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Former Gitmo prosecutor says trials rigged
Air Force Col. Morris D. Davis, who resigned last year after two years as chief prosecutor at Guantanamo, today described the military commissions system as fatally “tainted” by politics and designed to produce guilty verdicts, no matter what the costs.
The possibility of the system delivering “credible verdicts is doubtful,” Davis said Tuesday in a remarkable interview on NPR’s Diane Rehm Show.
“The process has been so tainted, such a black eye to the country, that we have to make every effort possible to have an open trial…
“I’m afraid that what has happened, though, is that we’ve had a rush, in order to get things done before the election, rather than taking the time — and getting evidence declassified in order to have an open trial is a frustrating, time consuming process, but in my view a necessary step if these things are going to have credibility.
Morris said the politicization of the system began at the top, with the appointment of Susan Crawford, a “political appointee” with no time in uniform, to run the military commissions.
Morris also said that Brig. Gen. Thomas W. Hartman, senior legal advisor to the convening authority, “broke the law” by exercizing command influence on the proceedings.
“Most people were watching to see what DoD was going to do about it, to see if he’d be fired. But instead they charged six more detainees and pressed ahead.”
Morris also said that on Jan. 2, 2007, two hours after President Bush withdrew the nomination of DoD General Counsel Jim Haynes, implicated in torture policy memos, to be a federal judge, Haynes called him up to demand the quick prosecution of Australian David Hicks, a Guantanamo inmate who has since been freed.
”How quickly can you charge David Hicks?” Haynes said, according to Morris.
“At that time we had no statute in place, no convening authority for military commisions, no regulations for military commissions. The major pieces were not in place, and I’m having to deal with the general cousel who’s asking how soon we can charge David Hicks.”
Haynes compared the Guantanamo proceedings to the Nurenburg trials of Nazi officials at the end of World War Two. But when Morris noted that those trials had also rendered aquittals, Haynes expoloded.
“Acquittals? We’re not going to have any acquittals,” Haynes said, according to Morris. “We’ve been holding these guys for years. How could you explain that if we had acquittals? We’ve gotta have convictions.”
Morris said there was no doubt in his mind that Salim Hamdan, on trial now, was far more than a cluless chaffeur for Osama bin Laden. But the “black eye” the proceedings have earned will taint his conviction.
link to the audio tape http://wamu.org/audio/dr/08/07/r1080722-20643.asx Air Force Col. Morris D. Davis, who resigned last year after two years as chief prosecutor at Guantanamo, today described the military... more -
Polygamous sects are 'form of organized crime'
Polygamous sects that have spread throughout the United States and beyond are "a form of organized crime," largely unchecked by law enforcement, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Thursday.
He is proposing a federal-state partnership aimed at policing such communities.
"The lawless conduct of polygamous communities in the United States deserves national attention and federal action," Reid said before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Sects such as the Fundamental Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have "wrongfully cloaked themselves in the trappings of religion" to conceal crimes such as bigamy, child abuse and statutory rape, the Nevada Democrat said. In such communities, teenage or preteen girls are forced to marry older men and bear their children, he said.
While those offenses are the most obvious, Reid said, other criminal conduct occurs -- "welfare fraud, tax evasion, massive corruption and strong-arm tactics to maintain what they think is the status quo." Polygamous sects that have spread throughout the United States and beyond are "a form of organized crime," largely unchecked by law en... more -
Iraq banned from Beijing Olympics
Athletes from Iraq have been banned from taking part at this summer's Beijing Games, the International Olympic Committee has announced.
The team was already the subject of an interim ban after the Iraqi government replaced the country's Olympic committee with its own appointees.
Under the IOC charter, all committees must be free of political influence.
As a result the team of two rowers, two sprinters, one archer, one weightlifter and one judo competitor cannot attend.
"The deadline for taking up places for Beijing for all sports except athletics has now passed," said IOC spokeswoman Giselle Davies.
"The IOC very sadly has now to acknowledge that it is likely there will be no Iraqi presence at the Beijing Olympic Games, despite our best efforts."
She added: "Clearly, we'd very much like to have seen Iraq's athletes in Beijing.
"We are very disappointed that the athletes have been so ill-served by their own government's actions."
The four Iraqi athletes that qualified could have competed under the Olympic flag
BBC Radio 5 Live's Gordon Farquhar
Hussein al-Amidi, the general secretary of the Iraqi Olympic Committee, said: "This morning we were informed of the final decision of the International Olympic Committee to suspend the membership of the Iraqi Olympic Committee.
"It's a final decision, there is no way to appeal. This means that Iraq will not take part in the coming Olympic games.
"It is a blow to Iraq and its international reputation, its athletes and its youth.
