The Guardian 24 August, 2005
Global briefs
SINGAPORE: The Presidential elections were cancelled last week after the current President Sellapan Ramanathan, was declared re-elected unopposed by the Presidential Elections Committee. The Committee declared that of the five nominations for President only Ramanathan met the dozens of stringent and subjective guidelines to stand as a candidate. Unsurprisingly, Ramanathan — who was declared elected under identical circumstances in 1999 — is the candidate supported by the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP). Singapore, which promotes itself as a "multi-party democracy", is ruled with an iron fist since by the PAP, which holds 82 of the 84 seats in the parliament. The Government stifles opposition by gerrymandering, banning demonstrations and political literature, arresting and jailing opposition activists on trumped-up charges or bankrupting them with spurious defamation suits.
CHINA: "The Daxing Mine disaster of on August 7 that left at least 123 workers trapped underground demonstrates that we have not learned our lesson despite the string of deadly mining accidents over the last few years", said a column reprinted last week in People’s Daily Online, published by the Communist Party of China. The column, originally in China Daily, said the mine was operating though the Guangdong provincial government had suspended all local mine production following a July 14 tragedy that killed 14 miners. Many local governments look to coal mines for significant revenue and tend to ignore safety concerns, the column said.
SOUTH AFRICA: The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) is investigating the plight of 30 workers evicted from an Eastern Cape farm where they had lived for over 20 years. The workers’ homes were destroyed without warning by the farm’s new owner, a Canadian national, said Sakhele Poswa of the SAHRC. Since then, Poswa said, they have been living in makeshift zinc and wood structures under appalling conditions, having lost their livelihood as well as their homes. "We are preparing to fight for their restitution", Poswa said. "These people must be brought back to the farm and in terms of the law no one must be evicted without a court order." The South African government is moving to step up the redistribution of land to the landless and has been urged to consider restricting foreign ownership of land.
CHILE: General Augusto Pinochet’s wife and younger son have been arrested and charged as accomplices in a tax evasion case linked to an investigation into the former dictator’s multi-million-dollar fortune overseas. Luica Hiriart and Marco Antonio Pinochet were charged in connection with a probe into Pinochet’s overseas financial holdings. Their lawyer said he would appeal the charges. Pinochet has not only been stripped of his immunity in the financial case, but was also stripped last month of the immunity he had granted himself from prosecution over the murder and torture of thousands during his dictatorship, opening the way for legal action in those cases.