The recent spate of violence and civil unrests seen so far among a few Arab countries just symbolizes how so much has changed over the years as far as citizen's needs, expectations and desires are concerned. Sadly though,there's very little to write home about the leadership, not just among the Arab countries which are North of the Sahara desert, but the whole African continent as a whole. According to studies conducted by World Bank, over 40% of the Egyptian population lives on less than a dollar a day (an international standard for measuring poverty levels) which translates to upwards of 32million of the over 80million people living inside Egypt. Food prices have also sky rocketed with unemployment figures continuing to rise each day. Now, while all this is happening, Egypt's president Hosni Mubarak is busy solidifying power by grooming his successor, which mostly is believed to be his own son to take over the reigns of power after his father is long gone.
A lot of people are attributing these unrests to the recent events among their neighbors in Tunisia where people-power forced their president Ben Ali out of power which made him flee to Saudi Arabia for cover. A closer scrutiny and study of the Arab world and economy would tell you that this was something expected sooner or later, more or less like a powder keg that needed ignition and the Tunisian situation was just it. All these countries are endowed with various natural resources like oil and gas, yet the benefits are concentrated among a few elite groups. A recent CNN footage in the former Tunisian president's mansion, showed that the president and his family lived in a totally different world, eating imported sea food like tuna yet the average Tunisian on the streets can't afford a square meal a day. When the pressure was too much, something had to give and Tunisians across all the political divide had had enough and it was time for change.
Egypt is a key US ally concerning middle eastern politics and the war on terrorism, but Washington must understand that the desires of the global community cannot and should not surpass those of the ordinary Egyptian. Mubarak has been in power for over 3 decades due to their archaic constitution which doesn't have limits on the maximum number of terms one ought to serve, yet there's very little to show for it in terms of the transformations of people's lives. We are living in a completely different dispensation where geographical boundaries have completely been shuttered by globalization and the power of the internet, which calls for corporation in terms of issues like trade, security etc. The world is also moving at very faster pace thus people like Mubarak from the old school who prefer taking things slowly while maintaining the status-quo using the constitution would be swept by the winds of change.
Such people (and there are many in that list including uncle Bob), ought to relinquish power to the younger and more agile generation who are connected and affected by the daily problems that afflict the hoi polloi. Anything short of that would result in more chaos until their needs are met. But the question that is on everyone's mind is that, where is it gonna happen next? I guess we'll just have to wait and see...
Monday, January 31, 2011
Thursday, December 16, 2010
The Rome Statute
Article 7
Crimes against humanity
1. For the purpose of this Statute, “crime against humanity” means any of the following acts when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack:
(a) Murder;
(b) Extermination;
(c) Enslavement;
(d) Deportation or forcible transfer of population;
(e) Imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty in violation of fundamental rules of international law;
(f) Torture;
(g) Rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, enforced sterilization, or any other form of sexual violence of comparable gravity;
(h) Persecution against any identifiable group or collectivity on political, racial, national, ethnic, cultural, religious, gender as defined in paragraph 3, or other grounds that are universally recognized as impermissible under international law, in connection with any act referred to in this paragraph or any crime within the jurisdiction of the Court;
(i) Enforced disappearance of persons;
(j) The crime of apartheid;
(k) Other inhumane acts of a similar character intentionally causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or to mental or physical health.
2. For the purpose of paragraph 1:
(a) “Attack directed against any civilian population” means a course of conduct involving the multiple commission of acts referred to in paragraph 1 against any civilian population, pursuant to or in furtherance of a State or organizational policy to commit such attack;
(b) “Extermination” includes the intentional infliction of conditions of life, inter alia the deprivation of access to food and medicine, calculated to bring about the destruction of part of a population;
(c) “Enslavement” means the exercise of any or all of the powers attaching to the right of ownership over a person and includes the exercise of such power in the course of trafficking in persons, in particular women and children;
(d) “Deportation or forcible transfer of population” means forced displacement of the persons concerned by expulsion or other coercive acts from the area in which they are lawfully present, without grounds permitted under international law;
(e) “Torture” means the intentional infliction of severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, upon a person in the custody or under the control of the accused; except that torture shall not include pain or suffering arising only from, inherent in or incidental to, lawful sanctions;
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(f) “Forced pregnancy” means the unlawful confinement of a woman forcibly made pregnant, with the intent of affecting the ethnic composition of any population or carrying out other grave violations of international law. This definition shall not in any way be interpreted as affecting national laws relating to pregnancy;
(g) “Persecution” means the intentional and severe deprivation of fundamental rights contrary to international law by reason of the identity of the group or collectivity;
(h) “The crime of apartheid” means inhumane acts of a character similar to those referred to in paragraph 1, committed in the context of an institutionalized regime of systematic oppression and domination by one racial group over any other racial group or groups and committed with the intention of maintaining that regime;
(i) “Enforced disappearance of persons” means the arrest, detention or abduction of persons by, or with the authorization, support or acquiescence of, a State or a political organization, followed by a refusal to acknowledge that deprivation of freedom or to give information on the fate or whereabouts of those persons, with the intention of removing them from the protection of the law for a prolonged period of time.
