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CONTENTS:

NEWS HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK:

1. World
2. Africa
3. Americas
4. Asia Pacific
5. Europe
6. Middle East
7. South Asia
8. Cyberterrorism and Information Warfare
9. Finance
10 Human Rights
11. Law and Legal Issues
12. Transportation
13. Weapons of Mass Destruction
14. Recently Published

FEATURE ARTICLE:
Water for Life

NEWS HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK

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1. World

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan published "In Larger Freedom", a comprehensive proposal to realign the United Nations. The proposals range from a nine-member increase in Security Council membership to establishing a new Human Rights Council. It addresses freedom from want, freedom from fear, freedom to live in dignity, and strengthening the UN.
http://www.un.org/largerfreedom/

The Asian tsunami last December killed as many as four times more women as men, because they were waiting on beaches for fishermen to return or looking after children. Particularly in areas with an already disproportionate number of men, as in India, this can have long-term negative effects on safety, security, and human rights.
http://www.oxfam.org.uk/press/releases/tsunami_women260305.htm

The risk of avian influenza leading to a human pandemic may have increased following news that a large outbreak has occurred in North Korea. Details are still emerging, and the virus type is not yet known.

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2. Africa

A third of global tuberculosis deaths now occur in Africa, where the disastrous rise is fueled by high rates of HIV/AIDS and poor healthcare. Most areas of the world have seen a 20 percent drop in TB since 1990.
http://www.who.int/tb/publications/global_report/2005/en/

Chad and Israel have agreed to reestablish diplomatic relations, after 33 years.

As Democratic Republic of Congo continues to implement disarmament and reconstruction, fighting between Lendu and Hema militias in the northeast district of Ituri has taken the war to civilians. This year alone, more than 88,000 people have been displaced. Militias torture, kidnap, loot, commit violence against women and undertake other crimes with seeming impunity. Local government forces have not been paid and in response have forced the local people to provide supplies. Reflecting this dire situation, it is calculated that for every violent death in DRC, there are 62 nonviolent deaths.

Ethiopian troops committed widespread murder, violence against women and torture against the indigenous Anyuak population in the oil-rich west, undertaking these actions under the guise of combating bandits. This finding by Human Rights Watch is given credence by the recent government arrest of six officers who will face trial for the atrocities.
http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2005/03/24/ethiop10363.htm

Guinea-Bissau's presidential elections have been delayed to June 19, to allow voter re-registration and to help create a good political climate. The election was originally scheduled a month earlier, to coincide with the end of the transitional phase that followed the bloodless coup of September 2003.

Ivory Coast's peace negotiations remain stalled while militia groups ramp up, posing an imminent threat of a return to full-scale conflict. The Crisis Group's new report "The Worst May Be Yet to Come", recommends that that, in light of the current environment, elections should be delayed a few months to establish conditions necessary to hold free and fair elections.
http://www.crisisweb.org/home/index.cfm?id=3335&l=1

Namibian President and independence leader Sam Nujoma has stepped down after 15 years of rule. The new president is Hifikepunye Pohamba, a long-time colleague of Nujoma's.

64 of Somalia's exiled cabinet ministers voted to establish the government in the central towns of Baidoa and Jowhar until security improves in the capital, Mogadishu. The ten ministers opposed to the measure, including several key warlords, walked out in protest. International peacekeepers will be deployed, starting with Sudanese and Ugandan soldiers, despite internal opposition and a warning by militant Somali Muslim cleric Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys of a holy war against foreign peacekeepers.

The UN Security Council voted unanimously to send 10,000 troops and more than 700 civilian police to southern Sudan for an initial period of six months to support the peace agreement between the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A). They will monitor and verify the ceasefire, help set up a disarmament, demobilization and reintegration program, and promoting national reconciliation and human rights.
http://www.un.org/apps/news/infocusRel.asp?infocusID=88&Body=Sudan&Body1=

Ugandan rebels of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) have again stepped up attacks against villages in the north, especially against women.

