Burma Opposition Ends Boycott
Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi said Monday she and her fellow opposition lawmakers have ended their boycott of parliament and will pledge to “safeguard” the constitution, accepting a term that created the dispute.
Aung San Suu Kyi and other members of the National League for Democracy party will attend Burma's parliament for the first time Wednesday. They had objected to the words “safeguard the constitution” in the swearing-in oath, and wanted them replaced with “respect the constitution.”
But, the Nobel Peace laureate said the NLD members are yielding to “the desires of the people” who elected them to parliament and who have been upset the lawmakers had not taken their seats in the legislative body.
Aung San Suu Kyi's decision meant she was not present in parliament Monday in the administrative capital Naypyidaw to witness the landmark speech by visiting U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon – the first such address by a visiting foreign dignitary.
Before his address, the U.N. chief met with Burmese President Thien Sein in a show of support for the sweeping changes in the long-isolated state. The visit is Mr. Ban's first trip to Burma since the government introduced a series of political and economic reforms over the past year.
The U.N. secretary general is scheduled to meet with Aung San Suu Kyi on Tuesday.
Mr. Ban signed an agreement Monday offering U.N. technical assistance for Burma's first census in 31 years. The population and housing census is to be conducted in 2014.
The U.N. chief said the census personnel need to have access to the whole country. He said he hoped the “current and future cease-fires will make this possible.” He said the involvement of minorities and civil society will be “crucial” to the success of the census.
Mr. Ban is also set to travel to northern Shan state, a key opium growing region, where a U.N. poppy eradication program has been established.
Charles Taylor Convicted of War Crimes, Crimes Against Humanity
Former Liberian president Charles Taylor has been found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity by a special tribunal in The Hague.
The Special Court for Sierra Leone ruled Thursday that Taylor aided and abetted severe human rights abuses carried out by rebels during Sierra Leone's civil war.
Presiding Judge Richard Lussick said Taylor was guilty on all 11 counts of an indictment that included charges of murder, rape, sexual slavery, recruitment of child soldiers, and enslavement.
“The trial chamber unanimously finds you guilty of aiding and abetting the commission of the following crimes, pursuant to article 6/1 of the statute during the indictment period and planning the commission of the following crimes, in the attacks on Kono and Makeni in December 1998, and in the invasion of and retreat from Freetown between December 1998 and February 1999.”
Taylor, wearing a dark blue suit, was calm as he stood and listened to the verdict.
Taylor is the first head of state to be convicted by an international court since the Nuremberg trial in 1946 of Karl Doenitz, who briefly ruled Nazi Germany after the death of Adolf Hitler.
Lussick said Taylor will be sentenced on May 30. Taylor had pleaded not guilty to the charges and has the right to appeal the verdict.
The United States and international rights groups welcomed the verdict, saying it will serve as an example to others who would commit similar crimes.
The White House issued a statement Thursday, saying the conviction of the former Liberian leader sends a powerful message about accountability. The statement says that with Taylor behind bars, the people of Liberia and Sierra Leone are building the strong institutions and the bright future to which they so deservedly aspire.
Prosecutors had said Taylor masterminded Sierra Leone's civil war in the 1990s, arming and assisting Sierra Leone's Revolutionary United Front rebels in exchange for “blood diamonds,” mined in eastern Sierra Leone.
The court found Taylor did not have command and control of the rebels but was aware of their activities and provided them with weapons and other supplies.
Taylor was arrested and handed over to the court in 2006, three years after his indictment and subsequent resignation as president. The trial, which opened in 2007, was transferred from Freetown to The Hague amid regional security concerns.
During the trial, the court heard testimony from 94 prosecution witnesses and 21 defense witnesses, including Taylor.
The tribunal was established to try the most serious cases of war crimes rising from the Sierra Leone conflict. The Taylor case is expected to be the court's last major trial.
UN’s Ban: Syria Violating Pledge to Pull Weapons From Civilian Areas
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has accused Syria of violating a pledge to withdraw heavy weapons from population centers and demanded that the government comply with that commitment “without delay.”
In a statement released Thursday, Mr. Ban says U.N. observers in Syria have reported a continued presence of heavy weapons, military equipment and troops in civilian areas “in contravention” of an April 12 truce backed by government and rebel forces. The U.N. chief says he is “deeply troubled” by the observers' findings.
Mr. Ban also condemned violence by all sides in Syria's year-long conflict and urged the parties, particularly the Syrian government, to ensure that the 15 unarmed U.N. truce monitors can operate effectively.
