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Written by Administrator
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Tuesday, 21 December 2010 06:12 |
AsiaViews, Edition: 09/II/March/2005
BANDA ACEH ? Rice meant for refugees in Indonesia's tsunami-ravaged Aceh province is not reaching those in need. Questions have been raised about possible mark-ups in the construction of temporary housing for refugees. Soldiers are slapping illegal fees on foreign aid convoys.
Allegations like these by anti-graft watchdogs are marring the relief effort in Aceh, the worst-hit region in the Dec 26 earthquake and tsunami, and raising fears that billions of dollars in aid pledged could be siphoned off by corrupt officials in the graft-ridden country.
Security forces allegedly beat up prominent anti-graft activist Farid Faqih, after he claimed that the government was exaggerating the number of refugees in an effort to get more money.
Mr Faqih, a frequent critic of the military, also alleged troops were stealing aid meant for refugees.
"There are efforts to keep non-governmental groups away from monitoring the rehabilitation process in Aceh," said Mr Hayie Muhammad of the anti-corruption group, Procurement Watch.
"What Farid Faqih experienced was some kind of shock therapy which also serves as a message to others."
Days after the tsunami left more than 123,000 dead and much of the province in ruins, international groups started raising concerns that relief money could end up in the pockets of greedy government officials. Some anti-graft activists predict that as much as a third of the estimated US$6 billion ($9.8 billion) in pledged donations for the 11 affected countries could be siphoned off.
The United Nations has hired accounting giant PriceWaterhouseCoopers to audit its relief operations, while the United States announced on Friday that it would provide "expert advisers from the US General Accounting Office to work together (with Indonesia) to ensure accountability, transparency and efficient use of the funds."
Aceh is perhaps the most corrupt province in Indonesia. Its governor is on trial for stealing state funds. A decade-long separatist insurgency there has left local authority largely in the hands of the Indonesian military, one the country's most graft-ridden institutions.
Former US Presidents Bill Clinton and George Bush raised the corruption issue last week in a meeting with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who sought to assure Washington's envoys that he was committed to ensuring transparency in the spending of foreign donations.
Anti-graft activists say it's too early to determine the scope of the problem or which institutions are benefiting most. But they are sure that some relief supplies are not reaching their destinations.
"We know that someone is taking aid meant for the refugees, but we cannot say who it is yet," said a monitoring officer with Indonesia Corruption Watch.
"What we have found is that refugees are not receiving enough food, in some places families are only receiving 8 ounces (227g) of rice every three days. There is more than enough rice, so we feel someone is pocketing it."
Aid workers have also said they have been illegally charged fees by security forces to escort relief convoys. One driver, delivering supplies down the east coast, said his organisation had given him some extra money in case officials demanding "administrative" fees stop him.
Mr Faqih ? a 51-year-old official with graft watchdog Government Watch who also was working for the World Food Program ? said he uncovered evidence that some government agencies were inflating survivor numbers to receive more aid money. He reportedly presented his findings to Dr Yudhoyono.
Days after, he was detained in Aceh for allegedly stealing aid supplies from the international airport. During the arrests, he was badly beaten by Indonesian troops. A medical report lists a bruised left eye, a cut lip and bruised ribs. "The patient was beaten with a blunt object," the report concludes.
After a brief hospital stay, Mr Faqih was transferred to a police jail in the city of Medan. Police plan to charge him with stealing relief supplies from an airport. If found guilty, he faces up to seven years in jail, according to his lawyer.
"Farid Faqih is innocent," said the lawyer. "He saw the items at the airport getting wet, and he moved them to a general warehouse used by many aid agencies. He was beaten before he could explain anything."
Indonesia's Armed Forces Chief General Endriartono Sutarto acknowledged the beating by his troops and admitted Mr Faqih had raised allegations about graft involving his troops in Aceh.
A military spokesman in Aceh said that six soldiers, including an officer, have been questioned over the beating and could be tried before a military tribunal.
Today March 1, 2005
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 21 December 2010 06:12 )
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HEADLINES
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Written by Administrator
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Tuesday, 21 December 2010 06:12 |
AsiaViews, Edition: 09/II/March/2005
 Thai authorities have used deadly excessive force against suspects, particularly in battling Islamic separatists, the US State Department says in its annual human rights report.
"Security forces continued to use excessive, lethal force against criminal suspects and committed or were connected to numerous extrajudicial, arbitrary, and unlawful killings," it said.
The report cited the April 28 siege of the Krue Se mosque in Pattani province, which came as police and authorities repelled insurgent attacks in three provinces. More than 100 people were killed in the clashes, including 32 during the siege of the mosque, it said.
