World news and comment from the Guardian | guardian.co.uk

Oil price falls as markets welcome Iranian nuclear deal - business live
Protestors occupy Thai finance ministry
Cameron must see past the hysteria and grasp the nettle on immigration | Sarah Wollaston
Much ado about cashew – the hidden cost of the premium nut industry
Rick Santorum's Christmas movie proves flop
Priest quit clergy before taking stand at abuse royal commission
Indonesia may give asylum boats free passage to Christmas Island
Bertrand Russell on the science v religion debate | Clare Carlisle
World champion water skier in critical condition
Afghanistan considers reintroduction of public stoning for adulterers
Australian shift on Israel 'part of more balanced approach' to Middle East
I'm a half-arsed, accidental feminist – like many other young women | Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett
Asylum seeker baby in court battle to stay in Australia
Defence force pays more than $7m in compensation to victims of abuse
Star Wars Episode 7 auditions held in London and Dublin
Tony Abbott just about makes grade as Rhodes scholar
Why rehabilitation is vital for survivors of sexual violence during conflict | Sarah Degnan Kambou and Kristin Kalla
How rich countries dodged the climate change blame game in Warsaw | Graham Readfearn
NSW and SA warn Coalition to honour Gonski school funding deal
Japan's PM demands China revoke claim to air zone over disputed islands
An 81-year marriage is impressive, but it shouldn't be fetishised | Catherine Deveny
Five alternative uses for Kirribilli House
Why pommie bashing is so much fun
‘Jedi Council’ arrest made in Queanbeyan
Darryn Lyons, the comedy candidate, elected mayor of Geelong

Oil price falls as markets welcome Iranian nuclear deal - business live

Posted: 25 Nov 2013 01:39 AM PST

Brent crude drops over $2 per barrel after breakthrough agreement in Geneva, as German stocks hit yet another record high

Graeme Wearden

Protestors occupy Thai finance ministry

Posted: 25 Nov 2013 01:34 AM PST

Anti-government protesters force their way into Thailand's finance ministry, calling for Yingluck Shinawatra to step down

More than 1,000 anti-government protesters forced their way into Thailand's finance ministry on Monday, as thousands of demonstrators called for the resignation of prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra.

A crowd of protesters swarmed into the compound's courtyard and then entered buildings, including the ministry itself and the budget bureau, in the boldest act yet of opposition-led protests that started last month. The intrusion was one of several tense encounters on a day when protesters fanned out to 13 locations across Bangkok, snarling traffic and raising concerns of violence in Thailand's ongoing political crisis.

Protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban, a former deputy prime minister and opposition lawmaker, urged the crowd to enter the budget bureau and to cut electricity and water to pressure the agency to stop financing government projects.

"Go up to every floor, go into every room, but do not destroy anything," Suthep told the crowd, standing on a truck and speaking through a megaphone. "Make them see this is people's power."

With helmeted riot police looking on, about 30,000 protesters chanted "get out!" as they spread their protest to government offices, military bases and state television channels.

Protesters say they want Yingluck to step down amid claims that her government is controlled by her older brother, ousted former leader Thaksin Shinawatra. Monday's rally came a day after about 100,000 people marched in Bangkok, staging the largest rally Thailand has seen in years.

More than two dozen Bangkok schools along the protest route were closed Monday and police tightened security at the protest destinations, which included the military and police headquarters and the five television stations controlled by the military or the government.

Despite the heavy police presence at most protest sites, there was limited security at the finance ministry, which allowed protesters easy access. There was no immediate report of clashes or moves to evict the protesters.

Many fear that clashes could erupt between the anti-government protesters and Thaksin's supporters, who are staging their own rally at a Bangkok stadium and have vowed to stay put until the opposition calls off its demonstration.

Thaksin's supporters and opponents have battled for power since a 2006 military coup ousted the former prime minister, who was toppled following street protests accusing him of corruption and disrespect for the country's constitutional monarch, King Bhumibol Adulyadej. Thaksin has lived in self-imposed exile for the past five years to avoid a prison sentence on a corruption conviction.

Cameron must see past the hysteria and grasp the nettle on immigration | Sarah Wollaston

Posted: 25 Nov 2013 01:30 AM PST

The pressure on community relations can no longer be ignored. Doing nothing plays into the hands of xenophobes

It cannot be easy; one day you are a self-respecting Guardian journalist then suddenly people are asking if you are related to a Tory MP. But Sam Wollaston can relax: I am not a "real" Wollaston.

