Greek parliament unanimously approves bill to tackle poverty

With a majority vote, the Greek parliament approved the bill to tackle poverty early on Thursday, following a two-day heated debate. Brussels has voiced strong concerns about the new bill and a second one on settling arrears towards the state which is set to be approved on Friday, noting that they have not been approved by Greece's creditors.

During his speech, Prime Minister Alexis vowed that his government is going to stick to what it has promised the Greek people, despite pressure for doing otherwise from the EU.

It should be noted that the first four articles concerning the provision of free electricity, food allowance and housing to households living in extreme poverty were voted unanimously by the plenary. Nonetheless the fifth article that authorises the government to identify beneficiaries was not approved by the far-right Golden Dawn party, the Potami party as well as the Greek Communist Party (KKE).

Amnesty Int.'l Says Too Much Racism & Police Brutality in Greece

Amnesty International, which is blind to the massacre of thousands of Christians in the Middle East (but is always ready to slam Greece for not having open boarders as it prefers), notes allegations of police brutality and an alleged “pushing back” of migrants who are attempting to illegally cross into Greece, in its annual global report on the state of human rights for 2014.

The NGO, which is allegedly backed by George Soros funds, once again slammed Greece in its report claiming that “new hate crime legislation was adopted in September (2014) amid growing concern at the levels of racist violence”. At the same time it says that racially-motivated hate crimes were on the rise (but only Amnesty says this, Greek statistics do not).

Allegations of torture and ill-treatment of illegal immigrants held by Greek authorities and guard stations is also mentioned and the case of the migrant worker shootings in the strawberry fields of Manolada are also noted (even though this incident happened two years ago).

Greek Foreign Ministry on Holocaust Remembrance Day

The Foreign Ministry on Tuesday issued the following announcement on the 70-year anniversary since the liberation of Auschwitz.

     "Today, on its National Memorial Day for the Greek Jewish Heroes and Martyrs of the Holocaust, Greece is standing against forgetfulness and joining its voice with the conscience of humankind, honoring the millions of innocent victims of the Holocaust.
     The Greek people pay homage to the thousands of their compatriots, Greek Jews, who fell victim to Nazi barbarity.
     The Greek state attaches the greatest importance to the categorical condemnation of anti-Semitism and Nazism activities. It considers denial of the Holocaust to be flagrantly repugnant and expresses the certainty that neo-Nazi elements, which are attempting to undermine Democracy and the rule of law, will be marginalized from Greek society, the vast majority of which denounces hatred, anti-Semitism and intolerance.
     The Greek state systematically and consistently assists in the international efforts towards respect for the memory of the Holocaust and towards the combating of anti-Semitism."

Syrian refugees removed from Syntagma square

Police authorities on Monday moved the Syrian refugees who were holding a sit-in protest at Syntagma square in down town Athens.

According to a report from the state news agency, the police operation took place at around 03.00. Syrian refugees were taken away by buses to the Attica Foreign Nationals Department, while many police forces remained at the scene.

Last week several refugees, mainly women and children, were taken to a social housing infrastructure belonging to the Municipality of Athens, while city mayor George Kaminis called on other mayors of the Attica region to help resolve the issue.

Small number of Syrian refugees at Syntagma Square apply for political asylum

The Ministry of Interior’s General Secretary of Population and Social Cohesion Angelos Syrigos said on Thursday that only 40 Syrian refugees, that are presently protesting on Syntagma Square, have applied for political asylum. (That is only 40 from hundreds of others.)

In order to be given political asylum, applicants need a passport, identity card or international driver’s license and/or a period to be identified.

Greece's Ministry of Interior is committed in providing asylum seekers with shelter, food and health care.

Desecration of the Athens Holocaust Monument For the 2nd Time

On October 30, 2014, the Holocaust Monument in Athens was vandalized with graffiti signed by the extreme nationalist and anti-Semitic organization  “Unaligned Meander Nationalists” (Greek abbreviation: AME). This organization –which declares to be a hardcore radical and nationalist organization and separates itself from “moderate nationalists” of Golden Dawn- has also signed the desecration of the Holocaust Monument in the island of Rhodes in October 2012. The Athens Jewish Community and the Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece issued the following Press Release:

The Holocaust Monument in Athens has been vandalized for the second time within 2014. In the night of October 30, 2014, a known extreme far-right organization, with significant activity in Greece, left its signature on the Monument.

The Athens Holocaust Monument is dedicated to the memory of the 60.000 Greek Jews, part of the 6.000.000 of European Jews, who suffered a tragic death in the Nazi concentration camps.

The Athens Jewish Community, that covered the cost of the erection of the Monument, donated it -in 2010- to the municipality of Athens, in order to make it a landmark in the capital city and a reminder to its citizens and visitors of the most heinous mass crime in contemporary history.

The Jewish Community of Athens, the Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece, and the Greek Jewry at large strongly condemn this act of vandalism. We call upon the municipal and state authorities to effectively protect the Holocaust Monument of the capital, in order to avoid repetition of such phenomena. We also call upon the Justice system to put into motion all necessary procedures so that the perpetrators –those whose hateful and violent actions offend the dignity and the cultural heritage of the city- be apprehend and punished.

We also expect the representatives of the State and the Civil Society to come forward and express a strong and determined condemnation of this specific act as well as of every and any act of anti-Semitism.

The JEWISH COMMUNITY OF ATHENS
The CENTRAL BOARD OF JEWISH COMMUNITIES IN GREECE

UNICEF - Greek Children Sink Into Poverty

A new UNICEF report shows that 2.6 million children have sunk below the poverty line in the world’s most affluent countries since 2008, bringing the total number of children in the developed world living in poverty to an estimated 76.5 million.

Innocenti Report Card 12, Children of the Recession: The impact of the economic crisis on child well-being in rich countries, ranks 41 countries in the OECD and the European Union according to whether levels of child poverty have increased or decreased since 2008. It also tracks the proportion of 15-24 year-olds who are not in education, employment or training (NEET). The report includes Gallup World Poll data on people’s perceptions of their economic status and hopes for the future since the recession began. While early stimulus programmes in some countries were effective in protecting children, by 2010 a majority of countries pivoted sharply from budget stimulus to budget cuts, with negative impact on children, particularly in the Mediterranean region.

"Many affluent countries have suffered a 'great leap backwards' in terms of household income, and the impact on children will have long-lasting repercussions for them and their communities," said Jeffrey O’Malley, UNICEF’s Head of Global Policy and Strategy.

"UNICEF research shows that the strength of social protection policies was a decisive factor in poverty prevention. All countries need strong social safety nets to protect children in bad times and in good - and wealthy countries should lead by example, explicitly committing to eradicate child poverty, developing policies to offset economic downturns, and making child well-being a top priority," O’Malley said.

Other significant findings of the UNICEF report, released today at an event co-hosted with the Italian Presidency of the Council of the European Union and Ministry of Labour and Social Policy, include:

- In 23 of the 41 countries analysed, child poverty has increased since 2008. In Ireland, Croatia, Latvia, Greece and Iceland, rates rose by over 50 per cent.

