CHUKWUBIKES' .... DAY by DAY

ALL SOULS

2009-11-02T09:46:00.000+01:00

http://www.churchyear.net/allsouls.html

May the Souls of all departed Rest in Peace

Charles

NO RAZZISMO ROMA 2009

2009-10-19T07:29:00.000+02:00

ASSOCIAZIONE WELCOME: NO RAZZISMO ROMA 2009

NO RAZZISMO ROMA 17 OTT 2009 by chukbyke...

2009-10-19T07:06:00.001+02:00

NO RAZZISMO ROMA 17 OTT 2009 by chukbyke

POVERTY ,SOCIAL JUSTICE &PEACE

2009-10-16T15:41:00.002+02:00

“Hunger is actually the

worst of all weapons of mass

destruction, claiming millions

of victims every year. Fighting

hunger and poverty and

promoting development are

the truly sustainable way to

achieve world peace….There

will be no peace without

development, and there will be

neither peace nor development

without social justice.”

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

AFRICAN WEDDING IN ROME...THE FILM

2009-10-12T12:53:00.000+02:00

U.N.: Norway best in human development

2009-10-07T11:10:00.000+02:00

U.N.: Norway best in human development

UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 5 (UPI) -- Several countries recorded improvements in human development, but inequities remain between rich and poor nations, the U.N. Human Development Index showed.
The annual Human Development Index -- a combination of life expectancy, literacy, school enrollment and gross domestic product per capita measures -- was calculated for 182 countries and territories and released Monday as part of the annual Human Development Report, the United Nations said in a release.

"Many countries have experienced setbacks over recent decades, in the face of economic downturns, conflict-related crises and the HIV and AIDS epidemic," lead author Jeni Klugman said. "And this was even before the impact of the current global financial crisis was felt."
Norway, Australia and Iceland were the top-ranked countries on the index, which is based on data gathered in 2007, the most recent year full statistics are available for, the United Nations said. Canada, Ireland, the Netherlands, Sweden, France, Switzerland and Japan round out the Top 10.

Across the index, five countries rose by three or more places -- France, Venezuela, Colombia, Peru and China -- largely because of improvements in life expectancy and incomes, the report indicated. Luxembourg, Malta, Ecuador, Lebanon, Belize, Tonga and Jamaica fell by three or more places.
At the bottom were Niger, Afghanistan and Sierra Leone, Klugman said.
Demonstrating the difference between the top and bottom countries, Klugman said a Norwegian child can expect to live 30 years longer and earn an average of $85 for every $1 earned by the person in Niger.
UNDP REPORT

IL VANGELO,FINI LA SINISTRA E LA DESTRA

2009-09-27T13:31:00.005+02:00

Dopo il vangelo di oggi (sotto) mi veniva in mente FINI LA SINISTRA E LA DESTRA italiana, la parola ...sincerità.... e mi veniva un gran male di testa...AIUTO!!!!!!
--------------------------------------------------------

Vangelo: Mc 9,38-43.45.47-48
Dal Vangelo secondo Marco
........In quel tempo, Giovanni disse a Gesù: «Maestro, abbiamo visto uno che scacciava demoni nel tuo nome e volevamo impedirglielo, perché non ci seguiva». Ma Gesù disse: «Non glielo impedite, perché non c'è nessuno che faccia un miracolo nel mio nome e subito possa parlare male di me: chi non è contro di noi è per noi.
Chiunque infatti vi darà da bere un bicchiere d'acqua nel mio nome perché siete di Cristo, in verità io vi dico, non perderà la sua ricompensa.
Chi scandalizzerà uno solo di questi piccoli che credono in me, è molto meglio per lui che gli venga messa al collo una macina da mulino e sia gettato nel mare..............

SAVING JOB?

2009-09-26T10:55:00.002+02:00

Family Wahala

2009-09-21T13:19:00.005+02:00

No be small Wahala oooooooooooo

Two men met at a bus stop and struck up a conversation. One of them kept complaining of family problems. Finally, the other man said:"You think you have family problems? Listen to my situation. A fewyears ago I met a young widow with a grown-up daughter and we gotmarried.

"Later my father married my step daughter. That made my stepdaughter my stepmother and my father became my stepson. Also,my wife became mother in-law of her father-in-law.Then the daughter of my wife, my stepmother, had a son. This boy was my half-brother because he was my father's son, but he was also the son of my wife's daughter which made him my wife's grand-son.That made me the grandfather of my half-brother.

"This was nothing until my wife and I had a son. Now the half-sister of my son, my stepmother, is also the grandmother. "This makes my father the brother-in-law of my child, whose stepsister is my father's wife, I'm my stepmother's brother-in-law, my wife is her own child's aunt, my son is my father's nephew and I'm My own son's grandfather!