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3. Americas

Leaders of Canada, Mexico, and the US announced a new agreement to strengthen economic and security ties, including border security and critical infrastructures such as energy, transport, financial services and technology.

Brazil's football mothers were targeted again. Ines Fidelis Regis, mother of football star Rogerio, became the fourth Brazilian player's mother abducted since last December. She was freed after a tip-off and no ransom was paid. Two others have also been freed, but the mother of Brazilian international Luis Fabiano is still being held.

In the Brazilian capital, Rio de Janeiro, armed forces have stepped in to first take over the six major hospitals and now to open emergency field hospitals, in response to emergency shutdowns due to lack of funds that led to a medical emergency.

Haitian rebels battled UN troops, killing four peacekeepers. UN peacekeepers were able to free police stations that had been occupied by the disbanded military and their armed sympathizers.

The US has suspended military aid to Nicaragua pending their destruction of shoulder-fired antiaircraft missiles that have been associated with terrorist threats.

US army investigators have released more information regarding torture and abuse of detainees held in Iraq and Afghanistan, finding evidence of homicides in at least 27 cases.

In New York City, the Port Authority released a memorandum to help preserve remnants of the World Trade Center. The state's highest court ordered the city to release the Fire Department's tapes and transcripts made on 9/11, except portions that could cause "serious pain or embarrassment".

A Texas oil refinery explosion killed fifteen people. Two Islamist groups, al Qaeda Organization for Holy War in the USA and the Army of the Levant, claimed responsibility, but the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) says there is no sign of criminal or terrorist activity. Instead, experts point to the plant's poor safety record and age and warn that most US energy plants are more than 25 years old but still operating at and over capacity.

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4. Asia Pacific

In a speech before the Australian Law Reform Commission (ALARC), High Court Judge Michael Kirby discussed "Maintaining Our Perspective" in addressing terrorism. He pointed to relative risk: " in terms of proportionality, terrorism and its dangers do not constitute the greatest peril for the world today. Every day on this planet more people die of AIDS than died on 11 September 2001". The ALARC plans to publish this and other conference proceedings in the future.
http://www.hcourt.gov.au/speeches/kirbyj/kirbyj_12mar05.html

Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian and his family joined hundreds of thousands of people protesting in Taiwan against the anti-secession law China passed earlier this month. The law allows use of force to stop any move towards independence.

Kyrgyzstan's election protests expanded dramatically during the week, with protestors taking over key cities and moving in to the capital, Bishkek, where the presidential palace was overrun and President Askar Akayev was forced to flee, while security forces stood by or left. Rioting and looting were widespread, but are being brought under control. Akayev calls this an attempted coup, insists he has not resigned, and plans to run in new presidential elections. Now, politicians are trying to sort out two rival parliaments: the old one, and the new one formed as the result of the flawed elections. They are attempting to form an interim government. The Supreme Court annulled the latest election and said the previous parliament had authority, but political rivals continue to dispute the ruling.

The Philippine military reports an investigation and arrest of suspected Muslim militant Tyron Santos has foiled plans for an Easter bombing. On his arrest, Santos led police to large quantities of explosives and 18 improvised bombs hidden in an abandoned house. The Philippines, Britain and the US have warned of imminent terrorist attacks.

In southern Thailand, two bombs last weekend injured eleven people. Today, suspected Islamic rebels ambushed a train, injuring 19, when two bombs caused the train to turn over.

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5. Europe

Kosovo's parliament has elected Bajram Kosumi as the new Prime Minister. His predecessor, Ramush Haradinaj, resigned after being indicted for war crimes that were connected to his role as commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army during the 1998-99 conflict.

In Poland, a traffic circle in Warsaw was named after assassinated Chechen rebel leader Djokhar Dudayev. Russia's foreign ministry strongly criticized the move as an insult to victims of terrorism.

