Yet Mr. Shinzo Abe, Japan’s current prime minister and her prime minister during 2006-2007 has repeatedly said that “there was no coercion of women into sexual slavery during WWII, and there is no testimony from anyone in Japan.” Shintaro Ishihara, Governor of Tokyo, said in an interview in 1990 that the Nanking Massacre “is a story made up by the Chinese.” Takashi Kawamura, mayor of Nagoya, said in 2012 that “there was no Nanking Massacre, only the results of conventional acts of combat.”

All of these are lies, as these atrocities were well documented by many eye witnesses, including western journalists, businessmen, diplomats, missionaries, educators, and other international observers. Furthermore, the Japanese teacher and journalist Tamaki Matsuoka has interviews of over 250 former Japanese soldiers, with many of these interviews video-recorded, confirming the Nanking Massacre.

Sixty seven years have elapsed since the end of WWII. The Japanese government still has not officially acknowledged and apologized for the massive and inhumane atrocities that the Japanese Imperial Army inflicted on Asia during WWII. Furthermore, their leaders, including prime ministers, have regularly paid tribute at the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo where 14 convicted and executed Class A war criminals are enshrined. This is analogous to German chancellors paying tribute at a memorial for Hitler. In addition, starting in the early 1980s, the Japanese government has rewritten their textbooks so that generations of Japanese already do not know about this part of WWII history.

Many governments have already passed resolutions condemning Japan’s position on the comfort women issue, including resolutions passed in 2007 by U.S. House of Representatives, Canadian Parliament, Lower House of the Dutch Parliament, and European Parliament. Apparently words alone are not sufficient to change Japan’s position.

If we don’t learn from history, then history can repeat itself, in the form of another Pearl Harbor attack, Nanking Massacre, Bataan Death March, sexual slavery, germ warfare, etc. For the sake of world peace, the world must take more serious actions than just words.

Therefore, we petition the International Olympic Committee not to select Tokyo, one of three finalists (together with Istanbul and Madrid), to be the host city for the 2020 Summer Olympics.

We ask all peace loving people of the world to sign this petition to urge the International Olympic Committee and the various national Olympic Committees not to select Tokyo to host the 2020 Summer Olympics, unless the Japanese government officially acknowledges and apologizes for their WWII atrocities.

In response, a UN Secretariat spokesperson told the press on July 23 that Taiwan’s application “could not be received and was, thus, returned” in keeping with “the one-China policy of the United Nations” enshrined in General Assembly Resolution 2758. This behavior is shocking, both for its arrogance and its ignorance.

The UN Charter and UN procedural rules unambiguously stipulate that the secretary-general shall immediately refer membership applications to the Security Council. The Security Council must deliberate the matter and make a recommendation to the General Assembly, whose members are to discuss the matter and vote on it. The UN Secretariat, however, has co-opted the UN member states’ deliberative and decision-making powers.

The UN chief’s action is disturbing also because he has grossly misconstrued both the nature of Taiwan’s membership application and the import of Resolution 2758. The application in no way constitutes a challenge to the right of the government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to represent China. Nor does the resolution imply that Taiwan is a part of China.

At a great price in suffering over the course of 38 years of martial law, the people of Taiwan have created a vibrant democracy, rated Asia’s freest country by Freedom House in its 700-page Freedom in the World 2006 report.

For this reason, and in order to underline the fact that Taiwan makes no pretense of vying for the right to govern China, President Chen’s application requests “the admission of Taiwan as a member of the United Nations,” not of the “Republic of China.” This follows the well-established precedent of employing names for participation in the UN and other international organizations that are different from domestically used, constitutional names.

Irrespective of the status of Taiwan, the Taiwan Strait is indisputably one of the world’s most dangerous flashpoints. Given that China threatens to launch a war of annexation, has deployed a thousand missiles targeted at Taiwan, and refuses to talk directly with the democratically elected government in Taipei, it devolves upon the United Nations to fulfill its role of international peacekeeper in the region. At the very least, it should facilitate communications between all parties who have a stake in preserving peace in East Asia before a crisis situation develops.

