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Assange protests UNESCO “ban''
- WikiLeaks has lodged a strong protest with the UNESCO for “banning'' it from an international conference it is hosting at its headquarters in Paris on the impact of the whistleblower website's activities.
- Describing it as “an intolerable abuse'' of the U.N. organisation, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange demanded an immediate investigation and said it was “time to occupy UNESCO''.
- UNESCO reportedly told WikiLeaks that it “did not have intention to cause any polemic” and that WikiLeaks could attend the conference as long as it did not demand to participate as speakers.
- WikiLeaks argued, was an attempt “to deny WikiLeaks work as journalism''.
U.N. urged to get India to close Andaman Trunk Road
- British rights activists on Thursday urged the United Nations to press India to close the Andaman Trunk Road that runs through the Jarawa tribal reserve in order to end “human safaris” in the Andaman Islands.
- In a letter to the U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) ahead of a crucial meeting in Geneva, campaign group Survival International said that despite growing national and international pressure India had still not implemented the 2002 Supreme Court order on closing the road.
- Far from meddling in India's affairs, Britain, Europe and the U.N.'s concern shows the gravity of the situation, and the need to respect human rights by closing the road
- Recently, British MPs signed a parliamentary motion expressing concern over reports that tourists were taken in coaches to goggle at members of the Jarawa tribe, who were treated like attractions in a “human safari park.”