In the Chechnya region of Russia, Human Rights Watch has documented dozens of new disappearances carried out by government agents. "Worse than a War" says that this practice has reached the level of a crime against humanity. Events surrounding the death of the last elected president of Chechnya, Aslan Maskhadov, remain confused. Russian authorities using a new law that allows them to refuse to release the bodies of suspected terrorists have refused to let anyone see the body since it was briefly displayed on a police video. They also blew up his house and are standing guard over the rubble to prevent investigation.
http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2005/03/21/russia10342.htm

At the Russian embassy in Stockholm, a radical group called the Global Intifada, set fire to an embassy car to protest the war in Chechnya. Russia summoned the Swedish ambassador to reprimand them for the incident.

British intelligence agency MI5 has warned of heightened risk of attacks by the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and dissident republican paramilitaries on mainland Britain.

The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) "London Business Survey" finds that over 86 percent of London businesses are confident they are prepared for a major incident or terrorist attack but only 40 percent have tested their continuity plans.
http://www.cbi.org.uk/ndbs/press.nsf/0363c1f07c6ca12a8025671c00381cc7/1aab3dce05b2ee7a80256fc0003a7fc6?OpenDocument
http://www.kpmg.co.uk/news/detail.cfm?pr=2196

The IRA again denied responsibility for the Robert McCartney murder and, in its Easter statement, said they "have tried to assist in whatever way we can. Unfortunately, it would appear that no matter what e do it will never be enough for some". McCartney's relatives have decided to not stand for election, instead concentrating their campaign for justice in finding his killers.
http://www.anphoblacht.com/news/detail/8953 (registration required)

In Northern Ireland, the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) launched a new series of policy initiatives to ensure, peace, change, and progress. The strategy document is called "A United Ireland and the Agreement"
http://www.sdlp.ie/elections05/Unity%20Document%20Booklet%20Mar%2005.pdf

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6. Middle East

The Arab League held its annual summit, attended by 13 of 22 Arab leaders. They agreed to normalize relations with Israel if it withdraws from all occupied land and again ratified the 2002 Saudi peace initiative. Given the enormous challenges facing the region, most commentators were disappointed that so little action was taken.

Attacks in Iraq have shifted from US forces to Iraqi forces and civilians (who also face dramatic rises in crime, kidnapping, and arms- and drugs- trafficking). Parliament, convening its first working session, is continuing efforts to form a new government. Iraqi and US authorities claim to have captured a rebel training camp and command center, killing 85 rebels, but these details have been disputed. A suicide car bombing killed 11 Iraqi commandos and injured 14. Further bomb and gun attacks across the country caused dozens more casualties.

Iraq and Jordan recalled their envoys, but Jordan's has now returned. It began with a dispute over anti-Jordanian protests outside the embassy that made Jordan feel unsafe to maintain their charge d'affaires' presence.

Israel and Chad have agreed to reestablish diplomatic relations, after 33 years.

Israeli security organization Shin Bet has opened a new web site at http://www.shabak.gov.il (in Hebrew).

Lebanon's political turmoil has taken on a more violent aspect, with three bombings in Christian areas during the past week. At least two people have died and more than 20 have been injured.

The UN inquiry into the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri criticized flawed and negligent investigations by Lebanese authorities and calls for an independent international commission to fully investigate, for which Lebanon has agreed its cooperation. The report does not specify who was behind the assassination but says that Lebanese security services and Syrian military intelligence were responsible for failure to protect Hariri and that Syria contributed to political tensions within Lebanon.

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7. South Asia

Recognizing that Afghanistan will need international help to continue recovering from decades of conflict, the UN Assistance Mission has been extended for another year. Four US soldiers were killed by a land mine. The Taliban claimed responsibility but US authorities suggested it was a war remnant. US forces report killing five suspected militants in a gun battle fought in response to a rocket attack. In another clash five people, including one suspected Taliban militant, a woman and two children. On a positive note, recent analysis of poppy cultivation shows that it has begun to decrease, with farmers turning to alternate crops.

Afghanistan and Pakistan have agreed to open two new bus routes, traveling from Kandahar to Quetta and from Jalalabad to Peshawar.

