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Myanmar announces release of 9,000 prisoners
YANGON: Myanmar's military government announced in state media on Tuesday that it would release more than 9,000 prisoners so that they can take part in elections promised for 2010.
The New Light of Myanmar newspaper did not reveal if any of the nation's estimated 2,000 political detainees would be freed in the amnesty, but claimed the move would further democracy in Myanmar.
It said 9,002 prisoners would be released on Tuesday because of good conduct and "to enable them to serve the interests of the regions and their own and the fair election to be held in 2010."
"Plans are being made for those serving prison terms to turn them into citizens to be able to participate in building a new nation," the paper added.
The United Nations has urged the regime to free all political prisoners, the most famous of whom is democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. She has been detained for most of the last 19 years.
Her National League for Democracy (NLD) party said it was not optimistic that their colleagues and other activists would be freed on Tuesday.
"They have released prisoners like this in the past, but normally political prisoners were not among those released. We haven't got any information yet," NLD spokesman Nyan Win said.
Myanmar's military government has said it will hold multi-party elections in 2010, but critics say the polls are just a way for the generals to solidify and legitimise their power.
About 700 of the 2,000 political prisoners that human rights groups say are currently behind bars were arrested after massive anti-junta demonstrations last September, which the regime quashed a year ago this week.
The UN has said at least 31 people were killed during the crackdown, and security has been tight in Yangon during the anniversary of the violence. YANGON: Myanmar's military government announced in state media on Tuesday that it would release more than 9,000 prisoners so that... more -
200 Palesinian prisoners released by Israel
"Israel freed nearly 200 Palestinian prisoners, including the longest-serving inmate, in a gesture aimed at bolstering the moderate Palestinian leadership just hours before Condoleezza Rice arrived in the region.
In her 24-hour visit, the US Secretary of State will try to silence recent doubts voiced by senior Palestinian and Israeli leadership over the likelihood of a US-sponsored peace deal coming to fruition this year.
"We continue to have the same goal which is to reach agreement by the end of the year. (There is) a lot of work ahead to do that and obviously it's a complicated time, but it's always complicated out here," Ms Rice said upon her arrival.
Progress towards a peace deal has been hampered by violence, Israeli settlement expansion and uncertainty over the political futures of the Israeli and Palestinian leadership.
While the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas continues to confront low poll ratings and the sustained popularity of the Islamist Hamas movement, Ehud Olmert, the Israeli Prime Minister, will step down from office next month amid graft charges and one of the lowest public-approval ratings in Israeli political history.
An American official involved in the peace talks said that progress was made in today’s prison swap, in which Israel made the rare decision to release two men with “blood on their hands,” a term given to prisoners who participated in attacks that harmed Israelis.
One of those men, Said al-Attaba, 57, has been in jail 32 years. He was the longest-serving inmate held by Israel and is widely seen by Palestinians as a symbol of the 9,000 prisoners currently held in Israeli prisons.
Attba was convicted for masterminding a 1977 market bombing that killed one woman and wounded dozens others in central Israel. His father and several of his uncles have passed away since his incarceration, but his two sisters and brother were jubilant upon his return and insistent that he would yet have “a normal life.”
“We want him to get married first of all, and of course to have a job,” said Sena al-Attaba, 47, whose face was streaked in tears as she refused to unclasp hands with the brother she had not walked with since she was fifteen.
Israelis appeared divided over the prison release, which some feared would weaken Israel’s ability to negotiate for kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Schalit, who has been held captive in the Gaza Strip for two years.
“It's not easy for Israel to release prisoners. Some of the individuals being released today are guilty of direct involvement in the murder of innocent civilians,” said Mark Regev, Israeli government spokesman.
Even among Palestinians, opinion was divided over how much credit such go to their own leadership, and how much to the Israelis.
“It’s possible that this will help [Abbas] politically. But I am not sure. It depends on what the Israelis demand in exchange. I am suspicious of any Israeli gesture and how it serves … there is always a price to pay we don’t always know it right away,” said Edwan Sadaka, a 37-year-old from nearby Ramallah." "Israel freed nearly 200 Palestinian prisoners, including the longest-serving inmate, in a gesture aimed at bolstering the modera... more -
Israel Frees Nearly 200 Palestinian Prisoners In Goodwill Gesture
Israel on Monday freed nearly 200 jailed Palestinians _ including a militant mastermind from the 1970s _ in a goodwill gesture just hours before U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was to begin her latest peace mission to the region.