And you think you have family wahala

AFRICAN DIASPORA MEETING

2009-09-13T19:22:00.001+02:00

CRY "ALLOUWED".....ETC

2009-08-15T01:04:00.007+02:00

'Cry allouwed and show my people their sin..
Isaiah 58 vs.1-2'

'Even devil is better than U'

'Dear God, you promise me my daily bread,
I want it now'

NIGERIAN CURIOSITY: NIGERIA'S GENERATIONAL DIVIDE & REUBEN ABATI

2009-07-01T10:50:00.000+02:00

NIGERIAN CURIOSITY: NIGERIA'S GENERATIONAL DIVIDE & REUBEN ABATI

Michael Jackson dies leaving legacy of award-winning music

2009-06-26T05:44:00.001+02:00

Michael Jackson dies leaving legacy of award-winning music

Michael Jackson, who died today at age 50, ruled the music world throughout the 1980s, selling millions of records and concert tickets and dubbing himself the "King of Pop." And while Michael Jackson won multiple times at such popularity contests as the American Music Awards and the MTV Awards, he also earned the respect of his peers in the music industry with his 13 Grammy Awards.

After striking out on his own from the Jackson Five, Jackson won his first Grammy in 1980 for best R&B male vocal performance ("Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough"). That track from his chart-topping "Off the Wall" album also contended for best disco recording.

"Thriller" – his second solo effort as an adult – was released in November 1982 and spent a record 37 weeks at No. 1, producing an unparalleled seven Top 10 singles. In March 1983, Jackson debuted his moonwalk dance to "Billie Jean" on the TV special "Motown 25: Yesterday, Today and Forever." Michael Jackson earned an Emmy nod for best performance in a variety or music program. He lost to opera diva Leontyne Price for her concert with the New York Philharmonic on "Live From Lincoln Center."

At the Grammys in February 1984, Jackson shared in seven of the eight awards won by the album (the exception was for best engineered recording). Michael Jackson shared the wins for album of the year and producer of the year (non-classical) with "Thriller" collaborator Quincy Jones, who also produced his Grammy-winning children's recording "E.T. - The Extra-Terrestrial."

For the three chart-topping singles off the album, Jackson won Grammy Awards for male vocal performance in an unprecedented three genres – R&B ("Billie Jean"), rock ("Beat It") and pop ("Thriller"). He shared in the record of the year win for "Beat It" with the production team. And as the songwriter, he picked up a Grammy for penning the best R&B tune ("Billie Jean"). However, Sting's "Every Breath You Take" edged out two Jackson compositions – "Beat It" and "Billie Jean" – for song of the year.

Jackson's total of eight Grammy wins in one night broke the record set in 1965 by Roger Miller, who'd won six awards, most for the country hit "King of the Road." And the eight Grammys awarded to "Thriller" was another record haul as well. Both of these achievements were tied by Santana and the album "Supernatural" in 1999.

Michael Jackson won another Grammy the following year in the category of best video album for the film that documented the making of the landmark "Thriller" video. That $500,000, 14-minute video, directed by John Landis, told the story of a boy (Jackson) and girl enjoying a date until he turns into a singing, dancing werewolf.

In 1986, Jackson and Lionel Richie won the song of the year Grammy for the charity single "We Are the World," which also took home record of the year. As Jackson was one of the pioneers of the music video, it seems appropriate that the last two Grammys he won were for that medium. In 1989 he and his team won the short form video award for "Leave Me Alone" off his follow-up album "Bad." And in 1995 he and his sister Janet Jackson shared in the short form winning "Scream" from his double album "HIStory."

Photo: Ken Hively / Los Angeles Times

IS ANYTHING HAPPENING TO OUR MEN?

2009-06-16T22:48:00.005+02:00

During my last visit to Nigeria in March/April this year I made a casual observation which my friends and brothers living in Nigeria claimed they never took note of.

I forgot my nail-cutter and a smaller comb as usual, therefore wanted to buy new ones.This has never been a problem to me since I always see at an average 10 minutes interval. those ‘Abokis/mallams’ or the short Okoros who hawked them around my uncles shop.

Well the ‘Abokis’ and small size ‘okoros’ passed at 5 minutes intervals now but the articles they hawked were different.

Viagra and ‘Viagra function related drugs’

It was amazing to see the quantity (not quality) of mobile phone gadgets and accessories being hawked in Nigerian cities. I was particularly astonished by the articles hawked by most of these Abokis; thy included drugs according to their descriptions are light hallucinogens, lsd, ecstasy, kwaya, etc and even some veterinary drugs that they recommend for human beings claiming they would ‘have other effects’.

