UNHCR says there are about 50,000 Iraqi refugees in Lebanon
BEIRUT, 6 November 2007
(IRIN) - The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) puts the number of Iraqi refugees in Lebanon at 50,000 people, of whom only 8,476 are registered. Another 500 are being held in prison, it says, merely for violating immigration rules. “This is a question of human rights,” said UNHCR regional representative Stéphane Jaquemet.
Having not signed the UN’s Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, introduced in 1951, Lebanon does not grant asylum to refugees, despite the presence on its territory of more than 400,000 Palestinians.
The overwhelming majority of Iraqi refugees and asylum seekers - 95 percent according to UNHCR figures - are smuggled into Lebanon across the porous border with Syria. Once inside, such Iraqis have no legal status, and lacking protection under international law, are subject to detention and deportation. “Over 500 asylum seekers and Iraqi refugees are being held in Lebanese prisons,” Jaquemet said.
Despite Lebanon’s failure to sign the 1951 convention, authorities still have a duty of care towards Iraqi asylum seekers, he added. An agreement has been reached between the UNHCR and the government that makes deporting Iraqi refugees more difficult. However, Jaquemet said that in response the authorities were keeping Iraqis arrested on immigration violation charges in prison well past their sentences.
Arbitrary detention
“We are in no way asking that Iraqi refugees be integrated, but keeping refugees in detention after their time is done, only because they cannot be deported, is arbitrary detention,” said Jaquemet.
The UNHCR argues for voluntary repatriation as the preferred solution to Lebanon’s Iraqi refugees, but recognises that will not happen soon. “Will Iraqi refugees be out of the country in three months? I don’t think so,” said Jaquemet. “But they will not stay for three generations. I do not believe in the catastrophic scenario, or the brighter one.”
The number of refugees signed up with the UNHCR is 8,476 as of early October, against 3,000 in January. Nearly 1,800 are children.However, Iraqi children are unlikely to attend school as they are sent to work in menial jobs by their parents who believe children are less likely than adults to get caught without official papers, said Jaquemet. As with Palestinians, refugees in Lebanon find it almost impossible to gain fully legal employment. That would require a Lebanese sponsor who agrees to be legally responsible for them and to pay about US$2,000 a year in administration fees.
mcf/hm/ar/mw
Theme(s): (IRIN) Human Rights, (IRIN) Refugees/IDPs
mardi 6 novembre 2007
PKK terrorists force families living near the Turkish border to abandon their homes
ZAKHO, 5 November 2007 (IRIN) - About 120 Iraqi families living near the Iraqi-Turkish border have been forced to abandon their homes by fighters of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), according to the Kurdistan Campaign to Help Victims of War, an NGO, and local residents.
[Read this report in Arabic]
for article in English please click on link below
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75146
[Read this report in Arabic]
for article in English please click on link below
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75146
'Iraqi Kurds annouce SEVEN new oil deals to foreign firms, and FOUR to the new Kurdistan oil company'
The KRG announced the new deals Tuesday, a major move which will have reverberations yet to be realized within the political spheres from Baghdad to Washington, as well as the global oil industry.
http://iraqoilreport.com/2007/11/06/iraqi-kurds-announce-seven-new-oil-deals-to-foreign-firms-and-four-to-the-new-kurdistan-oil-company/
http://iraqoilreport.com/2007/11/06/iraqi-kurds-announce-seven-new-oil-deals-to-foreign-firms-and-four-to-the-new-kurdistan-oil-company/
‘Edict’ hinders French from extradicting PKK militants
France's constant failure to arrest and extradite to Turkey leaders of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) is intentional, based on a decision issued in 1998 not to hand over the group's members, Today's Zaman has learnt.
Paris has disappointed Ankara several times when it refused to extradite senior leaders of the terrorist group detained in a February crackdown on the PKK. In a scandalous incident, one of them, Rıza Altun, took a flight to northern Iraq from Vienna after leaving France despite a pending trial against him and an Interpol warrant for his arrest. A second man, Nedim Seven, is also at large now although he was under police surveillance.
