tv Worldfocus PBS August 12, 2009 12:00am-12:30am EDT
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tonight on "worldfocus" -- in asia, frantic rescue efforts are under way following a devastating typhoon that struck both china and taiwan. hundreds are missing after the worst flooding in half a century. in myanmar, the long trial in noble peace laureate aung san suu kyi is over and the verdict is guilty. we'll tell you the punishment and have reaction. secretary of state clinton says those behind rampant sexual violence in congo must be prosecuted. tonight, our "signature story" that focuses on rape as a weapon of war. and climate change is forcing farmers the world over to consider growing crops they've never grown before. which explains why they're going bananas in nepal.
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from the world's leading reporters and analysts, here is what's happening from around the world. this is "worldfocus." made possible, in part, by the following funders -- good evening. i'm martin savidge. for several days now parts of asia have been struggling with the devastating effects of a typhoon that swept through over the weekend, leaving again at least 70 people dead and perhaps many more than that. typhoon morakot produced as much as 80 inches of rain in taiwan and also swept through parts of china, where a million and a half people were evacuated and 10,000 homes destroyed. this was the screen today in taiwan, which is still dealing with its worst flooding in half a century. hundreds of people have now been rescued but many more have still not been located. for tonight's "lead focus" on the typhoon and its aftermath we draw on our partners, starting with this report from steve chao of al jazeera english.
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>> reporter: taking advantage of a break in weather, emergency teams at first light were once again airborne. one after another helicopters brought in those they could find. having endured days of cold and rain, many of the elderly needed to be carried to waiting ambulances. chung lin tin and his beloved dog were rescued from hsiao lin village, where it's feared a massive mudslide has buried hundreds. "we've been trapped for four days," chung said, "for so long we didn't know if anyone was coming for us." >> reporter: with the only road into hsiao lin and several other remote villages still washed out, rescue efforts have been painfully slowed. medical teams trying to get in on the ground had been forced to wait. we've been here hours now and so far escavators have made little to no progress in clearing the road.
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it remains very much a liquid rover of mud and the constant rain is making matters worse. we're not getting through, this engineer tells us. it may still take days. and so the government's answer, send soldiers in by air. the first group touched down in hsiao lin to a scene of utter devastation. currently the entire village is buried, says taiwan's deputy minister of defense, and we have not even started to look for the missing from neighboring villages. by late afternoon, hundreds of survivors had been airlifted out of the region. but thousands more remain unaccounted for. at a nearby high school, relatives of those missing waited to hear from officials. these sisters last heard from their parents saturday. they told us hsiao lin village was a disaster and that they were going to be evacuated, then the phone died. authorities say it will be days before the death toll from typhoon morakot is known.
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for now, it is still very much a rescue mission in these dark mountains. steve chao, al jazeera, huo shan kou, taiwan. japan is recovering tonight from a very strong earthquake that hit the central part of that country. this is how it looked as it was recorded by closed circuit television cameras. as the quake of 6.5 magnitude struck rocking tokyo and nearby areas. police said one woman was killed by falling debris and more than a hundred people were injured. that quake forced the temporary shutdown of trains and two nuclear reactors for safety checks. in myanmar today, the pro-democracy dissident aung san suu kyi was convicted of violating her house arrest and will have to serve more time. the military junta that runs the southeast asian country also known as burma was widely criticized after today's verdict against the noble peace laureate. as andrew thomas of itn tells
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us, today's sentence removes aung san suu kyi from the political scene until after elections next year. >> reporter: she has spent 14 of the past 20 years in detention. today aung san suu kyi learned that will stretch by at least 18 months. burma's democracy fighter guilty of allowing an american tourist into her home after he had swum across this lake to visit her. state television announced the sentence early this morning as if it were compassionate. three years of hard labor reduced immediately to 18 months of further house arrest. the american who was swam to suu kyi was given seven years for meeting her, breaking immigration rules and swimming with these homemade fins in a nonswimming area. security was tight around the yangon prison where suu kyi was being held. burma's people warned not to cause trouble. preverdict protest abroad rather than on home territory. >> we have to have dem dplaes our country. this is our determination.
