Some of the thousands of Tamil civilians interned behind barbed wire at the Menik Farms refugee camp in Sri Lanka. A UN official expressed concern that the camps were militarised and no-one was allowed in or out. Photograph: Gethin Chamberlain
A senior UN official said the civilian death toll from the Sri Lankan government's crushing of the Tamil Tiger insurgency was "unacceptably high" and should be the subject of an official inquiry.
Sir John Holmes, the head of the UN office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs (OCHA), said many thousands of people had died in the final days of the government offensive, and accused the Sri Lankan army of using heavy weapons on a coastal strip that was supposed to have been a no-fire zone.
"When there are allegations of this kind, allegations on both sides, they need to be looked into, they need to be investigated," Holmes said. "We had hoped that the [UN] Human Rights Council would look into this, but as you know they took a different path."
On Wednesday, the council voted in Geneva to uphold a resolution put forward by the Sri Lankan government congratulating it on its military victory, sparking outrage from western countries.
One UN official, who did not wish to be named, noted that the council had approved an investigation into civilian deaths caused by the Israeli army offensive in Gaza at the beginning of the year.
"Gaza is a very good comparison. TV was there all the time. Sri Lanka could easily be 10 times worse but there were no cameras. The world wasn't there to see," the official said. The Colombo government restricted press access to the war zone throughout its offensive.
"There is no appetite for such an enquiry among some member states," Holmes said.
The UN high commissioner for human rights, Navi Pillay, has said she is still prepared to pursue an investigation of the alleged atrocities, but would require the approval of the Sri Lankan government – an unlikely event. The Tamil Tigers used suicide bombers and have been accused of using civilians as human shields.
Asked about a report in the Times claiming 20,000 civilians may have been killed in the final throes of the campaign, Holmes denied it was based on UN figures. "The truth is we simply don't know. It doesn't reflect any estimate we made for ourselves. We did have our own internal estimate until the end of April. After that, we didn't have anyone on the ground," the British diplomat said.
The UN estimated death toll to the end of April was 7,000, officials have said. The Times estimate was based on the assumption that a further 1,000 civilians had been killed on average each day until 19 May, when the Tamil Tiger leader, Velupillai Prabhakaran, was killed.
"We do know the death toll was unacceptably high," Holmes said. "There were several thousand dead, and there was an obligation of the government of Sri Lanka to use every possible restraint. There was a no-fire zone in which they said they were not using heavy weapons, and we believe they were."
On 19 May, the Guardian carried a report from one health worker who estimated that 15,000 people might have died in the last four months of fighting. Questions remain about what happened to the wounded who were in a makeshift hospital when medical staff fled. Neither the UN nor the Red Cross could account for them . Doctors working in the no-fire zone have been detained for allegedly exaggerating casualty numbers.
The Red Cross said yesterday it was still not being given access to the war zone, hindering efforts to pave the way for a return home for the estimated 300,000 people who fled the fighting.
Holmes, who visited the government-run refugee camp at Menik Farms at the weekend, said conditions there were "not brilliant but acceptable". He added: "Our bigger concern is the nature of the camps. They are militarised and people are not allowed in or out." The Sri Lankan government has said the camps will be handed over to civilian authority, but not when.
Friday, May 29, 2009
Time for state to fund political parties, says James Purnell
Britain's leaders should "bite the bullet" and endorse state funding of political parties as part of an overhaul to remove "big money" from the system, the work and pensions secretary, James Purnell, declares today.
In the latest high-profile contribution to the Guardian's A New Politics series, the cabinet minister calls for individual donations to be capped at a few hundred pounds – a move that would transform Labour's links with the trade unions.
Making the first intervention by a member of the cabinet on the contentious issue of party funding, Purnell says: "We need to take big money out of politics." He writes: "Amidst the current anger at politicians and politics we must bite the bullet on state funding for political parties – alongside cutting the overall amount the taxpayer spends on politics."
Within a reduction in the overall amount spent, Purnell would like to see the state fund staff in constituencies and allow greater work on developing policy.
