Monday 10 June 2013

Forces hunt for missing monsoon victims


Naval boats and helicopters scoured seas off Sri Lanka Monday for dozens of missing fishermen, as the death toll from strong monsoon rains and winds rose to 31, an official said.

The dead fishermen were listed as missing since the monsoon hit the island early on Saturday, destroying more than 100 houses, according to the Disaster Management Centre (DMC).

"We continue to look for missing people," DMC spokesman Sarath Lal Kumara said. "The navy and the airforce are leading the search and rescue operations."

The death toll rose from 27 to 31, with all of those, except one, fishermen caught in rough seas, DMC figures show. Another 35 people have been injured, according to the DMC.

More than 100 houses have been completely destroyed and another 2,185 partially damaged due to strong winds, the figures show.

The weather has improved since Sunday, the department of meteorology said. The monsoon hits the country twice a year bringing much-needed rain, but also frequently causes loss of life and damage to property.

Seven people were killed in the country last month when a tropical cyclone brushed the eastern coast.

Monday 10 June 2013

http://www.enca.com/world/forces-hunt-missing-monsoon-victims

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New safety system will track implants


The UK's medicines and technology watchdog has announced details of a new tracking system that will improve the monitoring of high risk medical devices such as breast implants, heart valves and pacemakers.

Four NHS trusts are trialling the new system which it is hoped will ultimately incorporate unique device identifiers into hospital patient electronic records and national Hospital Episode Statistics databases and analysis by the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD).

The MHRA says this will enable it to assess the performance of high-risk medical devices and to trace patients in the event of a device recall or safety alert, without the need for multiple device registries.

The project is one of 11 projects that the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has established to strengthen the regulation of medical devices as part of its response to the review into PIP breast implants by Health Minister Lord Howe in May last year. Many of these projects are still in early development because of their complexity but the MHRA has made progress in these areas:

1) Adverse incident reporting: working with NHS England to improve levels of reporting of problems with medical devices in NHS trusts through enhanced Medical Device Liaison Officer roles. Adverse incident reporting increased by 25% in 2012 thanks to increased reporting by the public, manufacturers and private health organisations;

2) New National Breast Implant Registry: assisting the Department of Health with the re-establishment of a National Breast Implant Registry;

3) Review of UK and European notified bodies: the competence of UK notified bodies – who approve the safety of medical devices before they are sold – has been reviewed and joint audit programme for this year has been implemented to ensure that all European notified bodies are meeting consistently high standards when assessing high-risk medical devices;

4) Strengthening regulation in Europe: 116 responses were received in response to the MHRA’s public consultation on the European Commission’s proposals to improve medical device regulation. These were broadly supportive of the UK Government’s position that there must be tighter controls on notified bodies, better post-market surveillance of medical devices and more collaboration between national regulators;

5) New European reporting portal: leading on generating funding from other European countries to pilot new portal that will improve the safety monitoring of medical devices that are used in Europe.

John Wilkinson, the MHRA’s Director of Medical Devices, said: “The PIP breast implants episode is believed to be a case of deliberate fraud but it highlighted areas where medical devices regulation need strengthening in the UK and in Europe.

“The new tracking system for medical devices that we are piloting is still in the early stages of development, but we hope it will help us to improve the safety information we receive so that we can alert patients and healthcare professionals about potential safety problems faster.

“This is one of 11 projects we established in response to the recommendations made by Lord Howe. We have already made good progress in a number of these and establishing an audit programme that ensures that European notified bodies – which assess the safety of medical devices before they are sold - meet consistently high standards was a key aim for us. We are continuing to work hard to ensure that the regulatory system is protecting patients from unsafe medical devices.”

Lord Howe, Health Minister said: “Protecting the health and well-being of people who have been given medical devices is vitally important. Serious lessons need to be learned from the PIP scandal.

"The MHRA has identified new measures to help improve the monitoring of medical devices including implants. I hope its ongoing work, and the work of the Department, will reassure the public that we have identified the lessons and have taken steps to act on them.”