There were more than 60 different types of Viagra and ‘Viagra function related drugs’ They were all for men rigorously and unmistakably ‘made in China’- most of them though had no NAFDAC registration number anyway. I wondered what was happening to men in Nigeria that there should be such a great market for all these drugs,

(PICTURE TAKEN OPOSITE EKO MERIDIAN HOTEL)

The gentle and jovial aboki took time to explain to me the different functions and effects of at least 10 different Chinese ‘Viagra and associated drugs’: his prize : a plate of tuwo from the nearby buka..

My question is: Is anything happening to our men that I do not know?

However after some days I had to go to Ajaa market and there I bought a beautiful looking manicure kit. rigorously and unmistakably ‘made in China’

Chukbyke

MARRAZZO A CISTERNA (chukbyke)3

2009-06-06T22:27:00.001+02:00

PRESIDENTE MARRAZZO A CISTERNA

di mario sindaco

2009-05-29T07:23:00.001+02:00

DOTT. SANDRO DI MARIO .... CANDIDATO A SINDACO

DR.CARTURAN (sindaco) & I

2009-05-22T06:25:00.003+02:00

The out-gooing mayor of Cisterna honours some members of the community before members of the diplomatic corps during the Festa dei popoli 2009

2009-05-21T23:38:00.001+02:00

NINFA GARDEN ...CISTERNA (LT)

2009-05-20T12:28:00.002+02:00

Prostitution: The Oldest Profession in the World

2009-05-09T12:15:00.003+02:00

When it comes to sex trafficking, there is a lot of tension among abolitionists over the topic of prostitution. On the extreme ends, some see all prostitution as a form of trafficking while others make a clear distinction between a person who is a prostitute and someone who is a victim of trafficking. There is, of course, a lot of grey area in between. I bring this up though because today I'm feeling a little frustrated with people who make statements such as, "Prostitution is the oldest profession" or "It's been around for centuries," - as if that somehow proves a point or justifies anything in the prostitution vs. trafficking debate (or, the more common debate over whether prostitution should be legalized). I hate it when people point this out - as if it somehow legitimates anything. Just because something has been around for a long time, doesn't mean it's a good thing.

It's hard to say that women 2000+ years ago chose prostitution of their own free will - more likely, they chose it because it was the only option. It was certainly not some grand statement of female empowerment - rather it was a reaction to the social restrictions placed on women at the time. (Now, some might point to various societies where sex was not as taboo or wrapped up in morality as we see it today, and to them I say that we are talking about commercial transactions for sex - and that if someone can point out a society where prostitution was just as valid a decision as any other business endeavor, and garnered just as much respect and inclusion in society without any opportunity costs (such as marriage) that other business endeavors did not have - I'm willing to listen). ANYWAY - fast forward 2000 years and I wonder how much of this has changed - how much of the decision to become a sex worker today is an enthusiastic embracement of one's own sexuality and the desire to express it in a particular manner, and how much of the decisions is a product of circumstances.

In the present day tension, the idea that someone might choose or even be forced to become a sex worker because of certain circumstances is often overlooked. Now, it is true that, at least from a federal law perspective there has to be some sort of force, fraud, or coercion involved for a commercial transaction involving sex to be considered trafficking. What isn't so clear is what those three words mean. For many, there seems to be this idea that they refer to actions of violence - the woman was chained to the bed, or a gun was held to her head, or she was beaten until she finally submitted. Others consider a definition that afford a little more breadth, so that things like deliberate/blatant psychological coercion or manipulation will qualify as trafficking. Absent some egregious factor such as specific and/or severe physical, sexual, or psychological abuse (from a pimp or from her past) though, many people assume that a woman who is a sex worker is doing it of her own volition - she wants to be there, it was her choice, etc. I think though, that other circumstances play an important role in the idea of consent and that there is room in the idea of force, fraud, or coercion for a different interpretation of consent - one that considers background circumstances that may 'force' a woman into prostitution.

Consent in my mind means active and enthusiastic yes. This can include a woman who chooses, of her own accord, to engage in sexual acts for money. I do not deny that some women will and do choose, of their own volition, without any sort of past hardship or lack of opportunity, to become a sex worker - BUT I think the number of women who fit into this category is very, very small. I think that a large number of women who become sex workers are pushed to that decision by other factors in their life, and when you start adding those factors in, the line between consent and force, fraud, or coercion becomes blurry. What about the woman who did not have the opportunity for an education that would provide her with job skills? What about the woman who has kids to take care of but can't find a job that pays enough? What about the woman who grew up in foster care, or in a family environment surrounded by drug abuse, or the one who is just down on her luck? Are these women victims of trafficking, or are they consenting sex workers?

I am not in any way making a moral judgment here. For your purposes and mine, I have no opinion on the morality of sex workers. What I am trying to do is reframe the debate so people stop seeing it as a black and white, good vs bad issue. I'm asking people to look a little deeper, beyond the question of whether a woman should be allowed to choose to sell her body, beyond the question of whether the government has any right to outlaw a person's rights over their own body, and look beyond the apparent consenting adult ethos. Ask yourself what consent really means, and again, are these women victims of trafficking, or are they consenting sex workers?

