The UN Special Rapporteur on torture, Juan E. M?ndez, called for ?sustained effort and commitment from the highest levels of authority and a clear pledge of ?zero tolerance? for torture in Tajikistan.

?If there is no recognition that there is a problem with mistreatment, whether systematic or not, mistreatment is not likely to go away,? Mr. M?ndez said in a news release at the end of his nine-day mission to Tajikistan, his first to the country. ?On the contrary, it is likely to increase as soon as attention shifts to other matters.?

In his preliminary findings, the human rights expert noted that ?pressure on detainees, mostly as a means to extract confessions is practiced in Tajikistan in various forms, including threats, beatings and sometimes by applying electric shock.?

He said an awareness-raising campaign on torture, initiated by the Tajik authorities, is a step in the right direction, but noted that it was difficult at this stage to assess the impact of the effort on citizens.

Mr. M?ndez also voiced concern over the relatively light penalty of a five-year jail term for a first offender convicted of committing the crime of torture. Such a penalty did not appear to be line with the obligation to treat torture as a serious crime, he said, adding that, ?A relatively low penalty does not offer a strong disincentive to commit torture.?

He underscored that ?confessions extracted by violence remain the main investigatory tool of law enforcement and prosecutorial bodies,? although the Code of Criminal Procedure in Tajikistan has incorporated a rule that is line with the Convention against Torture, which states that confessions obtained through torture are not admissible in criminal proceeding against a defendant.

?I am unable to say whether the practice is less prevalent or systematic in recent times. I am, however, persuaded that it happens often enough and in a wide variety of settings that it will take a very concerted effort to abolish it or to reduce it sharply,? he added.

Working in an unpaid capacity, independent experts, or special rapporteurs, are appointed by the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council to examine and report back on a country situation or a specific human rights theme.

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President Joyce Banda of Malawi (2nd Africa female Head of State)

“I have decided to appoint a Commission of Inquiry to enquire into the death of our former president, late Ngwazi Prof. Bingu wa Mutharika,” she told Parliament in the capital, Lilongwe, on Friday, during her maiden ‘State of the Nation’ address.

“Among other issues, the commission shall enquire into the date of death, the cause of death, medical attention available to our late president at the time of his death and the role and activities of various individuals during and in managing the transition.”

Mutharika, 78, died suddenly on April 5 after suffering a cardiac arrest.

He was rushed to Kamuzu Central Hospital in the capital after collapsing in his office during a meeting with Lilongwe legislator Agnes Penemulungu.

Cardiologists failed to resuscitate him after three attempts.

Reports say his transfer from office to hospital was chaotic, with nobody alerting the public hospital that a VIP patient was being brought in.

The hospital also reportedly lacked the required drugs to aid the resuscitation efforts.

“I shall inform this nation the outcome of the inquiry and, depending on the findings, appropriate action will be taken,” she said.

Despite news spreading that the economist-turned-politician had died that fateful Thursday, government procrastinated with senior government officials insisting Mutharika was simply sick and was flown in the night to a military hospital in South Africa “for further treatment”.

Meanwhile, nocturnal meetings by the politburo of the then ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) were taking place in an attempt to install the late President’s brother, Prof. Peter Mutharika, as acting president despite the Constitution clearly stating that in the event of the President’s incapacitation or death, the Vice President automatically steps in.

A midnight press conference by six ministers – dubbed the ‘Midnight Six’, led by then Information Minister Patricia Kaliati – declared: “Vice President Joyce Banda cannot take over because she is no longer in the ruling party.”

Banda was expelled from the DPP after she refused to endorse the younger Mutharika to succeed his brother after his scheduled retirement in 2014.

President Banda told parliament: “By public demand, Mr. Speaker, Sir, I have decided to immediately set up a Commission of Inquiry to investigate circumstances, intent and extent of the said alleged coup and put the matter to rest as a nation.”

Banda also said she would simply be “finishing the second half” of her predecessor’s last term.

Mutharika had run-ins with almost all major Western bi-lateral donor nations and multi-lateral donor agencies, with most of them either suspending vital aid to the poor southern African country or completely cancelling it.

His diplomatic spat with the West reached a crescendo when he expelled British envoy Fergus Cochraine-Dyet, whose diplomatic cable to Foreign Secretary William Hague described Mutharika as “increasingly becoming autocratic and intolerant of criticism” leaked to the media.

Banda said her administration was working on mending fences with the donors, with Britain already announcing restoration of normal diplomatic ties.

Africa’s second female leader – and southern Africa’s first – also announced that her government would repeal all oppressive legislation, including homophobic laws that put Lilongwe on collision course with various Western capitals.

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Source: NigeriaTrends

President Jacob Zuma of South Africa

The ruling African National Congress (ANC) on Thursday vowed to go to court to get the painting removed from a Johannesburg art gallery.

“The ANC is extremely disturbed and outraged by the distasteful and indecent manner in which Brett Murray and the Goodman Gallery in Johannesburg are displaying the person of comrade President Jacob Zuma,” said ANC spokesperson Jackson Mthembu.