- In Greece in 2012 median household incomes for families with children sank to 1998 levels – the equivalent of a loss of 14 years of income progress. By this measure Ireland, Luxembourg and Spain lost a decade; Iceland lost 9 years; and Italy, Hungary and Portugal lost 8.

- The recession has hit 15-24 year olds especially hard, with the number of NEETs rising dramatically in many countries. In the European Union 7.5 million young people (almost equivalent to the population of Switzerland) were classified as NEET in 2013.

In the United States, where extreme child poverty has increased more in this downturn than during the recession of 1982, social safety net measures provided important support to poor working families but were less effective for the extreme poor without jobs. Child poverty has increased in 34 out of 50 states since the start of the crisis. In 2012, 24.2 million children were living in poverty, a net increase of 1.7 million from 2008.

In 18 countries child poverty actually fell, sometimes markedly. Australia, Chile, Finland, Norway, Poland and the Slovak Republic reduced levels by around 30 per cent.

"Significantly, the report found that the social policy responses of countries with similar economic circumstances varied markedly with differing impacts on children," O’Malley said..

For more visit UNICEF

One Third of The World Struggles Meet Needs of Aging Population

People around the world are living longer, but social policies to support their wellbeing in later life are lagging behind in many countries. This is according a new report by HelpAge International, developed in partnership with the University of Southampton.

More than a third of countries are falling significantly behind those at the top of the Global AgeWatch Index. It ranks 96 nations on the basis of the quality of life and social and economic wellbeing of older people (over 60s). The Index can also help governments to identify policies and institutional contexts that lead to better lives for older people.

Professor Asghar Zaidi, from the Centre for Research on Ageing at the University of Southampton, led the development of the Index, working alongside HelpAge International.

     "The Index points to a mismatch between advances in longevity and a lag in the evolution of policies that empower older people," says Professor Zaidi. "Societies have been slow to embrace the positive aspects of longevity and to see older people as a resource that, in the right circumstances, can repay investment with extended working careers as well as more self-reliant, healthy and independent living."

The Global AgeWatch Index recognises that income, health, personal capabilities and an enabling social environment are all important factors of the wellbeing of older citizens. On the basis of the latest Index results, and by analysing national policies and strategies, it finds:

• Norway is the best place for older people, alongside Sweden, Switzerland and Canada.
• The United Kingdom is ranked 11th, although it is ranked 3rd for the enabling environment.
• Globally, by 2050, the number of over 60s will be 21 per cent of the global population (currently 12 per cent in 2014).
• Apart from Japan, the top ten countries are in Western Europe, North America and Australasia. Israel and Estonia join the top 20.
• The older populations of the three lowest-ranked countries, the West Bank and Gaza, (94) Mozambique (95) and Afghanistan (96), still account for less than five per cent of the total population.

The report highlights the disparity between those nations at the top of the Index and those in the lower third. For example, on income security, 26 countries scored less than half the top values set by Norway and France (89.1 and 88.0 respectively).

In lower ranked countries, policies on; pensions, educational and employment opportunities, free healthcare and treatment of chronic conditions, support for family and community carers, and subsidised transport, have been slow to evolve compared with the fast rise in the numbers of older people.

Toby Porter, Chief Executive of HelpAge International, said: "The unprecedented rate and speed of population ageing presents policy-makers with a challenge. Only if they act now will they have a chance to meet the needs of their citizens and keep their economies going."

Currently, two-thirds of the world's over-60s live in low and middle-income countries and this will rise to four-fifths by 2050. The proportion of over-80s is growing fastest – projected to rise from two per cent now to four per cent of the global population by 2050.

     "An essential distinction is required between policies suitable for the current generations of older people and those required for future generations," says Professor Zaidi.
     "Today's older people need protection and empowerment. For future generations the focus must be on providing opportunities for employment during their working lives and better mechanisms to build resilience for old age."

Greek Orthodox Priest Helps Prison Inmates Buy Their Freedom

A soft-spoken 83-year-old Greek Orthodox Priest has dedicated his life to an unusual quest: buying prison inmates their freedom. Gervasios Raptopoulos has taken advantage of a quirk in the Greek justice system which enables people jailed for minor offenses to walk free by paying off a fine.

The rule only applies to people convicted of offences that carry a maximum five-year sentence and is calculated at five euros per day, on average. People serving time for crimes such as petty fraud, bodily harm, weapons possession, illegal logging, resisting arrest and minor drugs offences fall into this category. However finding sufficient funds to buy a way out is typically only a luxury the rich can afford.

Raptopoulos has helped more than 15,000 convicts secure their freedom over nearly four decades, according to records kept by his charity. His funds come from private donations but the on-going Greek financial crisis is putting a strain on the coffers. "Where people would offer 100 euros ($135), they now give 50 ($67).

But that doesn't stop us," he said. Father Gervasios holds up a letter, in Arabic, copies of which are handed out to all prisoners his charity frees, in their own language, explaining why they receive the help in the northern port city of Thessaloniki.

OCC247

Roum & Aramean communities Rally in the Holy Land

This past Sunday, members of the Greek Orthodox and Aramean communities staged a peaceful protest in Haifa, in order to express their outrage at the continued persecution of their brethren throughout the Middle East. Participates gathered with signs and flags, and called for a peaceful resolution to the war in Gaza, as well as for an end to the on-going Genocide of Christians in Syria and Iraq.

Demonstrators expressed their dissatisfaction with the West for remaining silent while Christians are being raped and murdered in Iraq and Syria. Calling on the International Community to stand up, and protect the indigenous ethno-religious minorities of the Middle East. They also asked western countries to defend the indigenous Assyrian community of Mosul, who have recently been forced to flee their homes, in hopes of escaping the wrath of ISIS.

The protest was held, in solidarity, with the worldwide call of action by the Assyrian Diaspora. We Demand Action is a Global initiative to support the protection of the Assyrians (including Syriacs/Chaldeans) and other minorities in Iraq and Syria. To learn more about #WeDemandAction or to find a rally in your area, please follow them on Facebook: www.facebook.com/DemandforAction or on Twitter: twitter.com/demandforaction

For more photos and to stay up-to-date with Operation Antioch visit us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/operationantioch

Stay up-to-date with Operation Antioch Scandinavia by visiting our Facebook page at
https://www.facebook.com/operationantiok

For more information on what is happening to the ethnic Greeks of Syria and what you can do,
Visit our blog at http://operationantioch.blogspot.com

Learn more about the organizers of Operation Antioch
http://daimonesofhellenism.blogspot.com

Cry To End Violence Against Women In Conflict Zones

Women in conflict zones are likely to suffer from sexual or physical violence at the hands of their husbands or partners before, during and after a period of conflict, warn experts from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine as politicians, activists and researchers gather today in London for the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict.

In a Comment published in The Lancet, they urge officials to invest in prevention to keep women and girls safe from all forms of violence.

Although international attention has focused primarily on extreme cases of sexual abuse by combatants, such as targeted mass rapes during the Rwandan genocide and in the Democratic Republic of Congo, researchers on gender-based violence are revealing a much wider scope of abuses, perpetrators and victims.

This more complex picture shows that during and after the height of a conflict, sexual and other types of violence are not solely perpetrated by armed combatants, but also by husbands and other civilian men.

