Heshu Yones was 16 when her father discovered she had a relationship with a classmate. He attempted to force her to marry a cousin in Kurdistan, and subjected her to virginity testing. He stabbed Heshu to death at their West London home, because he feared she was becoming westernised. Source: MEMINI
When Noor made the decision to live with her boyfriend, instead of conform to her family’s pressure for arranged marriage, tensions arose between her father and her. On October 20, 2009 in an Arizona parking lot Noor’s father attempted to run over his daughter and the mother of her boyfriend his Jeep. Noor spent two weeks in coma fighting for her life, but died as a result of her injuries. Source: MEMINI
Planning officers in favour of dogs home
8:20am Tuesday 29th November 2011 in News
PLANS to build a new dogs re-homing centre and staff houses on green belt look set for approval.
Basildon Council’s planning officers have recommended councillors support proposals for the 13-acre site, by the junction of the A127 and Nevendon Road.
The former farmland is currently used for car boot sales and contains several industrial units occupied by small businesses. If the centre goes ahead, then the Big One car boot sale would end.
The Dogs Trust, which provides a home for stray dogs rather than having them put down, wants its new centre to contain more than 60 kennels, four specialist puppy pens, a training barn, veterinary suite, and hydrotherapy unit.
Two new houses for staff, who would provide 24-hour care for the dogs, would also be built.
Planning officers accepted the charity’s argument that Basildon has a major problem with stray dogs, so the need for a rehoming centre outweighs the case for keeping green belt free from development.
Hannah Baker, from the Dogs Trust, said: “Basildon is an area that urgently needs a dedicated rehoming centre. We hope our plans will be well received.”
There were 495 stray dogs collected in the borough, over the 12 months leading up to March this year.
Of these, only 171 were re-claimed and 50 were destroyed or died.
For the previous year, 524 dogs were collected and 52 had to be destroyed.
The charity claims the centre would create about 29 jobs.
Ramsden Crays Parish Council raised concern about noisy dogs affecting residents who live in nearby Gardiners Lane and by the A127.
Basildon Council received 11 responses from residents, to a consultation on the plans.
Seven were in favour and only four were against.
The main reason for objection was the loss of green belt land, while those in favour insisted the facility was much needed to help stray dogs.
Lynda Gordon, leader of the opposition Labour group on Basildon Council, said: “I’m really in favour of this, as the Dogs Trust does a brilliant job and doesn’t put stray dogs down.”
The application will be considered at a planning meeting in the Basildon Centre, St Martin’s Square, starting at 7pm tomorrow.
After £20m eviction comes the second battle of Dale Farm as at least 10 families move back onto the protected site
- Council says it will prosecute travellers who break injunction
- 'It is going to be just like it was before,' said one traveller
- Caravans on site are in breach of regulations
Last updated at 8:50 PM on 16th November 2011
At least 10 families have moved back onto the UK's largest illegal travellers' site after bailiffs and council officials completed the £20million Dale Farm clean-up operation.
Basildon Council has obtained an injunction to prevent reoccupation of the site after the removal of caravans and chalets from 51 unauthorised plots was completed on Monday.
But this morning, caravans had pulled back onto the illegal half of the site and many remain on the legal side, exceeding the authorised capacity.
The return: Less than a day after Basildon Council ended the £18m clearance operation of what was Europe's biggest illegal traveller site on Dale Farm in Essex, travellers have begun moving back on to the illegal site
Basildon council bosses said they are monitoring the situation and will resist any attempt to reoccupy Dale Farm.
The council has removed hard standings and placed earth embankments across the six acre site, preventing travellers resettling on their old plots. Travellers have parked alongside some of the plots and say they plan to see out the winter on Dale Farm.
Tony Ball, leader of Basildon Council, said attempts to reoccupy the site were unacceptable and put them in contempt of court.
'We are now looking carefully at any breaches on the legal pitches, he said. 'The travellers are fully aware of how many caravans and mobile homes they can have on any one site. They must not exceed this and if they do we will be taking action.
Council workers arrive armed with injunction notices at the Dale Farm site in Essex
He said that the council would continue to enforce the law and insisted the clearance was not motivated by prejudice.
Patrick Egan, who is entitled to remain in his house on the illegal site, said: 'Nobody would want to live here - the site is a mess, it's contaminated with asbestos and we have to use a generator for power.
'I am allowed to stay but I don't want to. We have come back because we have nowhere to go.
We fully expect the council to serve notices on us, telling us to leave.'If that happens, we will occupy car parks and roadsides in Basildon, anywhere that we can get access to. The council simply hasn't provided anywhere else for us to go.'
Europe’s largest illegal traveller camp has cost £20million so far to clear up, and residents are now worried another battle could be about to start.
Lining up: Dozens of touring caravans are lined up around the edge of the land on the remaining hard ground
£18m bombsite: The six acres of land, which have been likened to a 'bombsite' by locals, now stand largely empty
A traveller called Billy said: ‘We are going back on there and it is going to be just like it was before. The eviction was one big waste of money.
Europe¿s largest illegal traveller camp has cost £20million so far to clear up
‘We are tough people and we are hardy people, so we will be back on that land and starting all over again'.