My answer? I don't know. Maybe this type of circumstance-created sex work doesn't rise to the level of trafficking, but at the same time I hardly think you can view it as enthusiastic consent. I tend to think that many women who are sex workers would not be in that profession if they were given the opportunity for something else (and the idea of a different set of opportunities can go the whole way back to childhood). I also tend to think that the image we see of sex workers - on TV, on news shows that discuss the topic, etc - is a much more glamorous version of what most sex workers experience. I get a sense that the women who go on to news programs to advocate for sex workers (sometimes actual workers, sometimes not) are the exceptions to the rule - maybe even the ones that did have the opportunities others miss. (NB: that was a huge blanket statement there. Please excuse for the sake of the argument).

Now, for a full disclosure that hopefully won't distract from my above point - I don't know what I think about prostitution being legalized either. Some days I favor the idea of legalizing it - because a woman should be able to decide what she does with her body, and even if the only reason she is involved is due to circumstances that forced her there (money issues for example), far be it from me to limit the ways she has to escape those circumstances, or force her into a worse situation because that avenue of income is unavailable. Now, on those days I still favor prosecuting those who create the demand for such services to the maximum possible under the law. I have no time for people who pay for sex - I think it is wrong and pathetic and there is no way you will ever convince me that the payor is not exploiting the payee, even if the payee is a consenting adult. This is one of the few things I will express a judgment on with no reservations or qualifications whatsoever (although the law student in me still feels the need to reserve the right to change that statement, should anyone make a valid argument that convinces me I am wrong). For more on the idea of legalizing prostitution but outlawing the demand side, see Jennifer's post!

Oh - and also - take a moment to think about the phrase, "Prostitution is the oldest profession in history" before you use it to justify present day prostitution. Whether you are for or against the legalization, basing your argument on the reality of a few thousand years ago is just silly.
SOURCE

Guantanamo Libya. The new Italian border police

2009-05-08T17:44:00.002+02:00

Guantanamo Libya. The new Italian border police

TRIPOLI - The iron door is closed. From the small loophole I see the faces of two African guys and one Egyptian. I can't stand the acrid smell coming from the holding cells. I ask them to move. Now I can see the whole room, three meters per eight. There are some thirty people inside. Piled one over the other. There are no beds, people sleep on the ground on some dirty foam mattresses. Behind, on the walls, somebody has written Guantanamo. But we are not in the U.S. base. We are in Zlitan, in Libya. And the detainees they are not suspected terrorists, but immigrants arrested south of Lampedusa.

People press behind the door. They have not been receiving any visits since they were arrested. Someone raises the voice: "Help us!" A young man put the hand out of the loophole and give me a piece of cardboard. There is written a telephone number, by pen. The prefix is that of Gambia. I put it in my pocket, hiding from the police. His name is Outhman. He asks me to tell his mother he is still alive. He has been locked in this prison for the last five months. Fabrice instead spent here nine months. Both of them were arrested during police raids in the immigrants neighbourhoods in Tripoli. Since several years actually, Libya is committed to patrol the European southern border. With any means. In 2003 Italy signed an agreement with Gaddafi and sent oversea motorboats, cars and body-bags... funding detention centres and deportation flights. Since then, tens of thousands of immigrants and refugees every year are arrested in Libya and held in such inhuman conditions.

"People are suffering here! The food is bad, and the water is dirty. We are sick and there are pregnant women." Gift is 29 years old. She is from Nigeria. She was arrested three months ago, while she was walking with her husband on the street. They left two children in Tripoli, she said. She is not allowed to call them. Her husband has been repatriated the previous week. She is still here, alone, wearing the same clothes she had when she was taken prisoner. Before, she has been living in Libya for three years, working as a hairdresser, and she didn't have any idea to cross the sea towards Italy, as many of the other immigrants who are here.

It is not the case of Y. Because he really dreamed about Europe. He is Eritrean and he deserted the army in order to seek for political asylum in Europe. He was apprehended in the sea. By the Libyans police. And locked here in Zlitan. Before entering in the office of the director – Ahmed Salim -, a policeman whispers something to him. When we ask him about the conditions of the prison, he answers with a trembling voice: "Everything is good." He is frightened. He knows that if he says something wrong he will be beaten. The director smiles in front of him and grants us he will not be deported. Within the next week he will be transferred to the detention centre of Misratah, 210 km east of Tripoli, where all the Eritreans refugees are concentrated.

