neighbours human rights watch said friday after the controversial conviction of
four democracy activists
the four activists conviction at day long trial in southern ho chi minh city
on wednesday highlighted climate of increasingly harsh political repression
in the communist nation the new york based watchdog said
vietnam antipathy toward free expression and other fundamental rights does
not bode well for the association of southeast asian nations asean which
vietnam now chairs human rights watch said
at the beginning of the year vietnam took over the rotating chairmanship of
asean the regional bloc whose charter commits members to promote and protect
human rights and fundamental freedoms
by locking up peaceful rights defenders democracy activists and cyber
dissidents the vietnamese government is clearly flouting its promises to asean
and the international community human rights watch asia director brad
adams said in statement
the government was not immediately available for comment
all four activists were convicted of trying to overthrow the regime
internet entrepreneur tran huynh duy thuc was sentenced to years in
prison while blogger nguyen tien trung received seven years human rights
lawyer le cong dinh and le thang long were each given five years
the european union delegation to vietnam called the trial and verdicts major
and regrettable step backwards while us ambassador michael michalak expressed
concern about the apparent lack of due process and called for the prisoners
immediate release
some observers see the case of the four as linked to next year communist party
congress when high ranking leadership posts will be determined
it is the most high profile among series of cases last year
human rights watch said dozens of democracy activists linked to opposition
parties independent bloggers land rights protesters and members of
unsanctioned religious organisations were arrested and imprisoned in
with its treatment of peaceful critics the vietnamese government seems
determined to stand out as one of the most repressive countries in asia adams
said
the eu delegation said conviction of the four along with other recent verdicts
exemplified negative trend that should be reversed for the country to
realise its full social and economic potential
while this particular case will not help vietnam in its leadership of asean
one has to nonetheless note vietnam strengths in other areas said shawn
mchale director of the sigur center for asian studies at washington george
washington university
he told afp that vietnam is one of asean most stable countries and it is in
vietnam strategic interests to make asean work
the group has principle of non interference in the internal affairs of its
members including military ruled myanmar which is under tight us and eu
sanctions because of its human rights record
asean last year inaugurated human rights commission which prescribes non
confrontational approach to promote and protect rights
the european parliament in november resolution said that as the future chair
of asean vietnam should set an example by improving its human rights
practices
robert redford launches sundance with haiti appeal
park city utah jan afp
robert redford kicked off the th sundance film festival here thursday with an
appeal for participants at the day event to remember the victims of the
devastating haiti earthquake
the year old movie icon one of the founding fathers of sundance the world
biggest independent film festival made his appeal while speaking at the event
opening press conference in park city
my feeling about haiti think is pretty much shared by everyone redford
said it tragic it horribly sad and it terribly unjust especially when
you look how their life was
at least people were killed in the devastating january earthquake
which reduced swathes of the already impoverished caribbean nation to rubble
redford told reporters he was proud about the outpouring of concerns and
feelings of american people we are compassionate people he said
he expressed frustration however at the slow pace of the international relief
effort which has seen hundreds of thousands of victims waiting for aid more
than one week after the disaster
it like large boat going into tiny hole it just doesn fit and that
very frustrating redford said
this festival was always meant to be fun loose and here we are to celebrate
filmmakers but if we can keep in mind what happening the current events in
haiti that would be good
redford said this year would see the festival return to its roots as place
where unheralded film makers could take center stage
we have to return to the place where we started redford said this festival
is aimed to provide opportunities for filmmakers
this year festival features an intriguing collection of entries in the
documentary section genre which has enjoyed striking renaissance over the
past decade
among the expected highlights this year are restrepo gritty account of
marines defending remote base in afghanistan which was to open the festival
later thursday
redford said documentaries provided the opportunity to explore subjects in
greater depth than traditional news media
think that if we take long view and in america think we are short