Capping donations would curb the power of the likes of Lord Ashcroft, the Tory deputy chairman, who is using his fortune to finance candidates in marginal seats. But it would also change – and critics will claim dilute – Labour's relationship with the unions. Purnell suggests the bulk of union donations could be made through the political levy paid by members, who would have to give consent. And tax relief of 100% should be provided on small donations to encourage parties to seek them in the way Barack Obama did in last year's US presidential election. "Such a system would pose questions for all political parties, including, for Labour, how we maintain our historic and vital link with the trade union movement," Purnell writes. "Labour would have an incentive to properly engage with the hundreds of thousands of individual trade unionists who are linked to our party."
"The Conservatives too would have to fundamentally reassess how they raise and spend resources ... this is an uncomfortable but urgent debate."
Purnell's opening of a new front comes as reform momentum continues to build. Labour's deputy leader Harriet Harman tells today's Guardian Weekend magazine she is "more positive than negative" about health secretary Alan Johnson's push for a referendum on electoral reform. Harman says the expenses scandal is a "moment to be seized" to reform politics.
Today Europe minister Caroline Flint comes out in supports of a "cross-party mechanism" to consider issues of constitutional reform that would involve the public. Flint's suggestion, in an article for the Progress website, is something Downing Street has been resisting, preferring justice secretary Jack Straw's call for cross-party talks between the leaders. Progress, the centre-left campaign group, is launching a drive for a "citizens' convention". Forty activists and candidates have signed a petition supporting the idea, including academic and former Labour MP David Marquand and former minister Stephen Twigg. The idea is also said to be gaining ground inside the cabinet.
In the latest high-profile contribution to the Guardian's A New Politics series, the cabinet minister calls for individual donations to be capped at a few hundred pounds – a move that would transform Labour's links with the trade unions.
Making the first intervention by a member of the cabinet on the contentious issue of party funding, Purnell says: "We need to take big money out of politics." He writes: "Amidst the current anger at politicians and politics we must bite the bullet on state funding for political parties – alongside cutting the overall amount the taxpayer spends on politics."
Within a reduction in the overall amount spent, Purnell would like to see the state fund staff in constituencies and allow greater work on developing policy.
Capping donations would curb the power of the likes of Lord Ashcroft, the Tory deputy chairman, who is using his fortune to finance candidates in marginal seats. But it would also change – and critics will claim dilute – Labour's relationship with the unions. Purnell suggests the bulk of union donations could be made through the political levy paid by members, who would have to give consent. And tax relief of 100% should be provided on small donations to encourage parties to seek them in the way Barack Obama did in last year's US presidential election. "Such a system would pose questions for all political parties, including, for Labour, how we maintain our historic and vital link with the trade union movement," Purnell writes. "Labour would have an incentive to properly engage with the hundreds of thousands of individual trade unionists who are linked to our party."
"The Conservatives too would have to fundamentally reassess how they raise and spend resources ... this is an uncomfortable but urgent debate."
Purnell's opening of a new front comes as reform momentum continues to build. Labour's deputy leader Harriet Harman tells today's Guardian Weekend magazine she is "more positive than negative" about health secretary Alan Johnson's push for a referendum on electoral reform. Harman says the expenses scandal is a "moment to be seized" to reform politics.
Today Europe minister Caroline Flint comes out in supports of a "cross-party mechanism" to consider issues of constitutional reform that would involve the public. Flint's suggestion, in an article for the Progress website, is something Downing Street has been resisting, preferring justice secretary Jack Straw's call for cross-party talks between the leaders. Progress, the centre-left campaign group, is launching a drive for a "citizens' convention". Forty activists and candidates have signed a petition supporting the idea, including academic and former Labour MP David Marquand and former minister Stephen Twigg. The idea is also said to be gaining ground inside the cabinet.
Suu Kyi health a 'grave concern'
The health of jailed Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi is a cause for "grave concern", her National League for Democracy (NLD) says.
Ms Suu Kyi, 63, has not been able to sleep at night because of continuing cramps in her legs and needs urgent medical attention, the NLD says.
She is on trial for violating the terms of her house arrest after a US man came uninvited to her home.
She denies the charges and faces five years in prison if found guilty.
One of her lawyers, Nyan Win, said the court had decided to delay final arguments in her case until 5 June. They had been expected to take place on Monday.
