In Legal Limbo? The status and rights of detainees from the 2001 war in Afghanistan

During the 2001 war in Afghanistan hundreds of people associated with the Taliban or al Qaeda were arrested by United States forces and transported to the Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The legal status and treatment of these detainees has been an ongoing problem over the last five years. The majority have been given no recourse to justice and allegations of inhuman treatment and torture have been frequent. The first issue raised by the incarceration of these people is whether any of them may be entitled to Prisoner of War status. The evidence shows that, in general, the Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters were not lawful combatants, and hence they are not entitled to Prisoner of War status. While the rights of Prisoners of War are well documented and generally uncontested, the rights of people not entitled to Prisoner of War status are not so easily definable. Despite classification as unlawful or unprivileged combatants, the detainees are not in legal limbo - they are still entitled to the benefit of certain fundamental human rights. There are applicable protections under the Fourth Geneva Convention, Additional Protocol I, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the United Nations Convention Against Torture. The main rights upheld by these documents are the right to liberty and freedom from arbitrary detention; the right to a fair trial; and the right to life. Furthermore, there is a requirement of humane treatment and an absolute prohibition on torture. Reports from international humanitarian watchdogs such as the International Committee of the Red Cross, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch suggest that the United States Government is not upholding the rights held by the detainees. It is essential that the United States Government recognises the fundamental rights owed to the detainees and ensures that they receive the requisite treatment and access to justice

Poverty and the Environment-Exploring the Relationship between Household Incomes, Private Assets and Natural Assets

Using purpose-collected survey data from 535 households in 60 different villages of the Jhabua district of India, this paper investigates the extent to which rural households depend on common-pool natural resources for their daily livelihood. Previous studies have found that resource dependence-- defined as the fraction of total income derived from common-pool resources--strongly decreases with income. Our study uncovers a more complex relationship. Firstly, for the subsample of households that use positive amounts of resources, we find that dependence follows a U-shaped relationship with income, declining at first but then increasing. Secondly, we find that the probability of being in the subsample of common-pool resource users follows an inverse U-shaped relationship with income - the poorest and richest households are less likely to collect resources than those with intermediate incomes. Resource use by the rich is therefore bimodal - either very high or--for the very rich households--zero. Thirdly, we find that resource dependence increases at all income levels with an increase in the level of common-pool biomass availability. The combination of these results suggests that the quality of natural resources matters to a larger share of the rural population than had previously been believed, common-pool resources contribute a significant fraction of the income not just of the desperately poor, but also of the relatively rich.India, Madhya Pradesh, poverty, environment, common-pool natural resources,rural households

