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| Shabtai Rosenne obituary Eminent international lawyer, teacher and Israeli diplomatShabtai Rosenne, who has died aged 92, was a major figure in two fields. As an Israeli diplomat, he helped shape the institutions of government from pre-state days. As arguably the foremost international lawyer of the second half of the 20th century, he made contributions that were vast, influential and unmatched, mixing encyclopedic knowledge of the law with a profound understanding of practice.His inspiration, springing from his Jewish heritage, was the biblical instruction "justice, justice shalt thou pursue". When accepting the first Hague prize for international law in 2004, he devoted his speech to the place of international law in the daily life of the average human being. He pointed out the extent to which ordinary lives are governed by international agreements, whether covering commerce, transport or the environment. He also focused on the rights of individuals in foreign countries and the rise of war crimes tribunals.The author of The Law and Practice of the International Court 1920-1996 (four volumes, 1997), Rosenne was the leading authority on the main judicial arm of the United Nations, based in The Hague, in the Netherlands. The role of the international court of justice (ICJ) is to settle legal disputes between states and to give advisory opinions to international bodies, so the political circumstances of the time militated against an Israeli citizen being elected one of its 15 judges. Nonetheless, those who were judges consulted him on difficult questions: he was the accepted authority on the court's working and jurisprudence.Rosenne was born in London with the surname of Rowson, his family having come from Tsarist Russia, and was educated at Cranleigh school, Surrey. When the second world war came, he served from 1940 to 1946 in the Royal Air Force, something of which he was very proud. He obtained an LLB from London University, qualifying in 1944, began working for the Jewish Agency, the pre-state authority, and moved to mandatory Palestine in 1947.He served on the committee helping to establish the institutions of the Jewish state, and when it came into being in 1948 he became the legal adviser to the foreign ministry, a post he held until 1967. His contributions were immense, from formulating the armistice agreements of 1949 to dealing with the fallout from the abduction of Adolf Eichmann from Argentina in 1960 to face trial in Israel. There were also state succession issues in the light of sometimes problematic relations with the former mandatory power, and inexorable and sensitive questions of war and peace, use of force and the freedom of the seas. All of this reflected the constant challenges faced by the new country.Thereafter, he served as an ambassador to the UN – deputy permanent representative in New York (1967-71) and permanent representative in Geneva (1971-74) – and in various international organisations. He was a delegate to innumerable international conferences, notably the sixth (legal) committee of the UN general assembly and in the UN international law commission.On 14 June 2010, he was appointed to the Turkel commission, the independent public commission established to examine the Gaza flotilla incident. Although not as physically robust as he once was, his intellect was as strong and as sharp as ever. His contribution is likely, once the report is completed, to have been significant.Rosenne was a truly formidable international lawyer and became an expert in, and great contributor to, for example, the law of treaties (which he termed the central element of all modern international law) and the law of the sea (in which he participated in all the major UN conferences). His list of publications on these subjects and the ICJ was immense. But for Rosenne, law and practice went together. He was always conscious of the importance of practical problems – the reasons why the law was evolving in a particular direction and the need to tackle questions that needed effective resolution. Supremely realistic in providing advice, he acted for and advised a number of states as counsel before the ICJ and other courts and tribunals. These included the US in the Elettronica Sicula case, about the expropriation by Italy of a US-owned Italian subsidiary, and the LaGrand case, about the execution in the US of a criminal who was a German citizen without his being given the required access to a consul; Serbia in the genocide case brought by Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1993; and Japan in the Southern Bluefin Tuna case. He also advised in a number of international arbitrations.A successful and thoughtful teacher, Rosenne was a visiting professor at numerous institutions around the world, including the Royal Naval College at Greenwich, and the universities of Cambridge, Utrecht, Amsterdam and Virginia. He also gave the general course on international law at the Hague Academy of International Law.Rosenne drove to the heart of any matter, and was not diffident about putting forward his invariably illuminating insights. Generations of international lawyers, fortunately including myself over a number of years, benefited immensely from conversing with him. He became, in effect, the institutional memory of both the ICJ and of the UN, reminding diplomats of inconsistencies in the opinions they expressed over long periods.His happy marriage to Esther Schultz began in 1940. She survives him, as do their sons Jonathan and Daniel.• Shabtai Rosenne (Rowson), international lawyer and diplomat, born 24 November 1917; died 21 September 2010IsraelUnited NationsGaza flotillaJudaismguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
