AIDS experts blast countries with anti-gay laws

Campaigners at the world AIDS conference are taking aim at countries with anti-gay laws, accusing them of creating conditions that allow the spread of HIV.

Powerfully mixing concerns over human rights and health, the issue threatens to divide western donor countries where gay equality is making strides from poor beneficiary nations where anti-gay laws persist or have been newly passed, say some.

Nobel laureate Francoise Barre-Sinoussi, who co-discovered HIV and co-chairs the six-day conference, seized Sunday's opening ceremony to lay down a barrage of criticism at laws targeting minorities who bear a disproportionate share of the global pandemic.

"The cruel reality is that in every region of the world, stigma and discrimination continue to be the main barriers to effective access to health," she said.

"We need again to shout out loud that we will not stand idly by when governments, in violation of all human rights principles, are enforcing monstrous laws that only marginalise populations that are already the most vulnerable in society."

Experts point to bitterly-won experience in the war on AIDS, which has claimed 39 million lives in 33 years: HIV spreads stealthily from stigmatised minorities and into the mainstream population, where it then can spread like wildfire.

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Nobel laureate Francoise Barre-Sinoussi from France (L) speaks alongside co-chair Sharon Lewin of Au …

If gays or bisexuals are jailed or persecuted, this discourages them from taking an HIV test or seeking treatment if they are infected. It creates a toxic atmosphere of silence and fear -- a perfect breeding ground for HIV.

The scenario is similar, say specialists, when sex workers and intravenous drug users are criminalised.

The 12,000 delegates attending the 20th International AIDS Conference are being urged to sign a "Melbourne Declaration" which insists that all gay, lesbian and transgender people "are entitled to equal rights and to equal access to HIV prevention, care and treatment information and services".

But just as more and more western countries have passed laws enshrining equal rights to marriage, health care and pensions for gays, other countries have pushed through legislation to prosecute them.

According to a report issued last week by the UN agency UNAIDS, 79 countries have laws that criminalise same-sex practices, and seven of them have the death penalty for it.

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A doctor works with samples during research on AIDS vaccines in Barcelona on December 9, 2013 (AFP P …

Recent adopters of anti-gay legislation include Uganda and Nigeria. India has restored colonial-era anti-sodomy laws. Russia has passed legislation banning even the distribution of information about homosexual orientation.

- Donor anger -

Kene Esom, a Nigerian who works in South Africa for a gay campaign group, the African Men for Sexual Health and Rights, said these laws sometimes crippled efforts to spread the word about safe sex and expand access to life-saving HIV drugs.

"Some laws ban freedom of assembly and freedom of association" for gays, he said. "That means groups can't meet or even receive funds."

In a keynote speech, former Australian high court justice and human rights advocate Michael Kirby said patience was wearing thin among western countries which donated roughly half of the $19 billion (14 billion euros) in funds to fight AIDS in developing economies last year.

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Ugandans take part in an anti-gay demonstration through the Jinja district of Kampala, on February 1 …

Most of the money is spent buying drugs that keep millions of infected people alive.

"Someone must tell those who will not act the practical facts of life in our world," Kirby said acidly.

"They cannot expect taxpayers in other countries to shell out, indefinitely, huge funds for antiretroviral drugs if they simply refuse to reform their own laws and policies to help their own citizens."

Jean-Francois Delfraissy, head of France's National Agency for AIDS Research (ANRS), said he feared the medical consequences if the money stopped flowing.

Donor frustrations at repressive laws were best voiced through the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria to avoid charges of interference by rich countries in the domestic politics of poor ones, he told AFP.

"I'm a doctor, so my reflex is to think that these countries need antiretrovirals like everyone, and we should not be punishing patients in the hope of getting a government to shift its position.

"However, the Fund is not just a bank, it's a moral entity," he said. "It can set general lines (for disbursement), so funding can be conditional."

Nations with antigay laws targeted

Countries that persecute and jail gays and bisexuals foster conditions that allow the spread of HIV, experts say.
79 nations in all

MOSCOW (AP) — The crash of the Malaysian airliner in rebel-held eastern Ukraine is being viewed as a potential turning-point in the conflict — either, the international revulsion over the death of all 298 people on board will force the warring parties to seek an end to the violence, or the disaster will stoke the fighting as the recriminations escalate.

Four days on from the downing of the plane, both scenarios remain possible.

An assessment of the strategies and pressures in play in the conflict that has killed more than 400 people aside from the victims of the crash:

THE CAUSE

The Boeing 777 was almost certainly shot down, but who did it remains hotly disputed. Ukrainian authorities and Western countries mostly blame pro-Russia separatists in eastern Ukraine and there are some suggestions that Russia itself may have fired the missile. Russia, which denies allegations it is directing or aiding the rebels, hasn't directly lain the blame on anyone but its statements imply that Ukrainian forces were responsible.

Few think a definitive conclusion, if one can be reached, will be possible imminently. Despite calls for a full-scale international investigation, a probe has yet to begin and even when one begins, investigators will face a severely compromised crash scene. Rebels who control the crash site have allegedly interfered with the crash site by spiriting away bodies and hauled off pieces of evidence; the status of the plane's "black box" data and voice recorders remains unclear.

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Toys and flowers are placed at the crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 near the village of Hra …

Given the huge opprobrium that would fall on whichever side brought down the plane, any report assigning fault would likely be vociferously disputed or rejected by the nominally guilty party.

