Lindsay and Francesca, plus Sue at the edge

 

Dear little Al (6 ft 4") and his Mum.

 

I'm not sure whether having the large bottle in the foreground was meant to be artistic.

 

Sue, Lyulph and Alan.

 

Alex had just come back from a holiday in Texas, but had a bit of a sleep on the plane. He's getting on fine with his work at the MRC in Edinburgh, looking at DNA sequences that appear to predispose towards certain types of cancer - and he'll correct me, I hope, if that's not an accurate description of his project. We were delighted to see his girlfriend Francesca for the first time.

 

My birthday dinner. Lindsay produced a large quantity of vegetarian dishes. I sat between the two large grandsons, Alex and Alastair.

Reaction to PSG letter:

La República
Peru Support Group aclara relación con Villarán y rechaza vínculos
terroristas
Mar, 28/09/2010 - 16:38

En respuesta a los comentarios de la candidata Lourdes Flores, durante el debate municipal, el Peru Support Group (PSG) emitió un comunicado donde esclarece sus actividades y conexiones con Susana Villarán.

En un comunicado, el PSG aseguró ser un grupo de sociedad civil sin cualquier vínculo pasado o actual con Sendero Luminoso. En tal sentido, manifestó que ya rebatió exitosamente este tipo de acusación anteriormente.

En lo que respecta a s relación con la aspirante al sillón municipal, Susana Villarán, el comunicado aclara que invitaron a la candidata de Fuerza Social al Reino Unido para participar en su Conferencia Anual en diciembre de 2006 donde se habló de la democracia y los derechos civiles.

"Consideramos que Villarán era la persona calificada para tratar estos temas dada su experiencia como Ministra de Promoción de la Mujer y Desarrollo Social durante el gobierno interino del ex presidente Valentín Paniagua en 2000-2001 y como miembro de la Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos
de la de la Organización de los Estados Americanos (2002-2005)", estipula el comunicado.

Un poco de su historia El Peru Support Group (PSG) data que fue creado en 1983 como una
organización independiente y sin afiliación partidaria alguna con la finalidad de ayudar a los peruanos, particularmente a aquellos que pertenecen a los sectores más necesitados.

Entra los miembros del PSG están comprendidos académicos, políticos, estudiantes y miembros del público británico en general. Asimismo, sostienen que buscan fomentar un mayor conocimiento sobre el Perú
- con un énfasis sobre los derechos humanos y temas de desarrollo - entre el público británico y los que toman las decisiones.

Para ello se basan en la publicación de hojas informativas, e-boletines e informes cortos; además organizamos conferencias y reuniones; nos reunimos con políticos, funcionarios y diplomáticos británicos para asegurar que el tema de derechos humanos y otros temas claves de desarrollo permanezcan en
la agenda con el Perú.

Para más información sobre las actividades del grupo, se puede visitar la página www.perusupportgroup.org.uk
http://www.larepublica.pe/politica/28/09/2010/peru-support-group-aclara-rela
cion-con-susana-villaran-y-rechaza-vinculos-con-te


El Comercio
Peru Support Group respondió a Lourdes Flores por acusación contra Susana Villarán

Organismo inglés descartó cualquier relación con grupos terroristas y precisó que invitó a Villarán en 2006 para hablar sobre derechos civiles y democracia Martes 28 de septiembre de 2010 - 11:08 am 71 comentarios Imagen
(Fuente: perusupportgroup.org.uk)

Tras la acusación vertida anoche por Lourdes Flores Nano contra Susana Villarán, durante el debate en Villa El Salvador, el Peru Support Group rechazó "categóricamente" la sugerencia de que tenga vínculo con el terrorismo.

Lea aquí la carta del Peru Support Group.

A través de una carta abierta, el organismo inglés -"en respuesta a los c mentarios de la candidata a la alcaldía de Lima por el PPC-Unidad Nacional, Lourdes Flores Nano"- se definió como "un grupo de sociedad civil sin cualquier vínculo pasado o actual con Sendero Luminoso. El PSG ya rebatió exitosamente este tipo de acusación anteriormente".