In a recently-published study of 2,678 people in Côte d'Ivoire, researchers found that 33% of women surveyed reported an experience of sexual violence, with 29% reporting that their husband or partner was the perpetrator.

A total of 10% of women reported someone other than an intimate partner, and only 0.3% identified an armed combatant.*

In another recent study, the researchers evaluated a programme to prevent intimate partner violence by working directly with men in a conflict setting. The results were promising, showing that men receiving the programme were better able to manage conflict in a non-violent way, and with some suggestion that levels of violence were lower.**

The authors – Mazeda Hossain, Dr Cathy Zimmerman and Professor Charlotte Watts – conclude: "As the Summit brings the international community together to address sexual violence in conflict, a broader, long-term vision is needed to prevent sexual and other forms of gender-based violence.

     "Measures should be taken not only to eliminate impunity for perpetrators, but also to respond to the health and safety needs of all victims. Investment in prevention should be made, alongside the provision of support services."

Mazeda Hossain, Lecturer in Social Epidemiology at the School, added: "There is no doubt that horrific crimes, such as mass rape and violence targeted at women and girls, call for action to bring perpetrators to justice.

     "However, as we address these abuses, we must also recognise that perhaps even larger numbers of women are suffering at the hands of their husbands or partners.
     "We have learned through our work that this violence is preventable. Global leaders should take this opportunity to invest in preventing and responding to all forms of abuse to protect women and girls."

For more information or to request interviews, please contact the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine press office, by emailing press@lshtm.ac.uk or telephoning +44 (0)207 927 2802.

WWF Says Troika Is Responsible For Destructive Policies in Greece

The following is an open letter by the World Wildlife Federation (WWF) to the heads of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the European Central Bank (ECB) and the  European Commission urging them to rethink the unsustainable policies tha have or are currently being implemented in Greece. The letter also slams the planned coastal development bill as well as the planned privatization of protected nature reserves.

The letter, which is signed by Tony Long, Director of WWF’s European Policy and Demetres Karavellas head of WWF Greece,
calls on the Troika to revise the policies and conditions of Greece’s baiolout program and characterizes this as ‘vital and urgent.’

In the letter, the WWF holds the troika equally responsible for the erosion of environmental protections by memorandum-mandated legislation which has unfortunately passed by the Greek government (s) since the signing of the Memorandums.

Click HERE to read the full announcement in .pdf

Below is the full text of the letter:

“Dear Mr Barroso,
WWF is writing to you again (original letter January 2012) to emphasise the critical environmental dimension of the commitments agreed between the Troika and the Greek Government in the framework of the programmes of economic adjustment.
Since 2010, when the first Economic Adjustment Programme (herewith “Programme”) was agreed, we have witnessed an important loss of legal and political safeguards for the protection of the environment and a diminution of the overall quality of life. Greece is now embarked on an even deeper crisis to come: ecological, social and economic. The elimination of legal provisions for the protection of the environment, the intensified legal uncertainty and lack of transparency about the costs on nature and citizens of this country from the austerity measures, the constant weakening of the already feeble environmental governance system and the absence of a coherent framework for a truly living economy, ‐ these are the incalculable costs of the measures imposed to date.
Using the austerity measures as legitimation, you are no doubt aware that different ministries in our country have launched a concerted legislative barrage which results in:

• constantly undermining the environmental impact assessment and licensing system;

• undermining the conservation framework for protected natural habitats (such as national parks and the Natura 2000 sites) with provisions favoring specific types of investments, primarily holiday resorts and new tourist villages;

• declassification from protection status of ecologically precious forest and coastal areas;

• endless environmentally destructive legalisation of illegal construction, even within legally protected areas;

• continued refusal by the state to collect financial penalties of unaccounted millions of euros for illegal constructions along the coastal zone and on forested land;

• privatisation through the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund of ecologically significant and legally protected areas, many of which have been designated as Natura 2000 sites, under the guise of easing the path for development of vacation homes and tourism resorts;

• the overhaul of the spatial planning framework in order to allow the rapid approval of large investments, primarily in the area of tourism, contrary to specific or local land use and nature protection rules.

The recent announcement by the Ministry of Finance of a draft law on coasts has fueled an already heated state of unease and anger over the continued loss of environmental acquis. This draft law, which is included in the Programme as a commitment by Greece, would allow for the degradation of important parts of the coastal zone and promote a tourism development model based on the construction of large resorts and tourist villages. In the case of Spain, this has proven to be an environmentally and economically unsustainable development model.
WWF believes that there is a shared responsibility between the members of the Troika and the Greek Government for the environmentally dramatic consequences of the policies and measures agreed under the Programme. The Greek Government, under the threat of sinking deeper into the crisis, is overseeing measures that deregulate and undermine the prospects for the genuine development of a truly living and sustainable Greek economy. The members of the Troika are equally responsible for promoting and formulating measures of a development model based on narrowly defined economic objectives that will lead ineluctably towards a profound ecological deficit.
WWF urges you to rethink Greece’s unsustainable development model that you are supporting and even insisting upon. We believe it is essential for the short, medium and long‐term prosperity and stability of this country that you undertake a vital and urgent revision of the policies and conditions of the Programme. You must realize that it is necessary to incorporate urgently ecological and social sustainability indicators and safeguards in order to:

• Respect the environmental acquis and reinforce the protective measures for Greece’s natural capital, through clear and comprehensible legislation.

• Require the submission of all Programme updates to comply with strategic environmental assessment, in compliance with Directive 2001/42/EC (including the public consultation procedure), using ecological indicators to assess the impact on natural ecosystems and services;

• Formulate a national framework for the development of a living and long‐term sustainable economy.

The policies which are included in the Programme and implemented by the Greek Government are often presented as the only way to prosperity. They are not. As we have demonstrated in our report “A living economy for Greece”1 , Greece is endowed with a huge potential for truly sustainable development in ecological, social and economic terms.
The Economic Adjustment Programme for Greece needs to be brought into line with contemporary thinking and action on sustainable development in developed and developing economies alike. As a country we must be able to respond to the international, regional and national environmental challenges as reflected in the global agenda for sustainable development. Greece cannot remain a passive spectator in these developments, sacrificing its institutional framework and rules for protecting its natural capital in the name of an environmentally crippling programme for economic adjustment.
Given the enormous public attention and alarm about the issues raised in this letter, and believing that an urgent response is required from the public institutions responsible for devising and enforcing the joint Euro area/IMF bailout package, WWF intends to make this letter a matter of the public record. We look forward to receiving a reply from you to the issues raised here. We have sent a similar letter to Mr. J.M. Barroso at the European Commission and Mr. M. Draghi at the European Central Bank.
Yours sincerely,
Tony Long, Director WWF European Policy Office
Demetres Karavellas, Director WWF Greece 

SHOCK - Recession 'linked with' over 10,000 suicides across Europe & N.America

The recent recession can be linked with over 10,000 suicides across Europe and North America between 2008 and 2010, according to research by the University of Oxford and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. The (shocking) findings, published in the British Journal of Psychiatry, show that suicide rates rose significantly in the EU, Canada and the USA after 2007, with the increase being four times higher among men.