UN organizations and officials must therefore cease allowing themselves to be intimidated by the totalitarian PRC government into making unwise decisions. In particular, they must stop kowtowing to its claim that Taiwan is a province of the People’s Republic of China. Nor is Taiwan part of a “divided China” comprised of PRC and ROC segments.

The UN Charter mandates membership for all states. Taiwan indisputably is a sovereign state, having for nearly six decades fulfilled all of the criteria for statehood stipulated in the 1933 Montevideo Convention. Unlike the PRC, Taiwan is also a state in which sovereignty rests in the people, as prescribed by the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Therefore, all nations that champion rule of law, freedom, and human rights are morally bound to support UN membership for Taiwan. We will never trade freedom for tyranny.

Reports from the January, 2007 conference of international donors in Galle, Sri Lanka, state that “there is significant donor pressure on the government of Sri Lanka to resume peace talks,” yet we are certain that without clearly defining conditions that must be met in order for funding to be provided, calls for peace will once again go unheeded. It is essential that money be withheld from the government of Sri Lanka until such time as they prove their commitment to the peace process and cease systematically violating human rights.

At the recent donor conference, World Bank Vice President Praful Patel noted the following grim facts:
• The last 14 months have been especially bloody, especially for civilians: In the past year more than 3,500 Sri Lankans were killed as result of increased hostilities [a more recent report by the Sri Lankan Monitoring Mission places this number at 4,000];
• Within the past year, over 200,000 additional persons have been displaced in the conflict.
Mr. Patel further reported, “Sri Lankan researchers have estimated that the conflict has cost the economy 2 to 3 percentage points of GDP growth annually—growth that could have eliminated poverty in the country by now. And, this estimate does not come close to reflecting the human costs of the conflict: more than 65,000 dead, over 500,000 displaced, human rights undermined and a social fabric torn apart by the brutality and persistence of civil conflict.”

At this same conference, United States Ambassador Robert Blake confirmed the displacement of 200,000 persons in the past 12 months and stated “The UN estimates that twice that number could eventually become homeless if hostilities continue.” Mr. Blake further noted deepening concern for the “difficulties faced by some of our implementing partners in their attempt to implement assistance programs.”

Military and Defense Spending
All indicators suggest that the conflict situation is only getting worse. Violence is on the rise with Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse vowing to use military force to crush the LTTE, despite international consensus that there can be no military solution to the decades-long conflict. Sri Lanka’s defense budget for 2007 has ballooned out of proportion to the rest of the budget, to US $1.4 Billion. This is an increase of 46% over the previous year. This coming year, Sri Lanka will be spending more than 23% of its income on defense-related expenditures.

It is important to note that military and “defense” activities have included bombardments of densely populated civilian areas, including homes, hospitals and schools (a violation of the Geneva Conventions 4, Article 147), and the military occupation of a third of residential areas (a violation of Article 2 of the CFA, which specifically bars the harassment of civilians and requires civilian areas such as residential homes, schools, places of worship and public buildings returned to the people). With residential areas thus occupied, more than 300,000 people have been left to suffer in IDP (Internally Displaced Persons) camps. The majority of these camps are in deplorable condition due to lack of food, water, sanitation, medical care, schooling, and adequate shelter. Some of the IDPs are housed in schools, making the schools for those local communities unusable.

In early 2006, talks were held in Geneva concerning the full implementation of the Cease Fire Agreement of 2001. At the talks, the government of Sri Lanka promised to implement the CFA and disarm its paramilitary groups. Instead, the Sri Lankan military and the paramilitaries intensified hostilities and stepped up military operations.

Consider, too, that state-sponsored military operations have involved the criminal practice of engaging child soldiers. In February, former Canadian ambassador to the United Nations Allan Rock, who traveled to Sri Lanka in November on behalf of the UN's special representative on child soldiers, reported that the Sri Lankan government has participated in abducting children and forcing them to fight on the front lines. A 100-page report by Human Rights Watch backing Rock’s report is available in the public domain.