Asimismo, precisó que invitó a Susana Villarán al Reino Unido en diciembre de 2006 para participar en la Conferencia Anual del grupo. La candidata a la Alcaldía de Lima habló de democracia y derechos civiles: "Consideramos que la sra. Villarán era la persona calificada para tratar estos temas dada su
experiencia como Ministra de la Mujer y Promoción del Desarrollo Social durante el gobierno interino del ex presidente Valentín Paniagua en 2000-2001 y como miembro de la Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos de la de la Organización de los Estados Americanos".

El Peru Support Group, además, informa que fue creado en 1983, sin afiliación partidaria, y que lo integran académicos, políticos, estudiantes y miembros del público británico en general: "Busca fomentar un mayor
conocimiento sobre el Perú -con un énfasis sobre los derechos humanos y temas de desarrollo- entre el público británico y los que toman las decisiones".

http://elcomercio.pe/noticia/646002/peru-support-group-respondio-lourdes-flo
res-acusacion-contra-susana-villaran

Email to a colleague, from a friend in Peru:

Maybe our mutual acquaintance Lord Eric Avebury may already be aware of it, but in any case it will be interesting for him to hear that in the final debate between the two candidates to be elceted this coming Sunday as Mayor of Lima (representing around six million voters) the Conservative candidate, Lourdes Flores (clerical right) accussed the greenish pink candidate Susana Villaran of having attended in London in 2003 a Conference of the Peru Support Group (defined by her before an audience of millions as a propaganda group for Sendero Luminoso).

So once again Eric's friends are being pillored for doing good in Peru!

Maybe he will care to issue some form of statement deniying that old rotten canard. I will hate to live in a city run by an homofobic, racist macarthyist woman who makes no secret to have modelled herself on old Maggie Thatcher.
-----------------------------------------------------------

My open letter, issued before I had this encouragement:

Dear Sirs,
The Peru Support Group rejects in the strongest possible terms the suggestion that it has at any time had a connection with any terrorist group.
In response to Lima Mayoral Candidate Lourdes Flores Nano’s comments in a debate on 27 September 2010 we would also like to clarify what the Peru Support Group does and our connections with Susana Villarán:
• The Peru Support Group (PSG) was established in 1983 as an independent membership organisation without any party or political affiliation. It aims to support the people of Peru, particularly those from the poorest sectors.
• Members of the PSG include academics, politicians, students and members of the general British public.
• The PSG seeks to raise awareness on human rights and development issues amongst the British public and British and European decision-makers. We do this by publishing newsletters, ebulletins and short reports; organising conferences and meetings; meeting with British politicians and diplomats to ensure that human rights specifically and other key development issues remain on the agenda with Peru.
• Information on our activities is available on-line for people to read: www.perusupportgroup.org.uk
• The PSG is a civil society group with no past or present connection to the Shining Path. This is an accusation that the PSG has dealt with and successfully refuted in the past.
• The PSG invited Susana Villarán to participate in our Annual Conference in December 2006 where she spoke about democracy and civil rights. We felt that she was well qualified to do so given her background as a Minister of Women's Promotion and Social Development during former president Valentín Paniagua’s interim government in 2000-2001 and as a member of the Organisation of American States’ Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (2002-2005).
Sra. Villarán was in London from 1 December to 6 December 2006.

Lord Avebury
President of the Peru Support Group
Unit F5, 89-93 Fonthill Road
London N4 3JH
Tel: 020 7263 1016
info@perusupportgroup.org.uk
www.perusupportgroup.org.uk

War crimes again

Lord Avebury- A Policy of Appeasement?

Published: 23 September 2010 - Written by Chris Blackburn in section: Controversy, Lobbying, News, Policy, Politics
A Policy of Appeasement?

I was recently having a discussion with a friend about the International Crimes Tribunal in Bangladesh. He couldn’t understand why liberals and multiculturalists were being critical about the trial’s developments. This criticism is part of a growing trend for supporters of the tribunal. I wouldn’t like it to become a split. People have become fixated on the lack of support and naïve pandering to Islamists by western politicians.