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we'll fight for democracy and until the en >> reporter: post verdict condemnation came from around the world. a statement from the prime minister on holiday in the lake district saying he was "saddened and angry" after what he called a "sham" trial. crucially, today's verdict will keep suu kyi from campaigning in next year's election. she won the last one, back in 1990, but the military junta prevented her nld party from ever taking power. >> they wanted to silence aung san suu kyi in the period of the coming rigged election plan because this election will bring a constitution -- it will legalize the military rule in burma. >> reporter: the european union has called for tougher sanctions against burma. but those are unlikely to make much difference. the regime today explaining its "compassionate" decision to have
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suu kyi sentenc as preserving what it calls "road to democracy" and next years elections "democracy" in burma meaning "convenient imprisonment" on "trumped up charges." >> andrew thomas of itn. in afghanistan, military officials said today that three more americans have been killed in separate insurgent attacks in recent days. so far this month at least 27 foreign troops including 18 americans have died in afghanistan. "the wall street journal" reports today that the afghan and u.s. governments are borrowing a tactic that worked in the war in iraq. enlisting local tribal fighters to fight the militants. it says, "in coming days, officials will ask tribal shuras, or councils, in participating provinces to organize armed militias to guard polling places, roads and public gathering spaces. officials hope that the militias will provide an additional layer of security to support the new american strategy of trying to better protect afghan civilians from taliban violence. members of the militias will be allowed to use their own ak-47s and other weapons, but they woarms, ammunition
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or uniforms from the government." authorities in kuwait today said that they may have prevented a terrorist attack on the main american military base in that persian gulf country. they said they had arrested six members of an al qaeda-linked group who had confessed about plans to bomb the camp and the headquarters of kuwait's security agency. officials said the group intended to load a truck with fertilizer, chemicals and gas cylinders and then ram it into the heavily guarded camp. secretary of state hillary clinton spent a second day today in the democratic republic of congo. a country with vast natural resources that for y been plagued by civil war and sexual violence, an issue that we will be taking an extensive view tonight. today, clinton visited a clinic
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and a large refugee camp in the eastern town of goma, where she pledged $17 million to deal with sexual abuse. yesterday, she spoke about the issue at a university of kinshassa. >> i hope that here in the drc there will be a concerted effort to demand justice for women who are violently attacked and to make sure that their attackers are punished. and i hope that students will take the lead in this to speak out because these are fundamental human rights. on tonight's "blogwatch," we found a letter to clinton on what she would see in congo from laura, an american researcher who has traveled frequently to congo. you will meet little girls who've been gang raped by soldiers and who can no longer talk or feed themselves. you'll see mothers and their children who live in a kind of poverty that does not compare with what you see in kenya or south africa or ghana or any of
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the places you've previously visited on the continent. remind yourself that this is the norm in eastern congo. what has happened to the few people you'll meet on a quick tour are not exceptions. indeed, the only difference between them and the 5on congolese we've died since 1998 is that someone is helping them. these are people who have seen the worst things that human beings can do to one another. you will not be the same after hearing their stories. that's a description, but we now want to show you what it's like in congo for some of those affected by sexual violence in that country. for that we return to a "signature story" that we first brought to you late last year with michael cavanaugh who traveled to congo for "worldfocus" with the help of the pulitzer center on crisis reporting. >> reporter: 58-year-old georgina lived in a camp. nine months ago georgina was gathering fire in the forest
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when the soldiers came. >> translator: when i was on my way to get firewood i met three men. once i put the wood on my back they grabbed me. then they threw me on the ground and they slept with me. one was going in. another was going out. another was going in. i left that place screaming. >> reporter: georgina ran back to the camp where she was living with her husband. >> translator: when i got home, i told my husband. he said he didn't want me anymore. he said, "so many men have slept with you. i cannot sleep with you now." he rejected me. he left me. >> reporter: many men in congo find it humiliating to have their wives raped. and they worry about diseases like hiv. so women are often victimized doubly. first by their rapist and then by husbands who reject them. >> it's really been women and girls who have paid the price and they're's a direct correlation between ongoing fighting and increased numbers
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of rape. rape is being used as a weapon of war in eastern congo. >> reporter: armed groups use rape to tear apart families and weaken communities that might oppose them. this was the case of georgina and her husband of 33 years. georgina lives alone in her hut. her husband andre is in the same displaced person's camp 200 yards away. >> translator: we had a home, a beautiful family, food. it was a beautiful life. but when i learned she'd been raped, as a man of honor i think not stay with her. my friends mocked me. i had to leave her. i thought she'd have a disease. now when i see her in the camp, i say, "hello, how are you," that's all. >> reporter: georgina's story is far from uncommon in congo after more than a decade of conflict there. some estimate hundreds of thousands of women have been raped. more often than not they're left to defend for themselves. she runs synergy for women, an organization that offers counseling, health care and protection for victims and their children.
