Rescuers paint harrowing portrait of search aboard sunken ferry

 

In the final, chaotic moments before the South Korean ferry Sewol rolled over and sank into the chilly waters of the Yellow Sea, 48 girls obeyed the orders of crew members and put on their life vests.Perhaps afraid, they all crammed into a single room meant for 30.None of them survived.The account of the recovery of the girls' bodies, offered Friday by rescue officials, offers a glimpse of the final moments aboard the sinking ferry, which went down on April 16 with 476 people aboard.

It also illuminates the daunting task facing divers trying to retrieve bodies while maintaining a fading glimmer of hope that perhaps, somewhere aboard the ferry, someone remains alive.

Rescue officials spoke of a forest of floating objects, doors forced shut by enormous water pressure, and of currents that tug at the breathing tubes that keep them alive as they look for the dead.

Civilian diver Chun Kwan-geung, one of the many rescuers working in the murky waters, spoke of having to break out windows to get to the lower decks of the ship, which now lies on its right side on the seafloor some 73 meters (240 feet) below the surface."The rescue effort is getting slower," said South Korean navy Capt. Kim Jin-hwang, commander of the rescue operation. "The divers already searched all the places easily accessible. They are expecting the search to become harder because of increasing currents and harsher weather. But the navy will not stop until the last body is found."

As if highlighting the point, Kim's divers are trying to find their way into another dormitory-style room where 50 girls were believed to be as the ship began to sink.

So far, rescuers have retrieved 187 bodies. Another 115 people remain missing, although no one has been rescued since 174 were plucked from ship and sea the day the ferry sank.As the effort inside the ship continues, South Korean authorities are pressing a criminal investigation into the sinking. It's resulted in the arrests of the ship's captain and 14 other members, searches of the company that owned the ferry and the home of the man whose family controls it, and a wide-ranging probe into the country's marine industry. 

Safety concerns about sister ship

Prosecutors in Mopko, South Korea, who are leading the ferry investigation told CNN's Nic Robertson on Friday that authorities have yet to determine what caused the sinking.

Leading theories include changes made to increase the ferry's passenger capacity and shifting cargo.

On Friday, investigators checked out the Sewol's sister ship, the Ohamana, and said they found 40 of its life rafts weren't working, emergency slides to help evacuate passengers were inoperable, and equipment to tie down cars and cargo either was nonexistent or didn't work very well.

Like the Sewol, the Ohamana had been modified to add more passengers, the prosecutor's office said.

The ship arrived in Incheon on April 16, the same day the Sewol sank, and has not left yet, officials said.

Investigators are looking into whether those modifications could have contributed to the Sewol's fate.

Kim Yong-rok, an opposition lawmaker who represents Jindo, an island near where the ship sank, told CNN that modifications to add 117 more passenger cabins to the ship raised the ferry's center of gravity.On Friday, the South Korean Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries announced it would ask lawmakers to consider legislation prohibiting modifications to ships to increase passenger capacity.

Government investigators are also probing the private organization that conducts ship safety inspections on behalf of the government to determine if any wrongdoing was involved in the certification of the Sewol after its 2013 modifications.

Families confront officials

The revelations about the sister ship came the day after angry relatives of missing ferry passengers cursed government and police officials for failing to do enough to save the lives of their loved ones as hopes of finding survivors dimmed.The relatives berated Fisheries Minister Lee Ju-young and two coast guard officials, accusing them of misleading the public about the operation and of wasting time.

"How can you fool us into believing you were out there trying to save our children?" one mother yelled at the officials.

Also, officials at the South Korean headquarters for the task force coordinating the search told CNN that they believe the body of a boy who reportedly made the first emergency call from the ship after it began to list sharply has been recovered. DNA tests will help officially identify the remains, officials said early Friday.Also on Friday, an official involved in the investigation in Mokpo asked for patience."I know a lot of people are curious as to the cause of the accident, but we don't have the information yet," said Heo Yong-beom, a maritime safety judge. "We will try our best to satisfy and answer questions."