Ms Suu Kyi is widely expected to be convicted at the trial. Observers believe that Burma's military leaders will seize on the incident to keep her behind bars during what they say will be multi-party elections in 2010.
'Very concerned'
Ms Suu Kyi, who is being kept in Rangoon's notorious Insein prison, has suffered from ill-health in the past
Shortly before her arrest on 14 May she was treated for dehydration and low blood pressure.
The NLD said she was "in desperate need of proper medical treatment".
"We are very much concerned about her health," it said in a statement.
Ms Suu Kyi has been under house arrest and banned from seeing all but a small group of people for 13 of the past 19 years.
She was arrested on 14 May after an American man, John Yettaw, swam across the lake to reach her compound, spending two nights there.
He and two women who live with Ms Suu Kyi are also being tried.
On Sunday Burma's foreign ministry said in a statement that the pro-democracy leader was "provided with adequate health care and she is in good health".
The ruling junta has also rejected international condemnation of the trial, calling it "an internal legal issue".
Ms Suu Kyi, 63, has not been able to sleep at night because of continuing cramps in her legs and needs urgent medical attention, the NLD says.
She is on trial for violating the terms of her house arrest after a US man came uninvited to her home.
She denies the charges and faces five years in prison if found guilty.
One of her lawyers, Nyan Win, said the court had decided to delay final arguments in her case until 5 June. They had been expected to take place on Monday.
Ms Suu Kyi is widely expected to be convicted at the trial. Observers believe that Burma's military leaders will seize on the incident to keep her behind bars during what they say will be multi-party elections in 2010.
'Very concerned'
Ms Suu Kyi, who is being kept in Rangoon's notorious Insein prison, has suffered from ill-health in the past
Shortly before her arrest on 14 May she was treated for dehydration and low blood pressure.
The NLD said she was "in desperate need of proper medical treatment".
"We are very much concerned about her health," it said in a statement.
Ms Suu Kyi has been under house arrest and banned from seeing all but a small group of people for 13 of the past 19 years.
She was arrested on 14 May after an American man, John Yettaw, swam across the lake to reach her compound, spending two nights there.
He and two women who live with Ms Suu Kyi are also being tried.
On Sunday Burma's foreign ministry said in a statement that the pro-democracy leader was "provided with adequate health care and she is in good health".
The ruling junta has also rejected international condemnation of the trial, calling it "an internal legal issue".
Suu Kyi health a 'grave concern'
The health of jailed Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi is a cause for "grave concern", her National League for Democracy (NLD) says.
Ms Suu Kyi, 63, has not been able to sleep at night because of continuing cramps in her legs and needs urgent medical attention, the NLD says.
She is on trial for violating the terms of her house arrest after a US man came uninvited to her home.
She denies the charges and faces five years in prison if found guilty.
One of her lawyers, Nyan Win, said the court had decided to delay final arguments in her case until 5 June. They had been expected to take place on Monday.
Ms Suu Kyi is widely expected to be convicted at the trial. Observers believe that Burma's military leaders will seize on the incident to keep her behind bars during what they say will be multi-party elections in 2010.
'Very concerned'
Ms Suu Kyi, who is being kept in Rangoon's notorious Insein prison, has suffered from ill-health in the past
Shortly before her arrest on 14 May she was treated for dehydration and low blood pressure.
The NLD said she was "in desperate need of proper medical treatment".
"We are very much concerned about her health," it said in a statement.
Ms Suu Kyi has been under house arrest and banned from seeing all but a small group of people for 13 of the past 19 years.
She was arrested on 14 May after an American man, John Yettaw, swam across the lake to reach her compound, spending two nights there.
He and two women who live with Ms Suu Kyi are also being tried.
On Sunday Burma's foreign ministry said in a statement that the pro-democracy leader was "provided with adequate health care and she is in good health".
The ruling junta has also rejected international condemnation of the trial, calling it "an internal legal issue".
Ms Suu Kyi, 63, has not been able to sleep at night because of continuing cramps in her legs and needs urgent medical attention, the NLD says.
She is on trial for violating the terms of her house arrest after a US man came uninvited to her home.
She denies the charges and faces five years in prison if found guilty.
One of her lawyers, Nyan Win, said the court had decided to delay final arguments in her case until 5 June. They had been expected to take place on Monday.
