Wednesday, May 17, 2000,
Chandigarh, India





THE TRIBUNE SPECIALS
50 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE

TERCENTENARY CELEBRATIONS
W O R L D

USA tortures convicts: UN
GENEVA, May 16  — The United Nations publicly rebuked the USA over brutality in its prisons and called for an end to chain gangs and to the use of electro-shock belts for restraining inmates.

Pockets of polio ‘still remain’
UNITED NATIONS, May 16 — International organisations leading the global effort against polio claimed that their initiative was on track, but additional resources were needed for parts of the Indian sub-continent and Africa where the virus may still be circulating at year’s end.

Four dead in West Bank clashes
RAMALLAH, May 16  — Teetering on the edge of a full scale conflict, Israelis and Palestinians treated their wounded and buried their dead from a day of armed clashes, but pledged to move ahead with peace efforts.


Palestinian policemen, right, try to stop a Palestinian protester, standing on top of an Israeli jeep aiming a stone at the Israeli soldiers in it, at the entrance of the Israeli Netzarim Settlement in southern Gaza City on Monday.
—  AP/PTI


EARLIER STORIES
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Praise for Indian peacekeepers
UNITED NATIONS, May 16  — Indian and Kenyan troops in Sierra Leone came in for high praise from a top United Nations official who said they never surrendered even when surrounded by the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels and reacted when under attack.

Zimbabwe poll in June
HARARE, May 16   — Zimbabwe will hold parliamentary elections on June 24-25, the government has announced, setting up a contest that poses the greatest challenge to President Robert Mugabe’s 20-year grip on power.

Chinese families sue Indian ship owner
BEIJING, May 16  — Families of seven Chinese fishermen have sued an Indian ship owner for causing their death in an accident last month, an official report said.

“Little Egypt” in London
LONDON, May 16  — Britain’s Petrie Museum boasts of one of the largest collections of ancient Egyptian artefacts outside Cairo. The only problem is that few people know it exists.

Organic food may be more risky
WASHINGTON, May 16  — While certain American consumers are expressing concerns about genetically modified foods, they are ignoring the safety risks of organically grown corn, soyabeans and other grains, the Chairman of Cargill has said.

Malik meets B’desh PM
DHAKA, May 16 — The Indian Army Chief, Gen Ved Prakash Malik, called on Bangladesh Premier Sheikh Hasina and apprised her of various aspects of bilateral defence cooperation between the two countries, official sources said today.


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USA tortures convicts: UN

GENEVA, May 16 (Reuters) — The United Nations publicly rebuked the USA over brutality in its prisons and called for an end to chain gangs and to the use of electro-shock belts for restraining inmates.

The U.N. Committee Against Torture yesterday said it was concerned about breaches of the international convention against torture in the USA, citing the alleged sexual assault of female prisoners by law enforcement officers and the holding of minors in adult jails.

This is the first time the USA, the world’s most vocal defender of human rights, has been put in the dock before the Geneva-based body alongside the usual suspects such as China.

“The committee expresses its concern about the number of cases of police ill-treatment of civilians and ill-treatment in prisons. Much of this ill-treatment by police and prison guards seems to be based upon discrimination,’’ the report said.

The committee’s 10 independent experts urged the USA to abolish the use of electro-shock stun belts and restraint chairs on uncooperative inmates.

“The committee recommends that the state party abolish electro-shock stun belts and restraint chairs as methods of restraining those in custody. Their use almost invariably leads to breaches of...the convention,’’ they said.

The report also expressed concern about what it said was the excessively harsh regime in so-called supermaximum prisons, including the practice of putting inmates in chain gangs, especially in public.

The U.N. Forum’s two-day examination of the United States’ record follows the fatal police shootings of unarmed Blacks in New York and Los Angeles.

London-based rights group Amnesty International charged in a 46-page report last week that practices in overcrowded U.S. prisons — whose total population recently hit two million inmates — facilitated torture and other forms of ill-treatment.

Amnesty called for a halt to police beatings and the shooting of unarmed suspects.

Washington says torture is prohibited by law in the USA and categorically denounced as a matter of policy and as a tool of state authority, but admits its record is not perfect.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Harold Hongju Koh, presenting his government’s report on its compliance since ratifying the convention in 1994, said last week that instances of police abuse, excessive use of force and even brutality, the death of prisoners in custody, sexual abuse of inmates and jail overcrowding were causes for concern.