The research team analysed recently released suicide data from the World Health Organization covering 24 EU countries and two North American countries. They observe that the downward trend in suicide rates in the EU reversed when the economic crisis began in 2007, rising by 6.5% by 2009 and remaining at the higher level through to 2011. In Canada, suicides rose by 4.5% between 2007 and 2010; while in the USA the rate increased by 4.8% over the same period.

Report authors Aaron Reeves, Martin McKee and David Stuckler argue that there were at least 10,000 additional suicides due to the economic hardship experienced in EU countries, Canada and the USA. They describe their figure as a 'conservative' estimate and say the rise in suicides is substantially over and above what would be expected.

They found that there were 'marked' differences in suicide rates across countries affected by the same recession. This leads them to conclude that, in theory, increased suicides during an economic crisis are 'avoidable'.

The study finds that job loss, home repossession and debt are the main risk factors leading to suicide during economic downturns.

The study says while most suicides occur among people with clinical depression, to date there is little evidence to show the benefits of treatments, such as antidepressants, for protecting individuals against the risk of suicide. However, the study notes that prescription rates rose markedly in some countries during the recent recession. In the UK, a rise of 11% in antidepressant prescribing between 2003 and 2007 went up to 19% between 2007 and 2010.

The study suggests that nations that invest in active labour market programmes reduce the risk of suicide. The authors estimate that for each US $100 spent per capita on programmes offering such assistance for the unemployed, the risk of suicide reduced by 0.4%. The authors highlight Austria, Sweden, and Finland as examples of countries where the suicide rate did not increase markedly despite rising unemployment during the recession. Sweden, between 1991 and 1992, and Finland, between 1990 and 1993, both experienced rises in unemployment at the same time as the rate of suicide decreased. In the most recent recession, suicide rates remained stable in Sweden and Finland while the rate declined in Austria, despite rising unemployment

Lead author Dr Aaron Reeves, of Oxford University's Department of Sociology, said: 'There has been a substantial rise in suicides during the recession, greater than we would have anticipated based on previous trends. A critical question for policy and psychiatric practice is whether suicide rises are inevitable. This study shows that rising suicides have not been observed everywhere so while recessions will continue to hurt, they don't always cause self-harm. A range of interventions, from return to work programmes through to antidepressant prescriptions, may reduce the risk of suicide during future economic downturns.'

Co-author Professor David Stuckler, also from the University of Oxford, added: 'Suicides are just the tip of the iceberg. These data reveal a looming mental health crisis in Europe and North America. In these hard economic times, this research suggests it is critical to look for ways of protecting those who are likely to be hardest hit.'

For further information or a copy of the study, contact the University of Oxford News Office on +44 (0)1865 280534 or news.office@admin.ox.ac.uk  - The paper, 'Economic suicides in Europe and North America's Great Recessions', was published by The British Journal of Psychiatry on June 12, 2014. The authors are Aaron Reeves and David Stuckler from the Department of Sociology at the University of Oxford; and Martin McKee, from the Department of Public Health and Policy at the London School of Hygiene &Tropical Medicine. 

NOT FAIR! Only 5.11% Sports News Covers Stories About Women!

Women are the subject of news in sports papers in only 5.11% of the cases, sometimes alone (2.18%) and others accompanied by men (2.93%). On the other hand, men are the focus of this kind of information in 92.2% of the cases, according to a study presented recently by UC3M professor Clara Sainz de Baranda at the II International Conference on Gender and Communication. "The remaining 5% is neutral information, which is why, in these kinds of topics, like soccer balls, fields, field houses and goals, men appear more often than women," notes this professor from the university's Department of Journalism and Audiovisual Communication.

This situation has not improved significantly over the years. The results of the analysis of the four main Spanish sports papers performed by this researcher vary by province. In newspapers from Madrid, one can observe a reversal in the news focused on women in recent decades. In Marca, it went from 5.6% in 1979 to 4.22% in 2010. In Catalan papers, however, it increases. In Sport, it went from 2.63% in 1979 to 3.3% in 2010, and in Mundo Deportivo, it increased from 2.5% in 1979 to 5.05% in 2010.

These differences are even greater if one considers that not all of the women who appear in articles run by these specialized papers pertain to the world of sports. In fact, a recent study published in Cuadernos de psicología del deporte differentiates between two profiles of women: those who pertain to the world of sports (athletes, coaches) and others it calls "guests," who in general are partners, relatives, celebrities or fans. "In terms of quantity, the first group has a larger presence (86.8%), but on a qualitative level, the guests have a much greater presence because of the size of the article, photographs, types of pages that they occupy, etc.," the researcher explains. Moreover, in this type of image, the most promoted stereotype is the one related to feminine attributes, so it normally presents women as a decorative archetype or an object of desire.

This inequality is evident in other journalistic elements, as well. Female names appear in only 2% of headlines and in only 0.81% of references are quotes from women included. "In almost 50% of the cases, the achievements of female athletes are relegated to a short news item, the most humble genre of journalism, which entails a reductionism in the treatment of this news," observes Sainz de Baranda, who published her doctoral thesis on this subject.

Soccer and tennis, king and queen

The numbers reveal that, if soccer is the "king" of sports (65.71%), the "queen" is tennis (29.35%). In the case of "mixed" news, the most common sport is track and field (23.29%). Likewise, soccer is the most recurring story in "neutral" news (20.4%), with much of it focused on the condition of the turf, soccer stadiums, sports equipment, etc. "All aspects related to the world of soccer appear in the media. Their number increases over time and they contribute to exacerbating the old problem of disinformation and information imbalance," the professor comments. With the exception of soccer, achievements in most sports are not constantly covered in the pages of these papers; they are mentioned, but only for specific things. "And as women triumph in sports with less coverage and their presence is smaller, their invisibility increases," she emphasizes.

Noteworthy among the obstacles that women must overcome to earn a living as professional athletes are the persistence of certain stereotypes, the scarcity of public aid destined to fostering women's sports and the inexistence of economic incentives for companies to invest in these competitions because of the "supposed" inferior spectacle that they represent.

Another reason for this situation is that women soccer players cannot be professional. "There is a royal decree (Royal Decree 1835/1991, from 20 December, regarding Spanish sports federations) that allows federations—football federations in particular, not to professionalize women players under the same conditions as men," the researcher reports. "They argue that, economically, it is not profitable for a woman to play as a professional. Actually, it is not a problem of profitability, but fundamental labor rights," she declares.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RBVNEiCcVM

Further information:

Thesis: Mujeres y deporte en los medios de comunicación: estudio de la prensa deportiva española (1979-2010). Author: Clara Sainz de Baranda Andújar. UC3M Department of Journalism and Audiovisual Communication. Directors: Pilar Diezhandino and Ángel Bahamonde. Year:2013.URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10016/16505 UC3M e-archive: http://e-archivo.uc3m.es/handle/10016/16505

Paper: "Deportes en la prensa deportiva: ¿una cuestión de género?" Clara Sainz de Baranda Andújar. II International Conference on Gender and Communication . Sevilla, 1 to 3 April 2014. http://congreso.us.es/gendercom/index.php/es/  Article: "Las mujeres en la prensa deportiva: dos perfiles". Author: Clara Sainz de Baranda Andujar. Cuadernos de psicología del deporte. Vol. 14, Nº. 1, 2014, pp. 91-102. ISSN 1578-8423. URI e-archivo de la UC3M

Turkey: Top Court Rules That YouTube Ban Violates Freedom of Speech

Turkey's Constitutional Court ruled on May 29 that the ruling to block YouTube violated the rights of users and freedom of speech. The verdict is similar to the Court’s April 2nd decision that ruled to unblock Twitter in Turkey, which had also followed individual complaints.

