Global Peace Network: 'Unlawful' to Award Nobel Peace Prize to EU | Common Dreams

Global Peace Network: 'Unlawful' to Award Nobel Peace Prize to EU | Common Dreams
Common Dreams staff, November 5, 2012

In a letter Monday to the Nobel Foundation, the International Peace Bureau said awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to the European Union was "unlawful" since the EU is not a "champion of peace."



The IPB, a global network of 320 peace organizations, argues that all five Nobel prizes are awarded in accordance with the 1895 will of Alfred Nobel, which stated that the prize would be given to "the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses."

"The European Union ... clearly is not one of 'the champions of peace' Alfred Nobel had in mind and described in his will as 'the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses,'" the letter states. "The latest prize to EU may even be seen as directly contradicting the purpose to reach demilitarized international relations, the purpose Alfred Nobel had with his prize."

The award was announced on Oct. 12, lauding the EU "for over six decades contributed to the advancement of peace and reconciliation, democracy and human rights in Europe".
The IPB asked that the Nobel Foundation withhold the $1.19 million prize— a request that the committee  immediately rejected, Agence France-Press reports.

Geir Lundestad, secretary of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, told the AFP,  that the committee's objections have previously been presented "and won't impact the evolution of the prize."
The Centre for Research on Globalization, an independent research and media organization, today supported the IPB request, writing in a release, "The EU is not a peace project."

The CRG argued that "more than 25 million people across the EU are struck by mass employment," that countries such as Greece and Spain "are being battered with welfare cuts and misery to an extreme extent," and that the troika—the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the IMF—threatens the "most crisis-ridden member states" with funding cuts for schools, pensions, hospitals.

The Nobel Peace Prize is scheduled to be presented on Dec. 10 to European Parliament President Martin Schulz, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and EU President Herman Van Rompuy.

EU supports Asean approach to sea row | Philippine Daily Inquirer

EU supports Asean approach to sea row
Leila B. Salaverria, Philippine Daily Inquirer, November 6th, 2012

VIENTIANE, Laos—In meetings on Monday with President Benigno Aquino III, leaders of the European Union (EU), Switzerland and Norway declared support for an Asean approach to the territorial disputes in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea).

Secretary Herminio Coloma of the Presidential Communications Operations Office told reporters that the European leaders indicated their support for a peaceful resolution of the territorial conflicts based on international law, which is the same as the Philippine  position.

But any meeting with China, which is claiming nearly all of the West Philippine Sea, is not on Mr. Aquino’s schedule, Coloma said.

Aside from the Philippines and China, Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei also have claims to parts of the sea.

Mr. Aquino is also expected to mention the matter when he addresses the Asia-Europe summit and is likely to discuss the territorial dispute during bilateral talks with the leader of Japan on Tuesday, Coloma said. Japan also has simmering tensions with China due to conflicting claims to East China Sea islets.

“There was an agreement that it is a matter of international interest considering that a significant amount of world trade passes through that body of water. And in particular, Switzerland and the EU, and to some extent also Norway, indicated their firm support for the Philippines in terms of our position that conflicts or disputes in that area are to be resolved peacefully and follow international law,” Coloma said.

“And in particular, there is firm support for an Asean-centric approach, which has always been the position of President Aquino considering that four out of the 10-member states of Asean have specific stakes in the West Philippine Sea,” he added.

China has taken the position that territorial disputes should be settled bilaterally.

President Aquino had trilateral meetings with Herman Van Rompuy, the president of the European Council, and Jose Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission.
He also held bilateral talks with Norway Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg and Swiss Confederation President Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf.

Coloma said the EU officials told Mr. Aquino that concerns about the Philippine aviation industry were technical and not political.

Philippine carriers have been banned from the European Union following the poor assessment by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) of the country’s aviation safety measures.

“It was emphasized by the President of the European Commission… that these are technical issues—technical issues involving safety standards and these are not political issues. And we acknowledge that we are addressing the technical concerns and that we are moving positively in the direction of addressing and resolving all of those concerns,” Coloma said.

The Philippines was assured that it would get “every measure of support” in meeting international safety standards, he said.

“Definitely, the present restrictions on our Philippine carriers would not promote the idea of increased tourist traffic between Europe and the Philippines. And so we would like to see an early resolution of the concerns of the ICAO and similar bodies like the US Federal Aviation Administration,” Coloma said.

Originally posted: 9:02 pm | Monday, November 5th, 2012

EU says Chiranuch prison sentence could stifle free speech | Bangkok Post

EU says Chiranuch prison sentence could stifle free speech | Bangkok Post

The European Union has expressed "deep concern" over a suspended prison sentence handed down to the Prachatai webmaster for comments posted on her website by other people which were deemed to be insulting to the monarchy.

The EU said it was encouraged that Chiranuch Premchaiporn would not serve prison time for failing to speedily delete a post on her Prachatai news site, but said the guilty verdict would have "damaging effects".

An eight-month suspended jail sentence was handed down to Ms Chiranuch, 44, by a Bangkok court on Wednesday.

"The EU expresses its deep concern about the damaging effects of a guilty verdict, and the ensuing conviction, on freedom of expression in Thailand by criminalising intermediaries for content posted by other internet users on websites," the EU delegation in Bangkok said yesterday.

The case comes amid heated debate about a surge of prosecutions under laws criminalising criticism of the monarchy, commonly referred to as the lese majeste laws.

Web giant Google said the sentence set a legal precedent that would compromise companies hosting internet platforms, and pose a danger to web users.

The "guilty verdict for something somebody else wrote on her website is a serious threat to the future of the internet in Thailand", a Google spokesman said following the court's ruling.

Danny O'Brien, of the Committee to Protect Journalists, served as an expert witness during the trial. He said Ms Chiranuch's conviction shows internet bystanders can still be caught up in expensive and uncertain criminal prosecutions for postings on their site which they did not write, edit or support.

Critics say politically motivated charges under tough royal defamation laws are increasingly common.

The country has been rocked by periods of civil unrest instigated by rival factions since a 2006 coup by royalist generals ousted former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

Ms Chiranuch's time in court is not over. She faces a second trial under the kingdom's lese majeste laws that could result in a maximum sentence of 15 years on each charge.