NYMHM: Iran's crimes of fashion, DDT, dissent and more

Wed Apr 25 16:57:02 PDT 2007

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 NEWS YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED * March 28, 2007 * Vol. 6, No. 17

 Important but overlooked news from around the world.
 NYMHM is a free service of Newsdesk.org.

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THIS WEEK: 

   Iran faces a pushback over crimes of fashion, DDT has allies in
   Uganda, U.S. insurers are unprepared for climate change, chlorine
   attacks and prisoner abuse test our war-crimes conscience, farmland
   and water supplies suffer from Asian pollution ... and free speech
   is a slippery slope for punks, dissidents and activists worldwide. 

QUOTED: 

   "I would rather die so I can save the government the money they 
   are spending on spying on me."

   -- Gao Yaoijie, a 79-year-old AIDS activist, on China's crackdown
   on environment and health activists (see "Dissent," below).  

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TOP STORIES
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 > Iran: Crimes of Fashion

   With hotter weather comes the urge to shed layers, leading to 
   the latest crackdown by Iranian police on immodest dress. More
   than 100 women were arrested in Tehran on the first day of the 
   crackdown, and about 2,000 young men protested new rules 
   forbidding sleeveless t-shirts, even in same-sex dorms. 

   One judge warned the campaign may backfire, and a lawmaker said
   the police would be better off fighting drug abuse and poverty,
   the BBC reports. 

 > Malaria Fears Rise on DDT Shortfall

   Uganda is short $400 million needed for a DDT spraying campaign
   scheduled for July. Health officials say malaria is a leading
   cause of poverty there, where 320 people are killed by the 
   disease every day. 

   The chemical hasn't been used there since the 1970s due to 
   ecological concerns, but some public health advocates, including
   the World health Organization, now say it is cost-effective and
   has minimal health impacts if used carefully. 

 > Climate Change: An Insurance Nightmare 

   Federal and private insurers paid $320 billion in weather-related
   claims over the last 25 years, but a new report finds they are 
   unprepared for billions more in property and crop losses caused 
   by increases in flooding, drought and hurricanes due to climate
   change. 

   The Government Accountability Office report was commissioned by 
   senators Joseph Leiberman of Connecticut, and Maine Republican
   Susan Collins. 

Sources: 

"Anger at Iran dress restrictions"
BBC, April 23, 2007
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6584789.stm

"Uganda: No Money for DDT Spraying"
The Monitor (Uganda), April24, 2007
http://allafrica.com/stories/200704231520.html

"U.S. Government Insurers Ill Prepared for Climate Perils"
Environment News Service, April 20, 2007
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/apr2007/2007-04-20-03.asp

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DISSENT
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 > Critics Quickly Jailed in Cuba, China, Turkey 

   A renowned Chinese clean-water campaigner in the industrialized
   Shanghai watershed was taken from his home last week by undercover
   police officers on charges of blackmail. 

   Although pollution there is bad enough to have brought visits by 
   top Communist Party officials, Wu Lihong's family says his work 
   upset local officials who profit from factory taxes. 

   Critics say Chinese harassment and detention of activists is
   commonplace. 

   In Cuba, journalist Oscar Sanchez Madan was arrested, tried and 
   jailed all on the same day; a week later, human rights advocate 
   Rolando Jimenez Posada was given a 12-year sentence after being 
   held without charges for four years. 

   Both trials were held in secret, and neither had defense lawyers 
   present. The Miami Herald reports that secret trials are common 
   in Cuba, but are only recently coming to light.

   Turkish punk rocker Cengiz Sari, 24, says a snotty lyric he 
   wrote at age 17 about college entrance exams was simply teenage 
   rebellion. 

   But years later the tune became an You Tube sensation, and the 
   chief of the Turkish exam board got wind of it. 

   Now bandmembers and their agent face 18 months in jail for 
   insulting "Turkishness," the Washington Times reports. 