Scratch the surface of any Briton and you will find a migrant. In my case, it was my great-great-great grandfather John Israel Wollstein, who emigrated from Poland and settled in England in the 1830s after marrying a local girl, Mary Carter.

Fast forward three generations and his entire extended family in England simultaneously anglicised their names by deed poll, apparently after choosing the name from Burke's Peerage. It was more than a marker of patriotism; bricks through the window were a common problem for those with Germanic names during the Great War.

Sadly some attacks are again being levelled at some of today's eastern European migrants.

People fretted about them in Edwardian England, just as they do today. The "real" Wollastons took umbrage; in a book about their own family's achievements, my ancestors made the final pages, but only as a warning about the European Jewish family who had usurped their historic name.

Within a generation, the Wollstein's distant cousins back in Poland faced genocide under Hitler, a stark reminder of the potential consequences of scapegoating and xenophobia.

Language matters. Witness the disturbing stereotyping of Roma people. But there are also dangers in silencing debate. Branding people as racist when they questioned the benefits of mass immigration crushed open debate very effectively until Gordon Brown derided Gillian Duffy as a "bigoted woman". People listened to his sneering comments from the back of his limousine and something snapped.

Over 2 million people had moved to Britain within a decade but the infrastructure was not in place to accommodate them. The consequences of the scale and pace of change were not borne by the political elite or champagne socialists, but in deprived areas where young people in particular were already struggling to find homes and jobs.

Labour now admits that its failure to apply transitional controls to new accession nations was a terrible mistake. Roger Daltrey said he would never forgive the party for "destroying the jobs of my mates", pointing out that mass immigration had fuelled a resentment which was no fault of the migrants themselves.

In all the noise it is easy to forget the serious consequences for accession nations, too. While the NHS is keen to recruit more nurses, a mass exodus of skilled staff from hospitals in eastern Europe leaves behind far greater difficulties. It is the same with schools and industry.

Immigration from Bulgaria and Romania from January seems unlikely to be on the same scale as from Poland and elsewhere in 2004 as many Bulgarians and Romanians will choose to settle in Germany or Italy – but frankly no one knows how many will come. Our population is already rising faster than in any other country in Europe, with one-third of this the result of immigration. The pressures on infrastructure and employment can no longer be ignored.

This week, David Cameron will come under intense pressure from a small minority in his own party who want Britain to close its doors and refuse to accept its treaty obligations, even if that means eye-watering daily fines. According to some reports, the prime minister is considering extending the length of time new arrivals have to stay in this country before they qualify for state benefits – he will have to find a way that can be done without discriminating between British citizens and other Europeans in eligibility for benefits. He should try to find a way of reducing the "pull effect" for unskilled migration by increasing the length of the so-called habitual residence test. He could perhaps exempt anyone who has been educated or worked for a year in the UK.

Prime ministers should not direct others to break the law. Nor should they pander to the hysteria that risks engulfing this sensitive issue. Immigration is putting strain on the infrastructure in some areas, but the British economy is recovering, unemployment is falling, and skilled migrants have always contributed a great deal to this country, and must be allowed to continue to do so.

However, it is also right that Cameron should concern himself with deteriorating community relations in places like Sheffield, and right that he consider the consequences of doing nothing. He must grasp the nettle.

Britain stands to gain just as much from migration today as it did when the multilingual Wollsteins brought their expertise and enthusiasm to the Victorian Baltic timber trade.

We must, however, get the balance right. Failure to acknowledge or respond to reasonable concerns about the scale and pace of change will only play into the hands of those with an entirely different agenda, fanning the flames of xenophobia and dividing our society.

Sarah Wollaston

Much ado about cashew – the hidden cost of the premium nut industry

Posted: 25 Nov 2013 01:19 AM PST

Cashew is a $4bn global business that provides jobs for millions in developing nations, particularly in Africa and India

Lucy Lamble

Rich Harris

Guardian Interactive team

Afua Hirsch

Iain Chambers

Rick Santorum's Christmas movie proves flop

Posted: 25 Nov 2013 01:11 AM PST

The Christmas Candle, which was produced by the Christian-themed studio that Santorum heads, fails to fly

• News: Rick Santorum calls Hollywood 'the devil's playground'

The power of prayer has failed to save The Christmas Candle, the new release from Rick Santorum's faith based film studio, EchoLight.