In the region of Zlitan, there are three other detention centres for immigrants, in Khums, Garabulli and Bin Ulid. They are smaller and detainees kept there are normally moved to the camp of Zlitan, which can hold up to 325 people. But how many detention centres are there in Libya? According to the evidences we collected in the last years, they are at least 28, mostly concentrated along the coast. There are three kinds of centres. There are concentration camps, like those of Sebha, Zlitan, Zawiyah, Kufrah and Misratah, where migrants and refugees are concentrated waiting for their deportation. Then there are smaller facilities, such as Qatrun, Brak, Shat, Ghat, Khums ... where aliens are held for a shorter period of time before being sent to the bigger camps. And then there are the prisons: Jadida, Fellah, Twaisha, Ain Zarah ... Common prisons I mean, with entire branches dedicated to undocumented foreigners. The most known one was the prison of Fellah, in Tripoli, but it was recently demolished to construct a new building, in line with the restyling of the entire city. Its function was replaced by Twaisha, the prison near the airport.

Koubros managed to escape from Twaisha only few weeks ago. He is Eritrean, 27 years old. He used to live in Sudan, but after an Eritrean friend was deported from Khartoum, he suddenly decided to leave towards a safer place in Europe. He went out from Twaisha walking with crutches. He says he was seriously beaten by a drunk policeman who asked him money. Hopefully his Eritreans cell mates collect some money to let him free. To bribe a prison guard $ 300 is enough. I met him in front of the church of San Francesco, in Tripoli. Like every Friday, about fifty African migrants are waiting for the opening of Caritas. Tadrous is one of them. He was released last October from the prison of Surman. He is one of the few refugees having been judged by a court. His story interests me. It was on June 2008. They took the sea from Zuwarah, in 90 people. But after a few hours they decided to come back, because of the stormy sea, and they were arrested. The judge sentenced them to 5 months of detention, with the charge of illegal emigration. I ask him if he was given a lawyer. He simply smiles shaking the head. The answer is no.

Nothing strange, says the lawyer Abdussalam Edgaimish. Libyan law does not provide free legal aid for crimes punishable by less than three years. Edgaimish is the director of the Bar of Tripoli. He welcomes us in his office, in the First September road. He explains us that the practice of arrest and detention of immigrants have nor legal basis neither a validation from the court. Any Libyan citizen, according to the law, could not be deprived of liberty without a warrant of arrest. But for foreigners it is not the same. Police raids are usual. The practice is that of house-to-house raids in the suburbs of Tripoli.

"Migrants are victims of a conspiracy between the two shores of the Mediterranean. Europe sees only a security problem, but nobody wants to talk about their rights. " Jumaa Atigha is also a lawyer of Tripoli, graduated in Rome in 1983. Since 1999, he chaired the Organization for the Human Rights of the Foundation led by the firstborn of Gaddafi, Saif al Islam. In 2007 he resigned. During his presidency he led a national campaign, making the Government release 1,000 political prisoners. He describes a country involved in a rapid change, but still far from an ideal situation with respect to individual and political freedom. Atigha knows well the conditions of detention in Libya. From 1991 to 1998 he has been jailed without trial, as a political prisoner. He tells us that torture is a common practice among the Libyan policemen. "The lack of awareness means that policemen think to serve justice, while they are torturing people"

Mustafa O. Attir think the same. He is professor of sociology in the Tripoli University of El Fatah. "It is not simply a problem of racism. Libyans are kind with foreigners. It is a matter of police." Attir knows what he says. He visited Libyan prisons as a researcher in 1972, 1984 and 1986. Police officers have no education – he tells us - and are instead educated to the concept of punishment.

Suddenly his words make me rethink to the Ghanaian hairdressers in the medina, the Chadian tailors, the Sudanese shops, the Egyptians waiters, the Moroccan ladies in the cafeterias, and the Africans cleaning the roads every night. While Eritreans refugees are hiding themselves in the suburbs of Gurji and Krimia, thousands of African immigrants live and work here, maybe exploited, but with a relative peace. Certainly for Sudaneses and Chadians people, everything is easier. They speak Arabic and they are Muslims. They have been living in Libya for tens of years and therefore they are quite tolerated. The same for Egyptians and Moroccans. Instead is different for Eritreans and Ethiopians. They are here only for a transit to Europe. Often they do not speak Arabic. Often they are Christians. And their grandparents fought against Libyans with the Italian colonial troops. And as they travel with the money for the crossing in the pocket, they are often stolen even in the street. For the Nigerians, and more generally for the Anglophone sub-Saharan, is different. If they are directed to Europe or not, it is not important. Their integration in the Libyan society clashes systematically with the racist stereotypes against Nigerians, linked to the crimes of some Nigerian criminal networks. They are accused of smuggling drugs and alcohol, exploiting prostitution, bringing the Hiv virus and perpetrating robbery and murders.

