40% of UN Troops Committing Sexual Abuse

Monuc's latest data shows that 40 percent of sexual abuse are committed by UN contingent

It is recorded that the UN peace keeping troops have committed quite an alarming percentage of sexual abuse. According to the latest data provided by the United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (Monuc), the UN contingent perpetrated 40 percent of sexual abuse.

An officer at Monuc Unit of Code of Conduct, Hamina, said that each commander from every contingent must prevent sexual abuse from being committed to their subordinates.

Therefore, drills or trainings to improve their understanding on the importance of discipline in working in Monuc/the United Nations will be required.

"In addition to affecting the victims and perpetrators, the UN mission will be disgraced," Hamina said on Tuesday, Jan 27.

The personnel on duty should be professional and respect the multicultural values embedded in the life of local inhabitants.

Through a drilling, it is expected that an understanding toward sexual deviation, especially sexual exploitation abuse (SEA) will be built. As a result, the knowledge can be disseminated to other personnel in the contingent.

The SEA prevention will be a significant factor that must be taken into consideration by every Monuc personnel.

Therefore, the Indonesian Military contingent launched prevention efforts by imposing curfew, obligating its personnel to wear uniform outside of the camp, prohibiting its personnel to go to places suspected as prostitution zones and providing recreation spots in the camps as well as organizing regular religious activities.

Topless dancer fined

A FILIPINA was fined $1,000 on Friday for appearing topless while dancing at a pub in Duxton Hill.
Miechelle Myth Lapay Alicabo, 30, admitted to exposing her breasts at 'Duxton Night'' Restaurant Karaoke & Pub on Oct 30 last year.

A court heard that while dancing infront of male patrons at the pub, she removed her top and brassiere and pulled down her skirt, clad only in her underwear.

She was arrested for appearing nude in a public place by police officers who were conducting checks.

She could have been fined up to $2,000 and/or jailed for up to three months.

China's exports fall for second month amid crisis: state media

Chinese exports extended their decline into a second month in December as the global crisis continue to hurt its heavily trade-dependent economy, according to state media reports.
This followed a decline of 2.2 percent in November, which was the first time in seven years that Chinese exports had fallen at all.

As the global economic crisis worsens, China is expected to record even worse data in the coming months, said Xu Jian, a Beijing-based economist with China International Capital Corp.

"The fall in exports will probably get worse with the United States, Japan and Europe in recession," he told AFP, adding that the December drop in exports was the worst since April 1999.

Imports in December were down by 21.3 percent to 72.2 billion dollars, the China Daily said, suggesting a rapid contraction in domestic economic activity.

The World Bank has warned that China's economy will expand by just 7.5 percent in 2009, the lowest level since 1990.

The trade surplus last month came to 39 billion dollars, the customs data showed.

This is the second-highest on record, only surpassed by the 40.1 billion dollars in November, which had also resulted mainly from a steep decline in imports.

The figure suggests that China's full-year trade surplus was 295 billion dollars, a rise of about 13 percent from 2007.

Volunteers leave on aid mission

Hundreds of people crammed into al-Azhar Mosque in South Jakarta on Friday to bid farewell to four volunteers of the Indonesian Humanitarian Relief Team (ACT) who were to leave that night on a mission to infiltrate war-torn Palestine and distribute humanitarian aid there.


The antiIsrael atmosphere was obvious in the house of worship, where photos of Israeli soldiers holding Palestinians at gunpoint were pasted to the walls.


Some of the congregation cried “Allahu Akbar [God is Great]” and “long live Palestine”.


As members of the public took turns shaking hands with the volunteers — Novatiyadi Imam Akbari, Yayat Supriyana, Amrozi Rais and Darmawan — others chanted salawat badr (a prayer to Prophet Muhammad), some shedding tears as they spoke.


People’s Consultative Assembly Speaker Hidayat Nur Wahid led the prayer for the safety of the volunteers, who planned to leave for Palestine on Friday.


“We know that no one can guarantee our safety and we don’t know how to get back to Indonesia because we are quite aware of what is happening in Palestine,” said Novariyadi, who is mission coordinator. “We are ready for all possibilities, and so are our families.”


The volunteers will bring with them about Rp 1 billion in cash that was collected over the last eight days at fund-raising events. They plan to use the money to buy food and supplies in Jordan which they will then give to Palestinians.


