December 21 – January 3, 2014
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TURKS AND CAICOS WEEKLY NEWS
World News
Nearly 1,000 killed over two days in Central African Republic -Report
Nelson Mandela was beloved around the world.
Mandela laid to rest: Goodbye Tata—sleep well NELSON Mandela ached to come home, his family says, and he did so Sunday -- his burial the last part of a long journey that had lasted nearly a century. The prisoner turned president’s funeral in his childhood village of Qunu marked the end of 10 days mourning, during which tribal elders guided Mandela’s transition to the afterlife. The funeral was a final chance for those who knew him best to say goodbye. Mandela’s daughter Maki told me her father had always been a country boy at heart, and wanted to return to his remote farm in the Eastern Cape, one of South Africa’s most rural areas. “Even when my father was in jail, he had the fondest memories of Qunu,” she said. “And he really wanted to die here.” Pointing to a chair in the living room she said: “This is Tata’s special chair... he would sit like this, with a cushion here, because he enjoyed looking out into the hills.” Mandela’s casket lay in his bedroom overlooking those hills overnight ahead of his funeral. Tribal elders held a vigil and a family prayer service took place Sunday morning. The state funeral service was held
in a huge domed tent, surrounded by cows grazing in the neighbouring fields. Inside, 95 candles burned, each representing one year of his life. Inside that tent -- filled with the sweet scent of white roses and lilies -- the Mandela family shared their grief with some 4,000 guests and television cameras broadcasting the service to the world. Friends and family mourned alongside heads of state, royalty and celebrities who had made their way along South Africa’s back roads to Mandela’s burial place. As well as being about family and loss, the state funeral was a mixture of power and politics, of belonging and belief. Mandela had a canny knack of building relationships and among those at his funeral were those who represented the old apartheid order. The great reconciliator continued to bring people together in death, just as he had in life. Mandela’s burial, however, was private. A few hundred mourners walked up the hills where he had played as a child to say goodbye. Mandela’s eldest daughter carried a reed mat that was laid on the floor of the grave, evoking the sense Mandela was going to rest on a traditional sleeping mat.
Ex-president Michelle Bachelet wins Chile poll run-off LEFT-WING candidate Michelle Bachelet has been elected Chilean president for a second time by a wide margin. With almost all the votes counted, Ms Bachelet had 62% against 38% for Evelyn Matthei, a former minister from the governing centreright coalition. Ms Bachelet first served from 2006 to 2010, but under Chile’s constitution she could not stand for a second consecutive term. She narrowly missed out on outright victory in the first round last month. BBC Mundo’s Ignacio de los Reyes said that hundreds of people applauded Ms Bachelet when she took to the stage outside the headquarters of her coalition in the centre of Santiago, some even cried with joy. Many of them were women, members of the gay and lesbian community and environmentalists - some of the core groups that supported Ms Bachelet throughout her campaign.
In her victory speech, Ms Bachelet, 62, said she would carry out “deep reforms needed in Chile”, but she assured voters she would do so “responsibly”. Ms Bachelet is now set to become the first leader in Chile to serve two terms since the military rule of Gen Augusto Pinochet from 1973 to 1990. Her rival, Evelyn Matthei, 60, conceded defeat and congratulated Ms Bachelet in person. A paediatrician by training, Ms Bachelet won 47% of the vote in the first round on 17 November. Ms Matthei secured 25%. Ms Bachelet leads an alliance of her Socialist Party, Christian Democrats and Communists and has campaigned on policies designed to reduce the gap between rich and poor. Chile is one of the richest countries in Latin America, but millions have staged protests over the past few years to push for a wider distribution of wealth and better education.
FORMER rebels in the Central African Republic killed almost 1,000 in a two-day rampage earlier this month, Amnesty International said, as together with Human Rights Watch it warned of a surge in sectarian violence. War crimes and crimes against humanity are being committed in the country, Amnesty International said. “Crimes that have been committed include extrajudicial executions, mutilation of bodies, intentional destruction of religious buildings such as mosques, and the forced displacement of massive numbers of people,” said Christian Mukosa, Amnesty International’s Central Africa expert. The country has seen violence and chaos since the Muslim-backed Seleka militia and other rebel groups from the marginalised northeast seized the capital Bangui in March. President Francios Bozize fled to Cameroon, and Michel Djotodia, who had been one of the Seleka leaders, made himself President. Djotodia later officially disbanded the Seleka, but as many as 15,000 kept their arms and instead continued to wreak havoc in Bangui and elsewhere. They mainly targeted Christian communities, which in turn formed their own vigilante group, the anti-balaka (literally “anti-machete”). Anti-balaka forces staged an early morning attack in the capital on December 5, going door to door in some neighborhoods and killing approximately 60 Muslim men, Amnesty International said. De facto government forces, known as ex-Seleka, retaliated against Christians, killing nearly 1,000 men over a two-day period, according to the rights group. A small number of women and children also were killed. In a statement, Amnesty International called for the deployment of a “robust” U.N. peacekeeping force, with a mandate to protect civilians, and enough
Muslim men rough up a Christian man while checking him for weapons in Bangui.