Monday 10 June 2013

http://www.onmedica.com/newsarticle.aspx?id=aefa1176-5900-4d55-9833-3342ba59a872

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Honduran officials search for more gang victims in clandestine grave


For the sixth consecutive day, Honduran authorities continued excavating a mass grave in the north of the country, where to date the remains of at least eight people, presumed to have been killed by gang members, have been recovered.

“The work continues,” Honduran Chief Prosecutor Marlene Banegas told AFP on Saturday. “We believe that there are at least five more people were buried here, which would bring the total to 13.”

The mass grave is 40 centimeters deep at a site with abundant vegetation, located outside the community of Las Glorias de El Calán, in the municipality of Villanueva, some 200 kilometers north of the capital.

“Forensic specialists found bodies with their hands and feet tied, and gunshot wounds to the heads, execution-style, common of gang-related murders,” a spokesman for the Prosecutor’s Office, Elvis Guzmán, said.

Exhumations began last Tuesday following reports from family members of the missing people and residents of Villanueva.

Guzmán said the remains are all male victims, and some have been there for up to two years.

“For the moment, we have been unable to identify the victims until DNA tests are performed,” Guzmán said, adding that, “the forensic work will continue until there are no more remains in this mass grave.”

The search for graves was begun a few days after an armed clash between police and suspected members of the Mara 18 gang, seven of whom were killed.

Police said residents of Ciudad Planeta began reporting the existence of common graves in the area, and that spurred authorities to launch the investigation.

The search team, consisting of about 25 people, is working in an area about 1 hectare (2.2 acres) in size where several graves have been discovered where initially it was thought that at least 15 people were interred.

However, Guzman said, other residents told authorities that as many as 40 people could be buried in the area.

Police suspect that two of their officers, who were murdered by suspected gang members, could be buried at Ciudad Planeta, where security forces have had to substantially increase their presence and vigilance to protect the local residents and the grave investigation team.

Guzman said that the majority of the houses located near the tract of land where the investigation is under way have been abandoned for some time, perhaps for fear of reprisals by the gang members who have controlled Ciudad Planeta.

Honduras is experiencing a significant wave of violence that is taking the lives of about 15 people each day, on average.


According to the United Nations, Honduras is the most violent country in the world outside of war zones, with a murder rate of 85.5 per 100,000 residents.

Monday 10 June 2013

http://www.ticotimes.net/More-news/News-Briefs/Honduran-officials-search-for-more-gang-victims-in-clandestine-grave_Sunday-June-09-2013

http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=400661&CategoryId=23558

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Papua New Guinea witch hunts mask jealousy in nation with deep belief in black magic


On a tropical island in Papua New Guinea where most people live in huts, a mob armed with guns, machetes and axes stormed a wooden house by night. They seized Helen Rumbali and three female relatives, set the building on fire and took the women away to be tortured. Their alleged crime: Witchcraft.

After being repeatedly slashed with knives, Rumbali's older sister and two teenage nieces were released following negotiations with police. Rumbali, a 40-something former schoolteacher, was beheaded.

Her assailants claimed they had clear proof that Rumbali had used sorcery to kill another villager who recently died of sickness: The victim's grave bore the marks of black magic, and a swarm of fire flies apparently led witch hunters to Rumbali's home.

Violence linked to witch hunts is an increasingly visible problem in Papua New Guinea — a diverse tribal society of more than 800 languages and 7 million people who are mostly subsistence farmers. Experts say witch hunting appears to be spreading to parts of the country where the ruthless practices never took place before.

There is no clear explanation for the apparent uptick in killings in parts of the South Pacific nation, and even government officials seem at a loss to say why this is happening. Some are arguing the recent violence is fueled not by the nation's widespread belief in black magic but instead by economic jealousy born of a mining boom that has widened the country's economic divide and pitted the haves against the have-nots.

"Jealousy is causing a lot of hatred," said Helen Hakena, chairwoman of the North Bougainville Human Rights Committee, which is based in the area Rumbali was killed. "People who are so jealous of those who are doing well in life, they resort to what our people believe in, sorcery, to kill them, to stop them continuing their own development."

She said the witchcraft accusation against Rumbali was just an excuse.

"That was definitely a case of jealousy because her family is really quite well off," Hakena said.