Amrozi said he and his fellow volunteers planned to team up with the Palestine Solidarity Community — an Amman-based Jordanian organization — as well as several pro-Palestine movements in the region.


“We know Israel has blockaded Palestine. We will try to enter Palestine through Jordan or Syria,” Amrozi said, adding that they would buy visas on arrival in Jordan.


ACT director Ahyuddin said more than 2,000 people had donated money on the condition the team distribute the funds to Palestinians no matter the conditions they faced.


The team is the second to be sent by Indonesia to Palestine. Last week, the largest Muslim country sent 10 volunteers to the besieged Middle-Eastern spot, including journalists.


Some hard-line groups are recruiting and training volunteers to be sent to Palestine as soldiers to resist the Israeli army, despite repeated government warnings against such actions.


Hidayat said Tuesday that sending Indonesian jihadists to the war zone would add to the humanitarian crisis.


“What they need is not fighters, but humanitarian aid, or the public opinion ... that Palestine is not alone, that Israel has committed a war crime. That will give hope to the Palestinians that the war will end,” said Hidayat, who is also co-founder of the Prosperous Justice Party.


Hidayat had just returned from touring Arab and Muslim countries in his capacity as deputy chairman of the Al-Quds Foundation.

Jihadists the last thing Gaza needs: Minister

The government maintained Tuesday its stance of refusing to send Indonesian troops to the Gaza Strip despite mounting pressure from some Islamic groups to dispatch jihadists to the besieged Middle Eastern spot.

The Foreign Ministry said sending jihadists to Gaza to help Hamas fight Israel would not improve the situation, adding there were much more effective avenues Indonesia could take to help diffuse the situation.

A number of Islamic hardline groups, including the Islam Defenders Front (FPI) and Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia (HTI), have said they wish to send volunteers to Gaza under the banner of jihad and have called on the government to support them.

“Is conducting a jihad effective? We must ask Gaza if that’s what they need, and most probably they (don’t). There are other more effective ways to help ... So far, sending jihadists isn’t an option,” Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda said.

AFP reported Tuesday that the 11-day-old Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip had claimed the lives of at least 635 Palestinians and wounded 2,900 more.
The toll shot up Tuesday when Israeli fire hit three schools, killing at least 45 people.

Speaking in his annual statement to the press, Hassan said what Gaza needed most was medicine and medical assistance.
“We are looking at the possibility of sending medical workers to field hospitals in the Egypt area of Sinai, which borders with Gaza. We’re awaiting clearance from Egypt, and the President has instructed the health minister to collect volunteers,” Hassan said.

Despite agreeing that the Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip had nothing to do with religion, Islamic groups in Jakarta have hyped up the conflict between the two religious groups, paving the way for the Islamic-based Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) and other Islamic groups to seize the momentum ahead of the April elections.

Observers on Tuesday criticized nationalist parties for not shouting down calls by Islam groups to send volunteers to the war, which was defined by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Monday as a clash over the sovereignty of territory between Palestine and Israel, and not a religious matter.

“The nationalist groups should be more active in voicing their stance as Indonesia’s voice will be much more strong if the (the world) considers it to represent a pluralist Indonesia rather than only Islam,” University of Indonesia international relations expert Hariyadi Wirawan said.

He said a pluralist Indonesia would attract more sympathy from major non-Muslim countries, such as members of the European Union (EU), as well as powerful human rights groups world wide that see the attacks as a territory dispute and a human rights tragedy rather than an attack against Islam.

PKS, the FPI and HTI seized the spotlight immediately after Israeli began the attacks when the groups gathered thousands of supporters in Jakarta and other big cities in the country to rally against Israel and the US.

Other political parties and nationalist groups did not take part in the rallies, and media coverage has refused to voice their stance on the conflict.

Perang Cerdas Hamas

Hari Sabath (Sabtu), hari yang dikuduskan kaum Yahudi diingkari sendiri oleh tentara Israel. Di hari larangan membunuh, bepergian, dan berdagang itu, pasukan darat negeri zionis resmi menyerang Gaza, Palestina. Mereka disambut meriah dengan rudal-rudal jarak dekat pejuang Hamas (Haraqah Al Muqawamah Al Islamiyah, Gerakan Perlawanan Islam).