The Christmas Candle, set in the fictional English village of Gladbury and billed as "a timeless holiday film for the entire family", attracted widespread critical scorn as well as dismal box-office results, having grossed just over $1.6m (£988,000) after two weeks on release.

The bad reviews were perhaps predictable, with the New York Daily News saying: "This odd Dickens-meets-Sunday-school movie is as artless as the setup is muddled", while the New York Post judged: "This throwback, made-for-TV-style film takes the easy way out in a cheesy climax, but its resolute quaintness may appeal to the kind of viewers who regard electricity as disturbingly newfangled." The Arizona Republic called it "resolutely stiff and hollow".

Former presidential candidate Santorum, who took to the media shortly before the film's release to lambast Hollywood as "the devil's playground" will presumably find it easy to shrug off critical brickbats; less easy to swallow will be the ignominious box office results. Its opening weekend, on a small "platform" release on just 5 screens, took a respectable $68,000; but in its second week, when it expanded to over 390, it took less than $1m. The crucial screen average was an extremely moderate $2,500, putting it below the likes of The Best Man Holiday, Narco Cultura, and bodybuilding doco Generation Iron - and far beneath Catching Fire and Philomena.

The Christmas Candle, which stars Clash of the Titans' Hans Matheson and gives singer Susan Boyle her film debut in a small role – the inn-keeper's wife – is released in the UK on 13 December.

• News: Rick Santorum calls Hollywood 'the devil's playground'

Andrew Pulver

Priest quit clergy before taking stand at abuse royal commission

Posted: 25 Nov 2013 01:03 AM PST

Former Grafton diocese registrar who was central to handling group abuse claim says he has relinquished holy orders

Indonesia may give asylum boats free passage to Christmas Island

Posted: 25 Nov 2013 01:00 AM PST

National police chief says boats headed to the Australian territory 'do not come under our authority'

Bertrand Russell on the science v religion debate | Clare Carlisle

Posted: 25 Nov 2013 01:00 AM PST

Bertrand Russell, part 2: The philosopher's staunch criticism of religion echoes modern atheists, but he was also profoundly moved by a 'mystic insight'

Bertrand Russell did not consider himself an expert on ethics and religion, and it is true that his writing on these subjects lacks the originality and sophistication of his philosophical work on mathematics. His criticisms of religion are often similar – in essence if not in tone – to opinions voiced by contemporary atheists: he argued that religious beliefs cause wars and persecution, are moralistic and oppressive, and foster fear. However, it is precisely for this reason that it is worth looking again at Russell's rejection of Christianity. Anyone concerned with defending religion against its typical modern detractors must recognise Russell as a worthy opponent, for he was an intelligent, principled and humane man of the world who undoubtedly led a meaningful life.

Next week we will begin to look closely at Russell's arguments against Christianity. First, though, let's consider how his general attitude and approach to religion shaped his critique of religious beliefs. It is telling, for example, that Russell thought that religious questions did not really belong to the discipline of philosophy. This rather narrow view of philosophy predisposed him to scepticism about subjects that involve ambiguity, interpretation, and perhaps a personal, experiential kind of insight. Ethics, of course, is one such subject, and religion even more so. Like earlier rationalist thinkers such as Descartes and Spinoza, Russell had an exacting standard for what qualified as "knowledge", and argued that if philosophy is the search for truth then it should concern itself only with the kind of certainty associated with basic mathematical intuitions such as "2 + 2 = 4".

It is also interesting to compare Russell's dismissive attitude to religion with his great faith in science. When Nietzsche wrote of the death of God, he suggested that belief in scientific progress was the last remaining article of faith. Nietzsche was pointing out that although science makes claims to knowledge, these claims are as deluded as those of religious dogmatists. The view that he was criticising is too crude to attribute to Russell, who acknowledged what we customarily call "knowledge" occupies a broad spectrum of degrees of uncertainty, and that very little – if anything – is absolutely certain. Nevertheless, it is worth bearing in mind Nietzsche's remarks about the "piety" underlying modern science when we consider Russell's almost utopian vision of scientific progress.

