Overseas news archive

29.04.2005 It looks increasingly as though the folly of the Iraq war will condemn Tony Blair to an early retirement. Meanwhile his comrade-in-arms sits comfortably in the White House. On the anniversary of the publication of the Abu Ghraib photographs, Amnesty expresses frustration that only the lowest ranks of the US military have been charged for the torture crimes.

29.04.2005 A new report from a coalition of UK campaigners presents evidence that British American Tobacco (BAT) co-sponsored a pan-African aids conference with the ulterior motive of undermining support for the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

29.04.2005 The appeal process of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) has ruled that European sugar subsidies are illegal. In rare approval from fair trade campaigners, Oxfam says this decision is a milestone in the fight against the double standards of rich countries.

29.04.2005 Charities are occasionally regarded as fair game for tabloid journalists. In this case of a volunteer accused of child trafficking in Montenegro, it took 15 months before the Sunday Mirror lost the defamation claim and apologised.

28.04.2005 Who would have believed the US government to be capable of redirecting the Iraq reconstruction budget from US to Iraqi companies? The U-turn of the year is apparently the result of poor performance and continuing security problems.

28.04.2005 Belarus has been condemned by the US as an "outpost of tyranny". Amnesty's investigations disclose more specific examples of repression, concluding that civil society is on the verge of enforced closure.

27.04.2005 Is it possible to define the impact of business activities on human rights and set minimum standards? The UN is now mandated to appoint a special representative to find the answers, despite opposition from the United States.

27.04.2005 More useful data obtained through the Freedom of Information Act - the value of infrastructure projects in Palestine funded by European and UK taxpayers which end up as rubble thanks to the Israeli military.

27.04.2005 Leading overseas development charity Save the Children has announced a programme of decentralisation of its international operations which will reduce the size of its Head Office in London. Director General Mike Aaronson is to leave the organisation.

26.04.2005 In a scenario that may recur in Iraq, President Karzai has blamed inefficient NGOs for the slow pace of reconstruction in Afghanistan and proposes that more aid should be channelled through the government. In response, Ockenden International suggests that there may be confusion between humanitarian, military, and commercial activities in the country.

25.04.2005 How often have you heard UK politicians claim that new legislation is required to comply with European or international law? A new project sets out to demonstrate how national governments conspire to "launder" unpopular policies through international bodies.

25.04.2005 Under threat of reform by Kofi Annan, the UN Commission on Human Rights has defied its record and taken some bold initiatives in the 2005 session recently concluded.

25.04.2005 The deteriorating political situation in Nepal offers no favours to endangered species. As military protection of national parks is diverted, the poachers regain the upper hand, with inevitable consequences for the rhino population.

25.04.2005 The International Criminal Tribunal in The Hague can progress only as and when the blood pressure of Slobodan Milosevic permits. Efforts to overcome delays have been thwarted by a defence witness who refuses to give evidence in the absence of his former boss.

22.04.2005 The new Pope may create predicaments for journalists in North Amercia and Europe, torn between professional respect for religions and concern that the power of the catholic church extends its influence into political territory.

22.04.2005 China rightly gets the blame for importing illegal timber from Indonesia. But there should be greater awareness that the finished goods often end up in houses in Canada and the US. Campaigners are calling for new laws in those countries.

22.04.2005 World Bank mega-projects continue to fail through inadequate consideration of local people. This $1 billion drainage infrastructure programme for the Indus basin in Pakistan has caused so much human and environmental dislocation that local communities are threatening to dismantle the work.

21.04.2005 Forced to flee the country under Taliban rule, Habiba Sorabi has returned to become the first female provincial governor in Afghanistan. She concedes that much remains to be done to improve the rights of Afghan women.

20.04.2005 Black market sales, dodgy fuel guages, illicit pipeline taps, smuggling and tanker hijacks - it's a miracle that Iraq is able to lay claim to any of its most important economic asset. Sacking hundreds of staff at the oil ministry is a first step to overcoming inherent corruption.

20.04.2005 The UN Commission on Human Rights has identified a pressing need for international monitoring of the protection of human rights in the face of counter-terrorism measures. No surprise that the US is leading efforts to block the proposal.