MONDAY, 16 AUGUST 2004
501 Amnesty International Official Commends U.S. Efforts In
Darfur
(FR) (Akwei says lack of European donations puts thousands at risk by
December) (570)
502 Mugabe's Regime Hinders War on AIDS In Zimbabwe, Report Says
(USIP shows health of nation is on a "downward spiral") (780)
503 Foreign Visitors Return to U.S. Shores in 2004
(FR) (Visitation levels up 17 percent in first five months) (430)
504 Four Guantanamo Detainees Determined to be Enemy Combatants
(Review panel identifies those who will remain in custody) (520)
505 Camp Provides Mideast and Cypriot Youth with Tools for Peace
(Powell calls campers the future's "ambassadors of peace") (910)
*AEF501 08/13/2004
Amnesty International Official Commends U.S. Efforts In Darfur
(FR) (Akwei says lack of European donations puts thousands at risk by December) (570)
By Erica Matsumoto
Washington File Staff Writer
Washington -- One week after the United Nations adopted a resolution condemning the Sudanese Government's actions in Darfur, Amnesty International's (AI) Africa Director Adotei Akwei commended the U.S. government's contributions to the humanitarian crisis but emphasized the need for more security and active international and multilateral involvement within the region.
Akwei spoke about the humanitarian disaster in Sudan at the Institute for Policy Studies' (IPS) bi-weekly program, "Defining the Issues," on August 11.
In contrast to the $144.2 million the U.S. government has spent to date on the ongoing humanitarian effort in Darfur, Akwei said, "The gap in donations is particularly sharp coming from European and other contributing countries. The U.S. has contributed well over the expected percentage of its GDP (gross domestic product)."
"That's not to say that we do not need to fight for more," he continued, because "the crisis in Darfur demands an intervention that has been delayed and that is currently inadequate to the people's needs...and the U.S. government, which has done more than we expected, could be doing [even] more."
He added that 2.2 million people have been victimized by Sudanese government-supported militias called the jinjaweit, which the U.N. and U.S. Congress have accused of ethnic cleansing in Darfur.
The international community needs to show that "these kinds of tactics—the destruction of villages, the destruction of livelihood, the displacement of whole villages, the public rape of women in front of their friends and families—cannot be repeated elsewhere," he said.
The jinjaweit has caused "1.3 million refugees to be displaced and in need of food, shelter and medicine for possibly two years -- until they get back into the food growing cycle. There is a gap in humanitarian aid where our leading humanitarian organizations and governments are trying to feed 800,000 people in a best case scenario," Akwei pointed out.
What happens to this gap in relief aid, and whether or not countries will effectively close it, significantly determines the prospects for the many people caught in the humanitarian crossfire in Darfur. "This is where you begin to get the incredible statistics ranging from 50,000 to 350,000 dying by December. The numbers in Darfur don't seem to be humanly possible, but they are. People are expecting the food assistance that is in place to run out by October," he explained.
Many of the Darfurian refugees needing such food and medicine also live in inadequately secured refugee camps. These camps in Darfur are "unfortunately controlled by the very people the refugees ran from and were attacked by," and cross-border raids on camps in neighboring Chad have become a serious concern, Akwei explained.
"We have a security situation," he added. "Currently the only independent force that comes close to protecting these individuals and restoring security to the country is the African Union's (AU) 300-person security detail that is protecting the cease-fire monitoring team. This is clearly insufficient."
"The AU members have started to discuss bolstering that figure up to 2,000 people. It would require significant logistical and financial resources and support from the European Union and the U.S.," said Akwei, emphasizing the need for more active international involvement.
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs,
U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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*AEF502 08/13/2004
Mugabe's Regime Hinders War on AIDS In Zimbabwe, Report Says
(USIP shows health of nation is on a "downward spiral") (780)
By Jim Fisher-Thompson
Washington File Staff Writer
Washington -- Poor leadership by President Robert Mugabe is hindering Zimbabwe's struggle against an AIDS epidemic projected to kill more than 30 percent of its citizens over the next decade, according to a report issued recently by the United States Institute of Peace (USIP).
