Ecoterra Press Release 228 – The Somalia Chronicle June – December 2009, no 40
Dr. Muhammad Shamsaddin Megalommatis
March 15, 2010
ECOTERRA Intl.
SMCM
Somali Marine & Coastal Monitor
ECOTERRA INTERNATIONAL - UPDATES & STATEMENTS, REVIEW & CLEARING-HOUSE
2009-08-13 THU 22h21:12 UTC
Issue No. 228
A Voice from the Truth- & Justice-Seekers, who sit between all chairs, because they are not part of organized white-collar or no-collar-crime in Somalia or elsewhere, and who neither benefit from global naval militarization, from the illegal fishing and dumping in Somali waters or the piracy of merchant vessels, nor from the booming insurance business or the exorbitant ransom-, risk-management- or security industry, while neither the protection of the sea, the development of fishing communities or the humanitarian assistance to abducted seafarers and their families is receiving the required adequate attention, care and funding.
"During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act." George Orwell
EA ILLEGAL FISHING AND DUMPING HOTLINE: +254-714-747090 (confidentiality guaranteed) - email: somalia[at]ecoterra.net
EA Seafarers Assistance Programme EMERGENCY HELPLINE : SMS to +254-738-497979 or sms/call +254-733-633-733
"The pirates must not be allowed to destroy our dream !"
Cpt. Florent Lemaçon - F/Y Tanit - killed by French commandos - 10. April 2009 / Ras Hafun
NON A LA GUERRE - YES FOR PEACE
(Inscription on the sail of F/Y TANIT - shot down on day one of the French assault)
"... obligation to fight oppression and cruelty wherever it appears, and that any group of people who are degrading another group of people have to be fought against with whatever tools we have available to us. "
B. H. Obama - US-American President, who said also: The world has changed ! YES, WE CAN !
Clearing-House: Cut out the clutter - focus on facts !
(If you find this compilation too large or if you can't grasp the multitude and magnitude of important inter-related complex issues influencing the Horn of Africa - you better do not deal with Somalia or other man-made "conflict zones". We try to make it as condensed as possibly.)
Breaking:
Egyptians free - FV MOMTAZ 1 and FV SAMARA Ahmed Break Loose
Reports from our marine observers say that the two Egyptian fishing vessels with 40 crew managed to break free after a short, intense firefight. 11 Somali guards bound and held on the fleeing vessels.
The two vessels were captured allegedly for illegal fishing on 10th April 2009 in the Gulf of Aden. The owner could not proof neither to the Somali nor to the Egyptian authorities that he would have a valid fishing licence. However, over the months the local authority Lasqooray - the little coastal town of Warsangeli-Land at the Gulf of Aden in Northern Somalia - had not managed to set up a court and officially handle the case, which is why it turned more and more into a hostage saga.
After the owner and aides with links to Yemen - including a former aide to Ex-President Abdullahi Yusuf - managed again to go to the coastal stretch between Puntland and Somaliland and engaged in negotiations, their security detail managed to overpower the armed Somali guards on the two rusty vessels. In a short firefight one guard on land was injured, while the two vessels, their owner and aides as well as the unharmed crew escaped.
The owner and father of one of the six under aged teens among the crew managed to convince the captors that he needed to go and see his son on one of the vessels and then their group overpowered the guards of the captors.
The Egyptian embassy in Nairobi is informed and the families in Egypt will be happy that the ordeal of their fathers, brothers and sons is over. Insiders report that part of the ransom collected by the families in order to free the vessels was used to hire the security detail, pay the way in and pave the way to access the vessels by winning over some of the captors.
Since the Egyptian government had deliberately forbidden any Egyptian vessel to sail into the waters of Somalia, Egyptian officials were not involved in the stint. But a Yemeni hand is reported to have played a major role, since one of the vessels was said to have been rented out for the illegal fishing trip to a Yemeni group with Somali links.
Eleven of the overpowered Somali guards are at present held on the vessels and what their fate shall be is not yet known. The running crew and security detail hold all the arms. The owner, a man called Hassan Khalil, who might be charged in Egypt for sending the vessels and crews, including underaged minors without papers, on this dangerous voyage as well as his aides are said to be on board too. Where the vessels are heading to will transpire soon.
The present piracy coast of Somalia thereby has shrunken further and is concentrated along the Indian Ocean coast from north of Hobyo to Eyl - more or less all Puntland -linked, except for the case of MV ARIANA.
News from sea-jackings, abductions, newly attacked ships and vessels in distress
As reported earlier the crew of MV ARIANA is suffering seriously and this unfortunately was confirmed today to be the truth. The manager-owner from Greece - fronting for a British company - is obviously not caring at all for the plight of the Ukrainian seafarers. Humanitarian efforts are now in the process of being offered.
With the latest captures and releases now still at least 6 foreign vessels with a total of not less than 123 crew members are accounted for (of which 42 are confirmed to be Filipinos) and are held in Somali waters. They are monitored on our actual case-list, while several other cases of ships, which were observed off the coast of Somalia and have been reported or had reportedly disappeared without trace or information, are still being followed. MV JAIKUR 1 remains in Mogadishu harbor, but is an insurance and not a piracy case - all foreign crew was evacuated. MV INDIAN EXPLORER and S/Y SERENITY are allegedly dead ships. Over 134 incidences (including attempted attacks, averted attacks and successful sea-jackings) had been recorded for 2008 with 49 fully documented, factual sea-jacking cases (for Somalia, incl. presently held ones) and the mistaken sinking of one vessel by a naval force. For 2009 the account stands at 151 attacks (incl. averted or abandoned attacks) with 47 sea-jackings on the Somali/Yemeni pirate side as well as at least three wrongful attacks (incl. one friendly fire incident) on the side of the naval forces. More than 116 Somalis are held in foreign prisons under charges of piracy. Mystery pirate mother-vessels Athena/Arena and Burum Ocean as well as not fully documented cases of absconded vessels are not listed in the sea-jack count until clarification. Several other vessels with unclear fate (also not in the actual count), who were reported missing over the last ten years in this area, are still kept on our watch-list, though in some cases it is presumed that they sunk due to bad weather or being unfit to sail. In the last four years, 22 missing ships have been traced back with different names, flags and superstructures. Piracy incidents usually degrade during the monsoon season in winter and rise gradually by the end of the monsoon season starting from mid February and early April every year.
