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By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS, Jun 13 2016 (IPS)
The world’s nuclear arsenal continues to decline – from 15,850 warheads in early 2015 to 15,395 in 2016, according to the latest figures released Monday by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
Still, the more distressing news is that none of the nine nuclear weapon-possessing states – the US, UK, Russia, France, China, India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea – are prepared to give up their existing weapons now, or in the foreseeable future.
The decrease in the overall number is due mainly to Russia and the US – which together still account for more than 93 per cent of all nuclear weapons – further reducing their inventories of strategic nuclear weapons.
However, despite the implementation of the bilateral Treaty on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms (New START) since 2011, the pace of their reductions remains slow, said SIPRI.
The equally bad news, however, is the continued modernization of nuclear weapons both by the US and Russia.
Although details of the Russian program are not public, the US plans to spend $348 billion during 2015–24 on maintaining and comprehensively updating its nuclear forces.
Some estimates suggest that the US nuclear weapon modernization program may cost up to $1 trillion over the next 30 years, according to SIPRI.
Alice Slater, an Advisor to the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation and who serves on the Coordinating Committee of Abolition 2000, told IPS the US has committed to spending $348 billion over the next ten years on two new bomb factories, new warheads and upgraded delivery systems by planes, submarine and land-based missile, estimating a budget of one trillion dollars over the next 30 years.
Last summer, the US tested a dummy warhead in Nevada for an earth-penetrating nuclear bunker buster, she pointed out.
Despite President Barack Obama’s qualified April 2009 Prague speech urging a world free of nuclear weapons – for which he received a Nobel Peace Prize, even after having noted that his dream of a world free of nuclear weapons “may not happen in my lifetime”- he has made the smallest reductions in the US nuclear arsenal compared to any previous US President, said Slater.
And Hillary Clinton, the presumptive Democratic nominee for US President at the November elections, famously misquoted Obama’s Prague speech when she was Secretary of State, saying Obama had said a nuclear weapons free world may not happen for “several lifetimes,” she added.
Last month UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon reiterated his call for a world without nuclear weapons.
“Disarmament is part of the DNA of the United Nations, which was formed when the first and last use of nuclear weapons in war was fresh in people’s minds.”
Since then, he pointed out, all countries have rejected the use of nuclear weapons.
“But until these weapons are completely eliminated, they continue to pose a threat to our common well-being. Fears of nuclear terrorism make disarmament even more urgent and important,” he added.
Hans Kristensen, co-author of the SIPRI Yearbook said the ambitious US modernization plan presented by the Obama Administration is in stark contrast to President Barack Obama’s pledge to reduce the number of nuclear weapons and the role they play in US national security strategy.
The other nuclear weapon-possessing states have much smaller arsenals, but have all either begun to deploy new nuclear weapon delivery systems or announced their intention to do so, he added.
China appears to be gradually increasing its nuclear forces as it modernizes the arsenal. India and Pakistan are both expanding their nuclear weapon stockpiles and missile delivery capabilities.
North Korea is estimated to have enough fissile material for approximately 10 nuclear warheads. However, it is unclear whether North Korea has produced or deployed operational weapons, said Kristensen.
“Despite the ongoing reduction in the number of weapons, the prospects for genuine progress towards nuclear disarmament remain gloomy,” said Shannon Kile, Head of the SIPRI Nuclear Weapons Project.
“All the nuclear weapon-possessing states continue to prioritize nuclear deterrence as the cornerstone of their national security strategies,” he added.
Apart from counting bombs in the respective nuclear arsenals, Slater told IPS, “we must factor in the aggressive and provocative expansion of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) up to the Russian border as a block to nuclear disarmament, despite promises given to (former Soviet leader Mikhail) Gorbachev when the Berlin Wall came down that NATO would not expand beyond East Germany as well as the US having planted new missile bases in Turkey, Romania and Poland after President Bush walked out of 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.
It is significant that part of the deal US President John F. Kennedy made with Soviet President Nikita Khrushchev when the Soviet Union took their missiles out of Cuba was that the US would remove its missiles from Turkey.
“Despite the ongoing reduction in the number of weapons, the prospects for genuine progress towards nuclear disarmament remain gloomy." -- Shannon Kile“Well they are back in Turkey. The US also plans to modernize the nuclear weapons it bases in five NATO countries, Germany, Holland, Belgium, Turkey, and Italy. And the US Asia “pivot” with expanded bases in Japan, South Korea, Australia and the Philippines is an enormous obstacle to enroll the Asian nuclear powers in endorsing nuclear disarmament,” declared Slater.
She argued that US plans to dominate and control the military use of space also block further possibilities for nuclear disarmament.
