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suppressed news
 concerned with prevention of genocide
  j. b. gerald

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suppressed news archives          

2011

2011 news summary
      The Canadian media have noticed (ie. Attawapiskat band's housing shortage) that a portion of native people are living in lethal conditions. The magnitude of the ongoing problem continues to be suppressed. The issue of poverty and those fighting for the victims of the system are rarely mentioned in the news. *   European and global media are suppressing news of ongoing persecution of Roma peoples, victims of endemic patterns currently coined for votes by the far right in Czechoslavakia and Hungary, the Sarkozy government of France, and Berlusconi's management of Italy.   *   The U.S. / U.K. / NATO war on Islam continues. No challenges to policies of genocide against national groups of the targeted countries is permitted within the legal systems of NATO countries or at a World Court under their control. Generally, the Convention on Genocide is inoperable beyond its uses to U.S. government hegemony. Within the United States challenges to the law that rely on the Convention on Genocide, Nuremberg principles, or the Geneva Conventions, fail despite the nation's commitments to treaties bound by international and domestic law. Because aggressive violations of international law continue without legal recourse, and because legislated "security" mechanisms could be applied to anyone protesting the unacceptable, the early genocide warning for Muslims in the U.S. and Canada should be thought over by other minorities and traditionally scapegoated groups of immigrants, anti-fascists, people of color, first peoples, LGT communities, prisoners, the poor, the sick, elders, etc..   *   Media and government sources are ignoring or withholding information from the people concerning: long term effects of depleted uranium weaponry which may cause the destruction of civilian populations, their health, ability to reproduce, genetic code; long term effects of electro-magnetic fields and microwave polution; long term effects of British Petroleum's deep well oil catastrophe; long term effects of Fukushima's nuclear reactor meltdowns, their permanent effect on the Japanese people and every living being. Each of these issues could be vulnerable to application of the Convention on Genocide.   *   Immediate threats to all North Americans presented by a) U.S. / NATO military expansion and the destabilization of uncooperative nations, b) resource extraction and contamination of the enviroment, and c)massive accumulation of unstoreable nuclear waste, are being ignored by the media.   *   As North American governments further corporate agendas against the will of the people, overt resistance increases (ie. the Georgia Prison Strike, the California Prison Hunger Strike, the Occupy movements, the activism of the Labor movement and of military veterans).

 

 

December 21, 2011

     Canada: the Harper government has responded to the emergency crisis in Attawapiskat (previous) by taking over the Band's financial management with a private manager the Band is supposed to pay for at $1300 a day. The Band is contesting this in the Government's court. The Government promised 15 modular homes, then under pressure, 22. Currently government officials are taking over the community's healing lodge to temporarily house some families. Chief Shawn Atleo of the Assembly of First Nations rejected solutions imposed on First Nations by Ottawa. According to the Vancouver Sun two reserves in upper Quebec have claimed states of emergency. Across Canada the bands need 85,000 new homes, and nearly half the communities lack reliable water. Nicole Turmel as acting leader of the New Democratic Party requested Canadian Forces assistance for the Attawapiskat community. James Anaya as "UN Special rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous peoples" and currently monitoring the situation at Attawapiskat, has written the Harper Government saying “It does not appear that the government is responding adequately to requests for assistance” (APTN). The Globe and Mail reports that Conservative Ministers of Parliament are attempting legislation which would permit on native reservations the private ownership of houses belonging to the community. Of the 142 world nations currently party to the UN Convention on Genocide none has applied the Convention to the U.S. or Canadian governments' ongoing genocide of native peoples.     Partial sources: "Shacks and slop pails: infrastructure crisis on native reserves," Kazi Stastna, Nov. 26, 2011, CBC News; "National chief supports civil disobedience over Attawapiskat," Dec. 10, 2011, CBC News; "Many aboriginal reserves not viable," Barbara Yaffe, Dec. 7, 2011, Vancouver Sun; "Attawapiskat to pay 3rd-party manager $1,300 a day," Dec. 8, 2011, CBC News; "NDP says Attawapiskat should get army help," Dec. 7, 2011, CBC News; "UN Indigenous peoples rapporteur expresses 'deep concern' over Attawapiskat housing crisis," APTN Dec. 20, 2011, APTN; "Ottawa's handling of Attawapiskat crisis draws UN rebuke," Kim Mackrael, Dec. 20, 2011, The Globe and Mail; "Ottawa proposes first natiions property ownership," Bill Curry, Dec. 14, 2011, The Globe and Mail; "Government officials to create temporary shelter in Attawapiskat," Kristy Kirkup, Dec. 19, 2011, Toronto Sun.