Present multi-factorial risk assessment code: GoA: YELLOW IO: YELLOW (Red = Very much likely, high season; Orange = Reduced risk, but very likely, Yellow = significantly reduced risk, but still likely, Blue = possible, Green = unlikely). Allegedly still/again two groups from Puntland alone are out hunting on the Gulf of Aden and in the Indian Ocean, where also groups from Harardheere have set out again, despite the heavy seas and the rough weather.
Directly piracy or naval upsurge related reports
Hostage Taking
By Alan Caruba
The taking of hostages is so commonplace that we only take notice when a former President of the United States is compelled to be an accomplice to a "photo op" in order to free two Americans.
Why the two young women thought they could enter the Hermit Kingdom of North Korea without extensive prior negotiations with this nation of international thugs defies understanding, but that they worked for former Vice President Al Gore´s television channel, Current, adds to the mystery. They caused their government a lot of trouble.
I am increasingly of the opinion that Americans who put themselves at such unnecessary and generally stupid risk should be left to suffer whatever fate befalls them. While the State Department can and should initiate efforts to get them out, going out of our way to accommodate rogue regimes hardly seems worth it.
Contrast this with the young Israeli, Gilad Shalit, who has been held hostage in the Gaza Strip by Hamas since his capture in 2006. Yes, three years ago. In July, Hamas said that Israel has to release more than 1,000 Arab and Palestinian prisoners. The Palestinians so routinely have taken Israeli soldiers hostage that it is part of the "normal" relations that exist and Israel has in the past traded large numbers of terrorist prisoners for one or more of their own soldiers.
Iran is currently holding three American hikers hostage who they say strayed into their territory. Our troubles with Iran began in 1979 when that nation broke every international law by taking 53 American diplomats hostage and holding them for 444 days. Hostage taking is their idea of initiating a dialogue. It is what passes for diplomacy with these thugs.
If the United States wasn´t so damned civilized, I would love to see us take Mamoud Ahmadinejad hostage the next time he attends a United Nations meeting and Hugo Chavez, too. We could liberate two entire nations if we did. And it might cut down on Barack Obama´s travel plans. He´d have to do all his apologizing for America from the White House.
In July three members of Iran´s elite Quds Force, a unit of Iran´s military and intelligence establishment, who were seized in Iraq by the United States forces and held for more than two years were turned over to Iraq and returned to Iran.
We were, however, engaged in a war at the time and Iran has been manufacturing the devices that kill our soldiers, so these guys were prisoners of war.
It strikes me that we live in a world not that dissimilar to earlier, more primitive times, in which taking hostages was an ordinary aspect of discourse between tribes or governments or just gangs seeking bargaining tools who just happen to be human beings.
It can be argued that a superpower like the United States cannot afford to stand by idly when our people are taken hostage. If we do, we´re told, it undermines our perceived power to do something about it, but generally speaking the U.S. always negotiates as opposed to staging a military action that could trigger the hostage´s murder and other ramifications. When Jimmy Carter finally got around to doing anything, the military mission was a disaster.
The Guantanamo quandary of prisoners taken on the field of battle will likely be resolved by the Obama administration by letting most of them go, although that has encountered difficulties because few nations want to accept them on any terms. Even U.S. states have made it known they do not want them in their prisons. They are not, however, hostages. They are "enemy combatants" swept up in an "asymmetric war" where the enemy does not wear a uniform.
Clearly, hostage taking cannot be taken lightly. Much of the world depends on tourist travel and, for that, tourists need to be confident they will not be seized and/or killed. Even so, I doubt many tourists are visiting the Sudan or Somalia these days. Mexico is a hotbed of kidnappings, but they seem to leave the touristas alone for the most part. However, if you are making travel plans, you can feel confident visiting Switzerland or Vatican City.
Hostage taking is, of course, not a joking matter, but it has been so much a part of history that, unless you are a valuable bargaining chip for some nation or group, you can and should pretty much kiss your rear end goodbye if they grab you.
Don´t expect for it to end any time in your lifetime or beyond.
Ecosystems, marine environment, IUU fishing and dumping, ecology
Scientists´ Statement to the United Nations General Assembly regarding Progress made in Protecting Vulnerable Deep Sea Ecosystems [July 2009]
We the under‐signed marine scientists,
Recognizing previous statements made by scientists to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) highlighting concern regarding the damaging effects of bottom fishing on deep‐sea and high seas ecosystems, particularly coral and sponge communities as well as seamounts, including inter alia: Scientists´ Statement on Protecting the World´s Deep‐Sea Coral and Sponge Ecosystems, signed by 1452 scientists, submitted in 2006; and Statement of concern to the United Nations General Assembly regarding the risks to seamounts, cold‐water corals, and other vulnerable ecosystems of the deep‐sea, signed by 142 scientists and submitted in 2003;
Heartened by the steps taken by the UNGA to date to address this serious issue, particularly the 2006 Resolution 61/105 (see Annex 1, below), and the review this year of its implementation;
Encouraged by site‐specific fisheries closures taken to protect some vulnerable features in some regions, particularly the northeast Atlantic, northwest Atlantic, and southeast Pacific regions;
Encouraged also by some precautionary measures taken in the Southern Ocean, depth restrictions in the Mediterranean and northwest Atlantic, and the "frozen footprint" in the south Pacific;
Remain concerned nonetheless by the inadequate responses of flag states and regional fisheries management organisations (RFMOs) to the scientific requirements of UNGA Resolution 61/105 to protect vulnerable marine ecosystems (VMEs) from the effects of bottom fishing activities, namely:
83a) no comprehensive assessments of the effects of individual bottom fishing activities have occurred; effects of bottom fishing are well documented in the scientific literature, but they have not been taken into account and hence are not being managed to prevent significant adverse impacts;
83b) no comprehensive scientific assessments of VMEs have taken place in any region; and only limited steps have been taken to improve scientific research, data collection and sharing;
83c) most VMEs remain unprotected despite the availability of scientific information indicating their occurrence or likely occurrence; and, due to the lack of regional VME assessments, it is likely that those closures that have been adopted, though commendable, are insufficient;
83d) science‐based encounter rules have not yet been put in place to define an encounter with a VME and when fishing activities should stop; furthermore, for the northwest and northeast Atlantic, the provisional rule (100kg live corals or 1000kg live sponges) appears arbitrary, is not science‐based, and is so large as to undermine the goal of UN Resolution 61/105;
Therefore conclude that science‐based measures supporting §83 of UN Resolution 61/105 have not yet been implemented in the time provided, and therefore recommend that flag states and RFMOs cease to authorize fishing vessels to conduct bottom fisheries in areas beyond national jurisdiction (as per §86) until such time that UN Resolution 61/105, especially §83, is demonstratively implemented using the best available science.