It also noted the October 25 deaths of 78 Muslim detainees who were packed into overcrowded trucks after a violent demonstration in Tak Bai in Narathiwat province.
"Heightened tensions due to the violence and increased security measures led to occasional clashes with the police and to growing resentment among the local populace in the affected region of the country," it said.
Thai police occasionally used beatings to coerce confessions from suspects, while authorities have failed to effectively prosecute people accused of abuses, which has fostered a climate of impunity, the report said.
Thailand has battled Islamic separatists since January 2004, with near daily violence targetting both government officers and civilians leaving more than 610 people dead.
Meanwhile, no progress has been reported in the investigations in to extrajudicial killings during Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's three-month "war on drugs" in 2003, the State Department said.
Thailand's government generally respected press rights, the report said, but warned "continued harassment and intimidation of journalists and editors encouraged self-censorship."
"On at least one occasion, libel laws were used to suppress criticism. Bans on some Internet sites occurred for the first time," mainly to block pornography, it said.
While Thai law prohibits trafficking in persons, the report said Thailand "was a source, transit, and destination for trafficking in women and children for a variety of purposes, including indentured servitude, forced labor, and prostitution."
Today March 1, 2005
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 21 December 2010 06:12 )
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Written by Administrator
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Tuesday, 21 December 2010 06:12 |
AsiaViews, Edition: 08/II/February/2005
HO CHI MINH CITY ? The world is perilously close to a deadly bird flu pandemic and governments need to start drafting emergency plans, experts told a landmark conference here yesterday.
The bird flu virus will take years to eradicate and Asia is at serious risk of far greater loss of life than from the Sars outbreak, they said.
Delegations from more than 20 countries and organisations, including major donors and United Nations agencies, are seeking to evaluate their understanding of the H5N1 virus and find long-term steps to get rid of it.
"It is in the interest of both developed and developing countries to invest in the control and containment of avian influenza," said Dr Samuel Jutzi, the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation's director of animal production and health.
Dr Teruhide Fujita, from the World Organisation for Animal Health, echoed the warning. "Immediate eradication of the disease in the region cannot be envisaged in the short term under the current situation," he said.
Since 2003, bird flu has been discovered in eight countries ? Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, China, Indonesia, Japan, Laos and South Korea. Thirty-three people have died in Vietnam since then in several outbreaks. Another 12 have died in Thailand.
Scientists fear a possible mutation of the virus that could unleash a global pandemic. "We at the World Health Organization believe that the world is now in the gravest possible danger of a pandemic," said Dr Shigeru Omi, director of the WHO's Western Pacific office.
Today February 24, 2005
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 21 December 2010 06:12 )
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HEADLINES
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Written by Administrator
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Tuesday, 21 December 2010 06:12 |
AsiaViews, Edition: 08/II/February/2005
BANGKOK ? Upset by calls for a review of his southern village zoning policy, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said he had to be "cruel to be kind" in dealing with the problems of the south and challenged his critics to provide a better approach.
However, the Prime Minister's detractors got another shot in the arm yesterday as former army commander Surayud Chulanont publicly warned against continuing with the heavy-handed clampdown.
"People who talk too much cause problems and annoy me. They should tell me exactly what to do," the Bangkok Post quoted Dr Thaksin as saying.
"Pointing an accusing finger is always easier than pointing to a way out. Tell me what to do with the bad guys who kill people every day and how to help people feel safe so they don't have to stay home after six o'clock every evening," he said.
The Prime Minister said the problems in the South would have been solved a long time ago if he had chosen to stray from legal avenues and matched violence with violence.
Non-government organisations are against Dr Thaksin's plan to divide villages in Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat into red, yellow and green zones ? based on their records of violence and cooperation with the authorities in tackling problems ? to determine the level of government financial aid. According to them, the policy was unconstitutional and could trigger further violence.
Gen Surayud, who now advises the king, warned that Thailand could face a rebellion on the scale of its 1970s communist insurgency that killed thousands if Bangkok continued its heavy-handed crackdown on Muslim militants in the South.
He said Muslims have complained to him about the unjust treatment by the government and that Dr Thaksin's zoning policy was creating a lot of unhappiness in the south.
"People might think they are being segregated. If this feeling is abused, it's like throwing oil on to a fire. Nobody wants a separatist state, but the normal villagers have no choice," he told The Nation.
"They cannot come to the government because they fear for their lives. So to win this war you have to win the hearts and minds of villagers. Make them trust the authorities, then you will win."
Today February 23, 2005
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 21 December 2010 06:12 )
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