Lawyers from YouTube, officials from the Union of Turkish Bar Associations (TBB), and deputies from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) all filed separate complaints against the YouTube block.

It is expected that Turkey's Constitutional Court will soon deliver a detailed ruling to the related authorities for the unblocking of YouTube.

Source: Hurriyet

Oh Brother - George Soros backed Amnesty Int.'l Against Greece on issue of illegal immigrants

The George Soros backed Amnesty International organization once again published a report regarding the issue of illegal trafficking. Basically, the organization is once again trying to ridicule Greece over its handling of the illegal flows of immigration into the country, which it says are refugees seeking a better life in Europe and it has called on the European Union to impose sanctions for direct violations of international human rights obligations.

According to the report, Greece’s treatment of refugees and immigrants on the borders is “deplorable”, because Greek authorities are doing the unbelievable... which is protecting our boarders from foreign invaders. The report says that the violence, intimidation and humiliation tactics used by Greek authorities have become widespread and are routine practices, but it never once notes that all these flows of people are a result of human trafficking.

     "The people carrying out these push-backs are state agents. As such, the Greek authorities bear full responsibility for their actions. The authorities must openly acknowledge and ensure an end to the illegal and often dangerous practice of push-backs."

Correct us if we are wrong here at HellasFrappe but we understand that Amnesty International does not want us to guard our boarders like we should be doing, but greet all the illegal immigrants who illegally invade our country with open arms. We should welcome them into Greece with champagne and caviar and then roll a red carpet for them to go on into Europe.

The claims from this particular organization against Greece are ridiculous. Firstly they clearly support the illegal movement of humans, or human trafficking. Secondly, why are they not condemning Turkish slave traders who ship off all these immigrants into Greece with rotting boats? Is Greece responsible for this as well?

Following the findings of the first report, "Greece: Fortress Europe: human rights abuses at the border between Greece and Turkey, July 2013" Amnesty International has collected almost 95,000 signatures from across Europe and Israel that urged Greek authorities to immediately end what they claimed was repression to illegal immigrants.

But don't you find it strange that they have never once collected signatures that will force Turkish slave traders and Ankara to end all this illegal human trafficking by weeding out and arresting all of those involved in this inhumane activity? Seriously, everyone knows that Turkey has transformed into a transit country for the illegal movement of humans and HellasFrappe has addressed this issue on more than one occasion. We have even featured stories from Turkish reporters who have not only raised this issue in their country and revealed astonishing information, but they have also questioned the motives behind all this activity to their own government.

The name "Amnesty International" might sound nice and pleasant to the ear, but do not let it fool you. The organizations that are funded and/or supported by people such as George Soros have specific political agendas and although they have fluffy names that are pleasant to the ear they clearly serve other purposes. We are certain that when this organization began it probably wanted to bring about change, but as with many other organizations and/or people it then received dirty money from George Soros' foundations and therefore had to bow to a different agenda. Today we pity this organization for claiming that it still advocates for human rights, when it is more than evident that the only thing that they are actually rallying for is human slavery and/or human trafficking.

EYE OPENER - Turkish Flotilla Charity Tied to Terrorism - AGAIN

By Jonathan Schanzer (FDD) -  Serbian news agencies reported that a Turkish charity, best known for organizing a 2010 flotilla to Gaza that led to conflict with Israeli commandos on the high seas, is under investigation in Bosnia-Herzegovina for exporting weapons to jihadis in Syria. Reports suggest that the Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH) may have been working with several local charities and businesses, and even the Bosnia-Herzegovina Ministry of Defense.

The IHH has long-standing ties to Bosnia. As early as 1996, the CIA reportedly noted that the charity was one of fifteen NGOs sponsoring terrorist activities in Bosnia. Esad Hecimovic, a Bosnian investigative journalist, asserts that the IHH was linked to jihadist activity and arms trafficking during the Bosnia conflict. French magistrate Jean-Louis Brougiere further notes that the IHH played a role in Ahmed Ressam's failed plot to bomb the Los Angeles International Airport on New Year's Eve 1999.

The IHH came under considerable scrutiny following the 2010 flotilla to Gaza. The Dutch and German governments both issued designations of purported IHH branches for their ties to Hamas (the Turkish IHH denied any connection to them). U.S. agencies also began examining whether the IHH deserved a terror designation. A leaked classified cable reveals the Treasury Department's concerns that the IHH has provided Hamas with material assistance. To date, no designation has been issued.

More recently, concerns have surfaced regarding the IHH's support for extremists in Syria. A March 2013 McClatchy report suggests that the IHH provides aid to fighters in Syria, including the Salafist faction Ahrar al-Sham, which fights alongside al-Qaeda affiliates Jabhat al-Nusra and the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS). In December 2013, Abu Khalid al-Suri (Mohamed Bahaiah), a senior al-Qaeda operative, was identified as a leading figure in Ahrar al-Sham.
According to the Treasury, al-Suri is al-Qaeda's representative in Syria and received at least $600,000 in 2013 from a Qatar-based al-Qaeda financier for operations in Syria.

The IHH came under additional scrutiny on January 1, 2014, when Turkish media alleged that the charity was transporting weaponry to Syria. The IHH denied the allegations. Two weeks later, however, Turkish anti-terror units conducted raids in six cities against people suspected of financing, arming, and fighting on behalf of al-Qaeda and other jihadists in Syria. Among the locations targeted was an IHH office near the Syrian border. At least one suspect was arrested at the IHH office in Kilis. Another IHH employee was detained in Kayseri after the police raided his home.

The IHH enjoys significant support from the Turkish government. These recent reports out of Bosnia-Herzegovina raise new and troubling questions about the charity's activities and why Ankara continues to lend its support.

Jonathan Schanzer is vice president for research at Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

defenddemocracy

UNICEF: 1 Greek Child in Every 3 At Risk of Poverty Or Social Exclusion

A new report from Unicef claims that many children in Greece have very little and/or no access to healthcare because their parents have no insurance.

More precisely, and according to Unicef, roughly 686,000 children, or 35.4% of all the children in Greece, are at risk of poverty or social exclusion, up from 30.4% in 2013.

The report entitled "The situation of children in Greece, 2014 says that the most vulnerable victims are children from single-parent homes (where 74.7% were deemed at risk) whereas in large families the figure was estimated at 43.7%. A significant number of children in Greece had no access to health care because their parents had lost their state social insurance coverage, it said.

Children living in households with no working adults rose to 292,000, or 13.2% of the total in 2012, up by 204,000 compared with 2008.

The report, conducted in collaboration with the University of Athens, also found a large reduction in numbers of children in Greece since 2001. The underage population shrunk 9% in the decade between 2001 and 2011 census, at a faster rate than the overall population, which fell by 1.1%.