Pemimpin Hamas Khalid Misyal dari pos komandonya di Syiria sudah memerintahkan setiap pejuang Hamas melawan. Khalid menjanjikan neraka bagi setiap tentara Israel yang menginjak tanah Gaza. Mengapa Hamas begitu berani ?

Padahal, dari hitung-hitungan matematika pertahanan, kekuatan dua pasukan sangat timpang. Bagai bumi dan langit. Israel Defence Forces (IDF, angkatan bersenjata Israel)�setidaknya berkekuatan 176 ribu infanteri bersenjata lengkap. IDF juga mendapat dukungan serangan udara dari 286 helikopter serbu, dan 875 jet tempur berkecepatan supersonik. Juga, 2800 tank dan 1.800 senjata artileri (meriam, rudal, peluncur roket) yang semuanya on load (siap digunakan).

Sebaliknya, Hamas hanya berkekuatan maksimal 20.000 pejuang. Tanpa pesawat tempur, jet, atau helikopter patroli satu pun. Mereka hanya memakai roket Al Banna dan Al Yaasin, modifikasi rudal PG-2 Rusia yang mampu menghancurkan tank Merkava dalam radius 500 meter. Roket lainnya, yang juga hasil modifikasi, maksimal hanya bisa meluncur 55 kilometer. Itu hanya cukup sampai Kota Sderoth, yang bukan jantung komando Israel.

Untuk pertahanan anti serangan udara, mereka mengandalkan rudal Rayyan, modifikasi dari rudal SA-7 Rusia yang dulu digunakan Hizbullah (Lebanon) untuk merontokkan helikopter dan UAV Israel.

Tak Percaya Statistik

Tapi, Hamas memang tak pernah percaya statistik. Apalagi cuma di atas kertas. Buktinya, sejak didirikan Syekh Ahmad Yasin pada 14 Desember 1987, Hamas terus membesar.

Untuk melawan Israel, Hamas membentuk sayap militer Brigade Izzudin Al Qassam. Anggotanya harus melalui seleksi superketat. Mereka diambil dari pemuda-pemuda yang lulus ujian akhlak dan keimanan.

Para recruiter Al Qassam, misalnya, akan mencari calon pejuang dari jamaah salat Subuh di masjid-masjid Gaza dan seluruh kawasan Tepi Barat. Pemuda yang tak pernah ketinggalan salat Subuh berjamaah adalah bibit terbaik prajurit Hamas. Jadi, pemuda Palestina yang suka merokok, apalagi bau minuman keras, jangan harap bisa diterima sebagai personel Al Qassam.

Prajurit ikhlas dan bebas maksiat memang jadi modal utama. Sebab, Hamas yakin kemenangan tak semata-mata hitungan senjata, tapi juga faktor "langit". Mereka percaya dengan perlindungan malaikat yang sudah tahu siapa yang bakal unggul. Seperti saat 300 prajurit Nabi Muhammad sukses melawan 1.300 musuh dalam Perang Badar (2 Hijriah).

Sikap itu buah didikan gerakan Ikhwanul Muslimin (IM) yang didirikan Hasan Al Banna di Mesir pada 1948. Syekh Yasin adalah kader IM sejak dipenjara karena ceramahnya pada 1965. Di penjara, putra Palestina asli kelahiran Desa Jaurah, 20 kilometer utara Gaza 1936 itu, bergabung dengan cabang IM Palestina yang berdiri pada 1935. Yasin syahid diterjang rudal Israel pada subuh, 22 Maret 2004.

Maka, pola latihan Al Qasaam juga pengembangan dari Nizham Khash (Biro Khusus) IM yang dibentuk di Kairo, Mesir, 1940. Pada perang Arab-Israel pertama 1948, Nizham mengirim 3.000 prajuritnya melawan Israel. Nizham juga berperan dalam perang Terusan melawan Inggris, 1951. Dalam aktivitas keseharian, Nizham memakai sistem sel tertutup. Satu anggota tak mengenal anggota lain, kecuali dalam satu usroh (grup) yang terdiri atas tujuh sampai 10 orang.