Russell's support for eugenics in his eccentric and provocative book Marriage and Morals (1929) is one of the more controversial examples of his view that scientific developments could, and should, contribute to social reform. But this view itself has become a tenet of secular orthodoxy. It is articulated with characteristic eloquence in Russell's essay How I Came By My Creed, which was published in the same year as Marriage and Morals. Here Russell celebrates our increasing mastery of nature, and argues that modern science both overcomes religion and replaces it as a method for humanity's self-improvement: "In this world we can now begin a little to understand things, and a little to master them by help of science, which has forced its way step by step against the Christian religion … Science can help us to get over this craven fear in which mankind has lived for so many generations. Science can teach us, and I think our own hearts can teach us, no longer to look around for imaginary supports, no longer to invent allies in the sky, but rather to look to our own efforts here below to make this world a better place to live in, instead of the sort of place that the churches in all these centuries have made it."

This passage is typical of Russell's popular writing on religion, and it is not surprising that contemporary atheists have adopted him as their champion. But his autobiography occasionally reveals a more complex and ambivalent relationship to religion. In particular, he relates an episode in 1901 when he witnessed the wife of his Cambridge colleague Alfred Whitehead suffer intense pain due to heart problems, causing Russell to have what can only be described as a spiritual insight. "The ground seemed to give way beneath me and I found myself in quite another region," he writes. "Within five minutes I went through such reflections as the following: the loneliness of the human soul is unendurable; nothing can penetrate it except the highest intensity of the sort of love that religious teachers have preached; whatever does not spring from this motive is harmful, or at best useless; it follows that war is wrong, that a public school education is abominable, that the use of force is to be deprecated, and that in human relations one should penetrate to the core of loneliness in each person and speak to that."

Such was the power of this experience that it made him "a completely different person". Even though Russell's "mystic insight" later faded in the face of an older "habit of analysis", its effects, he wrote, "remained always with me, causing my attitude during the first war, my interest in children, my indifference to minor misfortunes, and a certain emotional tone in all my human relations".

What caused the disparity between Russell's "official" view of religion and his personal experience? Why was he unwilling to bring this experience to bear on his critique of religion? The answer seems to lie in his deep methodological commitment to both rationalism and scientific empiricism: Russell tended to treat "religion" as either a body of doctrines to be intellectually analysed, or as a phenomenon to be observed objectively from the outside. In the first case, Russell found flawed arguments; in the second, flawed institutions perpetrating violence and oppression. His own spiritual insights belonged to a different order – and although they changed his life deeply, they were not allowed to change his philosophical position. This helps to explain why, while history proves that both religion and science can be forces for good and for ill, Russell was inclined to focus on the benefits of science and on the dark side of religion.

Clare Carlisle

World champion water skier in critical condition

Posted: 25 Nov 2013 12:57 AM PST

Sarah Teelow's parents keep bedside vigil after her fall at a Sydney competition on Sunday

Afghanistan considers reintroduction of public stoning for adulterers

Posted: 25 Nov 2013 12:40 AM PST

Proposal to bring back one of the most repugnant symbols of Taliban regime is in draft revision of country's penal code

Afghan government officials have proposed reintroducing public stoning as a punishment for adultery, Human Rights Watch said, even though the practice has been denounced both inside and outside the country as one of the most repugnant symbols of the Taliban regime.

The sentence for married adulterers, along with flogging for unmarried offenders, appears in a draft revision of the country's penal code being managed by the ministry of justice.

There are several references to stoning in a translated section of the draft seen by the Guardian, including detailed notes on judicial requirements for handing down the sentence.

"Men and women who commit adultery shall be punished based on the circumstances to one of the following punishments: lashing, stoning [to death]," article 21 states. The draft goes on to specify that the stoning should be public, in article 23.

News that the government is contemplating bringing back a much-reviled punishment is unlikely to go down well with the western governments that back Kabul.

"It is absolutely shocking that 12 years after the fall of the Taliban government, the Karzai administration might bring back stoning as a punishment," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

"President Karzai needs to demonstrate at least a basic commitment to human rights and reject this proposal out of hand."

The penalty violates international human rights standards that ban torture and cruel and inhuman punishment, the rights group said in statement.

When a video surfaced a year ago of a 21-year-old woman being stoned to death in an insurgent-controlled village just a few dozen miles from Kabul, it was strongly condemned by government officials as well as rights groups and diplomats.