The U.S. report was almost five years overdue, the committee said, and urged Washington to submit its next periodic report by November 2001.

The U.N. body oversees compliance by 119 states that have ratified the torture pact, but it has no power to impose sanctions. 
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Pockets of polio ‘still remain’

UNITED NATIONS, May 16 (PTI) — International organisations leading the global effort against polio claimed that their initiative was on track, but additional resources were needed for parts of the Indian sub-continent and Africa where the virus may still be circulating at year’s end.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Health Organisation (WHO), Rotary International and the United States Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in a statement yesterday that their eradication campaign is making good progress towards certifying the world polio-free by 2005.

According to WHO, the Americans were certified polio-free in 1994, while the Western Pacific region was aiming for certification in November 2000, and Europe in 2002.

Worldwide, the number of cases had fallen by 95 per cent since the initiative was launched in 1998, WHO said.

The organisations’ announcement followed the review last week by the Global Technical Consultative Group on poliomyelitis (TCG) of the progress in the remaining endemic countries.

According to the TCG, certain parts of India, war-affected countries in sub-Saharan Africa and large reservoirs of the virus — particularly in Bangladesh, Nigeria and Pakistan — are likely to show continued transmission at the end of this year due to restricted access to children, late detection, insufficient vaccine supplies, lack of funds or low routine immunization coverage.

Addressing the opening session of the 53 World Health Assembly, WHO Director General Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland warned that despite the successes in many countries, much remained to be done.
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Four dead in West Bank clashes

RAMALLAH, May 16 (AP) — Teetering on the edge of a full scale conflict, Israelis and Palestinians treated their wounded and buried their dead from a day of armed clashes, but pledged to move ahead with peace efforts.

Four Palestinians were killed yesterday, and at least 320 Palestinians and six Israeli soldiers were wounded, in the worst flare-up of violence in nearly four years.

It came as the Israeli Cabinet and Parliament approved handing over control of three villages near Jerusalem to the Palestinians, an issue that was threatening Prime Minister Ehud Barak’s coalition government even before the gunfire.

Mr Barak called Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and demanded that he stop the violence. Mr Barak told him that the transfer of the villages would take place only after the situation is clarified.

The day of clashes started with Palestinian demonstrations to mark the anniversary of the creation of the state of Israel. Palestinians call it “Al Naqba,” the catastrophe. The protests developed into confrontations with Israeli soldiers, who fired tear gas and rubber bullets at the rock-throwing protesters.
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Praise for Indian peacekeepers

UNITED NATIONS, May 16 (PTI) — Indian and Kenyan troops in Sierra Leone came in for high praise from a top United Nations official who said they never surrendered even when surrounded by the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels and reacted when under attack.

The Indian and Kenyan troops had been sent to the north of the country in areas which were held by RUF and where no one had gone earlier, said Under Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Affairs Bernard Miyet, who has just returned from Sierra Leone.

“Those troops, from India and Kenya, had the necessary equipment and motivation, never surrendered and always reacted when their forces were under attack,” he told reporters here.

He said he had observed that Indian and Kenyan troops had maintained presence in cities in RUF-held areas where no multinational force or government presence had ventured before.

“They were encircled, yet they did not surrender their weapons. Instead, they retaliated when they were attacked by rebels and they forced those rebels to withdraw,” he said, replying to questions on the performance of the peacekeepers.

He also praised India, Kenya, Jordan and Bangladesh for not wavering in their support to the United Nations. From the very first day, these governments had decided to maintain their troops and to commit even more in the peacekeeping effort, he said.
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Zimbabwe poll in June

HARARE, May 16 (AP) — Zimbabwe will hold parliamentary elections on June 24-25, the government has announced, setting up a contest that poses the greatest challenge to President Robert Mugabe’s 20-year grip on power.

The elections pit Mr Mugabe’s ruling party against the opposition Movement for Democratic Change amid a climate of political violence and a wave of takeovers of white-owned farms by black squatters.

Opponents have charged that fair elections would be impossible after violence by ruling party militants across this southern African country killed at least 19 people, mostly opposition figures, since February.
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Chinese families sue Indian ship owner

BEIJING, May 16 (PTI) — Families of seven Chinese fishermen have sued an Indian ship owner for causing their death in an accident last month, an official report said.

The Tianjin Municipal Maritime Court said yesterday that it would hold a hearing in a few days on charges brought by the families of seven fishermen against the Indian ship, ICI Raja Rajan, Xinhua news agency reported from the North China port city.

