British politicians admit to smoking cannabis during their youth

According to BBC, 8 members of the then shadow cabinet in 2000, publicly admitted to trying cannabis at some point in the past in an attempt to stop the toughening of laws against possession of the drug. This weedy discussion rears its head again recently when Home Secretary Jacqui Smith admitted to smoking cannabis 25 years ago just when the government is expected to overturn Tony Blair’s decision to downgrade the drug from Class B to Class C. In the UK, posession of Class B drug (e.g. amphetamines) is liable to a jail term of up to 5 years while class C drugs (e.g. anabolic steroids) rarely leads to persecution.

As Smith will publish a consultation document by next week on the UK drugs strategy, it appears that many politicians in other parts of the world have yet to understand that outright banning drugs is unlikely to lead to annihilating its use. The solution, like most other types of product, is legalizing and regulating drugs while providing ample consumer warning and information. Prohibition never works. Instead, it is responsible use that society should encourage.

Taiwan commemorates 20th anniversary lifting of Martial Law

Less than 20 years ago, none of the Asian countries were considered to be democracies. Taiwan was one of them.

Ruled by the Nationalists or Kuomintang (KMT) then, Taiwan was under martial law, imposed by Chiang Kai-shek on 20 May 1949 and lifted only 38 years later on 15 July 1987.

Prior to that, the authoritarian regime banned political parties and tried civilians charged for sedition through the military courts without giving them attorney representation. The media was also tightly controlled with outspoken critics being blacklisted. As many as 25,000 Taiwanese were executed by the KMT military in what is popularly known as the 228 Incident of 1947.

Twenty years after the lifting of martial law, Taiwan is now regarded as a young democracy or democracy in transition where citizens enjoy universal sufferage and are able to engage in civil society and political participation without fear. The media is also free and robust within the region.

While the lifting of the martial law is mainly a political issue restricted within Taiwan itself, it also carries with it regional implications. This is best explained by Allison Hsieh, a researcher at the Formosan Association for Public Affairs, in her Taipei Times opinion piece, “The treaty trumps the communique”. She concluded that despite Taiwan being a democracy, it is still being passed over by China, shunned, and not recognised as a sovereign state by the majority of the international community.

I quote from her, “Western countries that claim to support democracy and freedom must be much more assertive in their support for Taiwan’s right to self-determination… Their prevailing lip-service to the status quo fails to recognize that China’s missiles are the destabilizing factor in the Taiwan Strait… their failure to support democratic referendums on Taiwan betrays their hypocrisy and cowardice.”

Is Mr Ban holding up his job as UN Secretary General?

Jonathan Steele, in an article for The Guardian, says it is time for Mr Ban Ki-moon, who has been the Secretary General of the UN, to speak up and speak out.

In his column, Steele pointed out a few shortcomings such as his staff appointments with few UN experience; people who considered him as having little understanding of UN culture; or gaffes such as his support for the death penalty after the execution of Saddam Hussein.

I concur with the columnist. Mr Ban seems to be a polite diplomat who has not taken some of the countries to task for their human rights abuse (which I shall explain later).

While it is understandable that being the UN Secretary General entails maneouvering political landmines, it does not mean that he or she should remain silent when it comes to certain global political especially human rights issues.

According to the UN site, the role of the secretary general is, “Equal parts diplomat and advocate, civil servant and CEO… and a spokesman for the interests of the world’s peoples, in particular the poor and vulnerable among them… “

Yet, the secretary general has not commented on some of the important tasks at hand including the Israeli- Palestinian conflict in the Middle East which has seen greater civil strife since Hamas took over the Gaza Strip; or the human rights abuses perpetuated by the Chinese government while it is preparing to host the upcoming 2008 Olympics. His latest remark on US involvement in Iraq is considerably muted when he advised the super power to ‘practise caution in troops withdrawal’.

To quote from Steele, the Secretary General “needs to speak up and speak out. No chance of this from Ban, to judge by his record thus far.”