmed Al Najjar, 27-year-old documentary film producer:
I see these attacks as the first Israeli nail in the coffin of our bid for UN state recognition in September.
What is happening in Gaza right now is a message from Israel to the world that no political force can impose anything on Israel, including the US administration.
All in all, what we are going through, from violations of rights, is the accumulation of international silence since the birth of our plight until today's Israeli bombing.
Moreover, on the timing of the Israel attacks, everyone notes that Israel is targeting us, a civil population, even in the holy month of fasting and worshipping ... this brings Israel's claim of religious sanctity and rituals into question.
Kholoud Al Massri, 23-year-old university graduate:
I think in such a situation of frequent Israeli attacks on Gaza, firing rockets towards Israel seems to be our only means of resistance, when the rest of the world has abandoned us to face the illegal occupation alone.
Amina Oudeh, 61-year-old housewife:
I think Egypt will succeed in restoring the truce and end the blood-shed, and this will be at the cost of the Egyptian soldiers murdered by the Israelis.
However, Israel has always been looking for trouble, and today's attack adds to the ominous image of the occupation.
Sahar Salem, 24-year-old labourer:
If an Israeli is killed on the moon, Israel would attack Gaza for revenge. By continuous terror attacks on neighbours, Israel thinks it can bring peace to its people, but in fact it only brings more hatred toward them.
As for the home-made rockets fired on Israel, that is meaningless, because they hit the poor, marginalised areas of Israel that the government of Israel doesn't care about. I hate that the poor and marginalised everywhere are always the less fortunate and the most likely to suffer.
Hisham Jaber Abdelhadi, 37-year-old unemployed labourer:
I see how the lack of international reaction could be taken as encouragement for Israel to go on. However, one gets tired of sending appeals to the world. The world is busy with Syria and Libya and in Gaza we only have God to watch over us.
Moayyad Abu Imran, 34-year-old engineer:
I think this time, Israel is not aiming to kill for the sake of killing, but for more. Two main reasons: first, to thwart the Palestinians' application for statehood on September. And secondly, for Netanyahu to export his internal economic crises and failure in dealing with the Tel Aviv protests.
Now, protesters are home, and Netanyahu's goal has been achieved: to split the protesters by making them do their military call-up.
Wafa Yussef, 29-year-old public health employee:
I think what is happening now is the expected result since Israel was looking for a way out of its internal crisis, and an effort to prevent Palestine from declaring itself as a country at the UN in Septmember. So the Gaza Strip, as usual, has to pay the price.
As regards the Arab League: as Palestinians we are not used to expecting too much from the Arab League, but I think this time we should expect more from the Arab peoples to support us, and not just our leaders.
source: Al Jazeera
Strauss-Kahn's Hurried Sex with A Hotel Maid
In the fullest official account yet of what happened in the Manhattan Sofitel on May 14, prosecutors said physical evidence did not conclusively prove allegations the former International Monetary Fund chief sexually assaulted Nafissatou Diallo, a Guinean immigrant.
The case then collapsed because the maid, whose testimony would be key, told repeated lies. "Their cumulative effect would be devastating," prosecutors said in their 25-page motion asking the court to dismiss all charges.
What was certain was that a quick sexual encounter took place between Strauss-Kahn and Diallo, prosecutors said.
DNA testing "established that several stains located on the upper portion of the complainant's hotel uniform dress contained semen that yielded the defendant's DNA," the Manhattan District Attorney's Office said in the motion.
Evidence collected was "consistent with a non-consensual encounter", prosecutors said.
However, the DA's office said the physical evidence, while showing a sexual encounter, did not conclusively prove the maid's assertion that she was assaulted and forced to perform oral sex.
Diallo showed no injuries strongly indicating attempted rape and slight damage to her undergarments could have occurred from normal wear and tear, the motion said.
However, other factors, such as the hurried nature of the sex act that resulted in Strauss-Kahn's semen landing on the maid's clothing, pointed to a forced encounter.
"The encounter between the complainant and the defendant was brief, suggesting that the sexual act was not likely a product of a consensual encounter," the motion said.
Another important piece of evidence was the discovery of Strauss-Kahn's DNA "on both the interior and exterior waistband" of the tights worn by the maid, "as well as on the waistband of the panties."
The motion said: "These findings suggest that the defendant touched the complainant's undergarments, but they do not controvert or confirm the complainant's account that the defendant placed his hand inside her underwear and groped her genitals directly."
A speck of blood found on the bed was from Strauss-Kahn who was suffering a skin condition on his hands and was not thought to be evidence of a struggle, the motion said.
Although prosecutors and police found Diallo's story entirely credible, she quickly undermined her case by lying to investigators and to the grand jury that indicted Strauss-Kahn, the motion said.
One issue was her constantly changing story about what she did immediately after the alleged attack, ranging from hiding fearfully in a corridor to returning to the room to clean after Strauss-Kahn left.
Most seriously, Diallo admitted that she had entirely made up a story during her asylum application to the United States about being gang raped in Guinea.
During one session with prosecutors, she repeated the story with so much emotion that "she cried, spoke hesitatingly, and... even laid her head face down on a table in front of her."
Later, she said "she had entirely fabricated the attack". This lie, prosecutors said, made her fatally vulnerable to cross examination in court, because Strauss-Kahn's lawyers would be able to argue to the jury that she had a history of successfully making up sex attacks.
"Most significant is her ability to recount that fiction as a fact with complete conviction," the motion said.
"That she has previously persuaded seasoned prosecutors and investigators that she was the victim of another serious and violent - but false - sexual assault, with the same demeanour that she would likely exhibit at trial, is fatal."
sumber: AFP
Security at Tanjung Priok Port Tightened
Manager of Tanjung Priok Port’s Passenger Terminal, Suswibowo, said here on Tuesday that his side had coordinated with security agencies to protect post-fasting Lebaran travelers from crimes at the port.
"We will tighten security in the face of Lebaran travelers. Yet we have not maximized the pacification program, because usually, passenger flow peaks on the seven days before the D-Day," he said.
He said that hundreds of personnel would be deployed from among others port operator PT Pelindo, Tanjung Priok Police Resort, Coastal Guards Agency (KPLP) and the Port Administrator.
In order to support the security efforts, he said his side would provide security means and facilities such as 70 CCTVs, 4 patrol cars, 8 mirror detectors, 4 metal detectors and 4 fire trucks. The Idul Fitri D-Day this year is expected to fall on August 30 or 31, 2011.
According to the ministry of transportation, the number of Idul Fitri travelers this year (2011) is estimated at 15.5 million people, up 4.17 percent compared with last year’s 14.9 million.
Travelers going home from Jakarta alone are predicted to reach 7.129 million, up 12.98 percent from last year’s. Going to one’s home town during the post-fasting Idul Fitri festivities or Lebaran is an annual event in Indonesia where Muslims have family reunions in the respective villages.
sumber: Kompas.com