Islamists based in the Europe and the US, who have strong Jamaat affiliations, have been lobbying to try to derail the war crimes trial by trying picking out the trials faults and non-conformity with international standards for trying crimes against humanity. It is just little things, but it will not stop the tribunal. United Nations teams have pointed out recommendations, but Bangladesh’s procedures are generally in line with international standards.

Naivety, not malice, has allowed British politicians to be used by Islamists to pour scorn on the tribunal. This is true. However, I would like to defend, well perhaps that is strong word, I would like to try and clear up a few issues.

Lord Avebury’s name always comes up in these discussions, ‘Why did Avebury meet with Jamaat lobbyists in parliament?,’ and ‘Why is he helping them?’. I would like to defend Lord Avebury. He has been one of the most influential and vocal supporters of democracy and human rights in Bangladesh from within the British parliament.

Avebury has been calling for the trials for decades. He’s helped raise the issue of war crimes way before radical Islamism became a fashionable topic. He has helped to raise Bangladesh’s profile in European and American circles. His objectivity and lack of party affiliation sometimes irritates those who would like to feel they’ve got him in their corner. But, he won’t pick sides. He supports justice and accountability even if it makes people think that he lacks loyalty, but he will never close rank. It’s a liberal flaw. We don’t do tribalism.

Avebury has supported the need for the trials and ending the culture of impunity in Bangladesh. He wants human rights abusers and murderers tried for their crimes. However, he does not support the death penalty. This is a major issue for him and I suspect is the main driving force behind his reluctance to be triumphant about finally succeeding in getting justice for the horrific crimes which were committed during 1971. Lord Avebury is a Buddhist, he takes his religious duties seriously. Pacifism is a central tenet of his beliefs. I would also suspect that as a Liberal he is also reluctant to put his support behind any trial were the guilty are likely to punished with the electric chair, a firing squad or the hangman’s noose.

I’ve also had first hand experience of Lord Avebury’s lack of due diligence. However, he’s one of the most trustworthy and objective people I know, but he does not have the nose for sniffing out when he’s being used. He sees good in everyone- friend to all, malice to none. It’s his major character flaw or perhaps it’s his strength. However, if we are to shun Lord Avebury for making a mistake of raising legitimate concerns we are going to ostracise one of the most prominent supporters of justice for 1971. His long commitment to democracy, human rights and justice in Bangladesh is without question. The death penalty has become a thorny issue for international supporters, but with Avebury we are with a friend. He’s critical, he’s a liberal- it’s part of his makeup.

 

Drop-outs from education - the appalling picture for Gypsy and Traveller children

Monday

Saturday, spoke at the AGM of the Advisory Council for the Education of Romanies and Travellers (ACERT), of which I have been President for some years. The Government's policy is to abandon special measures to bring the GRT community up to the level of the national average, and in particular to allow local authorities to run down the Traveller Education Service. We do have a meeting scheduled with the Minister, Nick Gibb MP, and it will be interesting to see how he reconciles the gross educational under-achievement of Traveller children with the Coalition Programme in which we promised additional resources for disadvantaged children.

Newsnight on Bahrain's attack on democrat activists

www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4Sc4wS2tgg

Newsnight's report on the brutal crackdown by Bahrain's hereditary dictators against pro-democeay activists including British citizen Jaafar al-Hasabi

Right to adequate housing

The UN Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing - one of the 'Special Procedures' of the human Rights Council - has written a 'letter of allegation' about the threat of eviction against Gypsies on the Dale Farm site. A draft response was prepared by officials for approval by the Minister Andrew Stunell MP, and I wrote to Andrew making some comments on the draft. His Private Secretary told me that he looked at my note but didn't make any amendments to the draft. I therefore sent my comments direct to the Special Rapporteur, who has acknowledged them.

Medical

Letter from Mr R to the GP dated September 16:

I saw Lord Avebury today in my clinic. Since you have started his Furosemide, his symptoms of dyspnoea have marginally improved. The chest X-ray performed last week showed that his has got bilateral mild pleural effusion. However, his haemoglobin came back as 9.2, which is an improvement from the 8.5 previously. His CRP and his white cell count are normal, which does exclude any deep-seated infection. He is generally still feeling a bit weak and his blood pressure is
still unstable.