CEASE-FIRE

A cease-fire in the wake of the crash has also yet to be observed despite calls from all around the world, including by Russia. The prospects of one emerging appear slim if history is any guide — in late June, a cease-fire called by the Ukrainian government side barely got off the ground.

The anger on the government side is also so high that any move toward compromise would likely be seen as a meek submission to violent and heedless forces already routinely characterized as "terrorists."

The rebels, meanwhile, dismissed the June cease-fire as a ruse by the Ukrainian army to reinforce positions and equipment in the east. That suspicion persists in the wake of a run of successes by the Ukrainian army.

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Ukrainian Emergency workers carry a victim's body in a plastic bag at the crash site of Malaysia …

PEACE TALKS

Even if a cease-fire was called and crucially held, a comprehensive settlement would require peace talks. But the deep-rooted issues that set off the conflict remain. By signing an association agreement with the European Union, Ukraine has signaled it is determined to move out of Moscow's orbit — the issue that set off the crisis last November. Earlier vague proposals of mollifying the east by giving the regions more autonomy may have passed the test of time — rebels who declared the Donetsk and Luhansk regions independent may not be able to stomach remaining part of Ukraine even with enhanced local power.

RUSSIA'S ROLE

Although Russian officials have publicly dismissed Western sanctions imposed on those alleged to be supporting or directing the rebels, the measures are having enough effect that Moscow is leery of provoking more. Despite vowing to defend ethnic Russians in any country, Russian President Vladimir Putin has held back from openly intervening in Ukraine. He has even shown superficial interest in de-escalating the conflict by urging the rebels to recognize Ukraine's presidential election in May. Putin has also asked the Russian parliament to cancel its resolution allowing the use of Russian forces in Ukraine.

However, Putin may view a frozen conflict as an opportunity to keep Ukraine in a limbo that would block any efforts by Kiev to move closer to NATO. It could also discourage the foreign investment that Ukraine badly needs.

ON THE GROUND

After a confused start to its offensive against the rebels, the Ukrainian military has taken back about half of the territory once held by the rebels. But the region's two main cities, Donetsk and Luhansk, remain in the hands of the rebels and Ukraine's forces may face many impediments in taking them back. Their main strategy has been to blockade the cities, not to shell them. But blockades can starve the cities, whose combined population was about 1.5 million at the start of the hostilities, or provoke a huge wave of displaced people that Ukraine is ill-equipped to handle. If the Ukrainian armed forces turn to force, then the ensuing urban warfare could favor the guerrillas.

Ukraine at potential turning point after crash

Revulsion over the downing of MH17 could either force a truce or stoke the fighting, as recriminations escalate.
5 key issues

A massive sinkhole opened up in a Florida front lawn over the weekend and is now threatening to consume several Tampa-area homes.

The gaping crater measuring 40 feet wide and 30 feet deep appeared in Spring Hill, located about 50 miles north of Tampa, and comes little more than a year after a similar sinkhole swallowed a Tampa man while he slept.

Linda Fisher — who was out of town when ground crumbled away near her home — returned Sunday to retrieve her belongings, including her cat, before evacuating.

City officials were scheduled to survey the site Monday to determine if her neighbors' homes are safe.

"It's devastating," Fisher, 64, told WTSP-TV. "You don't expect it."

Perhaps she should have. Sinkholes like the one that partially swallowed Fisher's street and front yard are common in the Sunshine State.

In March 2013, a 30-foot wide, 20-foot deep sinkhole near Tampa swallowed 36-year-old Jeff Bush as he slept in his bed. His body was never recovered.

No one was hurt by the Spring Hill sinkhole, but authorities say rain may force evacuations of three surrounding homes.

The owner of one of them, Peggy Helmick, called authorities on Saturday night after she spotted the sinkhole forming in the road.

"We were watching the Earth crumble," Helmick told the Tampa Bay Times.

I no longer talk to Obama: Turkey's Erdogan

Istanbul (AFP) - Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he has stopped talking to US President Barack Obama on the phone, amid growing strains between Ankara and Washington over Syria and the Gaza conflict.

Turkey, a fierce opponent of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and an open supporter of armed rebel fighters, felt betrayed when the United States backed away from military action against Damascus in September.

"In the past, I was calling him (Obama) directly. Because I can't get the expected results on Syria, our foreign ministers are now talking to each other," Erdogan said in a live interview on pro-government ATV channel late Monday.

"And I have talked to (US Vice President Joe) Biden. He calls me and I call him.

"I expect justice in this process. I couldn't imagine something like this from those who are championing justice," Erdogan added without elaborating, in an apparent jibe at Washington.

The last phone conversation between the two leaders took place on February 20 after which the White House released a statement accusing Erdogan of misrepresenting the content of the conversation.

A staunch advocate of the Palestinian cause, Erdogan has recently been at loggerheads with Washington over Israel's offensive in the besieged Gaza Strip that has killed more than 580 Palestinians in two weeks.

Erdogan accused the Jewish state of carrying out "state terrorism" and a "genocide" of Palestinians and criticised the United States for defending Israel's "disproportionate" tactics.

The US State Department branded his comments on Israel "offensive and wrong" but the prime minister hit back by saying the United States needed to engage in "self-criticism".

Erdogan is standing in August 10 presidential elections that he is expected to win, with analysts awaiting a more assertive foreign policy from Ankara if he becomes head of state.

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