A spokesman for international envoy Kofi Annan said Thursday U.N. monitors inspected the site of an explosion that flattened a block of houses in the central city of Hama on the previous day, killing at least 16 people. Ahmad Fawzi said he had no immediate word on what the observers saw.
The Syrian government blamed the Hama incident on “terrorists” whom it said were preparing explosives that detonated prematurely. But, opposition activists blamed government forces, saying artillery shells destroyed the homes. Activists also reported at least seven people killed in violence related to the Syrian conflict on Thursday.
Syria has said it will honor the truce and other elements of Mr. Annan's peace plan for the country, but will respond to attacks by foreign-backed “terrorists” whom it says are behind the 13-month opposition uprising. Syrian Information Minister Adnan Mahmoud said Thursday that terrorists have breached the cease-fire more than 1,300 times since April 12.
Russia's Foreign Ministry said it blames most of Syria's violence on armed opposition groups, accusing them of resorting to regional terrorism. Moscow is a longtime ally of autocratic Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Syria's main exiled opposition group, the Syrian National Council, called for the U.N. Security Council to hold an emergency meeting to focus on protecting Syrian civilians from government attacks.
The SNC suffered a setback in its efforts to unite Syria's opposition factions when the son of a former Syrian prime minister announced the formation of a rival government-in-exile on Thursday.
Nofal al-Dawalibi made the declaration in Paris, saying his group will be more representative than the SNC, which he described as being dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood. He also showed a video of several Syrian rebel commanders pledging allegiance to him. Dawalibi said his group wants the international community to carry out air strikes and set up no-fly zones and humanitarian corridors to protect civilians.
Dawalibi is the son of Maarouf al-Dawalibi, who served as Syria's prime minister before Bashar al-Assad's family took power in the 1960s. It is not clear how much influence the new opposition group has inside Syria. Several SNC members criticized Dawalibi's announcement as unhelpful to the opposition cause.
Meanwhile, U.N. officials said they are working to expand the observer mission in Syria to about 300 personnel in the coming weeks. But, Carnegie Middle East Center Director Paul Salem told VOA that Syria's continued violence will make it clear to observers that the cease-fire is not being implemented.
“I think it will be clear to the monitors very soon that this cease-fire is certainly not holding in a significant and final way.”
Salem also said the planned contingent of 300 monitors may not be enough to calm the situation.
“Syria is a very large country. The violence has moved from one location to another. It will be a challenge for the monitors to try to be in all places all the time. It's also the case, I think, that the government will claim that when violence does erupt, they will claim that it started from the rebels and they are just responding.”
The United Nations estimates that more than 9,000 people have been killed in Syria's crackdown on the uprising, while activist groups put the death toll at more than 11,000.
ADDITIONAL UK FUNDING FOR TCI SIPT COSTS
The FCO has made an additional £4.5m (c.$7.2m)contribution to the TCI Government to help meet the costs of the SIPT investigation and Civil Recovery programme for financial year 2011/12, it was announced by Minister Henry Bellingham today, Thu, 26 April 2012.
This is in addition to £6.6m of UK support for TCIG for the same purpose in financial year 2010/11. The costs of the SIPT to date have been 2010/11 $6,856,724 and 2011/12 $7,621,389.
The full PQ and Answer are attached below:
Q: What spending has been incurred on the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) Special Investigation and Prosecution Team by the (a) Government and (b) TCI government.
A: In 2009, Sir Robin Auld’s Commission of Inquiry report concluded that there was a high probability of systemic corruption in the former Turks and Caicos Islands Government.
I am pleased to be able to inform the House that the special investigation into issues raised by this report is making good progress and 13 people have been charged with corruption, conspiracy to defraud and money laundering.
In financial year 2010-11 the Foreign and Commonwealth Office made a discretionary grant of £6.6m to reimburse the Turks and Caicos Islands Government for some of the exceptional costs of the criminal investigation, including the work of the Special Investigation and Prosecution Team, and related civil recovery and police work.
In financial year 2011-12 the Turks and Caicos Islands Government report that expenditure for the Special Investigation and Prosecution team was US$7.6m. This represents over 4% of expenditure and a significant funding challenge for the Turks and Caicos Islands Government. The Turks and Caicos Islands Government has introduced a range of new taxes and cut overall expenditure significantly in order to address its structural deficit and put it on course for a sustainable fiscal surplus in financial year 2012-13.
In view of the exceptional situation, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon Friend Member for Richmond (Yorks (Mr Hague) agreed to make a further grant of £3.8m in financial year 2011/12 to reimburse the Turks and Caicos Islands Government for a proportion of the costs associated with the continuing criminal investigation and associated prosecutions. The Foreign Secretary also approved an additional £745,000 contribution to the cost of setting up a suitable courtroom for the trials which will be held as a result of the investigation.