Emma Graham-Harrison

Australian shift on Israel 'part of more balanced approach' to Middle East

Posted: 25 Nov 2013 12:38 AM PST

Australia will now abstain on UN resolutions relating to Israeli settlement in the occupied territories, going against a long-held national position

I'm a half-arsed, accidental feminist – like many other young women | Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett

Posted: 25 Nov 2013 12:30 AM PST

Most women don't have time to fight for their gender all the time. They may even diet or twerk. The feminist movement can ill afford to lose their voices

I am a half-arsed, accidental feminist. I said it. It's a relief to get it off my chest. By half-arsed, I don't mean that I don't care deeply about the feminist cause; I do, I just only engage with it about half the time. The rest of the time, I'm doing other stuff, "problematic" stuff, stuff that might not even be that feminist: reading Mail Online, doing drunken twerking in the kitchen, having friends. Oh, and the diet. I've been on a diet for the last year, which you might say, considering how vocal I've been about faddy regimes, is the height of hypocrisy. Or you might find it rather sad that someone who spends a lot of their time lamenting how society's unrealistic beauty standards are used to control and oppress women is a victim of those same standards. Either way, I've lost two stone and my clothes fit me again.

It's difficult being a half-arsed feminist in a movement that seems to demand both your innards and your soul, but I think I've been pulling it off with panache. I always maintained that I would never write one of those inward-looking columns that aims to unpick the intricacies of the feminist movement, mainly because they bore the tits off me, but then it struck me that some of the barriers facing young women in terms of engaging with gender equality are so great that this needs to be discussed. If you're anything like me, prepare to be bored by this – I apologise in advance.

When my friend Holly Baxter and I set up a satirical blog called the Vagenda two years ago, along with a group of our university friends, we never saw ourselves as part of the feminist movement. The blog took a tongue-in-cheek look at women's magazines, was written in a slangy, easily comprehensible style, and didn't take itself all that seriously. In ridiculing the way women were portrayed in the media, the entire ethos of the blog could be said to be feminist, but I didn't really know anything about the modern feminist movement, what it entailed, and where my place in it might be; we just got on with it. Indeed, one of the great things about this new wave of female activism is that young women no longer feel they have to subscribe to a whole checklist of rigid ideas before becoming involved; they focus on what's closest to their hearts, whether that's Page 3 or everyday sexism or violence against women, and try and do the best they can, just as many women out there in their communities have been doing for generations, some without ever feeling a need to use the term "feminist".

Part of our work with the Vagenda has involved visiting schools and universities to chat to young women about just what it is about feminism they find so distasteful. They told us that they think feminism is angry and scary and difficult and "not for them", and that feminists aren't feminine or sexy and that they hate men. Frankly, anyone who doesn't think feminism has an image problem or doesn't need "rebranding" (a horrible term, yes, but one which essentially means communicating the same idea – the equality of men and women – differently for a new audience) can't see the nose in front of their face. The image these girls have of feminism comes partly from negative coverage in the media but I also get the sense that some of the more radical elements of the movement from the 1970s and 1980s – lesbian separatism, for instance – alienated many women and made them nervous. Now their daughters are too.

After talking to these young women, we wrote a column criticising academic feminists' use of alienating terms such as "intersectionality" on the basis that most people don't understand them. "Intersectionality" basically means taking into account the way different systems of oppression – race, class, disability, sexual orientation – relate to one another. The article raised issue with the language, not the concept, but because we deigned to criticise the method of communication, we were deemed racist. It was very difficult, because I fundamentally believe that we have a problem with representation that needs to be tackled and feminism needs to be for everyone, but having a platform means that people without one direct their anger at you, at your face and at your writing, and, as a half-arsed feminist, I'm still learning how to cope with the pressure to represent everyone, all the time.

Some months later, we were speaking at a debate about "the most important issues facing British feminism today", and the topic came up again. One of the panellists said: "If you don't understand what intersectionality means, then you can just Google it." I thought about the estate my dad lived on, at the time working in IT helping people learn to use computers, luxuries many of the residents didn't have. How the hell would they "just Google it?" For someone who wanted feminism to transcend class and racial barriers, it seemed like the least intersectional thing you could ever say. Much like all those columns saying: "Feminism is simple. People just need to educate themselves."

The reaction to our getting involved with Elle's "rebranding feminism" campaign was in this vein. Just what it is that could be done to motivate people to want to find out more about feminism got lost in the criticism. I just thought: "We're doing our own thing – why can't you do yours?" The constant litany of "you're doing it wrong" is dispiriting.