In what is perhaps the government’s most horrific display of crimes against humanity, the government of Sri Lanka closed the A-9 highway, the only land route linking the Northern Jaffna peninsula with the rest of the island. For over six months approximately 600,000 Tamil civilians have been trapped in this region, where they continue to be denied food, medicine and humanitarian aid. The closure of the A-9 and the government’s adamant refusal to reopen it is a standing breach of Clause 2.10 of the CFA. The deliberate withholding of food and medicine from the civilian population is also a grave breach of article 147 and also violates articles 55 and 59-63 of Geneva Convention IV.

When it comes to allocating aid, please take into account that, according to U. N. statistics, Tamil regions have received 20 percent less Tsunami aid than other areas, despite having suffered 65 percent of the tsunami destruction. And as little as 29 percent of the required permanent houses have been completed in the war-torn Tamil regions, compared to 98 percent in the south. It is vitally important for donors to ensure equitable distribution of aid.

We are encouraged by Britain’s recently stated position that it will withhold millions of pounds in aid to Sri Lanka if the island’s government fails to provide assurances that it is fulfilling agreed upon human rights and defense spending conditions. A spokeswoman for Britain's Department for International Development said that if assurances are not provided, the next installment of funds will not be paid. We emphasize the importance of insisting that assurances materialize as more than just words. We hope that Britain will make good on these ultimatums and we encourage all donors to Sri Lanka to assume a similar position.

Please do not delay in taking a stand against the crimes against humanity that are the defining feature of the current government of Sri Lanka. Insist that funding will be contingent upon civilized, legal, humane behavior. Time is running out.

Ben Needham from the UK was abducted whilst with his family on the Island of Kos, in Greece in 1991, aged just 21 Months. Much evidence and leads arose but were never properly investigated. To date, Ben has not been found.

Please visit our Facebook Page at http://www.facebook.com/helpfindben and our official website at http://www.helpfindben.co.uk.

Petition to the Honorable Secretary of State Madam Hillary Rodham Clinton

Seventy [70] million people live in the Mekong watershed. The Mekong River and the Tonle Sap Flood Lake of Cambodia are home to some 400 species of fish. For centuries, millions of Cambodians among those living in the lower Mekong region rely on the rich natural resources this river has provided for their livelihood. Thus, the life cycle of these indigenous people is invariably linked with the life cycle of the Mekong River which is invariably linked with the life cycle of the fisheries.

Dams on the Mekong River have threatened to cause extinction to the fish species because they prevent fish from being able to migrate upstream to the headwaters area to spawn. These dams also constrict the natural flow of the river which further affects rice production and agricultural activities in the Mekong Delta. China has plans for building a total of eight dams in the upstream area of the Mekong River. It continues to pursue dam building and controlling the flow of water to downstream countries including Cambodia without any regards for the livelihood of millions of people. China has persistently ignored the hardship it has inflicted on human lives despite the calls to modify its dam construction by multiple ASEAN countries.

Links for evidences that back up our claims:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8603112.stm

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn4819-chinese-dams-blamed-for-mekongs-bizarre-flow.html

http://www.america.gov/st/develop-nglish/2010/July/20100722134433dmslahrellek0.2057459.html

China refuses to join the Mekong River Commission as a member and refuses to provide transparency of information on the impacts that the existing and future dams have on the reversal of the flow in Tonle Sap Lake, which is vital to the fish resources (a major source of protein for the Cambodians).

The United States Lower Mekong Initiative was established and inaugurated by Secretary Hillary Clinton in 2008. This Initiative has attempted to bring focuses on a balance of power in this Southeast Asian region. However, China has completely ignored the Commission’s efforts. Its attitude is indicative of its superiority and its display of regional power that it is capable of strangling other nations’ economy and stability. The world community should not tolerate such a behavior and China should be dealt with accordingly.