The prisoners returned to cheers and applause as they entered Palestinian-controlled territory before heading to a massive rally attended by thousands of people at the headquarters of President Mahmoud Abbas.
The prisoners arrived in Ramallah after being released by prison guards at an Israeli military checkpoint near Jerusalem. The prisoners, some waving black-and-white checkered keffiyeh headdresses as they stepped off Israeli buses, kissed the ground before boarding Palestinian vehicles.
Among the 198 Palestinians freed was Said al-Atba, who has served 32 years of a life sentence for carrying out a deadly market bombing in the 1970s. Al-Atba, 57, was the longest serving inmate held by Israel and he is widely seen by the Palestinian public as a symbol of all the prisoners.
His brother, Hisham, came from Saudi Arabia, where he works, to join the hundreds of Palestinians waiting to greet the prisoners.
"I feel great, great joy," he said. "We had lost hope that my brother would be released because he's been in prison for 32 years." Al-Atba's sister, Raida, said she had prepared her brother's favorite food, stuffed vine leaves and zucchini.
Israel said the release was a gesture meant to bolster Abbas and his western-leaning administration and give a boost to the slow-moving peace talks with the moderate Palestinian leader.
"It's not easy for Israel to release prisoners. Some of the individuals being released today are guilty of direct involvement in the murder of innocent civilians," government spokesman Mark Regev said. "But we understand the importance of the prisoner issue for Palestinian society. ... We believe this action can support the negotiation process and create goodwill."
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The fate of the roughly 9,000 Palestinians in Israeli jails is highly emotional, since many Palestinians either know someone in prison or have served time themselves. Abbas, who is struggling to show his people the fruits of the peace talks, has repeatedly urged Israel to carry out a large-scale release.
"We will not rest until the prisoners are freed and the jails are empty," Abbas told the cheering crowd in Ramallah.
He mentioned Marwan Barghouti, a West Bank leader of Abbas' Fatah movement, who is serving five consecutive life terms in an Israeli prison but is widely seen as a future Palestinian president.
Abbas also singled out Ahmed Saadat, jailed leader of small radical faction suspected in the 2001 assassination of an Israeli Cabinet minister and the imprisoned Palestinian parliament speaker Aziz Duaik of Fatah's rival, the radical Islamic Hamas movement.
"He is our brother and we must struggle to free all prisoners," Abbas said.
In the presidential compound at Ramallah hung a giant poster with pictures of Abbas, al-Atba and another veteran prisoner being freed, Mohammed Abu Ali, a lawmaker from Abbas' Fatah party.
He was jailed in 1980 for killing an Israeli settler in the West Bank and later convicted of killing a Palestinian in jail he accused of collaborating with Israel. Israel on Monday freed nearly 200 jailed Palestinians _ including a militant mastermind from the 1970s _ in a goodwill gesture just ho... more -
UK loses prisoner data in latest computer stumble
In another embarrassing stumble with computerized data, Britain's government confirmed Thursday that a contractor lost a memory device containing information on every prison inmate in England and Wales.
British officials have been humiliated by a series of such blunders that has raised questions about its ability to safeguard personal information of citizens even as it works on final details for an ambitious national identification program and an expanded DNA data base.
Millions of names and personal details from across the country have been reported lost because computers or memory devices went missing over the past year. The latest comes after the government published a report in June on how it hoped to improve data handling practices. In another embarrassing stumble with computerized data, Britain's government confirmed Thursday that a contractor lost a memory d... more -
Company loses data on 94,000 criminals
A contractor working for the Home Office has lost a computer memory stick containing personal details about tens of thousands of criminals.
The Home Office was first told by private firm PA Consulting on Monday that the data might be missing.