During 2007, professor Attir organized three conferences on the subject of immigration in the Arab countries. In Libya he is one of the greater experts. And he is ready to deny the figures circulating in Europe. "Two million immigrants in Libya are waiting to leave to Italy? It is not true." Actually there is no statistic at all. The Libyan population is five and a half million people. Foreigners can not reasonably be more than one million, including Arab immigrants. Most of them have never thought to cross the sea. And Libya need them, because its economy is growing up, and the country is underpopulated and its citizens don't want any more to do heavy and cheap labours. Attir is aware of the pressures that Europe is doing on Libya. But he also knows that "there is no way" to stop the transit of migrants in the sea.

Libya has about 1,800 km of coastline, largely uninhabited. Colonel Khaled Musa, head of anti-immigration patrols in Zuwarah, don't really think that the six patrol boats promised by Italy will solve the problem. For sure they will help to control the coast between the Tunisian border, Ras Jdayr, and Sabratah. But it is only around 100 km. The 6% of the Libyan coast. And the departures have already moved on the coasts east of Tripoli, between Khums and Zlitan, more than 200 km from Zuwarah. The department of immigration of Zuwarah was created in 2005. The number of migrants arrested fell from 5,963 in 2005 to 1,132 in 2007. For the head of the investigations department, Sala el Ahrali, the figures show the success of the repressive measures. Many smugglers have been arrested, that is why the departures decreased. And the coast is patrolled every night, by cars. Every ten kilometres there is a police tent, on the beach. But only along 50 kilometres from the Tunisian border, from Farwah, to Mellitah, near the gas treatment plant owned the Italian Eni and the Libya's National Oil Company.

It goes from Mellitah to Gela, in Sicily. Greenstream, this is its name, is the longest underwater pipeline in the Mediterranean. Ironically, it runs along the same route which leads thousands of migrants to Lampedusa. On the surface of the sea, EU sends its military forces to stop the transRit of human beings. While at the bottom of the sea, eight billions cubic meters of gas annually pass through the 520 km of pipes, among the bones of thousands of victims of migration. An image that perfectly summarizes the relationship of the last five years between Rome and Tripoli, leaded under the slogan "more oil, less immigrants".

Read also:
Libya: inside the immigrants detention centre of Misratah
Border Sahara: the detention centres in the Libyan desert
Download the Fortress Europe 2007 Report: Escape from Tripoli

Speciale Libia: cosa accadrà ai 227 emigranti respinti a Tripoli?

2009-05-08T17:37:00.002+02:00

Speciale Libia: cosa accadrà ai 227 emigranti respinti a Tripoli?

PISTOIA, 7 maggio 2009 - Né a Malta, né a Lampedusa. Sono stati riportati in Libia i 227 emigranti e rifugiati (cittadini di Nigeria, Ghana, Gambia, Costa d'Avorio, Somalia e Mali) – tra cui 40 donne, tre delle quali incinte - soccorsi ieri a circa 35 miglia a sud est di Lampedusa dalle autorità italiane. Dopo una giornata di infruttuose trattative con il governo maltese sulla responsabilità dei soccorsi, l"Italia è riuscita a strappare a Tripoli il consenso per la riammissione in Libia dei naufraghi. Nessuno dei passeggeri è stato identificato, nessuno degli eventuali minori non accompagnati è stato tutelato, nessun rifugiato è stato messo nelle condizioni di chiedere asilo politico, e nessun medico ha verificato le condizioni di salute dei naufraghi. Prassi che sulla terra ferma sono obblighi previsti dalla legge. Ma non in mare aperto, fuori dalle frontiere e dallo stato di diritto. Maroni ha rivendicato quanto accaduto come "un risultato storico" e annunciato che sarà la prassi della prossima stagione di sbarchi. Maroni e l'Italia hanno la memoria corta.

"Le espulsioni collettive di migranti dall'Italia alla Libia costituiscono una violazione del principio di non refoulement. Le autorità italiane non hanno rispettato i loro obblighi internazionali". Era il 14 aprile del 2005 e il Parlamento Europeo adottava una risoluzione di condanna contro le deportazioni collettive con cui il Governo italiano aveva espulso in Libia 1.500 persone intercettate al largo di Lampedusa tra l'ottobre 2004 e il marzo 2005. "Il parlamento europeo - continuava la risoluzione su Lampedusa P6_TA(2005)0138 - è profondamente preoccupato sul destino di centinaia di richiedenti asilo respinti in Libia, dal momento che questo paese non ha firmato la Convenzione di Ginevra sui rifugiati, non ha un sistema d'asilo, non offre garanzie effettive per i diritti di rifugiati, e pratica arresti arbitrari detenzioni e espulsioni".

