NCP: G4S in violation of human rights

PNN/Bethlehem

Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) released a statement Thursday night stating that global prisons company G4S has been found to be in violation of human rights obligations as specified by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

 

The indictment of G4S is in regards to its Israeli contracts and was presented yesterday evening by UK National Contact Point (NCP), part of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills). The finding comes after the G4S annual meeting was dominated by pro-Palestine activists demanding an end to G4S’s contracts with the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF), police and prison service.

Chair of PSC Hugh Lanning said: “Last week I, along with other campaigners and shareholders, attended the G4S AGM and listened to the claims of its Chief Executive that G4S was complying with human rights guidelines.

“Today those claims have been blown out of the water with this landmark ruling.”

The ruling from NCP was in response to a complaint submitted by UK legal charity, Lawyers for Palestinian Human Rights, and is the culmination of a year-long investigation.

NCP found that G4S has not complied with OECD guidelines to “respect the internationally recognised human rights of those affected by their activities” in Israel and Palestine. It also ruled that G4S was failing to fulfill its obligations by not minimalising “adverse human rights impacts” linked to their business operations in Israel and Palestine.

As part of its contracts with the Israel Prison Service, G4S installs and maintains security systems in prisons within Israel and the West Bank. Palestinians, including children, are detained in these prisons, often without charge or trial, and many are tortured.

G4S also services baggage scanning equipment and metal detectors in checkpoints throughout the Palestinian West Bank, some of which are also used in the apartheid wall, severely restricting Palestinian freedom of movement.

Lanning stressed NCP’s recommendation to G4S to comply with its human rights obligations, saying, however, that: “G4S’ complicity with the human rights violations being carried out by the Israeli state against the Palestinian people will not end until it finally terminates its Israeli contracts.

“All companies should take note of today’s ruling and be aware of the toxicity of entering into contracts with an Israeli state that refuses to abide by international law and which systematically violates Palestinian human rights.”

via NCP: G4S in violation of human rights.

Boozy chimps in west Africa enjoy drinking sessions in groups – Telegraph

Wild chimpanzees enjoy opportunistic booze-ups on palm wine, scientists have discovered.

The chimps in the west African country of Guinea found a free treat in raffia palms tapped by local people to extract a sweet, milky sap which then ferments into an alcoholic drink

The apes scrunched up leaves in their mouths, moulding them into spongy pads that they then dipped into the sap-gathering container, which villagers attach to the tree near its crown.

Tests showed that the beverage’s alcoholic content varied from 3.1 per cent to a whopping 6.9 per cent, the equivalent of strong beer.

Some of the chimps went a little, well, ape.

via Boozy chimps in west Africa enjoy drinking sessions in groups – Telegraph.

Ice sheet collapse 135,000 years ago to help scientists explain dramatic climate changes – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

“On the contrary at the end of the penultimate ice age 135,000 years ago, dramatic melting of the Northern Hemisphere ice sheets [meant they] were releasing enough fresh water into the North Atlantic to impact the ocean’s circulations and to cause climate change to both the north Atlantic and in the Southern Ocean.”

via Ice sheet collapse 135,000 years ago to help scientists explain dramatic climate changes – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation).

Half of Africa joins in a free trade zone

 Good move to grow internal markets as alternative to depending on EU, US, China, India for sales of exports and purchasing imports.

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African leaders have established a single free trade area encompassing 26 countries and 625 million people in eastern and southern Africa. And next week, they’ll kick off a process to negotiate an all-Africa trade pact.

via Half of Africa joins in a free trade zone.

Ted Cruz And The False Narrative Of Christian Persecution

If you ask Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) about the state of religious freedom in America, you are likely to get an earful on how Christians in this country are being forced to live through some terrible

{Cruz borrowing tactics Hitler used against Jews, gays. Roma, others to build up false persecution and defaming of “German” culture}

via Ted Cruz And The False Narrative Of Christian Persecution.

Indonesia’s Aceh bans women from nightspots after 11pm – Al Jazeera English

The chief of Indonesia’s national commission on anti-violence against women said the measure would only restrict women’s freedom and threaten their livelihoods.

“The government should stop meddling in women’s affairs,” said Azriana, who like many Indonesians goes by only one name.

“If the intention of the Aceh government is to provide protection for women, it must instead educate the public and men to respect women or provide security at the nightspots.”

via Indonesia’s Aceh bans women from nightspots after 11pm – Al Jazeera English.

India – Police said to have set fire to journalist, causing his death

Reporters Without Borders is dismayed to learn that Indian journalist Jagendra Singh died on 8 June from the 60 percent burn injuries he received when police accompanied by a government official raided his home in Shahjahanpur, in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, on 1 June

A well-known critic of Uttar Pradesh state government minister Ram Murti Verma, Singh had accused the police of deliberately setting fire to him during the raid. He died in a hospital in Lucknow, the state capital.

Singh named police inspector Sriprakash Rai as the person who set him on fire. Relatives and other eye-witnesses confirmed his version of the events.

Singh also accused Verma of subjecting him and his family to a “reign of terror” because of Singh’s investigative reporting and comments about him. Singh recently posted an article on Facebook about Verma’s alleged involvement in land seizures and illegal mining.

After he died, his family refused to cremate the body until the police registered their complaint. The police finally opened an investigation into suspected murder, criminal conspiracy and intimidation, provisionally detaining Verma, the police inspector and four other suspects the day after Singh’s death.

A police representative nonetheless denied Singh’s version, claiming that Singh set light to himself to avoid arrest. He did not say why the police wanted to arrest him.

We are shocked to learn of Jagendra Singh’s tragic death and we offer his family and friends our condolences,” said Benjamin Ismaïl, the head of the Reporters Without Borders Asia-Pacific desk.

We note that an investigation into this terrible crime has been opened and we hope it will be as thorough and as transparent as possible so that all the perpetrators and instigators are quickly identified.

Ismaïl added: “We also hope that the justice they receive will be exemplary. The most severe sentences must be passed on those found guilty. Their senior government positions or membership of the police should have absolutely no impact on the way the justice system functions in this case. The most severe sanctions must be taken against those who will be found guilty. ”

A journalist for more than 15 years, Singh worked for leading India dailies such as Amar Ujala, Hindustan and Swatantra Bharat before focusing on social networks.

Ranked 136th out of 180 countries in the <a href=”http://index.rsf.org/

via India – Police said to have set fire to journalist, causing his death.

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