Browsing through the French dailies of Geneva, Dina Ezzat learns that she can make some sense out of certain type of Western paper Appalled by Washington, concerned about Tehran and keen to promote the true humanitarian spirit of Geneva, the French papers of the humanitarian capital of the world offered a healthy antithesis to an otherwise generally one-sided vision of the Western press. Le Temps, the most prestigious Geneva daily, the Tribune De Genève, a more Geneva-focussed daily, or the 24 heures, the even more locally- oriented paper, all seemed to offer a similar variation of single theme: the world needs more justice and more dialogue. And the West, if only for reasons of strict economic interests, needs to show, or rather actually acquire, a better understanding of the problems of the certain parts of the developing world, including the Middle East the main resource of oil and gas for the industrialised countries. This in spite of the fact that the region appears to be the ultimate hotbed for militant operations. The Geneva papers urged caution when dealing with Iran -- to avoid the horrifying mistakes of the 2003 war on Iraq -- if only to protect the Western interests in maintaining safe access to the vast oil reserves of the Middle East. Le Temps in an article published on Thursday on the "geopolitics controlling the oil crisis" warned that "Iraqi oil exports are down 30-40 per cent in comparison with the average annual exports before the attack on Baghdad." And over and over again, these papers, whether through direct reporting or opinion articles, appealed for the world to pay attention to the plight of Darfur and the humanitarian crisis in the occupied Palestinian territories following the suspension of aid to the Palestinian Authority in the wake of the democratic election of the Hamas government. On Thursday, under the title of "Geneva could accommodate the need for dialogue", Vladimir Petrovsky, the former director-general of the United Nations Offices in Geneva and the current president of the Comprehensive Association for Dialogue among Civilisations, stressed that more than ever before humanitarian capital (he did not mention trade) could be deployed in promoting cross-cultural understanding. Addressing the readers of the Tribune de Genève, he insisted that Geneva, and more specifically the Palais de Nations, knows how to facilitate this mission not only through the traditional political negotiations but also through specific cultural activities. It is when the cultural entwines with the political, Petrovsky argued, that the slogan of "dialogue of civilisation" changes form a dry motto into a genuine mission of purpose. The aim of the dialogue of civilisation, he added, should not be restricted "to appreciate the different cultures of each and every one but equally to realise the respective and invaluable contributions that each civilisation has deposited with the collective human heritage". "The underlying concept of the Comprehensive Association for Dialogue among Civilisations is that each individual, each country and each civilisation has a unique contribution to make for the entire humanity." In fact, it was on exactly the same page of the Tribune de Genéve that a letter from Thierry Oppikofer, president of the Swiss-Vietnam Committee for Liberty and Democracy argued that it is especially in Geneva that those who dare not say no to an oppressive power can do so without fear. A big no was hurled this week, as all the French Geneva dailies in their weekend editions, against no other than the single super power of the world that many dare not say no to. "Geneva calls Washington to question on Torture" was a headline that appeared in many different front and inside pages of Geneva dailies. The photo of the permanent US representative to the UN Office in Geneva, John Bellinger, was splashed on the pages. He was "tortured" by questions of the members of the UN Committee against Torture on the resort to tactics of torture by American interrogators and security officers to gather information from prisoners captured during the US-led "war against terror". Indeed, it was interesting that this was the first time since the 11 September 2001 attacks that the US had to answer questions about its record of torture before this committee of which Washington is a founding member. In Le Palais des Nations, Bellinger and his team of some 25 diplomats, all dressed in severe dark suits, were grilled by questions of the 25 members of the anti-torture committee including the legal rationale of Washington to deny the applicability of the convention against terror on "enemy combatants" held in American jails. Their answers were not good enough, as the papers indicate -- the world seems to be getting tired of hearing the US out without making a few analytical comments. "You tell us that the ICRC [International Committee of Red Cross and Red Crescent] has not been visiting your prisons but you are not telling us that this is only happening because your government denies the ICRC delegates the right to conduct one-to-one meetings with the prisoners held in your jails," a member of the committee was quoted in the press as addressing Bellinger. The anti-torture committee resumes its meetings towards the end of this month -- and US officials will have to face even more gruelling questioning.