It also found a significant reduction in social expenditure on benefits, with welfare payments decreasing by 4.%9 in 2011 relative to 2009.

Have human rights in Ukraine deteriorated since pro-NATO coup? YES

The situation of human rights in Ukraine has deteriorated markedly since the pro-NATO coup. While the Western media turn a blind eye to this every day reality, Oriental Review highlights thirty particularly significant incidents, revealing that the street is in the hands of Nazi thugs who beat up and kill people with complete impunity.

The flywheel of political repressions in Ukraine is gaining momentum these days. In sharp contrast with the liberal approach by president Yanukovych to the “Euromaidan” rout, the interim Kievan administration did not hesitate much about cracking down the public uprising against the “neo-Nazi regime” on the rise in the East and South of Ukraine. Today only in Kharkov at least 70 activists have been arrested during the so-called “anti-terrorist operation” [1]. According to the reports, foreign mercenaries presumably from the US Greystone Ltd private military contractor firm were participating in the operation along with the National Guard (majorly consisting of the ultranationalist Pravy (Right) Sector fighters) and some loyal Interior Ministry units.

George Orwell was onto something when he coined the phrase, “war is peace,” to describe the group think of his fictional future totalitarian society. He would have no trouble recognizing the propaganda on parade during the recent overthrow of the Ukrainian government, during which “peaceful protesters” engaged in killing, burning, and looting … and continue to do so now.

But the coup is not yet over – seizing power is one thing, but it’s something else to hold onto it. And now we’re seeing the inevitable difficulties crop up: a little over a month ago the interim government in Kiev lost possession of Crimea and found itself faced with desperate resistance in Southern and Eastern Ukraine.

The new government arrived on the scene brandishing slogans such as: “peaceful protests,” “the struggle for democracy,” and “freedom of speech,” but began straight off with a purge of the opposition, establishing total control over television, radio, and the press, and using political repression to muzzle civil protests in southern and eastern Ukraine.

Overt physical crackdowns on any sign of dissent began during the very first hours of the coup: on Feb. 20 the pro-Maidan majority in the Supreme (Verkhovnaya) Rada (Ukrainian Parliament) used violence against the Communist and Party of Regions’ deputies. Many were stripped of their voting cards, which were then used by others to cast the “needed” ballots.

Then came an attack on the TV channel Inter [2], which is watched throughout the country and enjoys the second highest ratings. Armed men burst into the studio in the middle of a live broadcast. The journalist Mustafa Nayyem (one of the organizers of Euromaidan) has already announced the new government’s plans … to nationalize the channel. As you may recall, the TV station currently belongs to the oligarch Dmytro Firtash who was arrested in Vienna at the request of the FBI [3].

What’s priceless of course is that a few weeks before, Mustafa Nayyem and his accomplices at Hromadske (Public) TV (an Internet TV project that was launched using American grant money almost simultaneously with the start of the Euromaidan protests) took the opposite approach, “privatizing” part of the airways at the TV channel First National (which is state-owned).

The National Council for Radio and Television (after several unsuccessful half-measures) finally decided to completely ban all major Russian TV newscasts in Ukraine [4]. And all the television broadcasts originating from companies owned by Igor Kolomoisky [5], Victor Pinchuk [6], Rinat Akhmetov [7], and Dmytro Firtash suddenly began working in unison as a well-oiled, centrally controlled propaganda machine.

Over the last month there have been dozens of attacks (both physical and cyber versions) on the editorial staff of the opposition media. And on Feb. 27, the so-called People’s Self-Defense seized the office of the Golos.ua news agency, and severe pressure was put on the Ukrainian national TV channel Gamma that works closely with that agency.

Soon there was a raid on the newspaper Communist, which is the official publication of the Communist Party of Ukraine. The CPU website is also often down. In the city of Vinnitsa, brazen force was used to seize the local TV station that worked with Ukrainian Communists. The pro-Maidan journalists reported this information with undisguised joy.

An attack was also staged on the online publication Ukrainian Krivda, which parodies the pro-Maidan media and fact-checks the made-to-order dogma in their publications. Their website is currently being blocked as well.

A group of journalists of Ukrainian Pravda web-site led by the well-known political analyst Vladimir Kornilov was forced to choose between leaving the country or ceasing publication of their articles. They were threatened with savage reprisals and death.

The last issue to be published by literally the only representative of the opposition media that is accessible throughout the country, the well-respected and very readable weekly 2000, appeared on March 14. Publication halted because of pressure on its printer, the Press of Ukraine, where the paper is typeset in its usual format. The printing house, which is a state-funded institution, unilaterally changed the conditions for printing the newspaper, placing the publication in an impossible situation.

And of course there was the notorious example of the visit paid by several members of the nationalist Svoboda party to First National TV’s office. The beating of Aleksandr Panteleimonov was captured on video and he was forced to write a letter of resignation after being subjected to threats and violence.

Although the Western media wrings its hands over the alleged “human rights violations in Crimea,” international observers are seemingly too busy to interest themselves in what’s happening in the rest of Ukraine [8].

For the curious, here are some facts that represent only the “tip of the iceberg” of political repression in Ukraine.

- On Feb. 22 the first secretary of the Lvov Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine, Rostislav Vasilko, was falsely accused of “firing at Maidan” and subjected to brutal tortures [9]. According to eyewitnesses, he had needles shoved under his fingernails, his right lung was punctured, three ribs, his nose and other bones in his face were broken, and threats were made to wipe out his family. He is currently undergoing medical treatment in Russia.

- On Feb. 23, Alexander Pataman, the leader of the antifascist People’s Militia of Zaporozhye, was kidnapped.

- On February 24, six members of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine were voluntarily sacked by the Supreme Rada “for violating the oath” [10]. Some of them were subject to threats and physical coersion. Three days later the expelled judges adopted an appeal to international human rights institutions [11].

- On February 28, the deputy governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region, Boris Filatov, posted an explanation on his Facebook page of how to properly handle members of the pro-Russian movement who are dissatisfied with the central government in Kiev: “offer those dirtbags any promises, guarantees, or concessions they want. And… we’ll hang them all later.” [12]

- On March 5, Andrei Purgin, one of the leaders of the pro-Russian organization, the Donetsk Republic, was captured in Donetsk and taken to an unknown destination [13]. The kidnapped man’s friends claim that he had received a visit the previous day, during which he was warned, “if he stays home today, his wife won’t become a widow,” but because others were expecting him, he went on to the public square anyway. Andrei’s fate is now unknown.

- On March 6, Vladimir Rogov, the leader of the Ukrainian civic organization, the Slavic Guard, was kidnapped. Both are safe at the moment, but were forced to leave the Zaporozhye region and Ukraine.

- On March 6, Pavel Gubarev, the “people’s governor” and leader of pro-Russian activists, was detained in Donetsk [14]. After being picked up, he was severely beaten, both on the road from Donetsk to Kiev, as well as in the detention facility of the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU). Pavel fell into a coma in mid-March and currently remains in a prison hospital. Because of fears that his condition could be made public, he is not being allowed access to a lawyer. His wife Ekaterina and three young children were forced to leave Ukraine after her husband’s arrest.