She said villagers were envious because Rumbali's husband and son had government jobs, they had a "permanent house" made of wood, and the family had tertiary educations and high social standing.

The United Nations has documented hundreds of cases of sorcery-related violence in Papua New Guinea in recent years and many more cases in remote areas are thought to have gone unreported. It found the attacks are often carried out with impunity.

Until last month, the country's 42-year-old Sorcery Act allowed for a belief in black magic to be used as a partial legal defence for killing someone suspected of inflicting harm through sorcery. The government repealed the law in response to the recent violence.

"There's no doubt that there are really genuine beliefs there and in some circumstances that is what is motivating people: the belief that if they don't kill this person, then this person is going to continue to bring death and misfortune and sickness on their village," said Miranda Forsyth, a lawyer at Australian National University who has studied the issue.

But she said recent cases in Papua New Guinea don't appear to be motivated by a genuine belief in the occult, but instead are a pretext under which the wealthy can be attacked by poorer neighbours, and, many times, get away with it.

She and other experts on witchcraft in the Melanesia region believe Papua New Guinea's newfound prosperity and the growing inequality in its traditionally egalitarian culture is a significant cause of the violence. Neighboring Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands, where belief in black magic is also widespread, haven't seen the same level of extreme violence against accused witches.

The difference, they say, is that Papua New Guinea has had the fastest economic growth.

A wealth of mineral resources and natural gas has transformed the nation's long-stagnant economy into one of the world's fastest growing over the past decade, increasing on average almost 7 per cent annually from 2007 to 2010. Growth peaked at 8.9 per cent in 2011 before slowing to 8 per cent last year.

The Asian Development Bank reported last year that Papua New Guinea has one of the highest levels of inequality, if not the highest, in the Asia-Pacific region.

These socio-economic problems have inevitably played into a cultural landscape that includes a belief in witches and black magic, said Kate Schuetze, a regional researcher for Amnesty International.

"There is always a reason for the accusation, whether it's jealousy, wanting to access someone else's land, a personal grudge against that person or a previous land dispute," Schuetze said.

Papua New Guinea Deputy Public Prosecutor Ravunama Auka doesn't buy that jealousy has been behind a significant number of the sorcery-related slayings he had dealt with. While he did not have statistics, he said most victims were slain due to a genuine belief that they had killed through sorcery.

Auka had no doubt sorcery-related slayings were increasing, but could not explain why.

"There are all sorts of reasons, not only because some people are wealthy and some are not," Auka said.

Another possible explanation is the spread of particularly vicious sorcery beliefs that before were just seen in the highland province of Chimbu, said anthropologist Philip Gibbs, a sorcery specialist and Roman Catholic priest who has lived in the wilds of Papua New Guinea for the past 41 years.

In Chimbu, people bury their dead in concrete so that the bodies will not be eaten at night by small demonic animals that they believe can possess the living. Villagers pay witch doctors to divine who among them are possessed by these demons, which they believe leave the person's body at night and take on the form of any small animal.

Gibbs said those suspected of being possessed are often tortured to make confessions and are sometimes killed.

"That form is spreading to other provinces where it's never existed before and we're asking the question why," Gibbs said.

Accused families abandon their small farms in a hurry, usually taking only what they can carry in a bag. The villagers must then decide who occupies the vacant land.

"That's where the jealousy and the greed can come in," Gibbs said.

Papua New Guinea is under growing international pressure to respond to the violence after a series of high-profile cases made world headlines.

In February, a mob stripped, tortured and bound a woman accused of witchcraft, then burned her alive in front of hundreds of horrified witnesses in Mount Hagan, the country's third largest city. In July, police arrested 29 people accused of being part of a cannibal cult in Papua New Guinea's jungle interior and charged them with the murders of seven suspected witch doctors.

In the case of Rumbali, which took place in April, no arrests have been made, but police said they are treating it as "first degree murder."

Police Senior Inspector Cletus Tsien would not speculate on the motive for the crime.

"We know that this family was wealthy. We know that maybe there were bits and pieces of jealousy. We know they were accused of sorcery ... but there's no concrete evidence as to which factor contributed to the death of the late woman," Tsien said.

