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Human Rights Watch
Aid Worker killed in Pakistan
British aid worker Khalil Dale, who was kidnapped in Pakistan in January of this year has been found dead, the Foreign Office have confirmed.
His body was discovered in an orchard in Quetta with a note saying he had been killed by the Taliban, local police said.
Mr Dale who worked for the Red Cross‘ International Committee (ICRC), was kidnapped in Quetta, south-west Pakistan.
Responding to his murder Red Cross have described the health programme workers killing as “barbaric”.
It is understood the militants holding him had asked for a ransom which could not be paid. The Foreign Secretary has described his murder as “senseless and cruel”.
Mr Dale worked for the ICRC and the British Red Cross for many years, carrying out assignments in Somalia, Afghanistan and Iraq. He had been abducted by unidentified armed men while on his way home from work in Quetta. It is now feared that most international aid agencies will move further foreign staff out of Quetta as they will now be concerned for their staff’s safety.
The ICRC commenting on the aid worker’s work that he was “a trusted and very experienced Red Cross staff member who significantly contributed to the humanitarian cause.”
Related articles
- Cameron condemns ‘merciless’ beheading of British doctor, Khalil Dale – The Independent (independent.co.uk)
- Body of British aid worker found in Pakistan (itv.com)
- UK Aid Worker Found Beheaded In Pakistan (news.sky.com)
Bullying
The boy you punched in the hall today. Committed suicide a few minutes ago. That girl you called a slut in class today. She’s a virgin. The boy you called lame. He has to work every night to support his family. That girl you pushed down the other day. She’s already being abused at home. That girl you called fat. She’s starving herself. The old man you made fun of cause of the ugly scars. He fought for our country. The boy you made fun of for crying. His mother is dying. You think you know them. Guess what? You don’t!
For more information go to:
http://nationalbullyinghelpline.co.uk/
Related articles
- 15-Year-Old Boy’s Suicide Prompts Parents To Wage Anti-Bullying Campaign (losangeles.cbslocal.com)
- Dear Bullies (natureturningagainstmankind.wordpress.com)
- Anti-Bullying Rally At City Hall Gives Gay Teens Hope (sfist.com)
Wheelchair Demo in London
Today protesters have gathered in the West End to campaign against the government’s welfare reform bill. Oxford Street, Regent Street and Oxford Circus have been brought to a standstill as people in wheelchairs chained themselves together.
Campaigners from disability groups and direct action group UK Uncut chanted and waved banners and banged drums blocking off Regent Street and the demonstration is believed to have caused traffic jams in London’s West End as fifteen people in wheelchairs chained themselves to railings and eventually were joined by hundreds of others to campaign against the Government’s Welfare Reform.
Campaigners believe that hundreds of thousands of families will lose their homes or become “imprisoned” inside them. Josie McDermott, a 32-year-old UK Uncut supporter, said: “The welfare reform bill is cruel and unnecessary” and added “..this protest is an essential way to persuade the government to scrap its plans.”
Campaigners believe that the Government is choosing to pick on marginalised groups of people in the UK, in trying to pay back the economic UK deficit rather than focussing on the large bonuses and companies that they believe continue to avoid tax to the estimated amount of £25bn.
“It is typical bully tactics by the government to force marginalised people in society to pay for the economic downturn” one campaigner said.
A spokesperson for the Government said that they will continue to spend more than £40bn a year on disabled people, and that they are committed to supporting disabled people in the UK.
The bill will not affect households where someone receives disability living allowance, as they will be exempt from the benefit cap the Government has pledged, and they have also said that an extra £190 million will be given to local authorities over a four year period to ensure vulnerable people are supported through the housing benefit reform to ensure that disabled people will not lose their homes.
Related articles
- National News: Welfare protesters plan occupation (coventrytelegraph.net)
- Protesters plan welfare reform demo (independent.co.uk)
- VIDEO: Protest over disability cuts (bbc.co.uk)
- PRESS RELEASE: Disabled activists and UK Uncut join to oppose ‘cruel and unnecessary ‘ welfare bill (victimsofatoscorruption.wordpress.com)
Call for Mercy – Christian sentenced to death in Pakistan
Asia Bibi, a Christian sentenced to death in Pakistan
“Our Christ sacrificed His life on the cross for our sins. … Our Christ is alive.”
Asia Bibi, a wife and mother, used these words to defend her faith against mocking co-workers who tried to make her convert to Islam. She was later convicted of blasphemy and sentenced to death.
In Pakistan, more than 150,000 Christians have signed a petition demanding justice for persecution victims, including Asia Bibi. Now you can join with The Voice of the Martyrs and our Pakistani brothers and sisters in a call for mercy. We hope to gather 1 million signatures on behalf of our sister Asia, who now sits in prison awaiting the Lahore High Court‘s ruling on her appeal.
Invite your friends to visit www.CallForMercy.com and add their names to the petition as well. VOM will deliver the petition, along with the list of signers, to the Pakistani Embassy in Washington DC.
