Maulani A Rotinsulu

It's ok to kill disabled people in NZ

2006-05-16T16:02:00.000+02:00

MEDIA RELEASE
13 May 2006
If you want to kill someone in cold blood and get off lightly, come to New Zealand, stab someone who is paralysed in the neck six times and say you're stressed.
Because, according to a Kiwi judge, it's ok to kill disabled people as long as you think you are doing them a favour. It's ok to put them out of their misery – just don't tell them you are killing them.
You'll get a minimum parole period of seven years and, if you are lucky enough to get Justice John Fogarty, you'll get praised that "you thought you were doing an act of mercy in a way that minimised any awareness that [your victim] was about to die and was being killed."
Better still, look after them for a while and do it when you're drunk and you've had a bad day. Justice Fogarty will diagnose you with "accumulated stress" and use his discretion to impose a lesser sentence.
Ask Eric Neil Smail, who must serve only seven years for killing former Paralympian Keith McCormick, instead of the minimum non-parole period of 10 years in a life sentence.
He'll tell you that you even though you tell people you're about to kill your "best mate", the evidence will show you had no intention to kill. It won't matter if your victim is successful and enjoying life - if you believe they're in pain and feel bad about it, just "take it on board" and kill them mercifully. You'll feel better.
At Diversityworks, we have a host of disabled people, just waiting to be killed. Call 0800 KILL-A-MATE and we'll do the rest for you. We'll give you a drink and listen to your worries. Then you'll have your choice of defenseless quadraplegics to stab to death. All you have to do is tell everyone else, but not them.
Sure, you'll do time, but you'll be out before you know it.
But wait, there's more. Sign up to save two people from their miserable lives and we'll give you a third, free. That's right - rid the world of three useless lives, and you'll have yours back in 21 years. You may even end up a hero.
0800 KILL-A-MATE. Doing disabled people - and the world - a favour.
Ends.
More info:
CONTACT:Philip PatstonPh 09 376 4837Mob 021 764 837philip@diversityworks.co.nz

Aceh rejects tsunami criticism

2006-05-12T16:20:00.000+02:00

The report complained of inadequate re-housingThe head of reconstruction in Indonesia's Aceh province has rejected a report which accused tsunami-hit countries of failing its victims.
The international aid agencies' report said many people, particularly women, had been inadequately housed after the December 2004 tsunami.
But Kunturo Mangkusubroto told the BBC he lived in Aceh and did not recognise the report's description.
He said Aceh did face difficulties but no-one had been forced from their land.
The report, by Action Aid and two other charities, was released at the UN headquarters in New York on Thursday. It accused governments of standing back as land was grabbed and communities pushed aside in favour of commercial interests.
The aid agencies said they found large numbers of people living in overcrowded temporary shelters or tents.
Women in Banda Aceh, Aceh's provincial capital, and the Maldives told the authors the poor living conditions left them open to sexual harassment and intimidation.
But Mr Mangkusubroto, head of the Aceh-Nias Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Programme, said that he had not witnessed any human rights violations in Aceh.
"There are a lot of difficulties still, but no discrimination either towards woman or landowner who refuses to leave their home where they lived before tsunami," he told the BBC's Indonesian Service.
Change under way
The report's authors visited 50,000 people in towns and villages in India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, the Maldives and Thailand.
Action Aid chief executive, Ramesh Singh, said that a major effort was now needed to correct the wrongs seen during last year's response to the tsunami.
But the BBC's correspondent in Jakarta, Rachel Harvey, says a lot of the criticisms in the report, in relation to Aceh, have already been factored in.
The operation in Aceh has not been perfect, but it would be naïve to imagine it would be, given the scale of the disaster, our correspondent says.

SOME LEFT PICTURES FROM ACEH.....

2006-05-08T18:30:00.000+02:00

(From the Tsunami affected area)

Unaccessible place for disability to worship....

Ships gone the land....

victims.............

Evacuation among the ruins.....

Human Rights and Disability Asia 2006

2006-05-03T22:54:00.000+02:00

During 2006 two Sida International Training Programmes on Human Rights and Disability will be organised by SHIA. The first one will target Asian participants from the following countries: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, East Timor, India, Indonesia, Laos, Nepal, The Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam. The course will be held at Almåsa conference centre between the 8th and 19th of May 2006. The closing date for applying is November 15th 2005.

The second course will target participants from the MENA region- Middle East and Northern Africa from the following countries: Algeria, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, West Bank and Gaza, Yemen. The course will be held at Almåsa conference centre between the 4th and 15th of September 2006. The closing date for applying is March 15th 2006.

The programme aims at enhancing knowledge, develop methods and tools, and to provide a foundation for future networking and co-operation and will include:

An overview of the existing Human Rights instruments and discussions on how these can be used to improve life conditions for persons with disabilities.
An opportunity to exchange experiences and opinions concerning the drafting of the new UN “Convention on Disability” and the future role of the UN Standard Rules and the proposed additions.
An analysis of Poverty Reduction Strategies and other multilateral programmes and how disability aspects can be included. Methods and skills needed to influence these processes. Discussions around poverty and human rights from a disability perspective.
Exchange of experience of how persons with disabilities and their organisations can increase their participation in the development of policies.
Introduction to Swedish disability policy, legislation and social services, including study visits to relevant Swedish authorities, institutions and organisations.

Issues such as gender, children and hiv/aids in relation with persons with disabilities will be included within all topics.

The programme is targeting participants from regional or national DPOs, government agencies and NGOs working in the area of Human Rights and disability. Persons with disabilities have been especially encouraged to apply.

The programme organiser is SHIA - the Swedish Organisations’ of Disabled Persons International Aid Association.