 

 

December 14 -17, 2011

     Ottawa: under threat of "legal action and remedies available" by attorneys representing an Israeli security company, the suppressed news entry of October 22, 2009 is updated with removal of an unlinked reference to an article published by Haaretz on Oct. 15, 2009, and the name of the attorney's client company.[Withdrawn].

 

 

December 11, 2011     Chile: the Communist Party of Chile Peru has asked that Pablo Neruda's body be disinterred to determine the cause of his death in 1973, shortly after the death of Salvador Allende. There are allegations Neruda died from an unwarranted injection in a hospital treating him for prostate cancer. Wikipedia notes the cause of his death as "heart failure". Neruda, a strong supporter of Allende and a Chilean Communist throughout his life, a diplomat known for saving thousands escaping fascist Europe from Spain to Chile, considered by many the greatest poet of the 20th Century, he was for years an inspirational threat to the CIA which attempted to deprive him of a Nobel Prize. See: "On Neruda's Winter Garden" - my book review of Neruda's final book of poems - one of his manuscripts left on his desk at death. From his title poem, "Jardín de Invierno" ("Winter Garden"):

 

La terra vive ahora
tranquilizando su interrogatorio
extendida la piel de su silencio
Yo vuelvo a ser ahora
el taciturno que llegó de lejos
envuelto en lluvia friá y en campanas:
debo a la muerto pura de la terra
la voluntad de mis germinaciones.
Partial sources: "Chilean Communists call for Neruda's exhumation," CNN wire staff, Dec. 7, 2011, NCC; "Pablo Neruda death probe urged in Chile," Dec. 6, 2011, CBC News; "Creen que Neruda fue asesinado y piden exhumación," Dec.8, 2011, Opinion.com.bo; Jardín de Invierno, Pablo Neruda, eng. trans. William O'Daly, 1986, Copper Canyon Press.

 

 

December 10, 2011   Human Rights Day

     U.S.: Christian Solidarity International has announced a genocide warning for Christians in "the Islamic Middle East." The organization, founded in Switzerland in 1977, works out of California with affiliates in "Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, South Korea, Netherlands, Switzerland," according to its website [access:< http://csi-usa.org/ >].

Persecution of ancient Christian groups in Islamic countries can be traced to U.S. and its alliance countries bombing Iraq in 1990 and their subsequent destruction of Islamic countries and societies. In his book review of Herman and Peterson's The Politics of Genocide, Dr. Gideon Polya refers to the recent U.S. / NATO "War on Muslims that has since 1990 been associated with 12 million war- and occupation-related Muslim deaths;" he provides a breakdown of deaths for "an Iraqi Genocide, an Afghan Genocide, a Somali Genocide, a Libyan Genocide and a Palestinian Genocide...;" with Herman and Peterson he notes the media's responsibility for International Criminal Court deafness to complaints filed against the U.S. and its allies. Recommended: Dr.Polya's entire review [access:< http://www.countercurrents.org/polya051211.htm >]; also, “Muslim Holocaust, Muslim Genocide” [access:< https://sites.google.com/site/muslimholocaustmuslimgenocide/ >]. Dr. Polya concludes: "The Politics of Genocide” is a very important book that exposes Mainstream media, politician and academic lying about gross human rights abuse and genocide. Note: my own writings against the war on Iraq as a genocide began in 1991 (example) and led to exclusion from my previous outlets for journalism or university employment. Nightslantern carries extensive genocide warnings for Iraq, as well as for Muslims in the U.S. and Canada.    Partial sources : "Book Review: “The Politics Of Genocide” By Edward Herman And David Peterson, " Dr.Gideon Polya, Dec. 5, 2011, Countercurrents.org; The Politics of Genocide, Edward Herman and David Peterson, Monthly Review Press, 2010.

