Monday 18 March 2013

Forensic Age Estimation Study


Request for assistance in a forensic age estimation study:

I am a PhD student with the Centre for Anatomy and Human Identification and I am currently running an online study concerning the age estimation of children from facial images.

The questionnaire contains 30 faces for evaluation and should not take up much of your time (a few seconds per image - although you may take as long, or as little time as you require).

To access more information and take part in this research, please follow the link below:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/WDZC9H9

To obtain more information about the project, or for any questions you may have, please contact Eilidh Ferguson, Centre for Anatomy and Human Identification at; e.l.ferguson@dundee.ac.uk

Monday 18 March 2013

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Polish 'racial genocide' case too old to be solved


Back in June of last year, prosecutors for the Institute of National Remembrance reopened the 70-year-old case of 20 Jewish women who were raped and murdered in Bzury, a town in northeastern Poland. Polish authorities were unable to name the victims or perpetrators.

The crimes which Prosecutor Radosław Ignatiew called “racial genocide,” occurred in the summer of 1941, when the women, aged between 15 and 30, were sent from the Szczuczyn ghetto in northern Poland to work on a farm in the village.

There, a group of villagers robbed the women, beat them, raped and finally murdered all 20. Their bodies were buried in the nearby forest.

Only one of the perpetrators, Stanisław Zalewski, was arrested – by communist authorities after the war – and stood trial. He spent 15 years in prison for his crimes. Six others were involved but did not face any charges.

In an interview with The Jerusalem Post Mr Igniatew explained that he had no other choice. “None of [the perpetrators] remain alive, we know that for sure. However, we found some evidence that two or three other people may have taken part in this crime. After all the time that has passed, we were unable to find any evidence of their guilt. After making every possible inquiry, I decided to close the case.”

Mr Ignatiew added that he is now investigating a similar case that occurred in Wąsosz, where, on the night of July 5, 1941, more than 100 Jews were killed by their Polish neighbors.

Monday 18 March 2013

http://www.wbj.pl/article-62187-polish-racial-genocide-case-too-old-to-be-solved.html

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UN High Commissioner for Human Rights hails start of genocide trial in Guatemala


The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay on Monday welcomed the ground-breaking trial of Guatemala’s former head of state and former head of intelligence, due to begin on 19 March, and urged the authorities “to take all necessary measures to ensure that judges, prosecutors, lawyers and others involved are protected from intimidation and reprisals.”

The trial of Guatemala’s former head of state Efraín Ríos Montt, and former head of intelligence José Mauricio Rodríguez Sánchez, for genocide and crimes against humanity is set to start on Tuesday, after the Constitutional Court rejected a writ of protection (‘amparo’) filed by Ríos Montt’s defence lawyers that cited a 1986 amnesty law.

"I welcome the beginning of this historic trial, and I hope that it will signal arrival of long-awaited justice for thousands of victims of gross human rights violations and crimes against humanity committed during the murderous 36-year conflict in Guatemala," Pillay said. “I also commend the decision of the Constitutional Court – genocide and crimes against humanity should never be covered by amnesties. Along with war crimes, these are among the gravest crimes known to mankind.”

“This is the first time, anywhere in the world, that a former head of State is being put on trial for genocide by a national tribunal,” she said. “Until quite recently, no one believed a trial like this could possibly take place in Guatemala, and the fact that it is happening there, 30 years after the alleged crimes were committed, should give encouragement to victims of human rights violations all over the world.”

The High Commissioner called on the authorities to uphold their responsibility to guarantee a fair and independent trial.

"The principles of independence of the judiciary imply that judges must be protected from undue influence, inducements, threats or interference, in order to ensure the proper enforcement of justice, with full impartiality and transparency, and due process," Pillay said.

Noting a recent wave of intimidation and attacks against journalists, judicial personnel and human rights defenders, including the killing in February of a lawyer working on corruption cases, the High Commissioner urged the authorities “to take all necessary measures to ensure that judges, prosecutors, lawyers and others involved may carry out their functions without fear for their life, integrity and security, or those of their families. The protection of all those involved in this crucial case is essential, if the rule of law is to be seen to be respected, and truth and justice are to prevail in Guatemala.”

Monday 18 March 2013

http://www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=13155&LangID=E

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23 Pakistani soldiers die in bus crash


A bus crashed into the Indus River in Pakistan, killing at least 23 soldiers, the driver and another civilian, authorities said.

The vehicular accident occurred Saturday in Dassu Tehsil in the Gilgit area of Kohistan district, Dawn reported Monday.

CNN put the death toll at 27, including 25 soldiers.

Dawn quoted local police that an army colonel was among those killed.

Sources told Dawn the driver of the privately owned bus lost control of the vehicle at a sharp turn on the Karakoram Highway, sending it plunging into the river.

The report said the military confirmed the deaths of 23 army personnel along with that of the driver and a bus conductor. The soldiers were with a light infantry battalion and were proceeding on leave.

It was not clear how many people in all were in the bus or how many were injured. Dawn said rescue personnel had retrieved the bodies of the dead from the river.

Monday 18 March 2013

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2013/03/18/23-Pakistani-soldiers-die-in-bus-crash/UPI-25611363580250/

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25 killed in SW China colliery accident


The death toll from a coal mine accident that occurred last week in southwest China's Guizhou Province rose to 25 after the bodies of four missing miners were retrieved, local authorities said Monday.

An outburst of coal and gas at the Machang Coal Mine, which belongs to the Gemudi Company of the Guizhou Water & Mining Group, left 21 miners dead and another four buried last Tuesday.

Nearly 300 rescuers have participated in search and rescue work for the four missing miners, according to the rescue and relief headquarters.

The families of each of the deceased miners will be given 1.036 million yuan (166,648 U.S. dollars) in compensation, the highest compensation level for a mining accident, the headquarters said.

