Breaking The Silence

" The collusion between politicians and criminal organisations represents the true strength of the Camorra and Mafia"

The Italian film Gomorra, depicting the insidious and destructive workings of the Neapolitan criminal organisation, the Camorra, is based on a book by the Italian writer Roberto Saviano. The Camorra now says it wants him dead by Christmas. Increasingly it is brave individuals - not the Italian state - who are taking on the Camorra, by breaking the code of silence and stripping away the glamour that surrounds organised crime in Italy _ (Pascale Harter reports from Naples, BBC WORLD News)

READ:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7739993.stm

LISTEN:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_7737000/7737202.stm

Sulla Liberta di Stampa e Stampa Indipendente

A Burmese soldier shoots japanese reporter Kenji Nagai at close range in Rangoon on 27 September 2007

Nel 2003 Reporter Senza Frontiere pubblicava la classifica mondiale sulla libertà di stampa. La situazione piu catastrofica era in Asia con 8 paesi presenti fra i 10 peggior classificati: Corea del Nord, Birmania, Laos, China, Vietnam, Turmenistan, Iran, Butan.

Cuba occupava il 165° posto nella classifica mondiale. Solo nella primavera del 2003 26 furono i giornalisti incarcerati con pena da i 14 ai 27 anni.

Eritrea al 162°presentava invece la situazione peggiore nel continente africano. 14 erano i giornalisti segrtamente detenuti.

Simile la situazione per molti tra i paesi Arabi: Oman, Ibia, Siria, Arabia Saudita intorno al 155 posto nella classifica mondiale per la liberta di stampa.

L'Unione Europea si classifcava bene ad eccezione per Italia (53) dove la situazione del conflitto di interessi di SiLVio BeRLuScoNi non incontrava risoluzione, a fronte anche della legge proposta per mezzo dello stesso, che dovrebbe ma non garantisce il pluralismo di informazione; e Spagna (42) situazione imputabile alle difficoltà che incontrava l'esercizio di giornalisti nel Paese Basco, per la presenza dell' organizzazione terroristica ETA.

In altri paesi democratici, dove nonostante esista liberta di stampa indipendente, i giornalisti incontrano ancora forti resistenze e o vincoli da parte non direttamente dello stato ma di gruppi politici o mafia o gruppi armati e ribelli. è il caso di Colombia (147) Bangladesh (143) Filippine (118) o Nepal (150)_

Ad oggi, l'ultmo index è del 2008 e vede la situazione poco cambiata per quei paesi Asiatici e Arabi sopra descritti. Nonchè un peggioramento per la situazione Cubana ora al 165°posto.

L'Italia (44) e la Spagna (32) sembrano invece aver guadagnato qualche vittoria, anche la Colombia (126) dove pero nel 2007, sei furono i giornalisti assasinati e il media restano ancora soggetti alle forze armate.

_Questo è quanto ho potuto apprendere da una breve ricerca fatta in rete confrontando gli index anno dopo anno, leggendo entrambe i report degli anni 2002 e 2008.

Alcuni link, tante informazioni, paese per paese...

REPORTERS WITHOUT BORDERS, Annual Report
Worldwide Press Freedom Index Ranking

http://www.rsf.org

El periodismo debe mantener a la sociedad despierta... sacar la vida palpitante de los hechos y los pedacitos de verdad que hay en ellos. Y esto se logra con el ejercicio de la libertad.

Javier Dario Restrepo, miembro de medios para la paz

http://www.mediosparalapaz.org

Changed Times

"We are talking about the G20 because the G8 doesn't have any more reason to exist, in other words, the emerging economies have to be taken into consideration in today's globalized world.

The existing multilateral organizations and the international rules in place were rejected by history. Both the IMF and the World Bank should open themselves to bigger participation of developing economies."

_LUIZ INACIO LULA DA SILVA, BRAZILIAN PRESIDENT_

(From BBC WORLD News)

Explaining War to Who Leaves in Peace II _ RIGHT TO SELF-DETERMINATION To TamiL Community in SRI LANKA

Sri Lanka is a multi-ethnic country, and an ancient centre of Buddhism. It also has a significant number of Hindus, Christians and Muslims.
For much of the last 20 years Sri Lanka has suffered fighting between the armed forces of the predominantly Sinhalese government and Tamil Tiger rebels who want an independent homeland in the north and east.
Because of the civil war more than 70,000 people have died so far. Now the army says victory is finally in sight.
Over the years war and the army has become a way of life for many families.
Fighting has become the best career option for young men.
The origins of the current violence go back to the island's independence from Britain in 1948.

Tensions developped between the majority Sinhalese community - who are mostly Buddhist - and the Tamil community who are mostly either Hindu or Roman Catholic.
The communities speak different languages - Sinhala and Tamil - and both claim their ancestors were original settlers on the island. Throughout the 1980s, 1990s and for parts of this decade, the country has witnessed a combination of Tamil Tiger suicide attacks on the one hand and repeated military skirmishes in the north and east on the other.

The violence over this time period has been interspersed by various international efforts to negotiate a peace settlement: technically the two sides are not at war despite the recent violence, as neither has formally withdrawn from a peace treaty signed in 2002.
Both the military and the Tamil Tigers have been frequently accused of gross violations of human rights by international rights groups.
Civilians have been routinely murdered and thousands made homeless by the years of war...

(From BBC WORLD News)

_I feel ashamed when I think of so many conflicts in the world whose reason has been lost through the time, and whose causes have stopped to be looked at!
When this happens we let things getting more complex until the solution becomes just impossible to see!

Ending War and sufferance in Sri Lanka should begin from recognizing the right to self-determination of Eezham Tamils and the integrity of their homeland...