Sources: 

"Secret trials in Cuba are criticized"
Miami Herald, April 24, 2007
http://www.miamiherald.com/581/story/84395.html

"Punk rockers face jail time over tune 'insulting' Turkey"
The Washington Times, April 24, 2007
http://www.washingtontimes.com/world/20070423-095315-8864r.htm

"Once-acclaimed activist jailed by Chinese authorities"
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2007/04/24/2003357969

"China arrests environment activist Wu"
http://www.chinapost.com.tw/news/archives/international/2007424/107915.htm

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WAR CRIMES
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 > Conscience is the Question at a Time of War

   Writing in the Guardian, columnist Henry Porter says Western 
   forces may have triggered the violence in Iraq, but that "the 
   great majority of casualties are caused by Arabs killing Arabs." 

   In particular, he condemned "the Muslim world" for silence over 
   Islamist use of chlorine gas in civilian attacks, which turns to
   acid when contacting the skin, lungs, eyes, throat and nose. 

   Accountability is topic No. 1 in Canada as well, where critics 
   called for the resignation of Defense Minister Gordon O'Connor 
   after reports blamed Canadian troops for the torture of more 
   than 30 Afghan prisoners.

   O'Connor says he will investigate, but his detractors say that 
   government awareness and acceptance of torture is equivalent to 
   complicity in "war crimes," the Canadian Broadcast Corporation
   reports.

   At present there is no universally accepted court for trying war
   crimes. 

   In the European Union, home to the International Criminal Court,
   the Czech Republic is starting to feel the heat as the only member
   nation that hasn't ratified the ICC charter. 

   In 2001, a Czech vote to back the ICC was soundly defeated, in 
   part due to fears over eroding national sovereignty. 

   Advocates counter that the ICC only acts against war criminals 
   when local courts don't.

Sources: 

"International court for war crimes gets snubbed by Czechs"
The Prague Post, April 18, 2007
http://www.praguepost.com/articles/2007/04/18/international-court-for-war-crimes-gets-snubbed-by-czechs.php

"Latest Afghan abuse claims spark cries for O'Connor to resign"
Canadian Broadcast Service, April 23, 2007
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2007/04/23/afghan-torture.html?ref=rss

"When will Islam damn the chlorine bombers?"
The Observer (U.K.), April 22, 2007
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,2062844,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=15

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POLLUTION
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 > Mines, Factories and the Cost of Asian Growth

   Investors breathed a sigh of relief when Indonesia dismissed 
   charges against Newmont Mining, a U.S. firm accused of dumping
   mercury and arsenic into Buyat Bay that locals say causes skin
   rashes and tumors. 

   But numerous tests found pollution within "normal" levels there, 
   the BBC reports. 

   In Vietnam, rivers are "choking" on industrial waste, Edie News
   Center reports. Pollution from rapid growth is creating "dead"
   areas with no plants or animals, where water supplies are "not 
   at all suitable" for domestic use or agriculture. 

   China admitted that pollution is a "severe threat" to its food 
   supply as well. The BBC reports that as much as 10 percent of 
   Chinese farmland is now unusable due to heavy metals, fertilizer
   overuse and solid waste. 

   A new report also blames Chinese industry for almost 50 percent 
   of the mercury contamination in Korea, and from 20 to 30 percent 
   of the mercury found in U.S. rivers and soil. 

Sources: 

"U.S. mine firm cleared of pollution"
BBC, April 24, 2007
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6586519.stm

"Pollution 'hits China's farmland'"
BBC, April 23, 2007
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6582571.stm

"China Blamed for Half of Korea's Mercury Pollution"
The Chosun ILbo (Korea), April 23, 2007
http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200704/200704230024.html

"Vietnam's industrial pollution 'choking rivers'"
Edie News Center (U.K.), April 24, 2007
http://www.edie.net/news/news_story.asp?id=12939&channel=0

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Editors: Josh Wilson, Scott Domini Elhert
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