Ms Suu Kyi is widely expected to be convicted at the trial. Observers believe that Burma's military leaders will seize on the incident to keep her behind bars during what they say will be multi-party elections in 2010.
'Very concerned'
Ms Suu Kyi, who is being kept in Rangoon's notorious Insein prison, has suffered from ill-health in the past
Shortly before her arrest on 14 May she was treated for dehydration and low blood pressure.
The NLD said she was "in desperate need of proper medical treatment".
"We are very much concerned about her health," it said in a statement.
Ms Suu Kyi has been under house arrest and banned from seeing all but a small group of people for 13 of the past 19 years.
She was arrested on 14 May after an American man, John Yettaw, swam across the lake to reach her compound, spending two nights there.
He and two women who live with Ms Suu Kyi are also being tried.
On Sunday Burma's foreign ministry said in a statement that the pro-democracy leader was "provided with adequate health care and she is in good health".
The ruling junta has also rejected international condemnation of the trial, calling it "an internal legal issue".
Asia facing 'diabetes explosion'
New research suggests diabetes is becoming a global problem, with more than 60% of all cases likely to occur in Asia.
A study in the Journal of the American Medicine Association shows those hit in Asia are younger and less likely to be overweight than those in the West.
The study says numbers worldwide could grow by a third by 2025, with low and middle income countries worst hit.
The disease is expensive to treat and could hit Asian economies hard.
The study said trends of diabetes in Asia are influenced by everything from genetic and cultural differences, to smoking and rates of urbanisation.
Weighty surprise
While in the West, type-2 diabetes is often seen as a consequence of diet, age and obesity, researchers say those affected in Asia are relatively young and less likely to be struggling with weight gain.
Citing figures from the International Diabetes Federation, researchers say while people from Japan to Pakistan generally have lower rates of fat, they can have a similar or even higher prevalence of diabetes than in the West.
The problem is that although Asian obesity rates are low, changing diets and sedentary lifestyles, associated with rapid economic development, are taking their toll.
That transition, which took about 200 years in Europe, has taken just half a century in Asia, experts noted.
The age differential was also stark. Diabetes most often affects people in the West at the age of 60 to 79 years, compared to the age range of 20 to 59 years in Asia.
The study suggested that this appears to be the result of both low birth weights and over-nutrition in later life, partly because Asian women are two- to three-times as likely to have gestational diabetes as their white counterparts.
India will see its numbers grow from 40 million to nearly 70 million; China 39 million to 59 million; and Bangladesh 3.8 million to 7.4 million; the numbers for Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam and others will also rise dramatically.
The findings were based on analysis of hundreds of articles, data and studies published between January 1980 and March 2009.
A study in the Journal of the American Medicine Association shows those hit in Asia are younger and less likely to be overweight than those in the West.
The study says numbers worldwide could grow by a third by 2025, with low and middle income countries worst hit.
The disease is expensive to treat and could hit Asian economies hard.
The study said trends of diabetes in Asia are influenced by everything from genetic and cultural differences, to smoking and rates of urbanisation.
Weighty surprise
While in the West, type-2 diabetes is often seen as a consequence of diet, age and obesity, researchers say those affected in Asia are relatively young and less likely to be struggling with weight gain.
Citing figures from the International Diabetes Federation, researchers say while people from Japan to Pakistan generally have lower rates of fat, they can have a similar or even higher prevalence of diabetes than in the West.
The problem is that although Asian obesity rates are low, changing diets and sedentary lifestyles, associated with rapid economic development, are taking their toll.
That transition, which took about 200 years in Europe, has taken just half a century in Asia, experts noted.
The age differential was also stark. Diabetes most often affects people in the West at the age of 60 to 79 years, compared to the age range of 20 to 59 years in Asia.
The study suggested that this appears to be the result of both low birth weights and over-nutrition in later life, partly because Asian women are two- to three-times as likely to have gestational diabetes as their white counterparts.
India will see its numbers grow from 40 million to nearly 70 million; China 39 million to 59 million; and Bangladesh 3.8 million to 7.4 million; the numbers for Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam and others will also rise dramatically.