"I swear those athletes who have been training - they phoned me today and they were crying and were very upset."
BBC Radio 5 Live sports news correspondent Gordon Farquhar added: "The four Iraqi athletes that qualified could have competed under the Olympic flag but the deadline for confirmation of places has passed."
The committee which the government dismissed was elected in 2004, in line with the Olympic movement's regulations.
Its chairman, Ahmad al-Samarra'i, and several other members were abducted by gunmen while attending a meeting in central Baghdad in July 2006.
They have not been seen since.
The Iraqi government said it took the move because the committee was corrupt and had not been functioning properly. Athletes from Iraq have been banned from taking part at this summer's Beijing Games, the International Olympic Committee has announced... more -
Adopted Guatemala baby stolen
Ana Escobar was held at gunpoint in her shop while her baby was stolen
DNA tests in Guatemala have proven for the first time that a child put up for adoption through the state system was stolen from her mother, officials say.
Ana Escobar reported her daughter Esther Sulamita stolen last year and during her search saw the baby with a US woman who was adopting her.
The baby had a false birth certificate but DNA tests proved the parentage and Esther is now back with Ms Escobar.
Baby thefts have long been suspected and Guatemala froze adoptions in May.
Guatemala is second only to China as the source of babies adopted by US parents and the adoption process is worth tens of millions of dollars a year.
Last year, more than 4,700 Guatemalan children were adopted by Americans.
Dozens of Guatemalan mothers have reported stolen babies.
'Miracle'
Ana Escobar said armed men had locked her in a storage closet at the family's shoe shop north of Guatemala City and abducted six-month-old Esther in March last year.
Ms Escobar spoke to the BBC last November, saying the authorities had closed the case but that she would not give up the search.
"I'm 100% sure that we will find my daughter," she said at the time.
Ms Escobar took part in protests with other mothers, including wheeling empty prams in front of government buildings to call for justice.
Ms Escobar searched hospitals and orphanages and while at the National Adoption Council's offices in May saw a toddler she was convinced was Esther.
Jaime Tecu, director of a team of experts reviewing all pending Guatemalan adoptions, said: "She was so sure that the child was hers that we agreed to search the house where the baby was kept."
A Guatemalan judge allowed Ms Escobar to care for Esther while the new DNA tests were performed.
Ms Escobar told Associated Press news agency on Wednesday: "I can't explain how excited and happy I am. It's a miracle."
Mr Tecu said: "This is the first time that we've been able to show, with irrefutable evidence, that a stolen child was put up for adoption."
He said officials would investigate the lawyers who handled the adoption, the doctor who signed earlier, falsified DNA tests and anyone else associated with the process.
"This was run by a mafia, and we are going after them," he said.
BBC Americas correspondent Warren Bull says hundreds of children were being bought or stolen to order each year because Guatemala's adoption system had been so quick and trouble-free for would-be parents.
The Guatemalan congress tightened laws on adoption in December to try to prevent abuse of the system.
In May the authorities suspended the adoption of some 2,300 children by foreigners and are reviewing each case to check if the babies were genuinely being offered for adoption by their birth mothers.
Ana Escobar was held at gunpoint in her shop while her baby was stolen ... more -
Bashir orders release of kids
Nyala - Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on Wednesday ordered the release of 89 youths arrested by his government after an attack by Darfur rebels on Khartoum two months ago.
"I order the authorities to release those children and take care of them and take care of their education," Bashir told a crowd of thousands in Nyala, southern Darfur, on the second leg of a visit to the war-torn region.
His visit comes a week after ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo accused Bashir of instructing his forces to annihilate three non-Arab groups in Darfur, masterminding murder, torture, pillaging and using rape to commit genocide.
His regime is trying to persuade the UN Security Council to freeze possible legal proceedings should ICC judges actually issue an arrest warrant, on the grounds that it could jeopardise peace prospects.
Two weeks ago, the special UN envoy on human rights in Sudan, Sima Samar, urged the government not to prosecute the 89 "child rebels", recommending that they be treated as victims of war, not as combatants.
UN agencies and journalists have visited the 89 juveniles at a detention facility outside Khartoum, where they appear to be in good health.
Sudan says the children aged from 11 to 17 were press-ganged into a Darfur rebel group, the Justice and Equality Movement that attacked Khartoum.
Sudan earlier pledged to accord the children all rights, including special courts should they face legal proceedings. Nyala - Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on Wednesday ordered the release of 89 youths arrested by his government after an attack by... more -
Gays in Iraq terrorized by threats, rape, murder
Kamal was just 16 when gunmen snatched him off the streets of Baghdad, stuffed him in the trunk of a car and whisked him away to a house. But the real terror was about to begin.