Gorbachev and (US President Ronald) Reagan spoke about abolishing nuclear weapons, but Gorbachev pulled his offer off the table when Reagan wouldn’t promise to forego Star Wars.
Then Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin offered a deal to (US President Bill) Clinton “to cut our massive arsenals to 1,000 nuclear weapons each, at which point we could invite all the other nuclear weapons states to the table to negotiate for their elimination, but only if Clinton would forego the development of missile bases in Eastern Europe.
Slater said Clinton refused, and subsequently Bush unilaterally withdrew from the ABM Treaty in 2002. Russia and China have actually been proposing, since 2008, a draft treaty to ban weapons in space which the US vigorously opposes by blocking consensus to even discuss it in the Committee on Disarmament in Geneva.
Finally, the nuclear weapons states have boycotted the 2016 Geneva meetings of the Open Ended Working Group for Nuclear Disarmament, established by the UN General Assembly, which have been discussing the legal gap in the law that fails to prohibit and ban nuclear weapons as we have done for biological and chemical weapons.
The Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) merely promises “good faith efforts” for nuclear disarmament and the International Court of Justice (ICJ) left a gap in its 1996 decision on the legality of nuclear weapons when it said it couldn’t decide if nuclear weapons were illegal in the case where the very survival of a state was at stake.
“It appears that the non-nuclear weapons states may be prepared this year to start negotiations on a ban treaty without the rogue nuclear weapons states and some of the hypocritical “weasel” states who profess to want nuclear abolition but rely on the US nuclear umbrella for their “security”.”
These include NATO states and Japan, incredible as that may seem, as well as Australia and South Korea. Hopefully, a treaty to ban the bomb signed by the 127 countries that are supporting the effort at this time, may break up this discouraging logjam for meaningful progress on nuclear disarmament as reported in the recent SIPR Annual count of the world’s nuclear arsenals, Slater noted.
The writer can be contacted at thalifdeen@aol.com
By Tharanga Yakupitiyage
UNITED NATIONS, Jun 13 2016 (IPS)
Though the High Level Meeting on Ending AIDS ended with the adoption of bold and life saving targets, many organisations have expressed their disappointment in its outcomes.
During the meeting, the international community adopted a new Political Declaration that lays down the groundwork to accelerate HIV prevention and treatment and end AIDS by 2030.
UN member states committed to achieving a 90-90-90 treatment target where 90 percent of people living with HIV know their status, 90 percent who know their HIV status are accessing treatment and 90 percent of people on treatment have suppressed viral loads. Reaching the treatment target will prevent 75 percent of new infections and ensure that 30 million people living with HIV (PLHIV) have access to antiretroviral therapy (ART) by 2020.
Though many organisations that IPS spoke to were encouraged by the commitments, they also expressed concern and disappointment in the Declaration’s shortfalls.
“I think what the high level meeting showed us was the gap between reality and politics at the UN,” said International Women’s Health Coalition’s (IWHC) Director of Advocacy & Policy, Shannon Kowalski.
“The Political Declaration didn’t go far enough to address the epidemic that we face today,” she continued.
“If we are serious about ending AIDS, we need to go far beyond what is in the Political Declaration." -- Shannon KowalskiMany were particularly concerned with stripped and exclusionary language on so-called key populations in the document.
“When we saw in the Declaration that key populations were less mentioned than 5 years ago…it is a real setback,” Alix Zuinghedau from Coalition Plus, a French international union for HIV/AIDS organisations, told IPS.
Among these key populations is the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community. Though the LGBT population continues to be disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS, they are only mentioned once in the Declaration.
Executive Director of Stop TB Partnership Lucica Ditiu told IPS that the document mentions vulnerable populations in relation to tuberculosis (TB), but that it should have been extended throughout the Declaration.
“We have a saying in my country: With one eye I laugh, with one eye I cry. Because that piece was missing,” she said.
The Declaration includes a target to reduce TB-related deaths among people living with HIV by 75 percent by 2020.
Amirah Sequeira, Associate Director of Health Global Access Project’s (GAP) International Campaigns and Communications, also noted the lack of language and commitment to decriminalize key populations including men who have sex with men, people who inject drugs and sex workers.
“The exclusion of commitments to decriminalize these populations will hold back the ability for the world to reach the bold new targets that the Declaration committed to,” she told IPS.
When asked about these concerns, the Deputy Executive Director of the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), one of the main organisers of the meeting, Luiz Lorres told IPS that this exclusion will impede efforts to achieve the 90-90-90 treatment target.
“I acknowledge that more needs to be done,” he said.
Organisations have also pointed to issues around financing.