view country documentary will allow us to move into areas that have been
vacated by the news media he said
while redford is known for his liberal attitudes he said his personal politics
did not influence the line up of sundance films
on political issues can take sides myself but not the festival we show the
films that it he said
other films vying for honors in the us documentary competition are bhutto
jessica hernandez and johnny hara depiction of the turbulent life and times
of the former pakistani leader benazir bhutto murdered in december
certain to attract interest is pat tillman amir bar lev look at the
life of the former arizona cardinals american football player who gave up his
sports career to join the us army after the september attacks
more than documentaries and feature films from america and overseas will be
screened during the festival which draws to close on january
us unveils civilian strategy for afghanistan pakistan
washington jan afp
us secretary of state hillary clinton on thursday unveiled long term non
military strategy to stabilize afghanistan and pakistan that calls for sending
more civilian experts to the region
week before london conference aimed at promoting afghanistan development
the new civilian strategy outlines plans to rebuild the afghan farm sector
improve governance and bring extremists back into mainstream society
it also calls for boosting neighboring pakistan capabilities to fight
growing islamist insurgency and to enhance the us partnership with islamabad
partly through supporting political and economic reforms
key part of the plan also calls for countering extremist voices in both
countries where anti american feelings run high
it complements military strategy in which president barack obama announced
december he will deploy another us troops to afghanistan this year
on top of more than already there to undercut resurgent taliban
under his plan troops are to begin withdrawing in july next year
while our military mission in afghanistan is not open ended we are committed
to building lasting partnerships with afghanistan and pakistan clinton said in
statement timed with the release of the civilian strategy
believe this strategy offers the best prospect for stabilizing afghanistan
and pakistan the chief us diplomat said
look forward to working with congress to secure the non military resources
needed to achieve our mission and to signal our commitment to afghanistan and
pakistan she said adding the money would be well spent
however it was not immediately clear how much support there is in congress for
the strategy
lawmakers last year adopted legislation sending billion dollars in annual
economic and other aid to pakistan over the next five years
the new strategy calls for increasing civilian experts in afghanistan beyond the
nearly us experts due to be deployed by now or in the next few weeks
we anticipate further increasing our civilian staffing in by another to
percent concentrating experts in the field and at key ministries that
deliver vital services to the afghan people the page paper said
the plan calls for sending dozens of us agency for international development and
other personnel to pakistan by the end of the year to enhance oversight of
contracts and improvement management of programs developed with islamabad
the afghanistan and pakistan regional stabilization strategy was produced by the
office of the special representative for afghanistan and pakistan richard
holbrooke who briefed the senate foreign relations committee on it
holbrooke warned them that the situation in pakistan was far more complicated
than in afghanistan where washington has more influence with its large military
and civilian presence
british foreign secretary david miliband also briefed senators about plans for
london conference on afghanistan
fighting corruption is one of the key topics due to be discussed at the
conference in the british capital on january along with the security
situation good governance and reconciliation with taliban fighters
the conference calls on the or more countries attending to mobilize their
civilian and military resources behind the government of hamid karzai who was
re elected president following fraud tainted election last year
standing next to clinton miliband indicated the conference is designed to
reinforce the new us civilian effort
on the nato side too and in the eu it very important that we upgrade our
civilian side of the mission as the military upgrade their side of the mission
miliband said
and very much hope the momentum coming out of the london conference will
contribute to that he said
review chides us judge who refused death row appeal
washington jan afp
texas judge who refused to open her courtroom to last minute death penalty
appeal should not be removed from her job judge reviewing the case has found
judge sharon keller caused firestorm by deciding on september that
she would not allow lawyers for death row prisoner michael richard to file
final appeal against his death sentence
but the judge reviewing the incident david berchelmann ruled that richard
lawyers shared blame for communication failures on the day richard was
executed
although judge keller conduct on that day was not exemplary she did not
