Palestinians, Fighting Poverty, Bill C-354 and thoughts on Cuba

This week the Human Rights Committee, of the U.N. made public their paper on the May 2010 attack on the Flotilla trying to take aid to Gaza, and the murders on the Mavi Marmara.

The draft paper which will be presented to the committee on Monday,  called:
Report of the international fact-finding mission to investigate violations of international law, including international humanitarian and human rights law, resulting from the Israeli attacks on the flotilla of ships carrying humanitarian assistance.

They say in the summary that:

This report was prepared by the fact-finding mission established by the Human Rights Council in resolution A/HRC/RES/14/1 of 2 June 2010 to investigate violations of international law, including international humanitarian law and human rights law,  resulting from the interception by Israeli forces of the humanitarian aid flotilla bound for  Gaza on 31 May 2010 during which nine people were killed and many others injured. . .

             . . .

The report contains a legal analysis of facts as determined by the Mission with a view to determining whether violations of international law, including international humanitarian and human rights law, took place.
The fact-finding mission concluded that a series of violations of international law, including international humanitarian and human rights law, were committed by the Israeli forces during the interception of the flotilla and during the detention of passengers in  Israel prior to deportation.

 The whole report is rather damning, although most media coverage in Israel writes it off suggesting that the committee was "biased from the beginning" and that the U.N. is generally biased toward Israel.

The report suggests that Israel's boarding of the Mavi Marmara (and others in the flotilla) in International Waters, was illegal and that they have broken the 4th Geneva Convention and that some people could face criminal charges, as there is "clear evidence to support prosecutions."  There are many more conclusions and recommendations - from paying compensation to victims to returning the property that Israel seized from passengers.

Part of the recommendation which also includes a statement that there IS, in fact, a humanitarian crisis in Gaza,  says:

The Mission considers that several violations and offences have been committed. It
is not satisfied that, in the time available, it can say that it has been able to compile a
comprehensive list of all offences. However, there is clear evidence to support prosecutions of the following crimes within the terms of article 147 of the Fourth Geneva Convention:
• wilful killing;
• torture or inhuman treatment;
• wilfully causing great suffering or serious injury to body or health.

The Mission also considers that a series of violations of Israel’s obligations under
international human rights law have taken place, including:
• right to life (article 6, ICCPR);
• torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (article 7,
ICCPR; CAT);
• right to liberty and security of the person and freedom from arbitrary arrest or detention (article 9, ICCPR);
• right of detainees to be treated with humanity and respect for the inherent dignity of
the human person (article 10, ICCPR);
• freedom of expression (article 19, ICCPR).
The right to an effective remedy should be guaranteed to all victims. The mission must not
be understood to be saying that this is a comprehensive list by any means.

A Canadian boat to Gaza is planned for another Int'l Contingent - - to assist or donate see more at:
http://canadaboatgaza.org/cms/sites/cbg/en/statement.aspx

Another interesting development in the Middle East - there is now an IPhone app created by Americans for Peace Now  re: "facts on the ground" in the occupied territories.   It is quite a WOW sounding app - though I have not had a chance to try it.   The story says that:

Settlements are symbolized by little blue houses on the map. Clicking once on the icon gives its land area. A second click brings up a window with more details: the year it was established, population, ideology (or lack of), character (secular or religious), amount of 'private Palestinian land' it occupies, and a graph that tracks its population growth.
iPhone users can also zoom in on outposts marked in red. The map includes the route of the Green Line, Jerusalem's municipal boundaries, and the various zones under different security arrangements, Area A and Area B.

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Also today - some (I think) good news from Cuba.


A story today,  following on the announcement that they are laying off a lot of government workers says:

Cuban authorities will issue licences to open small private businesses starting next month in 138 different areas of economic activity, as well as to rent out homes, Cuban state media reported Friday.
The move follows Cuba's announcement earlier this month of plans to eliminate 500,000 jobs in its sprawling government sector by the first quarter of 2011.
The Cuban Communist Party daily Granma published a list of trades that will be allowed to engage in self-employment, including masons, carpenters, plumbers, electricians, massage therapists, typists, hairdressers, computer programmers, domestic personnel, driving instructors and flower salesmen.
'Those who are registered as self-employed and those who join them will have the obligation to pay taxes on personal income, on sales, on public services and on the use of labour force, beyond contributing to social security,' Granma said.

Allowing Cubans to have small businesses, and to hire other workers is new - here's hoping that it is of assistance, and that once the economy is a little less controlled, perhaps the controls on civil society will be lessened, although I do not want to see Cuba become another poor Caribbean nation with huge income disparities. . .   as well as an example of civil society and Trade Union repression.    My own experiences in Cuba (but I do not speak Spanish well enough to have a political discussion) are that people don;t like the system but think it is "fair".  They are reasonably happy with  the fact that incomes are pretty fairly allocated and they do not see a big difference.  They are, though, rather unhappy to be prohibited from leaving the country "on holiday", and some people complained about lack of access to medicine even though they had money.  In Havana that was the most common complaint from hospitality workers who can amass the cash (from tips) but cannot take a trip (money cannot leave the country frivolously I guess. . . )

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When I attended the Civicus Congress  this year, I learned a bit about fighting  against poverty and for Human rights.  One of the people I interviewed was Sylvia Borren, the co-chair of the Global Call to Action Against Poverty (Whiteband) Campaign.   She spoke at length about how we, in the north,  have laws that protect the children and women (and men, of course) in our countries from gross exploitation.    If a company was to use child labour in Canada they would face stiff penalties, especially if there was trafficking involved. . . .  But, if a Canadian company is using child labour in India or China, or some other country, there are no such penalties.  Now NDP member of the House of Commons Peter Julien has introduced a Private members Bill - Bill 354  to support international protection of human rights - not just in Canada,  anymore.

There is a conference on Parliament hill tomorrow that I wish I could attend on this topic.  There is a Rabble story about it - but what you can do if you cannot attend the conference is help Peter push the Bill by printing out and signing the petition at:
http://peterjulian.ndp.ca/sites/default/files/Petition- A call to support Bill C-354_The international promotion and protection of human rights act. ENG.pdf

Wouldn't it be meaningful if we could force Canadian companies to act with ethics, considering human rights and non-exploitation everywhere they worked/invested/manufactured etc.   I do not expect the Bill to pass -- there are too many people in Ottawa beholden to or too friendly with international corporations/finance,  but it is dream that I support, and that I think would/could be supported by most working Canadians.  Bravo Peter J.