3. For the purpose of this Statute, it is understood that the term “gender” refers to the two sexes, male and female, within the context of society. The term “gender” does not indicate any meaning different from the above.
Crimes against humanity
1. For the purpose of this Statute, “crime against humanity” means any of the following acts when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack:
(a) Murder;
(b) Extermination;
(c) Enslavement;
(d) Deportation or forcible transfer of population;
(e) Imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty in violation of fundamental rules of international law;
(f) Torture;
(g) Rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, enforced sterilization, or any other form of sexual violence of comparable gravity;
(h) Persecution against any identifiable group or collectivity on political, racial, national, ethnic, cultural, religious, gender as defined in paragraph 3, or other grounds that are universally recognized as impermissible under international law, in connection with any act referred to in this paragraph or any crime within the jurisdiction of the Court;
(i) Enforced disappearance of persons;
(j) The crime of apartheid;
(k) Other inhumane acts of a similar character intentionally causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or to mental or physical health.
2. For the purpose of paragraph 1:
(a) “Attack directed against any civilian population” means a course of conduct involving the multiple commission of acts referred to in paragraph 1 against any civilian population, pursuant to or in furtherance of a State or organizational policy to commit such attack;
(b) “Extermination” includes the intentional infliction of conditions of life, inter alia the deprivation of access to food and medicine, calculated to bring about the destruction of part of a population;
(c) “Enslavement” means the exercise of any or all of the powers attaching to the right of ownership over a person and includes the exercise of such power in the course of trafficking in persons, in particular women and children;
(d) “Deportation or forcible transfer of population” means forced displacement of the persons concerned by expulsion or other coercive acts from the area in which they are lawfully present, without grounds permitted under international law;
(e) “Torture” means the intentional infliction of severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, upon a person in the custody or under the control of the accused; except that torture shall not include pain or suffering arising only from, inherent in or incidental to, lawful sanctions;
5
(f) “Forced pregnancy” means the unlawful confinement of a woman forcibly made pregnant, with the intent of affecting the ethnic composition of any population or carrying out other grave violations of international law. This definition shall not in any way be interpreted as affecting national laws relating to pregnancy;
(g) “Persecution” means the intentional and severe deprivation of fundamental rights contrary to international law by reason of the identity of the group or collectivity;
(h) “The crime of apartheid” means inhumane acts of a character similar to those referred to in paragraph 1, committed in the context of an institutionalized regime of systematic oppression and domination by one racial group over any other racial group or groups and committed with the intention of maintaining that regime;
(i) “Enforced disappearance of persons” means the arrest, detention or abduction of persons by, or with the authorization, support or acquiescence of, a State or a political organization, followed by a refusal to acknowledge that deprivation of freedom or to give information on the fate or whereabouts of those persons, with the intention of removing them from the protection of the law for a prolonged period of time.
3. For the purpose of this Statute, it is understood that the term “gender” refers to the two sexes, male and female, within the context of society. The term “gender” does not indicate any meaning different from the above.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Wikileaks: Ranneberger Funds Dissent among Kenyan Youths.
Viewing cable 12NAIROBI1885, Raneberger’s dalliance with the youths of Kenya.