     Philadelphia: on December 7th Mumia Abu-Jamal was spared the death sentence. The City of Philadelphia District Attorney announced he was sure of Abu-Jamal's guilt but would no longer ask the death penalty be applied to him. This long struggle (ie. previous 1 and 2) for the life of a journalist grew slowly through the Nineties until the injustices of Abu-Jamal's conviction and sentence became a warning to the world. While the U.S. death penalty remains a legal way for society to break its mirrors, Oregon is the most recent State to refuse its application. Abu-Jamal, a "voice of the voiceless," remains condemned to serve the rest of his life in a prison despite reasonable doubt of his guilt, and strong evidence of his innocence.    Partial sources online: "Death penalty dropped against Mumia Abu-Jamal," Kaythy Matheson, Associated Press, Dec. 7, 2011, Google News; "Prosecutors decline to continue seeking death penalty for Mumia ," James Reese, Dec. 7, 2011, Jurist.

 

     Ottawa: There's a rally midday at the Human Rights Memorial, in support of Mohamed Harkat, initially placed in solitary confinement under Canadian security certificate detention, and after considerable legal struggles released to monitored house arrest. Never charged with a crime, Harkat is currently threatened with deportation to Algeria at possible risk of his life, and his case returns to court (Federal Court of Appeal), Feb. 21, 2012. Some background.

 

 

December 6, 2011

     California: in heavily suppressed news, the California prison hunger strike (focusing on the issue of solitary confinement) which at points grew to 12,000 prisoners in 13 prisons (Prison Hunger Strike Solidarity), was followed by a news blackout and guard retaliation (background:   1,   2,   3,   4,   5,   6,   7,   8  ). In its aftermath hunger striking prisoners have died in suspicious circumstances, in some cases with unverified reports of withheld medical care and lack of accountability to families: Johnny Owens Vick, Hozel Alanzo Blanchard (his "suicide" is questioned as the coverup of a killing by guards), Alex Machado at Pelican Bay (piecing the story from several sources - the prisoner was found hung, yet inmates report guards ignored his calls for help), and Brandon Wilson (found hung at San Quentin). There are recent (November) unverified reports of guards threatening hunger strikers with death, hunger strikers fearing for their lives, guards at Calipatria prison killing hunger strikers in retaliation. Suicides of prisoners in isolated cells suggests conditions of life that are cruel and unusual punishment. Application to a group (85% of those in solitary are Hispanic, African or Indigenous peoples) of a policy resulting in deaths suggests a., b., and c., of article II, the Convention against Genocide. Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity, states that the reason for calling off the hunger strike at Calipatria prison, October 15th, was the extreme retaliation by guards. See the Georgia Prison Strike. See as well the Lucasville Five.    Partial sources online: "Hunger striker dies mysteriously at Calipatria, family reports funeral is Tuesday, Nov. 22, in Oakland," Yolanda Moore, "Was Hozel Blanchard’s death really a suicide?" Kendra Castaneda, Nov. 21, 2011, BayView; "Three prisoners die in hunger strike related incidents CDCR withholds information from family members, fails to report deaths," Isaac Ontiveros, Nov. 18, 2011, BayView; "Secrecy Surrounds Inmate Suicides in California State Prisons," Julianne Hing, Nov. 21, 2011, truthout.

