tagged w/ crimes against humanity
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British officials discussed toppling Saddam Hussein in 2001 but rejected a policy of “regime change” as illegal under international law, the Iraq war inquiry has heard.
nvasion heard that British diplomats heard the “drumbeat” of war emanating from Washington even before the September 11 terrorist attacks.
The inquiry into the war, which cost 179 lives, opened yesterday with a promise from Sir John, a former Whitehall mandarin, to "get to the heart of what happened" and "not shy away" from criticising anyone who made mistakes.
The first day of the inquiry in central London was attended by several relatives of service personnel killed in Iraq. Outside, a small number of protesters gathered, several with fake blood on their hands accusing Tony Blair, the former prime minister of war crimes.
(more at link)British officials discussed toppling Saddam Hussein in 2001 but rejected a policy of... more
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Levy: Israel is in a "coma" and needs outside help to get over its addiction to the occupation of Palestinian land.Levy: Israel is in a "coma" and needs outside help to get over its addiction to the... more
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Religion plays a large part in Israel's claims to the land it lies on and Palestinian hopes for statehood.
The King's Torah is the title of a book written by Yitzhak Shapira, an Israeli Rabbi living in a Jewish settlement in the West Bank, and it is complicating an already seemingly intractable political conflict.
The book offers a theological backing to Jews killing those perceived to be violating Jewish commandments or threatening the Jewish nation.
Are such calls harmless or do they drive official policy and manipulate the masses?
And what about Palestinian extremist rhetoric, what harm does it cause?
We discuss religious extremism among the occupier and the occupied, and the damage done to peace prospects.
Inside Story discusses with guests Lamis Andoni, a Middle East analyst, Rabbi Yehiel Grenimann, from Rabbis for human rights, and Gerald Steinberg, a chair of political studies and director of the conflict resolution program at Bar Ilan University.
This episode of Inside Story aired on Wednesday, November 11, 2009.Religion plays a large part in Israel's claims to the land it lies on and Palestinian... more
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Opponents of the Goldstone report might well be hoping that after its lopsided condemnation in the US House of Representatives and successful relegation back to the UN's Human Rights Commission, the report will become little more than an historical footnote in a decades-long conflict.
This might in fact occur, given the imbalance of power between the contending sides. But historians can do a great deal with footnotes.
When the glare of history is finally shone upon the whole affair, it might well turn out that the reasons for such vehement opposition from US politicians, and only tepid (at best) support for it among other major powers, have far more to do with their own geostrategic interests than with protecting Israel.
Back story
The report, written by South African jurist Richard Goldstone, has caused uproar in Israel and the US for its alleged bias against Israel and avoidance of serious criticism of Hamas. The condemnation, House Resolution 867, passed by a 344-36 vote.
Before the vote on the resolution, Goldstone sent a letter to members of Congress refuting most of the allegations contained in it. But his rebuttal did not lead to substantive changes in the report's accusations and apparently had no effect on the vote.
Given the way in which opposition to the report unfolded it would be easy to conclude that this is merely another case of the vaunted Israel lobby shutting down any debate over Israel's actions in the Occupied Territories.
Yet while Israel's supporters no doubt took the lead in pushing the resolution, there is a back story to this drama that has likely played an equally, if not more important, role in the firestorm it has generated.
Why would the House go so far out of its way to stamp out even the consideration of war crimes accusations against Israel? And why would Barack Obama, the US president, have pressured Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, not to push the report in the UN when he had to know that such actions would cost Abbas most of his little remaining credibility among Palestinians?
Accessory to war crimes
There are two reasons for this.
Firstly, if Israel is guilty of committing systematic war crimes across Gaza and the West Bank, then the US, which supported, funded and armed Israel during the war, is an accessory to those crimes.
Goldstone explains in no uncertain terms that Gaza was not an aberration in terms of Israel's treatment of Palestinians.
Rather, it marked not only a continuation of Israel's behaviour during the 2006 invasion of Lebanon, but "highlights a common thread of the interaction between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian civilians which emerged clearly also in many cases discussed in other parts of the report.
It referenced continuous and systematic abuse, outrages on personal dignity, humiliating and degrading treatment contrary to fundamental principles of international humanitarian law and human rights law".
"The Mission concludes that the treatment of these civilians constitutes the infliction of a collective penalty on those persons and amounts to measures of intimidation and terror. Such acts are grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions and constitute a war crime," the report says.
Put simply, if there is blood on Israel's hands, than it is has dripped all over America's shirt.