Dalam kitab At Tarbiyah As Siyasiyah 'Inda Jamaah Al Ikhwan Al Muslimin karangan Utsman Abdul Mu'iz Ruslan (diterjemahkan Era Intermedia, Solo, 2000) halaman 575-583, latihan Nizham dijabarkan dengan detail. Di antaranya, mereka mempelajari bela diri, senjata api, perang gerilya, bom dan bahan peledak, topografi, menyelam, serta infiltrasi (penyusupan) militer.

Mereka juga ahli ilmu sandi, terlatih memublikasikan selebaran (propaganda) dan punya data semua institusi Yahudi di Mesir dan Timur Tengah. Selain itu, anggota Nizham mempelajari tafsir Alquran, menghafal 40 hadits Imam Nawawi, berpuasa sunah, dan disiplin membaca Alquran minimal 1 juz per hari.

Sistem Nizham ditiru Al Qassam. Bekal mental penting karena tiap hari mereka diburu pasukan khusus Israel, Sayerat Matkal. Tapi, kematian memang jadi slogan impian tiap anggota Hamas (as syahid asma' amanina). Yang sudah meraihnya akan di-upload di situs resmi www.alqassam. ps.

Selain operasi militer, Hamas berhadapan dengan agen intelijen terhebat sedunia HaMossad leModi'in uleTafkidim Meyuhadim (Mossad). Guru MI5 Inggris dan CIA itu amat piawai menyaru rupa. Seorang agen Mossad bisa tampil bersurban dan berjenggot laksana Syeikh, tapi berceramah tentang hidup damai bersama Israel.

Agen Mossad juga bisa tampil perlente layaknya Bernard Madoff, konglomerat perayu kelas kakap yang sukses menciptakan krisis finansial dunia. Senyum manis ditambah taburan dolar bisa membuat politisi parlemen dan berbagai faksi politik lain di Palestina pecah belah teradu domba.

Untuk melawan Mossad, Hamas mengandalkan dukungan total dari rakyat Palestina. Hamas memang tinggal bersama mereka. Hamas membantu rakyat saat krisis pangan, menjadi guru madrasah anak-anak mereka, dan membangun terowongan jalur penyelundupan bawah tanah Rafah (Mesir)-Gaza agar bayi-bayi Palestina punya susu untuk diminum. Hamas juga santun kepada 3.000 warga Kristiani di Gaza. Tak heran, dalam pemilu pada 25 Januari 2006, Hamas meraup suara terbanyak.

Mereka juga punya koneksi gerakan di luar negeri yang solid. Ulama Hamas Dr Nawwaf Takruri, dosen Universitas An-Najah Nablus, bahkan pernah berceramah di Masjid As Syukur, 200 meter sebelah selatan kantor Graha Pena, Jawa Pos, Jakarta pada November 2007. Dalam perang kali ini, mereka juga dibantu faksi jihad lain di Gaza.

Karena itu, banyak pengamat militer menilai agresi ini bakal sambung menyambung sepanjang 2009. Sebab, kader-kader Hamas di Palestina dan seluruh dunia sudah berjanji tak akan mengerek bendera putih. Mereka yang hanya punya batu akan terus melempar, roket akan terus diluncurkan, dan senjata-senjata selundupan sudah terkokang.

Mereka yang tak bisa datang ke medan perang, akan menyumbang harta, tulisan propaganda, dan doa-doa sepanjang malam. PM Israel Ehud Olmert, Menhan Ehud Barak, dan Menlu Tzipi Livni, tampaknya bakal gigit jari lagi.

Israel Serang Lagi Gaza

Militer Israel menggencarkan serangan di Gaza selatan pada Kamis, 8 Januari dini hari waktu setempat. Tank-tank tempur Israel dikerahkan ke wilayah tersebut. Jet-jet tempur pun membombardir terowongan-terowongan di Kota Rafah di perbatasan Mesir, yang dicurigai sebagai tempat menyelundupkan senjata untuk kelompok Hamas.

Saksi mata menuturkan, lusinan tank tempur didukung oleh beberapa helikopter memasuki Gaza di perbatasan Kisufim sekitar pukul 01.00 waktu setempat. Tank-tank tersebut langsung menuju Kota Khan Yunis.

Militer Israel membenarkan adanya gempuran di Rafah. Namun belum ada laporan mengenai korban dalam serangan terbaru Israel itu. Demikian seperti diberitakan AFP, Kamis (8/1/2009).