BBC World Service backed by former army chief Sir Richard Dannatt urges £272m grant to stay because radio service is 'relatively cheap' message and beacon of trust for millions around the worldSir Richard Dannatt, the former head of the army, has warned the government not to cut the budget of the BBC World Service, which was a "relatively cheap" way of communication in countries where British troops were deployed, including Afghanistan.Dannatt described the service as "a beacon of trustworthiness".He said: "Expenditure should be protected as fiercely as possible. Both our antagonists and our friends in Afghanistan rely on BBC World Service to find out what is going on. So do our own forces, and millions of other people all over the world."The World Service is funded by an annual £272m Foreign Office grant which is likely to be reduced as part of cuts to be announced next week.Dannatt, who briefly advised David Cameron on defence issues after he stepped down as chief of staff last year, said cuts to the £40bn defence budget were inevitable but urged George Osborne to protect the World Service."Slashing it would … help the chancellor very little. If we must cut into our nation's muscle, let's not cripple our nation's message as well …"The message comes relatively cheap."The Cabinet Office minister, Francis Maude, said this week that the World Service would not be closed, but BBC insiders fear its grant is likely to be reduced.The foreign secretary, William Hague, has said publicly that it was important that the World Service maintains its reach but it would have to make savings.Sources said World Service overheads could not be slashed and smaller services would have to be closed to cut costs.Senior BBC sources say that a 10% reduction in the budget could force as many as 12 of its services off air. It broadcasts in 32 languages and is available in nearly every country.The largest, including the Russian language and Spanish language services, which each reach several countries, are more costly and will not be closed.Dannatt was chief of the general staff from 2006 to 2009. He makes his comment in an essay for a book, More Light, Less Heat: Who Holds Power In The Global Conversation, to be published later this year.BBC World ServiceSpending review 2010BBCRadio industryRichard DannattMilitaryTax and spendingAfghanistanPublic financeJames Robinsonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Silence of the dissenters: How south-east Asia keeps web users in line Vietnam, Burma, Thailand, Cambodia and the Philippines are all moving towards Chinese-style internet censorship• Interactive guide: censorship in AsiaGovernments across south-east Asia are following China's authoritarian censorship of the digital world to keep political dissent in check, the Guardian can reveal.Vietnam, Burma, Thailand, Cambodia and the Philippines have all moved or are moving towards monitoring internet use, blocking international sites regarded as critical and ruthlessly silencing web dissidents.• In Vietnam, the Communist party wants to be your "friend" on the state-run version of Facebook, provided you are willing to share all personal details.• In Burma, political unrest can be silenced by cutting off the country from the internet.• In Thailand, website moderators can face decades in jail for a posted comment they did not even write, if the government deems it injurious tothe monarchy.While much is made of China's authoritarian attitudetowards internet access, a majority of south-east Asian governments have similar controls and , rather than relaxing restrictions on internet use, many are moving towards tighter regulation.The Guardian has spoken to five leading bloggers across the region about the present restrictions they face and future fears.Raymond Palatino, a Filipino MP and editor with Global Voices, says governments, in addition to crudely blocking websites, are starting to use arguments of morality and decency to censor access to information and quash criticism."There is direct censorship to block political dissent. You have repressive laws in Myanmar [Burma], in Vietnam, in Singapore. In fact I think Vietnam is catching up with China in terms of building strong firewalls to prevent dissidents from accessing critical content on the internet."But we also see governments using the excuse of protecting the public morality in order to censor internet content. Governments use the excuse of censoring pornography as a safe argument to make censorship acceptable to the public."More than a decade ago, George W Bush asked people to "imagine if the internet took hold in China. Imagine how freedom would spread". But rather than emerging as a catalyst for democracy, the internet has become another way to to stifle dissent.Palatino sees governments using the internet for their own selfish advantage. "They are learning how to prevent people for using the internet to criticise government. Instead of being