It's been a huge struggle coming into this movement as a young woman. All the ideological quibbling at that debate, for example, meant that such topics as sexual and domestic violence and the pay gap went undiscussed, as they are going undiscussed here now again. I fear sometimes that feminism will never have any mass appeal. There are some people who I truly believe don't want to share it. Because it is a movement centred around oppression, there are a lot of angry people involved in it. I am not saying that that anger is not righteous. I became more interested in feminism myself after I was attacked by a man. But such anger can be alienating.

The in-fighting and the vitriol are turnoffs to a new generation. A friend of mine who has been researching cannabis farming says that the legalise pot movement is the same – factions, all warring – but at least they get to be stoned while doing it. "Activist burnout" is a well-known condition – a Barnard University report warned that the dropout rate among feminist bloggers is incredibly high.

Camilla Long once wrote that feminism was almost like an emotion. I agree. And it's draining. Eventually, feeling this way all the time might mean you end up being that angry keyboard warrior, or a lump of flubber on the floor. And most women can't afford to do that, because more than half the time they're doing something else, and often that something else involves looking after vulnerable people, so being expected to look after their entire gender as well is a bit of a big ask. The feminist movement needs these women, and it's losing them. As the hilarious blog Is This Feminist? points out, "being a marginally accepted feminist is a full-time job". And who on this Earth has the time for that?

Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett

Asylum seeker baby in court battle to stay in Australia

Posted: 25 Nov 2013 12:28 AM PST

A Burmese family has launched a bid in Brisbane to remain in Australia to care for its sick boy

Defence force pays more than $7m in compensation to victims of abuse

Posted: 24 Nov 2013 11:58 PM PST

Taskforce investigating mistreatment within Australian Defence Force ranks refers 18 cases to police

Star Wars Episode 7 auditions held in London and Dublin

Posted: 24 Nov 2013 11:47 PM PST

Casting calls for JJ Abrams's continuation of the Star Wars franchise have hit the English and Irish capitals

• More on Star Wars Episode 7

Thousands of hopefuls auditioned this weekend at an open casting call for Star Wars: Episode VII at Twickenham stadium in London.

Casting directors are visiting a number of British cities in their hunt for fresh faces for JJ Abrams's film. Having already stopped off in Bristol earlier this month, they will reportedly also head to Manchester and Glasgow before the process is complete. Auditions were also held at Dublin's Croke Park this weekend and there have been a number of open casting calls in the US.

UK casting agent Kate Bone told the BBC: "We are doing this to find someone who might not have necessarily gone to drama school. They don't have to have acting experience - just the right look and then we can see if there's any talent there. We don't want to leave any stone unturned, we want to see what's out there. To find an unknown talent is very exciting."

Star Wars: Episode VII is being shot at Pinewood studios in London early next year for a 2015 release date. Casting directors are reportedly looking for actors to portray a "street smart and strong" orphaned girl in her late teens and a "smart capable" man in his late teens or early 20s, among other parts. The open audition process was also utilised to recruit many of the stars of the original trilogy of films released between 1977 and 1983.

Episode VII is the first in a new triptych of films being made by Disney after the studio bought all rights to the long-running space saga through its $4.05bn purchase of LucasFilm in October last year.

More on the Star Wars auditions

Sam Wolfson reports from Bristol
Stuart Heritage's tips
Star Wars producer Gary Kurtz's advice

Ben Child

Tony Abbott just about makes grade as Rhodes scholar

Posted: 24 Nov 2013 11:33 PM PST

The prime minister's degree transcript reveals he lags behind the likes of studied world leaders Bill Clinton and David Cameron

Alex Needham

Why rehabilitation is vital for survivors of sexual violence during conflict | Sarah Degnan Kambou and Kristin Kalla

Posted: 24 Nov 2013 11:00 PM PST

Women in northern Uganda and DRC say they can resume normal life after help from the ICC's Trust Fund for Victims

One woman says she became stronger and returned to work for the sake of her children; another started to see herself as "equal to everyone else again". Both are survivors of sexual violence during conflict and are describing how they have benefited from rehabilitation programmes in northern Uganda and eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

The interventions, carried out by the international criminal court's Trust Fund for Victims (TFV) and evaluated by the International Centre for Research on Women (ICRW), show the significant long-term impact of international aid on survivors of atrocities – and as result, their families, communities and societies.

The women and girls interviewed said they were able to resume a normal life, make plans for the future and resume school and work. Many attributed the ability to be economically active as the greatest contributor to their newfound positive mental health.

To mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on Monday, and the start of the annual 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence Campaign, ICRW and TFV are publishing the results of the programmes to highlight why we must do more to end impunity and assist survivors of armed conflict.