Sebelumnya pada Rabu, 7 Januari sore waktu setempat, pesawat-pesawat Israel menjatuhkan ratusan ribu selebaran di daerah Rafah. Isinya mengingatkan warga untuk meninggalkan rumah mereka atau akan mengalami serangan udara.

Warga sekitar diberi tahu bahwa mereka bisa kembali ke tempat tinggal mereka pada Kamis pukul 08.00.

Menteri Pertahanan Israel Ehud Barak telah mendapat lampu hijau dari kabinet Israel untuk memerintahkan serangan lebih dalam ke kota-kota Gaza. Serangan itu dikatakan Israel sebagai bagian dari upaya menghentikan serangan roket Hamas.

Gempuran Israel sejauh ini telah menewaskan sekitar 700 warga Palestina dan melukai sekitar 3.100 orang. Demikian menurut paramedis Gaza. Agresi ke Gaza tersebut mulai dilancarkan Israel pada 27 Desember lalu.

No Ambulance victim may dead

Those injured in the hostilities in the Gaza Strip will die because the ambulance cars could not reach them. Such a statement the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Monday (5 / 1). "The situation is dangerous and coordination of ambulance cars are very complex because of attacks and military operations that never-ending," said ICRC spokesman, Dorothea Krimitsas, the AFP in Geneva. "Some of the injured have died while waiting for an ambulance car Palestinian Red Crescent," he said. "In some other cases, an ambulance car can not reach those who are injured on the field and shooting without stopping." Head of Service Daruat the Gaza Strip, about 555 Palestinian residents have been killed and 2,700 injured since the start of Israel to stop Hamas rocket fire on December 27, Monday. Health services in the region is under pressure, while many health workers can not reach hospitals and their emergency rooms and intensive care unit overwhelmed, according to the Red Cross. At least two hospitals were running out of fuel for generatornya, the only source of electricity, Krimitsas said. Organization is also concerned the supply of water in the coastal strip that has a solid. Krimitsas said, two of the 45 wells in the Gaza Strip does not freeze again after dihantam air attacks while Israel pump wells in eight others no longer work because of the power break. "Half a million people, about a third of the region, threatened by loss of water at all," he said. Erimitsas said, engineers are required to gain access to the installation of electricity in the damaged. One team of four ICRC medical staff, including a surgeon, has been allowed to enter Israel from the Gaza Strip, on Monday, three days after the suspension, said the aid agency. They will help staff at the Shifa hospital in the region that perform complex operations against those who hurt. Medical team that also bring in tetanus vaccine for children and the blood supply, Krimitsas said. "The hospital, the hospital has run out at all that the vaccine is a potential aid for patients with injuries requiring surgery or bad

Obamabilia

Can President Selected Barack Obama save the U.S. economy? Indeed, Obama has a team of economic advisers reliable, but that's the only way Obama can help the United States return to the track.

U.S. businessmen and traders from all lines have been kissed opportunities from the Obama victory. Anything associated with Obama and his family will become a gold mine alias money.

Obama inagurasi period inauguration as U.S. president lived two weeks longer. It seems that moment will be many opportunities to improve and creativity.

SFGate released Saturday 3 January 2009, online retail store in San CafePress Matev, which invite people to sell T-shirt designs and other merchandise, offering 3.3 million of Obamabilia, trinkets or Obama.

More than 6,000 species of special dedicated only to support the dog race for Obama. The New York Times estimate of U.S. $ 200 million of goods smelly Obama has been sold to end-November.

This figure is more than television ads, ads and traders who sell five feet Pernod Obama, such as hats, shirts, pins, spoons, in every city in the United States.

Since the election, some space in the Ashby BART Station Berkeley flea market, for example, is filled with earrings Obama, clock, photo frame and the Obama family dishes warning the moment.

Store official inagurasi Obama, with different shops Obama campaign, opened last Thursday with a T-shirt from designer Zac Posen, Tory Burch, Alexander Wang Dan, in addition to other Pernod usually as a coin, photos, pins, and cufflinks.

This phenomenon also has been global. In France, an entrepreneur has created a gum heavily soda Obama in the red with blue decoration motto Yes We Can. Times in London recently reported sales scenery Obama family into a product terlaris in Naples Italy