 

 

December 5, 2011

     Chile: Ray E. Davis was indicted Nov. 29, 2011, for not preventing the executions of American citizens Charles Horman and Frank Teruggi in 1973, following the coup by General Augusto Pinochet. According to The New York Times Davis was an American Navy Captain attached to the U.S. Embassy as commander of a military group supplying Chilean intelligence with information that allegedly led to the filmmaker's and student's deaths.    Partial sources online: "Chile Indicts Ex-U.S. Officer in 1973 Killings," Pacale Bonnefoy, Nov. 29, 2011, The New York Times; "Wife of former US Navy captain sought for extradition to Chile says he has Alzheimer’s," AP, Dec. 1, 2011, The Washington Post.

 
     U.S.: previous; news of the Occupy movement in the U.S. is available at http://anonops.blogspot.com .

 
     Syracuse N.Y.: in the trial of the Hancock 38 (see previous), on Dec. 1, 2011 Judge David Gideon found 31 defendants guilty of disorderly conduct. According to Democracy Now! 4 were sentenced to 15 days in jail. Defendant Jerry Berrigan, one of the Berrigan Brothers providing a beacon to the U.S. peace movement since the 1960's, was at 91 dismissed from the proceedings. The case represents another defeat for application of Nuremburg law in U.S. courts, despite its applicability.    Partial sources online: "'Hancock 38' Defendants Found Guilty for Bold Army Base Protest Against U.S. Drone Attacks Abroad," Dec. 2, 2011, Democracy Now!; "Veterans protest inhumanity of American military drones," Dec. 4, 2011, The Canadian; "Drone protesters found guilty," staff, Dec. 1, 2011, Your News Now.

 
     Ottawa: previous; Occupy Ottawa protestors announced a demonstration at the Bureau of Indian Affairs, December 1, to register support for the Attawapiskat peoples (previous 1 and 2). The Law Union of Canada has filed a complaint with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights over Occupy evictions in Canada. News of the Occupy movement in Ottawa is available at http://www.occupyottawa.org/ .    Partial sources online: "Occupy evictions spur legal complaint to UN," Nov. 18, 2011, CBC News; "Feds aware of Attawapiskat crisis for years," Dec. 3, 2011, CBC News; "Occupy(ed) Ottawa," Direct Action Committee, Dec. 2011, Occupy Ottawa.

 
     United Nations: Canadian Abousfian Abdelrazik has been removed from the "no-fly" list at the UN. The list is controlled by the Security Council. Having lost his wife and years of his life, as well as means to earn a living or receive government assistance (previous), Abdelrazik will have a chance to raise his children in a more normal environment. The Security Council decision substantiates a lack of any evidence against Abdelrazik and brings into question why the Harper government persecuted a dark Sudanese immigrant to the point of misery: it required a grass roots Canadian mobilization of people to bring Abdelrazik home to Canada. Previous.    Partial sources online: "Canada citizen removed from UN terrorist list," Michael Haggerson, Dec. 2, 2011, Jurist; "Canadian Abousfian Abdelrazik taken off United Nations terror list," Paul Koring, Nov. 30, 2011, Globe and Mail.

 
     U.K.: on November 30th there was a massive general strike with over 2 million Public Sector employees protesting budgetary cutbacks to services and other austerity measures. China Worker claims the "biggest strike in generations" with picket lines, demos, rallies, union and Socialist Party activities in cities across England and Wales. On the Continent the European Trade Union Confederation (60 million workers) is supporting massive strike action throughout the European Union.    Partial sources online: "EU Unions Want Britons to Strike," Kirsty Buchanan,. Dec. 4, 2011, express.co.uk; "Britain: N30 - Biggest strike in generations," Socialist Party, Dec. 4, 2011, China Worker.

 

 

November 30, 2011

     Brantford Ontario: essentially ignored by the national media, the International Tribunal into Crimes of Church and State (ITCCS) continues the search for children buried at residential schools, allegedly victims of abuse, murder and mass murder. See previous 1  2  3  4.  The test digging of a suspected mass grave near the Mohawk Institute, former site of an Anglican run residential school, has yielded a bone identified as a child's, other bones and buttons of school uniforms the children used to wear. A non-Canadian archaeological and forensic team is expected onsite early in the new year. The Mohawk Nation and ITCCS have asked international protection of the site, which they are declaring a crime scene off-limits to the Canadian Government.ITCCS Video press release [access:< http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLEcnBy6V6M >]. For more information the ITCCS site address is http://itccs.org/ .