The men realized he was gay, Kamal said, when he took his shirt off and they saw his chest was shaved.
"They told me to take off my clothes to rape me or they would kill me immediately. This moment was the worst moment in my life," he told CNN, weeping as he spoke of the 2005 ordeal.
"I was watching them taking off their clothes, preparing to rape me. I did not know what to do, so I started shouting loudly, 'Please do not do that! I will ask my family to give you whatever you want.'"
His pleas went unheeded. "The other two kidnappers took off my clothes by force and, at that time, I saw them as three dirty animals trying to tear my body apart."
He was held for 15 days, released only after his family paid a $1,500 ransom. He was raped every day. Only once, he said, was he allowed to talk to his family during captivity. "I told my family that I was beaten by them, but I did not dare to tell my family that I was raped by them. I could not say it, it's too much shame."
CNN spoke with Kamal, now 18, and his 21-year-old friend, Rami, about what it's like to be gay in Iraq. Coming out as gay is not easy in any country, but to do so in Iraq could mean a death sentence or torture.
The two men rarely show feelings toward each other in public. They spend a lot of time in Internet cafes in Baghdad, surfing gay chat rooms and seeking contacts with other gay men in Iraq and elsewhere.
Since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003, the situation for gays and lesbians in Iraq has deteriorated. Ridiculed under Hussein, many now find themselves the targets of violence, according to humanitarian officials.
Lesbians are also victims of harassment and violence, but not nearly as often as gay men.
It's unknown how many homosexuals have been killed by militias in the lawless streets of Iraq's cities, but some Web sites post pictures of Iraqis they say were killed for being gay.
One photo on the Iraqi Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender site shows a group of men standing around three male bodies sprawled on a street, blood pouring from their heads. "Gay Iraqi victims of the police and death squads," the site says.
A U.N. report on human rights in Iraq reinforces the accusations of violence. Although gays are supposed to be protected by law in Iraq, it says, they face extreme brutality.
"Armed Islamic groups and militias have been known to be particularly hostile toward homosexuals, frequently and openly engaging in violent campaigns against them," the report said, adding that homosexuals have been murdered.
"Militias are reportedly threatening families of men believed to be homosexual, stating that they will begin killing family members unless the men are handed over or killed by the family," it said. Kamal was just 16 when gunmen snatched him off the streets of Baghdad, stuffed him in the trunk of a car and whisked him away to a ho... more -
Violence against women
In 2004, Amnesty International launched its global Stop Violence Against Women Campaign (SVAW) to help break the silence around this scandal and create a world where women and girls are afforded their basic human rights
Oh yeah VOTE 2008 Green party 1st black woman presidential candidate. In 2004, Amnesty International launched its global Stop Violence Against Women Campaign (SVAW) to help break the silence around this s... more -
Randy couples to be filmed by cinema spy cameras?
Courting couples smooching in the back row at the movies could become the unwitting stars of a new genre of romantic film after the installation of Big Brother-style cameras at cinemas, the Telegraph reports today.
Odeon, the UK's largest cinema chain, has put CCTV cameras in nine cinemas across the country.
The company said the cameras are to ensure the safety and security of audience members, but human rights organisations and cinema-goers have expressed concern at the development.
Gareth Crossman, the policy of Liberty, the human rights campaigners, said: "Film-goers should be informed of the presence of the cameras so that they can go elsewhere if they are unhappy with being filmed themselves."
James Dolan, 26, a film enthusiast from Birmingham, was unhappy that the "spy" cameras could deter burgeoning romances.
"I'm not happy about it. Isn't that why going to the cinema is so fun? So you can have a kiss and a cuddle in the back row. Not only that but it is a complete infringement of my civil liberties."
Cinemas with CCTV include ones in Glasgow, Birmingham, Manchester and London.
An Odeon spokesman said the cameras had resulted in a dramatic fall of disruptive incidents.
He added: "The camera system and subsequent footage is solely for the safety and security of guests and footage recorded is automatically erased after 31 days.
Are cinemas going way overboard to prevent 'disruptive' behaviour? Did a bit of back-row fondling ever do anyone any harm? Are you guilty of any 'disruptive incidents' in the cinema with your lady or gent (or even with yourself. Though I don't want to know about them, come to think of it)? Or have you been shocked and horrified to see someone getting down and dirty in the dark? Is it high time cinemas made moves to prevent amorous couple getting it on in public?
Courting couples smooching in the back row at the movies could become the unwitting stars of a new genre of romantic film after the in... more -
Kenya: Government Should End All Corporal Punishment
The government should make it a priority to end violence against children whether in the home, school or elsewhere, five human rights organizations said today in joint letters to Kenya’s ministers of education, gender and children affairs, and justice.