resources to do so effectively. “The continuing violence, the extensive destruction of property, and the forced displacement of the population in Bangui are feeding enormous anger, hostility and mistrust,” said Mukosa. “There can be no prospect of ending the cycle of violence until the militias are disarmed and there is proper and effective protection for the thousands of civilians at risk in the country. Residential neighborhoods must be made safe as an urgent priority in order to allow people to go back to their homes and resume their normal lives.” In a separate report, Human Rights Watch cited a surge in
violence around the northern town of Bossangoa since September, adding concerned countries should immediately bolster the African Union peacekeeping force in the country and support efforts by France to protect civilians. In the report, Human Rights Watch said Christian militias attacked Muslim communities, cutting the throats of children while forcing parents to watch. Muslim groups retaliated, setting fire to Christian homes and killing their occupants with the apparent approval of commanders present, Human Rights Watch said. The recent violence has created a humanitarian crisis.
Bahamas denies profiling immigrants THE Bahamas government says it will continue to pursue socalled spot checks and has denied claims that it is profiling specific immigrants. Immigration and Foreign Affairs Minister Fred Mitchell says the Perry Christie government has not singled out certain immigrants as part of the profiling policy of its
administration. Mitchell says the constitution makes it clear that there must be reasonable suspicion of violating immigration laws. He pointed out that a spot check conducted by the authorities on December 11 had resulted in the arrest of 105 people and a significant amount of outstanding fees collected. (Jamaica Gleaner)
Ukraine’s president tells West to keep out of crisis UKRAINE’S Russian-backed President, Viktor Yanukovych, has said he strongly opposes Western politicians intervening in the crisis in Ukraine. He also suggested that Ukraine could adopt parts of Russia’s recently founded Customs Union with other former Soviet republics. The opposition is furious after he accepted a Russian bailout, seen as a reward for rejecting EU integration. Russian President Vladimir Putin said he was defending the Russian economy. “We just want to defend our gates,” he told journalists in Moscow, days after Russia gave Ukraine a $15bn (£9.2bn; 10.9bn euros) bailout and gas discount. Ukraine, he said, was a fraternal state with close industrial ties to Russia. Protests have gripped much of Ukraine since President Yanukovych suspended the EU deal last month. The opposition has been demanding to know what, if any, conditions the Kremlin attached to its
decision to buy $15bn in Ukrainian government bonds and slash the gas price from more than $400 per 1,000 cubic metres to $268.5. Russia’s financial help averted a debt crisis for Ukraine in the short term. ‘OBSERVER STATUS’ At a news conference in Kiev on Thursday, Mr Yanukovych was asked about visits to the pro-EU protest camp by foreign politicians who have included US Republican Senator John McCain, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, former German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle and others. “I am categorically against anybody coming and teaching us how to live,” he said. “What is very important is that this is our internal matter, and that other countries do not intervene in our internal affairs.” He said the deal with Moscow did not run counter to Ukraine’s course towards European integration and blamed Ukraine’s current economic problems on the policies
of his predecessors, the leaders of Ukraine’s pro-Western Orange Revolution. Asked why the Ukrainian economy was in such trouble, Mr Yanukovych said the gas contract signed with Russia by former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko in 2009 had incurred a loss of $20bn. Another problem, he said, was the repayment of an IMF loan of $16.4bn negotiated in 2008, and a third factor was the recent fall in trade with Russia and other ex-Soviet states. Asked about his position on the Customs Union, he said that Ukraine only had observer status but he suggested that it could adopt certain clauses. “Ukraine’s government is studying these clauses and, once conclusions are drawn, the corresponding transparent decisions will be taken on which clauses we will adhere to,” he said. Ukraine’s pro-EU protesters have rejected any move to join the Customs Union, which was set up in 2010 and includes Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan. (BBC)