Through the Declaration, governments have committed to increasing funds for HIV response to $26 billion per year by 2020, as estimated by UNAIDS. However, Sequeira noted that not only is there a $6 billion funding gap, but also donors tend to flat line or reduce funding despite pledges.
“[Reaching the goal] will not be possible if donors continue to do what unfortunately they have been doing which is flat lining or pulling back funding from global AIDS programs,” she told IPS.
Though she applauded the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief’s (PEPFAR) newly launched $100 million Key Populations Investment Fund, Sequeira stated that PEPFAR needs a $500 million increase each year between now and 2020 in order for the U.S. to provide its fair share of needed financing.
Zuinghedau told IPS that without additional funding to scale up programs for key populations, the goal to reduce infections and end AIDS will not be possible.
“It is very frustrating to see countries say, yes we want to end AIDS but we’re not going to add any more funding. It’s a contradiction,” she told IPS.
The government of Canada recently announced a pledge of almost US$615 million to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria for the next three years, a 20 percent increase from its previous pledge.
Kowalski applauded the move, stating: “If Canada can do it, we know that other governments can do it as well.”
Though the Declaration highlights the need to increase domestic resources for countries’ own HIV response, Ditiu stressed the need to ensure that governments continue to invest in vulnerable groups because they are often the first ones to “fall between the cracks.”
She added that it is important to include key populations in the implementation of commitments.
Sequeira also urged for the implementation of strong accountability mechanisms to ensure that commitments are translated into effective responses.
Though the Political Declaration is not “perfect,” Kowalski noted that it provides the bare minimum required to take HIV response to the next level.
“If we are serious about ending AIDS, we need to go far beyond what is in the Political Declaration,” she said.
Le président de l’Union des communes du Zou (UCOZ) et maire de Bohicon, Luc Atrokpo, a rendu la semaine dernière, une visite de travail au gouverneur de la province belge de Luxembourg, Olivier Schmits. C'était au palais provincial à Arlon en Belgique. La visite s'inscrit dans le cadre de la coopération décentralisée entre la province belge et le département du Zou.
Le Secrétaire général de la Mairie de Cotonou Silverius Raoul Faladé, en sa qualité de porte-parole, a effectué une sortie médiatique samedi dernier dans les locaux de la Mairie pour éclairer l’opinion publique sur le projet de construction d’un parking gros porteur à Cotonou dont la lenteur a été soulevée dans la presse la semaine écoulée.
Comme votre journal vous l'annonçait, nous voici à un autre épisode du scandaleux dossier portant sur la convention minière signée au projet de la Nouvelle cimenterie du Bénin (Nocibé). A cette étape-ci des révélations sur le puant dossier de la Nocibé, c'est du foncier sur lequel se porte l'exploitation du gisement cimentier que se révèle une violation des droits de l'opérateur économique Séfou Fagbohoun au profit d'un Libano-sénégalais.
Le Béninois dont il s'agit n'est pas un monsieur ordinaire mais, un député de la République que Yayi Boni et ses obligés de membres de gouvernement ont décidé de priver de ses droits de jouissance de propriété sur un espace domanial sis dans la Commune d'Adja-Ouèrè. C'est en effet cette Commune du Département du Plateau qui abrite les installations de la Nouvelle cimenterie du Bénin (Nocibé) sur un domaine appartenant au sieur Séfou Ladékpo Fagbohoun. Encore un homme d'affaires béninois dont le régime Yayi Boni a décidé de priver des droits au profit un soi disant investisseur étranger venu faire des affaires au Bénin.
En réalité le domaine où se fait l'exploitation du gisement cimentier d'Adja-Ouère est une propriété du député Fagbohoun et consorts qui devraient en jouir à leur guise. Mais contre toute attente, Yayi Boni et son gouvernement le leur ont arraché pour le remettre au Libano-sénégalais Latfallah Layousse, Pdg de la Nocibé. Ce qui constitue une violation flagrante de la Constitution béninoise du 11 décembre 1990. En effet, à l'article 22 de ladite Constitution, il est prévu que : « Toute personne a droit à la propriété. Nul ne peut être privé de sa propriété que pour cause d'utilité publique et contre juste et préalable dédommagement ». Ce qui importe de noter dans cette disposition constitutionnelle est le mot de phrase : « …contre juste et préalable dédommagement ». C'est-à-dire que même s'il est admis que l'Etat peut se prévaloir de la cause d'utilité publique pour priver un citoyen de son droit de jouir d'un bien domanial mais, il (l'Etat) est tenu de le dédommager justement et surtout préalablement avant d'affecter ledit domaine à une cause publique.