Even though officials in 2007 welcomed a UN study on violence against children, little has been done to implement the study’s recommendations.
“Corporal punishment must be abolished in all settings,” said the letter signed by Human Rights Watch, African Network for the Prevention and Protection against Child Abuse and Neglect (ANPPCAN), The Cradle, Kenya Alliance For Advancement of Rights of Children (KAARC), and Children Legal Action Network (CLAN). The organizations said a full ban on corporal punishment could be achieved “through amendments to the Children’s Act and the Education Act, which are currently being prepared for vote in parliament.”
The letter stressed that the new ministers will have a crucial function in protecting the rights of young Kenyans. The ministers were appointed as members of a coalition government in April 2008 following extensive political violence in Kenya.
Corporal punishment in schools continues, though physical abuse was outlawed in 2001, and a legal notice specifically prohibits corporal punishment in schools. In interviews carried out in 2007, pupils described to Human Rights Watch how some teachers cane children, while others resort to different forms of physical punishment; some children have suffered lasting injuries.
The letter also urges the new government ministers to provide training, raise awareness, and institute programs that better monitor teachers and others responsible for or working with children; and to ensure compliance with the ban on corporal punishment. It calls on the government to “take a lead in implementing the recommendations of the UN Study on Violence against Children, and for that purpose, set up a task force to develop and implement a national strategy or plan of action on ending violence against children.”
The UN Secretary-General’s Study on Violence against Children, presented to the UN General Assembly in October 2006, was welcome by the previous Kenyan government, which hosted a regional launch in 2007. However, Kenya has failed to take any meaningful steps to implement the study’s recommendations.
The government should make it a priority to end violence against children whether in the home, school or elsewhere, five human rights ... more -
China builds 'protest pens' for Olympic demonstrators
Beijing is to set up three "protest pens" in parks around the city to cater for anyone brave enough to want to stage a demonstration during the Olympic Games.
Plans for the protest areas were announced even as the government made clear that dissent by Chinese citizens would not be tolerated in the next month.
Among the victims was Du Daobin, a prominent internet writer who was detained and then given a suspended sentence in 2004 for subversion. He was arrested this week accused of posting articles to foreign websites and meeting guests in violation of his probation, according to a number of activist groups abroad including Reporters without Borders.
His case comes on top of the jailing in March of Hu Jia, who was among the best known activists among the international community, and the detention last month of Huang Qi, another internet writer who criticised the government about building safety after the earthquake in his home province of Sichuan.
Other dissidents and human rights activists and lawyers have been warned to leave the city during the Games.
The three designated parks are Ritan Park in the east of the city, Shijie or World Park in Fengtai district to the south-west, and Zizhuyuan or Purple Bamboo Park in Haidian district to the north-west.
Ritan, or the Temple of the Sun Park is close to the British and other embassies, and is popular with both tourists and the many expatriates who live in the area.
The authorities have implemented strict security in advance of the Games, citing the dangers of terrorism and social disturbance, but have said this is in line with previous Olympics. This raised the pressure on them to allow a venue for demonstrations, which are strictly banned by the International Olympic Committee at all sporting venues but have customarily been allowed elsewhere.
Liu Shaowu, director of security for the Games, said that Chinese law allowed protests "as long as applications were made and approved in advance", a condition almost never met in the country.
"How to get approval for protests and what requirements are needed for people to participate in the protests will be explained to every applicant in the process of application," he said. "Normally we will ask people to go to the approved places for their demonstrations."
Mr Liu did not answer when asked whether both Chinese and foreign protesters could use the protest venues.
Numerous overseas groups have waged active campaigns around the Games, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Reporters without Borders, and a variety of Tibet support groups.
But a tightening of visa restrictions, with some activists even turned back from the supposedly freer Hong Kong during the Olympic Torch relay, has made it more difficult to arrange protests during the Games themselves. Beijing is to set up three "protest pens" in parks around the city to cater for anyone brave enough to want to stage a demonstration d... more -
Warlords gang-rape 12-year-old girl, family threatens to commit mass suicide if j...
Uncle of the victim accuses the police chief to have links with the gunmen responsible for such crimes.
A 12-year old schoolgirl was gang-raped by five gunmen in Sarpul province in Northern Afghanistan.
The girl and her family asked Hamid Karzai to prosecute the rapists and take their case seriously. They threatened that if they are not provided justice, the whole family will commit mass suicide to get rid of such life. They say, the local authorities keep silence on such cases and did not act to arrest those responsible.
While crying, the rape victim told journalists that she was raped in a village called Baghabi in Sarpul province. She says five gunmen poured into their house in mid-night and after beating and abusing the family members, gang-raped her.