He said ANC lawyers had been instructed “to approach our courts to compel the gallery to remove the portrait from display and destroy all printed promotional material’’.

The 1.85m-high acrylic on canvas painting, entitled ‘The Spear’ is part of Murray’s Hail to the Thief II exhibition at the gallery.

City Press newspaper has refused to remove a photograph of the painting from its website despite a threat of court action by the ANC.

“We will respond to court papers when served. The courts will make a decision and we’ll abide by the court ruling,” said City Press executive editor Fikile-Ntsikelelo Moya.

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Source: NigeriaTrends

Getting attention from any esteemed Hollywood magazine or newspaper from overseas is non-existing…It hardly happens since those within the Hollywood industry are always in fearless competing themselves for those huge publicity.

Despite the difficulty or non-existence of any oversea talent to grab hot spots in Hollywood Magazines, Ghanaian star Actress Jackie Appiah has managed to find herself on the cover of the prestigeous  Hollywood Weekly Magazine alongside Nigerian Actors-Desmond Elliott, Monalisa Chinda and Joseph Benjamin.

Hollywood Magazine  is located on the iconic Sunset Gower Studios lot in Hollywood and you know what that mean, they have all the inside Hollywood connections and the  best industry stories.

The cover profile of Jackie Appiah and the others is already on Hollywood Weekly’s website and will be published on Apple’s iPad and iPhone over the weekend.

This is what I always say, you do not have to go chasing Hollywood because you will definitely get lost in there. All you have to do is do your best wherever you find yourself and Hollywood will come looking for you…

View the original article here

Below is the trailer for the upcoming movie ‘Deadly Affair’ Starring AMAAs Best Actor Majid Michel, Jackie Appiah, Kalsoume Sinare, Prince David Osei, Roselyn Ngissah Among Others!

Watch movie trailer

Read Also

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By the looks of it, RnB veteran Usher did was he does best to get the crowd going with his MJ tribute performance on the Today show in Manhattan. The 33-year-old performed some of his previous tracks namely OMG and new track ‘Without You’ from his seventh up coming album ‘Looking For Myself’. FLAWLESS performance as always.

Check it….

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

View the original article here

The brand new protégé from Mr NAWTi himself gets to spread his wings. Born, Nathan Bondo David, a native of Kaduna, The artist called Bondo Krazzy explodes onto the Nigerian music scene with his first smash hit single to rave reviews, featuring non other than Mr Olu Maintain -now populary known as Mr NAWTi.

The release of Bondo Krazzy ‘s new music is perfectly timed due to the tense ethnic clashes and tension in the country at the moment.

Bondo Krazzy can be seen as a Northern ambassador for peace to bridge some of the tension in ethnic relations currently being felt in the country.

With the strong support of Mr NAWTi  Bondo Krazzy the young and good looking  new musical ambassador for unity raps and sings in his indigenous dialect helping to sooth and entertain troubled Nigerian minds.

Below is a sneak peak of the upcoming new album from Bondo Krazzy.

Timba – BONDO KRAZZY ft Mr Olu Maintain

http://hu.lk/md7pvb31ybj8

The first single from the album is a dance track produced by a young talented producer called Dj Fame and then re worked by the magnificent hands of  producer of the monster hit song Yahoozee- Puffy Tee!!

(Are Puffy Tee and Mr Olu maintain back together?? Time will tell….)

Let them know- produced by Tayo Adeyemi (producer of the latest hit single NAWTi from Olu maintain)

http://hu.lk/28oienxlw29i

Say you love me- produced by Tayo Adeyemi

http://hu.lk/gkf2om02y85z

iworiwo (mix tape)

http://hu.lk/lo6g1j1athiw

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Voting has begun for the Viewer’s Choice Awards in the maiden edition of the Nollywood Movies Award (NMA). The Public has the power to choose their favourite male and female actor under the Viewer’s Choice category.

The nominees for Viewer’s Choice Male are: Jim Iyke, Ramsey Nouah, Desmond Elliot,Joseph Benjamin, Olu Jacobs, Mike Ezuronye, Nkem Owoh, Osita Iheme, Chinedu Ikedieze,Yul Edochie, Yemi Blaq, Saidi Balogun,Richard Mofe-Damijo, Odunlade Adekola, Chidi Mokeme, Pete Edochie, Chiwetalu Agu, Yinka Quadri, Kenneth Okonkwo, Clem Ohameze, Femi Adebayo, Taiwo Hassan, Jide Kosoko, and Adebayo Salami.

The Viewer’s Choice Female nominees include: Ini Edo, Nse Ikpe-Etim, Kate Henshaw, Mercy Aigbe, Monalisa Chinda, Ngozi Ezeonu, Funke Akindele, Omoni Oboli, Rita Dominic, Mercy Johnson, Patience Ozokwor, Genevieve Nnaji, Tonto Dikeh, Stella Damasus, Joke Silva, Chioma Chukwuka-Akpotha, Oge Okoye, Chika Ike, Uche Jumbo, Toyin Almalhu, Omotola Jalade-Ekehinde, Eniola Badmus, Iyabo Ojo, Doris Simeon, Bukky Wright, and Fathia Balogun.