The lost data includes details about 10,000 prolific offenders as well as information on all 84,000 prisoners in England and Wales. A contractor working for the Home Office has lost a computer memory stick containing personal details about tens of thousands of crimi... more -
Georgia, Russia exchange war prisoners
Russia and Georgia on Tuesday exchanged prisoners captured during their brief war, a move that may reduce tensions and, Georgia hopes, hasten the promised withdrawal of Russian troops. Russia and Georgia on Tuesday exchanged prisoners captured during their brief war, a move that may reduce tensions and, Georgia hopes,... more
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Candlelight Vigil Ahead of Beijing Olympics
Over 200 Falun Gong practitioners and supporters gathered outside the Chinese Consulate yesterday for a candlelight vigil for the thousands of Falun Gong practitioners arrested in China since December of last year.
According to the Falun Dafa Information Center (FDIC), 8,037 Falun Gong adherents from 29 provinces have been jailed, some for up to 2.5 years. The mass arrests are part of the Chinese Communist Party’s attempt to silent dissidents and those who the Community Party thinks might disrupt the “harmonious Olympics.”
Among the thousands jailed in China are the parents of New Yorker Shuangying Zhang.
“When they [the police] forced into my parents house, my mother asked them: ‘Why do you confiscate my property? What reason do you have?’”, said Zhang during the vigil. “They said, ‘Because you practice Falun Gong. There are no reasons, this reason is enough.’ So I think today’s police are so evil, we cultivate Falun Gong’s principles of truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance. How can that be a threat to the society?!” said Zhang.
Zhang added that after the Chinese Communist Party started to persecute Falun Gong she was worried for her parents’ safety.
Falun Gong adherents sit in meditation. (Edward Dai/The Epoch Times)
Falun Gong practitioner Jane Dai, whose husband was tortured to death by Chinese police for his belief in Falun Gong, attended the vigil with her 8-year-old daughter Fadu.
Holding a picture of all three family members, Dai told of her mourning process after her husband’s death.
“When I found out that my husband was killed, my hair turned white overnight,” said Dai. “When I look at my daughter, she reminds me of my husband. Through her, I can see my husband. I completely broke down; I locked myself at home and I didn’t want to see anyone else.”
Dai added that the Chinese Embassy refused to give her a visa to go back to China to collect the ashes of her husband.
About a week from the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics, the vigil comes as a reminder that the Olympics hasn’t improved human rights, as Beijing promised, but rather has worsened them, especially for Falun Gong practitioners.
“A large percentage of people have already been sent to labor camps. The dozens currently filling Beijing’s detention centers are at grave risk of wrongful sentencing and torture,” said FDIC spokesperson Erping Zhang.
“It is now imperative that the international community leverage real pressure and stop these deplorable actions. The legacy of the 2008 Olympics must not be thousands of Chinese citizens languishing in labor camps.” Over 200 Falun Gong practitioners and supporters gathered outside the Chinese Consulate yesterday for a candlelight vigil for the thou... more -
Olympic reporters' guide to labor camps published
Gao Rongrong was mutilated by electric batons in Longshan Forced Labor Camp in Shenyang City - she later died from torture. (faluninfo.net)
To help foreign reporters overcome the Chinese government's media censorship and shed light on closely shielded rights violations, the Coalition to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong (CIPFG) released today a detailed guide to detention facilities located within miles of Olympic venues and known for their severe abuse of Falun Gong prisoners of conscience.
The guide, entitled "Torture Outside the Olympic Village: A Guide to China's Labor Camps," is available online here or PDF here.
http://www.humanrightstorch.org/news/guide-to-olympic-v...
http://xiuxian.no-ip.info/rescue/upload_images/CIPFG_La...
"Many of us have heard stories about China's gulags, but when you discover how close some of these hellholes are to Olympic venues, it's sickening," says Clive Ansley, China Monitor for Lawyers' Rights Watch Canada and North American President of CIPFG. The guide details seven detention facilities, in or near Beijing, Qingdao, Shanghai, Tianjin, Qinhuangdao, and Shenyang, and includes:
1. A map showing the location of the facility, the location of the closest Olympic venue, and English-language directions to the camp from the nearest airport and train station.
2. Description of facility: A photo, general description of the facility, details of its prisoner population, overall conditions, and the name, address and phone number (if available).