Sexual violence is too often used during war as a weapon against civilians, particularly women. More needs to be done to prevent this atrocity. We must also applaud efforts such as April's G8 Declaration . It was created to prevent, and respond to, sexual violence in conflict and hold perpetrators to account, including through the work of the ICC.

But we must also do more for the millions of survivors of conflict-related gender-based crimes worldwide. Once the headlines fade, they must find a way to rebuild their lives in spite of the community stigma associated with sexual violence and the trauma of the crimes they have experienced.

Although there is no hard quantitative data available on the economic costs of sexual violence in conflict, we do know that the direct and indirect economic cost of domestic violence worldwide comes in at billions of pounds, according to previous ICRW research.

When a woman is raped during conflict, she often experiences serious physical and psychological injuries with few medical and other services available to assist her. These injuries affect her ability to work, pursue a livelihood and fulfil her familial and community roles. The economic costs to her, her family, her community and to society are enormous.

The international community often provides support for security, stability and reconstruction but overlooks the multiple dimensions of the impact of sexual violence, which directly affect post-conflict recovery efforts. We must admit that our collective response to this type of violence in these societies has been inadequate, and that failure is magnified over time. Promoting women and girls' empowerment is a fundamental requirement of any justice, reparation, assistance, reconciliation and peace-building process.

In this light, ICRW's findings are particularly illuminating: we have hard evidence that effective strategies are possible and are working.

The TFV, which is responsible for providing court-ordered reparations and assistance to victim survivors, is the first of its kind in the global movement to address impunity, promote justice and ensure that victims of mass atrocities receive support and recognition. Its rehabilitation programme fills a dangerous gap: that precarious time between atrocity and reparation, when humanitarian agencies have moved on and survivors of war crimes are likely to fall between the cracks.

It has so far provided physical, psychological and material rehabilitation to nearly 110,000 war victims so they can get on the road to recovery before the ICC reparations process – which can take years – is concluded.

Like other victims of atrocities that TFV has assisted, survivors of sexual violence have received essential integrated care. This multi-strategy approach is necessary to help victim survivors recover and reintegrate into society.

Support has included medical rehabilitation, such as the repair of socially stigmatising and physically debilitating obstetric fistulas, which is especially common in adolescent girls who give birth before their bodies are ready. At the same time, many survivors have received vocational training and psychological services that give women – many who now must be self-sufficient – the chance to support and care for them and their children.

The ICRW study concluded that TFV's interventions have successfully contributed to the reduction of social exclusion and shame and to self-sufficiency and skills development of victims. However, because of the scope and scale of atrocities, ICRW researchers have also found the costs of sustaining support to survivors bearing deep physical, psychological and economic scars can be high.

Which is why it is critical to match prevention, investigation and prosecutorial measures with rehabilitation and reparations for survivors. It is the only way forward.

Sarah Degnan Kambou is president of the International Centre for Research on Women; Kristin Kalla is senior programme officer of the Trust Fund for Victims at the international criminal court

How rich countries dodged the climate change blame game in Warsaw | Graham Readfearn

Posted: 24 Nov 2013 11:00 PM PST

The steps in Warsaw towards a new global climate change deal looked more like shuffling of feet

After sitting through the final week of the United Nations climate change negotiations in Warsaw, one thing has become abundantly clear.

Rich countries are desperate to avoid taking the blame for the impacts of climate change on nations with a lot less money but an awful lot more to lose (like their entire country, for example).

More specifically, the developed countries won't let any statements slip into any UN climate document that could be used against them in the future.

The 19^th "Conference of the Parties" meeting of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, which ended a day late on Saturday, was supposed to be a stepping-stone towards a new global deal to cut emissions.

By virtue only of the fact that the meeting actually went ahead and that all the countries have agreed to turn up again in Peru next December, it was a stepping-stone of sorts.

In the grander scheme of stuff, the "steps" taken in Warsaw looked more like uncomfortable shuffling of feet with the odd stumble forward.

Loss and damage

One decision from Warsaw was that the UNFCCC will set up a new branch (mechanism in UN speak) to deal with "loss and damage" from climate change.

That is, to provide some sort of help to poorer countries for dealing with the impacts of climate change "including extreme events and slow onset events".

It seems to acknowledge that one-off "extreme weather events" can be linked to human-caused climate change (read: burning too many fossil fuels).