'We join you in mourning'

Meanwhile, U.S. President Barack Obama, in South Korea for a previously scheduled trip, presented South Korean President Park Geun-hye with an American flag that flew over the White House the day the ferry sank."I'm very mindful that my visit comes at a time of mourning for the people of this nation," he told the U.S. and the South Korean delegations. "As allies but also friends, we join you in mourning the missing, and especially the young people."The delegations held a moment of silence, then Park thanked Obama for the gesture."The Korean people draw great strength from your kindness," she said.

Deal falters, blame begins

 
Senior Cambodian People’s Party figures who have been at the forefront of negotiations with the opposition party yesterday offered lukewarm responses to the prospect of restarting talks that would bring an end to the opposition’s seven-month-long parliamentary boycott.
Their position – that the opposition party was wrong to reject a deal discussed at length between Prime Minister Hun Sen and Sam Rainsy earlier this month after weeks of backroom talks – confirmed speculation that while the political deadlock had shown promising signs of ending before Khmer New Year, two weeks on, the parties are no closer to an agreement.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sar Kheng responded yesterday to reporters’ questions , with seeming exasperation about further negotiations, which stalled after Hun Sen said on April 10 that Cambodia National Rescue Party deputy leader Kem Sokha was holding up a deal.
“Now I will ask you two questions. Who should we meet with? And if we meet, what are we supposed to talk about? Where should we start from now because we have gone all the way from the lower level to the top level [in negotiations] and in the end, the result was kicked out by the CNRP,” he said.
“Now where should negotiations start from? I don’t know,” said Kheng, speaking after a ceremony where he appointed the director-general of the newly formed Department of Immigration at his ministry.
However, he continued, the CPP would still be willing to talk with the CNRP, but with the onus resting on the opposition to request further negotiations
Before the New Year holiday, Rainsy and Hun Sen had reportedly agreed on a number of aspects of reform, including the overhaul of the National Election Committee and that the next election be brought forward to February 2018.
In a move that many interpreted as part of a “divide and conquer” approach, the premier placed the blame squarely at the feet of Sokha, who was away in the United States, for not agreeing to that proposal when the deal faltered.
In response, Rainsy denied there was any split between himself and Sokha, and said that he had never agreed to a February 2018 election date. He added that the CNRP was holding out for an election to be held at least a year earlier than the scheduled July 2018 date.
Senior CPP lawmaker Cheam Yeap yesterday echoed Kheng in expressing pessimism about future talks.
Following the prime minister’s line, he said no agreement could be made while Sokha remained “defiant”, but congratulated Rainsy’s alleged flexibility in comparison, adding that negotiations could resume when Hun Sen returns from an official visit to Belarus this Saturday.
Rainsy flew to Europe on April 13 and Sokha remains in the United States, though both are expected to return to the Kingdom in the coming days.
“But [I think] that if the negotiations cannot reach a good result, not doing it is better because it wastes time. [The parties might] nearly be in accord but just being nearly [in agreement] is not an agreement at all,” Yeap said.
Rainsy did not respond to emailed requests for comments before press time.
CNRP spokesman Yem Ponharith said he was not surprised that the CPP was not keen on further negotiations.
He added that his party was remaining firm on three key points – namely an early election, NEC overhaul and a TV licence being granted to
the opposition.
“Regarding these three points that we have taken to propose, there does not seem to be any points that the Cambodian People’s Party [is serious] about wanting to do at all,” he said.
“If they don’t want to negotiate . . . we should let people who are the voters solve this.”
Political commentator Kem Ley yesterday said he was disappointed in both parties for focusing on political concessions in negotiations instead of meaningful reforms.
“They are organising for winning an election, not [to create] a free and fair election,” he said.
“Before Khmer New Year was just a politicians’ agenda . . . [and] not in the country’s interest.”