In addition to these grants, the British Government spent approximately £86,000 on costs in the UK relating to the Special Investigation and Prosecution Team in financial year 2011-12.
His Excellency Governor Ric Todd said: “I stated in December 2011 that we would approach our colleagues in the UK to determine if further financial support for this investigation would be available to us here in the Turks and Caicos Islands. I am extremely pleased, therefore, that we were able to make a successful case.”
The Minister was responding to a Parliamentary Question received by Conservative Andrew Rosindell MP, representative for Romford. He is the Chair of the TCI All-Party Parliamentary Group, Chair of the Overseas Territories All-Party Parliamentary Group and a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee. Further details on Mr Rosindell’s interests can be found at http://www.parliament.uk/biographies/commons/andrew-rosindell/1447.
Question and answer
Why should UK fund an investigation in an Overseas Territory?
Normally it is for Overseas Territory governments to fund criminal investigations within their jurisdiction. However, the cost of the SIPT investigation in FY 2011-12 was US$7.6m. This represents over 4% of TCI government annual expenditure and a significant funding challenge for them.
In view of this exceptional situation, the UK Government decided to reimburse the TCI government for a proportion of the costs associated with the continuing criminal investigation and associated prosecutions.
Why has the cost of the investigation been so high?
This remains a difficult and complex investigation working across international borders, and dealing with law enforcement and judicial authorities in a number of countries. The SIPT has had offices in both the UK and the TCI, although the UK office has now closed. There has been a significant travel element moving and rotating individual officers and investigative teams between the UK and TCI.
Ultimately, the costs of the SIPT and the separate Civil Recovery programme need to be looked at against the recoveries of money and land by the SIPT and the Civil Recovery Team. The SIPT has agreed a civil recovery order with one individual who has paid the sum of US$1.25m. The Civil Recovery team has made in excess of 40 separate recoveries of money and/or land. The monetary element is US$12m including payments already made, judgements obtained and still to be collected and agreements to pay. More than 900 acres of land have also been returned to the Crown with a value of tens of millions of dollars.
What is the cost so far?
The approximate expenditure by the UK and TCI Governments is as follows:
|
|
UK Government (US$m) |
TCI Government (US$m) |
|
2009-10 |
1.1 |
|
|
2010-11 |
0.3 + 10.6 grant* |
6.9 |
|
2011-12 |
0.2 + 6.1 and 1.1 grants** |
7.6 |
* Grant covered some of the costs of the SIPT, civil recovery work and the RTCIPF
** Grants covered proportion of criminal investigation and prosecutions, together with a contribution towards costs of setting up a courtroom
How long will the investigation and prosecutions take?
To date, 13 people have been charged with corruption, conspiracy to defraud and money laundering. Sufficiency (preliminary) hearings have started in the High Court in TCI and in ten of the cases the judge has ruled that there is a case to answer. Further hearings for the remaining three cases will take place in May. Whilst the size of the investigation team has been considerably reduced, the investigation is ongoing. The focus will now turn to the prosecution of the cases that are passed to the Supreme Court for trial.
Why not leave the investigation to the TCI police force rather than go to the expense of bringing in a team from the UK?
The RTCIPF is an experienced and dedicated force. This would be an exceptionally difficult and complex investigation for any police force. It is even more difficult for a small jurisdiction such as TCI, where the RTCIPF still has carry out its day to day policing of the Territory.
If this was an investigation in the UK, it would be dealt with by the Serious Fraud Office, because it would need to have a team of officers with specialist fraud squad and major investigation experience. The investigation team consisting of former police officers from the UK provide that experience.
It is important that the investigation is completely independent and that it is seen to be so. The TCI is a very small jurisdiction and an investigation into prominent public figures would raise exactly the same concerns anywhere in the world. In a similar situation in the UK, an outside police force would be brought in to investigate and there is plenty of precedent for this.
The investigation team were sworn in as Special Constables under the Royal TCI Police Ordinance.
The elections should be delayed until all those being investigated have been tried?
The Joint FCO/DFID Written Ministerial Statement of 9 December 2010 set out the milestones that Ministers judged would need to be met before elections could take place in TCI. They said that they wanted to see “Significant progress with the civil and criminal processes recommended by the Commission of Inquiry, and implementation of measures to enable these to continue unimpeded”.
It would not be right to delay restoration of democracy longer than necessary.