The 50-page study, "Downward Spiral: HIV/AIDS, State Capacity, and Political Conflict in Zimbabwe," is authored by Andrew T. Price-Smith and John L. Daly, science professors at the University of South Florida in Tampa. They note Zimbabwe "exhibits one of the highest levels of HIV/AIDS sero-prevalence in the world, with approximately 34 percent of the adult population now infected with the human immunodeficiency virus."
The study cites a chilling range of U.N.AIDS statistics, starting with the fact that more than 600,000 Zimbabweans have died from AIDS since 1998. As of December 2002, over 2.3 million people are judged to be infected -- 600,000 with full-blown AIDS -- and 2,500 people are dying each week of the infection that still has no known cure. All in a nation of less than 13 million.
This health tragedy is compounded, the USIP authors say, by President Mugabe's seizure of white-owned farms and his muzzling of the press and crackdown on political opponents through intimidation and physical torture. The result has been an almost total breakdown of health and social services that could help to stem the spread of the disease in what was once regarded as one of Africa's most prosperous nations.
While the report notes it is difficult "to determine empirically what proportion of Zimbabwe's economic decline is a direct result of the [AIDS] contagion and what proportion is attributable to the Mugabe government's increasingly poor management of the economy," it is clear that "economic contraction is likely to intensify in the years to come as more HIV-infected individuals develop AIDS and succumb to the illness."
As for foreign aid, the study says, "The continuing absence of the rule of law in Zimbabwe, widespread corruption, electoral fraud, and the government's renowned propensity to default consistently on loans have generated significant mistrust of the Mugabe regime by foreign donor countries."
The report further states, "Governance in Zimbabwe, already exhibiting considerable potential for violence and institutional instability, likely will worsen further as a result of the HIV/AIDS epidemic."
The authors credit Mugabe for recognizing "the HIV/AIDS epidemic constitutes a significant threat to Zimbabwe" and note, "He has begun to give the issue a higher priority on the regime's agenda." However, they point out many of the funds raised to combat the disease have been lost to corruption.
Schemes to fight the disease, such as a three percent tax on companies and individuals, have come under fire for politicizing medical services to the sick by providing relief only to regime supporters.
In a frank assessment, the report notes, "As deprivation increases to critical mass and the apparatus of coercion erodes, considerable internal political violence is likely and may culminate in the overthrow of the Mugabe regime, unless substantial reforms are enacted in the near future."
The study further asserts, "The removal of Mugabe from power would probably benefit the country enormously, as it would permit a new and accountable leadership structure to be established."
However, in a caveat it warns, "[A]ny successor regime would face a similar situation of worsening economic and political destabilization while the HIV/AIDS epidemic rages unabated."
Investors have also grown wary of Zimbabwe, the USIP study notes, "Thanks, in part, to President Mugabe's persistent threats to nationalize industry and to his government's egregious economic mismanagement. The increasingly gloomy economic future of HIV/AIDS-wracked Zimbabwe is prompting capital flight, as prudent investors pull their capital investments out of the Zimbabwean economy."
Meanwhile, new investment is likely to go to countries with lower risk exposure, or those that have governments aggressively addressing the AIDS problem like Botswana and Uganda, the report adds.
While Botswana's infection rate of 36 percent is greater than Zimbabwe's, the USIP study points out Botswana is still more prosperous because it "possesses excellent political leadership in President Festus Mogae, an Oxford-trained economist who is fully engaged in efforts to blunt the negative effects of the epidemic on the people of Botswana."
The U.S. Institute of Peace is an independent research institution created by Congress in 1984 to promote conflict resolution worldwide. It does this through a range of studies, workshops, fellowships and training programs, funded in part by an annual appropriation from the Federal government.
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs,
U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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*AEF503 08/13/2004
Foreign Visitors Return to U.S. Shores in 2004
(FR) (Visitation levels up 17 percent in first five months) (430)
By Jon Schaffer
Washington File Staff Writer
Washington -- After several years of staying away, travelers from around the world are finding the United States high on their list of places to visit, according to the U.S. Commerce Department.
During the first five months of 2004, more than 14.5 million international visitors traveled to the United States, the department reported July 29. This is a jump of 17 percent from January-May 2003.