Un projet volé au vrai propriétaire
Mais dans le cas d'espèce à cette date, de nos investigations, il nous est revenu que l'Etat béninois n'a payé aucun aux ayants droits et plus grave le bénéficiaire (Nocibé) n'a non plus payé aucun droit d'entrée, comme cela est généralement admis dans le cas des transactions du genre, pour pouvoir permettre à l'Etat de faire face aux dommages et intérêts liés au foncier arraché à Fagbohoun et consorts. Mais là n'est pas le vrai hic dans ce scabreux dossier de Nocibé. Ce qui est plus grave et sort de l'extraordinaire mode de gouvernance de Yayi Boni est que le projet d'exploitation du gisement cimentier d'Adja-Ouèrè n'appartient même pas à l'origine à Latfallah Layousse, Pdg de Nocibé.
Joint au téléphone pour savoir s'il a pu être dédommagé de la propriété à lui arrachée l'homme d'affaires et député Séfou Fagbohoun nous confie ceci : « Il ne s'agit pas seulement de dédommagement mais, le projet en lui-même est le mien. C'est Richard Sènou que j'ai emmené en Malaisie et à qui j'ai parlé de certains de mes projets dont l'installation d'une cimenterie à Adja-Ouèrè qui en a touché un mot au chef de l'Etat en ce qui concerne la cimenterie que l'on m'a finalement empêché d'installer au profit d'un étranger… Vous-même vous constatez comme moi que le chef de l'Etat s'est visiblement mis dans la dynamique de saper les bases de tous les hommes d'affaire nationaux au profit d'étrangers. Et du jour au lendemain, ce sont les installations de Nocibé que j'ai vu impuissant déployées sur mon domaine sans que personne ne me dise se qui se passe réellement… »
Mais devant notre insistance à savoir s'il a été tout au moins dédommagé, Séfou Fagbohoun nous répond ceci : « Est-ce que ce régime à jamais dédommagé qui que ce soit dans un dossier où un citoyen a été victime de faits et actes ? Mais on verra bien comment cela va se terminer un jour ». En réalité donc, le nauséeux dossier à scandale de Nocibé est un vrai hold-up d'Etat de haut vol orchestré par le régime de Yayi Boni.
Un régime bouffeur des fils du pays
En effet, on se rappelle qu'à l'entame de son régime en 2006, l'homme d'affaire Séfou Fagbohoun a été la toute première proie dont s'est fait « rôtir » Yayi Boni en l'envoyant en taule pour plus d'un an de vie carcérale. Yayi Boni avait donné l'impression, en son temps, de vouloir en découdre avec l'homme d'affaire en lui mettant le grappin dessus dans un dossier créé de toutes pièces sur les avoirs de la Sonacop. Mais comme la nature a horreur de l'injustice dont Yayi Boni s'est fait champion, depuis son cachot de la prison civile de Cotonou, Séfou Fagbohoun s'est fait élire député. Dès lors, Yayi Boni n'avait plus que ses yeux pour « pleurer » car, contraint de faire libérer le député de la nation béninoise.
Puis, comme s'il tient en réserve sa vengeance, il a sauté sur le projet cimentier de Séfou Fagbohoun à lui remis par l'ex ministre Richard Sènou pour lui porter l'estocade. Mais jusqu'à quand va durer cet acharnement de l'actuel chef de l'Etat béninois contre ses compatriotes hommes d'affaires. Après Séfou Fagbohoun, ce fut le tour de l'opérateur économique Patrice Talon, de Sébastien Ajavon qui tous, fort curieusement sont des Béninois originaires du Sud-Bénin. C'est haut le cœur qu'on est donc contraint de se demander pourquoi cette hache de guerre déterrée contre les hommes d'affaires de la partie septentrionale du Bénin pendant que le même Yayi Boni favorise l'enrichissement d'opérateurs économiques originaires du Centre et du Nord-Bénin ? Est-ce l'unité et la cohésion nationale qui passe par cette persécution de ces hommes d'affaires au profit d'étrangers tels que Latfallah Layousse de la Nocibé et le français Vincent Bolloré qui récemment s'est arrogé, avec la complicité de Yayi Boni, du projet de la Boucle ferroviaire ouest africaine au détriment de l'homme d'affaires béninois, Samuel Aworé Dossou de la société Pik Network qui est le vrai initiateur de ce projet mais, aujourd'hui presque écarté.
Pour l'heure parlant du scandale de Nocibé, demain jeudi, nous vous donnerons, cher lecteurs, les détails sur les artifices presque illégaux utilisés par Yayi Boni pour accorder l'exploitation du gisement cimentier à son ami Libano-sénégalais, Latfallah Layouse, sous un régime d'investissement de catégorie E qui constitue le siège même de toute la fraude orchestrée dans ce dossier cousu de fil blanc. A demain donc pour la suite…
Émérico Adjovi