It is not a peace plan. It is a plan for four more years of combat by US and NATO forces.

It is not a plan for US or Western troop withdrawals but for further occupation. It is a proposal to gradually lessen Western casualties and lessen Western visibility while transitioning to Western-financed, Western-armed, and Western-advised Afghan army combat in a civil conflict. It is a plan for long-term Western military bases.

It is not a plan to stop al Qaeda or terrorists from attacking Western targets. There are virtually no al Qaeda left in Afghanistan. The most recent terrorist attacks on America have been inspired by our deepening wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan. In seeking to save our military reputation, we all but assure future threats against Western targets. CIA officials even describe Yemen’s al Qaeda cell as more dangerous than al Qaeda in Pakistan. [NYT, Oct. 18, 2010]

It pre-empts the Administration’s own proposal for a full “review” of Afghan policy in December. The timing instead is aimed at shoring up a faltering Western alliance.

The central proposal--to increase the scale of the Afghan army and police in order to prop up a corrupt Kabul regime--will never work without a parallel cease-fire, deep institutional reform, enforceable human rights, and peace-keeping arrangements with leadership by neutral countries.

The current expenditure of over $100 billion American dollars per year for Afghanistan could be spent on medical care for 15 million veterans, or 15 million college scholarships, or 1.8 million new teachers, or 72 million installations of renewable energy for American homes.

These fans come from Turkey, Syria, Iran, Palestine, Lebanon, Morocco, Dubai, Yemen and Israel.

Orphaned Land has been able to achieve this through their music (which fuses traditional Middle Eastern sounds and instruments with Western Heavy metal), vision of coexistence, collaborations with Arab and Muslim artists, and a vigorous and active community of fans.

While not overtly political, Orphaned Land are nevertheless proud of creating a reality of coexistence that has escaped politicians and peacemakers alike. They often speak of the power of music to turn purported enemies into friends; frequently pay homage and encourage collaborations with Arab and Muslim artists; and have made their latest album free to download for anyone in a number of Middle Eastern and North African countries.

Their endeavors to transform the region’s conflicts have not gone unnoticed.

• Reciprocating the band’s courageous efforts to cross religious and national boundaries, Divan, an Iranian rock magazine, featured Orphaned Land on their cover in an eight-page spread.
• The band was awarded a peace prize by Istanbul Commerce University for their contribution to the friendship between Muslims and Jews in the Middle East.
• In February 2012, in a five-city tour of Turkey (in which proceeds from the Istanbul concert went to the victims of the Van earthquake), Orphaned Land was given The Friendship and Peace Award from Dr. Huseyin Tugcu, official advisor to Prime Minster Erdogan.
• Orphaned Land was bestowed another Peace and Friendship award by Bulent Tanik, Mayor of Cankaya (the main district of the capital Ankara).

Again, it should be emphasized that this all happening during a period in which relations between Israel and the Muslim world are at an all-time low. Orphaned Land has produced a social force that pushes against the direction of conflict, while at the same time creating space for the type of peaceful relations that are still possible within the region.

To nominate them for 2019 Nobel Peace Prize is therefore to make a bold statement: violent conflict is not the destiny of the region.

Please sign this petition if you agree that Norwegian Nobel Committee needs to seriously consider Orphaned Land as a nominee to the 2019 Nobel Peace prize.

Quốc Vụ Viện Trung Quốc vừa phê chuẩn việc thành lập thành phố hành chính cấp huyện Tam Sa thuộc tỉnh Hải Nam để trực tiếp quản lý ba quần đảo: Hoàng Sa, Trung Sa và Trường Sa (Trung Quốc gọi là Tây Sa, Trung Sa và Nam Sa).

Việt Nam có đầy đủ bằng chứng lịch sử và cơ sở pháp lý để khẳng định chủ quyền của Việt Nam đối với hai quần đảo Hoàng Sa và Trường Sa.

Hành động của nhà cầm quyền Trung Quốc đã vi phạm chủ quyền lãnh thổ của Việt Nam!