Un mese dopo, il 10 maggio del 2005, la Corte europea dei diritti umani sospese l'espulsione da Lampedusa di 11 cittadini stranieri sbarcati a marzo e che avevano presentato ricorso. Quattro anni dopo, ciò che ieri era illegale è divenuto regola d'ingaggio dei pattugliamenti di Frontex partiti la settimana scorsa nel Canale di Sicilia.

Adesso però le questioni sono due. La prima: che ne sarà del soccorso in mare, quando la priorità non è più la vita dei naufraghi, ma le trattative sul dove portarli? Maroni presenta i 600 salvataggi fatti dalle nostre unità in acque maltesi come un peccato originale. In realtà fanno onore alla nostra Guardia costiera e alla nostra Marina militare. Perchè questa gente non viaggia su navi di crociera. Ma su vecchi legni malmessi. Tutti ricordino che sono quasi 4.000 le vite umane che il mare di Sicilia si è ingoiato negli ultimi dieci anni! Bene, rischiano di morirne altrettanti ora che la nostra Guardia costiera ha ricevuto l'ordine di non intervenire in alto mare, senza autorizzazione del ministero dell'Interno, previa consultazione-scontro con Malta. Ieri è andata bene perché il mare era calmo. Ma col mare in tempesta e onde altre quattro metri, bastano pochi minuti di ritardo a decidere la morte di centinaia di persone.

La seconda questione è: che cosa succederà ai migranti respinti in Libia? Sappiamo già che sono stati arrestati e detenuti nel carcere di Tuaisha, a Tripoli, fatta eccezione per una donna ricoverata in ospedale dopo sei giorni trascorsi in mare. Adesso, a seconda delle nazionalità, alcuni saranno rimpatriati in pochi giorni (ad esempio verso Tunisia e Egitto), altri saranno tenuti a marcire nelle carceri libiche per mesi, o per anni. In che condizioni? Lo scriviamo da tre anni. Per l'ennesima volta vi riproponiamo i nostri esclusivi reportage. Nella speranza che la stampa ne faccia buon uso, anziché continuare a leccare le scarpe ai ministri.

I nostri reportage
Guantanamo Libia. I nuovi gendarmi dell'Italia
La porta di ferro è chiusa a doppia mandata. Dalla piccola feritoia si affacciano i volti di due ragazzi africani e un di egiziano. L'odore acre che esce dalla cella mi brucia le narici. Chiedo ai tre di spostarsi. La vista si apre su due stanze di tre metri per quattro. Vedo 30 persone. Sul muro hanno scritto Guantanamo. Ma non siamo nella base americana. Siamo a Zlitan, in Libia. E i detenuti non sono presunti terroristi, ma immigrati arrestati a sud di Lampedusa

Frontiera Sahara. I campi di detenzione nel deserto libico
Stipati come animali, dentro container di ferro. Così gli immigrati arrestati in Libia vengono smistati nei centri di detenzione nel deserto libico, in attesa di essere deportati. Siamo i primi giornalisti autorizzati a vederli. Le condizioni dei centri sono inumane. I funzionari italiani e europei lo sanno bene, visto che li hanno visitati. Ma si astengono da ogni critica, alla vigilia dell'avvio dei pattugliamenti congiunti

Reportage dalla Libia: siamo entrati a Misratah
Di notte, quando cessano il vociare dei prigionieri e gli strilli della polizia, dal cortile del carcere si sente il rumore del mare. Sono le onde del Mediterraneo, che schiumano sulla spiaggia, a un centinaio di metri dal muro di cinta del campo di detenzione. Siamo a Misratah, 210 km a est di Tripoli, in Libia. E i detenuti sono 600 richiedenti asilo politico eritrei, arrestati al largo di Lampedusa o nei quartieri degli immigrati a Tripoli

E poi le nostre inchieste:
Libia: arrestati i superstiti del naufragio, sono a Tuaisha
"Così le navi di Frontex ci respinsero in Libia"
Dall'Unione europea 20 milioni alla Libia contro l'immigrazione
Libia: ecco le foto dei campi di detenzione
La Libia cerca immigrati in Asia, mentre l'Oim pensa ai rimpatri
Libia: ecco il testo dell'accordo segreto con l´Italia
Italia-Libia: Berlusconi firma l'accordo. Presto i pattugliamenti
Italia - Libia: Prodi firma l'accordo per il pattugliamento congiunto
Marocco: le testimonianze degli harragas arrestati in Libia

Per testimonianze audio potete scaricare questo file
Libia: esclusiva intervista con i rifugiati detenuti a Zawiyah

FESTA DEI POPOLI CISTERNA (2009)