a potent tool for empowering the people, the internet will be in the hands of an authoritative, repressive government."With a population of more than 600 million, south-east Asia has about 123 million internet users. But penetration ratesvary from 0.2% in Burma and Timor-Leste to more than 80% in Brunei Darussalam and 77% in Singapore. But south-east Asian use is still dwarfed by China's384 million users.In the Philippines, cybercrime legislation before the parliament would outlaw anything deemed obscene or indecent. Palatino says: "The laws are deliberately broad and vague so they can be used to shut down anything subversive."Cambodia's government is seeking to monitor all internet use inside the country, by appointing the state-owned telephone company to operate the sole internet exchange.Websites will be monitored to filter out pornography, officials say, but opponents say sites critical of the government are also likely to be blocked.In Thailand, century-old lese-majesty legislation is combined with new computer-related crime laws, to mute criticism on the web.Lese-majesty laws – defaming the monarchy - are imposed inconsistently in Thailand, but wielded often enough, and against defendants of sufficient profile, to stifle almost any discussion of the monarchy's role in a country riven by political factionalism. Chiranuch Premchiaporn, the editor of Thailand's English-language news website Prachatai.com, faces up to 70 years in jail for allowing the monarch to be insulted online.The charges relate to five of 200 comments posted about an interview with a Thai man who was charged for refusing to stand for the anthem in a theatre.Premchiaporn, known as Jiew, did not write the comments, and pulled them from the website but, according to police, allowed them to stay up ''longer than the appropriate period'', a period never defined by authorities before or since the charge.Now on bail, the prospect of jail weighs heavily on her. "And it isn't just about 'Oh, how long I will have to spend in the cell', my whole life is uncertain. I cannot plan my life because of this legal charge, it makes everything hard."Thailand's strict laws, and harsh punishments, have had a chilling effect on political discussion on webboards and blogs."I think the biggest problem in Thai media is self-censorship … but we started Prachatai for the ideals of believing in the rights of people to access information … from many sources and not be dominated by just one source," Jiew says.Prachatai is blocked in Thailand, under order of the emergency decree after the red-shirt uprising of May. It is one of more than 100,000 websites blocked in the country. "We want to promote the rights of the people to speak up about their issues, not just only people who have a big name, or who are important in government."In Vietnam, web-users can become "friends" with their communist government, joining the country's own version of Facebook. A trial version of go.vn was launched in May. A full version is expected online by the end of the year.The functions are familiar to those versed in social networking. Users can update their status, post photos and links, and send messages back and forth.There are news links, historical articles on founding father Ho Chi Minh and other revolutionary heroes, and members can also play state-approved network games (in one particularly violent example, players join a band of militants sworn to fight the spread of global capitalism).The site is closely monitored by the government's security services, and while, for many, the attraction of the internet lies in its anonymity, to join go.vn users must submit their full names and state-issued identity numbers to the government.The Vietnamese government says it expects to have 40 million members, half the country, in five years. Perhaps because web dissidents are dealt with so ruthlessly by the communist regime – four bloggers were recently jailed for 16 years for anti-government posts – five months on, take-up of go.vn is a bare few thousand.Burma has one of the poorest records on internet freedom in the region.All .mm sites and email addresses are closely monitored by the ruling military junta, and international sites banned, but the tiny internet cafes that dot the former capital, Yangon, are adept at bypassing the government's firewalls, using proxy servers to evade the censors and access banned sites.Outfoxed on technology, the junta responds during times of stress by simply unplugging the internet, especially to stop unwelcome news getting out of the country.At the height of the monk-led Saffron Revolution in 2007, the junta's generals shut down access completely, later claiming a break in an underwater cable had cut the country off.With Burma heading towards its first elections in a generation early next month, and the anticipated release of political prisoner Aung San Suu Kyi a week later, there is an expectation the web blackout may be repeated.InternetCensorshipChinaVietnamThailandCambodiaBurmaPhilippinesSingaporeAung San Suu KyiBen Dohertyguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Indonesia tsunami deaths hit 272 The death toll from a tsunami in western Indonesia rises to 272, officials say, as doubts emerge about whether an early warning system was working properly. bbc.co.uk |
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