This new "loss and damage" branch can be seen as an explicit and formal recognition that impacts from climate change are inevitable.

One observer at the talks described "loss and damage" as the UNFCCC's "third leg". The first leg is mitigation, when countries cut emissions and issue targets.

The second leg is adaptation, when you make advance preparations for the impacts of climate change that are already locked in (building sea walls, cyclone shelters or developing hardier varieties of food crops – that sort of thing).

But what the agreed text conspicuously avoids is any suggestion that contributions made by developed countries should be worked out based on their overall contribution to the 40% increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere since the start of the industrial revolution.

In short, this would be seen as an admission of liability and rich nations do not want a court case.

New deal in Paris

Meanwhile, a second key decision extracted like blood from the concrete and steel of the venue in Warsaw (a sports stadium) was aimed at building momentum for a global deal to come into force in 2020 to cut emissions.

The UNFCCC "parties" (almost 200 countries) agreed to go back home and "initiate or intensify domestic preparations for their intended nationally determined contributions" to whatever deal might be brokered in Paris in 2015.

Countries will be able to start putting their "contributions" to cutting emissions on the table from April 2015 – these "contributions" might be targets but could be other efforts to keep emissions down.

But the text of the agreement makes clear that whatever nations do offer, this will be "without prejudice to the legal nature of the contributions".

When it comes to offering even a broad outline of what a new Paris deal will look like, the decision from Warsaw leaves the door not so much open as swinging wildly on its hinges.

As the document says, a deal requiring action from 2020 could end up being "a protocol, another legal instrument or an agreed outcome with legal force".

So pretty much anything, then.

One observer in Warsaw, Mohamed Adow, from the charity Christian Aid, explained: "In agreeing to establish a loss and damage mechanism, countries have accepted the reality that the world is already dealing with the extensive damage caused by climate impacts, and requires a formal process to assess and deal with it, but they seem unwilling to take concrete actions to reduce the severity of these impacts."

Australia criticised

During the two weeks of talks, observers were consistently blaming Australia for slowing the process down.

Climate Action Network International, which has a membership of more than 850 different non-governmental organisations, gave Australia four "Fossil of the Day" awards and the overall "Colossal Fossil" for the meeting.

Other groups, including the likes of Greenpeace, WWF and Friends of the Earth, took the unprecedented step of simply walking out with a day still to go (the proper noun Australia was being constantly uttered as the group members filed out).

The Warsaw talks exposed just how incompatible the Abbott Government's rhetoric on climate change is with what's already agreed under the UNFCCC.

For example, Prime Minister Tony Abbott says publicly that he accepts human-caused climate change is actually a thing. But has recently denied that, for example, it can play a role in increasing the risk of severe bushfires.

Yet the "loss and damage" agreement, which Australia agreed to by consensus, implies extreme weather events are associated with climate change.

Tony Abbott's rhetoric

Also take Mr Abbott's recent characterisation of the UNFCCC's Green Climate Fund as an international "Bob Brown's Bank" (Bob Brown is the former leader of The Greens in Australia).

Mr Abbott has said this is something that it would be "impossible" for his government to support.

At the recent Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Colombo, Australia joined Canada in insisting on a footnote to the official communiqué, which said the two countries could not support a Green Climate Fund.

But as John Connor, CEO of Australia's The Climate Institute pointed out in Warsaw, the government's reservations are a little late.

The Green Climate Fund, which will be tasked with managing financial contributions made through the UNFCCC, already has a board and a secretariat.

Hell, there's even an Australia civil servant on the list of board members.

Connor said: "The Government needs to reconsider its withdrawn support for the Green Climate Fund if it takes rainforest protection seriously."

One of the other decisions made in Warsaw relating to forestry projects - agreed to by Australia - also explicitly acknowledged the role of the Green Climate Fund in administering finance.

Australia also remains a signatory to a number of UNFCCC documents – including the Copenhagen Accord - stating an intention to keep global warming below 2C. Some scientists in Warsaw say we're more likely heading for 3 - 4C or more, unless very deep and rapid cuts in emissions can be agreed.

Given that the Paris agreement won't even come into force until 2020, this 2C guardrail now seems too greasy to grab.

Even the UNFCCC acknowledges in decisions made in Warsaw that there's a "significant gap" between current emissions pledges and the chances of staying below 2C.

As UNFCCC executive secretary Christiana Figueres put it during the final press conference, what was agreed in Warsaw "does not put us on track for a two degree world."

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