I will be writing to my colleague, Phil MacCarthy, Consultant Cardiologist, asking if he would be kind enough to see Lord Avebury for a cardiology opinion to see how we can improve his cardiac status, which I hope will give him a bit more energy during this recovery phase. I am planning to see him again in my clinic in four weeks' time and I will keep you informed of his progress.

I do feel tired, and I get claudication in my left leg walking at a normal pace. Angioplasty would probably help.

Kina

Had a conversation with Kina this evening. She has to have some repairs to her pacemaker and is in Barts waiting for the surgeons to find a gap in their schedule. This is for a 90-minute procedure under a local anaesthetic which is uncomfortable but not painful. She was in good spirits and has enough to read.

Kuwaiti Bidoon

At 12.00 today, Nasser al-Anezy, Chair of the Kuwait Community Association and I met Alistair Burt MP and FCO officials to discuss the plight of the Kuwaiti Bidoon. The Minister agreed that we would sound out the European Union to see what might be done at that level to ratchet up the pressure on Kuwait to end statelessness. There are 100,000 stateless Bidoon according to official statistics, but the real total is probably higher.

There is a new Human Rights Watch report coming out by the end of the year, which ought to help focus some public attention on the problem and hence, greater interest from governments.

This evening I gave a pre-arranged radio interview to Sabbir Rahman Khan, a Bangladeshi journalist of daily Kaler Kantho (www.kalerkantho.com), presently living in Sweden and working as the paper's Scandinavian correspondent.

 

On behalf of the Buddhist Prison Chaplains, I was asked to make a presentation to Bhante - the Ven Khemadhammo Mahathera OBE, on the occasion of the 25th Anniversary. This was to honour the great work Bhante had achieved over a quarter of a century, in bringing the teachings of the Buddha to an ever-increasing prison population, in which the number of Buddhists was increasing even faster. The gift they had chosen was an 8-foot tall Ginkgo Tree, to be planted in the grounds of the Forest Hermitage, where it was to be deivered today. This tree was closely associated with Buddhist monasteries first in China from about 1100 AD, and then Japan about 100 years later. In the autumn the Ginkgo Tree sheds its leaves, making a beautiful golden carpet. It was related that the Buddha used a handful of Ginkgo leaves in talking to his followers, telling them that what he had taught them so far, compared with the whole of the Dhamma, was like the number of leaves in his hand compared with with all the leaves on Ginkgo treas throughout the world.

Lindsay drove, and we got back home in just under two hours, after dropping Prins Gunasekara at Marble Arch to get a Central Line train.

 

Before the circumambulation. Led by the monks, everybody - governors, prisoners, and visitors - processes round the Buddha Grove. First circuit, we think of the Buddha; second, its the Dhamme - the doctrine taught by the Buddha and handed fown to us 2,500 years later, and third, its the Sangha, the monks who teach the Dhamma.

 

Some of the monks, at the Springhill ceremony

 

Yessterday at the Buddha Grove, Springhill Prison, where we celebrated the 25th Anniversary of Angulimala, the Buddhist Prison Chaplaincy.

 

Lindsay cutting the tape with Councillor Florence Nosegbe, Lambeth's Cabinet member for Culture, Sport & the 2012 Olympics at the official opening of the children's building. Cllr Nosegbe and other speakers were very complimentary - and justifiably so - to Lindsay for her enormously succesful work over many years on the regeneration of the park and its amenities/

All these medical posts are getting a little boring, but yesterday I saw Mr R the vascular consultant who operated on my aorta, and he said the chest x-ray showed some fluid on both lungs. The medication I'm already taking should deal with that problem, but he's referring me the cardiologist. Haemoglobin is slightly better than the previous reading, at 9.5, though still a good deal below the normal 12.5.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to the annual celebration of the first Buddha Grove at Springhill Prison on Sunday, and Lindsay and Prins are coming too.