The entire world has lately been taken aback and scandalized at that, by the recent revelations made by the controversial website Wikileaks owned by the Australian born Julliane Assange. The leaked diplomatic cables containing memos between the US ambassadors in different countries and their boss in the oval office, contain damning reports on what they really think about the governments and the leaders steering those government. There’s a school of thought out there, which holds that, the recent rape accusations put forward that led to his arrest and the warrants and deportation requests against Julliane Assange by the Swedish government are directly related to his activism in favor of transparent governments in the world. Several hackers have come forward in support of Assange and Wikileaks calling themselves “hacktivists”, where they are launching attacks to websites belonging to companies that followed the American government’s directive to stop any dealings with Wikileaks. Others have mirrored the Wikileaks sites to a myriad other servers in the world after the Wikileaks website was shut down, in order to provide the public with an opportunity to view the leaked cables which has caused a media frenzy and placed the American government in a very embarrassing position.
But having said that, what really interests me and is the focus of discussion in this blog, is the memos that were meant for Barrack Obama on what the American Ambassador, Michael Ranneberger thinks of Kenya and our leaders, especially the two principals leading the coalition government. According to the leaked cables, Ranneberger candidly states that, the slow pace of reforms in Kenya enshrined in the new constitution and the National Accord agreement ratified by the two principals after the infamous post election violence in Kenya, are because the two i.e. president Mwai Kibaki and Right Hon. PM, Raila Odinga, are actually beneficiaries of the past impunity in Kenya. The two have been unable or unwilling, to rally their troupes behind the idea of setting up a local tribunal to try the perpetrators of the 2007 post poll chaos, and instead they have decided to approach the whole issue with a wait-and-see attitude while Ocampo and his team are busy preparing evidence against the six individuals bearing the greatest responsibility for the chaos.
These memos really ticked the two principals to an extent that during Jamuhuri Day, which is supposed to be a celebrated national holiday day and the first one in the new constitution, was reduced to a bashing affair for the American ambassador. It appears the poor ambassador knew he’s no longer in good books (not that he was before anyway) with the two, and decided to skip the celebrations. The two are accusing Ranneberger of funding youth groups in different parts of the country with an aim of destabilizing or overthrowing this government. The Ambassador, who has achieved a fete, probably none of the two has before, has been knighted as an elder in almost all the communities he’s visited in Kenya for his good works.
My take on this might as well be controversial, but I’ll play the devil’s advocate here if sanity has the slightest chance of being restored. What Raneberger has realized and any other Kenyan with an average IQ should, is that, our leaders, or politicians, thrive on our ignorance, which more often than not is caused by poverty. I don’t need to take you through what poverty can do to a nation’s psyche, because that would suffice as a complete post for my blog. But just to delve a little bit deeper, poverty denies one dignity and self-esteem. It sucks the entire moral out of you and denies you alternatives in life by reducing your options to a bare minimum. For instance, if your child is sick and you are a parent , you’ll either go borrow money (hoping that you are not indebted already to all the neighbors around), go steal the money (a more desperate measure) or you just hope and pray that your child will overcome the disease and come out alive (in most cases it doesn’t work).
When people’s stomach are filled with just enough food, they are able to worry about things like the environment and why it should be kept clean, the quality of service they’re entitled to from the government etc. In other words, poverty is like the ozone layer which encapsulates the earth and prevents it from breathing in fresh air. The reason as to why western governments and other economic power house that embrace true democracy are kept on toss by their subjects is simply because, people there don’t play politics of stomach and 2 kg sugar during elections. Americans overwhelmingly voted for Barrack Obama in a Democratic ticket but already he is feeling the pressure as all Americans including those who voted for him, are demanding for more from his government in terms of job creation which were really hit by the recent global economic crunch; They want taxes for the lower income earners reduced tremendously and a myriad of other demands .Gordon Brown, despite his impeccable economic track record as the Chancellor of the exchequer, was also bundled out of the Labor Party reigns and the No.10 Downing Street, simply because his policies were not in sync with that of the ordinary Joe in London. Now, for a country to make such demands, it needs people who are sober, focused and not the kind that worries every single day that dawn, where their next meal is going to come from. I strongly believe Ranneberger’s intentions are in good faith, because we’ve haven’t had cases where he bought firearms for any group nor encouraged them directly to fight the government. What he is simply doing is to empower the youth, by telling them that there’s hope for them and that the future belongs to them and not the octogenarians who have clang to power for decades with power being handed down from generation to generation while other Kenyans are reduced to perennial voters.