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among the victims are infants like gabrielle who was born of rape. >> translator: this is our 559th child. her actual mother was a sex slave for four months with an armed group. she eventually escaped and she was pregnant when she came here. >> reporter: here in the back of a hospital in goma, justine houses women who suffer from severe, mental and physical trauma because of rape. women spend months or even years here getting treatment. >> translator: the women here learn skills. they learn to sew. they sell handbags and clothes so they can make a living and when they're here they can talk about problems which also helps them overcome their trauma. >> reporter: around the cities and towns around congo, are there advertisements educating people about soeksual violence. this one warns that rapists will serve 20 years in prison but that almost never happens. war has crippled the justice system. >> translator: since 2003 we've dealt with 8,000 cases of rape.
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280 women have pressed charges. there have only been 68 court rulings so far. women don't trust the justice system. >> reporter: justine counsels 15-year-old. she was raped by her neighbor. >> translator: after a few weeks i was told the man who raped me was no longer in prison. the courts are corrupt. i think he gave them money. >> reporter: now the man is threatening her and her family. >> when people know they can get away with murder or rape or theft or whatever the abuse seems to be, then they will do that, and i think because we have seen that rape has become the norm in eastern congo, not only do we see armed groups commit rape, we also see increased cases of civilians committing rape. >> reporter: and as fighting continues more women like her and georgina are vulnerable. without her husband to help support her, georgina struggles to make ends meet. she brings bags and beer for other displaced people in the camp. she says, i still hope andre would change his mind. >> translator: i always think that maybe if i had not gone
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into the fore test that day to get firewood i wouldn't have these problems. we had a beautiful life. we had chickens and a piece of land. my husband was a good man. no one could separate us. i still love him. if he came back i wouldn't suffer so much. i've asked him to forgive me. >> reporter: for "worldfocus," i'm michael cavanaugh in eastern congo. the conflict in congo has a long history and is often referred to as a humanitarian disaster. for more on this ways we turn to severinne autesserre, an assistant professor of political science here in new york at barnard college and author of "the trouble with congo." nice to speak you again. >> hi, martin. nice to speak with you. >> secretary of state clinton today called the ongoing campaigns of rape and sexual violence against civilians in the congo, crimes against humanity. what is happening in the eastern congo and what can the united states do about it? >> well, what's happening is basically a major -- that has been ongoing for the past 13 years.
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so what the u.s. can do about if is basically support the peace process so that finally we can end the fighting in eastern congo. >> i'm wondering, does secretary of state hillary clinton have more presence, more power to speak on this issue? because she is a woman. and when she speaks out against the use of rape as a weapon of war, how's your message received? >> i think that she has more power just because she is the representative of the united states and, therefore, she has so much weight on the political scene. i don't think that being a woman or just calling out for an end to sexual violence means so much. i think what really means something would be concrete action to end sexual violence in the congo.
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so most forceful action in support the congolese government and in support of all of the u.n. and nongovernmental agencies that are fighting against sexual violence in the congo. >> how is her message, though, going to be received by the governments that are in that region and also by those that are taking part of the violence? >> i think they're going to say, oh, yes, we're not supporting sexual violence. we're actually telling our soldiers and telling our commanders to end sexual violence. and there is a zero tolerance policy against sexual violence. >> but is that true? >> unfortunately not. most of the people who are responsible for sexual violence are not being prosecuted. so we need much tougher action on the part of all of the leaders and all of the commanders to end sexual violence. >> severinne autesserre, we have to stop there. thank you. >> thank you so much, martin. and you can find our extended coverage of the crisis in congo including more videos and background on the war at worldfocus.org.
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another subject we're going to look extensively at tonight, climate change. the u.n. secretary-general ban ki-moon described the problem yesterday as "simply the greatest collective challenge we face as a human family." he declared that the world "has less than ten years to halt the rise in greenhouse gas emissions if we are to avoid catastrophic consequences for people and the planet." ban urged world leaders to reach an agreement on limiting carbon emissions when they meet at a u.n. climate conference in copenhagen this coming december. already, of course, the consequences are being felt and seen. rising temperatures from global warming are forcing changes in how people live and work. tonight, we're going to bring you the first of three reports this week on the global environment produced by our new partner, the u.n.'s irin films and its environment program, unep. in this first story, we take you to nepal, in south asia, where climate change has altered the lives of those who depend on the land to get by.