Israel could not and would not have engaged in the level of wholesale destruction of Gaza painstakingly catalogued in the report without the support of the outgoing Bush administration, and acquiescence of the incoming Obama administration.
ContinuedOpponents of the Goldstone report might well be hoping that after its lopsided... more
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"LONDON (Reuters) - Leading banks have funded arms manufacturers, whose products include cluster bombs, to the tune of $5 billion in the past two years, despite an international accord to ban such weapons, a study said Thursday.
The report by Profundo consultancy and several NGOs said the banks loaned money to companies whose products include cluster bombs or their components.
It did not say the funds went directly to make cluster bombs. The manufacturers could use the money for any of their production lines.
The top five loan providers were Bank of America, Citigroup , JP Morgan, Barclays and Goldman Sachs, the study said.
The researchers used publicly available information, such as that supplied by stock exchanges and financial databases, to produce their study.
According to the research, the banks have provided financing for diversified manufacturer Textron, aerospace and defense group Alliant Techsystems and defense contractor Lockheed Martin , all based in the United States.
Cluster bombs, which open in mid-air and scatter a multitude of bomblets over a wide area, have killed and maimed tens of thousands of civilians, campaigners say.
Nations agreed to outlaw cluster bombs in May 2008. The resulting convention will come into force when 30 countries have ratified it -- 23 have already done so.
Neither the United States nor Britain, where the top five loan providers are based, have yet ratified the treaty.
The Convention on Cluster Munitions includes a ban on assisting anyone to make the bombs.
Bank of America and JP Morgan declined to comment while Citigroup and Goldman Sachs also had no immediate reaction.""LONDON (Reuters) - Leading banks have funded arms manufacturers, whose products... more
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Amnesty International says Israel is denying Palestinians fair access to water. A report released Tuesday accuses Israel of violating international law by restricting Palestinians' water access. Israel has rejected the allegations. (Oct 27)Amnesty International says Israel is denying Palestinians fair access to water. A... more
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The head of a Texas anti-death penalty group has accused that state's governor of scuttling an investigation into a possible wrongful execution for political reasons.The head of a Texas anti-death penalty group has accused that state's governor of... more
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This is part of the documentary-Daughter of Violence. searching for sponsorship for master delivery of this documentary and distribution.This is part of the documentary-Daughter of Violence. searching for sponsorship for... more
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This is part of the documentary-Daughter of Violence. searching for sponsorship for master delivery of this documentary and distribution.This is part of the documentary-Daughter of Violence. searching for sponsorship for... more
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This is part of the documentary-Daughter of Violence. searching for sponsorship for master delivery of this documentary and distribution.This is part of the documentary-Daughter of Violence. searching for sponsorship for... more
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This is part of the documentary-Daughter of Violence. searching for sponsorship for master delivery of this documentary and distribution.This is part of the documentary-Daughter of Violence. searching for sponsorship for... more
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This documentary is about Daughters of Violence of Kashmir. These Kashmiri daughters have lost their parents as victims of militancy in Kashmir. For these daughters, the word parental love has become a distant concept, one that can only be imagined, never felt. The most obvious example of this is orphaned children, who must suffer from images of death, loss and absolute tragedy.
But, these daughters are living with smiles at Abode of Smiles (Basera-e-Tabassum), Kashmir. BeT is an abode which belongs to the daughters without parents whom the society calls as orphans. The basic thought of BeT is Orphaned but not alone.That`s why these daughters are saying- Don`t tell us orphan, please.
This is part of the documentary-Daughter of Violence. searching for sponsorship for master delivery of this documentary and distribution.This documentary is about Daughters of Violence of Kashmir. These Kashmiri daughters... more
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The report of Goldstone led UN Commission reports of Israeli war crimes and Gaza last winter "focuses overwhelmingly on Israel's actions," said Friday a senior U.S. diplomat.
Although it acknowledges, to a lesser extent, Hamas war crimes, the Goldstone report has angered Israel.
From December 27, 2008 to January 18, 2009, the Israeli army launched a major ground offensive in the Gaza Strip, called Operation Cast Lead in response to Hamas rocket attacks on the Israeli town of Sderot. Sstatistics show 1400 Palestinian deaths of which 926 were civilians including 313 children and 116 women. On the Israeli side, 13 people were killed, including 3 civilians.
Eight months after the attack, a report from the Committee of the Council of Human Rights was released in New York. Result of months of investigation by former prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and for Rwanda resulted in a 575 page document in which South African Richard Goldstone accused the Israeli armed forces 'of acts amounting to war crimes and perhaps, in certain circumstances, crimes against humanity'.The report of Goldstone led UN Commission reports of Israeli war crimes and Gaza last... more
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Watch Goldstone interview on Democracy Now!