- Since March 14th the “people’s governor” of the Luhansk region and leader of the Lugansk Guard, Alexander Kharitonov, has been under arrest and held in an SBU detension facility.

- On March 17 the leader of the People’s Alternative, Anton Davidchenko, was detained by the SBU in Odessa, and he is also currently being held in an SBU prison in Kiev.

- On March 17, a group of far-right members of the so-called “People’s Tribunal” in Vinnitsa brazenly demanded that Tatyana Antonets, the chief physician of the regional children’s hospital, voluntarily step down because she had neither publicly renounced the Party of Regions nor condemned “the crimes of the former government.” [15] The radicals claimed that if she did not obey their orders, the doctor would be held accountable “in accordance with the laws of draconian revolutionary times.”

- On March 17 -  After several threats had been made,  the car belonging to the leader of the Southeastern Front, Artyom Timchenko, was torched. The public prosecutor for the Zaporozhye region, Alexander Shatsky, who had been newly appointed by Kiev, called the incident an example of “self-immolation.”

- On March 19, approximately 300 armed men in Vinnitsa, led by activists from Right Sector, seized a local distillery belonging to the company Nemiroff [16].

- On March 20 a group of activists from Right Sector assaulted some Hungarian schoolchildren who were on a field trip to Transcarpathia from the Hungarian city of Miskolc [17]. Armed extremists broke up a meeting of the Hungarian civic council in the town of Berehove in the Transcarpathian region and beat up the attendees. Two years ago the Ukrainian nationalists desecrated the monument on the Verecke Pass that had been erected to commemorate the passage of Hungarian troops across the Carpathians [18]. They painted “Death to Hungarians” and “This is Ukraine” on the podium.

- On March 20 four Russian journalists from the Russia-1 TV channel were detained in Donetsk [19]. The Russians’ documents were seized and they were taken to the Vasilievka checkpoint, where they were kept for several hours without explanation before being expelled from Ukraine.

- On March 20 the Ukrainian Security Service began an attempt to dissolve the Lugansk Guard civic organization that advocates for placing Ukraine under the authority of the federal government and for making Russian a state language. Three activists were arrested and a search conducted of the organization’s offices and its members’ apartments. One of the leaders of its youth wing, Anastasiya Pyaterikova, posted a public appeal on social networks, claiming that the SBU, along with a deputy from the Verkhovna Rada (a leader from the far-right Radical Party of Oleh Lyashko), organized a search for the members of the Lugansk Guard, and persecuted activists and members of their families [20].

- On March 20 representatives of the so-called AutoMaidan movement attempted to extort fuel, cash, and other assets from the director of one of the branches of the Russian company Lukoil-Ukraine, in order “to feed the needs of the revolution.” [21]

- On March 20 a crowd in Kiev, wearing masks and armed with firearms and blades, broke into the building of the Ukrainian State Architectural and Construction Inspection Board. Seizing offices on the seventh and eleventh floors, they pretended to be members of an “anti-corruption committee” and tried to confiscate folders containing archival documents.

- On March 21 a house in the Kiev region was burned that belonged to Viktor Medvedchuck, a leader of the Ukrainian Choice movement.

- On March 23 Euromaidan activists in Kiev attempted to occupy the building of Rossotrudnichestvo, a Russian agency that promotes ties with ethnic Russians abroad, and the car of one of its employees was stolen. This stunt was intended to confiscate that office space and use it to house the headquarters of the People’s Self-Defense of Maidan.

- On March 23 a group of Right Sector members armed with machine guns stormed a concert in Rovno that was being held as part of a local rock festival, brandishing their weapons and dispersing the attendees.

- On March 23 in Zaporozhye, a few dozen militants, known as the Self-Defense of Maidan, attacked the participants in the Melitopol-Zaporozhye Friendship Road Rally with sticks, stones, and iron rebars. People were beaten and cars were damaged.

- On March 24, members of the Ukrainian border service once again forbade Aeroflot crew members from leaving their aircraft during stopovers at Ukrainian airports. No explanation was given. This type of discrimination on the part of the Ukrainian border guards, which has occurred several times in the past month at the airports in Kiev, Donetsk, and Kharkov, is in violation of accepted international practices and poses a danger to civil air traffic. In recent days, Ukrainian border guards have forcibly turned back large numbers of air travelers from Russia. Forty-three such cases have been reported at Aeroflot alone. In 32 cases, Aeroflot was compelled to repatriate passengers at its own expense who had flown to Ukraine on one-way tickets.

- Since mid-March at the Kharkov section of the Russian-Ukrainian border, Ukrainian border guards have stopped Russian citizens from entering Ukraine, each day turning back 120-130 people.

- On March 26, Right Sector supporters in Dnepropetrovsk, Donetsk, and Kharkov physically assaulted anyone they found in the streets wearing the honorary St. George ribbons (the symbol of Soviet victory over Nazism) [22].

- On March 26 in the Kirovograd region, representatives of the local “people’s council” and members of the Svoboda party attacked the chief physician at the Ulyanovsk Central District Hospital, Aleksander Tkalenko, attempting to beat him in his own office [23]. The doctor’s only “sin” was his political affiliation (he was a member of the Party of Regions and had been appointed to his current position by the Yanukovych administration).

- On March 26, the former mayor of Mirgorod (in the Poltava region) and chairman of the town council Vasily Tretetsky died in the hospital after being beaten and shot by assailants on March 16 [24].

- On March 26, activists from the Avtodozor social movement together with a hundred of militants from the Self-Defense of Maidan, picketed the offices of Russian banks on Kreshchatik street in Kiev (VTB, Alfa, Sberbank of Russia, and Prominvest), demanding that they be closed and all their Ukrainian divisions nationalized [25]. The Sberbank building was seized and looted.

- On April 1, the Ukrainian Security Service searched the apartments of pro-Russian activists in Odessa. In particular, they scoured the flat belonging to Alexei Albu, a deputy in the Odessa regional council. “SBU staffers arrived at my apartment at 8:00 am, opened the door, and conducted a search. They were carrying a court injunction. The security officers themselves stated that they were looking for lists of activists from our organization and also for weapons. However, in the end they were forced to sign a statement attesting that nothing illegal had been found in the apartment they searched.” Alexei claims that he had been previously summoned by the Ukrainian special services for a “conversation.”

The ‘last and categorical warning letter’ sent to Rev. Alexander Shirokov by the Ukrainian Nazis urging him to stop “Moscovite propaganda” under the death threat.

The threats to Russian Orthodox priests is also a regretful commonplace in today’s Ukraine. The case of Rev. Alexander Shirokov, persecuted by non-registered National Socialist Workers’ Party of Ukraine, was made public thanks to the special statement of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs [26]. The great number of other, less publicized cases of pressure imposed against the pro-Russian priesthood by the radical elements and local administrations loyal to the central Kievan interim authorities, are taking place.

Given this climate, the pro-Russian intelligentsia in Ukraine continues to emigrate en masse to Russia (including to Crimea). According to the latest data, more than 30,000 people have been forced to flee their own country, which has been taken over by nationalists.