Bhutan has published a new constitution intended to replace the monarchy with a democratic system.

Indian police chief for Andhra Pradesh recommended cultivating stray dogs whose barking could warn of rebel attacks, such as a recent Maoist attack against a station that killed seven, including four police.

In Nagaland, factional fighting between the Khaplang and Muivah factions of the separatist National Socialist Council of Nagaland have killed at least seven.

Nepalese authorities have arrested more than 200 opposition activists for participating in peaceful pro-democracy protests.

Near Pakistan's border with Afghanistan, an ambush on a police convoy killed five. In Balochistan province tensions remain high, with troops besieged by tribesmen and repeated clashes with security forces. The death toll in from the March 19 Quetta (Balochistan's capital) bombing has risen to 46. Tensions in Balochistan have led to warnings of civil war.

Police and paramilitaries are guarding Pakistan's stock exchange following a riot by several hundred small investors who had been prevented from selling shares during a falling market.

Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels report two men killed and three injured in fighting between rival factions.

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8. Cyberterrorism and Information Warfare

US federal bank and thrift regulatory agencies have issued "Interagency Guidance on Response Programs for Unauthorized Access to Customer Information and Customer Notice" to provide security standards that financial institutions should implement in response to security breaches involving customer information.
http://www.occ.treas.gov/consumer/Customernoticeguidance.pdf

Symantec's newest Internet Security Threat Report warns of increasing threats to confidential information, rising phishing attacks, increased attacks against web applications, a rise in the number of malicious attacks against Microsoft Windows. They also warned of an increase in severe, easy-to-exploit, remotely exploitable vulnerabilities - nearly eight per day. They project the following future and emerging trends:

Radicati Group and Mirapoint announced preliminary results of an end-user survey of email hygiene. They found that one percent of respondents have clicked on embedded links within spam (not including the unsubscribe link), thereby helping spammers determine live email accounts, which encourages more spam, and opens them to risks of malicious embedded code. Eight percent have tried to unsubscribe using the unsubscribe link in the email, raising the same issues. Finally, reflecting why the spam industry is so successful, more than ten percent of respondents have purchased products advertised in spam.
http://www.mirapoint.com/company/news_events/press/20050323.shtml

The US National Coordination Office for Information Technology Research and Development's President's Information Technology Advisory Committee (PITAC) released a new report, "Cyber Security: A Crisis of Prioritization". It criticizes federal financing of cybersecurity research and says that both increased financing and increased transparency are necessary.
http://www.itrd.gov/pitac/reports/20050301_cybersecurity/cybersecurity.pdf
Public comment on the report has been requested and an open meeting is scheduled for April 14.
http://www.itrd.gov/pitac/meetings/2005/20050414/announcement.html

The Australian Bankers’ Association (ABA), its member banks and the Australian High Tech Crime Centre (AHTCC), hosted by the Australian Federal Police (AFP), have launched a national campaign to build awareness of internet fraud and provide practical information to reduce the risks.
http://www.bankers.asn.au/Default.aspx?ArticleID=857

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9. Finance

Luxembourg has frozen several bank accounts in the Hapoalim money-laundering case, at the request of Israeli and French investigators who believe the accounts, containing more than $650 million, were used by billionaire Russian-Israeli businessman Arcadi Gaydamak to launder money.

Canada's Financial Analysis and Reporting Center (FINTRAC) presented their annual report to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance. Improved detection has led to a doubling in the amount of terrorism-related cash. During the first nine months of 2004, investigations into transactions worth more than $1.25 billion were undertaken. They are paying more attention to unregulated money services businesses and plan to review the impact of privacy legislation on the agency's effectiveness.
http://www.fintrac.gc.ca/publications/presentations/2005-03-22_e.asp

The G8 summit reached agreement to control illegal logging by only purchasing from legal sources, implementing public procurement policies to support this, and also offering aid to producer countries.

Lexington Insurance Company announced the OpShield property endorsement to cover terrorism-related losses.
http://www.lexingtoninsurance.com/pdf/OpShieldF.pdf

Canada and France have signed an agreement to share financial intelligence on money laundering and terrorist financing.