Subject: Letter to the editor of the New York Times
In Response the article published: September 15, 2009. Title: 'Inquiry Finds Gaza War Crimes From Both Sides' http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/16/world/middleeast/16gaza.html?hp
Neil MacFarquhar misrepresents 575-page report. The title should read:
'Goldstone Reports Israel Guilty of Massive War Crimes and Also Faults Hamas'
That’s what a true headline would have read. I greatly object to the title, Inquiry Finds Gaza War Crimes From Both Sides. I would challenge that your Mr. MacFarquhar did not read the whole of Mr. Goldstone’s 575-page report on the three-week war in Gaza.
'To start the report basically is consistent with the findings of the other human rights organizations, that Israel targeted civilians, Israel targeted civilians who were carrying white flags, Israel systematically targeted the Palestinian infrastructure. The findings were consistent with those of the other human rights organizations: Israel is guilty of a very significant number of war crimes. And also, the findings which were—other reports, the same conclusions, that the Palestinians were not using hospitals to hide Hamas officials. There’s no evidence that the ambulances Israel targeted were carrying Hamas militants or ammunition. And most significantly, in terms of the coverage during the Gaza massacre, the report found, as did Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, there’s no evidence whatsoever—and I would want to underline that—there’s no evidence whatsoever that Hamas was guilty of human shielding. But on the other hand, there is significant evidence, actually copious evidence, that Israel was guilty of human shielding.
The report found that the Palestinians were guilty of war crimes because of its indiscriminate and intentional firing on civilians in Israel. I’m not trying to make any apologies, but I want to get the facts right. The Goldstone report, like the Amnesty report and the others, you have to look carefully at the proportions. About nine-tenths—literally, about nine-tenths of the Goldstone report, like the Dugard report, like the Amnesty report, about nine-tenths was devoted to Israeli war crimes; about one-tenth was devoted to Palestinian war crimes. And you have to understand why, because you have to look at the comparable damage. The ratio of killings was about a hundred to one: about—exactly thirteen on the Israeli side, about fourteen hundred on the Palestinian side. If you look at the damage, the damage is actually quite astonishing. Israel just systematically blasted everything in sight and reduced it to rubble, whereas on the Israeli side they say that several houses were damaged and one was almost completely destroyed. So if you look at the facts, the facts on the ground, the proportions in the reports, including the Goldstone report, are correct. It’s about ten to one.
And that’s why today’s headline in the New York Times is so misleading. It’s like a Pravda headline. It says the Goldstone report finds both sides guilty of war crimes. Well, that’s technically true, but an accurate headline would have read, “Goldstone reports Israel guilty of massive war crimes and also faults Hamas.” That’s what a true headline would have read.'
And again: Goldstone Reports Israel Guilty of Massive War Crimes and Also Faults Hamas. That’s what a true headline would have read.
MacFarquhar has done a great disservice to your readers by using this preposterous headline. Please ask this reporter to read the 575-page report in full before he writes and titles an article on the three-week war in Gaza. And please pass this on to
Mr. MacFarquhar.
GoldbeanWatch Goldstone interview on Democracy Now!
Subject: Letter to the editor of the... more
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David Cole, editor of Torture Memos: Rationalizing the Unthinkable, on what may be one of the darkest moments in the last half century of US history, possibly longer: the authorization of torture by high level officials in the Bush administration. Cole's new book lays out the case against the architects of US torture policy. But will they be prosecuted?David Cole, editor of Torture Memos: Rationalizing the Unthinkable, on what may be one... more
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GRITtv
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Jean Pierre Bemba Gombo, former vice-president of Congo accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity, could be free wainting for the beginning of the process. "His detention is not necessary to ensure his appearance at trial".
Victims and witnesses are starting to be afraid: he could find a way to escape in a country which had not ratified the Treaty of Rome and will not cooperate with the ICC.Jean Pierre Bemba Gombo, former vice-president of Congo accused of war crimes and... more
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Jane Burgermeister
I have filed criminal charges in Austria against Baxter and Avir Green Hills Biotechnology for producing and distributing contaminated bird flu vaccine material this winter, alleging that this was a deliberate act to cause a pandemic, and also to profit from that pandemic.
Avir and Baxter AG are headquartered inside the Vienna City limits, where I live, and so fall within the jurisdiction of the Vienna City Prosecutor.