The Chinese fishermen were suing the ship for compensation for its collision with the Chinese fish boat, “Jihuangyu 0824,” it said.

According to the plaintiffs, the 60,000-tonne Indian ship ran into the Chinese fishing boat, breaking it into half and killing all seven fishermen on board on April 12 in the western waters off the Bohai sea.

The ship then sailed away without making any rescue efforts, the report said.

The maritime court detained the Indian ship on April 16 after confirmation of the basic facts of the case. The ship was released two days later after its owner posted $ 1 million, according to the report.
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Little Egypt” in London

LONDON, May 16 (Reuters) — Britain’s Petrie Museum boasts of one of the largest collections of ancient Egyptian artefacts outside Cairo. The only problem is that few people know it exists.

Hidden in a warren of corridors at University College, London, the Petrie looks like any other campus office. But visitors who venture in discover a treasure-trove.

The museum Houses Egyptian antiquities ranging from some of humanity’s earliest tools to an ancient beaded dancing dress and mummy sarcophagi.

But, like most treasure, it’s hard to come by. Even London’s famed taxi drivers have a few problems finding it.

“Never heard of it,” said one driver, whose car was parked in direct view of the museum.

The curator of the Petrie, Stephen Quirke, said the problem of the mystery museum dates from World War two.

“University College of London was the most heavily blitzed of the English universities,” he said. “The collection was saved just by the love and devotion of the people working at the time, who had to pack up an entire collection of 80,000 objects.”

The rescue was remarkable but after the war the collection was stored in a basement before being moved to its current location in a stable building tucked away in a mews.

Even today the Petrie has no room to elegantly display its exhibits.

The 80,000-piece collection has been crammed into an area just slightly larger than a tennis court. Space is at a premium and every nook and cranny has been filled.

Everything from rag dolls to a 4,500-year-old dress is squeezed into glass cases or stacked filing cabinets. Even the narrow fire escape holds a copious range of terra cotta pots and marble gravestones.
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Organic food may be more risky

WASHINGTON, May 16 (Reuters) — While certain American consumers are expressing concerns about genetically modified foods, they are ignoring the safety risks of organically grown corn, soyabeans and other grains, the Chairman of Cargill has said.

Cargill, the world’ biggest grain exporter, said gene-spliced food was crucial to feed a fast-growing population in the developing world and that the debate over the safety of biofoods had been dominated by “anti-science” activists in wealthy nations.

Organic farming, which some environmental groups have suggested as an alternative to biofoods, was not a “panacea” to solve the world’s hunger, Ernest Micek said in a speech yesterday at a globalisation conference sponsored by the Economic Strategy Institute.

“There is some evidence that food grown organically is not as healthy as food grown using conventional, high-yield agriculture, including biotechnology,’’ he said.

Organic fields suffer higher levels of rodent and pest damage, which create openings for fungi to attack the grains,’’ Micek said. “Fungi produce toxins, including aflatoxin, one of the most potent of carcinogens.’’

Organic farmers typically shun most chemicals, preferring to use animal manure for fertiliser and insect predators to control pests. They contend their methods are safer, more natural and preserve the fertility of the land.

At most, organically-grown crops could feed 4 billion people, or two-thirds of the current global population, Micek said.

“There is nothing romantic about keeping people poor and undernourished,’’ he said. “An anti-science sentiment has been allowed to dominate the (biofoods) debate.’’ he said.

While Mr Micek defended biofoods as necessary to help feed poor nations, other countries have made it clear that gene-altered crops are not welcome in their ports or food plants.

The European Union banned some genetically modified varieties of grains, responding to consumers who are worried about long-term effects on human health and the environment.

Many Japanese food makers have refused to buy biotech varieties since the government said it would require labels next year on foods containing genetically altered ingredients. South Korea also plans to begin labelling biofoods in 2001.

Mr Micek said there was no need for U.S. Regulators to require labels on snack foods, puddings, salad dressings, and other foods made with gene-spliced ingredients. Labels already carry more information than consumers could digest, he said.

The FDA recently said it planned to make changes in the approval procedures for new biofoods, but declined requests from green groups to require safety testing or labels.

Ms Rebecca Goldburg, senior scientist with environmental defence, said agribusinesses’ rush to embrace biotechnology as a way to feed the developing world ignored other, complicated issues.