Northern Ireland's High Court has granted an interim order to the Assets Recovery Agency to take control of GBP 4.8 million of assets belonging to Colin Armstrong and Geraldine Mallon. Armstrong is allegedly linked to drug trafficking, fuel laundering, smuggling, racketeering, and links with the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and, following an organizational split, with the Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF).

Customs officials in County Armagh, Northern Ireland, have uncovered a fuel laundering plant hidden in farm buildings that has a capacity to produce about 20,000 liters per week.

Police raids across the southern Indian state of Karnataka have destroyed opium crops worth more than $150 million. The operations took place over the last two months.

Colombian police have found an 8-meter fiberglass submarine capable of evading radar and the coast guard that could carry ten tons of cocaine. They believe the Norte del Valle cartel planned to use it for drug smuggling.

Spanish police seized 2.5 million counterfeit Euros, the largest such operation since the currency was introduced in 2002.

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10. Human Rights

The UN released a report on sexual exploitation by peacekeeping missions, recommending that standardized rules, legislation, and individual accountability be implemented. Peacekeepers accused of these offenses should face legal action in their home countries.
http://www.un.org/Docs/journal/asp/ws.asp?m=a/59/710

US oil company Unocal has reached an out of court settlement to compensate Burmese villagers over alleged abuses committed by Burmese troops during construction of a gas pipeline. Unocal denied any part in the abuse.

In the British parliament, the Foreign Affairs Committee has strongly criticized "grave violations of human rights" committed by the US against prisoners in Guantanamo Bay, Afghanistan and Iraq. Part of the annual Human Rights Report, they called on the British government to make it clear to the US administration that such treatment is unacceptable and to make clear if it uses intelligence gained by torture that "would be to condone and even to encourage torture by repressive states".
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200405/cmselect/cmfaff/109/10902.htm

Pakistan has decided to include a column for religion in its new machine-readable passports.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) released the first report on war crimes trials before the domestic courts of Bosnia and Herzegovina, providing historical and statistical background as well a detailed analysis of issues that have an impact on war crimes cases.
http://www.osce.org/press_rel/2005/pdf_documents/03-4802-bih1.pdf

March 21 marked the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

The Jewish Museum in the UK is hosting an exhibition, "Closing the Door? Immigrants to Britain 1905-2005", that marks the centenary of the Aliens Act. The exhibition runs until August 21 2005.
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/gall/0,9352,1443388,00.html
http://www.jewishmuseum.org.uk/whatson/exhibitions/temporary.asp?article=95

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11. Law and Legal Issues

Rabbi Arik Ascherman was convicted in Israeli court of interfering with police duties by trying to prevent demolition of illegally built Palestinian homes. The prosecution has asked the court to allow him to perform community service, rather than prison.

Youssef Belhadi will soon be extradited to Spain for his alleged role in the Madrid bombings, after Belgium's Supreme Court rejected his appeal.

Moutaz Almallah Dabas was arrested in England on a Spanish extradition warrant. He is believed involved in the 3/11 Madrid train bombings.

Byron Lima Estrada and Byron Lima Oliva, both former army colonels in Guatemala, have had their sentences in connection with the 1998 murder of Catholic Bishop Juan Gerardi reduced in the appeals court from 30- to 20- years in prison.

Jeremy Hinzman, a former US soldier who left the army to protest the war in Iraq, has been refused refugee status in Canada.

Vladimir Kvachkov, a retired army colonel and former member of the intelligence directorate, has been charged with the attempted murder of Anatoly Chubais (head of the state electricity monopoly and leading opposition politician) and with illegal possession of weapons.

Thomas Lubanga, leader of the main Hema militia group, the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC), has been arrested in Democratic Republic of Congo.

Zaky Mallah has gone on trial in Australia on three terrorism-related offenses.