The line of caravans increased over the past week with many traveller families timing their return from Ireland to coincide with the end of the clean-up work.
Basildon Council, which spent millions clearing the site, was granted a High Court injunction banning travellers from returning to the site in Crays Hill, Essex.
Len Gridley, 52, whose garden backs on to the site, fears that the threat of prison will not act as a deterrent.
‘I’m really worried that they are going to move back on to the site,’ he said. ‘There seems to be more caravans in the area. It’s a complete shambles.
‘The council should have completed the job properly instead of doing it half-heartedly. I think the travellers will come back on. There is no doubt about it.
‘The bailiffs have gone and now there is no security left on the site. What did they expect to happen?’
Bailiffs have spent four weeks removing chalets, caravans and concrete driveways after police gained control of the site on October 20.
New aerial photographs show how each plot on Dale Farm has been turned into deep craters.
Eyesore: The site is left looking like a bombsite, littered with more than 40 craters where bailiffs removed the concrete bases from each plot
Before the eviction: The dotted red line marks the boundary of the illegally occupied area where the Dale Farm travellers had set up their homes
Fences and several buildings have been left standing because of a High Court judgment protecting them.
Mr Gridley added: ‘It’s like a bombsite down at the bottom of my garden now and it is certainly no better than when the travellers were there.
‘I have waited for a decade for this moment and now I am left with an eyesore'.
Council leader Tony Ball said the authority would be applying for injunctions to move the caravans on.
He said: ‘They must seek planning permission before any more development of sites takes place and this is regardless to the fact that they may own the land.
‘Travellers must comply with the law in the same way as everyone else. Nobody wants to see another Dale Farm.’
When asked about the current condition of Dale Farm, he said: ‘We are also committed to restoring Dale Farm to a site in keeping with its green belt status, and would remind people that its current condition is only a temporary measure.
‘Now that the site clearance has been completed we will turn our attention to any remaining breaches of planning regulations on the site'.
Eviction protests: Flames engulf a caravan during evictions from Dale Farm travellers camp on October 19
Eviction process: Police rise up in a cherry picker to talk to protesters stood on a scaffold platform during evictions from Dale Farm travellers' camp on October 19
Travellers moved on to the greenbelt site a decade ago after buying the land. They then set up homes without planning permission.
The total cost of the clearance is expected to soar past £22million.
The long and bitter dispute between hundreds of travellers and Basildon Council came to a swift end last month when police and bailiffs moved on to the camp.
Activists and travellers who had pledged to ‘fight to the death’ held out for less than 48 hours before walking off the land to allow the full clearance operation to begin.
Many of the travellers are thought to be living yards away from where they were evicted, on the legal part of Dale Farm.
IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF NEW ZEALAND
BETWEEN THE QUEEN APPELLANT
and
DAKTA GREEN RESPONDENT
28 NOVEMBER
MINUT OF HARRISON J.
1. I refer to Mr Green’s memorandum dated 30 October, seeking leave to apply for home detention in lieu of part of the sentence of 23 months imprisonment by this Court on 30 September when granted an appeal by the Solicitor-General.
2. Judge Gittos imposed a sentence of eight months imprisonment in the District Court at Auckland.
Mr Green did not appeal against the Judge’s failure to impose a sentence of home detention nor did Mr Green submit that a sentence of home detention should be imposed when Court heard the Solicitor-General’s appeal on 26 September.
3. This Court has no jurisdiction to determine Mr Green’s complication, which is declined.
Signed RHYS HARRISON J.
- Photo: Shippards Chine, Isle of Wight - Val Pollard
"I do not want them," Conservative Cllr Andy Sutton said, in his bid to banish Gypsies and Travellers from the Isle of Wight. But the law is against him.Over 80 households of Gypsies and Travellers would be forced to leave the Isle of Wight, if a Conservative councillor has his way. Cllr Andy Sutton has cited the Localism Bill as the basis of his right to evict the nomadic communities. But other members of the cabinet have warned that he has misread the document.
On November 29th 2011, Cllr Sutton told the Isle of Wight County Press, "I do not think we should provide travellers’ sites on a tourist island. I do not want them, I do not think they are necessary and I do not think we should have them on the Island. I’m also concerned the high cross-Solent charges would deter them from leaving."
Severe Backlog of Authorised Sites for Isle of Wight Gypsies and Travellers
Unlike Cllr Sutton, who emigrated to the island from Leeds, the 2006 Hampshire and Isle of Wight Accommodation Assessment found that the majority of Gypsies and Travellers residing on the Isle of Wight had been born there. Over 71.6% of the travellers interviewed had lived on the island their entire lives, travelling from site to site, with none expressing a wish to move to the mainland.
British Gas Business Get 10% Off Electricity Renewals & Save £600 On Business Gas All Year! www.BritishGas.co.uk/BusinessTeaching Assistant Course £35 Deposit - Qualify In 4 Months. Level 3 Home Study, Friendly Tutors CambridgeOpenCollege.co.ukUnfortunately, the same survey highlighted a desperate need on the Isle of Wight for authorised permanent and transit camps. In 2006, six illegal camps were discovered by council officials, dotted across privately owned land and roadsides. The local police were powerless to move them on, as the law stated that evictions are only possible if those affected have somewhere to go. There were no legal sites on the entire island.