PRESS STATEMENT FROM CARLOS W. SIMONS QC RE: SIPT FUNDING
I welcome the news this morning of the announcement by Minister Henry Bellingham to the UK Parliament of an additional contribution of $7.2 million by the British Government to help meet the cost of the SIPT investigation and the Civil Recovery Programme.
It will be recalled that on Monday of this week on the Expressions Radio talk show with Robert Hall I was very critical of the burden this placed on TCIG resources in a period of economic decline and against a background of widespread lay-offs in the public service.
My comments, though harsh were true and reasonable and I wish to thank those who stood with me in the face of the wave of denunciation that my statement attracted.
We do ourselves a disservice when the important issues of justice and fairplay are trivialized into personalities. I have every intention of pressing the case for the TCI people until the British Government fully acknowledges its responsibilities and also its mistakes.
Once again I urge the people of the TCI to be hopeful and not lose faith.
Carlos W. Simons QC
Candidate for Leader
Progressive National Party.
24 Hour Crime Report
The following is an update from the Royal Turks & Caicos Police Force for crime in PROVO.
TWO Acer laptop computers and an LG flat screen television were stolen from United Multi Cultural Institute sometime between 10pm on Monday and 8.30am on Tuesday.
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call the police on 911 or Crimestoppers on 1-800-8477. Tips can also be left in English, French or Spanish at www.crimestoppers.tc or by becoming a friend of Crimestoppers TCI on Facebook. Crime prevention tips are also available by visiting www.tcipolice.tc
AN IWOA radio and CD player were taken by burglars who broke into a property in Dove Close Kew Town, sometime during the day on Wednesday.
POLICE arrested two men on suspicion of fighting in a public place.
Bush heads for Caribbean conference in Curacao
As concern over the premier’s position as leader of the country mounted following revelations of three police investigations, McKeeva Bush flew off to the Caribbean Overseas Countries and Territories (COCT) Council Meeting in Curacao on Wednesday to represent the Cayman Islands at a high level meeting. Included in the delegation are local attorney Steve McField, Chief of Staff Leonard Dilbert and the Technical Assistant for European Union Projects Jamaal Anderson. Government officials said the meeting, which takes place on Thursday, will cover a range of matters affecting relations between the overseas territories and the European Union.
“An election of the COCT Council executive body is at the top of the day’s agenda,” a release from the premier’s office stated. “Discussion on a Memorandum of Understanding establishing the COCT Council follows with the meeting culminating with the signing of the MoU. Other matters on the agenda are: areas of regional cooperation around sustainable development; strengthening the development of small and medium sized enterprises; and the regional position within the framework of the 11th European Union – Overseas Countries and Territories Forum.”
As well as the Cayman Islands, other British Overseas Territories attending the meeting are Anguilla, British Virgin Islands and Montserrat. The Dutch territories and countries participating are Saba, St. Eustatius, Bonaire, St. Maarten, Aruba, and Curacao.
CNS
Chavez returns to Venezuela with boost in polls
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said that he will leave Cuba to return to Caracas on Thursday, after receiving radiotherapy treatment on the island, following a third surgery to remove a malignant tumor.
Chavez, 57, contacted Venezuela by telephone via the VTV state television channel, while the president of the National Assembly, Diosdado Cabello, was heading the regular weekly press conference of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV).
Meanwhile, Chavez garnered more than 50 percent of the voting intentions, ahead of the general elections on October 7, according to a recent poll conducted by the Hinterlaces agency.
According to the survey, youngsters and the least well-off sectors are those who support the Venezuelan leader.
Despite rumours about his health generating anxiety and fears about Chavez’s ability to govern, the study "Monitor Country-election in April 2012" found that 53 percent of Venezuelans would vote for him if the election were held today, reported the Argentinean news agency TELAM on its website.
The poll showed that 34 percent would vote for Henrique Capriles, the opposition candidate.
According to these results, Chavez has a comfortable19-point lead, confirming that the majority of the people of Venezuela are relying on Chavez’s recovery and his ability to continue to govern.
The survey asked about concern for the poor and 65 percent said that Chavez is more concerned with the less well off, while 22 percent chose Capriles.
The poll also found that the current president retains the support of most of the young voters: 55 percent of respondents aged 18 to 34-years-old said they would vote for him.
The study also found that 66 percent of respondents approve the president’s job performance, and two out of three consider that his perfomance has been "fair to good", "good" or "very good or excellent."
The data were provided by Oscar Schemel, director of Hinterlaces, and released by the Venezuelan News Agency.