Monday 10 June 2013

http://www.windsorstar.com/life/Brutal+Papua+Guinea+witch+hunts+mask+jealousy+nation+with+deep/8501965/story.html

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Sri Lanka: Monssoon death toll rises to 31; another 31 still missing


The Disaster Management Center stated that the death toll of the fishermen hit by wind storm has risen to 31.

The center also stated that 31 more fishermen are still missing.

29 persons were injured and 101 houses were damaged by the windstorm which hit the areas along the Southern coastal belt on Saturday.

Police stated that 2 more bodied believed to be of the missing fishermen were found near the beach at Bambalapitiya Railway Station.

Police also said the Navy was informed of the bodies which are not identified yet.

Monday 10 June 2013

http://www.hirunews.lk/60691

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Asylum seeker search: no survivors from sunken asylum boat near Christmas Island


The search for more than 40 asylum seekers missing feared drowned after their boat sank near Christmas Island was abandoned late on Sunday night.

The boat sank about 65 nautical miles north-west of Christmas Island after about 55 people were seen aboard last Wednesday.

The search and rescue operation sighted 13 bodies in the water on Saturday; no further bodies were seen since.

Home Affairs Minister Jason Clare said those bodies already seen in the water had not been recovered, as the focus was on finding survivors.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority suspended the search and rescue operation after receiving medical advice on Sunday night ruling out the likelihood of survival of those on board.

Despite three vessels and five aircraft being involved in the three-day search and rescue operation, no survivors were found.

Home Affairs Minister Jason Clare said the incident was "another terrible tragedy" and showed the perils of travelling in open seas in often unseaworthy boats.

The latest deaths of asylum-seekers hoping to make it to Australia come after the deaths of more than 100 on board a vessel that sank last July.

Drowned bodies of asylum seekers to be left in the water by authorities

The bodies of up to 60 asylum seekers who drowned off Christmas Island will be left in the water, with Australian authorities deciding their retrieval is not a priority.

While an investigation has been launched into the several delays it took to begin a full-scale search after the boat was first spotted on Wednesday afternoon, Australian Customs and Border Protection have decided not retrieve the bodies.

“No attempts to recover the deceased will be made today,” a spokeswoman said.

“Vessels and aircrafts are involved in a range of high priority operations in the waters near Christmas Island and elsewhere.

“Our priority in these operations remains the protection of life, responding to water rescues which may prevent any further loss of life.”

The Australian Customs and Border Protection may try to recover the bodies at a later date but the spokeswoman said the likelihood of “successful recovery” diminishes over time.

When asked if home affairs minister Jason Clare agreed with the decision, a spokesman said it was an operational decision.

Refugee advocates have expressed dismay that bodies will be left in the ocean, saying the asylum seekers deserve some dignity.

Refugee Action Coalition spokesman Ian Rintoul said retrieving the bodies would be a comfort to the families left behind.

“We’re always in favour of retrieving their bodies. There are families in refugee communities who look at these episodes with anguish and it can provide closure to get a better idea of who was on the boat and letting people know what has happened to relatives and loved ones,” he said.

Rintoul said the nationalities of people on the boat should emerge over the next few days when families and friends do not hear from those who should have arrived at the island.

He also criticised the time it took for a proper search to be launched, saying it was almost two days after the boat was first seen.

“When the plane first spotted the boat it was stationed in the water, that in itself should have set off alarm bells for people in that plane and the rescue authorities,” he said.

“These kind of boats when they are in the water and stationary are unstable.

“That boat was only a few hours, at the most, from arriving at Christmas Island - when it did not arrive it should of set off immediate alarm bells for a wider search. But all we saw was a navy boat.

“There was no mayday call until Friday. There is clearly a need for an inquiry into this particular boat in distress and we need to know the protocol and procedures the navy and rescue authorities were operating in.”

The boat was first noticed by an air force plane on Wednesday afternoon about 52km north of Christmas Island. It did not seem to be in distress, but it was not moving.

The crew of the plane counted 55 people on the deck. Most of the asylum seekers were men but women and children also appeared on board.