A 1998 decision, which appears to have been released under political considerations, bans extradition of PKK members to Turkey. Diplomatic notes and requests issued by Turkey to France about the PKK since 1998 were reportedly ignored by the French Justice Ministry.
The most recent diplomatic note crisis with France was seen in October. The Turkish government informed the French government that Ahmet Gülabi Dere, a senior PKK leader who is wanted by Interpol on charges of terrorism, would visit the European Council in Strasbourg and requested that necessary actions to be taken. But, like the previous requests, the French Foreign Ministry did not pay heed to this demand despite the insistence of Turkish authorities. Finally, French officials from the Turkey desk sent an e-mail to Turkish authorities, in which it is stated that France "interpreted differently" Interpol's red notice about Dere.
In the end, France did not take any steps regarding Dere, and Turkey's initiatives before the European Council proved futile. Despite the international arrest warrant for him, Dere had talks at the European Council. Dere had previously engaged in talks with European authorities at the European Council and European Parliament. France had decided to deport Dere in 1993.
French and Turkish experts on the PKK file attribute the French government’s attitude toward the PKK to a “political decision” made during the socialist government of Lionel Jospin in 1998. The socialist government had decided not to extradite the PKK militants, even if there were international arrest warrants for them, on grounds of “capital punishment, human rights violations and torture” in Turkey.
Turkish requests for extradition and diplomatic notes issued since 1998 are still waiting to be taken into consideration by the French Justice Ministry. Although Turkey has abolished the death penalty and implemented reforms in human rights, the French attitude has not changed. In other words, while it recognizes the PKK as a terrorist organization and condemns its terrorist attacks, France still condones the presence of the terrorist organization in its territories.
However, recently, France seems to be changing its attitude. French authorities told Today’s Zaman that a new era has begun between Turkey and France with respect to cooperation against the PKK, adding that counterterrorism units have exerted great efforts toward this change. Recently, a group of Turkish judicial authorities went to Paris to interrogate several PKK militants and to have talks with the French Justice Ministry.
In February of this year French counterterrorism teams arrested 16 PKK members including senior leaders Altun, Seven and Canan Kurtyılmaz. However, an appeals court overturned the prosecutor’s demand for arrest of the suspects and released them pending trial. Despite being under police surveillance and having to sign in at a station close to his home every day, Seven still managed to evade the authorities.
06.11.2007
ALİ İHSAN AYDIN ANKARA
http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=126420
Paris has disappointed Ankara several times when it refused to extradite senior leaders of the terrorist group detained in a February crackdown on the PKK. In a scandalous incident, one of them, Rıza Altun, took a flight to northern Iraq from Vienna after leaving France despite a pending trial against him and an Interpol warrant for his arrest. A second man, Nedim Seven, is also at large now although he was under police surveillance.
A 1998 decision, which appears to have been released under political considerations, bans extradition of PKK members to Turkey. Diplomatic notes and requests issued by Turkey to France about the PKK since 1998 were reportedly ignored by the French Justice Ministry.
The most recent diplomatic note crisis with France was seen in October. The Turkish government informed the French government that Ahmet Gülabi Dere, a senior PKK leader who is wanted by Interpol on charges of terrorism, would visit the European Council in Strasbourg and requested that necessary actions to be taken. But, like the previous requests, the French Foreign Ministry did not pay heed to this demand despite the insistence of Turkish authorities. Finally, French officials from the Turkey desk sent an e-mail to Turkish authorities, in which it is stated that France "interpreted differently" Interpol's red notice about Dere.
In the end, France did not take any steps regarding Dere, and Turkey's initiatives before the European Council proved futile. Despite the international arrest warrant for him, Dere had talks at the European Council. Dere had previously engaged in talks with European authorities at the European Council and European Parliament. France had decided to deport Dere in 1993.