Concerns ahead of trial for 23

 

One the eve of the trial of 23 people arrested during a garment strike in January, their supporters yesterday expressed concern that politics, rather than the facts, may determine the verdict.

Nearly four months after their arrests at protests on January 2 and 3 – the day that authorities killed at least four people when they fired automatic rifles into crowds on Veng Sreng Boulevard – all 23 will stand trial today.

“The [largest] concern for us is that the ruling party will keep them as political hostages,” said Moeun Tola, head of the labour program at the Community Legal Education Center (CLEC), which is providing legal representation for some defendants. “If the court really depends . . . on the law, the charges against the 23 should be dropped.”Phnom Penh Municipal Court charged a large majority of detainees with intentional violence and damage, crimes that carry a maximum of five years in prison and $2,500 in fines. The court later reduced charges against three suspects – including Independent Democracy of Informal Economy Association (IDEA) president Vorn Pov – to charges carrying a maximum of two years. 

Defendants were arrested outside the Yakjin garment factory on January 2 and on Veng Sreng Boulevard the next day. Two were later released on bail, while 21 were held at Kampong Cham’s Correctional Centre 3 until they were brought to Phnom Penh’s Prey Sar prison on Wednesday.

Unsure about what evidence the prosecution has against those arrested, Naly Pilorge, head of rights group Licadho, which is also providing legal representation, said the defence’s evidence includes up to 52 witnesses and video footage.“With the number of [the defence’s] witnesses and documents . . . we expect this [trial] to be longer than a day,” Pilorge said yesterday.Evidence has already been sent to the courthouse, said Kim Socheat, one of the attorneys representing Pov.“I expect the court will release my client and the other people, because they are not guilty,” Socheat said.

Rio police in fresh clashes with residents after burial of dancer

Police used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse dozens of angry protesters from the Pavao-Pavaozinho favela.The protesters were returning from the burial of a man whose death - allegedly at the hands of police - triggered the earlier clashes.Authorities say they will investigate the death of TV dancer Douglas Pereira.Rio's public safety director, Jose Maria Beltrame, said they would proceed "with the utmost rigour and transparency".

The latest clashes came weeks before Brazil is to host the football World Cup.

On Thursday, cars were torched and hundreds of residents were unable to return to their homes as protesters blocked roads with burning barricades.Police used pepper spray and tear gas to disperse stone-throwing protesters. One person was detained, according to Brazilian G1 news portal.Authorities temporarily closed the main avenue of the nearby Copacabana district, which is famous for its sandy beach.'Everybody loved him'
 
The residents had been walking home from Mr Pereira's funeral.
At the burial, his mother, Maria de Fatima Silva, told the BBC's Julia Carneiro that she would seek help from the human rights group Amnesty International."This cannot go unpunished, he can't become just a statistic," she said."This story about him being a criminal is just not true. He was not a delinquent," she told our correspondent.

There were scuffles between angry residents and riot police in the touristic district of Copacabana

Some people at the funeral called for justice, saying Douglas Pereira was killed by the police

The authorities have promised a thorough investigation into the death of the popular dancer

According to some residents, Mr Pereira had been trying to flee from a shoot-out between police and drug dealers and had climbed over a wall to hide.They said he had then been found by police, who, believing he was a trafficker, had beaten him to death.One person died in Tuesday's clashes. Swift actionOfficials said on Wednesday that the dancer had been killed by a bullet, contradicting an earlier version that stated he had died from a fall.The Rio authorities have promised that, if there were any indications that police were linked to Mr Pereira's death, swift action would be taken.

Pavao-Pavaozinho is one of the poor districts of Rio that has been part of a police "pacification" programme, in which the security forces move into an area in an effort to wrest control from the drug traffickers who run it.It is an attempt by the city authorities to drive the armed gangs away from communities and restore police authority ahead of the World Cup in June and July.
But the programme is controversial as Brazilian police have been accused of using excessive force, at times killing residents not connected to any gangs.Amnesty International says some 2,000 people die every year in Brazil as a result of police violence.