The entire world has lately been taken aback and scandalized at that, by the recent revelations made by the controversial website Wikileaks owned by the Australian born Julliane Assange. The leaked diplomatic cables containing memos between the US ambassadors in different countries and their boss in the oval office, contain damning reports on what they really think about the governments and the leaders steering those government. There’s a school of thought out there, which holds that, the recent rape accusations put forward that led to his arrest and the warrants and deportation requests against Julliane Assange by the Swedish government are directly related to his activism in favor of transparent governments in the world. Several hackers have come forward in support of Assange and Wikileaks calling themselves “hacktivists”, where they are launching attacks to websites belonging to companies that followed the American government’s directive to stop any dealings with Wikileaks. Others have mirrored the Wikileaks sites to a myriad other servers in the world after the Wikileaks website was shut down, in order to provide the public with an opportunity to view the leaked cables which has caused a media frenzy and placed the American government in a very embarrassing position.
But having said that, what really interests me and is the focus of discussion in this blog, is the memos that were meant for Barrack Obama on what the American Ambassador, Michael Ranneberger thinks of Kenya and our leaders, especially the two principals leading the coalition government. According to the leaked cables, Ranneberger candidly states that, the slow pace of reforms in Kenya enshrined in the new constitution and the National Accord agreement ratified by the two principals after the infamous post election violence in Kenya, are because the two i.e. president Mwai Kibaki and Right Hon. PM, Raila Odinga, are actually beneficiaries of the past impunity in Kenya. The two have been unable or unwilling, to rally their troupes behind the idea of setting up a local tribunal to try the perpetrators of the 2007 post poll chaos, and instead they have decided to approach the whole issue with a wait-and-see attitude while Ocampo and his team are busy preparing evidence against the six individuals bearing the greatest responsibility for the chaos.
These memos really ticked the two principals to an extent that during Jamuhuri Day, which is supposed to be a celebrated national holiday day and the first one in the new constitution, was reduced to a bashing affair for the American ambassador. It appears the poor ambassador knew he’s no longer in good books (not that he was before anyway) with the two, and decided to skip the celebrations. The two are accusing Ranneberger of funding youth groups in different parts of the country with an aim of destabilizing or overthrowing this government. The Ambassador, who has achieved a fete, probably none of the two has before, has been knighted as an elder in almost all the communities he’s visited in Kenya for his good works.
My take on this might as well be controversial, but I’ll play the devil’s advocate here if sanity has the slightest chance of being restored. What Raneberger has realized and any other Kenyan with an average IQ should, is that, our leaders, or politicians, thrive on our ignorance, which more often than not is caused by poverty. I don’t need to take you through what poverty can do to a nation’s psyche, because that would suffice as a complete post for my blog. But just to delve a little bit deeper, poverty denies one dignity and self-esteem. It sucks the entire moral out of you and denies you alternatives in life by reducing your options to a bare minimum. For instance, if your child is sick and you are a parent , you’ll either go borrow money (hoping that you are not indebted already to all the neighbors around), go steal the money (a more desperate measure) or you just hope and pray that your child will overcome the disease and come out alive (in most cases it doesn’t work).
When people’s stomach are filled with just enough food, they are able to worry about things like the environment and why it should be kept clean, the quality of service they’re entitled to from the government etc. In other words, poverty is like the ozone layer which encapsulates the earth and prevents it from breathing in fresh air. The reason as to why western governments and other economic power house that embrace true democracy are kept on toss by their subjects is simply because, people there don’t play politics of stomach and 2 kg sugar during elections. Americans overwhelmingly voted for Barrack Obama in a Democratic ticket but already he is feeling the pressure as all Americans including those who voted for him, are demanding for more from his government in terms of job creation which were really hit by the recent global economic crunch; They want taxes for the lower income earners reduced tremendously and a myriad of other demands .Gordon Brown, despite his impeccable economic track record as the Chancellor of the exchequer, was also bundled out of the Labor Party reigns and the No.10 Downing Street, simply because his policies were not in sync with that of the ordinary Joe in London. Now, for a country to make such demands, it needs people who are sober, focused and not the kind that worries every single day that dawn, where their next meal is going to come from. I strongly believe Ranneberger’s intentions are in good faith, because we’ve haven’t had cases where he bought firearms for any group nor encouraged them directly to fight the government. What he is simply doing is to empower the youth, by telling them that there’s hope for them and that the future belongs to them and not the octogenarians who have clang to power for decades with power being handed down from generation to generation while other Kenyans are reduced to perennial voters.
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