French and Turkish experts on the PKK file attribute the French government’s attitude toward the PKK to a “political decision” made during the socialist government of Lionel Jospin in 1998. The socialist government had decided not to extradite the PKK militants, even if there were international arrest warrants for them, on grounds of “capital punishment, human rights violations and torture” in Turkey.
Turkish requests for extradition and diplomatic notes issued since 1998 are still waiting to be taken into consideration by the French Justice Ministry. Although Turkey has abolished the death penalty and implemented reforms in human rights, the French attitude has not changed. In other words, while it recognizes the PKK as a terrorist organization and condemns its terrorist attacks, France still condones the presence of the terrorist organization in its territories.
However, recently, France seems to be changing its attitude. French authorities told Today’s Zaman that a new era has begun between Turkey and France with respect to cooperation against the PKK, adding that counterterrorism units have exerted great efforts toward this change. Recently, a group of Turkish judicial authorities went to Paris to interrogate several PKK militants and to have talks with the French Justice Ministry.
In February of this year French counterterrorism teams arrested 16 PKK members including senior leaders Altun, Seven and Canan Kurtyılmaz. However, an appeals court overturned the prosecutor’s demand for arrest of the suspects and released them pending trial. Despite being under police surveillance and having to sign in at a station close to his home every day, Seven still managed to evade the authorities.
06.11.2007
ALİ İHSAN AYDIN ANKARA
http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=126420
Americans, stop being complict of torture!!! Watch this video
Waterboarding Demonstration at the Justice Department November 5, 2007
On the eve of the Senate Judiciary Committee vote on the confirmation of Judge Michael Mukasey to be Attorney General, anti-torture activists put on a fully realistic display of waterboarding at the entrance to the Department of Justice.Iranian-born actor/activist Maboud Ebrahimzadeh, wearing an orange jumpsuit and hands bound, was dragged to an inclined board by interrogators dressed as “civilian contractors.” When he could not give the names demanded by his interrogators, a towel was placed over his face and gallons of water were poured over his head.
Dozens of reporters and cameramen pushed forward to capture the scene.
Emerging from the experience coughing and shaken, Ebrahimzadeh told reporters that it was the most terrifying experience of his life, even though a piece of plastic behind the towel protected him from the full force of the water.
Introducing the demonstration, C. Clark Kissinger pointed out that media who describe waterboarding as “simulated drowning” are themselves practicing “simulated journalism.”
He pointed out that waterboarding is universally understood to be torture, and the United States had even prosecuted as war criminals Japanese officers who had waterboarded U.S. prisoners of war.
Kissinger pointed out that in refusing to acknowledge that waterboarding is torture Mukasey seeks to legitimate its continuation, and when people in this country refuse to take up the fight against Mukasey and the Bush administration, they become complicit.
Americans, watch this video:
http://www.worldcantwait.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4411&Itemid=220#video
On the eve of the Senate Judiciary Committee vote on the confirmation of Judge Michael Mukasey to be Attorney General, anti-torture activists put on a fully realistic display of waterboarding at the entrance to the Department of Justice.Iranian-born actor/activist Maboud Ebrahimzadeh, wearing an orange jumpsuit and hands bound, was dragged to an inclined board by interrogators dressed as “civilian contractors.” When he could not give the names demanded by his interrogators, a towel was placed over his face and gallons of water were poured over his head.
Dozens of reporters and cameramen pushed forward to capture the scene.
Emerging from the experience coughing and shaken, Ebrahimzadeh told reporters that it was the most terrifying experience of his life, even though a piece of plastic behind the towel protected him from the full force of the water.
Introducing the demonstration, C. Clark Kissinger pointed out that media who describe waterboarding as “simulated drowning” are themselves practicing “simulated journalism.”
He pointed out that waterboarding is universally understood to be torture, and the United States had even prosecuted as war criminals Japanese officers who had waterboarded U.S. prisoners of war.
Kissinger pointed out that in refusing to acknowledge that waterboarding is torture Mukasey seeks to legitimate its continuation, and when people in this country refuse to take up the fight against Mukasey and the Bush administration, they become complicit.