Russia in new Ukraine attack threat

 

Moscow has again warned that it will retaliate if it judges that the interests of Russian people are being threatened in Ukraine.Russian troops have begun military exercises close to the border with Ukraine while Nato forces are conducting exercises in Poland.The BBC's Daniel Sandford reports from eastern Ukraine.

Aid Groups in Rakhine State Required to Report Activities in Advance

 

U.N. agencies and international humanitarian groups in Myanmar’s Rakhine state will be required to report on their activities in advance and receive approval for them from a government-led committee as part of new measures following the latest violence in the troubled state, a panel member said Wednesday.The new rules come amid international calls for Myanmar to facilitate aid workers’ return to Rakhine amid a bitter humanitarian crisis following riots last month that led to the biggest disruption of aid in the area in years.

Aid groups who return will be required to submit information about their activities to the Emergency Coordination Center, a newly established body comprising state and central government officials as well as representatives from the United Nations, NGOs, and the local ethnic Rakhine community.

ECC member Than Tun, a Buddhist community leader in Rakhine’s capital Sittwe, said after a meeting of the body Wednesday that aid groups will need to submit the information at least seven days in advance and receive approval for their planned activities.“We agreed at today’s meeting that U.N. organizations and international NGOs must inform the ECC one week in advance on how they plan to help, how much aid, and where,” he told RFA’s Myanmar Service.“They can begin their work when the ECC approves it,” he said. 

Chased out

The new rules follow the expulsion of international NGO Doctors Without Borders (MSF) from Rakhine state and rioting in Sittwe on March 26 and 27 that chased other groups from the state.

In a rampage that saw a 13-year-old girl accidentally shot dead by police, mobs of hundreds of ethnic Rakhines ransacked and hurled stones at aid groups’ offices following reports that an aid worker from Malteser International had taken down a Buddhist flag.

The ECC confirmed at Wednesday’s meeting that it would not be giving Malteser International or Doctors Without Borders (MSF) permission to return.Rakhine state government spokesman Win Myaing had said earlier this month that aid groups would need approval from the ECC to return to the state.Win Myaing said humanitarian organizations had previously operated in Rakhine State under memoranda of understanding with the central government in Naypyidaw, but state officials were not kept informed, leading to problems, according to local news outlet Mizzima.

International concern

The U.N. and foreign governments have called on Myanmar to help aid workers return to Rakhine state, which has been torn by violence between Buddhist Rakhine and Rohingya Muslims in recent years.

U.N. officials have warned that the violence and the humanitarian crisis posed a serious threat to the country's dramatic economic and political reforms as it emerges from decades under military rule.

Last week the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Samantha Power urged Myanmar to intervene to stop communal violence there and protect humanitarian workers in Rakhine.

"We continue to support Burma's reforms, but are greatly concerned that without effective government intervention violence in Rakhine could worsen, lives will be lost, and the critically needed humanitarian presence will not be sustainable," Power said in a statement, using another name for Myanmar.

"The government must take urgent steps to avoid more violence and to prevent setbacks on the journey to democracy and prosperity,” she said.In a meeting with Myanmar’s President Thein Sein in the capital Naypyidaw earlier this month, a senior U.S. diplomat, the State Department’s Assistant Secretary for East Asian  and  Pacific Affairs Daniel Russel, raised concerns about the humanitarian workers’ lack of access to Rakhine State.Aid workers who fled Rakhine state following the riots warned of a growing humanitarian crisis for thousands of minority Rohingya Muslims living in refugee camps in the state following sectarian violence in the state in 2012.

The workers were providing assistance to 140,000 Rohingyas living in crowded displacement camps near the city of Sittwe and more than 700,000 other vulnerable people in remote, hard-to-reach villages.