Ali Khan, uncle of the girl told Ariana TV that he has reported the case to the police and visited the police chief a number of times to ask for justice, but they do not pay attention to the issue and even abused and threatened him to be silent otherwise he will be jailed. He accuses the police chief to have links with the gunmen responsible for such crimes. But General Abdul Khaliq Samimi, police chief says they have arrested three people connected to the issue.
On February 18, 2008 a fourteen-year old girl named Bashira was gang-raped by three men in the same province. One of the rapists is Najibullah, the son of Haji Payinda, a member of parliament from Sar-e-Pul.
Sayed Noorullah, father of Bashira told Tolo TV on July 19, 2008 that the case against the rapist has not been followed property by the court, because the rapist is son of a member of parliament and they bribed the Forensic Medical Investigation department to show the 22-year-old rapist as being less than 18 to escape the charges based on law.
Sayed Noorullah threatened that if the rapists are not punished, he will become “a dangerous suicide bomber” and take revenge himself.
Gang-rape of young girls in the Northern provinces of Afghanistan by local warlords is very common but only few cases are reported by media, because it is usually risky for the journalists who report such issues. Uncle of the victim accuses the police chief to have links with the gunmen responsible for such crimes. ... more -
Peace Accord Fails to End Killing of Civilians
Murder, Rape, Looting Continues Six Months After Goma Agreement
(Brussels, July 21, 2008) – The killing and rape of civilians in the eastern province of North Kivu in the Democratic Republic of Congo continues at a horrifying rate despite the signing of a peace accord six months ago, Human Rights Watch said today. The agreement was supposed to stop such attacks.
In a recent 10-day mission to the most affected territories of Masisi and Rutshuru in eastern Congo, Human Rights Watch researchers documented more than 200 killings of civilians and the rape of hundreds of women and girls since January by all armed groups, including Congolese army soldiers.
“Six months after the peace agreement was signed there has been no improvement in the human rights situation and in some areas it has actually deteriorated,” said Anneke Van Woudenberg, senior Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch. “While the parties to the peace agreement attend talks in Goma, their troops continue to kill, rape, and loot civilians.”
On January 23, 2008, after weeks of talks, the Congolese government signed a peace agreement in Goma, North Kivu, with 22 armed groups committing all parties to an immediate ceasefire, disengagement of forces from frontline positions, and to abide by international human rights law. Following the signing, the Congolese government set up a peace program, called the Amani Program, to coordinate peace efforts in eastern Congo. Yet the government and international donors have provided limited funds to carry out that work.
The agreement failed to halt the fighting. United Nations officials have documented some 200 ceasefire violations since January 23, the majority between the forces of renegade general Laurent Nkunda’s National Congress for the Defense of the People (CNDP) and a loose coalition of combatants from the Mai Mai Mongol, the Coalition of Congolese Patriotic Resistance (PARECO), and the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), a Rwandan armed group whose leaders participated in the genocide in Rwanda in 1994. The FDLR was not a party to the Goma agreement.
Human Rights Watch also found credible evidence that soldiers from the Congolese national army were supporting the PARECO, Mai Mai Mongol, and FDLR coalition, questioning the government’s commitment to the peace process.
Many of the worst human rights abuses were committed in and around the Bukombo administrative area in western Rutshuru, where some 150 civilians were killed between February and May 2008. PARECO and Mai Mai Mongol combatants, many of whom are untrained and poorly equipped, held the area from December to March, supported by FDLR combatants. According to dozens of people interviewed by Human Rights Watch, the fighters repeatedly raided villages for cattle, goats and other goods, raping women and girls, and killing civilians who opposed their activities or whom they accused of being collaborators of their enemies.
For example, on February 9, PARECO combatants raped Marie, a 24-year-old woman from Bukombo who was four months pregnant. “They told me that if I didn’t allow them to rape me, they would kill me,” she told Human Rights Watch. “They grabbed my legs and cut my lower right leg with a machete to show me they weren’t joking.” The rape was so violent that she miscarried her child. The attackers then killed Marie’s brother, cutting him up with machetes behind the house. After the attackers killed at least two others in the village and raped four more women, they fled to a nearby Congolese army position.
In March and April, CNDP combatants launched a military offensive to dislodge PARECO and Mai Mai Mongol fighters from the Bukombo area killing some 100 civilians as they indiscriminately fired on more than a dozen villages. According to information gathered by Human Rights Watch, many of the dead were the elderly or very young who were unable to flee in advance of the attacks.
