International
Conservation
Whale
chief mulls ending hunt ban - 26 June
The outgoing chair of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) has
suggested whale conservation could benefit from ending the
commercial hunting ban. Dr William Hogarth's remarks came at the end
of this year's IWC meeting, which saw pro- and anti-whaling nations
agree to further compromise talks. A Greenpeace spokesman said the
moratorium had to stay intact - BBC
News website
Courts
South
Africa and Rwanda call for African court - 12 June
South African President Jacob Zuma and his Rwandan counterpart
Paul Kagame yesterday called for the creation of an African court,
accusing the International Criminal Court in The Hague of imposing
"selective" justice. "You always have the Africans
indicted, you don't see any others from Europe and other
places," Kagame said at the World Economic Forum on Africa in
Cape Town on Friday. "Why? Are you not creating an impression
that the only people that are indictable are Africans?". - Gulf
News website
Zuma
asks for immunity for African leaders - 14 June
President Jacob Zuma has proposed a deal which would allow
autocratic leaders in Africa immunity from prosecution in exchange
for their retirement, the Sunday Times reported on Sunday.
"The world has changed, therefore let us do things
differently and not emphasise punishment. - IOL
website
South
African President calls for deals with war criminals -
16 June
South African President Jacob Zuma says leaders responsible for
heinous crimes should be given immunity in exchange for stepping
down. The International Criminal Court (ICC) has so far indicted a
number of African leaders for human rights violations. - Digital
Journal website
Zuma
must be supported in his accord for dictators - 14 June
The biggest stumbling block in post-colonial Africa’s progress
towards democracy has been the steadfast refusal of its dictators
to relinquish power. Much of this can be attributed to the fact
that should they be forced to relinquish power they are, more
likely than not, going to be facing charges of genocide, crimes
against humanity or a multitude other unspeakable acts which they
perpetrated during their rule. - Michael Trapido on the Thought
Leader blog
Human
Rights
RP
slips in US human trafficking watchlist - 17 June
The US State Department on Wednesday placed the Philippines in its
watchlist of countries suspected of not doing enough to combat
human trafficking. The State Department's annual "Trafficking
in Persons Report," the first released since US President
Barack Obama took office, said the Philippines is a "source,
transit and destination country for men, women and children
trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation and forced
labor". It said a significant number of Filipino men and
women who migrate abroad for work are subjected to conditions of
involuntary servitude in places such as Bahrain, Brunei, Canada,
Cote d’Ivoire, Cyprus, Hong Kong, Japan, Kuwait, Lebanon,
Malaysia, Palau, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa,
Taiwan, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. - ABS-CBN
News website
Lawyer
rescues trafficking victims in South Africa, Mozambique
- 16 June
A casual conversation in a Pretoria, South Africa, café launched
a dangerous investigation by Inácio Sebastião Mussanhane, a
lawyer from Mozambique who was studying in South Africa. It was
there in 2008 that he heard that Mozambican girls were being kept
as sex slaves at a nearby upscale condominium being used as a
brothel. The trafficker attempted to bribe him for his silence.
But Mussanhane began working with the South African police, a
local trafficking shelter, the Mozambican embassy and the South
African Ministry of Justice. The trafficking ring threatened to
kill Mussanhane and attempted to kidnap him. But police were able
to free the girls and arrested the trafficking network's
organizer. The case went to court in October 2008 and is ongoing.
- allAfrica
website
A
lesson in proportionality and rights - 5 June
We can learn from Israel, Germany and South Africa on the vital
importance of proportionality as a test to limits on human rights.
- Guardian
website
Sport
and Recreation
FIA
to sue over breakaway attempt - 19 June
Max Mosley has rejected claims by eight of the 10 Formula 1 teams
that they will set up a breakaway series next year as "posing
and posturing". President of governing body the FIA, Mosley
said he will start legal action against teams umbrella group Fota.
- BBC News
website
Formula
One breakaway averted as teams agree deal with Max Mosley
- 24 June
Formula One's world governing body the FIA and the F1 teams
association Fota have agreed today there will be no parallel
championship next season following talks in Paris to avert a
threatened breakaway. The cost-cutting deal followed a meeting of
120 members of the FIA and came in the wake of weeks of bitter
argument between the two bodies that centred on proposed tough
spending limits from next season. - Guardian
website
Victory
for F1 rebels as Max Mosley agrees to quit - 25 June
Grand Prix teams won the £1billion war over the future of Formula
One as Max Mosley agreed yesterday to step down as head of the
sport's governing body. - Mirror
website
Formula
One : why falling out is an expensive game - 25 June
Sport, of course, is all about the glory of winning and (if you
are British) the nobility of defeat. Oh no it's not. It’s all
about the money. Patrick Wheeler, of Collyer Bristow, says that
there are four key areas of law that may come into play in a
sports dispute : intellectual property, contract, competition
and regulation. All four are pertinent to the Formula One
controversy. - Times
Online website
Trade
and Industry
Doha
trade negotiators echo high-level calls for deal - 18
June
Diplomats from 153 countries negotiating a global free trade pact
agreed on Thursday to try to settle their differences over food
exports, riding the wave of high-level calls to wrap up the
long-sought Doha Round pact. - Creamer
Media's Engineering News website
United
Nations
Hague
puts spokeswoman on trial - 15 June
The United Nations war crimes tribunal in The Hague has put on
trial its former spokeswoman Florence Hartmann, who is charged
with contempt of court. The tribunal accuses the Frenchwoman of
revealing confidential information following the trial of the late
Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic. The charges relate to a book
written by Ms Hartmann and published in 2007. They carry a maximum
sentence of seven years in jail and a 100 000-euro (£85 000)
fine. She denies the charges. - BBC
News website
See
also : Africa.
Zimbabwe. Violence perpetrators face arrest in SA
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