Contrastes et changements dans l'agriculture du Goias central

Regional différenciation and social change in Central Goias agriculture. In the immense regions of the Brazilian Amazonia and Centro-Oeste , the establishement of an organized policy for the opening up and planning of the region dates but from sixties. The objectives, redefined by the Second National Development Scheme (1975-1979) remain the production of agricultural surpluses, the usage of excess manpower from the Nordeste, and the preparation of industrial decentralization from the South East. The analysis of the agricultural economy in two samples areas from Central and Southern Goias illustrated by examples of farms, aims to attribute the relative importance of the changes going on to the roads opening up, the official planning policy and individual enterprise. But, over a distance of a few hundred kilometers, these regions are affected by very sharp contrasts in the population density as well as in the structures and methods of agriculture. In the South, in a mature region already densely populated by Brazilian standards, governmental incentives allowed modernized farms, with a trend towards agrobusiness, to replace with increased profits the old fazendas, but thereby worsening, through mechanization and cattle raising specialization, the social and landowning problem created by the existence of a large class of landless people. In the North, the underpopulation of a recently colonized region determines that the pioneer-type farms tend towards a very low yiedling cattle raising which is beginning to improve as new trunk roads open up the area. As government land is ceded to private individuals, huge properties are created, the existence of which makes the future of the small family farms look very bleak. Specialization in cattle raising is still an answer to the scarcity of manpower here. Int he South, it is already a speçulative activity permitted, thanks to better transport facilities, by the nearness of large urban markets. La spécialisation pastorale est encore ici une réponse à la rareté des hommes. Elle est déjà dans le Sud une spéculation qu'autorise, grâce à de meilleures liaisons, la relative proximité des grands foyers urbains de consommation.Dans les immenses régions de l'Amazonie et du Centre-Ouest brésiliens, la mise en œuvre d'une politique concertée de désenclavement et d'aménagement régional ne date guère que des années 60. Les objectifs confirmés par le Second Plan National de Développement (1975-1979) restent la production de surplus agricoles, l'absorption des excédents de main-d'œuvre du Nordeste, la préparation à une décentralisation industrielle du Sud-Est. L'analyse de l'économie agricole de deux régions types du centre et du sud du Goias, illustrée par des exemples d'exploitation, vise à dégager la part relative du désenclavement routier, de la politique officielle d'aménagement et de l'initiative individuelle dans les transformations en cours. Mais de très forts contrastes opposent les deux régions situées à quelques centaines de kilomètres de distance, tant dans la densité du peuplement que dans les structures et les méthodes de l'agriculture. Au sud, dans une région «mûre» déjà densément peuplée pour la norme brésilienne, les incitations gouvernementales ont permis à de grandes exploitations modernisées, orientées vers l'agrobusiness, de prendre avec profit le relais des anciennes fazendas en aggravant, par la mécanisation et l'orientation vers l'élevage, le problème social et foncier posé par la présence d'une masse de ruraux sans terre. Au nord, le sous-peuplement d'une région de colonisation récente voue les exploitations de type pionnier à un élevage très extensif, dont l'amélioration ne fait que débuter au long des grands axes nouveaux de désenclavement. L'appropriation individuelle du sol, en cours de fixation, a permis la constitution d'immenses domaines, ce qui laisse mal augurer de l'avenir des petites exploitations familiales.Dupon Jean-François, Vant André. Contrastes et changements dans l'agriculture du Goias central. In: Cahiers d'outre-mer. N° 127 - 32e année, Juillet-septembre 1979. pp. 217-252

Theoretical Principles of In Vitro Selection Using Combinatorial Nucleic Acid Libraries

A new paradigm for drug discovery and biological research has developed from technologies that integrate combinatorial chemistry with rounds of selection and amplification, a technique called in vitro selection or systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment (SELEX). This overview unit discusses nucleic acid libraries that can be used, affinity probability distributions, an equilibrium model for SELEX, and optimal conditions including concentrations and signalâ toâ noise ratios.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/143632/1/cpnc0901.pd

Factors influencing career maturity in the South African National Defence Force : a diagnostic approach

Thesis (MCom)--Stellenbosch University, 2014.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The Military Skills Development System (MSDS) of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) is the military contribution towards the South African National Skills Development Strategy. The purpose of this study was to determine if the SANDF is succeeding in contributing towards youth development, by investigating the career maturity (CM) of MSDS members. The adolescent years are a critical time for youth to explore and confirm their career choices, and to make major decisions at what can be perceived as a turning point in their lives. The factors that influence CM were investigated in order to determine the most suitable focus for possible career guidance programmes or interventions within the MSDS. A sample of 310 MSDS members was used to gather information on CM and the most prominent factors that have an impact on CM were identified from the literature review. Data was collected by means of administering five questionnaires; The Career Maturity Inventory- Revised short form (CMI-R), The Career Decision Self-Efficacy scale short form (CDSE), The Military Hardiness Scale (MHS), the Seven Habits Profile (SHP) and a Biographical Information Form (BIF). The CM of the MSDS members was found to be moderate. MSDS members seem to have high levels of confidence in their abilities to make career decisions (self-efficacy) and they perceive themselves as being hardy and having very good life skills. Moderate and weak, positive relationships were discovered between all twenty of the factors (scales and subscales of independent variables) and CM (dependent variable); however, they were not all significant. Multiple regression analysis resulted in a set of predictor variables (factors) which were used as the focus for recommendation on how CM may be improved for MSDS in the SANDF. These factors include: self-efficacy, seeking occupational information, self-appraisal, commitment, challenge, conscientiousness and continuous improvement.AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Geen opsomming beskikbaar