22 - 28 February 2001
Issue No.522
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 22 - 28 February 2001 Issue No.522 |
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Sore loser
HOPING to escape prosecution for corruption on a legal technicality, ousted Philippine President Joseph Estrada has launched a case with the country's Supreme Court to declare the presidency of his former Vice-President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo invalid. Claiming that he never officially resigned, Estrada maintains that he is still the legitimate president. Arroyo was sworn in as president on 20 January following mass protests calling for Estrada's resignation and high-profile defections during the country's first impeachment proceedings.
Pro-Estrada demonstrators assembled outside the courthouse last Thursday for the unusual case. Estrada's lawyer Rene Saguisag has admitted it will be "an uphill battle" to discredit Arroyo but this seems like a gross understatement given that it was the Supreme Court itself that declared the presidency vacant, clearing the way for Arroyo to take the reins. Dismissed by former President Fidel Ramos as the "last death throes of the Estrada administration", the once phenomenally popular leader's antics are more than sour grapes. Were Estrada to prove he still legally held the top job, he would be constitutionally exempt from criminal charges.
Wild ride
FLOUNDERING relations with Japan sustained yet another blow this week with the revelation that civilians were at the helm of the US military submarine that crashed into a Japanese fishing vessel almost two weeks ago. The USS Greenville collided with the Ehime Maru during an emergency surfacing drill while civilian John Hall -- one of 16 civilians on board -- was allowed to control the levers. To make matters worse, Japanese Foreign Minister Yohei Kono was outraged when rather than being updated on the latest findings by US Secretary of State Colin Powell, he was so marginalised that he actually found out about the civilian involvement while watching CNN.
The fiasco is turning into a public relations nightmare for new American President George W Bush. Navy officials admitted that it is common to allow civilian guests to feel the thrill of a quick ascent with their hand on the wheel, but an inquiry has found civilian involvement was not instrumental in the accident. The search for nine people still missing and presumed dead was called off last Thursday.
Dubious ties
HEAPING further denigrations on the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement, Chinese authorities have linked the suicide of a man who set himself on fire on Friday to the teachings of Falun Gong founder Li Hongzhi. The incident follows attempts last month by five alleged Falun Gong practitioners to immolate themselves at Beijing's Tiananmen Square. The government claims the events are proof that the group is a dangerous cult and a radical anti-government sect, but Falun Gong members deny that any practitioner would attempt suicide.
Founded by Li in 1992, the practice promotes a healthier lifestyle by teaching simple exercises and meditation. Members claim that tens of thousands of practitioners in China have been incarcerated without trial or sent to labour camps and that more than 120 Falun Gong members have died in custody. The incident coincides with a White House announcement on Friday that it will support an upcoming UN resolution condemning human rights abuses in China.
A timely crash
RAISING an outcry over the flourishing trade of human trafficking, French authorities denounced on Saturday the apparently deliberate running aground of a poorly maintained ship carrying a staggering number of would-be refugees. The Cambodian-registered Easti Sea, carrying 912 Kurds -- including some 300 children -- was run onto the rocks offshore France's ritzy Côte d'Azur. Some 100 passengers managed to swim ashore, but the rest were rescued from the destroyed ship and await a decision on where they will be sent.
An enraged French President Jacques Chirac called on the international community to stamp out human trafficking, noting that the people aboard the Easti Sea had paid thousands of dollars for passage and were subjected to "unacceptable, unworthy, dangerous and inhuman conditions." Indications that the immigrants will be given the chance to apply for asylum have received sharp criticism from conservative politicians, who argue that anything but immediate repatriation of all passengers will only encourage more human trafficking.
Out of sight
INTERNATIONAL aid organisations are always cursing foreign donors for waiting too long to provide emergency aid and the long-building humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan -- where tens of thousands of refugees are suffering from drought, civil war and illness -- has been no exception. Following a tour of Afghan refugee camps in Pakistan last week, UN Under-secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs Kenzo Oshima headed to Afghanistan last Thursday to survey crowded camps in the western province of Herat, where some 80,000 refugees live in tents that fail to protect them from blistering cold.
Because the Herat refugees are still in their own country, they do not automatically qualify for assistance from the UN high commissioner for refugees. Over 170 have died in the last month alone and aid agencies say there simply isn't enough food to keep people alive. Emergency supplies have finally begun to arrive, but UN workers say they have been sounding the alarm for almost a year.
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