Trinidad and Tobago prepares to host regional trade and investment forum
The government of Trinidad and Tobago, in cooperation with the Commonwealth Business Council and the Trinidad and Tobago Manufacturers’ Association, are planning to host the XIII Caribbean Investment Forum (CIF) and the Trade and Investment Convention (TIC) from May 16 to 19, 2012, in Port of Spain.
For over a decade, this high level forum has gathered a large number of business leaders, public elected officials and successful entrepreneurs from neighbouring Caribbean countries, as well as from the Americas, to share their vision and propose mutual projects that could soon be implemented in Trinidad and Tobago. This island nation is strategically located a few miles from the eastern shorelines of Venezuela, equipped with an economy that is mainly focused on the production of oil, liquefied natural gas, fisheries and cement manufacturing.
In the past, the Caribbean Investment Forum has had regular visitors from the Americas such as Brazil, Dominical Republic, Costa Rica, Panama, as well as from the Far East including China and India, as well as European Union member countries.
The upcoming investment forum will encompass and encourage high level panel discussions and bilateral meetings that will cover an array of vital investment sectors, which happen to form an integral part of the present economic development in the Caribbean region, such as energy, financial services, agribusiness, tourism, manufacturing, timber, fisheries and petrochemicals production.
Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s administration is redesigning a strategy to better administer and utilize its natural resources. The country is surrounded by vast reserves of natural gas, comprising of more than 481 billion cubic meters in one location and a recently discovered second area that could be the source of over 566 million cubic meters of natural gas. According to a study conducted in the 1980s, a conclusion was reached that Trinidad and Tobago contained over 0.3 percent of world’s gas reserves and supplied the international market with 0.2 percent of the world’s natural gas production.
According to Financial Times, Trinidad and Tobago is the largest exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to the United States and one of the top countries in the world in LNG production. These highly priced natural resources bond well with the Persad-Bissessar administration, which has constantly demonstrated its interest in fostering stronger ties with the United States. She has therefore been hesitant to follow the line of some of her Caribbean colleagues, who have often been supportive of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’s regional economic initiatives and socialist reforms.
Every citizen in Trinidad and Tobago makes on average more than $18,000 per year and the island is renowned for being an outstanding investment location among the Caribbean islands, as well as for reaping the benefits of a stable economy that has experienced an impressive growth of over 8 percent during the last decade.
Strategic investments in LNG processing have encouraged an inevitable growth in the island’s fiscal stability and on its inhabitants’ ability to open savings accounts and improve their living conditions. Trinidad and Tobago takes pride in being the regional leader in oil and gas production; moreover it is also a major supplier of food and beverage products, cement and various manufactured commodities to neighbouring islands.
The second major event of this regional gathering will be the Trade and Investment Convention (TIC) that will be hosted by the Trinidad and Tobago Manufacturers Association in Port of Spain. This has traditionally been the largest trade show among Caribbean countries and it will gather hundreds of business leaders, manufacturers, suppliers and distributors, representatives of financial institutions, as well as venture capitalists and investors.
The TIC will be focused on improving inter-regional trade cooperation and fostering partnerships between Trinidadian manufacturers and their counterparts in the Caribbean and South America.
Chairman the TIC, Anthony Aboud, has estimated that over US$500 million has been created by these annual forums that have been organized during the past decade.
In April 2011, Aboud stated, “The convention is a success story with a tradition of growth and real business success. We estimate that TIC has facilitated over $0.5 billion in trade over the past 11 years. That’s just over US$450 million.”
Aboud added, “[this] is the best example of a working partnership between the public and private sectors. The success of partnership [that] brings together, government, private sector and commercial sponsors, like First Citizens Bank and the government through the Ministry of Trade, and this is one of the reasons why TIC grows every year from strength to strength.”
Trinidad and Tobago Trade Minister Stephen Cadiz believes that the upcoming Caribbean Investment Forum will contribute towards further projecting Trinidad and Tobago into a more sustainable development stage. According to Cadiz, “The main objective of this forum is to have Trinidad and Tobago transform its economy as well as establish this island nation as a trade and investment center of the region.”
Fake EC Money
The resurgence of counterfeit EC $50 and $100 bills has caused lawmen to urge the local business community to become “very familiar with the security features” of the Eastern Caribbean currency.
The advice comes from STRATCOM spokesman Corporal Frankie Thomas who said the fake money is often “passed late at night” when operators might not take the time to check the authenticity of the notes.
“From all indications it seems as if the security features are very much missing and quite visibly so,” the corporal noted.
He has cautioned that even during peak periods of business, those handling money must be very careful about the “texture and look” of money they receive.
Antigua Observer