Adam Clare

Peace in Aceh

Aceh is coloured light green.

For 29 years the Free Aceh Movement has been fighting the Indonesian government for independence and this struggle may come to an end soon. On Aug. 15 in Helsinki the two sides signed a peace agreement. The deal hinges on rapid disarmament of the rebels and removal of half of the Indonesian troops in the disputed territory.

The Dec. 2004 earthquake and tsunami actually helped to bring about a peace accord. Having to deal with the crisis helped the sides look beyond their differences. Another factor that helped lead to the peace was the election of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono who wants to stop the conflict.

Rich Americans Buy Greenhouses for Palestinians

$14 million has been raised to compensate Jewish settlers in the Gaza Strip who give up their greenhouses to the Palestinians. The donors are American and are techincally giving the money to the Aspen Group who will then redistribute the funds. Many Palestinians rely on jobs provided in the greenhouses, some settlers originally planned on disassembling the greenhouses because they felt that the Isreali government wasn’t giving them enough compensation.

The deal, brockerd by the former World Bank president James D. Wolfensohn, will ensure that the greenhouses stay and the Palestinians can contiune working in them. Ownership of the greenhouses will be transffered to the Palestinians which means that the greenhouses have the potential to become a large contriubution to the Palestinian economy.

Harry Potter the Environmentalist

This is somewhat old news, but it is still good news.

Raincoast Books is the company that is publishing the Harry Potter books for Canada is very eco-conscious. The books have been/continue to be printed on 100% post-consumer recycled paper. 30,000 tress may be saved as a result. BoingBoing has more info.

From the link:

Raincoast isn’t the only publisher seeking to put a green tint on the wildly popular Potter books. Publishers from Germany, Italy, Britain, and Israel also comitted to printing Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince on large percentages of recycled paper and/or “ancient forest friendly” paper.

Documents on 9/11 Released

More than 12,000 pages relating to the Spet. 11, 2001 terrorist attack were released by American authorities today. The FDNY released hours of transcribed audio recordings from the day.

The releasing of the recordings (on paper) will allow people to gain a better idea of what happend on 9/11. Some people argue that firefighters in the north tower ignored evacuation warnings.

Spanish Government Defends Human Rights

On July 24 a Spanish farmer died in custody of Spanish police. The courts are looking into the incident and in the mean time eight Civil Guards have been suspended. Civil Guards is a para-military police unit, and as a result of this recent incident, they are being heavily criticized.

Politicians are speaking out on the matter, and they are not taking the side of the Civil Guards. Spain is continuing it’s commitment to human rights. More recently politicians have become more vocal on the matter, particularly Jose Alonso.

“I would like to reaffirm the government’s commitment to develop a policy of public security that is based on scrupulous respect for citizens’ rights,” Interior Minister Jose Antonio Alonso told parliament’s domestic affairs committee.