Annex 1: paragraphs of the 2006 UN Res. 61/105 referred to in the above text
83. Calls upon regional fisheries management organizations or arrangements with the competence to regulate bottom fisheries to adopt and implement measures, in accordance with the precautionary approach, ecosystem approaches and international law, for their respective regulatory areas as a matter of priority, but not later than 31 December 2008:
(a) To assess, on the basis of the best available scientific information, whether individual bottom fishing activities would have significant adverse impacts on vulnerable marine ecosystems, and to ensure that if it is assessed that these activities would have significant adverse impacts, they are managed to prevent such impacts, or not authorized to proceed;
(b) To identify vulnerable marine ecosystems and determine whether bottom fishing activities would cause significant adverse impacts to such ecosystems and the long‐term sustainability of deep sea fish stocks, inter alia, by improving scientific research and data collection and sharing, and through new and exploratory fisheries;
(c) In respect of areas where vulnerable marine ecosystems, including seamounts, hydrothermal vents and cold water corals, are known to occur or are likely to occur based on the best available scientific information, to close such areas to bottom fishing and ensure that such activities do not proceed unless conservation and management measures have been established to prevent significant adverse impacts on vulnerable marine ecosystems;
(d) To require members of the regional fisheries management organizations or arrangements to require vessels flying their flag to cease bottom fishing activities in areas where, in the course of fishing operations, vulnerable marine ecosystems are encountered, and to report the encounter so that appropriate measures can be adopted in respect of the relevant site;
84. Also calls upon regional fisheries management organizations or arrangements with the competence to regulate bottom fisheries to make the measures adopted pursuant to paragraph 83 of the present resolution publicly available;
85. Calls upon those States participating in negotiations to establish a regional fisheries management organization or arrangement competent to regulate bottom fisheries to expedite such negotiations and, by no later than 31 December 2007, to adopt and implement interim measures consistent with paragraph 83 of the present resolution and make these measures publicly available;
86. Calls upon flag States to either adopt and implement measures in accordance with paragraph 83 of the present resolution, mutatis mutandis, or cease to authorize fishing vessels flying their flag to conduct bottom fisheries in areas beyond national jurisdiction where there is no regional fisheries management organization or arrangement with the competence to regulate such fisheries or interim measures in accordance with paragraph 85 of the present resolution, until measures are taken in accordance with paragraph 83 or 85 of the present resolution.
Signed by 177 outstanding scientists from Universities of five continents
Anti-piracy measures
Russian navy joins hunt for ship
Russia's navy has been deployed to find a ship reportedly hijacked three weeks ago in the Baltic Sea.
Up to five vessels - reported to include nuclear submarines - will be involved in the search for the Maltese-flagged Arctic Sea, the navy confirmed.
It has a 15-strong Russian crew and was reportedly taking timber worth $1.5m (£900,000) from Finland to Algeria when it was boarded by gunmen on 24 July.
The Arctic Sea was last sighted off the north coast of France on 30 July.
British authorities say the 4,000-tonne vessel may have been spotted subsequently by a Portuguese coastal patrol aircraft, but its current location remains unknown.
Maltese authorities have said it is unlikely to be in the Mediterranean.
Click here for a map charting sightings of the Arctic Sea
"It would appear that the ship has not approached the Straits of Gibraltar, which indicates that the ship is headed out into the Atlantic Ocean," the Malta Maritime Authority said in a statement.
The Portuguese Navy too has said that the missing cargo ship has not passed through Portuguese waters.
Massive search
Russian naval commander Adm Vladimir Vysotsky told Itar-Tass news agency that all Russian navy ships in the Atlantic had joined the search for the vessel. Operations will be centred on the patrol ship Ladny, which is part of Russia's Black Sea fleet.
UK authorities, which made contact with the Arctic Sea before it entered the busy shipping waters of the English channel, described the situation as "bizarre".
"Who would think that a hijacked ship could pass through one of the most policed and concentrated waters in the world?" said Mark Clark of the UK's Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA).
"There didn't seem anything suspicious when contact was made," he added. "It could well be that a crew member had a gun put to his head by a hijacker when contact was made."
The Finnish shipping line operating the ship reportedly said it was boarded by up to 10 armed men claiming to be anti-drugs police as it sailed through the Baltic Sea on 24 July.
But the intruders are reported to have left the vessel 12 hours later on an inflatable boat, and it is unclear who is in current command of the ship.
Commercial dispute?
The Arctic Sea had been scheduled to dock in the Algerian port of Bejaia on 4 August.
While world leaders have become increasingly concerned about pirates operating off the coast of Somalia, maritime experts suggest the case of the Arctic Sea reflects a different kind of piracy.
Nick Davis, who runs the private security firm Anti-Piracy Maritime Security Solutions, told the BBC that the relatively low value of the cargo suggested the ship's seizure may be the result of a "commercial dispute" in which one party had decided to "take matters into their own hands".
But he added: "Piracy is piracy - if someone's wanting to take that vessel, and they're not authorised, and they use a speedboat to go and get it, then it's no different to what the Somalis do."
Relatives of the Arctic Sea's 15 crew members - all of whom are said to come from the northern Russian port city of Arkhangelsk - have so far been unwilling to speak to the media.
No real peace in sight yet
Harakat Al-Shabab Mujahideen Says They Captured Weapon Sent to Two Rival Clan Militias in Central Somalia
Harakat Al-shabab Mujahideen officials have said on Thursday that they captured more weapons sent to two rival Somali clan militias who recently fought in central Somalia.
Sheik Ali Mohamud Raghe, the spokesman of Harakat Al-shabab Mujahideen held a press conference for the journalists on Thursday afternoon and said they captured more weapons including automatic and many heavy guns which the government and AMISOM troops sent to the warring clan militias who are fighting in parts of central Somalia.
Sheik Ali Mohamud said that the weapon and ammunition could only increase the level of the fighting between the Somali people who are fighting in central Somalia.
Asked about whether they will continue the fighting in the following holy Ramadan month, the spokesman of Harakat Al-shabab Mujahideen replied that they will redouble their fighting against the transitional government and AMISOM troops.
The statement of Harakat Al-shabab Mujahideen comes as there had been tensions between forces loyal to Harakat Al-shabab Mujahideen and Ahlu Sunna Waljama'a in parts of central Somalia in over the recent days.
Five Foreign Preachers Killed In Somalia
Three gunmen stormed a mosque in an eastern Somali town and killed five foreign Islamic preachers, according to witness accounts.
Ismail Mohamud Hassan said the gunmen stormed the mosque Wednesday in Galkayo and forced six Pakistani preachers and a Somali man out before shooting them.