engage in conduct so egregious that she should be removed from office he wrote
in ruling obtained by afp thursday
indeed although judge keller actions did not help the situation the
majority of the problems involving the richard execution were the responsibility
of the texas defender service he added
the incident unfolded on september when the us supreme court announced
it would consider whether execution by lethal injection was constitutional
richard was scheduled to be executed by lethal injection that same day at
around pm
his lawyers decided to file motion seeking to halt his execution until the
supreme court ruled but they reportedly ran into computer problems that delayed
them and called call the courthouse to request it stay open for another
minutes
we close at pm was the firm reply
richard was executed that evening and became the last person to be executed by
lethal injection in the united states before seven month moratorium that
lasted until the supreme court ruled
richard lawyers discovered the day after their client execution that keller
was responsible for the refusal to keep the court open and went to the press
with the story prompting disciplinary committee to review her conduct
in august keller told the commission she had indeed said we close at pm
but only because she knew there were other ways to file last minute appeals
berchelmann agreed adding that richard lawyers should have known of the ways
in which they could file last minute documents
he added that the evidence suggested the defense team was not having major
computer problems and said that its actions in the richard case did not match
its typically estimable practice
berchelmann acknowledged that judge keller certainly did not exhibit model of
open communication adding that she should have been more open and helpful
there is valid reason why many in the legal community are not proud of judge
keller actions he continued
but ultimately he said the attention drawn to the case by richard lawyers
who he accused of putting keller on trial in the media was sufficient
punishment
her conduct does not warrant removal from office or even further reprimand
beyond the public humiliation she has surely suffered he wrote
the supreme court ultimately ruled that lethal injection was constitutional
method of execution
japanese shares end down percent
tokyo jan afp
japanese stocks closed down percent on friday after wall street slumped in
response to plan by us president barack obama to limit the size and scope of
us banks
the tokyo stock exchange benchmark nikkei index declined points to
the broader topix index of all first section shares fell
points or percent to
investors followed the lead of the dow jones index which suffered its worst
fall of the year after obama said he wanted to put limits on banks to avoid
repeat of the financial crisis that sent shockwaves around the world
it inevitable that new york shares tumbled on tighter financial regulations
funds are flowing out of risk assets for now said hideaki higashi
strategist at smbc friend securities
as the financial sector accounts for large share of the us economy the
tighter regulation on it could adversely affect the overall economy which is
bound to impact japan economy he said
tokyo stocks were also hit by stronger yen which triggered fresh worries
about the outlook for japanese exports
nba james leads cavs to another win over lakers
cleveland ohio jan afp
lebron james and the cleveland cavaliers beat kobe bryant and the los angeles
lakers for the second time this season thursday downing the reigning nba
champions
the cavaliers who embarrassed the lakers in christmas day contest saw to it
that the lakers eight game road trip got off to rocky start and spoiled any
pleasure bryant might have felt in reaching an nba scoring milestone
james scored points including straight in the closing stretch while jj
hickson pulled down career high rebounds and anderson varejao made three
free throws in the last seconds as cleveland came out on top in clash of
the nba two top teams
this is what live for james said
he willed this win for us cavs coach mike brown said of his star he has
been doing that for us down the stretch no matter who our opponent is
the cavaliers were playing their first game without mo williams the all star
point guard who is expected to miss at least month with sprained shoulder
bryant surpassed career points in the first half becoming the th
player to do so
up next for bryant at no on the all time scoring list is lakers legend jerry
west with
but despite reaching the milestone bryant couldn match james in the fourth
quarter bryant finished with points but was only of in the second
half
bryant said the lakers needed to toughen up against eastern conference sides
like cleveland and the boston lineup they ll face later in the road trip
the mentality has to change little bit playing against these teams bryant
said these teams are physical tough minded hard nosed types of teams that
not part of our dna we have to step up and match that and still play skillful
basketball
the score was tied when james drained three pointer from the left side
after miss by bryant james made another basket to put cleveland up by five
points
james then hit another shot to make it with to play