***Continues, click link to read*** Murder, Rape, Looting Continues Six Months After Goma Agreement ... more -
Vietnam: Eight Vietnamese Writers Receive Prestigious Human Rights Prize
Writers Banned, Censored, Harassed, and Jailed
(New York, July 22, 2008) – Eight Vietnamese writers are among a diverse group of 34 writers from 19 countries to receive Hellman/Hammett awards this year in recognition of the courage they showed when facing political persecution, Human Rights Watch said today.
The Hellman/Hammett awards, administered by Human Rights Watch, are given annually to writers around the world who have been targets of political persecution or human rights abuses. The grant program began in 1989 when the American playwright Lillian Hellman willed that her estate be used to assist writers in financial need as a result of expressing their views.
This year’s prize winners from Vietnam include Father Nguyen Van Ly, one of the leaders of the democracy movement in Vietnam. He has been repeatedly imprisoned during the last 30 years for his written appeals calling for human rights, religious freedom, and freedom of expression. At his most recent trial in March 2007, in which he was sentenced to another eight years in prison, police placed their hands over Father Ly’s mouth to prevent him from speaking.
“The Vietnamese phrase for censorship, ‘bich mien,’ means to cover the mouth,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “There is no stronger image of the dismal state of freedom of expression in Vietnam today than the photograph of police physically muzzling Father Ly during his trial.”
The Vietnamese authorities have used both official and unofficial sanctions to silence this year’s Hellman/Hammett award winners from Vietnam. Dissident writers have been harassed, assaulted, indicted, jailed on trumped-up charges, dismissed from their jobs, socially isolated, detained and interrogated by police, publicly humiliated in officially orchestrated “Peoples’ Tribunals,” and injured by officially sanctioned mobs or targeted traffic “accidents.”
“Many people around the world do not know that Vietnamese writers are being locked up for simply expressing their views,” said Adams. “That makes it more important than ever to recognize the brave writers who have suffered persecution or sacrificed their freedom in order to push for a free press, human rights, and a multi-party system in Vietnam.”
Human Rights Watch has administered the Hellman/Hammett awards since 1989, awarding nearly 700 writers over the 19 years of the program. The Hellman/Hammett program also makes small emergency grants to writers who have an urgent need to leave their country or who need immediate medical treatment after serving prison terms or enduring torture.
Short biographies of seven of the eight Vietnamese writers who can be safely publicized follow below:
***click link to read*** Writers Banned, Censored, Harassed, and Jailed ... more -
9 to face stoning in Iran for adultery
Nine people in Iran - eight women and one man - have been sentenced to death by stoning after being convicted of adultery in verdicts lawyers blame on a resurgence of hardline Islamic fundamentalism.
The sentences have been imposed in courts across the country despite a supposed moratorium on the punishment, which Iran says is justified under sharia law.
Lawyers say most of the nine have been victims of violence and are mostly too ill-educated to understand the charges against them.
Many of the sentences were handed down after hearings held in private without the presence of witnesses and defence lawyers.
One woman, Kobra Najar, an ethnic Kurd, is said to have been condemned after being forced by her husband into prostitution. After she divorced him, he forced their daughter to sell her body.
Another defendant, Shamame Qorbani, claims she was raped but that the allegation was not investigated.
Details of the sentences were disclosed by Iranian lawyers yesterday in Tehran as they attempted to generate international support for a campaign to force Iran's government to abolish stoning.
"These women mostly come from the illiterate masses and did not have money or access to a lawyer. Many did not understand Farsi and, of course, all the interrogations were in Farsi," Shadi Sadr, a prominent Iranian human rights lawyer, told the Guardian. "In all of the cases, there has been violence against them, or they have been forced into marriages, or their divorce applications have been refused. In some cases, they couldn't apply for a divorce due to family pressures."
Two of the cases took place in Tehran while two others are in the largely Arab-speaking city of Ahvaz. Two others are from the mainly Azeri-speaking north of the country.
They came to light after a group of Iranian lawyers embarked on a campaign to halt stoning, which has been condemned by international human rights groups.
The lawyers are calling on Iran's judiciary chief, Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, to issue pardons.
However, Shahroudi's influence in the current political climate is believed to be limited. Last year, he ordered a stay of execution for a man condemned to be stoned for adultery but local officials carried out the sentence in violation of his orders.
Sadr said the verdicts were a consequence of an atmosphere of political repression and religious fundamentalism, under which MPs feel free introduce ever more draconian legislation. These include proposed laws allowing execution for witchcraft and bodily punishments such as blinding and amputation under a new penal code before parliament.
"It is connected to the general hardline politics," she said. "The more there is fundamentalism in general in our politics, the greater the worry that these verdicts will be carried out. If you have a hardline prosecutor in a remote rural area, he is going to be much more able to put his beliefs into practice in the current atmosphere."