Americans, watch this video:
http://www.worldcantwait.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4411&Itemid=220#video
dimanche 4 novembre 2007
ABD askerleri 3 Türkmeni katletti - U.S. soldiers kill 3 Turkmens
Kerkük'ün Hayali Vasit semtinde meydana gelen olayda, aynı aileden Abbas Nejat Mecit (32), Ali Nejat Mecit (28) ve Faris Nejat Mecit (25), işgalci ABD askerlerinin açtığı ateşle hayatını kaybetti.Kerkuk: US soldiers kill three brothers (Turkmens)in their garden
Kerkuk: Les soldats américains tuent trois frères (turkmènes) dans leur jardin
ABD askerleri 3 Türkmeni katletti
04 Kasım 2007, Pazar
Kerkük'ün Hayali Vasit semtinde meydana gelen olayda, aynı aileden Abbas Nejat Mecit (32), Ali Nejat Mecit (28) ve Faris Nejat Mecit (25), işgalci ABD askerlerinin açtığı ateşle hayatını kaybetti.
ABD askerleri 3 Türkmeni katlettiKerkük'ün Hayali Vasit semtinde meydana gelen olayda, aynı aileden Abbas Nejat Mecit (32), Ali Nejat Mecit (28) ve Faris Nejat Mecit (25), işgalci ABD askerlerinin açtığı ateşle hayatını kaybetti.
Kerkük'te katliam sürüyorABD askerleri, 3 Türkmen kardeşi evlerinin bahçesinde kurşun yağmuruna tutarak öldürdü
Kerkük'te ABD işgal güçlerinin Türkmenlere yönelik vahşeti bitmek bilmiyor. Önceki gün, Kerkük'ün Hayali Vasit semtinde yaşanan olay vahşetin boyutlarını gözler önüne serdi. Aynı aileden üç Türkmen, ABD askerlerinin açtığı ateş sonucu yaşamını yitirdi. Önceki gün akşam saatlerinde evlerinin arka bahçesinden bir takım sesler duyan Abbas Nejat Mecit (32), Ali Nejat Mecit (28) ve Faris Nejat Mecit (25), seslerin kaynağını bulmak üzere evden dışarı çıktı. İki kardeş evin çatısına çıkarken, diğeri ise evin çevresini kontrol etti. Bu sırada, evin çevresinde dolaşan ABD askerleri, hiçbir uyarıda bulunmadan üç kardeşe yaylım ateşi açtı.
Nejat Mecit kardeşlerin üçü de açılan ateş sonucu hayatını kaybederken, Hayali Vasit semti yasa boğuldu. Sokaklara çıkan Türkmenler ABD askerlerini protesto etti. Bu arada, katliamın, ABD askerleri tarafından gerçekleştirildiğini civardaki tüm Türkmenlerin gördüğünü söyleyen Irak Türkleri Kültür ve Yardımlaşma Derneği Başkanı Mahmut Kasapoğlu, bu saldırıların bir an önce durdurulmasını istedi.
Yeni Çağ
VIDEO - Brüksel'de 5000 Türk Tek Yürek Oldu!
http://www.belturk.be/go.php?go=30314b1&do=details&return=last_news&pg=1Belçika´nın başkenti Brüksel´in Avrupa Birliği binalarının bulunduğu meşhur Schuman meydanı bugün Belçika´nın ve Avrupa´nın çeşitli yerlerinden gelmiş yaklaşık 5 bin Türk´ü ağırladı.Brüksel dışından gelenlerin otobüslerle miting alanına geldiği günde, herkes tertip komitesinin de dediği gibi Belçika ve Türk bayrakları ile miting alanını doldurdu.