3. Products and show tours: Products known to have been manufactured at the site and details of prior show tours to the facility, when relevant.
4. Individual cases: Brief individual case summaries of current and former prisoners of conscience, the abuse they have suffered in custody, and whether they are available for interview.
"We hope this guide will draw international attention to the innocent individuals held at these locations," says Ansley. "It should particularly aid journalists in investigating the plight of adherents of the Falun Gong, who make up a huge percentage of labor camp detainees and have suffered a brutal campaign of persecution for nine years."
Note on censorship: contrary to promises of "complete freedom" for foreign media, the Chinese authorities have blocked access to Falun Gong-related websites from the Olympic Media Center in a deal struck with the International Olympic Committee. To circumvent such censorship, CIPFG suggests the following measures:
* Request that colleagues outside China e-mail or fax a copy of the guide to you inside China.
* Use circumvention tools available at www.internetfreedom.org/ to access the guide despite the censorship.
* Once you have obtained a copy, please re-post it on other websites, blogs, etc. By creating multiple copies on the web, the Chinese government's blocking of the original becomes obsolete.
The Coalition to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong (CIPFG) was stablished to unite international human rights organizations, legal experts, medical institutions, NGOs and government representatives around the world to participate in an independent investigation of the Chinese communist regime's imprisonment, torture, killing, and organ harvesting of Falun Gong practitioners. Since August 2007, it has also sponsored the Human Rights Torch relay, a global grassroots campaign to raise awareness of, and stop, the Chinese communist regime's human rights crimes against all victimized groups prior to the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Gao Rongrong was mutilated by electric batons in Longshan Forced Labor Camp in Shenyang City - she later died from torture. (faluninfo... more -
Israel-Hezbollah prisoner swap 'this week'
A planned prisoner exchange between Israel and Hezbollah will take place on Wednesday, Israeli officials say.
Israel will release five Lebanese prisoners in exchange for two Israeli soldiers seized in a cross-border raid that triggered a 33-day war in 2006.
The condition of the two Israeli soldiers is not known, but it is widely believed that they are dead. The Lebanese prisoners due to be freed include Samir Qantar, in jail since 1979 for a deadly guerrilla raid.
Under the prisoner-swap arrangement, Hezbollah handed over documents about the navigator, including two previously unseen photographs, on Saturday. The photographs were passed on to his family along with letters that were reportedly written several years ago, but Israeli authorities said they provided no new information about his well being.
In the exchange Israel is also expected to hand over the bodies of 200 Lebanese and Palestinian fighters killed while infiltrating northern Israel. A planned prisoner exchange between Israel and Hezbollah will take place on Wednesday, Israeli officials say. ... more -
Gitmo's days are numbered after court ruling
The Supreme Court ruling and Nov. 4 presidential election mostly likely mean closure.
Guantanamo Bay was a sleepy Navy outpost before the U.S. began using it to hold prisoners in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks — and it may soon become one again.
The days of this U.S. offshore prison are numbered. The Bush administration's main rationale for holding terrorism suspects without trial vanished when the Supreme Court ruled on June 12 that they have certain legal rights. John McCain and Barack Obama have both called for the detention center to be shut.
But whoever becomes the new president will have to figure out what to do with those left at Guantanamo — roughly 270 at present. The Supreme Court ruling and Nov. 4 presidential election mostly likely mean closure. ... more -
Israel and Hezbollah close to prisoner swap
Lebanon's Hezbollah and Israel are putting the final touches to an agreement to exchange prisoners, a Lebanese political source said on Wednesday.
The deal, mediated by a U.N.-appointed German negotiator, would see Hezbollah returning two Israeli soldiers captured in 2006 for four Lebanese prisoners and the bodies of about 10 Hezbollah fighters. It is not clear whether either of the Israelis is still alive. Lebanon's Hezbollah and Israel are putting the final touches to an agreement to exchange prisoners, a Lebanese political source s... more -
Prison 'self-harmers' see a fourfold increase
According to reports from The Howard League for Penal Reform, the number of prisoners deliberately injuring themselves has risen to four times the rate of the jail population increase.
In 2003, there were 16,393 incidents of self-harm in prisons in England and Wales, but last year the number had reportedly risen to 22,459, according to the charity.