The number of visitors from countries other than Mexico and Canada increased more than 20 percent to about 7.7 million during the first five months of 2004. If the trend continues, such visits will climb to nearly 19 million this year. This would compare with just over 18 million in 2003, 19.1 million in 2002 and 21.8 million in 2001.
Earlier this year, the Commerce Department projected that the number of international travelers visiting the United States would return to nearly peak levels by 2007. Prior to the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001, international visits (excluding those from Mexico and Canada) averaged more than 24 million annually in 1996-2000.
The department reported that, while travelers came in increasing numbers from all parts of the world, the largest regional percentage gains during the year came from visitors from Asia, up nearly 30 percent, and from Europe, up 18.5 percent. Visitors were up by more than 12 percent from the Middle East, by 10.5 percent from Eastern Europe, by nearly 11 percent from South America, and by 8 percent from Africa.
Of the 14.5 million visitors to the United States so far this year, nearly 5.5 million were from Canada, 1.5 million from Japan and 1.4 million from Mexico. Notable increases in January-May 2004 from the same period in 2003 were seen in numbers of visitors from China, 33 percent; Australia, 32 percent; Argentina, 26 percent; Germany, 22 percent; and Brazil, 20 percent. Visits from Canada are up 15 percent and from Mexico, 9 percent, from the first five months of 2003.
In May, Secretary of State Colin Powell noted the rise in visa applications but said that the rate of increase in student visas had slowed. "Clearly, we have to do a better job of ... attracting the world's rising generation to come study in America, come learn our values, come learn what kind of a people we are and take all of that back with you, as well as whatever education you picked up."
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs,
U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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*AEF504 08/13/2004
Four Guantanamo Detainees Determined to be Enemy Combatants
(Review panel identifies those who will remain in custody) (520)
Washington -- Four detainees at the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, U.S. Navy base, who have had their cases reviewed by a special military panel, are properly classified as enemy combatants and will not be released, Navy Secretary Gordon England says.
At a Pentagon briefing August 13, England said the Defense Department has conducted 21 tribunals over the past two weeks, and have opened an additional 150 cases. Reviewing the cases of all of the nearly 600 detainees is expected to take the rest of this year, he said.
"In all four of those cases, the detainees were deemed to be enemy combatants," England said. "We notified the State Department today, who will in turn notify the countries, I believe through the embassies here, regarding those four particular cases."
England said the names and nationalities of the four suspects would not be made public.
The Defense Department is reviewing the status of the nearly 600 detainees at Guantanamo through a process conducted by Combatant Status Review Tribunals to determine if the detainees are enemy combatants. The Pentagon defines enemy combatants as anyone who was part of supporting the Taliban or al-Qaida forces or associated forces that fought against the United States or coalition partners in Afghanistan, he explained.
If a detainee is found not to be an enemy combatant, then he will be released to his home country, England said.
Each detainee's case is reviewed by one of the three-member tribunals and a Judge Advocate General Corps officer then reviews the findings. He compiles the data from the tribunal and its recommendation, and then sends it to Washington for review by the convening authority, Navy Admiral James McGarrah. McGarrah has the final determination to either accept the decision or send the case back for an additional hearing, England said.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled June 28 that the detainees could challenge their detention in federal courts. The Pentagon, in response to that court decision, established the military review panels.
These review panels are different from the military commission established by President Bush in 2002 to conduct trials of non-U.S. terrorist suspects being held at Guantanamo Bay. While no trials have been held yet, the Pentagon has already identified 15 detainees as eligible for trial.
England said members of the news media have been permitted to attend the first tribunals.
He also said the review process has been much more difficult than originally anticipated.
"It's more time consuming just to do all of the appropriate translation, interviews with the detainees themselves, having the right translators available, [and] being able to translate the information," he said. And, he noted, the three tribunal review teams are working simultaneously.
England said about half of those detainees selected to appear before the tribunals have appeared during their review, but the other half have not. But whether they choose to appear or not, he said, their cases are reviewed and each detainee has a U.S. representative assigned to him for assistance.