JW is still having problems with accommodation and work in Barcelona. As a temporary expedient he's moved into a tiny apartment for which the landlord didn't require a guarantee. He had an interview for a teaching job, for which they turned him down because he was 'over-qualified'.

Following the consultation with Mr R last week, he has written to the GP:


I have seen Eric today in my clinic. He was seen recently by my senior registrar, Mr Tiwari, with ache in the legs, generalised weakness and shortness of breath. A duplex scan on Thursday showed that his EVAR graft is running well. However, he has got peripheral vascular disease with damped flow around the ankle. It was my concern that he was anaemic with a Hb of 8.5 when he was last checked, so I am repeating his full blood count urgently today, as well as getting a chest X-ray to make sure that he is not in heart failure, since he has got bilateral leg oedema as well.

He is known to have a small calcified lump in the lateral aspect of the left foot, which is booked for excision in the next couple of months. However, in view of the poor circulation in his foot, I think that this can run the risk of non-healing. Hence I will be discussing with the orthopaedic surgeons about the necessity for this operation.

I will be seeing him with the results in my clinic next week and I will keep you informed of his progress.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Tomorrow I'm seeing Mr R again and he will have the x-ray, ECG and the latest blood test.

No doubt all these vascular problems are the result of my smoking 20 cigarettes a day until I gave up on July 31, 1976. I have read somewhere that 20 years after giving up, the heart and lungs are back to normal, but I doubt if that is the case.

Self-harm caused by smoking, alcohol, drugs and bad eating is responsible for huge burdens on the NHS and thus on the taxpayer. In the current exercise to balance the books, here is an opportunity for double benefit. Taxing harmful products up to the hilt - including drugs - would generate billions of additional revenue, and at the same time reduce spending on health and crime.

Saturday

Discussion this morning with Prashanta J Barua, al-Nomaan of Theatre Against Terrorism, and Sujit, on the current situation in Bangladesh, and particularly the slow pace of implementing the Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord, to which the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is committed by her manifesto. They asked me when I was next likely to visit Bangladesh and the CHT as a co-chair of the Commission, and I had to say that until my present health problems are cleared up I wouldn't be going anywhere.

Sheikh Hasina intends to carry out the Peace Accord in full during this Parliament, but the key to the solution is the restoration of collective land rights, a task which has yet to start. Over a period of years, individual titles were given to settlers, and the original collective occupiers seldom had any documentation to prove their ownership. But so far as I know, the Land Commission has yet to determine a single case of disputed ownership.

Saw Dr W, the GP, this morning. He listened to my chest and said he heard some crackling, but without elaborating. He wrote an order for an ECG, and prescribed a diuretic to deal with a swollen left ankle He thought the beta blocker might be responsible for the slow heart rate (~50). But whatever is causing my loss of breath, the pain in the right chest and general fatigue, its unlikely to be anything to do with the medication. We aren't going to find out what the x-ray showed, if anything, until the consultation with Mr R on Thursday. There isn't anything vital in the diary next week, apart from the celebration next Sunday of the anniversary of the Springhill Buddha Grove, the first of its kind in the English prison system.

This morning I saw Mr R, who noted that my haemoglobin was 8.5. He sent me for a blood test and a chest x-ray, and will see me again next Thursday. The good news was that the scan I had on Tuesday showed that the EVAR was fine.

Victoria came over at lunchtime to help me with paperwork, and the office is in reasonably good order.

Lindsay has given notice of her resignation as chair of the Myatt's Fields Project Group. With the Children's Building about to open, the plans they have been developing over the years have been completed, and from now onwards the nature of the task will change to sustaining the excellent facilities that are now in place.

Bahrain press conference 11.00 Tuesday September 7, 10.30 at Abbey Gardens
Introductory remarks by Eric Avebury

We’re holding this press conference to highlight the sharp deterioration in human rights that has occurred in recent weeks in Bahrain, and particularly the torture being inflicted on detainees when they are held incommunicado for 15 days before they are allowed to see a lawyer. Some have then managed to speak about their treatment and it appears that most of the estimated 200 detainees are being subjected to torture and inhuman and degrading treatment.