In the paperwork I filed with the Vienna City Courthouse on Wednesday, April 8th, 2009, after consulting lawyers, I present evidence of intent to cause harm by Baxter and Avir, citing, among other things, the fact that Baxter uses Biosafety Level 3 regulations to prevent just such a contamination of ordinary flu with the bird flu virus.
Also, I suggest that there are reasonable grounds for believing that Baxter is part of a secret bioweapons programme and that there are plans to release weaponised bird flu on the world’s population soon.
Furthermore, I present evidence to support the notion that Baxter is a smaller entity operating within a bigger aggregate of entities that belong to an international organised crime group, which I maintain can be identified with the group known informally as “The Illuminati”.
I allege there is evidence the US “Illuminati”-controlled government plans to release the bird flu on the US population in the near future, citing bird flu drills, FEMA camps, mass graves among other facts.
Flowing from their obligations as a signatory to the UN Convention for the Punishment and Prevention of Genocide, I argue that Austrian courts are bound by law to prosecute any individuals or organisations when there is reasonable proof that they are involved in planning any genocide, including US officials.
In an era of global crime organisations, I argue it is more necessary than ever that Austrian courts leverage international laws to protect the Austrian people as well as people all around the world against the bird flu and other threats, posed in particular by the “Illuminati” global racketeering influenced organised crime syndicate.
As evidence for Baxter’s participation in a secret, black international bioweapons programme, I cite reports that the “bird flu” virus was resurrected by US bioweapons scientists from the Spanish Flu virus in 1996 and also note that Baxter has patented a highly pathogenic bird flu virus mutation, something difficult to account for if Baxter is not doing research into weaponised bird flu strains.
As evidence that Baxter deliberately manufactured and distributed the contaminated material, I note the way the Biosecurity Level 3 regulations were systematically subverted at Baxter’s facilities in Orth an der Donau.
I also note the reports in the media that the contaminated material was sent to 16 laboratories with a false or incorrect llabel as evidence of intent to deceive staff in outside laboratories into thinking they were handling relatively harmless material and into taking fewer precautions, so increasing their risk of being infected by the bird flu and acting as pandemic bird flu carriers into the general population.
I argue the fact that at least 36 to 37 laboratory staff were treated preventatively for bird flu and normal flu in hospital underlines the danger that they could have been infected with the bird flu, and could have sparked a pandemic.
In addition, I present arguments for classifying Baxter’s production facilities for the vaccination material for the bird flu — specifically the use of 1,200 liter bioreactors and vero cell technology — as a dual biological weapons programme. This is because it would allow a huge amount of contaminated vaccine material to be produced rapidly if any live bird flu virus material ever got into the bioreactor in the first place.
I argue that the production and distribution of contaminated bird flu material by Baxter to 16 labs this winter showed that every safety control failed – and that anotJane Burgermeister
I have filed criminal charges in Austria against Baxter and Avir... more
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mae37
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Beautiful model Kim Kardashian got upset when she was criticized for her interracial romance with African-American New Orleans Saints star Reggie Bush. Actually there were remarks made about their decision to go on a...Beautiful model Kim Kardashian got upset when she was criticized for her interracial... more
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Here’s Kim Kardashian kicking off July 4th celebration at the Sierra Mist Beach house in Malibu yesterday.Here’s Kim Kardashian kicking off July 4th celebration at the Sierra Mist Beach... more
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anaani
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A U.N. inquiry accused Israel on Tuesday of gross negligence and recklessness in attacks on U.N. property in the Gaza strip during fighting between the Jewish state and Palestinian militants in January.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who appointed the four-person inquiry board in February, said he would seek compensation for damage put at more than $11 million but would not follow the panel's call for further investigations.
Israeli officials rejected the report as one-sided, saying it ignored the fact that Israel was fighting a war against a "terrorist" organization -- the militant group Hamas.
Israel's armed forces conducted their own investigation into the conduct of the December-January Gaza campaign and said last month it had found no serious misconduct by troops, who had acted within international law.
Israel launched the campaign to try to halt Palestinian rocket fire from the Hamas-controlled strip. More than 1,000 Palestinians were killed but the sides differ over how many were combatants. Israel lost 10 soldiers and three civilians.
The U.N. inquiry led by Briton Ian Martin, a former head of rights group Amnesty International who later joined the United Nations, investigated nine incidents of damage to U.N. property and faulted Israel in seven of them. It blamed Hamas in one case and could not establish responsibility in another.
In several cases, the report found Israel had "breached the inviolability of United Nations premises," had not respected U.N. immunity and was responsible for deaths and injuries.A U.N. inquiry accused Israel on Tuesday of gross negligence and recklessness in... more
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Kepano
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