(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of
State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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*AEF505 08/13/2004
Camp Provides Mideast and Cypriot Youth with Tools for Peace
(Powell calls campers the future's "ambassadors of peace") (910)
By Erin Block
Washington File Staff Writer
Washington -- What is only a dream for most of those living in the Middle East became a reality for about 170 of the region's youth. For the past three weeks, the Seeds of Peace camp has helped forge peaceful dialogue and even friendships between teens from conflicting nations.
Campers traveled from Egypt, Tunisia, Cyprus, Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, Qatar, Jordan and across the United States to rural Maine for the camp.
Seeds of Peace is an organization working to dissolve animosity between nations in conflict by bringing together young people from both sides. The organization builds peace through people-to-people contact, giving the "other" an actual face and name.
"Talking, listening and understanding the other side is a rare opportunity that I might not experience again. This camp is not a regular camp. This camp is different because of its value. It's different because of its quality, and it's different for its strong purpose," said Tomer, a member of the Israeli delegation.
Campers were welcomed to the State Department for a reception on August 10. Talking about their experiences with fellow Seeds and State Department officials, the campers vowed to continue their work toward peace when they return home.
"I am going home stronger and wiser thanks to all of my fellow campers. I know that it's not going to be easy because when I go home I will still be in a country that is separated in two. But I know that people through Seeds of Peace are continuing to try. And I am going home to make a change," said Natalia, a member of the Cypriot delegation.
One camper hopes to return to his homeland, Qatar, and open a Seeds of Peace office.
"It won't be easy, but if you believe in something you have to work hard. I believe in peace and I will work hard to achieve it," said Nasser, a member of the Qatari delegation.
Aaron Miller, the organization's President, urged the campers to inspire their family and friends and community using school presentations and working within the community.
"There is no more important group than all of you seeds," said Miller, who is also a former State Department official who worked on the Arab/Israeli conflict.
Secretary of State Colin Powell also addressed the group. He thanked the Seeds for beginning the road toward peace and doing what no "parchment treaty between governments" can do.
"Real, lasting peace will spring from the transformed hearts of human beings," said Powell. "When people share the ideas and feelings that make them human, when they laugh together, even when they argue face to face, then peace has a chance because dialogue is underway."
At the Seeds of Peace International Camp youth live together in cabins, share meals, have numerous dialogue sessions, known as "coexistence sessions," and participate in other activities such as group challenges, arts programs and a cultural night.
Coexistence sessions helped the campers talk about difficult issues.
"The dialogue sessions were most interesting because you heard the other side and saw from their point of view. I now look at things differently because I remember how they see it," said Yael Israeli, a member of the Israeli delegation.
Firaas Deak, a Palestinian-American and member of the U.S. delegation said that dialogue sessions helped create a picture, a "day in the life" of each member in his coexistence group.
"I could see both sides of the situation and understand what all of us actually go through," said Deak.
The group challenge activities, an aside to coexistence sessions, were the most rewarding for Moran Danieli, a Seed from the Israeli Delegation.
During these sessions, groups participate in challenges, such as rope climbing, to help reinforce trust, team spirit, cooperation, and communication. The group challenges help to strengthen bonds between coexistence group members.
"When my coexistence group would do a mission together, we had to be united," said Danieli. "One time the challenge was to climb up a 30-foot cable. I was climbing up with a Palestinian girl and we were both scared, but we needed to get through it together. I needed to help her and she needed to help me."
Color Games, often a favorite camp program, is the 3-day culminating event at the Seeds of Peace camp. The camp is divided into two multi-national teams, blue and green and they compete in a range of activities from sports and fine arts to music, drama and cooking contests.
"I saw people trusting each other, helping each other, and working side by side to achieve a common goal. We were all seeds, all humans and all part of the same group working together," said Ismail Balma, a member of the Tunisian delegation.
Acting Under-Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Patricia Harrison, addressing the Seeds of Peace delegates at the State Department, said "[Seeds of Peace] could just as well be called seeds of hope. The seeds that you all are hoping to plant are seeds of prosperity and freedom for the future."
Seeds of Peace is a non-profit, non-political organization focused on building foundations of peace in regions of conflict. As of 2004, participants have come from the Middle East, the Balkans and South Asia.
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs,
U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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