Zacarias Moussaoui's appeal to the US Supreme Court for access to US-held al Qaeda suspects was refused a hearing. This lets stand a ruling that written summaries of evidence could be used instead of personal testimony, allows prosecutors to seek the death penalty, and opens the way for the case to continue.

Augusto Pinochet cannot be prosecuted for the murder of his predecessor. Chile's Supreme Court ruled that his legal immunity in this case would stand. He still faces other human rights, tax fraud, and money laundering charges.

Ashraf Qaisi, an Israeli Arab, has been charged with murder for his role in last month's Tel Aviv nightclub suicide bombing. He reportedly confessed to using his Israeli nationality and car to transport the bomber and buying insecticide for making explosives.

Jose Segurola Querejeta and Miren Itxaso were arrested in France. The suspected members of Basque separatist group ETA were found with explosives, weapons, and forges license plates.

Guus van Kouwenhoven, a Dutch lumber merchant, has been arrested and charged with war crimes connected with allegedly running militias and weapons to deposed dictator Charles Taylor during Liberia's civil war.

Wan Min Wan Mat, detained in Malaysia for allegedly financing the 2002 Bali bombings, has been released under supervision, as have five other suspects.

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12. Transportation

Air passenger privacy protection and data security are criticized in a US Department of Homeland Security Inspector General's report, "Review of the Transportation Security Administration's Role in the Use and Dissemination of Airline Passenger Data".
http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/interweb/assetlibrary/OIGr-05-12_Mar05.pdf

The European Union has questioned US plans to ban all cigarette lighters in hand luggage, questioning the effectiveness of the rule and expressing concern that it would encourage passengers to put them in luggage, although there are rules against having them in the hold.

Many European countries currently not subject to US visas are likely to miss the October 26 US deadline for machine-readable, digital passports. Meanwhile, US efforts to implement the US-VISIT program have been poor, initially enrolling less than three percent of foreign visitors entering the US. Note the Inspector General's report, " Implementation of the United States Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology Program at Land Border Ports of Entry".
http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/interweb/assetlibrary/OIG_05-11_Feb05.pdf

Serious kidnapping and ransom incidents in the Malacca straits continue to present a high risk to shippers. Two Indonesian sailors taken hostage last week were freed but the captain and two crewmen of a Japanese tugboat are still missing. Malaysian police say they detained five people suspected in that attack.

The Philippine Coast Guard plans to post artist's drawings of nine suspected Abu Sayyaf bombing suspects in ports.

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13. Weapons of Mass Destruction

More than 500 Chinese human rights activists sent an open letter to the European Union, asking it not to lift the arms embargo. Lifting the embargo is also strongly opposed by Japan and by the US, which has extended a waiver of sanctions against Chine for missile proliferation for another six months. Text of letter at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4378243.stm

The US has announced it will sell more than two dozen F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan. India objects to providing such sophisticated weaponry to a country that it believes has not made enough progress to stop Islamic extremism inside Indian territory.

Pakistan's nuclear programs continue to raise concerns, including fresh allegations of their support for Iranian and North Korean programs.

Indonesia plans to build two nuclear reactors within the next ten years. They say they have taken into account prevention of terrorism, but there are also serious concerns about the threats posed by the tendency of the volcanic island chain towards earthquakes.

The Harvard School of Public Health Center for Public Health Preparedness, in with the Maine Department of Health and Human Services, and four other schools of public health, released " Preparing for Public Health Emergencies: Meeting the Challenges in Rural America". It finds that rural America is vulnerable to bioterrorism and other serious public health emergencies, and public health and health care systems in rural America, currently inadequate, need to be strengthened to meet these challenges.
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/press/releases/press03212005.html

The US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) report that the rubella virus has been eliminated in the US, but warns that global eradication is not near so immunization is still necessary.
http://www.cdc.gov/od/oc/media/pressrel/r050321.htm
http://www.cdc.gov/od/oc/media/transcripts/t050321.htm

Australia reports it has the world's largest stockpile of antiviral drugs - 3.9 million doses - in preparation against an avian influenza pandemic.