The mine reports an annual output of 450,000 tonnes, and most of the deceased miners were local people from Guizhou.

Deng Feng, head of the Machang Coal Mine, and the mine's technical and security principals, Zhang Changhe and Liu Min, have been removed from their posts and are now in police custody.

Gao Liangyu, chairman and president of Gemudi, and Yu Zhiguo, the company's vice president as well as the person responsible for safety in the coal mine, have been forced to resign.

Further investigation is underway.

Monday 18 March 2013

http://www.shanghaidaily.com/article/article_xinhua.asp?id=131465

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Granada - the Colombian town determined to break with its bloody past


Thirteen years ago, the town of Granada in Colombia’s northwestern Antioquia province and its surrounding rural areas were at the epicentre of Colombia’s war. Here, right-wing paramilitary groups and rebels from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) fought for territorial control and inflicted a reign of terror on civilians living in this farming region of rolling green hills.

By 2002, warring factions had forced 70 percent of Granada’s population of 20,000 inhabitants to flee their homes. Surrounding rural areas became ghost villages. Today, abandoned homes choked with weeds line the windy road leading to Granada, testimony to the thousands of families who fled.

Colombia’s armed conflict, concentrated in the country’s southern provinces and border areas, continues. But in Granada the fighting is largely over after a 2004 government military offensive pushed rebels into more remote hideouts.

As the security situation improves, displaced families are slowly trickling back to Granada to rebuild their lives. Over the past six months, 700 displaced people, who found refuge in nearby cities, have returned to Granada. They are given local government subsidies for farming and to help rebuild their homes.

It will take at least three years for coffee, fruit and vegetable farms to be fully up and running again. Today, there are around 10,000 people living in Granada, half of the town’s population at its height in 1998.



Granada’s residents have vowed not to forget the town’s tragic past. Next to a church in the town square is a small museum, known as the “Room of Never Again.” It serves as a memorial to Granada’s victims and is the first of its kind in Colombia.

On one entire wall there are 182 photos of Granada’s dead and missing, posted by families of the victims. Photos of boys, some as young as 12, a nun and the town’s mayor sit alongside pictures of community leaders and farmers. From 1998 to 2008, 400 people in Granada were killed by both warring factions and 128 locals went missing. Around 200 children lost either one or both parents in this town alone.

Granada was attacked 10 times by the two main sides of Colombia’s conflict – the FARC rebels and the paramilitaries. In one of the worst attacks in late 2000, over 300 FARC fighters invaded Granada during an 18-hour siege and placed a car bomb outside the town’s police station, killing 17 civilians and 6 policemen.

“We want to raise awareness about Granada’s victims. We only recently started talking about our pain and it’s brought us closer together as a community because you realise you’re not the only one suffering. It’s important to remember what happened here so history doesn’t repeat itself. School children from other parts of Colombia visit the memorial and they have no idea about what Granada suffered,” says Gloria Ramirez, who heads Granada’s victims’ association and who helped set up the memorial in 2007.

Granada’s residents have made a concerted effort to honour and remember the town’s victims, which locals say is crucial for lasting peace.

In a small square, scores of painted stones bear the names of those who went missing between 1998 and 2008. In total, 128 people disappeared at the hands of both warring factions. Locals say their bodies were most likely thrown into the nearby river or into mass graves. In 2008, state forensic experts dug up the bodies of eight people who had gone missing in the rural areas surrounding Granada. Over the next few years, it’s likely dozens more bodies will be exhumed.

Granada’s stone memorial and its museum are just some of the ways in which Granada’s residents are helping each other to deal with their grief. They have set up a weekly ‘hug group’ were families of victims can come together and talk, along with a ritual known as the ‘sale of bad memories’.

“Once we had a sale of bad memories in a market stall. You could come and write down your memory and someone would buy it symbolically with a sweet and chocolates,” said Ramirez.

Monday 18 March 2013

http://www.trust.org/alertnet/blogs/alertnet-news-blog/photo-blog-granada-the-colombian-town-determined-to-break-with-its-bloody-past

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Toll in Mexico fireworks explosion rises to 16


The number of people killed when a small truck loaded with fireworks exploded during a religious procession in a central Mexican village rose to 16 Sunday, authorities said.

Scores more injured in Friday’s tragedy were still being treated in hospitals, said a statement released by the Tlaxcala state government.

The document said a total of 154 people had been injured in the accident, of whom 72 remain hospitalized.

One witness said he saw “bodies flying” as people ran for cover after a stray firework landed on the truck in Jesus Tepactepec in the middle of a march for the village’s patron saint. Mexicans often set off fireworks during celebrations, but accidents have happened in the past due to the mishandling of the pyrotechnics or a lack of safety measures.

Monday 18 March 2013

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2013%5C03%5C18%5Cstory_18-3-2013_pg4_5

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Bodies of the Jordan bus crash transferred back to Palestine


Fifteen of the seventeen victims of Saturday's bus crash in Jordan will be returned to their home city of Jenin in Palestine, according to the district governor, Maan news reported on Sunday.

The Jordan Times reported on Saturday that the death toll had risen to 17, with a further 38 injured after a bus slammed in to two other vehicles on the Dead Sea road. So far the other two victims have not been confirmed as part of the set of bodies being returned to Palestine.

The victims were on their way back to Palestine, returning from a religious pilgrimage to Mecca. Jenin governor, Talal Dweikat, confirmed that the bodies would be returned to Jenin, where most of the travelers were from and that the ceremony would be accompanied by a military parade and mass prayer in their honor.

President Mahmoud Abbas reportedly also decided to attend the home coming and deliver a speech at the event.

Monday 18 March 2013

http://www.albawaba.com/news/jordan-bus-crash-477771

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