Geçtiğimiz günlerde Almanya´nın Hannover kentinde yapılan ve 5 bin kişinin katıldığı gösterinin ardından Brüksel´de de yapılan ve kanlı terör örgütü PKK´yı protesto eden mitinge katılım, organizatörleri oldukça memnun etti.Her yaş grubundan insanın alanda hazır bulunduğu gözlenirken özellikle Afrika kökenli birinin en ön sırada Türk bayrağı sallayarak meydanda ki coşkuya katılması herkes tarafından ilgi ile izlendi.
Erkekler kadar kadınlarında ilgi gösterdiği mitinge ailecek gelen pek çok kişi Türk bayrağınının altında tek yumruk oldu. Daha önce kanlı terör örgütü PKK´nın hain uzantılarının da gösterilerini yaptığı meydan, bugün adeta kırmızıya boyandı.
Siyasetçiler meydana akın etti..
Belçika´da çeşitli görevlerde bulunan Türk siyasetçiler, Türk toplumu için böylesine önemli bir günde meydana gelerek yuttaşlarımıza destek verdiler. Hilal Yalçın, Sait Köse, Ergün Top, Duygu Akdemir, Sadık Köksal, İbrahim Dönmez, Fatma Pehlivan, Ahmet Koç ve Şevket Temiz mitingi başından sonuna kadar takip ederken, özellikle Bakan Emir Kır´ın miting alanında olmaması dikkatleri çekti. Beltürk´e şikayetlerini dile getiren vatandaşlarımız ´
Gelmeyenler oy isterken hepsi Türkiye aşığı oluyorlar, ama böyle bir günde bizi yanlız bırakan siyasetçilerimiz de var. Soruyoruz. Neredeler? Bir daha ki seçimde hangi yüzle karşımıza gelecekler´ derken eski senatör Fatma Pehlivan´ ın yuhlanması kafaları karıştırdı.Beltürk´e konuşan vaytandaşlarımız ´Kanlı PKK terörünü lanetliyoruz. Hergün çocuklarımız ölüyor.
Hergün içimiz kan ağlıyor. Bunlara artık fırsat verilmesin. Devletimiz ve ordumuz bu kanı durdursun.´ derken yaşlı bir bayanda ´Benide askere alın. Ben de askere gideceğim´ diyerek tepkisini dile getirdi.
Belçika basını....Olayların hemen ardından tüm medyada son dakika haberi olarak giren miting hakkında ise Belçika basını yine bilindik teraneyi okudu. Le Soir gazetesi internet sitesinde verdiği haberde 5 bin kişilik grubu ´yaklaşık´ 2 bin olarak gösterme çabasına girdi. Her zaman olduğu gibi yanlı ve taraflı haberlerine devam eden gazete PKK´ya da ´Kürdistan için çalışan parti´ diyerek nasıl bir taraf olduğunu gösterdi. DH ise olayların nedenini açıklarken ´Son zamanlarda Irak sınırında olan olayları gösterici grup PKK´ya bağlıyor ´ diyerek kendi görüşünün bu şekilde olmadığını ima etti.
samedi 3 novembre 2007
Plusieurs milliers de manifestants d'origine turque à Bruxelles
De 4.000 à 6.000 manifestants d´origine turque, selon les sources, ont répondu à l´appel de différentes associations turcophones à se rassembler samedi dès 14 heures au rond-point Schuman à Bruxelles, pour une manifestation autorisée et se voulant pacifiste contre les incidents de ces derniers jours à la frontière irakienne, liés selon eux au PKK.
Des délégations sont venues en bus des quatre coins de la Belgique. La dislocation était prévue à 16h. Le rassemblement s´est déroulé dans le calme.
Le rond-point Schuman, où un podium a été installé, était coloré par de très nombreux drapeaux turcs et quelques rares drapeaux belges.
Un service d´ordre avait été mis en place par les organisateurs de la manifestation, alors que la police se montrait discrète. Des arroseuses de la police, stationnées à proximité du rond-point, étaient cependant prêtes à intervenir. Un dispositif policier a également été mis en place par la police de la zone de Bruxelles-Nord, où ont éclaté récemment des émeutes que les organisateurs de la manifestation de samedi ont dit condamner. (GFR
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