It amounted to a 37% increase - almost four times the 9.5% rise in the prison population for the same period, the Howard League added.
The Ministry of Defence has hit back at the reported numbers, claiming that the huge rise in self-harmers was due to a new system which meant incidents were now more accurately recorded. According to reports from The Howard League for Penal Reform, the number of prisoners deliberately injuring themselves has risen to fo... more -
Dancing prisoners are at it again
This time with Soulja Boy and MC Hammer
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FARC Releases 2 Hostages
The FARC has been promising this release since Christmas, and they finally delivered, hopefully they will release more, including Ingrid Betancourt. The FARC has been promising this release since Christmas, and they finally delivered, hopefully they will release more, including Ingr... more
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Jail House Yoga
by Nicole
A British charity has scored a hit amongst prisoners with their Cell Bed Yoga booklet. The instructional pamphlet, which was produced by The Prison Phoenix Thrust, offers solutions to the problems incurred when yoga is practiced in cramped surroundings. The 15-step guide adapts classic yoga poses so inmates can practice yoga in their beds - even if they sleep in bunks.
"It's a great way to ease a back that's tired after lying too long on a sagging mattress," said a spokesman for the charity, which according to their website, "encourages prisoners in the development of their spiritual welfare, through the practices of meditation and yoga, working with silence and the breath."
The trust was founded in 1988 with initial support from Prince Charles' Prince's Trust after founder Ann Wetherall began corresponding with prisoners about their spiritual experiences as part of a research project. The organization promotes spiritual wellbeing in prisoners by offering books on yoga and meditation. Their two key works, Becoming Free Through Meditation and Yoga and We're All Doing Time (which are also available on tape for prisoners with reading difficulties), can be ordered from their website.
"Through yoga and meditation my peace of mind has grown beyond my wildest dreams," says a prisoner from Belmarsh Prison in southeast London. "I used to be so moody and angry and the things I used to dwell upon and hold onto don't cause me to resent anyone or anything any more. It's only the gift of meditation and breath that has made me see that I couldn't progress until I let go completely of all the anger from within me"
http://www.dailymantra.com
http://www.myspace.com/thedailymantra by Nicole ... more -
Ramadan in London
We follow Haidar and his young British Muslim friends as they finish 30 days of fasting from sunrise to sunset. We observe them talking about their experience of fasting over the previous month and about what its like to be an observant young Muslim in British society. We follow Haidar and his young British Muslim friends as they finish 30 days of fasting from sunrise to sunset. We observe them talkin... more
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UK Guantanamo Four To Be Released
Four of the five British residents held by the US at Guantanamo Bay are to be released, the BBC has learned. The British Government requested the release of all five men in August after previously refusing to intervene as they were not British citizens. Jamil el-Banna, Omar Deghayes and Abdenour Samuer will come back to the UK, while Shaker Abdur-Raheem Aamer will return to his native Saudi Arabia. The fifth British resident being held at Guantanamo, Ethiopian Binyam Mohammed al Habashi, will remain at the detention camp. Four of the five British residents held by the US at Guantanamo Bay are to be released, the BBC has learned. The British Government re... more
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Britain's Longest-Serving Prisoner Dies
Britain's longest-serving prisoner, John Straffen, who was sentenced to hang more than half a century ago, has died in prison.
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Guantanamo Cover-Up
The U.S. government has for years had secret evidence that could help a young Canadian prisoner defend himself in the Guantanamo war crimes tribunals, a military defense lawyer said on Thursday.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071108/ts_nm/guantanamo_ca... The U.S. government has for years had secret evidence that could help a young Canadian prisoner defend himself in the Guantanamo war c... more -
Prisoner Exchange in Afghanistan
A German engineer and 4 Afghans who were kidnapped nearly 3 months ago were released today. It seems clear that there was an exchange of some sort (so much for not negotiating with terrorists, huh?), but there are different accounts as to who was released on the government's side. Some accounts say they were members of the Taliban, others report a release of prisoners who are not Taliban. Apparently money was not part of the exchange. A German engineer and 4 Afghans who were kidnapped nearly 3 months ago were released today. It seems clear that there was an exchange... more
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