 

 

November 28, 2011

     Ontario: the precarious situation of the Attawapiskat First Nations is receiving attention in Canada's press. The current housing catastrophe provides an insight to ongoing native problems with water rights, health rights, land rights and preservation, educational rights, legal rights, and all areas of daily life. In response Government efforts fund one area for improvement, and another falls through the ice. In this instance ( lack of housing, see previous) the Canadian Red Cross is interceding with emergency assistance. The Government is considering an allotment of more money. The problem remains: companies take the land's resources in an economic equation which has no need for the land's people. It is common to the efforts of corporate colonialism throughout the Americas, Africa, Asia, and may be the primary mechanism causing genocides. Articles by J. "Kittoh" Stanley, writing for the newsletter Eaglewatch currently address the Keewatin Judgement, where two native men are attempting to stop the logging of Grassy Narrows Nishnaabek lands, through the courts. The case presents the problem, currently faced by First Nations but eventually by all peoples under governments in corporate service. The articles appear here with her permission.

1. "The Keewatin Judgement: Give an Inch to Take a Mile," Kittoh, Oct. 20, 2011 (.pdf)
2. "Tranquilizing the Indians: Part I - The Context of Treaty 3," Kittoh, Nov. 23, 2011 (.pdf); a correction to the previous (.pdf)
 

 

November 26, 2011

     Kuala Lumpur: in a trial attended by jurists from throughout the world the war crimes trial of George W. Bush and Tony Blair before a people's court has concluded with a verdict of "guilty." The Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Commission charged both "with having committed Crimes against Peace, in that they have planned, prepared and invaded the sovereign state of Iraq on 19 March 2003 in violation of the United Nations Charter and international law" (Extempore Judgement). Both prosecution and defense relied heavily on official data. Among arguments presented by the defense was the tacit United Nation approval given the US NATO attack on Kosovo and the Republic of Yugoslavia in 1999 and the invasions of Iraq. While the attorneys involved (notably from the U.S. Francis A. Boyle and Alfred L. Webre) are respected for their refusal to compromise the obvious, the people's court lacks the power to apply international law. The Tribunal Judgement recommends invoking the Nuremburg law to prosecute the defendants, and requires filing of the "reports of genocide and crimes against humanity with the International Criminal Court" (Extempore Judgement). The trial has clarified two issues: 1. the guilt of Bush and Blair under international law; 2. the controls of international courts which have attempted to assure powerful leaders protection from the law. Recommended: The BRussells Tribunal archive of the Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Tribunal [access:< http://www.brussellstribunal.org/ >]; Prof. Francis Boyle's "Iraq and the Laws of War," and "Law and Resistance: the Republic in Crisis and the People’s Response," are available on nightslantern. Alfred L. Webre's awareness of the effects of depleted uranium is noted on these pages, 1 and 2.

Note: the gulf between "law" as developed by generations of the people in each country, and "law" as a tool of corporate government power has separated the people of the world from legal recourse. While Tribunal's Judgement stands at people's court, if shut out by courts interfacing with mechanisms of State power and capable of applying law, people's courts will find alternate means of applying and maintaining justice. One North American model for application is available in the Mohawk tradition's concept of the "two row wampum," of parallel social structures co-existing in peace but functioning under different codes, each with authority over its own sphere. While this native North American concept was not honoured by invaders, conceptually it provides a key to the future of law. In the 21rst Century, law at the service of 1% is powerless if 99% of the people adhere to humanity.
"Prima Facie Case Established Against Bush And Blair," Mathaba, Nov.21, 2011, Mathaba; "Bush, Blair found guilty of war crimes in Malaysia tribunal," Mahi Ramakrishnan, Nov. 22, 2011, Press TV; "Extempore Judgment of the Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Tribunal," Nov. 22, 2011, brussellstribunal.org..

