Cesar Chelala - The Japan Times

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Cesar Chelala

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Cesar Chelala

Cesar Chelala, MD, PhD, is an international public health consultant for several UN agencies, and a writer on human rights, medical and foreign policy issues. He is a winner of an Overseas Press Club of America Award. His articles have been published in more than 70 countries worldwide.

COMMENTARY / World

Jun 18, 2005

Unending health disaster for Iraqi kids

NEW YORK -- More than two years after the Iraq war started, children continue to be its main victims as the health of the majority of the population continues to deteriorate. In the 1980s, Iraq had one of the best health-care systems in the region. Today it cannot respond to the most basic health needs...

COMMENTARY / World

Apr 30, 2005

A groundbreaking sentence in Spain

NEW YORK -- The recent sentencing in Spain of an Argentine former navy commander, Adolfo Scilingo, to 640 years in prison for crimes against humanity will have groundbreaking consequences for the trial of those guilty of similar crimes worldwide. As a result of this trial, crimes committed in Chile,...

COMMENTARY / World

Apr 5, 2005

Russia wastes time as AIDS crisis builds

NEW YORK -- In recent years, HIV/AIDS infection in Russia has been spreading at the fastest rate in the world. Several experts estimate that more than 1.5 million Russians are HIV-infected at present. According to World Bank estimates, that number could total 5.4 million to 14.5 million by 2020 unless...

COMMENTARY / World

Mar 22, 2005

Special court can right Haitian wrongs

PORT-AU-PRINCE -- Known as the "Perle des Antilles" at the time of its independence in 1804, Haiti has gone through several periods of upheaval and terror that have stymied a once promising future. Human rights violations are widespread, and justice is nonexistent in the country today.

COMMENTARY / World

Mar 2, 2005

Abuse taking a growing toll on children worldwide

NEW YORK -- It is a sad paradox that one of the most famous entertainers in the world today should be charged with abusing a child. If Michael Jackson, accused of abusing a boy at his Neverland ranch in California, is found guilty, the verdict will be a tremendous blow to his career.

COMMENTARY / World

Jan 9, 2005

Betrayal of Dr. Schweitzer's message

LAMBARENE, Gabon -- I first learned of Dr. Albert Schweitzer's work when I was a medical student in the 1960s. During those years, the story of Schweitzer's efforts to improve the health of Africans in his hospital in Lambarene ignited my colleagues' and my imaginations. It was thus with a sense of privilege...

COMMENTARY / World

Dec 27, 2004

Chile: Twilight hour stalks an ex-tyrant

NEW YORK -- The decision by Chilean Judge Juan Guzman Tapia on Dec. 13 to indict former dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet on charges of kidnapping nine political dissidents and killing one of them during his 17-year military regime is a significant one for Chile. Guzman ruled that Pinochet, 89, is mentally...

COMMENTARY / World

Nov 4, 2004

No letup in suffering of Iraqi innocents

NEW YORK -- Recent information on the consequences of the Iraq war on civilians and children only confirms a devastating picture of the situation. According to an article in the medical magazine The Lancet, there have been more than 100,000 civilians deaths since the invasion of Iraq in March 2003. The...

COMMENTARY / World

Oct 27, 2004

U.S. has no reason to fear that ICC will abuse rights

NEW YORK -- After the Treaty of Rome was signed in 1998, laying out the foundations for the International Criminal Court, many believed that this organ of justice would never materialize. There were already indications that the United States would not support such a court in all its aspects. Rejection...

COMMENTARY / World

Oct 9, 2004

Argentina's frustrating road to justice

NEW YORK -- The recent acquittal of 22 individuals by an Argentine Federal Court in the bombing of a Jewish Center in Buenos Aires dismayed many in Argentina's Jewish community. The decision was received as evidence of the government's lack of interest in solving Argentina's worst act of terrorism. Paradoxically,...

COMMENTARY / World

Aug 23, 2004

Africa's oil boom benefiting all too few

NEW YORK -- Since the mid-1990s, several countries in sub-Saharan Africa -- Nigeria, Angola, Gabon and Equatorial Guinea -- have experienced strong revenue growth from the petroleum industry. In most cases, this new wealth is not being directed toward the countries' economic development or toward improved...

COMMENTARY / World

Aug 14, 2004

Rape now taking the form of genocide

NEW YORK -- Although rape as a weapon of war has existed for as long as war itself, it is taking a particularly heavy toll on women's lives in today's conflicts around the world. A high proportion of the women who are victims of rape end up infected with sexually transmitted diseases and infections,...

COMMENTARY / World

Jun 27, 2004

Middle East policy banks on destruction

NEW YORK -- The decision by the Bush campaign to enlist thousands of religious congregations in the United States to distribute information and register voters for the November presidential election shows how close the connection has become between politics and religion, a situation not anticipated by...

COMMENTARY / World

May 22, 2004

AIDS: China's titanic threat

NEW YORK -- The recent warning by the Chinese government that HIV/AIDS is spreading rapidly in the country and that new and urgent measures are needed to combat the infection marks an important step in the fight against HIV/AIDS. This is particularly remarkable because, at the beginning of the epidemic,...

COMMENTARY / World

Mar 29, 2004

Kala azar casts shadow over Nepal's poor

KATMANDU -- Nepal, the "country of a thousand gods," presents a sad paradox. Endowed with exquisite beauty, it is at the same time home to a series of infectious diseases that take a heavy toll on its population. Perhaps the less known among them, and the most neglected, is kala azar. The name literally...

COMMENTARY / World

Feb 29, 2004

Romania takes high road in AIDS fight

NEW YORK -- The Romanian government's serious commitment to improve access to treatment, increase outreach activities, build an effective partnership with the private sector and improve health infrastructure has led to dramatic progress in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

COMMENTARY / World

Feb 10, 2004

McNamara's lesson for today's politicians

NEW YORK -- A recent film, "The Fog of War," directed by Errol Morris -- about former U.S. Defense Secretary Robert McNamara's recollections of his political life -- should be required viewing for politicians worldwide. His testimony is valuable in several aspects. As a historical document, it provides...

COMMENTARY / World

Jan 31, 2004

U.S. oil firm leaves toxic legacy in Ecuador

NEW YORK -- Drilling for oil without adequate safeguards is one of the most destructive industrial activities both for people and for the environment. This danger has been particularly stark in the case of oil exploration and exploitation in the forested areas of the Amazon basin.

COMMENTARY / World

Dec 27, 2003

Shedding light on Kissinger's dark legacy

NEW YORK -- Recently released documents from the U.S. National Security Archive shed important light on former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger's role in Argentina. These documents indicate that Kissinger approved of the Argentinian military junta's ruthless tactics to eliminate any opposition to its...

COMMENTARY / World

Oct 11, 2003

Argentina faces the recall of impunity

NEW YORK -- In August the Argentine Congress voted to annul two statutes aimed at halting criminal prosecutions against military officers. These "impunity laws," in essence, had granted a blanket amnesty for past human rights abuses committed by the military during their rule. The goal of the annulment...

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The neurological disorder that 'kills culture'

By Tomoko Otake

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