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	Attacks on civilians are unlawful, unacceptable and must stop by United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator Syria   Sept. 2015   Half a million more people under siege as intense bombing in Damascus region results in one of the bloodiest months since conflict began reports Médecins Sans Frontières.   Twenty days of intense bombing of markets and civilian buildings in the besieged community of East Ghouta, near Damascus, have injured at least 3,000 people, according to international medical organisation Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF).   Makeshift hospitals supported by MSF report that at least 150 patients per day have been treated for war wounds during this period, described by MSF as one of the bloodiest months since the conflict began.   At the same time, new areas to the north of Damascus, home to at least 600,000 people, have come under siege.   Thirteen hospitals supported by MSF in East Ghouta report being almost permanently overwhelmed with violent trauma cases from 12 to 31 August. MSF has precise data for six hospitals, which saw 377 deaths and 1,932 wounded. One in four victims were children under the age of 15, with 104 children killed and 546 wounded. MSF does not yet have a full breakdown of figures from the remaining hospitals as the intensity of the bombing has temporarily cut some communication channels.   “This is one of the bloodiest months since the horrific chemical weapons attack in August 2013,” says Dr Bart Janssens, MSF director of operations.   “At least 150 war-wounded patients were treated each day in East Ghouta during these 20 days of bombing. The hospitals we support are makeshift structures, where getting medicine is dangerous and challenging. With such constraints, it is unthinkable that they would have been able to cope with the intensity of emergency trauma response.   The unwavering efforts of Syrian doctors to save lives in these circumstances is deeply inspiring, but the situation that has led to this is totally outrageous.”   At the same time, the sieges of areas around Damascus have both tightened and expanded. Three new areas to the north of Damascus – Al Tal, Al Hameh and Qudssaya, where at least 600,000 people live – have been under siege since 22 July. People entering the areas are stopped and searched, and no medical supplies, food, fuel or other basic essentials are allowed in.   “The stranglehold of the siege means that these communities are being deprived of the basics that are essential to their survival,” says Dr Janssens.   At the same time, the already-strict siege on areas such as Mouadamiyieh has tightened. Not only are medical supplies and food blocked, but now people are not allowed to enter or leave the area.   Medical evacuations from most besieged areas are now impossible, even for patients who urgently need specialist lifesaving medical attention.   “We are aware of around 400 amputations conducted in East Ghouta in August,” says Dr Janssens. Many of these people’s limbs could have probably been saved if the medical care in besieged areas wase not so desperately constrained. We are still able to get medical supplies through the siege lines via the medical networks, but it is becoming increasingly difficult.”   Four million Syrians have fled Syria and millions are refugees in neighbouring countries, while thousands are risking death and detention on their way to Europe. Some two million people are under siege in places like East Ghouta, where violence and severe shortages of basic essentials are a daily reality.   “August was the worst month we’ve seen medically,” says the director of an MSF-supported hospital in one of the besieged areas. “Anyone who isn’t injured or dead can count themselves lucky. Enough death and siege. Enough blood and misery. Enough.”   * MSF operates six medical facilities in the north of Syria and directly supports more than 100 health posts and field hospitals throughout the country, with a particular focus on areas under siege. These are mostly makeshift facilities with no MSF staff present, where MSF provides both material support and distance training support to help the Syrian medics cope with the extreme medical needs. This support network has been built up over the past four years.   http://www.msf.org/article/syria-half-million-more-people-under-siege-intense-bombing-damascus-region-results-one http://reliefweb.int/report/syrian-arab-republic/syria-armed-groups-use-caged-hostages-deter-attacks   Aug. 2015   Horrified by the "total disrespect" for civilian life in Syria, as evidenced by yesterday''s airstrikes on a market in Douma, the top United Nations humanitarian official today warned that the protracted conflict in the country not only severely affects the lives of millions of people, but also threatens the stability of the entire region and beyond.   “In Homs, I saw with my own eyes inestimable human suffering. In the Old City, I saw the complete destruction of almost every home, beyond which lies the destruction of lives. Behind every window of every destroyed home, we must remember that there were people whose lives have been shattered, like the family of Ahmed who I sat with to hear his harrowing story amid all this violence and destruction,” stated the Under Secretary-General for humanitarian affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Stephen O''Brien, during a press conference.   Wrapping-up a three-day visit to Syria on Monday, during which he assessed the impact of intense fighting on recently returned families, Mr. O''Brien reminded journalists that civilians have borne the brunt of this conflict for over four years now, with 220,000 people killed, more than a million injured and almost half of the population displaced.   “Attacks on civilians are unlawful, unacceptable and must stop. I am particularly appalled about reports of yesterday''s airstrikes, causing scores of civilian deaths and hundreds injured, right in the centre of Douma, a besieged part of Damascus. I am horrified by the total disrespect for civilian life in this conflict and appeal to each and every party…to protect civilians and respect international humanitarian law,” the Under Secretary-General continued.   These attacks, which targeted a market place, were also vigorously condemned by the UN Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura.   “The Government''s bombing of yesterday is devastating. Attacks on civilian areas with aerial indiscriminate bombs, such as vacuum bombs, are prohibited under international law. Hitting crowded civilian markets and killing almost one hundred of its own citizens by a government is unacceptable in any circumstances,” Mr. de Mistura said.   Furthermore, due to cuts by non-State armed groups, at least five million people in Damascus have been without water for the past three days, the third time this year they have undergone this suffering. In Aleppo, two million people have also been deprived of their water supply for 17 days, while 300,000 people in Dar''a and surrounding villages have endured water cuts seven times this year.   “It is unacceptable for those engaged in conflict to use access to water and other services as a weapon of war,” stressed Stephen O''Brien.   “The United Nations and our humanitarian partners are providing assistance to millions of Syrians in need, including by crossing conflict lines and international borders. However, I remain extremely concerned for the welfare of the 4.6 million people stuck in hard-to-reach and besieged areas,” Mr. O''Brien emphasized.   “Freedom of movement for all people trying to flee the violence and conflict must be ensured by all parties.”   Expressing deep concern about the lack of funding for humanitarian operations in Syria and the region, which are less than 30 percent funded, the Under Secretary-General called on the international community to step up to the appeal for resources to fund the essential life-saving and protection work needed across Syria urgently. http://bit.ly/2H8Ed4K   http://www.hrw.org/news/2015/08/20/douma-syrias-horrors-need-worlds-attention-0 http://www.unicef.org/media/media_82980.html http://reliefweb.int/country/syr Visit the related web page