Nine people in Iran - eight women and one man - have been sentenced to death by stoning after being convicted of adultery in verdicts ... more -
SECOND GUANTANAMO
KABUL:: The US plans to build a vast 'second Guantanamo' were condemned yesterday. Human rights lawyers said they will attack America's use of its main Afghan base in Bagram as a legal black hole, as a place "where no laws apply".
Rights lawyers also accused Washington of targeting journalists to cover up its practices in Afghanistan and Iraq. "I think it is very clear that the reason the US chose to build it inside the base is that they did not like the independent decisions that would have come out of the Afghan judiciary," said lawyer Barbara J Olshansky.
The Pentagon has announced plans for a 40-acre, $60 million (BD22.6m) detention centre at the base.
The new center is intended to accommodate up to 1,100 prisoners.
The Bagram base, where 625 people are held without charges in wire mesh cages, has a notorious reputation of torture of humiliation of detainees.
Last month, the Afghan Human Rights Organisation said 10 children, aged 9-13, were being held there.
Hundreds of prisoners have also passed through Bagram on their way to Guantanamo Bay since the 2001 US invasion of Afghanistan.
"Many people in Afghanistan and in Iraq that have been targeted for detention are local journalists covering the conflict in their own country," said Olshansky. KABUL:: The US plans to build a vast 'second Guantanamo' were condemned yesterday. Human rights lawyers said they will attack America'... more -
Israeli Army examines shooting video
Video of an Israeli soldier apparently shooting a blind-folded Palestinian detainee at close range has been released by an Israeli human rightrs group.
B'Tselem say the incident took place during protests against Israel's West Bank barrier about two weeks ago.
The video is blurred when the gunfire echoes and it is unclear whether the Palestinian was hit.
The detainee is later seen lying on the ground at the feet of a group of Israeli soldiers. Video of an Israeli soldier apparently shooting a blind-folded Palestinian detainee at close range has been released by an Israeli hum... more -
Tourist Beats Daughter Into Coma
A French tourist has beaten his four-year-old daughter's head against the stone base of a Rome monument so hard the child is now in a coma.
And when passers-by finally managed to snatch the child away, the man tried to bash his own head against the stone.
The pavement in the Piazza Venezia at the heart of the city is still stained with blood after the violent attack late last night.
Paediatric hospital Bambino Gesu said the child, named Luna, was already in a coma with severe head injuries when she was admitted shortly before midnight.
"Her condition is stable but very critical," spokesman Daniela Perrotta told reporters.
The father, who has been named as 37-year-old Julien Monnet, was behaving strangely moments before the attack, according to a Canadian tourist who grappled to try and stop him.
Traffic officer Anna Esposito told Italian broadcasters: "He was holding the child in an unhealthy way. The child was crying and screaming.
"He was holding the girl by her arm and then started striking her (head) against the stone," Ms Esposito said.
The Canadian grabbed the child while she struggled to hold the man and called for reinforcements.
"He was like a furious beast," she said.
Police have since said that Monnet's backpack contained medicine indicating he was receiving treatment for psychiatric problems.
Monnet is believed to live with the child's mother near Paris - she is thought to have been on holiday in Turkey at the time of the attack and had no idea they had travelled to Rome.
Police say Monnet appeared to be in a state of shock when arrested, before being taken to Rome's Coeli jail on suspicion of causing grave injury.
A French tourist has beaten his four-year-old daughter's head against the stone base of a Rome monument so hard the child is now in a ... more -
US torture claims are unreliable: UK MPs
"The British government should no longer accept US assurances that it does not use torture, a parliamentary oversight committee said Sunday in a wide-ranging report looking at London's human rights policy.
Ministers have previously taken at face value statements from their US counterparts, including Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and President George W. Bush, that Washington does not resort to such practices.
"We conclude that, given the clear differences in definition, the UK can no longer rely on US assurances that it does not use torture, and we recommend that the government does not rely on such assurances in the future," it added.
Britain is a signatory to a United Nations convention that prevents the extradition of suspects to countries where torture is used. If adopted, a change in approach could affect such transfers.
The committee also called for Britain to carry out an "exhaustive analysis" of US government interrogation techniques and seek guarantees about whether US flights carrying terror suspects used British airspace or airports." "The British government should no longer accept US assurances that it does not use torture, a parliamentary oversight committee said S... more -
Report: Kidnappers say British hostage commits suicide
One of five British hostages captured in Iraq last year has committed suicide, the kidnappers said in a videotape obtained by The Sunday Times.
A written statement displayed on the videotape says the hostage, identified as Jason, died May 25, four days before the first anniversary of his abduction, the London, England-based newspaper reported.
