dc_subsection_news_in_brief_December_2009

December 2009

Thailand: Take Back Your Huddled Masses
December 29, 2009—Bangkok, Thailand: Just one year after Thailand evicted 1,000 Myanmar refugees, notoriously setting them afloat in boats without motors, Bangkok has expelled a new group of immigrants. On Monday, more than 4,000 Hmong asylum seekers were forced from their holding center by soldiers wielding clubs and riot shields. The refugees are being shipped back to Laos, where they claim they will face harsh reprisal from the government. The swift act has incited protests from the U.S., UN, and human rights groups. In response, Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said that he has received assurances from Laos authorities, “that these Hmong will have a better life.” Reporters have been barred from the refugee encampment. [DC]

Iran Incarcerates Opposition Leaders
December 29, 2009—Tehran, Iran: The political fray, which has gripped Iran since the re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, reached another fever pitch Sunday with the deaths of eight protestors at a Shi'ite Muslim religious festival. A day following the carnage, at least 10 of the leading opposition leaders were arrested for using state-organized rallies to urge anti-government protests. Police have denied that any deaths occurred. The opposition estimates that the death toll of demonstrators since the re-election is approaching 80. [DC]

Brazil Scrutinizes Amazon Property
December 27, 2009—Vila dos Crentes, Brazil: For decades the millions of acres constituting the Amazon have existed outside of the law. Scant police officers and scarce legal records have fostered a culture of ruthless—even bloody—land seizures. But now with the approval of a new law, Brazil is clamping down on the brazen corruption. The legislation aims to not only formally establish ownership within the region, but also to establish responsibility for deforestation. The act is needed but daunting. Clear ownership records exist for less than four percent of the privately-owned Brazilian Amazon land. [DC]

Vocal Russian Cop Charged with Fraud
December 27, 2009—Moscow, Russia: Former policeman Alexei Dymovsky, famed for posting YouTube videos decrying corruption in the Russian police force, has been accused of abuse of office. The streamed videos, which appealed to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to investigate senior police officers whom he accused of pressuring subordinates to accuse innocent citizens in order to meet statistical goals, received one million hits on YouTube. Dymovsky was promptly fired and a regional police force proclaimed the allegations false. Dymovsky has declared, “They want to silence me and gain revenge." [DC]

Ahmadinejad Nonplussed by Deadline
December 22, 2009—Tehran, Iran: After months of side-stepping the ultimatum, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad appears poised to dismiss the UN-drafted deal that would allow Iran to exchange its uranium for fuel abroad. If the Islamic Republic does not comply with the terms by the year-end deadline, Washington has made clear that it will impose far stricter sanctions on the oil-exporting nation. Ahmadinejad flouted the deadline in a televised speech Monday, "Who are they to set us a deadline. We set them a deadline that if they do not correct their attitude and behavior and literature we will demand from them the Iranian nation's historic rights.” The Islamic Republic maintains that it will only agree to the deal if the fuel exchange occurs inside its own borders. [DC]

Dubai Struggles to Stay Afloat
December 22, 2009—Dubai, UAE: After collapsing into $26 billion of debt last month, Dubai is desperate for a way to rebuild its image. Unfortunately, much of that image revolved around a glittering tax-free model. Now if Dubai is to maintain its appeal to foreign businesses, it must somehow raise billions of additional dollars without the aid of taxes. Unless the emirate finds a way to reconcile its debt with its business model, the 11th hour bailout by Abu Dhabi is merely a punctured life preserver. [DC]

Guinea Authorities to be Tried for Crimes Against Humanity
December 22, 2009—United Nations: A United Nations panel has referred Guinea’s military ruler and two of his adjutants to the International Criminal Court for “crimes against humanity.” The 60-page report released Monday has indicted the men of ordering the chilling massacre and sexual assault of hundreds of unarmed civilians gathered in a stadium to protest Captain Moussa Dadis Camara’s intention to become president. According to the report, Camara along with his chief of the Presidential Guard and his chief of the Special Services ordered soldiers to enter the stadium and open fire on the thousands of demonstrators. Once the ammunition was expended, the troops attacked the fleeing crowd with daggers and other rudimentary weapons. The crimes against women were particularly gruesome. Following the attacks, authorities attempted to obliterate all evidence by cleaning the stadium, altering medical records, and intimidating witnesses. [DC]

China Weary of U.S. Diplomatic Move
December 19, 2009—Naypyidaw, Myanmar: China’s vice president visited Myanmar last week in order to reaffirm Beijing’s ties with the Southeast Asian state. Since Myanmar’s violent response to pro-democracy demonstrators in 1988, China has been one of the military-ruled nation’s few political and economic backers. President Obama, however, has recently moved to re-engage with Myanmar and other ASEAN states. In November, a member of his staff, traveled there to promote U.S.-Myanmar relations. China, who transports oil and natural gas through the region, has viewed the diplomatic advance as an attempt to undermine Chinese predominance in the area and its energy security. [DC]

