Al-Ahram Weekly | International

		Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 7 -13 December 2000 Issue No.511
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Recognising oppression
HUNDREDS of thousands of Australians took to the streets in state capitals on Sunday in a tremendous show of support for the rights of the country's Aborigines, or indigenous pop-lation. Aborigines now make up a small minority of the country's population and are among the most underprivileged and marginal-sed. International pressure has raised aware-ess of racial discrimination in Australia and the country was recently criticised by both the aid organisation Oxfam and a UN human rights committee. Protesters called for a formal rec-gnition of Aboriginal oppression and an of-icial reconciliation. But the country's Prime Minister John Howard was conspicuously ab-ent from the event, having stubbornly refused to apologise for injustices against Aborigines from the times of his forefathers. Howard should take his cue from US President Bill Clinton, who has made presenting formal apol-gies for US actions before his time a favourite pastime, often travelling the world to do so.
A piece of the pie
A POORLY managed and blatantly brutal secession by East Timor from Indonesian rule last year, followed by international scorn, was apparently not enough of a lesson for Jakarta. The sprawling south-east Asian island nation seems ready to make the same repressive mis-akes with pro-independence movements in the troubled provinces of Irian Jaya and Aceh. Last week, the Indonesian government round-d up separatist leaders in Irian Jaya ahead of the 1 December anniversary of Irian Jaya's 39-year-old unilateral declaration of in-ependence by tribal chiefs. A special force of 1,000 troops prowled the capital, Jayapura, to police the rally, but the event went off without bloodshed. In two smaller towns, however, clashes with police over the independence movement's flag resulted in a reported nine deaths. Separatists are apparently taking their cue from the success of East Timor, but East Timor's independence came at a bloody price, and Indonesia seems determined to keep the profitable regions in tow. In an effort to stave off clashes on Monday, when the Free Aceh rebel movement celebrated its 24th birthday, it was announced that province will be al-owed to install Shari'a law.
Pinochet pursued
THESE are bad times for General Augusto Pi-ochet. For years, it seems, the former iron-fisted Chilean dictator has done nothing but submit to tests proving his insanity. After a year-and-a-half battle with the British courts, Pinochet was released from custody in Oc-ober 1998 on the grounds that he was unfit to stand trial for crimes allegedly committed during his 17-year rule. Chileans -- more than 3,000 of whom went missing during Pi-ochet's rule -- were not satisfied with the pronouncement. Having narrowly escaped ex-radition to Spain, a visibly elated Pinochet re-urned to Chile this year to a warm military welcome. But in a swift act of long-awaited retribution this August, the Chilean Supreme Court stripped the former coup leader of his senatorial immunity. Pinochet's legal team was nonetheless caught by surprise on Friday when Judge Juan Guzman decided to jump the gun and order Pinochet under house arrest, rather than wait to see the results of his medical tests. If he stands trial, Pinochet will face charges of kidnapping and murder in re-ation to the so-called Caravan of Death that followed his 1973 coup.
A piece of the pie
A POORLY managed and blatantly brutal secession by East Timor from Indonesian rule last year, followed by international scorn, was apparently not enough of a lesson for Jakarta. The sprawling south-east Asian island nation seems ready to make the same repressive mis-akes with pro-independence movements in the troubled provinces of Irian Jaya and Aceh. Last week, the Indonesian government round-d up separatist leaders in Irian Jaya ahead of the 1 December anniversary of Irian Jaya's 39-year-old unilateral declaration of in-ependence by tribal chiefs. A special force of 1,000 troops prowled the capital, Jayapura, to police the rally, but the event went off without bloodshed. In two smaller towns, however, clashes with police over the independence movement's flag resulted in a reported nine deaths. Separatists are apparently taking their cue from the success of East Timor, but East Timor's independence came at a bloody price, and Indonesia seems determined to keep the profitable regions in tow. In an effort to stave off clashes on Monday, when the Free Aceh rebel movement celebrated its 24th birthday, it was announced that province will be al-owed to install Shari'a law.
The four-minute lesson
RACE relations were on view this week as the murder of 10-year-old Damilola Taylor, a Ni-erian boy living in a south London housing es-ate, laid bare social ills that new Labour would rather have kept safely tucked away. The issues of racial discrimination, immigrant poverty and violence in urban slums have all tumbled into the spotlight in the grisly aftermath of the boy's death. Church services were held in south Lon-on on Sunday to grieve for Damilola and to denounce racism and alleviate endemic fear in the area. The boy was seen at 4.45pm last Monday by a neighbour walking home from school. He was found by a group of builders only four minutes later, unconscious and bleeding from a stab wound in a stairwell near his home. The area is known for its high crime-rate and gang violence -- a result, residents claim, of an ambitious but poorly-executed government project to clean up the area.
AVictory lap
AFTER being sworn in on Friday as the first non-PRI (Institutional Revolutionary Party) president in 71 years, new Mexican President Vicente Fox set out on a three-day tour of the country to bask in the glow of his unexpected success. Fox, a former Coca-Cola executive, toppled the ruling PRI in the country's sensa-ional July elections and Mexico's down-rodden have been euphoric ever since. The new president has made indigenous Indian rights and poverty his top priority, but some people are unconvinced by his populist mes-age -- most notably old ruling party cronies, many of whom are still sitting in Congress.
No sooner had Fox finished his inauguration speech than an angry new faction of the guer-illa group the Popular Revolutionary Army was making noises about fighting for the "rev-lutionary transformation of society." But Mexico's more high-profile guerrilla move-ent for greater Indian rights, the Zapatistas, seem on their way to a reconciliation with Fox. The country's poor, likewise, are at least hopeful that Fox's programmes will translate into a change for the better.
Sweet relief
THE NETHERLANDS, having entrenched it-elf as the seat of international justice and also known for its liberal policies, made con-roversial waves last week when the Dutch parliament overwhelmingly voted to pass a bill that will legalise euthanasia. International organisations against mercy killings were hor-ified to see their cause so endangered and de-ounced the decision. But for the many doctors who have been performing the service in spite of current laws, the bill is long overdue.
Not surprisingly, the law imposes strict re-trictions on each case, but inevitably the judge-ent of whether a patient is suffering "unbearable and unremitting pain" lies with the very doctors who have probably been performing the practice for years. The patient must have asked repeatedly for help to die and another doctor must confirm the patient's terminal state. If the Senate approves the bill -- as it is widely expected to do -- The Netherlands will be the first country to legalise euthanasia.
Compiled by Nyier Abdou

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