The video was received in Baghdad last week, the newspaper said.
The British government said it could not independently verify the claims in the video, including the hostage's "purported death," a Foreign Office spokeswoman said.
"As in the case of previous messages from the hostage takers, the Government emphasizes the humanitarian appeal of the families for the men's release," a statement from the Foreign Office said.
The video is titled "Intihar" -- or "suicide" -- and opens with a photograph of the hostage wearing a football shirt, the newspaper reported.
He is identified as Jason in a statement signed "The Shiite Islamic Resistance in Iraq" that appears on screen.
The statement, according to the newspaper, blames the British government for the status of the hostages.
"This procrastination and foot-dragging and lack of seriousness on the part of the British government has prolonged their psychological deterioration, pushing one of them, Jason, to commit suicide on 25/5/2008," the statement said, according to the newspaper. "He surprised our brethren, who were taking care of him, with his suicide."
The newspaper reported that the captors said say they regret the hostage's death "but hold the British government responsible for the hostages' fate."
The footage shows another hostage appealing for the British government to hasten the men's release.
"Physically, I'm not doing well," the newspaper quoted the unidentified hostage as saying. "Psychologically, I'm doing a lot worse. I want to see my family again."
Five Britons and two Iraqis were kidnapped in May 2007 from an Iraqi Finance Ministry building in Baghdad. Only one hostage, Peter Moore, has identified himself by name in a video released in February in which he pleaded with the British government to negotiate for the hostages' release.
On May 29, the anniversary of the kidnappings, Britain's ambassador to Iraq, Christopher Prentice, appealed to the kidnappers to let the captives go.
The Sunday Times story said that an intermediary who handed the video to a newspaper representative said the hostage who died had made two previous attempts at suicide.
"He said proof of death would be provided only if the British government agreed to negotiate," the newspaper said.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who is visiting Iraq, said in a statement, "we are taking this very seriously."
"There are many people working behind the scenes trying to find a solution," the statement said.
Brow said he has discussed the hostage situation with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.
"We both share a desire to see them returned safely to their families. I call on those holding the hostages to release them immediately and unconditionally."
The Foreign Office said the families of the hostages have been notified of the video. One of five British hostages captured in Iraq last year has committed suicide, the kidnappers said in a videotape obtained by The Sund... more -
Cities Gone Wireless: Safety Or Surveillance?
While some cities have seen their dreams of providing wireless Internet access for all fade, others have forged ahead with wireless networks for an altogether different purpose: surveillance.
Municipal surveillance is no longer confined to isolated street corners. Cities are mapping out vast wireless zones to create safety nets. Oklahoma City just rolled out the world's largest municipal network, linking hundreds of video surveillance cameras installed across the city. Such networks also extend to public transportation: Chicago has installed the largest network of bus surveillance in the U.S., with cameras on its entire fleet of more than 2,100 buses.
A few years ago, many cities plunged head-first into providing free wireless to the masses — especially to low-income communities — as a way of bridging the digital divide and marketing themselves to Internet startups. That didn't pan out so well in Philadelphia, which saw its much-publicized partnership with Earthlink collapse last year after the Internet service provider decided to exit the municipal wireless business.
Today, public safety is the "largest and most successful sector" in the municipal wireless market, according to MuniWireless.com, a Web site devoted to tracking wireless broadband projects and technologies. Its 2007 state of the market report found that 75 percent of cities and towns with active or planned wireless networks were using them for public safety purposes. That represents a 10 percent increase from 2006.
Concerns About Potential Abuse
Only preliminary studies have been conducted in the United States. An analysis of those studies by the ACLU concludes that "video surveillance systems in the U.S. show little to no positive impact on crime." The ACLU examined independent studies conducted in the U.S. and abroad from 2000 to '08.
"The surveillance cameras are virtually worthless as a crime-fighting device," the ACLU's Steinhardt says. "They are certainly not worth the expenditure."
Beyond the debate over the effectiveness of video surveillance as a crime-fighting tool, the ACLU has raised concerns about the potential for abuse in a variety of ways — from criminal or personal use of surveillance systems, to discriminatory targeting and voyeurism. The ACLU says video surveillance systems lack an adequate system of checks and balances and that their presence has a "chilling effect" on public life.
U.K.-based Privacy International, along with the U.S.-based Electronic Privacy Information Center, has published annual surveys on global surveillance for more than a decade. Privacy International's 2007 report ranked the U.S. as the worst country in the democratic world when it comes to putting laws on the books to protect privacy and enforcing them; it classified America as a country where surveillance is "endemic." While some cities have seen their dreams of providing wireless Internet access for all fade, others have forged ahead with wireless n... more
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