Georgia Bulldozes Soviet Memorial
December 17, 2009—Kutaisi, Georgia: Georgia’s President Mikheil Saakashvili has ordered the demolition of a Soviet World War II monument. The 46-meter bronze and cement structure is being razed in an effort to revitalize Georgia’s former industrial hub, but Russia is taking the wrecking ball personally. Duma deputy and former Prime Minister, Sergei Stepashin, has impugned the act as “sacrilege” and Russian media sources are presenting it as an unequivocal jeer. Saakashvili purportedly intends to replace the monument with a new parliament building—and on none other than Joseph Stalin’s birthday. [DC]

Sudan Slipping Back Into War?
December 17, 2009— Khartoum, Sudan: Experts fear that the tenuous peace between North and South Sudan is at risk. Despite strict embargoes imposed by the United States and the European Union, the two regions have started amassing weapons—and appear to be approaching a full arms race. The International Crisis Group has warned that without swift intervention on the part of the international community, Sudan could slip back into its historic conflict. Prior to the 2005 peace, Sudan had been entrenched in civil war for over two decades and garnered an estimated two million deaths. [DC]

China Tightens its Grip on the Internet
December 17, 2009—Beijing, China: China has shut down hundreds of internet entertainment sites in a professed effort to curb pornography, piracy, and scam. The act, however, appears to merely be a fresh push by Beijing to prevent access to its 300 million web users to ideologically dangerous sites. Earlier this year China made a mass sweep at social websites, blocking Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. And last June government censors required computer manufacturers to install Internet filtering software on all new computers. [DC]

Iran Flaunts and Flouts
December 17, 2009—Tehran, Iran: Iran brazenly announced Wednesday that it has test-fired its most advanced missile yet. The upgraded solid-fuel Sejil-2 was declared capable of detonating within Israel and even parts of Europe. This gesture of defiance and intimidation in the face of western pressure provoked rebuke from world leaders and puzzlement from the Pentagon, which did not notice anything “particularly different” in Iran’s recent test. Regardless of whether or not Iran is bluffing, the bold statement is expected to evoke tougher economic sanctions and further entrench the nuclear stand-off. [DC]

Climate Negotiations at Stalemate
December 15, 2009—Copenhagen, Denmark: The UN Climate Change Conference has entered its second—and final— week but is still mired in discord. The most recent impasse has risen between the leading two carbon emitters—China and the United States. The U.S. contends that China’s reduction target is too low and that Beijing’s refusal to accept any kind of international monitoring is unacceptable. Without securing proof of China’s progress, the U.S. has threatened to reject the deal. Ultimately, the current state of negotiations does not bode well for a 2009 binding global accord. It remains to be seen if the arrival of the heads of state in the last half of the week will make a significant difference. [DC]

Rest in Peace? Singapore’s New Graveyard Laws
December 15, 2009—Singapore City, Singapore: Singapore has resorted to some macabre mandates in order to free up land for its burgeoning population. All cemeteries—minus the Soon, Choa Chu Kang burial grounds—are now being converted for building space. More grisly still is the newly passed law that restricts the remaining gravesites to 15-year leases. When the lease is up, so are the deceased. A crew of professional gravediggers is on hand to exhume the remains and transport them to high-rise crematoriums. Within hours of the deadline, the grave is ready for its next short-term occupant. The new measure is unsettling, particularly in a culture that deeply reveres its ancestors, but with land running out what can they do? [DC]

China Warns EU and U.S. to Back Off
December 15, 2009—Beijing, China: China has issued an unequivocal warning for Western nations to abandon taking up the Liu Xiaobo cause. Both the European Union and United States recently urged Beijing to release the 53-year-old activist—one of China’s most prominent champions of citizen rights and political reform. China, however, remains unfazed by the international pressure in the dissident’s behalf. During a press conference, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Jiang Yu threatened that “Outsiders have no right to interfere” and impugned the West for “using this case to meddle in China’s internal affairs or judicial sovereignty.” Xiaobo is expected to face trial in the upcoming weeks. It is unlikely that the Chinese Court, which operates under Communist Party control, will rule in his favor, particularly in such a politically-charged case. If convicted, the former professor of literature could face up to 15 years behind bars. [DC]

Berlusconi Bloodied at Rally
December 13, 2009—Milan, Italy: Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi received a fractured nose, two shattered teeth, and a gouged lip while attending a political rally Sunday night. The 73-year-old premier was signing autographs when a man wielding a statuette of the Milan cathedral hurled it at his face. Discontent with the billionaire businessman-turned politician has reached unprecedented levels this year after he side-stepped corruption charges with a convenient justice reform act and broadened his habitual sexual exploits to include a teenage model. On December 5th, tens of thousands of Italians marched through Rome demanding Mr. Berlusconi’s resignation, but the December 13th episode may have gotten the message across more clearly. [DC]