The findings were based on analysis of hundreds of articles, data and studies published between January 1980 and March 2009.
US launches cyber security plan
US President Barack Obama has announced plans for securing American computer networks against cyber attacks.
He said that from now on, America's digital infrastructure would be treated as a strategic national asset.
He announced the creation of a cyber security office in the White House, and said he would personally appoint a "cyber tsar".
Both US government and military bodies have reported repeated interference from hackers in recent years.
Mr Obama pointed out that al-Qaeda and other groups had threatened computer warfare.
Acts of terror today, he said, could come "not only from a few extremists in suicide vests, but from a few key strokes of a computer - a weapon of mass disruption."
The president said the United States was particularly dependent on its computer networks and therefore particularly vulnerable to cyber attacks.
In 2007 alone the Pentagon reported nearly 44,000 incidents of what it called malicious cyber activity carried out by foreign militaries, intelligence agencies and individual hackers.
Security priority
Mr Obama said that protecting America's digital infrastructure, the networks and computers everyone depended on every day, would be "a national security priority".
"It is now clear," he said, "this cyber threat is one of the most serious economic and national security challenges we face as a nation."
He said the United States had failed to invest in its digital infrastructure. "We are not as prepared as we should be," he said.
In the past, no one US department was responsible for cyber-security, resulting in poor communication and co-ordination, he said.
The new cyber-security office will be a multi-billion dollar effort designed to restrict access to government computers and to protect systems - such as those that run the stock exchange and air traffic control - that keep the country going.
But Mr Obama emphasised that it would also help protect individual Americans, adding: "Millions... have been victimised: their privacy violated, their identities stolen, their lives upended, and their wallets emptied."
He pointed out that according to one survey, cyber crime cost Americans more than $8bn over the last two years. Worldwide, it was estimated that cyber criminals stole intellectual property from businesses worth up to $1 trillion.
"In short, America's economic prosperity in the 21st century will depend on cyber-security," he said.
The Obama administration is also expected to create a new cyber command at the Pentagon with the dual task of eradicating potential vulnerabilities in America's sensitive computer networks, while simultaneously creating ways to exploit them in the systems of potential enemies.
An influential study published last year suggested that having an offensive computer warfare capability would have a deterrent effect against would-be attackers.
He said that from now on, America's digital infrastructure would be treated as a strategic national asset.
He announced the creation of a cyber security office in the White House, and said he would personally appoint a "cyber tsar".
Both US government and military bodies have reported repeated interference from hackers in recent years.
Mr Obama pointed out that al-Qaeda and other groups had threatened computer warfare.
Acts of terror today, he said, could come "not only from a few extremists in suicide vests, but from a few key strokes of a computer - a weapon of mass disruption."
The president said the United States was particularly dependent on its computer networks and therefore particularly vulnerable to cyber attacks.
In 2007 alone the Pentagon reported nearly 44,000 incidents of what it called malicious cyber activity carried out by foreign militaries, intelligence agencies and individual hackers.
Security priority
Mr Obama said that protecting America's digital infrastructure, the networks and computers everyone depended on every day, would be "a national security priority".
"It is now clear," he said, "this cyber threat is one of the most serious economic and national security challenges we face as a nation."
He said the United States had failed to invest in its digital infrastructure. "We are not as prepared as we should be," he said.
In the past, no one US department was responsible for cyber-security, resulting in poor communication and co-ordination, he said.
The new cyber-security office will be a multi-billion dollar effort designed to restrict access to government computers and to protect systems - such as those that run the stock exchange and air traffic control - that keep the country going.
But Mr Obama emphasised that it would also help protect individual Americans, adding: "Millions... have been victimised: their privacy violated, their identities stolen, their lives upended, and their wallets emptied."
He pointed out that according to one survey, cyber crime cost Americans more than $8bn over the last two years. Worldwide, it was estimated that cyber criminals stole intellectual property from businesses worth up to $1 trillion.
"In short, America's economic prosperity in the 21st century will depend on cyber-security," he said.
The Obama administration is also expected to create a new cyber command at the Pentagon with the dual task of eradicating potential vulnerabilities in America's sensitive computer networks, while simultaneously creating ways to exploit them in the systems of potential enemies.