He said five of the Pakistanis were killed and the other Pakistani and the Somali injured.
Another witness, Abdullahi Ali Nur, confirmed the account.
Officials at the Pakistan High Commission in neighboring Kenya, which is also responsible for tracking Somali affairs, were unavailable for comment.
It is not clear who is behind Wednesday's killing.
Islamist hardliners' approach to social order stuns Somalis
Islamist hardliners in southern Somalia who are fighting to topple the country's Transitional Federal Government (TFG) are increasingly reshaping their approach towards imposing a new social order in the war-torn Horn of Africa country.
Al Shabaab, an Islamist guerrilla group which the West accuses of having links to Al Qaeda, controls many regions and districts in south-central Somalia and is a dangerous presence on Mogadishu's streets.
In the coastal town of Marka, Al Shabaab members reportedly removed the golden tooth of a local resident, according to a Reuters report. READ: Somali Islamists pull teeth from "sinners" – residents.
Al Shabaab commanders have issued strict orders affecting the social life for the first time in Mogadishu, where the TFG and a 5,000-strong African Union peacekeeping force are facing off a relentless insurgency that has raged nonstop since early 2007.
Sheikh Ali Mohamed Hussein, the Al Shabaab head in Banadir region where Mogadishu is located, told a Monday press conference that businesses must shut down in observance of Muslim prayer times and women must wear the hijab.
"Women are required to wear the hijab, as this is an Islamic duty," Sheikh Ali said.
It is the first such order by Al Shabaab in Mogadishu, but the group has imposed similar rules in other key towns they control, including the southern port of Kismayo and the inland trade town of Baidoa.
In recent months, businesspeople who trade in the leafy narcotic khat have expressed frustration with Al Shabaab's orders to sell khat in the outskirts of main towns.
Supporters have suggested that limiting the import of khat into towns they control has had health benefits for locals.
Much of south-central Somalia has been embroiled in civil strife since the collapse of the country's last effective central government in 1991. The Islamists' rule has brought the semblance of order to areas under their control, gaining support among residents who were tired of the clan militias' endless infighting.
But the hardliners' imposition of strict rules upon local populations is increasingly aligning itself on a trajectory of confrontation with the public.
Impacting reports from the global village
DNA tests prove Toronto woman stranded in Kenya is who she claims by Diana Mehta (CP)
DNA tests have confirmed a Toronto woman marooned in Kenya really is who she says she is.
Somali-born Suaad Hagi Mohamud has been stuck in Nairobi for more than two months after she was told her lips did not match her passport photo when she tried to travel home.
Mohamud says she is glad the "nightmare is finally over."
Her Canadian lawyer Raoul Boulakia says the 99.9 per cent positive test results means no one can dispute his client's identity any longer.
Boulakia says he is bringing a motion asking the Federal Court to order the government to issue Mohamud an emergency passport to repatriate her back to Canada.
He says he hopes the Canadian government will ask Kenya to drop all charges against Mohamud, which include using another person's passport and being in Kenya illegally.
The charges were laid as a result of the Canadian government saying Mohamud was not who her passport said she was.
"I'm confident the Kenyan court will release her from her bond and let her travel once the Canadian government does that," said Boulakia.
Boulakia said the length of time it will take for Mohamud to touch down in Toronto depends on how soon the government takes action.
"They could get it done in a day or two if they felt like it," he said. "I don't know what they really will do."
Mohamud, 31, spent a month visiting her mother in Kenya and was on her way back to Canada when an officer stopped her at Nairobi airport May 21, saying she did not look like her four-year-old passport photo.
At the crux of the matter was the size of her lips.
After spending eight days in jail she was released on bail with no travel documents.
Canadian consular officials said she was an "impostor," voided her passport and sent the case to Kenyan authorities for prosecution.
As Mohamud showed various pieces of ID, volunteered fingerprints and garnered the attention of media across the country, the Canadian government maintained their stance that she was not the citizen she claimed to be.
Speaking from her hotel room in Nairobi, Mohamud said she was relieved the genetic testing had confirmed what she had been saying all along.
"They have to get ready to bring me back home," she said.
Mohamud said she longs to get back to Toronto and be with her 12-year-old son again.
"It's really hard," she said. "I won't be relaxed until I come home."
Canada footed the $800 bill for the genetic testing which compared Mohamud's DNA with that of her son.
Piracy impacts on Regional trade, says Kibaki
By George Chellah and Joseph Mwenda
Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki has said the problem of piracy off the coast of Somalia impacts on the regional and international trade and posses a great danger to the environment. And President Rupiah Banda, who is the incoming chairman of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) reaffirmed his government's continued support to the ICGLR process in the promotion of peace, security, democracy and good governance and the observance of good human rights.
Addressing the 3rd ordinary summit of the ICGLR at Lusaka's Mulungushi International Conference Centre (MICC) yesterday, President Kibaki described the security situation in Somalia as serious.
"A serious security situation still prevails in Somalia, related to this unresolved conflict is the problem of piracy off the coast of Somalia, which remains a matter of great concern. This is a matter of international concern as it impacts on the regional and international trade and posses a great danger to the environment," President Kibaki said.
He appealed to the international community to assume greater responsibility in Somalia.
"In order to ensure the emergence of a stable and democratic country," he said.
He reminded the delegates that they were gathered to review the progress that they had made since committing themselves to co-operate in promoting peace, security and development in the region.
"You will recall that we signed a pact on security, stability and development in the great lakes region during our last summit held in Nairobi, Kenya," he said.
President Kibaki said he was happy to observe that much progress had been made after most of the member states ratified the pact.
He said the ICGLR has made very encouraging progress.
"We are encouraged by the co-operation between the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda in addressing the issue of armed militia groups in Eastern DRC through their joint co-operations," he said.
He said the ICGLR was also encouraged by the renewed diplomatic relations between the DRC and Rwanda.
"We hope that lasting peace will soon be realized in the region," he said.
He said a look at the issue of human development portrayed a region faced by the most serious challenges of poverty, hunger, disease and environmental degradation.
President Kibaki said he believed that with sincere commitment on the part of all member states and with the spirit of togetherness they had a great chance of success.
President Kibaki who handed over the chairmanship to President Rupiah Banda expressed gratitude for the cooperation extended to him during his tenure as chairman.
And President Banda urged the ICGLR to continue recognizing the assistance rendered by the Africa Union and United Nations.
"The assistance rendered by the Africa Union, United Nations and the Group of Friends of the Great Lakes Region is something we all must recognize, without the involvement of these bodies, a number of achievements would not have been recorded."