The US Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) biological monitoring activities are ineffective, due to placement, maintenance, and other issues. Note the Inspector General's report, "EPA Needs to Fulfill Its Designated Responsibilities to Effective BioWatch Program".
http://www.epa.gov/oig/reports/2005/20050323-2005-P-00012.pdf

India's lower house of parliament has passed a new patent law that would prevent manufacturing of low-cost generic copies of patented drugs. The bill, required in a commitment to the World Trade Organization, is likely to pass the upper house and become law. International aid groups warn this could have a devastating impact on their ability to provide cheap life-saving medicines and will have a particularly bad affect on HIV/AIDS and cancer patients. Many developing countries currently rely on generic imports from India.

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14. Recently Published

Axel Buchwald, "Der Fall Tadic vor dem Internationalen Jugoslawientribunal im Lichte der Entscheidung der Berufungskammer vom 2. Oktober 1995", Bochumer Schriften zur Friedenssicherung und zum humanitaren Volkerrecht, Band 51, Berliner Wissenschafts-Verlag, Berlin

Council of Europe, "Article 9 on the European Convention on Human Rights - Freedom of thought, conscience and religion" (Human Rights Files No. 20), Council of Europe Publishing.
http://book.coe.int/sysmodules/RBS_page/admin/redirect.php?id=36&lang=EN&produit_aliasid=1882

Tim Fenton, "Bad News: How the Failing News Industry is Endangering Americans" Regan Books

William Mervin Gumede, "Thabo Mbeki and the Battle for the Soul of the ANC", Zebra Press/New Holland Publishers

William B. Quandt, "Peace Process: American Diplomacy and the Arab-Israeli Conflict since 1967", 3rd edition, University of California Press and Brookings Institution
http://www.brookings.edu/press/books/peaceprocess3.htm

Michael Rash, et. al., " Intrusion Prevention and Active Response", Syngress.
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/193226647X/

Stefan Szymanski and Andrew Zimbalist, "National Pastime: How Americans Play Baseball and the Rest of the World Plays Soccer", Brookings Institution Press
http://www.brookings.edu/press/books/nationalpastime.htm

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FEATURE ARTICLE: Water for Life

World Water Day on March 22 marked the start of an international decade of action called Water for Life. One of the millennium development goals is to halve the number of people without clean water supplies by 2015. Managing scarce water resources is urgently needed not only to provide drinking water and sanitation, but also to support agriculture (which consumes two-thirds of water use) and to help mitigate the risk of conflict.

Freshwater is a more valuable resource than oil. The impact of corruption, abuse and conflict connected with gaining control of oil resources is a mere shadow compared to the potential for wars over water.

After all, if all the water on the planet were reduced to a liter, just two drops represent the freshwater readily accessible to humans. This scarce supply faces an imminent threat. Nearly 70 percent of the world's freshwater is frozen in icecaps and glaciers in polar regions. As these reservoirs melt under the influence of global warming, the supply of freshwater is further reduced. Freshwater stored in the Himalayas is also melting. More than half of people around the globe, rely on water from mountains, sometimes thousands of kilometers from its origin. As it travels, the water that was pure at the source becomes contaminated.

Water is so important to survival that a Gallup International poll found that more than half of the world's population believes that access to clean drinking water should be added to the list of basic human rights even if additional taxes would be required to ensure universal access.

Access to water points to staggering disparities between the developing and developed worlds are staggering. The UN reports that an average Canadian uses over six times as much water per day as an average Indian, and over 30 times as much as a rural villager in Kenya. Within countries, too, there are equally dramatic disparities, often between urban and rural areas. In urban Indonesia, access to safe water averages at 89 percent, while in rural areas it was only 69 percent or lower.

People take desperate measures for water. In developing countries, women are the main carriers of water, hauling it over great distances every day.

2.6 billion people have no access to basic sanitation. As a result, 4,000 children die each day from water-borne diseases -- that's nearly three children every minute. Diarrhea alone kills 30,000 people per week. The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) reports that water deprivation accounts for at least 1.6 million out of 11 million preventable child deaths every year.