	Beware the fine print: Stacking the Deck of Justice by Jessica Silver-Greenberg, Robert Gebeloff New York Times USA   Over the last few years, it has become increasingly difficult to apply for a credit card, use a cellphone, get cable or Internet service, or shop online without agreeing to private arbitration. The same applies to getting a job, renting a car or placing a relative in a nursing home.   Among the class actions thrown out because of the clauses was one brought by Time Warner customers over charges they said mysteriously appeared on their bills and another against a travel booking website accused of conspiring to fix hotel prices. African-American employees at Taco Bell restaurants said they were denied promotions, forced to work the worst shifts and subjected to degrading conditions.   Some state judges have called the class-action bans a “get out of jail free” card, because it is nearly impossible for one individual to take on a corporation with vast resources.   By banning class actions, companies have essentially disabled consumer challenges to practices like predatory lending, wage theft and discrimination, court records show.   “This is among the most profound shifts in our legal history,” William G. Young, a federal judge in Boston, said in an interview.   “Ominously, business has a good chance of opting out of the legal system altogether and misbehaving without reproach.”   More than a decade in the making, the move to block class actions was engineered by a Wall Street-led coalition of credit card companies and retailers, according to interviews with coalition members and court records.   Strategizing from law offices on Park Avenue and in Washington, members of the group came up with a plan to insulate themselves from the costly lawsuits. Their work culminated in two Supreme Court rulings, in 2011 and 2013, that enshrined the use of class-action bans in contracts. The decisions drew little attention outside legal circles, even though they upended decades of jurisprudence put in place to protect consumers and employees.   One of the players behind the scenes, The Times found, was John G. Roberts Jr., who as a private lawyer representing Discover Bank unsuccessfully petitioned the Supreme Court to hear a case involving class-action bans. By the time the Supreme Court handed down its favorable decisions, he was the chief justice.   Corporations said that class actions were not needed because arbitration enabled individuals to resolve their grievances easily. But court and arbitration records show the opposite has happened: Once blocked from going to court as a group, most people dropped their claims entirely.   The Times investigation was based on thousands of court records and interviews with hundreds of lawyers, corporate executives, judges, arbitrators and plaintiffs in 35 states.   Since no government agency tracks class actions, The Times examined federal cases filed between 2010 and 2014. Of 1,179 class actions that companies sought to push into arbitration, judges ruled in their favor in four out of every five cases. In 2014 alone, judges upheld class-action bans in 134 out of 162 cases.   Some of the lawsuits involved small banking fees, including one brought by Citibank customers who said they were duped into buying insurance they were never eligible to use. Fees like this, multiplied over millions of customers, amount to billions of dollars in profits for companies.   The data provides only part of the picture, since it does not capture the people who were dissuaded from filing class actions.   Law enforcement officials, though, say they have lost an essential tool for uncovering patterns of corporate abuse. In a letter last year to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, attorneys general in 16 states warned that “unlawful business practices” could flourish with the proliferation of class-action bans.   In October, the bureau outlined rules to prevent financial firms from banning class actions. Almost immediately, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce galvanized forces to stop the move.   Roughly two-thirds of consumers contesting credit card fraud, fees or costly loans received no monetary awards in arbitration, according to The Times’s data.   The Supreme Court’s rulings have amounted to a legal coup for a group of corporate lawyers who figured out how to twin arbitration clauses with class-action bans.   Consumer advocates argue that class action, allowed people who lost small amounts of money to join together to seek relief. Others exposed wrongdoing, including a case against auto dealers who charged minority customers higher interest rates on car loans.   The consequences of arbitration clauses can be seen far beyond the financial sector. Even lawsuits that would not have been brought by a class have been forced out of the courts, according to the Times investigation.   Taking Wall Street’s lead, businesses — including obstetrics practices, private schools and funeral homes — have employed arbitration clauses to shield themselves from liability, interviews and arbitration and court records show.   Thousands of cases brought by single plaintiffs over fraud, wrongful death and rape are now being decided behind closed doors. And the rules of arbitration largely favor companies, which can even steer cases to friendly arbitrators, interviews and records show.   The sharp shift away from the civil justice system has barely registered with Americans.   Paul Bland Jr., the executive director of Public Justice, a national consumer advocacy group, attributed this to the tangle of bans placed inside clauses added to contracts that no one reads in the first place.   “Corporations are allowed to strip people of their constitutional right to go to court,” Mr. Bland said..   * This is an extract from the first installment in a 3 part series examining how clauses buried in tens of millions of contracts have deprived Americans of one of their most fundamental constitutional rights: their day in court. Visit the related web page
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