November 25, 2011

     Montreal: another Canadian alleged Mafia boss, Salvatore Montagna, became a murder victim at about ten o'clock on American Thanksgiving Day. Born in Montreal, Mr. Montagna grew up in Sicily, moving to the Bronx, NYC, with his family in the Eighties. He formed the Matrix Steel Co. in Willamsburg NYC, and was tagged by media and the FBI as the authority of the Bonanno family of New York in 2006. A Canadian, he was generally considered under surveillance following deportation from the U.S. in 2009 for a 2003 contempt of court conviction - he had refused to testify against associates before a U.S. grand jury. His body was found [near] the Assomption River in Charlemagne Quebec. His death at forty follows a Montreal progression of killings of Italian family heads (see previous, also 1 and 2). While media imply the deaths result from mob rivalries, alleged Mafia figures are targets of federal, provincial and local monitoring and surveillance: their high death rate in Montreal remains puzzling. Raynald Desjardins, a Montreal associate of Montagna, narrowly escaped assassination in September. Montagna supporter Lorenzo LoPresti, was murdered on the balcony of his Montreal highrise in October.    Partial sources online: "Un géant du crime organisé abattu à Charlemagne," Nov. 24, 2011, Hebdo Rive Nord ; "Mobster ‘Sal the Ironworker’ killed in Quebec," Andrew Chung, Nov. 24, 2011, the star.com; "Mafia boss killed in Montreal region," Nov. 24, 2011, CBC News; "Reputed mobster Salvatore Montagna killed," Paul Cherry (Postmedia News), Nov. 24, 2011, canada.com; "Membre important de la mafia tué à Charlemagne," Daniel Renaud et Axel Marchand-Lamothe /Agence QMI, Nov. 24, 2011, canoe.ca; "Reputed Montreal mob boss killed," Rob Lamberti, Nov. 24, 2011, Toronto Sun.

 

     Ottawa: artist and peace activist, Terry Stavnyck, is in court this week....... In 2009 he tried to attend an open Parliamentary Committee hearing about the rendition of Afghan detainees to torture (a sensitive issue for the Harper government). He was physically abused and brutally arrested at entry, then accused of attacking the guards. However he's known to the peace community as nonviolent, a pacifist, socially concerned, and trusting. His case continues Monday morning at ten, the Elgin Street Courthouse, and supporters are encouraged to attend.   Also... for the treatment of a woman artist who wrote the Prime Minister a letter in defense of Canada's environment, see "Banned on the Hill (and in Europe!), Franke James [access:< http://www.frankejames.com/debate/?p=8431 >].    Partial sources online: "Activist tells court Hill security tossed him about like a rag doll," Matthew Pearson, Nov. 22, 2011, The Otawa Citizen; "Court support -- Terry's trial," Nov.23, 2011, nowar-paix list; "Court support for Terry Stavnyck," Nov. 21, 2011, nowar-paix; "Hill security had right to remove disruptive visitor, court told," Matthew Pearson, Nov. 24, 2011, The Ottawa Citizen.

 

     Turkey: increasingly denied political representation in government and under cultural and government active persecution, the position of Turkish Kurds is worsening. Writers, intellectuals, academics, human rights and social justice workers, are constantly arrested, Professor Busra Ersanli, Ragip Zarakolu, and Ayse Berktay among the better known. Ragip Zarakolu was the head of PEN International's "Writers in Prison Committee" of Turkey. Ayse Berktay, translator, peace activist, and one of the organizers of the peoples' court, the World Tribunal on Iraq, remains in prison. See petition ~ Urgent Appeal: Stop Arbitrary Detentions in Turkey! [access:< http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/detentionsinturkey/ >].