Dr Abduljalil al-Singace, head of human rights for the opposition Haq movement, was arrested on August 15 as he got off the plane from London, where he had been speaking at a meeting chaired by my colleague Baroness Falkner. When he finally got to say what had been happening to him 12 days later, he told the attorney-general that he had been held in solitary confinement; he had been handcuffed and blindfolded for the whole time; extensively beaten on his fingers and slapped everywhere; refused access to the shower and the toilet, and deprived of sleep. His nipples and ears were pulled and twisted with tongs.

Dr al-Singace is disabled, having suffered from polio. Officials took his crutches and wheelchair away at the moment of his arrest, and he was forced to crawl whenever he left his cell for any reason. He was forced to stand for long periods of time, and was compelled to sign documents without being given a chance to read them.

A day later, August 28, according to Human Rights Watch, three other well-known human rights activists, Abd-al Ghani al-Khanjar, Sheikh Said al-Nuri and Sheikh Muhammad Habib al-Moqdad related similar experiences, adding that they had been hung from their handcuffed wrists while being beaten, and witnesses confirmed that there were marks on their hands and feet that were consistent with their evidence. Abd-al Ghani al-Khanjar is spokesperson for the National Committee for Martyrs and Victims of Torture, and another regular and welcome contributor to the human rights seminars on Bahrain we hold in the House of Lords, including the one chaired by Baroness Falkner on August 5. It begins to look as though anybody who criticises the al-Khalifa regime or their human rights record at our seminars is treated automatically as attempting to overthrow the government, a charge now made against Mr al-Singace.

At the same time, huge advertisements have been appearing all over the capital saying that the detainees are guilty, obviously funded by the regime, in breach of Article 14 of the ICCPR, which provides that

“Everyone charged with a criminal offence shall have the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law”

The state-controlled media, including the radio and TV, are also campaigning to persuade the public that the detainees are guilty. The Minister of Justice, a member of the ruling family needless to say, is pressing leading political, religious and social figures including the heads of political societies, to come out with statements supporting the arrests. And of course, there is no way the opposition can express itself but on the streets. There are nightly demonstrations but as the Financial Times reported last Wednesday, anybody who takes part runs a high risk of a beating or disappearance.

The Bahrain Center for Human Rights calls on international human rights organisations to demand that systematic torture be ended and the National Security Apparatus be dissolved. Detainees should be allowed family visits, and private meeting with their lawyers. Human rights activists, who are only doing their job, should be released unconditionally. The Anti-Terrorist Law, which allows the arbitrary arrest and detention and unfair trials of peaceful political activists must be repealed. I would add to the BCHR list, that the UN Rapporteur on Torture should be invited to nominate an independent physician who would be allowed access to the detainees, to report on their allegations of torture, and if they are found to have substance, that there should be a further inquiry by an independent lawyer, to ascertain who was responsible.
None of the reforms that are necessary will happen unless Bahrain’s allies join the international human rights NGOs in expressing their concerns. The UK in particular has a role to play, because one of the torture victims, Jaffar al-Hasabi, is a British national. Like the four main activists, he was hung from his wrists, beaten all over, and deprived of sleep. We haven’t forgotten that under the previous Ruler, the torture machine was under the command of a Brit, Ian Henderson, who was never punished for his crimes against humanity. If he had ever been brought to trial, he might have been able to show that he was acting under orders from higher up, and the best way to demonstrate that what is happening in the torture chambers today is not authorised from the top would be to charge the torturers and release the victims. That is what the Foreign Secretary should be demanding in the case of our own citizen.

"As the Roman, in days of old, held himself free from indignity, when he could say, Civis Romanus sum, so also a British subject, in whatever land he may be, shall feel confident that the watchful eye and the strong arm of England will protect him from injustice and wrong."

----------------------------------------------------------------

YouTube report of the meeting: www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dlxmpacCts

 

Maryam al-Khawaja, Bahrain Centre for Human Rights

 

Pete Weatherby of the Bar Human Rights Committee, who visited Bahrain in July

 

Hassan Mushaima, Leader of the Haq movement, speaks

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

High Elms picnic September 5

 

Ready to leave

 

Breakfast, last day