Report: Egypt Constructing Steel Wall Along Gaza Border
December 9, 2009—Cairo, Egypt: In an effort to reduce smuggling into and out of the impoverished Gaza Strip, the Egyptian government has started building a bomb-proof steel barrier with the help of U.S. Army engineers. According to the BBC, the wall will stretch more than six miles along the Gaza-Egypt border, and extend more than 50 feet underground in order to limit future construction of tunnels into Egypt. The project is expected to be finished within a year and a half. [DC]

U.S. Envoy Arrives in North Korea for Talks
December 8, 2009—Pyongyang, North Korea: Obama administration special envoy Stephen Bosworth arrived here today, hoping to jump start talks with North Korean leaders about the country's nuclear weapons program. Accompanying the seasoned diplomat is Sung Kim, a top U.S. negotiator on nuclear issues. The visit marks the first face-to-face bilateral talks since President Obama assumed office in January. [DC]

UN Warns of Growing Drug Trade in Africa's Sahel Belt
December 8, 2009—Vienna, Austria: According to officials with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), a stretch of sub-Saharan Africa has emerged as one of the world's top drug-trafficking regions in recent years. The UNODC says the Sahel—an arid area that runs east-west across the continent, just south of the Sahara Desert—is seeing a huge influx of drug shipments, such as cocaine from Latin America and heroin from Afghanistan. The agency warns that profits from the heightened drug-trade activity are likely funding anti-government militias and terrorist groups across Africa, including al Qaeda-linked factions in Somalia. [DC]

South Africa Protests Choice of American Actress for New Film
December 7, 2009—Johannesburg, South Africa: A leading South African actors' union is upset over a recent casting decision for a new film about Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, the ex-wife of former South African President Nelson Mandela. After it was announced that American-born Oscar-winner Jennifer Hudson had been tapped to portray Madikizela-Mandela, the Creative Workers Union of South Africa insisted the choice dealt a blow to the country's nascent film industry. The union has even warned that would seek a suspension of production on the film if Hudson is not replaced by a South African-born actress. [DC]

Uganda Considers Death Penalty for Homosexuality
December 9, 2009—Kampala, Uganda: Uganda’s Parliament is currently debating a proposed piece of legislation entitled the Anti-Homosexuality Bill of 2009, an act that proposes harsh penalties for LGBT peoples. Homosexuality is already illegal in Uganda and this bill would allow for the death penalty for a new offense of “aggravated homosexuality.” Life in prison will be the default sentence for other homosexual acts. The United States, the UK, and France have all issued statements against the passage of the bill, as have groups such as Human Right Watch, but Ugandan officials have explicitly expressed that they will not be heeding foreign advice on this matter. [DC]

Chechen Rebels Allegedly Take Responsibility for Deadly Train Bombing
December 2, 2009—Moscow, Russia: A website sympathetic to Chechen separatist rebels, Kavkazcenter.com, declared today that the militant group was behind last Friday night's bombing of a high-speed train traveling between Moscow and St. Petersburg. The crash killed 26 and injured many more. The bombing has sparked widespread international condemnation, while raising fears across Russia of additional waves of attacks. Last week's bombing marks the first fatal terrorist attack outside of the North Caucasus region in five years. [DC]

Obama Announces Troop Increase for Afghanistan
December 1, 2009—West Point, NY: After a months-long review of the U.S.-led military campaign in Afghanistan, President Obama announced he will deploy 30,000 additional troops to the country over the next six months. Emphasizing that training Afghan security forces will be one of U.S. troops' top priorities going forward, Obama declared that the U.S. would look to begin a drawdown of its own troops beginning in July 2011. On Capitol Hill the following day, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates defended the policy shift, asserting that the U.S. would not repeat the mistakes it made in 1989. That year, the U.S. turned its back on Afghanistan after helping push out Soviet forces; during the ensuing decade, the country would go on to become a haven for both the Taliban and al Qaeda. [DC]

Moscow Ups Pressure on Iran Over Nuclear Program
December 1, 2009—Moscow, Russia: Less than a week after the UN censured Iran for the country's secret construction of a uranium enrichment plant in Qom, senior Russian officials declared they will support additional international sanctions against Tehran. The announcement out of Moscow comes after months of Western-led efforts to get Russia to adopt a harder stance toward Iran. Meanwhile, Iranian leaders have remained defiant—in response to Moscow's announcement, they have vowed to build ten additional uranium enrichment facilities. [DC]

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