ron artest kept the lakers in it with three pointer and bryant made two free
throws and jump shot to knot the score at
but james burst down the left side for lay up the lakers pau gasol had
chance to tie it again but missed two free throws after cavs timeout james
made one of two free throws and varejao grabbing the rebound on james miss
was fouled
varejao made both shots from the line to give cleveland lead with
seconds remaining bryant missed three point attempt and james saved the
rebound before varejao made one more free throw with four seconds left
cleveland sweep of the season series could give the cavaliers home court
advantage if they meet the lakers in the nba finals
but james said regular season wins would mean little if the cavs can capture
the ultimate prize
you don want to look too far into beating one team twice he said the
championship still goes through la
tennis henin and safina keep open dreams alive
melbourne jan afp
justine henin performed great escape act friday to keep her australian open
dream alive as she joined dinara safina and andy roddick in the last but
jelena jankovic tournament ended
the diminutive belgian the champion at melbourne park was staring at
defeat after losing the first set and falling behind in the second to big
serving russian th seed alisa kleybanova
but she drew on all her experience as seven time grand slam champion to claw
back taking the second set and rattling through the third for
victory in gripping two hour minute contest
following her defeat of fifth seed elena dementieva in the previous round
henin battling win proved once again she is still threat despite playing in
only her second tournament on her comeback from an month retirement
kind of survived little bit today she said
it was so difficult for me after the last match physically suffered
little bit in the last two days
very happy that still in the tournament
she will next play fellow belgian yanina wickmayer the world number who had
to come through qualifying following doping scandal
wickmayer beat italy sara errani
safina the second seed clocked rapid fire minute thrashing of
england elena baltacha in her first match on rod laver arena since she
imploded during last year final against serena williams
the russian took heart from winning return at the scene of one of her worst
days in tennis
didn have good memories of the last match played on rod laver arena for
sure said the world number two am glad to be back and had to fight hard
and make sure won to forget the bad memories
think it was very solid match from my side pretty satisfied with
everything did
safina will next face maria kirilenko in the fourth round and after the fellow
russian outlasted italy roberta vinci
safina appears in favourable section of the draw with either kim clijsters
who plays later friday or henin likely to be her semi final opponent if she
progresses that far
while safina and henin powered on jankovic looked like spent force as she was
bundled out by st seed alona bondarenko crashing in miserable end
to the tournament for player ranked world number one this time last year
she joins other high casulaties maria sharapova and ana ivanovic on an early
plane home
the serb struggled to live up to her potential in and her big match
credentials were again found wanting when she was comprehensively outplayed by
the ukrainian who won the lead up hobart tournament
but jankovic wasn overly concerned
it no big deal it only my second tournament of the year she said
just have to stay positive keep my head up high know what have to work
on feel like my game is improving and feel like really can raise my level
and be up there
on the men side roddick ground out win over
tenacious spaniard feliciano lopez
it sets up the american seventh seed four time semi finalist here with
fourth round clash against chilean th seed fernando gonzalez who dug deep to
win five setter against kazak evgeny korolev
second seed rafael nadal plays later friday against th seeded german philipp
kohlschreiber while fifth seeded scot andy murray faces frenchman florent
serra
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hong kong jan afp
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figure skating aboriginal routine slammed in australia
sydney jan afp
they may be world champion figure skaters but russia oksana domnina and maxim
shabalin have got it all wrong when it comes to their aboriginal dance
routine australian experts said friday
the russian stars favourites to win gold at next month winter olympics wear
dark skin toned bodysuits complete with bright red loin cloths white body paint
and eucalyptus leaves in the original dance routine
but the two and half minute act has raised eyebrows in australia where
experts said the music movement and body decorations worn by the pair bear no
relation to that of australia year old aboriginal culture
they have got the whole thing wrong said stephen page artistic director of
the respected indigenous group the bangarra dance company
page said there were no traditional movements in the routine the music sounded
more like it came from india or africa than aboriginal australia and the body
paint looked like three year old child had drawn it on
