The World Today

How should the west respond to the victory of Hamas in elections to the Palestinian Authority? Its statements should not be dictated by the flawed rhetoric of the ‘war’ on terror.

It has been so long since multi-party elections were held in the Democratic Republic of Congo few people alive today will have voted then. If the parliamentary and presidential elections go ahead at the end of April, it will be the first time in four decades – since April 1965 – that the Congolese will have a change to choose their own leaders. They hope the government lasts longer that on previous occasions and deals with their very real problems.

The Sri Lanka conflict has taken sinister new turns. In the eastern Trincomallee area bodies are dumped by the roadside and abductions reported. Some suggest that shadowy groups possibly linked to the military may be responsible. Efforts to revive the ceasefire have taken on fresh urgency, but the violence could get in the way.

There are Maoists in Nepal, bombs in Bangladesh, Tamil Tiger separatists in the Sri Lankan jungles and all manner of unwelcome influences in Baluchistan. Viewed from Delhi, the South Asia region may seem like an uncomfortable neighbourhood. When the US president comes calling, he will want to hear whether it is all under control.

The trial of former Enron Chairman, Ken Lay, and Chief Executive, Jeffrey Skilling, is drawing renewed attention to standards of company conduct. But pressure on business practice is also coming from an entirely different direction. Intentionally or not, companies have always been more than providers of jobs, goods and profits.

Human Rights Watch is launching Torture, a collection of essays jointly published with The New Press, at Chatham House with an address by Cherie Booth on March 1. This is an edited version of her chapter in the book which deals with the legal response to attacks on women caught in conflict.