"It is therefore, only befitting that we consolidate these efforts by ensuring that the gains we have made with their support continue to be sustained," Banda said.
"I wish to reaffirm my government's continued support to the ICGLR process in the promotion of peace, security, democracy and good governance and the observance of good human rights."
"Regarding the current peace and security situation in the region, I wish to state that the region continues to face many challenges," he said.
Banda described the disarmament and border security initiatives between Rwanda and Congo DR, which was done within the framework of the Nairobi CommuniquŽ as encouraging to the region.
"The cessation of hostilities in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo is a positive move towards the attainment of peace in the region which we must all continue to pursue with determination," said Banda.
Banda applauded Nigeria's former president General Olusegun Obasanjo and Tanzanian former leader Benjamin Mukapa for their commitments towards the normalization of the situation in the region.
Banda further said Zambia had found suitable accommodation for the regional centre for democracy, good governance and civic education.
"I am happy to inform you that Zambia has found suitable accommodation for the region for the regional centre of good governance and civic education. As Zambia this gives us a sense of humility that you ICGLR member states proposed that the regional centre be named "The Levy Patrick Mwanawasa Regional Centre for the promotion of democracy, good governance, Human Rights and Civic Education."
"We indeed appreciate your thoughtfulness in bestowing this honour on our late president.
And special envoy of the Secretary General on the Great Lakes region and former Nigerian president General Olusegun Obasanjo said he was glad that tension in the Great Lakes Region had eased in the past year.
General Obasanjo welcomed last week's summit between President Joseph Kabila of Congo DR and Rwanda's leader Paul Kagame.
"I commend both leaders' commitment to promote peace and stability in the Great Lakes region," he said. "This is no doubt a result of the collective efforts of the two countries and the region."
He said the meeting between the two leaders was an example of how the International Conference of the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) could serve effective instrument for change.
He further observed that the Great Lakes Region was still faced with profound security, humanitarian, developmental and environmental challenges.
And in his message to the (ICGLR) read for him by Ambassador Ahmed Haggag, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said his country attached particular importance to the attainment of peace and stability in the Great Lakes region.
"This emanates not only from the geographical proximity, cultural bonds, but also from the Nile River that creates a life line binding the history and destiny of our peoples."
"Our endeavours in achieving real peace within this region should aim at formulating wider mutal confidence and practical capacity building programs.
"It should also include coordinating policies of disarmament and reintegration of ex-combatants in the society, in addition to programs of repatriation of refugees and internally displaced persons."
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete, former Tanzanian president Benjamin Mukapa and Central African Republic Prime Minister Faustin-Archange Touadera were among the several dignitaries that attended the summit.
On the stony road you walk alone, once you achieved to tarmac it you are run over by piggy-backers and their vassals.
Somali Canadian to get out of Kenya by Zoe Alsop, Special to The Globe and Mail
Suaad Hagi Mohamud - Stranded by passport photo confusion, Suaad Mohamud has spent more than two months fighting to return home.
Suaad Hagi Mohamud should be dancing for joy. After 21/2 months of seedy hotel living, court dates, fingerprint tests, facial analyses, time in one of Kenya's more notorious jails, and, finally, a DNA test, the Toronto woman on trial in Kenya because Canadian officials mistakenly labelled her an imposter will be free this week to return home, according to her Toronto lawyer.
It has been a victory for friends, lawyers, Somali supporters and human rights activists, who have striven for weeks to win her passage back to her home and 12-year-old son in Toronto.
For now, though, it seems she will have to celebrate the bureaucratic way – by filling out more forms. For Ms. Mohamud, 31, it was, at least, better than more drama.
"They told me to file my passport application," she said Wednesday, explaining that the application would be used to secure an emergency travel document. "Somehow it was a relief."
When an official at the Canadian high commission in Nairobi called yesterday afternoon bidding her to hurry to an appointment, her supporters hoped for swift action to affirm her Canadian citizenship and her legal status in Kenya. Most of all they hoped for an apology. They didn't get either.
"Whatever they did is really a big mistake," she said. "I was afraid for my own life. I'm here telling them I am really a Canadian citizen. I feel like a prisoner of war with no blanket, no nothing."
Instead, a meeting is scheduled for Friday morning local time where, Ms. Mohamud has been informed, she will be officially cleared of all legal proceedings against her.
"The Kenyans were prosecuting her because Canada asked for her to be prosecuted," said Raoul Boulakia, her Toronto lawyer. "As soon as Canada tells Kenya, ´Oh, we made a mistake,' Kenya is happy to let her go. They don't want to be holding Canadian citizens in jail in Kenya. Canadian tourists go to Kenya. This isn't good for Kenya."
Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty sided with Ms. Mohamud yesterday, arguing, "something is fundamentally wrong when we can't count on the Canadian government to stand up for Canadians.
"Canadians expect their government to help them when they're in distress, no matter where they are," he added. "That didn't happen in this particular circumstance, and there's no excuse for that."
Ms. Mohamud has been stranded in Kenya, where she was visiting her mother, ever since May 21st , when a Kenyan airline official said she didn't look enough like a passport photo taken four years ago: her cheekbones were too pronounced, and her lips were too big.
After studying the 12 additional forms of identification Ms. Mohamud presented them with, including a driver's licence and government health card, Canadian consular officials agreed.
Back in Canada, their counterparts spoke to her son. Later he told his mom:
"They started saying, ´where is your mom? That is not your mom,'" she reported.
The Canadian high commission in Nairobi punched a hole through the passport and returned it to Kenyan immigration officials with a letter confirming that the woman who claimed to be Suaad Hagi Mohamud was an imposter.
Instead of sending her to prison, the Kenyans released her, giving her a week to sort things out with her government. The high commission, though, had made up its mind, refusing Ms. Mohamud's entreaties to take her fingerprints and get back in touch with her family, friends and colleagues in Toronto to follow up on initial interviews done from Ontario.
"I have been begging them in the high commission at least to contact my friends and my family," she said. "I give them even my son's phone number, my uncle's phone number and nobody called. I gave the number for my family back there, my work number and nobody ever called."
Ms. Mohamud was charged by the Kenyan government with travelling using false documents and of being in the country illegally. She was sent to await trial in Langata Women's Prison, where she was treated like just about any other inmate.
"The prison is horrible place to be," she said. "They only give one meal. Besides that, the water is not clean: if you ask the guards to buy a bottle, they charge double. They are not going to be friendly with you. They see you as just like the rest of the people. They see they can get what they want from you."