To vote for your favouirte, visit: http://www.nollywoodmoviesawards.tv/nma-nominees/ Voting closes on 31st May 2012.

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So here I want to take a closer look at why parents deny or minimize abuse and why adult children of abuse are affected by this denial and minimization.

Denial And Minimization

These are known as defence mechanisms that the ego mind uses. And like any defence mechanism, these are used for protection and stability.  The ego minds main purpose is to be safe; it does not care if something is accurate or inaccurate or whether it is functional or dysfunctional.

So anything that the ego mind perceives as a threat to its own sense of safety and internal equilibrium will be dealt with via a defence mechanism.

The saying ‘The truth hurts’ comes to mind here and one of the reasons for this is that the ego mind does not run on what is true it only cares about what is familiar and therefore safe.

Awareness

However, although we all have an ego mind, we are not the mind itself; we are the observers of the mind. And it is the level of awareness that one has, that will define if it is possible to be aware of when these defence mechanism are being utilized.

And when one has minimal to no awareness; the ego mind becomes like a parasite. Here the ego mind can completely take over and what is actually going on will become very difficult for one to see and therefore to take responsibility for. It is then possible for the past to completely forgotten; at least consciously and a kind amnesia can occur.

Why Do These Exist?

In order for the abusive parents to use these defence mechanism, there must have been something that happened earlier in order for them to need them. Because through there use, they are protecting themselves from something.

Self Regulation

I have come to believe that the reason abuse is carried out in the first place is to regulate what was going on internally for the abusive parent. For example; the parents felt angry, frustrated, hopeless or powerless and as a way to deal with those painful feelings, the parent behaves in a certain way toward the child as a means to regulating this inner conflict.

And so for the abusive parent to admit to what happened they would have to get back in touch with the feelings, thoughts, sensations and emotions that occurred in the first place. This is likely to be an extremely painful experience and therefore the defence mechanisms hold the experience at bay.

Is There More To it?

It would be easy to say that this is all there is to it. However, where did the anger, frustration, hopelessness or powerlessness for example, begin in the first place? And the reason I say this is because abuse is typically something that is a regular occurrence and is not something that might happen once in a while.

Were all human and can all experience the above emotions from time to time, but parents that are abusive, experience this on a regular basis. And in order to carry out this abusive behaviour, these emotions are clearly occur without the awareness to change them.

From One Generation To The Other

The abusive behaviour of adults usually starts in their childhood and abusive parents are no different in this respect. The Internal processes that the abusive parents are trying to regulate through their children, in the form of abuse; is a consequence of how they were made to feel by their parents.

And as a result of not becoming aware of this trauma and processing what happened all those years ago, there will naturally be a lot of defence mechanisms in place for their own protection. These are likely to be defence mechanisms that were first formed while they were being abused and had to be implemented for their own survival.

The Truth Hurts

So not only would the abusive parents have to re-experience the feelings that they felt during the abuse of the child; they would also have to experience the original unprocessed trauma that happened to them as a vulnerable and innocent child.

Whether these feelings could be classed as being different is debatable, as they are coming from the same place. They may have grown physically since those times, but emotionally and mentally there may not be much of a difference.

And as I have mentioned above about amnesia occurring; at first these defences would have been experienced in a certain way and over the years they would have just got stronger and stronger; until they took over completely. So here one forgets that they have forgotten and then it doesn’t matter what is going on externally or what evidence is available. The ego mind only sees what it wants to see and will filter out anything that opposes its views.

So Why Does It Matter?

When the child has grown into an adult and no longer needs their abusive parents to survive it would seem strange that there would still be any tension or that they would still be affected.  Logically this may make no sense whatsoever.

And the reason for this is that although one may have grown physically; their emotional development will have been inhibited through what happened. On one side there is the abuse which will cause problems for the child when it grows up and on the other side there is the invalidation of what happened.

Within ones subconscious mind and in the cells of their body these memories have become trapped and will continue to recreate the same feelings, thoughts, emotions and sensation until hey have been looked at and processed. The reason for this is due to the repression that happened and nothing ever changes by repressing it; it only becomes stronger and more dysfunctional.

Inner Child

The inner child resides in the stomach area and when these past memories have not been looked at, one is at the risk of regressing to this inner child. And with a history of abuse that has not been looked at; it is unlikely that this inner child going to be in a good way.

Here the inner child will be attached to the abusive parents out of the need to survive. And will then need the approval, acceptance, validation and attention of the abusive parents to survive. So the very things that the inner child needs from the abusive parents is something that was never given by them in the beginning and will never be given from them in the end

Awareness

What this shows is the importance of awareness in ending the cycle of abuse. It is clear that gaining validation and acknowledgment from abusive parents is more or less impossible.

And although the inner child needs this from the parents, it is not something that one truly needs. The inner child can be validated and acknowledged through the help of a therapist, trusted friend, support group or healer for example.

This is because one is the observer of all these aspects and is therefore not limited or trapped by them. To fight and resist what happened will only create struggle and further enslavement to them. Through observing these aspects one can gradually let go of the past.

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Published on 18 May 2012 by axxoprime