The report, which was carried out as part of the Housing Act 2004, placed a statutory obligation on the Isle of Wight Council to provide 24 sites by the end of 2011. Section 3.4.2 read, 'We consider this to be an underestimation of need, however without accurate caravan count data it is not possible to make a more accurate estimation.'
Their findings had also suggested that the annual caravan count had been misrepresented for years, in the council's report to the mainland.
Councillor Andy Sutton Misunderstood the Localism Bill
The Localism Bill 2010-11 received the Royal Assent to enter into law on November 15th 2011. It was designed to devolve much of the decision making on local issues into the council areas and provided a wider forum for public referendums. It was this which led Cllr Sutton to believe he could simply ignore his duties under the Housing Act 2004.
As time is running out on providing the recommended 24 sites ahead of the deadline, he wished to erase the need for them by removing the people.
The Isle of Wight Council's Director of Economy and Environment, Stuart Love, was quick to challenge this proposed solution. He explained, "The draft policy does not remove the requirement for councils to provide sites for gypsies and travellers, in fact it specifically states there remains a requirement to provide sites based on local evidence."
He rejected Cllr Sutton's assertion that the Council 'should revisit the core strategy', adding, "We also have responsibilities to this group of residents under other legislation, including the Housing Act and Equalities and the Diversities Act."
History Repeats Itself in Cllr Sutton's Planning Gaffs
This isn't the first time that Cllr Sutton has run into legal difficulties over planning policy. As the former Chief of Council, he was forced to resign over irregularities in an application for a block of flats. The adjudication proceedings, at Craven Court, banned him from being a councillor for six months, starting from February 1st 2010. Shortly afterwards, he was also ejected from the Isle of Wight Conservative Association.
He returned to politics as the elected councillor for the Isle of Wight's Freshwater North borough.
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Experienced Talented Reliable Staff UK Coverage Competitive RatesCopyright Jo Harrington. Contact the author to obtain permission for republication.
Jo has a BA (Hons) in History and Philosophy and a MA in History. She has a book published on the history of Wicca.
Syrian forces have committed crimes against humanity – UN rights panel
28 November 2011 –Syrian women protesting in May 2011
Syria’s military and security forces have committed crimes against humanity during their crackdown on protesters, a United Nations-appointed probe said today, urging the Government to immediately end “gross” human rights violations and bring perpetrators to justice.In August the UN Human Rights Council established the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria to investigate all alleged violations of international human rights law in the country since March, when the pro-democracy protests began.
Syria is “responsible for wrongful acts, including crimes against humanity, committed by members of its military and security forces as documented in the present report,” states the report, which was presented at a news conference in Geneva by the three-member commission.
The substantial body of evidence gathered by the commission indicates that these gross violations of human rights have been committed by Syrian military and security forces since the beginning of the protests in March.The 39-page report documents patterns of summary execution, arbitrary arrest, enforced disappearance, torture, including sexual violence, as well as violations of children’s rights.
“The substantial body of evidence gathered by the commission indicates that these gross violations of human rights have been committed by Syrian military and security forces since the beginning of the protests in March,” states the report.
According to international law, when certain crimes are committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack against civilians and the perpetrators know that their conduct is part of this attack, such offences constitute crimes against humanity, the report points out.
“The commission is thus gravely concerned that crimes against humanity of murder, torture, rape or other forms of sexual violence of comparable gravity, imprisonment or other severe deprivation of liberty, enforced disappearances of persons and other inhumane acts of a similar character have occurred in different locations in the country since March,” it adds.
The commission called on the Syrian Government to put an immediate end to the ongoing gross human rights violations, to initiate independent and impartial investigations of these violations and to bring perpetrators to justice.
It also reiterated its call for immediate and unhindered access to Syria, noting that the Government, despite many requests, failed to engage in dialogue and to grant the commission access to the country.
The report – authored by chairperson Paulo Pinheiro, Yakin Ertürk and Karen Koning AbuZayd – is based on interviews with 223 victims and witnesses of alleged human rights violations, including civilians and defectors from the military and the security forces.
From the end of September until mid-November, the commission held meetings with Member States from all regional groups, regional organizations, including the League of Arab States and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), non-governmental organizations (NGOs), human rights defenders, journalists and experts.
More than 3,500 Syrians have been killed since the start of the protests, which are part of a broader uprising across North Africa and the Middle East that has led to the toppling of long-standing regimes in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya.
“Governments have an obligation to maintain public order. They bear the ultimate responsibility for protecting individuals under their jurisdiction, including those participating in public assemblies and exercising their right to freedom of expression,” states the report.
“In the Syrian Arab Republic, the high toll of dead and injured is the result of the excessive use of force by State forces in many regions,” it adds.
Among its recommendations, the commission suggested that the Human Rights Council establish the mandate of a special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Syria, and that the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) establish a field presence in the country with a protection and promotion mandate.
News Tracker: past stories on this issue
Top UN human rights body orders inquiry into Syrian violence