After eight days, Ms. Mohamud's mother and friends managed to cobble together enough cash to cover her $2,600 bail.
Released, she found herself consigned to a legal no man's land.
Without her passport, she had no Kenyan visa. Without a replacement document from the Canadians, there was nowhere for immigration to put a visa. She couldn't go home. But she also couldn't stay. At any moment she could be picked up by Kenyan police.
"It happens so many times, they check Somalis," she said. "If I don't have a visa, they have a right to put me in jail. Always whenever I go out, I have to take some money and I ask someone to go with me. I don't want to go through again what I have been through."
Now, with the DNA test showing a 99.99 per cent match with her son, Mohamed Hussein, it seems her predicament could end as soon as Friday.
"Kenyan immigration contacted her lawyer in Nairobi and gave him an appointment for Friday at 10 o'clock their time," Mr. Boulakia said. "And they said that on Friday at 10 o'clock, they will clear everything up. They will dispose of whatever is before the court. So based on that, I believe that she can be in a position to travel back to Canada Friday night."
Foreign Affairs spokesperson Emma Welford confirmed the Friday meeting and said that travel arrangements will be made as soon as the Kenyan charges are dropped.
There's one problem, though. After waiting for so long, Ms. Mohamud feels like she's now being pushed out too quickly. She doesn't think she will be ready to leave until next week. Once her case has been cleared, she is determined to collect bail and repay her friends before she leaves.
"I have to get that money back," she said. "They just leave me here for three months and now they come rushing like go, go, go. I have lot of things to take care of."
Canada ignores desperate Mohamud — again
Suaad Hagi Mohamud gave all kinds of ID, but was declared an "imposter."
By John Goddard / TorontoStar
Passport photo puts woman behind bars.
Canadian woman remains stuck in Kenya — and at risk on several fronts — while Canadian high commission goes through the process of issuing identification, travel papers
Canada's indifference toward Suaad Hagi Mohamud surfaced again today with officials denying her request for identification papers and other help.
"I've got nothing," she said by phone from Nairobi, Kenya, two days after DNA tests validated identity claims she had been making for nearly three months.
Her situation is desperate, she says.
With nothing to show she is in Kenya legally after Canada voided her Canadian passport on May 22 — and her Kenyan visitor's visa — she remains vulnerable to arrest and jail by Kenyan authorities, she said.
For weeks, she has been holed up under 24-hour guard paid for by a non-governmental charity, Ecoterra International, in fear for her safety.
Today's experience at the Candian high commission put her no further ahead, a friend helping Mohamud, who asked not to be named, said by phone from Nairobi.
Mohamud sat next to him as he spoke and afterward confirmed the details.
"(The Canadian high commission) called this afternoon saying she had to come," the friend said, meaning the high commission turned down her request to send somebody to her.
"I had to drive her myself because her lawyer was not available."
When they arrived, a consular official on the job for three weeks was assigned to the case. He appeared to have no authority and appeared to be acting from a script, the witness said.
Mohamud filled out forms and had her picture taken.
Asked if he might issue identification papers or some type of laissez-passer, the consular official said no. Mohamud would be issued travel papers but only on the day she leaves the country, the official said.
Mohamud remains stuck in Kenya until the Kenyans drop unfounded charges against her. The charges were prompted by the Canadian high commission's May 28 conclusions about her that she was misrepresenting herself — conclusions now proved false.
In Toronto, lawyer Raoul Boulakia has filed a motion in federal court trying to force Ottawa to ask the Kenyans to drop the charges. His case is to be heard tomorrow.
Kenyan bail money remains another outstanding matter. In June, Mohamud's mother put up $2,500 (U.S.) to get Mohamud out of a Kenyan jail after eight days.
Asked whether Canada might forward Mohamud the money and get it from the Kenyans later, the Canadian consular said no - she must stay until Kenyan authorities pay back the money.
"Usually, the Kenyans don't like to pay back bail very quickly," the witness said.
Even packing for her trip home could be a problem, Mohamud said.
During her nearly three-month ordeal, she at one point rented a room in a Nairobi slum. When she couldn't meet the rent, the landlord seized her luggage.
To retrieve it, she will have to pay the back rent but the Canadian high commission refused a request to help, the witness said.
In Ottawa, a foreign affairs spokesperson would say only: "There are several steps that need to be gone through before a travel document can be issued."
Australia: Media promotes sensationalised "terror" claims by Mike Head
Despite scant police evidence, the Australian media has universally depicted five Muslim men arrested on August 4 in the course of extensive police raids as guilty of an extraordinary plot to attack an army base. For days on end, the public has been fed hysterical headlines, such as "Somali extremists on a ´fatwa order´ from God," assisting the security agencies and the Labor government of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to whip up fresh fears of terrorism.
Five Lebanese- and Somali-born men have been charged with offences under the country´s sweeping anti-terror laws, including "conspiring to prepare for a terrorist act". Police allege the men planned to storm the Holsworthy army base in southwestern Sydney with automatic weapons in a suicide mission, seeking to kill as many military personnel as possible before they themselves were killed.
However, while police commanders and the media both claimed that an attack on the base was imminent, the police raids reportedly found no guns, let alone automatic weapons. Moreover, the man accused of paying a visit to the Holsworthy base in March, Wissam Mahmoud Fattal, had been in police custody since April 1, on unrelated assault charges.
Apart from "conspiracy"—a notoriously vague charge that requires no proof of any actual conduct, only conversations—two of the men are charged with either "preparing" to travel to Somalia, their homeland, or helping another man travel there to "engage in hostile activities". Under the draconian anti-terror laws introduced since 2001, it is a crime to support activities directed against any foreign government as well as against federal or state Australian governments.
When he appeared in court to be charged, Fattal angrily denied the allegations.
"You call us terrorists. That´s not true. I´ve never killed anyone in my life," he declared. Instead he accused the Australian army of killing "innocent people in Afghanistan and Iraq" and said Israel had taken land by force from the Palestinians. All five men have been denied bail and will not re-appear in court until October 26.
Heavily-armed members of the 400-strong federal-state police and intelligence taskforce raided additional homes across Melbourne´s working class suburbs on August 5, bringing the total to more than 22, yet no new arrests were reported. Meanwhile, more sensational claims appeared in newspapers, all attributed to unnamed police sources.
In the Australian, associate editor Cameron Stewart reported that police believed one of the arrested men had been seen near another military base, at Puckapunyal, north of Melbourne. This claim was featured throughout the media—even though the police admitted that the evidence would not be taken to court because they were "unable to prove the visit had sinister overtones".