A navy ship was sent out about seven hours later to intercept the boat and arrived where the boat was last seen upright in the early hours of Thursday morning.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) did not send out a PAN-PAN (Potential Assistance Needed) call until 10am on Friday. The capsized boat was not found until Friday afternoon.

Rintoul said as far as the refugee advocates had been told, only a corridor was searched on Thursday and he wanted a far reaching inquiry, not just the standard investigation which was taking place.

“We’ve got a situation where there simply has not been an adequate response,” he said.

Phil Gendinning from the research and awareness organisation, the Edmund Rice Centre, supported Rintoul’s calls for a full investigation into the timeframe of the search and said the bodies should not be left in the ocean.

“This is an unmitigated tragedy of every proportion,” he said.

“Our preference would be retrieving the bodies so they can be given the chance of a dignified farewell without putting lives at risk.

“We also need to make sure this does not happen again.

“... a bipartisan effort needs to be made to assist people to be processed safely and securely.

“They need to be protected, not punished.”

The search was called off on Sunday night with no survivors found and the discovery of 13 dead bodies.

Border Protection Commander Rear Admiral David Johnston said on Sunday none of the bodies spotted in the search were pulled from the water.

"The recovery of bodies is complex and time-consuming, so all the surface vessels are continuing [the search] because it remains possible that there are survivors in the water," he said.

Two planes and two ships searched for survivors from Friday until Sunday night.

Home affairs minister, Jason Clare, said the search will be the subject of a “standard” review by Customs and Border Protection.

Monday 10 June 2013

http://www.gattonstar.com.au/news/Bodies-found-after-asylum-seeker-boat-sinks/1900450/

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/10/asylum-seekers-bodies-christmas-island

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Abandoned bodies prove cops' apathy


How seriously do police investigate cases after recovery of abandoned bodies?

When inspector general GL Meena tried to find the answer to this question the reality of the 'seriousness' of police towards abandoned bodies came to the fore. Meena said: "A report on abandoned bodies recovered in a period of one year had been sought from all 10 districts of Varanasi zone." When the districts sent their reports after repeated reminders, he was taken aback to see that the cops of Varanasi had shown the recovery of only three abandoned bodies while Ghazipur cops had shown recovery of 10, Jaunpur five, Azamgarh two, Mau five, Mirzapur one and Bhadohi had shown two recoveries of abandoned bodies. The Ballia police showed that no abandoned body was recovered in the district in a period of one year.

Only Chandauli and Sonebhadra police showed some realistic figure by mentioning recoveries of 46 and 23 abandoned bodies respectively. The figures of abandoned bodies mentioned in the reports by other districts were found fake as on an average, the recovery of three to four abandoned bodies is published even by newspapers in three to four days. Taking a serious note of it, Meena decided to cross-examine the report by seeking the figures of abandoned bodies recorded in the register of postmortem house of Varanasi district only.

This move of IG exposed the working of junior cops as the numbers mentioned in the register of postmortem house showed the recovery of over 80 abandoned bodies only in Varanasi district in a period of one year. The cops had also not taken pains to show the cause of death as mentioned in postmortem report. The district police also avoided telling the number of cases in which the identity of abandoned bodies had been ascertained. These ground realities were sufficient to reveal that most of the bodies had been disposed without proper investigation despite the fact that after recovery of large number of bodies, the possibility of murder had been suspected in past.

The IG said that taking serious note of the ground realities, another directive was issued to the SSP/SPs of zone to conduct fresh exercise. This time a format has been prepared, said Meena adding, the districts would give their report on it by mentioning the actual number of abandoned bodies sent for postmortem, cause of death as mentioned in postmortem report, remarks of the doctors who conducted postmortem, result of efforts made for ascertaining identity and result of investigation.

The officials have become compelled to conduct this exercise seriously due to different reasons. In the areas through which highways and railway lines pass, the recovery of abandoned bodies in large number is not very surprising.

But, the recoveries had also been made from other areas like remote jungles and fields after it was suspected that the bodies were thrown after killing. The IG said that the next report will bring many facts on fore after which fresh strategy would be prepared to tackle these cases.

Monday 10 June 2013

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/varanasi/Abandoned-bodies-prove-cops-apathy/articleshow/20511918.cms

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