For more information and the petition on behalf of Asia Bibi visit: http://www.callformercy.com/
RBS Funding Cluster Bomb Manufacturing
In the last twelve months the Royal Bank of Scotland has invested $80million in companies that make cluster bombs.
Email the Chief Executive of RBS now
98% of all cluster bomb victims are civilians, and a third of those are children. Last year the UK joined over 100 countries in outlawing their use and manufacture. Yet more than a year on from the ban, the publically owned RBS continues to fund companies that manufacture these abhorrent weapons.
While RBS is not alone in this irresponsible investment, it is the worst offender. Help us end the suffering cluster bombs cause. For more information read the report on stopexplosiveinvestments.org.
Source: Amnesty International
Wikileaks Funding blocked – blacklisted by US Govt?
The whistleblowing group WikiLeaks claims that it has had its funding blocked and that it is the victim of financial warfare by the US government. Moneybookers, a British-registered internet payment company that collects WikiLeaks donations, emailed the organisation to say it had closed down its account because it had been put on an official US watchlist and on an Australian government blacklist.
The apparent blacklisting came a few days after the Pentagon publicly expressed its anger at WikiLeaks and its founder, Australian citizen Julian Assange, for obtaining thousands of classified military documents about the war in Afghanistan, in one of the US army’s biggest leaks of information. The documents caused a sensation when they were made available to the Guardian, the New York Times and German magazine Der Spiegel, revealing hitherto unreported civilian casualties. WikiLeaks defied Pentagon calls to return the war logs and destroy all copies. Instead, it has been reported that it intends to release an even larger cache of military documents, disclosing other abuses in Iraq.
Moneybookers moved against WikiLeaks on 13 August, according to the correspondence, less than a week after the Pentagon made public threats of reprisals against the organisation. Moneybookers wrote to Assange: “Following an audit of your account by our security department, we must advise that your account has been closed … to comply with money laundering or other investigations conducted by government authorities.” When Assange emailed to ask what the problem was, he says he was told in response by Daniel Stromberg, the Moneybookers e-commerce manager for the Nordic region: “When I did my regular overview of my customers, I noticed that something was wrong with your account and I emailed our risk and legal department to solve this issue. “Below I have copied the answer I received from them: ‘Hi Daniel, you can inform him that initially his account was suspended due to being accessed from a blacklisted IP address. However, following recent publicity and the subsequently addition of the WikiLeaks entity to blacklists in Australia and watchlists in the USA, we have terminated the business relationship.’”
Assange said: “This is likely to cause a huge backlash against Moneybookers. Craven behaviour in relation to the US government is unlikely to be seen sympathetically.” Moneybookers, which is registered in the UK but controlled by the Bahrain-based group Investcorp, would not make anyone available to explain the decision.
Its public relations firm, 77PR, said: “We have never had any request, inquiry or correspondence from any authority regarding this former customer.” Asked how this could be reconciled with the references in the correspondence to a blacklist, it said: “We stick with our original statement.”
Source : The Guardian Newspaper – UK
New Standards set for DNA profiling and RIPA
New common sense standards for use of investigatory powers and retention of DNA profiles were set out by the Home Secretary today.
Jacqui Smith outlined ways to strengthen how the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) is used by public authorities and how and when DNA profiles are retained on the national database in a keynote speech about protecting people while protecting their rights.
Speaking to members of the technology industry at the Intellect trade association the Home Secretary announced a consultation on the use of RIPA that will examine:
* a revision of the Codes of Practice that come under RIPA;
* which public authorities can use RIPA powers; and
* how those powers are authorised, and who authorises their use.
She also announced that there will be a consultation on proposed changes to RIPA powers to bring them in line with tests of safeguards, openness, proportionality and common sense.
In a wide-ranging speech on the rights of privacy in light of changing and expanding technology, the Home Secretary said the Government has to think carefully about how long to retain DNA evidence. She said the Government will bring forward proposals for consultation on retention arrangements for DNA samples in a Forensics White Paper next year including:
* varying the timescale of detaining DNA evidence depending on the seriousness of the offence and possibly the age and risk of the individual;
* re-examining the retention arrangements for DNA samples;
* ensuring police can retrospectively take samples for a longer period after conviction and from those convicted overseas.
In addition the Home Secretary announced that the Government will take immediate steps to take the DNA of children under 10 – the age of responsibility – off the database.
SHEFFIELD MEN TO CHALLENGE DNA DATABASE
A legal challenge to the DNA database that could force the Home Office to destroy thousands of records begins in the European Court of Human Rights today.
Two men from Sheffield will go before the court in Strasbourg and demand that their DNA and fingerprints are removed from the national DNA database. Both men were arrested and their details were routinely taken. Neither was charged but, as is standard practice across England and Wales, their details were retained on the database.
Lawyers for the two men will argue this violates their privacy and is discriminatory. They argue the men should be treated in the same way as people who have never been arrested and not automatically cast into suspicion.
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