“Biofoods might be some small part of the solution,’’ she told the conference, but nations must still address food distribution systems, water scarcity, population growth and infrastructure. “Many of the benefits of the technology —while they may be there — are often overblown,” Ms Goldburg said. 
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Malik meets B’desh PM

DHAKA, May 16 (PTI) — The Indian Army Chief, Gen Ved Prakash Malik, called on Bangladesh Premier Sheikh Hasina and apprised her of various aspects of bilateral defence cooperation between the two countries, official sources said today.

General Malik, who paid a courtesy call on the Prime Minister at her official residence here late yesterday, also apprised the Premier of the exchange of students between the two defence staff colleges of the two countries, the sources said.
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WORLD BRIEFS

Bob Dylan wins Polar Prize
STOCKHOLM: Singer Bob Dylan and violinist Isaac Stern received the prestigious Polar Prize for Music from the hands of Swedish King Carl Gustaf during a ceremony in the Royal Music Academy in Stockholm. Dylan appeared unmoved as he received the one million-kronor (100,000 dollars) prize on Monday but the audience cheered and gave the 59- year old folk singer and song writer a standing ovation. The 79-year old Russian-born Stern, in contrast, appeared deeply moved by the honour. Stern headed New York’s Carnegie Hall for 35 years. — DPA

30 Hutu rebels killed in Burundi
BUJUMBURA (Burundi): Burundian troops on Tuesday clashed with Hutu rebels outside this lakeside capital, leaving more than 30 dead, witnesses said. Hutu rebels, who have been waging a seven-year civil war against the Tutsi-dominated army, raided a village near Kanyosha, in Bujumbura rural province, attracting the attention of soldiers who opened fire on civilians. Army spokesman Col Longin Minani later said his soldiers had killed 30 rebels. — AP

Countess Sophie to start family
LONDON: Sophie, Countess of Wessex, the wife of Queen Elizabeth’s youngest son Edward, is planning to sell her public relations company and start a family, The Mirror newspaper reported on Tuesday. The daily said the sale of her company, R-JH, in which she had a 60 per cent stake, could be worth several million pounds and would make her the royal family’s first self-made millionaire. Buckingham Palace dismissed the story as “speculation”. — AFP

19 killed in China bus mishap
BEIJING: An overloaded bus skidded off a bridge in the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan, killing 19 passengers in the second major bus accident in the province in a week, Xinhua news agency reported. The bus — carrying 44 passengers, more than double the permitted limit of 19 — slid off a bridge into a dry riverbed near Luzhou on Sunday, the news agency said late on Monday. Twentyfive passengers were injured. — Reuters

Ethiopia’s no to ceasefire
UNITED NATION: Eritrea accepted a ceasefire agreement but Ethiopia refused to stop fighting before the start of peace negotiations, the two nations said on Monday in letters to the President of the UN Security Council. “Eritrea, consistent with the principled position it has upheld throughout the conflict, accepts Security Council Resolution 1297 (2000) of May 12, 2000,” which called for an immediate ceasefire and the unconditional resumption of peace talks, Eritrean Foreign Minister Haile Weldensae said in a letter. His Ethiopian counterpart Seyoum Mesfin said that indirect talks should lead to a ceasefire and a lasting peace. — AFP

UN’s Afghanistan office in Iran
TEHERAN: The United Nations opened its Afghanistan office in Iran, the Teheran press has reported. The office of the UN Special Mission to Afghanistan (UNSMA) was officially opened in Teheran on Monday in a special ceremony attended by local and foreign officials as well as U.N. special envoy to Afghanistan Francisco Vendrell and the designated Teheran office head, Pierre Castella. — DPA

“Necklace bomb” kills two
BOGOTA: Colombia’s Marxist guerrillas rigged a bomb around the neck of a woman who rebelled against their systematic campaign of extortion, killing her and a policeman hours later as he struggled to pry it loose from her flesh. Three security force members were maimed by the so-called “necklace bomb,” on Monday which the police and military spokesmen said marked an unprecedented act of terror in a conflict that had claimed more than 35,000 lives over the decade. — Reuters

US rocket launch delayed
CAPE CANAVERAL: Trouble with a tracking station delayed the maiden flight of Lockheed Martin’s Atlas 3, the first U.S. satellite launcher to be powered by a Russian rocket engine. The Atlas 3 was to have made its debut on Monday, carrying into orbit a European communications satellite. But the U.S. Air Force, which provides tracking and safety systems for launches from Cape Canaveral, was unable to fix a faulty radar facility on the island of Bermuda. — Reuters

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