Improved sanitation has been difficult to address because of the investment required, but the World Health Organization (WHO) points to the return on this investment. Director-General Lee Jong-Wook says that an additional investment of $11.3 billion per year could result in an estimated economic benefit of $84 billion annually, ranging from $3 to $34 per $1 invested, depending on the region.

Agriculture is the biggest user of water, much of which is wasted. The Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) reported on an increase in the amount of water used, noting that it now takes one ton of water to produce 2.2 pounds of wheat. Instituting appropriate policies and good governance are targeted for improving water use. To meet food requirements, farm productivity needs to increase by 67 percent. FAO believes the increase in water use can be limited to 14 percent.

As he launched the international decade of Water for Life, UN Secretary General Annan said, "we must show that water resources need not be a source of conflict, but can be a catalyst for cooperation".

Conflicts interfere with access to water. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) gives an example. In Somalia, Gegriyaad, the Plain of Death, is so named because of the numbers of drivers who die of thirst every year when their trucks or card break down on the way to Djibouti. Along this route, in the Zeila district on the Gulf of Aden, temperatures climb to over 50 degrees Celsius. It is said that, "When a bird flies from one tree to another, he will die before reaching the next tree". During the long-running civil war Zeila’s only sources of water -- five boreholes -- was destroyed, making it impossible for refugees to return. UNHCR has re-drilled and re-equipped four boreholes but to reach them, nomadic herders spend three or four days travelling in each direction to fetch water for their families and their animals, transporting it on the backs of donkeys and camels.

Water is also a motive for conflict.

In Africa nearly every country faces a water crisis. The Sahara desert is expanding and Lake Chad is shrinking at nearly 100 meters per year. 10 countries (Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda) share the Nile River. Only last week has an effort begun to improve water management, development, and shared benefits. Along the Nile and other rivers that cross may national boundaries, access to water increasingly is being limited from its source, leaving little usable water downstream. Because water in Africa is abundant but unequally shared, there is high probability of conflict over access and control. There are already incidents of ethnic clashes over control of water resources, such as the pastoralist/agrarian disagreements regularly reported in this Newsletter. Botswana and Namibia often disagree over use of the Okavango.

The Americas are experiencing cross-border water disagreements. An agreement between Mexico and the US on how to share the resources of the Colorado River has turned into a major bone of contention. Disagreements between US states and among competing interests within a single state have already reached the courts, and sometimes vigilante justice. In Brazil, the wetlands are at risk. In this and other areas of South and Central America, indigenous people are already asserting their rights to land; deteriorating water could increase the pressure.

Asia-Pacific faces an immediate crisis. The water table in Northern China is dropping by a meter each year and more than 70 percent of rivers and lakes are polluted. Chinese authorities project a 20 percent increase in water prices because of continuing shortages.

Europe is also facing water shortages. Recent experience with drought combined with environmental mismanagement that led to such disasters as the near disappearance of Lake Baikal, steadily increase the associated risks. The European Commission's Joint Research Center is warning of competition among agriculture, energy, industry, and drinking water for urban areas.

The Middle East, with very few water resources, is a flashpoint for conflicts over water. Israel and Jordan have reduced the flow of water in the River Jordan to a sluggish trickle. Salinization is increasing as water levels fall and as excess pumping changes the hydrological pressure, as are happening in the Sea of Galilee and Gaza. Another area of high risk is along the Tigris-Euphrates that serves Turkey, Iraq and Syria.

South Asia is another flashpoint. The Indus River flows between India and Pakistan, including the disputed and war-torn region of Kashmir. Water shortages in Bangladesh and India, particularly along the Ganges, present other sources of potential conflict. Pakistan, home to serious sectarian conflict, could become a water-deficient country within five years.

In short, the risks associated with poor water management are clear and present a growing threat to public health, safety and security. Meeting the Millennium Development targets for safe water will require an extraordinary effort, but given the consequences of inaction, the international community must act together. The International Decade of Water for Life provides a starting point.

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