An influential study published last year suggested that having an offensive computer warfare capability would have a deterrent effect against would-be attackers.
Global Humanitarian Forum report on climate change death toll
CLIMATE change kills about 315,000 people a year through hunger, sickness and weather disasters, and the annual death toll is expected to rise to half a million by 2030.
A study commissioned by the Geneva-based Global Humanitarian Forum, estimates that climate change seriously affects 325 million people every year, a number that will more than double in 20 years to 10 per cent of the world's population (now about 6.7 billion).
Economic losses due to global warming amount to over $125 billion ($160 billion) annually - more than the flow of aid from rich to poor nations - and are expected to rise to $340 billion ($345 billion) each year by 2030, according to the report.
"Climate change is the greatest emerging humanitarian challenge of our time, causing suffering to hundreds of millions of people worldwide," Kofi Annan, former UN secretary-general and GHF president, said.
"The first hit and worst affected are the world's poorest groups, and yet they have done least to cause the problem."
The report says developing countries bear more than nine-tenths of the human and economic burden of climate change, while the 50 poorest countries contribute less than one percent of the carbon emissions that are heating up the planet.
Mr Annan urged governments due to meet at UN talks in Copenhagen in December to agree on an effective, fair and binding global pact to succeed the Kyoto Protocol, the world's main mechanism for tackling global warming.
"Copenhagen needs to be the most ambitious international agreement ever negotiated," he wrote in an introduction to the report.
"The alternative is mass starvation, mass migration and mass sickness."
The study warns that the true human impact of global warming is likely to be far more severe than it predicts, because it uses conservative UN scenarios.
New scientific evidence points to greater and more rapid climate change.
The report calls for a particular focus on the 500 million people it identifies as extremely vulnerable because they live in poor countries most prone to droughts, floods, storms, sea-level rise and creeping deserts.
Africa is the region most at risk from climate change, home to 15 of the 20 most vulnerable countries, the report says.
Other areas also facing the highest level of threat include South Asia and small island developing states.
To avoid the worst outcomes, the report says efforts to adapt to the effects of climate change must be scaled up 100 times in developing countries.
International funds pledged for this purpose amount to only $400 million ($510 miilion), compared with an average estimated cost of $32 billion ($40 billion) annually, it notes
A study commissioned by the Geneva-based Global Humanitarian Forum, estimates that climate change seriously affects 325 million people every year, a number that will more than double in 20 years to 10 per cent of the world's population (now about 6.7 billion).
Economic losses due to global warming amount to over $125 billion ($160 billion) annually - more than the flow of aid from rich to poor nations - and are expected to rise to $340 billion ($345 billion) each year by 2030, according to the report.
"Climate change is the greatest emerging humanitarian challenge of our time, causing suffering to hundreds of millions of people worldwide," Kofi Annan, former UN secretary-general and GHF president, said.
"The first hit and worst affected are the world's poorest groups, and yet they have done least to cause the problem."
The report says developing countries bear more than nine-tenths of the human and economic burden of climate change, while the 50 poorest countries contribute less than one percent of the carbon emissions that are heating up the planet.
Mr Annan urged governments due to meet at UN talks in Copenhagen in December to agree on an effective, fair and binding global pact to succeed the Kyoto Protocol, the world's main mechanism for tackling global warming.
"Copenhagen needs to be the most ambitious international agreement ever negotiated," he wrote in an introduction to the report.
"The alternative is mass starvation, mass migration and mass sickness."
The study warns that the true human impact of global warming is likely to be far more severe than it predicts, because it uses conservative UN scenarios.
New scientific evidence points to greater and more rapid climate change.
The report calls for a particular focus on the 500 million people it identifies as extremely vulnerable because they live in poor countries most prone to droughts, floods, storms, sea-level rise and creeping deserts.
Africa is the region most at risk from climate change, home to 15 of the 20 most vulnerable countries, the report says.
Other areas also facing the highest level of threat include South Asia and small island developing states.
To avoid the worst outcomes, the report says efforts to adapt to the effects of climate change must be scaled up 100 times in developing countries.
International funds pledged for this purpose amount to only $400 million ($510 miilion), compared with an average estimated cost of $32 billion ($40 billion) annually, it notes
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