We can only guess at the source for the reports by international human rights organizations, since they document only the non-existent “violations” committed by one side – the Russians – while completely ignoring the instances of egregious anarchy so often found in Ukraine today.

In any event, it is clear that under these circumstances, what are being billed as the Ukrainian presidential elections cannot be held in anything resembling a normal atmosphere on May 25, and no ballot-box returns during this crisis will be recognized by Russia, the country that the majority of Ukraine’s citizens are counting on.

Sources

• [1] “Kiev cracks down on eastern Ukraine after 2 regions proclaim independence”, Russia Today, 8 April 2014.
• [2] “2014 . Захват канала " ИНТЕР " в прямом эфире”, YouTube.
• [3] Dmytro Firtash is an Ukrainian businessman, investor and philanthropist. He is head of the Board of Directors of Group DF (‘The Firtash group of companies’) which consolidates assets in the chemical industry, power sector and real estate in Ukraine, Germany, Italy, Cyprus, Tajikistan, Switzerland, Hungary, Austria and Estonia. He is also President of the Federation of Employers of Ukraine (FEU) and Chairman of the National Tripartite Social and Economic Council (NTSEC).
• [4] “Ukrainian court bans Russian TV broadcast”, Russia Today, 26 March 2014.
• [5] Igor Kolomoisky is an Ukrainian-Israeli business oligarch of Jewish descent and the current Governor of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. A multibillionaire, he is rated as the second or third richest person in Ukraine (after Rinat Akhmetov and/or Viktor Pinchuk) since 2006. Kolomoyskyi is the leading partner of the Privat Group and a de facto chairman of the FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk.
• [6] Victor Pinchuk is a Ukrainian businessman and philanthropist. In March 2012, Forbes ranked him 255th on the list of the wealthiest people in the world, with a fortune of $4.2 billion. Pinchuk is the founder and main owner of EastOne Group LLC, an international investing, project funding and financial advisory company based in London, and of Interpipe, one of Ukraine’s leading pipe, wheels and steel producers. Pinchuk is the owner of four TV channels and a popular tabloid, Fakty i Kommentarii. He has been a member of the Ukrainian parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, for two consecutive terms from 1998 to 2006. He is married to Olena Pinchuk, the daughter of former President of Ukraine Leonid Kuchma.
• [7] Rinat Akhmetov is a Ukrainian businessman and oligarch. He is the founder and President of System Capital Management (SCM), and is ranked among the wealthiest men in the nation. Akhmetov is also the owner and President of the Ukrainian football club Shakhtar Donetsk. In 2006–2007 and 2007–2012 Akhmetov was a member of the Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada (parliament) for the Party of Regions.
• [8] “Crimean Tatars Seek Autonomy in Light of Massive Russian Human Rights Violations”, Daily Kos, 29 March 2014.
• [9] “Communist tells of atrocious tortures on Maidan”, Pravda TV,
• [10] “Ukraine Parliament Sacks Constitutional Court Judges”, RIA-Novosti, 24 February 2014.
• [11] “Address of judges of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine to European and international organisations and human rights institutions”, Voltaire Network, 27 February 2014.
• [12] Boris Filatov’s Facebook.
• [13] “Andrei Purgin has been kidnapped by armed men thought to be oligarch Rinat Akhmetov’s men who’s loyalty is with Kiev’s self-proclaimed regime”, Ukraine Maidan Related Info and News, 5 March 2014.
• [14] “Pavel Gubarev kidnapped by nazi self-proclaimed government in Kiev”, Ukraine Maidan Related Info and News, 6 March 2014.
• [15] “Фашисты сыкуны угрожают детскому врачу Татьяне Антонец, если не уйдет с должности”, YouTube, 19 March 2014.
• [16] “В Винницкой области вооруженные люди захватили ликеро-водочный завод”, YouTube, 19 March 2014.
• [17] “«Правый Сектор» принялся за венгров”, euromaidanu.net, 21 March 2014.
• [18] “Монумент в честь перехода древних венгров через Карпаты осквернили на Украине”, Finugor, 22 August 2012.
• [19] “На украинской границе задержали и допросили российского корреспондента”, NTV, 21 March 2014.
• [20] “Обращение от лица "Луганской гвардии". Луганск нуждается в помощи!”, YouTube, 19 March 2014.
• [21] “Автомайдан и Правый Сектор требуют у компании Лукойл горючее на нужды революции!”, YouTube, 20 March 2014.
• [22] “Right Sector terrorizing Dnepropetrovsk, beating pro-Russian activists”, YouTube, 28 March 2014.
• [23] “Беспредел в Ульяновке”, YouTube.
• [24] “Замах на вбивство голови народної ради Миргорода Василя Третецького”, YouTube, 18 March 2014.
• [25] “Пикет российских банков в Киеве”, YouTube, 26 March 2013.
• [26] “Comment by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding threats to priests in Ukraine”, Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 25 March 2014.

Voltaire Network

HERE WE GO AGAIN - Gov't To Bring Anti-racism bill To Parliament

Not suprisingly, and following the resignation of one of the Samaras government's leading political allies (Panagiotis Baltakos) press reports are now claiming that the government is planning on once again bringing the controversial anti-racism bill to Parliament in order to be discussed. The current anti-racism bill -as outlined in the Greek constitution- is sufficient enough to safeguard the rights of minorities, but this is not sufficient enough for some political parties in Greece who suspiciously side with George Soros international foundations that continually condemn Greece over human rights violations.

The government has attempted to bring this bill to Parliament twice in the past because of pressure from the (Soros) backed DIMAR party, as well as all the other Left-wing parties including PASOK, but the majority of MPS in Antonis Samaras' government always rejected it. It should be reminded that this controversial bill wants to ignore two historical periods in Greek history: The genocides of Greeks in Asia Minor and Pontus. This alone... should anger all of us, and inspire us as Hellenes to condemn this Greek leftist anti-Hellenic stance and join forces so that we can continue to remind the world of these two historical tragedies.

Following the announcement that the bill would once again be submitted (and quite coincidentally we might add..., the Soros backed) Amnesty International published a report on the violent racist attacks against Roma in the Czech Republic, France and Greece and the failure by Europe to effectively address this issue.

The report, apparently entitled "We Ask for Justice" Europe’s Failure to Protect Roma from Racist Violence, claims that about 250,000 to 350,000 Roma live in Greece and have experienced discrimination and racist abuse for many generations. Of course there is no reference to how much violence and/or crime is endured by the Greek population by the Roma community -steeling of steel cables, robberies, drug trafficking- nor does it touch base on the subject of child trafficking - something that the Roma communities in the Balkans have been internationally accused of.

The only thing that Amnesty International concerns itself with is the well-being of Roma in Europe and the so called pogrom-like attacks which it actually claims have increased in recent years.

With the report, which even dares to include first-hand reports and examples of racist attacks against Roma in Greece, Amnesty International has called upon the EU governments to take greater and more focused measures to curb and eradicate the discrimination and violence against Roma throughout Europe.

The report simply vindicates everything we have said time and time again here at HellasFrappe about these wannabe humanitarian organizations. We should all view them with a suspicious eye, and always view whatever they say with a grain of salt.