According to another story by Stewart, "police believe members of an alleged Melbourne terror cell have been providing funding to the militant extremist group al-Shabaab in Somalia". This allegation will not be tested in court either. Stewart conceded that "the amounts involved were small and convictions would be difficult to obtain, given that al-Shabaab is not listed in Australia as a terrorist organisation."
In fact, Al-Shabaab is an insurgent movement that controls parts of Somalia and is widely regarded by Somalis as a legitimate resistance force against the US-backed invasion, led by the Ethiopian military in December 2006 (see: Somali-Americans subjected to first Obama "terror" prosecution).
The leaking of unsubstantiated police claims, customary during the former Howard government´s "anti-terror" operations, has marked this one from the outset. The August 4 dawn raids were timed to fit with a front-page "exclusive" prepared by Stewart, who had been supplied in advance with detailed information about the operation and the allegations against the men.
The Murdoch newspapers have been in the forefront of the media campaign. In its August 5 editorial, the Melbourne Herald Sun tabloid declared: "The threat of terror that lives among us, allegedly in Melbourne´s suburban streets, underlines the need to keep our troops in Afghanistan. Terrorism is without borders." The editorial denounced as "misguided" growing opposition to the Labor government´s increased commitment to the US-led occupation of Afghanistan.
The "liberal" Fairfax press was equally adamant. The August 6 editorial of the Age stated: "The alleged plot, involving men of Somali and Lebanese origin, to launch a suicide attack on an Australian Army base was foiled by the prompt concerted action of ASIO, the Australian Federal Police and the Victoria Police ... Australia´s intelligence and law-enforcement services showed themselves able to identify an apparent terrorist threat and respond to it appropriately." The Age urged its readers to now realise that "nowhere on the planet is immune from the threat of terrorism".
The unanimity of the media coverage is a warning of the lack of support within the political establishment for the defence of even the most basic legal and democratic rights, including the presumption of innocence. Only Somali community leaders, friends of the arrested men and a few lawyers spoke out against the witch-hunt.
Abdurrahman Oman, a leader of Melbourne's 15,000-strong Somali community, asked journalists: "What do you call waking people up at four in the morning with guns? It is the police themselves that are the terrorists. They had 400 police and 19 raids, but they did not find anything. No guns, no ammunition, nothing. Now we have our kids being called terrorists at school."
Maxxam, a 21-year-old Sunshine woman who knows the family of one of the arrested men, Nayef El Spayed, said: "As a Somali-born Australian I am outraged at these raids not only because my fellow Somalis are being targeted, but once again basic human rights are being violated." Nayef El Sayed´s lawyer, Anthony Brand, said the publicity surrounding the case had the potential to corrupt any future trial. "I think if you did a straw poll, most people would think they [those arrested] are guilty," he said.
Stephen Keim SC, the barrister who represented Indian-born Dr Mohamed Haneef, whose frameup on terrorist charges collapsed spectacularly under the Howard government in 2007, said the leaking of police intelligence smacked of the operation against Haneef. The federal police appeared to be "rushing" to claim early credit and win public support for the arrests. "I think there are also parallels in terms of the risk to a fair trial," Keim commented.
Just as Howard did in Haneef´s case, Rudd called a media conference on the day of the police raids to ramp up fears of terrorism, claiming that it was "an enduring threat," both at home and overseas. His motivation was the same: to try to stem hostility to the governments criminal collaboration with the US war on Afghanistan and Pakistan and to create yet another pretext for further strengthening its police-state powers.
Just two weeks ago, the Labor government foreshadowed new measures to outlaw "incitement" of political violence. Within days of the latest arrests, a Rudd government adviser called for the military´s electronic eavesdropping agency, the Defence Signals Directorate (DSD), to be given the power to spy on Australians at home or abroad. According to the Australian, Professor Ross Babbage´s proposal is backed by "senior government officials in Canberra".
This plan would give the military an unprecedented role in civilian affairs, with a powerful and sophisticated capacity to listen into domestic phone calls and telecommunications. The DSD is part of a worldwide web of military surveillance, partnered with the American National Security Agency (NSA) in the US and the General Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) in Britain.
Under the Intelligence Services Act, the DSD is barred from collecting internal intelligence on Australians unless authorised by the defence minister. It is known to have been used in 2001 when the Howard government turned away the Tampa, a Norwegian container ship carrying more than 400 refugees. The DSD reportedly bugged the ship's captain Arne Rinnan, talking to his Australian lawyers, as part of the government's efforts to block the refugees from exercising their legal right to apply for asylum. The DSD was also mobilised during the failed witch-hunt against Haneef. Last December´s Clarke report into the Haneef affair revealed that the DSD answered 71 requests to intercept the young doctor´s telecommunications.
Dozens' killed in Yemen fighting
Clashes between government troops and Shia fighters in northern Yemen have reportedly left dozens of people dead, as conflict in the country escalates.
Troops backed by tanks and aircraft attacked rebels near the border with Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, a day after the government vowed it would strike at Houthi fighters with an "iron fist".
Mohammed al-Qadhi, the foreign correspondent for Abu Dhabi's The National newspaper, told Al Jazeera there were reports of "tens or dozens killed and injured".
He said: "They're launching an all-out war right now and we've heard reports from Saada that the military is using planes to attack the strongholds of the rebels and many people are fleeing.
"There have been reports that the human situation is going very critical as so many people have left their houses, and this has added pressure to the camps of refugees."
Mushrooming cancer'
There are concerns fighting in Yemen could spill over into a regional conflict.
Hussein Shobokshi, a columnist for Asharq Alawsat, told Al Jazeera there were many factors for regional players to worry about.
He said the US, which has been worried about al-Qaeda activity in Yemen, "did not pay attention to what was happening in Yemen or at the same time what's developing in Somalia".
"The region as a whole is looking at a mushrooming cancer in both these countries, and things are slowly but surely getting out of hand.
"Attention by the region needs to take place immediately. The Omanis, the Saudis, the Yemenis need to put a collective effort, because there is a likelihood that a spillover effect could take place."
Government forces fired missiles on the headquarters of Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, the fighter's leader, in mountainous Saada province on Wednesday, tribal sources and fighters said.
They told Al Jazeera that the army had launched air, artillery and missile attacks on the Malaheedh, Mahadher, Khafji and Hasama districts.
A statement from the Yemen's Supreme Security Committee said: "The state will strike these elements ... with an iron fist until they surrender themselves to justice."
Saudi concerns
The five-year-old battle between Yemen's Sunni-led government against the Shia Muslim Houthi fighters is one of a widening series of conflicts threatening to destabilise the country.