2009-05-06T15:50:00.003+02:00

Sabato 16 maggio si svolgerà in piazza 19 Marzo a Cisterna di Latina la terza edizione della Festa dei Popoli.L'evento giunto alla terza edizione rappresenta un momento ormai atteso per vivere una giornata all'insegna dello scambio e dell'incontro con le forme d'arte delle diverse culture. La festa inizierà alle ore 17,30 e prevede una carrellata di spettacoli musicali e di danza di gruppi locali o stranieri che dimostreranno le caratteristiche e peculiarità dei diversi tipi di musiche e danze, un linguaggio universale che da sempre unisce i diversi popoli.Anche quest'anno danza del ventre, samba e balli caraibici, gruppi peruviani e messicani, ritmi africani e Jambè.Durante la serata si potrànno inoltre gustare gratuitamente alcune pietanze tipiche offerte dalle associazioni che rappresenteranno le diverse culture con cibi, oggetti, costumi tipici delle diverse culture. Inserita nell'evento anche una mostra etnografica "Popoli e arte dal mondo" presso palazzo Caetani da Domenica 11 a sabato 16 Maggio. Per ulteriori informazioni contattare L'Assessorato alle Politiche Sociali del Comune di Cisterna di Latina al numero 06.96834259/06.96834301.

A COUNTRY WITHOUT ELECTRICITY

2009-05-05T15:01:00.000+02:00

NIGERIA IN THE WORLD VIEW: A COUNTRY WITHOUT ELECTRICITY

Controlling Malaria: A Low Cost, Environmentally Friendly Mosquito Killer

2009-04-25T17:52:00.003+02:00

Controlling Malaria: A Low Cost, Environmentally Friendly Mosquito Killer

1997-11-21

Katherine Morrow

For years, Peruvian microbiologist Palmira Ventosilla, an expert on tropical disease vectors, has toiled to control malaria, by targeting the spread of the Anopheles mosquito. In 1991, her work took on a greater urgency when P. falciparum — the most deadly type of malaria parasite — spread to Peru.

Ventosilla and her colleagues at the Alexander von Humboldt Tropical Medicine Institute in Lima have developed a low-cost, environmentally friendly alternative to pesticides for use as mosquito killers in the fight against malaria. In Salitral, a town found in Peru's humid, semi-tropical northern coast, Ventosilla's team has been teaching people how to use coconuts as a natural incubator for Bacillus thuringiensis var. israelensis (Bti) strain H-14. This naturally occurring bacterium is harmless to humans and animals, but can kill Anopheles mosquitoes in the larval stage, before they emerge from ponds or other breeding sites.

The incubation process involves inserting a cotton swab soaked in Bti into the coconut, then sealing it with wax. After a few days of fermentation, the coconut is split open and applied to local ponds where mosquitoes are known to breed. This simple procedure requires little training. Except for the Bti swabs, all of the necessary equipment — including candle wax, a sharp knife, and a coconut — is locally available.

Community-based approach

In Salitral, the Bti-coconut technology is the centrepiece of a community-based malaria control program, which was funded for many years by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC). This program aims to give local people sufficient knowledge and resources to control malaria on their own — a necessary strategy in a country such as Peru, where 25% of the population lacks access to health care services. Under this program, community residents receive lessons on how to use the Bti coconut technology, the life cycle of the Anopheles mosquito, and the environmental conditions that favour the spread of malaria. Armed with such information, people can control mosquito levels by applying Bti to breeding sites, paving irrigation channels, and eliminating waste water. And they can protect themselves from mosquito bites by using bednets and window screens, planting lemon and eucalyptus trees (which act as natural barriers to the mosquito), and fumigating their homes by burning eucalyptus branches and leaves.

The Salitral project is now in its final phase, so the focus is on ensuring the sustainability of this community-based approach. Almost half of Salitral's population is under 20 years of age, and Ventosilla is counting on young people to maintain and transmit their knowledge about malaria prevention. They have learned to identify the tiny Anopheles larvae by sight, and know how and when to use Bti to control the insect population.

New horizons

"Our next challenge is to bring the coconut technology, and the community-based approach, to the jungle," says Ventosilla. So far, the team has identified a field site in Madre de Dios, in the southern Peruvian Amazon. Preliminary field trials have shown that Bti is effective in jungle breeding ponds, with an even higher level of larvae control than in the region around Salitral. She believes that the algae and overhanging vegetation cover in these jungle ponds may protect Bti from harmful UV rays, and hopes to test this hypothesis in further trials.

For this work, the researchers include an anthropologist, a sociologist, entomologists, and biologists. During preliminary visits to the Amazon region, they began establishing strong links with local people and institutions. "A major reason why the Salitral project was successful was that a strong commitment was made to the community," explains Ventosilla.

She plans to bring the same level of involvement to Madre de Dios. By integrating innovative, appropriate technologies with community-based learning and action, her team is facilitating the region's long-term development. "To hear people say: 'Thank you for coming to our town, we're better off since you came.' is the best reward," she concludes.

Katherine Morrow is a Canadian writer who recently worked in Cajamarca, Peru.