903 research outputs found
Reaching for justice: The participation of victims at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia
This policy paper is based on research in Cambodia,
assessing the activities and strategies regarding
participation of victims before the Extraordinary
Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), funded
by the University of East London Promising Researcher
grant.1 It is hoped by the international community and by
Cambodian civil society that the participation of victims
will play a key part in ensuring that the ECCC has a lasting
impact on Cambodia. The ECCC, in common with other
hybrid tribunals, is expected to engage the affected
society and victims, since it is located within the country
rather than based elsewhere as the International Criminal
Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) and International Criminal
Tribunal for Yugoslavia (ICTY) are. This policy paper
reviews how the victim participation process functioned
during the first case and the preparation for the second
case at the ECCC, and offers insights to improve practice
at the ECCC and other courts that are undertaking other
forms of victim participation
Local voices in internationalised justice: The experience of civil parties at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia
The experience of civil parties participating in Case
002 at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts
of Cambodia (ECCC) provides important insights
into victim participation in a mass atrocity trial.
Understanding the expectations of civil parties and
evaluating their experience so far will help us to
improve victim support at future cases at the ECCC
and other internationalised courts.
This report presents the findings from interviews with
civil parties at the beginning of Case 002/01. It uses a
qualitative methodology grounded in thematic analysis
and identifies key themes constructed and defined
from the responses of civil parties.
The report examines the following themes: what
makes justice meaningful and satisfactory for civil
parties; their goals for participating; the emotional
consequences of application and participation; the
impact of limited resources for victims; how civil
parties understand the trial and participation process
and their thoughts on moral and collective reparations.
The report then draws some lessons learned, including
the need for education concerning fair trial rights, calls
for a strategy for communication regarding reparations
and proposes different ways to maximise the impact of
attendance.
It also identifies a gap regarding psycho-social support
at the application stage and calls for a general strategy
for updates and support to civil parties despite the
funding limitations. Finally, the report concludes with
areas for future research
Contribution of chronic conditions to the disability burden across smoking categories in middle-aged adults, Belgium
Introduction : Smoking is considered the single most important preventable cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, contributing to increased incidence and severity of disabling conditions. The aim of this study was to assess the contribution of chronic conditions to the disability burden across smoking categories in middle-aged adults in Belgium.
Methods : Data from 10,224 individuals aged 40 to 60 years who participated in the 1997, 2001, 2004, or 2008 Health Interview Surveys in Belgium were used. Smoking status was defined as never, former (cessation >= 2 years), former (cessation = 20 cigarettes/day). To attribute disability to chronic conditions, binomial additive hazards models were fitted separately for each smoking category adjusted for gender, except for former (cessation <2 years) and occasional light smokers due to the small sample size.
Results : An increasing trend in the disability prevalence was observed across smoking categories in men (never = 4.8%, former (cessation >= 2 years) = 5.8%, daily light = 7.8%, daily heavy = 10.7%) and women (never = 7.6%, former (cessation >= 2 years) = 8.0%, daily light = 10.2%, daily heavy = 12.0%). Musculoskeletal conditions showed a substantial contribution to the disability burden in men and women across all smoking categories. Other important contributors were depression and cardiovascular diseases in never smokers; depression, chronic respiratory diseases, and diabetes in former smokers (cessation >= 2 years); chronic respiratory diseases, cancer, and cardiovascular diseases in daily light smokers; cardiovascular diseases and chronic respiratory diseases in men and depression and diabetes in women daily heavy smokers.
Conclusions : Beyond the well-known effect of smoking on mortality, our findings showed an increasing trend of the disability prevalence and different contributors to the disability burden across smoking categories. This information can be useful from a public health perspective to define strategies to reduce disability in Belgium
Transitional Justice and Peacebuilding: Considerations for policymakers
It is critical to take into account the ways in
which policies and programming in peacebuilding
and transitional justice may be not
only contradictory but also complementary.
This brief examines the interaction of the
following peacebuilding activities with
transitional justice processes: Disarmament,
Demobilization, and Re-integration (DDR),
Security Sector Reform (SSR) and rule of law
promotion
Just peace? Peacebuilding and rule of law in Africa: Lessons for policymakers
This policy paper encapsulates the key findings of a research project undertaken by the Centre on Human Rights in Conflict (CHRC) of the University of East London School of Law on rule of law in African countries emerging from violent conflict, funded by the British Academy. The CHRC commissioned a range of experts and practitioners from around the world to examine and assess contemporary international efforts at promoting rule of law reform in peacebuilding operations and development assistance. Country studies examined in depth the experiences of a number of African countries—the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Liberia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, and Sudan—while thematic studies examined rule of law as part of peacebuilding in comparative perspective, the role of traditional justice, and specific aspects of rule of law in the African context. These studies will be published as a book entitled Just Peace? Peacebuilding and rule of law in Africa
Detection of vascular morphology by high frequency intravascular ultrasonic imaging
This study was designed to validate the potential clinical utility of intravascular ultrasonic imaging in vitro and in vivo. In vitro studies were performed to assess the accuracy of dimensional and morphological information. In vitro images of human vessels (n = 75) demonstrated that lesion thickness determined echographically closely related with histological samples (r = 0.83). Morphologically, muscular and elastic arteries could be distinguished echographically based on the echogenicity of the arterial media. Close relation was also found in the morphological subtypes of atherosclerosis. Subsequently, intravascular ultrasound was used percutaneously in vivo in 20 patients to obtain images of the iliac and superficial femoral artery. High quality real-time images were obtained. Normal vessels were seen showing pulsatile circular images with a hypoechoic muscular media resulting in a typical three-layered appearance. Diseased arteries revealed non-obstructive and obstructive lumen. At the site of obstruction thinning of the muscular media was evident. Pulsation was not always present. Following dilatation of the obstructive lesion using balloon angioplasty the ultrasonic cross-sections changed drastically revealing plaque rupture, dissection, plaque-free wall rupture, rest stenosis and oedema. We conclude that intravascular ultrasonic imaging is a promising technique to document accurate dimensional and morphological characteristics of human vascular disease for guidance of therapeutic interventions
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