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Scheveningen prison near the Hague in the Netherlands holds prisoners for the the UN International Criminal Court. Some of those inmates think that Dutch food served in the prison is a form of torture.
“My rights are not being violated, but the food is an abomination,” declared former Liberian president Charles Taylor when he was brought to trial at the Special Court for Sierra Leone in Scheveningen in 2006.
Taylor, who was accused of crimes against humanity and orchestrating war crimes carried out by militias, was used to his own personal cook who made spicy African meals.
Unable to adjust to Dutch culinary blandness, he set up a cookery club using the facilities at the Scheveningen remand centre.
Yes, inmates are allowed to cook for themselves, but they have to buy their own ingredients from the prison shop.
Extreme Serbian nationalist and former paramilitary leader Vojislav Seselj is another notorious prisoner who slams the Dutch diet. Seselj, who was charged by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) with crimes against humanity, arrived in Scheveningen in 2003.
During one of the hearings in his trial, he publicly castigated the remand centre’s menu. The food was “a daily torture. Even pigs wouldn’t go near it.”
Prison officials defend their menu as “healthy and balanced.” Just one more reason you shouldn’t commit crimes against humanity. Link -Thanks, Ed!
The annual United Nations human development index, released today, names Norway the best country in which to live. The list of 182 countries is based on 2007 statistics on life expectancy, literacy, school enrollment, gross domestic product, and other criteria.
The top ten countries listed on the index are: Norway, Australia, Iceland, Canada, Ireland, the Netherlands, Sweden, France, Switzerland and Japan.
The United States ranks 13th, down one spot from last year.
China wins the most-improved award, moving up to number 92. Niger was at the bottom, and Afghanistan came in second to last. Link -via Digg
When the United Nations decided to redecorate the Human Rights Hall of their Geneva headquarters, they called upon renowned Spanish artist Miquel Barcelo to provide his own unique take on the redesign.
Using 77,000 pounds of paint and a multi-million Euro budget, the artist created a textured and engaging grotto complete with multi-colored stalactites.
A $23 million ceiling painting featuring hundreds of dangling icicle shapes that has been criticized for its hefty price tag was unveiled Tuesday at the United Nations.
The 16,000-square-foot (1,500-square-meter) elliptical dome full of bright colors and torn aluminum took over a year to produce.
Spanish abstract artist Miquel Barcelo used more than 100 tons of paint with pigments from all over the world, and worked with architects, engineers and even particle physics laboratories to develop the extra-strength aluminum for the dome.
“On a day of immense heat in the middle of the Sahel desert, I recall with vivacity the mirage of an image of the world dripping toward the sky,” Barcelo says. “Trees, dunes, donkeys, multicolored beings flowing drop by drop.”
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