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>> reporter: in the hills of southern nepal, change is afoot. the crops that are traditionally grown here like rice, corn and wheat, have been hard hit by irregular rainfall patterns and over the course of the last decade their cultivation have become increasingly difficult. leading some farmers to to think the unthinkable. in a country where rice enjoys almost god-like status giving up its cultivation is not an easy decision to make. but for 24-year-old, hardship left him no choice. [ speaking in native tongue ] >> reporter: so he learned how to grow bananas instead. a decision that was not popular with his father. [ speaking in native tongue ]
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he works for the aid agency, practical action, who run crop substitution programs like this one. but it is he himself cautions climate change will remain a serious challenge for the people of nepal. >> if the climate worsens then one daay not be able to provide food. and then again they have to switch into other crops. and therefore they have to adapt to the climate scenario, consequences. if they cannot at this time impact the climate change and then they will lost the crop. imagine it's a situation that do or die. either you adapt or you will die. for more on climate change and how the world is responding we invited bo lim to join us. ms. lim is the special climate change adviser at the united nations development program.
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welcome to the show. >> pleased to be here. >> as we just reported there, lack of rainfall in nepal is forcing farmers to make new choices in the crops that they grow. and i'm wondering, are we seeing this elsewhere in the world? >> oh, yes, many places in the world are being affected in the same way. we're seeing crops switching in the andes in peru. in africa, switching from -- to rice. so it's a real, real impact that we're seeing all over the world. >> probably americans don't think of nepal as being impacted. week of more larger country, more developed countries. and yet as you just outlined there are a number of nations perhaps we don't think about. >> right. >> that are suffering or trying to come up with new ways to grow crops to feed their people. give us examples of how they're struggling with this. >> well, for example, nepal and bhutan and countries which are close to glaciers suffer a lot from glacial retreat. and what's happening in those
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regions is that the glacial lakes are building up as the glaciers fill the lakes more and more to the point where they just burst and create devastating damage further downstream. so these are really quite tremendous disasters. >> and that's a specific disaster. how do you deal with something like that? >> well, in that kind of example what you have to do is tackle it from a lot of different ways. one ild in more early warning systems, get the people better prepared for disasters which will happen more frequently, relocate people, lower lakes, you know a number of different things. >> what can the united nations actually do when it comes to the issue of climate change? >> oh, many different things. we're basically supporting countries to do assessments of what their priorities are, how they can make decisions about their development this is future. for example, in some countries where they grow cotton. cotton in a very, very water-intensive crop and the price of cotton is dropping.
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so doesn't make sense in a climate-constrained world to continue to provide subsidies to cotton growers. or switch out of cotton into a different industry. so these are the kind of choices countries will have to make. >> about 30 seconds left. many of the larger developing countries recently refused to limit the emission of greenhouse gasses that they produce. so how can we change that kind of thinking? >> well, we're going to have to try to bridge a gap. and this is where the united nations can help. we can definitely help try to encourage countries, see how we can support them to imement and transition to low carbon economies, climate resilient development patents and it's very important in copenhagen, the upcoming climate conference in december, to seal the deal. >> bo lim, thank you very much for joining us today. >> you're welcome.
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you've heard us describe the use of twitter quite a bit around here in the last several months. that's the microblogging service that let's users post short text items on maximum of 140 characters for others to read. twitter gained added prominence during the recent wave of protests in iran. but twitter goes far beyond sharing news and we found a fascinating example of that today. britain's royal opera house, which traces its origins to 1732, is commissioning what appears to be the world's first user-generated, twitter-based opera. it's invited users to submit their lyrics, some of which will be then selected and turned into a storyline and set to some familiar opera tunes. one example, talk to the birds without uttering a word, by singing in birdsong, you'll always be heard. some 300 tweets as they're called have already been submitted. will the opera be a comedy or a tragedy? will it be the next aida or la traviata?
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that will be up to you and your fellow tweeters. you'll find more on our website at worldfocus.org. and that's it for us on this tuesday evening. i'm martin savidge in new york. as always, thank you very much for joining us. we hope to see you back here again tomorrow and anytime on the web. until then, have a good night. "worldfocus" is made possible, in part, by the following funders -- -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com
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