Explaining War To who Leaves in Peace _ ON THE CONFLICT IN CONGO

Nella Repubblica Democratica del Congo, Solo chi puo scappa, chi no muore... solo chi puo mangia, chi no muore... Solo chi ha le gambe corre, chi no resta e... muore. Solo chi ha il coraggio di resistere puo sperare in un destino diverso, chi no solo disperare. Penso all'inferno di questa donna, e che se ero nata in Congo questa donna oggi ero io....

"There was a lot of gunfire and 'mabombi'(explotions) I saw them die; and after seeing them I knew we had to run away or else we would also die with them.
We ran through the night in the dark for a long time [...] and we suffered until we arrived at this camp.
We arrived with nothing but ourselves but I thank God that my family are all together. We are sleeping outside. It is raining a lot.
Life is desperate at the camp; we are going through a very difficult time.
We keep being told that they [...] are bringing us food but up till now it hasn't arrived and so we haven't got any food.

What I fear most is an outbreak of disease because there are so many of us staying here, all together and so close to one another.

The other thing I really fear is rape because we are sleeping all over.
The army could rape us women. Other men could also rape us.

Of everything though, the only thing I am asking for is peace.

Peace is my first priority."


Anatasia Ndaonduye, 30 _Congolese




IN THE PICs: CONGO's CHILD SOLDIERS
Groups of children are being kidnapped and forced to fight in the Democratic Republic of Congo, bolstering rebel militia numbers.
As the violence in the region escalates, HAS THE RESTORATION OF PEACE BECOME AN IMPOSSIBLE TASK FOR UN FORCES?

From BBC WORLD News

Questions of Travel

Think of the long trip home.
Should we have stayed at home and thought of here?
Where should we be today?
Is it right to be watching strangers in a play
in this strangest of theatres?
What childishness is it that while there's a breath of life
in our bodies, we are determined to rush
to see the sun the other way around?
The tiniest green hummingbird in the world?
To stare at some inexplicable old stonework,
inexplicable and impenetrable,
at any view,
instantly seen and always, always delightful?
Oh, must we dream our dreams
and have them, too?
And have we room
for one more folded sunset, still quite warm?

But surely it would have been a pity
not to have seen the trees along this road...

...And never to have had to listen to rain
so much like politicians' speeches:
two hours of unrelenting oratory
and then a sudden golden silence
in which the traveller takes a notebook, writes:

"Is it lack of imagination that makes us come
to imagined places, not just stay at home?
Or could Pascal have been not entirely right
about just sitting quietly in one's room?

Continent, city, country, society:
the choice is never wide and never free.
And here, or there . . . No. Should we have stayed at home,
wherever that may be?"

Elizabeth Bishop
"Questions Of Travel"

Conforming to Uniforms

It' s not been a long time since I live in Japan and I don't how much longer I will be here either.
Every morning I take the 8 am train to Kyoto from the place I live. As every morning all platforms are full of people waiting for the train. As every morning all faces look just like the same as some other morning.
Ordered people, in ordered suits. Standing one next to the other.
With the same posture, office men and office ladies holding their bags.
All of them dressed in gray, black and white, but no one differs very much from another.
All of them apply to a uniform code, so true that you can find uniformed shirts in any 24 hours shop on the way.
All uniforms apply to a structural scheme.
Students, boys and girls of different schools, wear all different uniforms according to their grade.
Kids of 4 years old wear visible uncomfortable hats, all girls skirts, all guys pants.
Even the schoolbag is the same for everybody.
For anybody waiting for that train their uniform is their identity: it tells people around what's your role within the society.

Uniforms are not just about a dress code. Uniformed ways and manners are part of our social behavior. In Japan there are structured ways of doing things. When buying something you will assist to the same procedure of packaging, taking money, counting money. Also you will be asked the same questions with the exact same words you would have heard in a different shop or with a different costumer, any time you will enter a shop. You can try 10 thousands times per day.
There is no active communication. When The guy behind the counter is not actually talking to you, you start not listening to him either. There's no exchange. The only thing I see here is about accomplishing the procedure.

When waiting for the train every morning, I wander in which way I am starting conforming myself too. We can think of ourselves as much free as we like. By time it's a reality and passes for everybody.
The world around affects you, whoever you are.

And when thinking about how long I will be here still, I think it should not be too long...

Beyond Progress: JaPaN

www.tetsuyaishida.jp

石田　徹也
1973-2005
Shizuoka,
Japan

Ishida, Tetsuya

Those Who Dare

"IF we give up the fight, those currently in power win by default and the human rights situation will have little chance of improving much. But if we keep pushing, keep protesting, we can nudge the government, and the other authorities to accept the changes needed to produce a brighter human rights condition for all."_Chua Tian Chang

"IN every era there are always those who will struggle for freedom... they will be rejected, bullied, humiliated, imprisoned and even killed. These freedom-fighters crawl along a narrow path. But in the end, those who follow will widen the path into a a broad avenue. Freedom-fighters may rot physically, but their courage and commitment will enhance human civilization and last forever.
Freedom-fighters don't belong to today, but they will leave on tomorrow."_Shih Ming-teh

(From Those Who Dare, Voices of Asian Democrats)

Whenever talking about freedom and human rights, democratization is a concept that comes along. There is no doubt on good effect of democracy, but the- ation suffix implies a process than when applied to some other country, its people and society, it is not far from being some other sort of imposition.
On this regard we must reflect on if and how that principle of freedom does still exist. All in all, it's a matter of ethic. And escape the issue is not at all that easy.

But when the process is started by those same people and societies the democratiz-ation will affect, then we have freedom and real chances that through it people will come to a real understanding of human needs and peace as one of those .

Thanks to those who stand up and fight, who energize the creative power of ideas.

Chiara Cirillo, author of this blog