Yemen, one of the poorest Arab countries, is also combating a wave of al-Qaeda attacks and rising secessionist sentiment in the south.
Officials say the Houthi fighters, who belong to the Zaydi branch of Shia Islam, want to restore a form of clerical rule prevalent until the 1960s in Yemen when it was overthrown in a military coup.
A government committee criticised the fighters for not abiding by an agreement to end hostilities announced by Ali Abdullah al-Saleh, the Yemeni president, in July 2008.
The stability of Yemen is a crucial concern for both Saudi Arabia, which shares a border with Yemen, and the US.
Riyadh fears the conflict could make the kingdom's own Shia tribes directly across the border more restive.
We do not send pictures with these reports, because of the volume, but picture this emetic scene with your inner eye:
A dying Somali child in the macerated arms of her mother besides their bombed shelter with Islamic graffiti looks at a fat trader, who discusses with a local militia chief and a UN representative at a harbour while USAID provided GM food from subsidised production is off-loaded by WFP into the hands of local "distributors" and dealers - and in the background a western warship and a foreign fishing trawler ply the waters of a once sovereign, prosper and proud nation, which was a role model for honesty and development in the Horn of Africa. (If you feel that this is overdrawn - come with us into Somalia and see the even more cruel reality yourself!)
There is no limit to what a person can do or how far one can go to help - if one doesn't mind who gets the credit !
ECOTERRA Intl. maintains a register for persons missing or abducted in the Somali seas (Foreign seafarers as well as Somalis). Inquiries by family member can be sent by e-mail to office[at]ecoterra-international.org
For families of presently captive seafarers - in order to advise and console their worries - ECOTERRA Intl. can establish contacts with professional seafarers, who had been abducted in Somalia, and their wives as well as of a Captain of a sea-jacked and released ship, who agreed to be addressed "with questions, and we will answer truthfully".
ECOTERRA - ALERTS and pending issues:
PIRATE ATTACK GULF OF ADEN: Advice on Who to Contact and What to Do http://www.noonsite.com/Members/sue/R2008-09-08-2
NATURAL RESOURCES & ARMED FISH POACHERS: Foreign navies entering the 200nm EEZ of Somalia and foreign helicopters and troops must respect the fact that especially all wildlife is protected by Somali national as well as by international laws and that the protection of the marine resources of Somalia from illegally fishing foreign vessels should be an integral part of the anti-piracy operations. Likewise the navies must adhere to international standards and not pollute the coastal waters with oil, ballast water or waste from their own ships but help Somalia to fight against any dumping of any waste (incl. diluted, toxic or nuclear waste). So far and though the AU as well as the UN has called since long on other nations to respect the 200 nm EEZ, only now the two countries (Spain and France) to which the most notorious vessels and fleets are linked have come up with a declaration that they will respect the 200 nm EEZ of Somalia but so far not any of the navies operating in the area pledged to stand against illegal fishing. So far not a single illegal fishing vessel has been detained by the naval forces, though they had been even informed about several actual cases, where an intervention would have been possible. Illegally operating Tuna fishing vessels (many from South Korea, some from Greece and China) carry now armed personnel and force their way into the Somali fishing grounds - uncontrolled or even protected by the naval forces mandated to guard the Somali waters against any criminal activity, which included arms carried by foreign fishing vessels in Somali waters.
LLWs / NLWs: According to recently leaked information the anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden are also used as a cover-up for the live testing of recently developed arsenals of so called non-lethal as well as sub-lethal weapons systems. (Pls request details) Neither the Navies nor the UN has come up with any code of conduct in this respect, while the Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Program (JNLWP) is sponsoring several service-led acquisition programs, including the VLAD, Joint Integration Program, and Improved Flash Bang Grenade. Alredy in use in Somalia are so called Non-lethal optical distractors, which are visible laser devices that have reversible optical effects. These types of non-blinding laser devices use highly directional optical energy. Somalia is also a testing ground for the further developments of the Active Denial System (ADS) Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration (ACTD). If new developments using millimeter wave sources that will help minimize the size, weight, and system cost of an effective Active Denial System which provides "ADS-ACTD-like" repel effects, are used has not yet been revealed. Obviously not only the US is developing and using these kind of weapons as the case of MV MARATHON showed, where a Spanish naval vessel was using optical lasers - the stand-off was then broken by the killing of one of the hostage seafarers. Local observers also claim that HEMI devices, producing Human Electro-Muscular Incapacitation (HEMI) Bioeffects, have been used in the Gulf of Aden against Somalis. Exposure to HEMI devices, which can be understood as a stun-gun shot at an individual over a larger distance, causes muscle contractions that temporarily disable an individual. Research efforts are underway to develop a longer-duration of this effect than is currently available. The live tests are apparently done without that science understands yet the effects of HEMI electrical waveforms on a human body.
ECOTERRA Intl., whose work does focus on nature- and human-rights-protection and - as the last international environmental organization still working in Somalia - had alerted ship-owners since 1992, many of whom were fishing illegally in the 200 nm Exclusive Economic Zone, to stay away from Somali waters. The non-governmental organization had requested the international community many times for help to protect the coastal waters of the war-torn state, but now lawlessness has seriously increased and gone out of hand.
ECOTERRA members with marine and maritime expertise, joined by it's ECOP-marine group, are closely and continuously monitoring and advising on the Somali situation. (for previous information concerning the topics please google keywords ECOTERRA (and) SOMALIA)
The network of the SEAFARERS ASSISTANCE PROGRAMME helped significantly in most sea-jack cases. ECOTERRA Intl. is working in Somalia since 1986 on human-rights and nature protection, while ECOP-marine concentrates on illegal fishing and the protection of the marine ecosystems. Your support counts too.
Please consider to contribute to the work of SAP, ECOP-marine and ECOTERRA Intl. Please donate to the defence fund.
Contact us for details concerning project-sponsorship or donations via e-mail: ecotrust[at]ecoterra.net
Kindly note that all the information above is distributed under and is subject to a license under the Creative Commons Attribution.
To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/uk/
Send your genuine articles or networked information please to: mailhub[at]ecoterra.net
Pls cite ECOTERRA Intl. - www.ecoterra-international.org as source for onward publications, where no other source is quoted.
Press Contacts:
ECOP-marine
East-Africa
254-714-747090
marine[at]ecop.info
www.ecop.info
ECOTERRA Intl.
Nairobi Node
africanode[at]ecoterra.net
254-733-633-733
EA Seafarers Assistance Programme
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254-722-613858
254-733-385868
sap[at]ecoterra.net
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