it looks more like they were trying to emulate the token savage cave man page
told afp that insulting to aboriginal people
page said he first viewed video of the dance shortly after it was performed in
russia late last month and thought it was stupid
probably the elders in the bush would be laughing because they would be saying
look how stupid these fellas are he said
because at the end of the day they ve got it all wrong all the elements are
wrong
indigenous leader bev manton of the new south wales land council said
aboriginal people were rightly sensitive about the appropriation of their
cultural heritage
am offended by the performance and so are our other councillors she told
the sydney morning herald
television commentator and former competitor belinda noonan said while there was
no call for strict authenticity in original dance in ice skating the world
champion russians should have been sensitive to cultural ideas
if they were really inspired by australian aboriginal culture they should have
been able to translate that in choreography and express it on the ice she
said
it would have been an enormous service to ice dancing ice skating and the
australian aboriginal population however as it stands now think it has all
gone horribly wrong
for their part domnina and shabalin defended their routine which proved hit
with the crowd thursday at the european championships in estonia
our coach offered us this music and we decided to try it we researched it on
the internet and got lot of information explained year old shabalin
it wasn our purpose that it be especially australian just dance from
many thousands of years ago
taliban part of political fabric of afghanistan gates
islamabad jan afp
us defence secretary robert gates on friday described the taliban as part of the
political fabric of afghanistan but said any future role would depend on
insurgents laying down their weapons
the islamist extremist movement has been waging an increasingly deadly
insurgency against the afghan government and foreign troops since us led
invasion ousted the regime from power in late
afghan president hamid karzai is planning an ambitious western backed
reconciliation package aimed at tempting fighters away from their taliban
masters by offering money and jobs to draw them back to civilian life
the taliban we recognize are part of the political fabric of afghanistan at
this point gates said during visit to pakistan on friday
the question is whether they are prepared to play legitimate role in the
political fabric of afghanistan going forward meaning participating in
elections meaning not assassinating local officials and killing families
the question is what do the taliban want to make out of afghanistan he added
in comment to reporters
when they tried before we saw before what they wanted to make and it was
desert culturally and every other way
karzai told the bbc in an interview shown on friday that major powers would fund
his new scheme to tempt taliban fighters to lay their weapons aside and head
home to their communities and integrate into legitimate society
the united states and britain would announce at major conference on
afghanistan in london next week that they had decided to back his plan the
president said adding japan would also offer financial backing
hardline taliban supporters and those who were members of al qaeda or other
terrorist groups would not be accepted into the scheme the president said
something washington has also repeatedly stressed
gates had said earlier this week that it was unlikely taliban leaders would
reconcile with afghanistan government but that lower ranking insurgents might
be open to making peace with kabul
reconciliation and reintegration are really two different things gates said
in an interview with pakistan express television station thursday
reintegration is really focused at the lower level taliban many of whom fight
for money or to protect their families
and if we can offer them job if we can offer security for their families we
believe that number of these fighters can be reintegrated
reconciliation tends to apply to the senior most members of the taliban
think that for some of them to consider reconciliation on afghan government
terms they will have to see that the momentum of the conflict has changed
against them
bomb attack targets sri lanka opposition ahead of vote
colombo jan afp
key opposition activist in sri lanka was targeted at home by bomb attack
friday police said as violence escalated ahead of next week presidential
election
the blast destroyed car and severely damaged the home of tiran alles
wealthy businessman and key ally of the opposition presidential candidate sarath
fonseka but he and his family escaped unhurt
the attackers are believed to have come in van and carried out the attack and
fled police official at the scene said adding that no arrests had been made
in connection with the pre dawn bombing
charred debris was strewn over the frontyard of the fire damaged house and the
roof had partially collapsed
that attack came amid tightened security as sri lankans prepare to go to the
polls next tuesday to choose between president mahinda rajapakse and his former
army chief fonseka
an opposition spokesman alleged alles had been targeted by the ruling party