 

 

November 23, 2011

 

 

November 12, 2011

     Ontario: a northern band of native peoples, the Attawapiskat First Nations community has declared a housing emergency as it enters winter with several hundred homeless families and many living in tents, sheds, temporary trailers, or crowded in substandard shelters. Winter temperatures reach 40 degrees below zero and stay there. Black mould in dwellings, overcrowding, tuberculosis, are reported. A large number of homes have been condemned. NDP Minister of Parliament Charles Angus visited the remote Reservation and said he's worried people will die there: "They're living under an administration that is as colonial as anything that happened in Africa in the 19th century" (Daily Press). The nearby mine is De Beers.The community's school was condemned "because the land it’s built on iscontaminated by 50,000 litres of diesel fuel" (Report). The Canadian government recently input half a million dollars for housing which isn't expected to fill the immediate need for 200 houses. The First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada (Caring Society) and KAIROS Ecumenical Council have presented a report to the United Nations Committee for the Rights of the Child, saying Canada is failing to honour its obligations. The Convention against Genocide is not mentioned. Genocide warning. In the same region, Mushkegowuk First Nations are being excluded from the environmental study preceding proposed new mines in James Bay lowlands. The Grand Chief of the Mushkegowuk Council says the Federal and Provincial governments don't respond to his letters. Note: at Brantford Ontario members of the Mohawk Nation are protecting a site where the bodies of children may be buried: the International Tribunal into Crimes of Church and State (ITCCS) reports a recent allegation that a large group of native children were killed in 1943. Calling for protection of the children's remains, the allegation is posted here. The Government has publicly concerned itself with crimes against residential school children but the issue is increasingly suppressed and band councils reportedly pressured. According to ITCCS, First Nations groups in British Columbia (the Squamish Nation) and among the Anishnabe /Ojibway (central) and Maliseet (Maritimes) plan to conduct their own enquiries into missing residential school children.    Partial sources online: "Hundreds homeless in Attawapiskat," Ryan Lux, The Daily Press, Nov. 10, 2011, Timmins Daily Press; “Many Indigenous children do not have the basic necessities of life,” NNL Staff, Oct. 24, 2011, netnewsledger; "Feds provide $500,000 for First Nation housing," Nov. 10, 2011, CBC News; "United Nations asked to end inequalities for First Nations," admin., Oct. 24, 2011, Turtle Island Native Network; "Honouring the Children: Shadow Report, Canada 3rd and 4th Periodic Report to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child," Oct. 24, 2011, First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada & KAIROS: Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives; "Mushkegowuk outraged by lack of participation in Ring of Fire," Chris Kornacki, Oct. 27, 2011, Wawatay News Online; "Canada's genocide: Mohawks uncover Holocaust-like Graves," ITCCS, Oct. 18, 2011, The Canadian; "Mass Execution of Children Alleged in Brantford, Ontario," Nov 9, 2011, ITCCS list.

 

      Libya: in response to world courts increasingly controlled by powerful nations and partisan alliances (see "Essay against Genocide"), the people may try to apply international and domestic laws against war crimes. For example, a template for legal charges against individuals and NATO governments participating in the bombing of Libya is available at Libya 360° [access:< http://libya360.wordpress.com/ >] with archives of materials suppressed in NATO media.    Source: infowars.com; verified Libya 360°.

 

 

 

November 11, 2011 Remembrance Day ~ Veterans Day ~ Armistice Day

 
         "There died a myriad,
         And of the best, among them,
         For an old bitch gone in the teeth,
         For a botched civilization..."   - Ezra Pound

 

"When our children's children shall talk of War
   as a madness that may not be;
When we thank our God for our grief to-day and
   blazen from sea to sea
In the name of the dead the banner of Peace
     .  .  . that will be Victory."   - Robert W. Service

 

 

November 8, 2011

      Iran: according to The Vancouver Sun a report from the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency is expected to state Iran is developing nuclear warheads. Having destroyed Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya, in wars of aggression, the U.S. / NATO alliance gears up its propaganda machine for an attack on Iran. None of the victim countries attacked the U.S., Canada, or Europe. Millions of innocent civilians are dead, dying, will be dying from the effects of the arms used against them. The tactics of destroying civilian infra-structure, of attacking cities as military targets, of bombing weddings, of breaking down the doors of families who know only the innocence of daily survival, the huge civilian death toll, the destruction of medical facilities, the admitted use of torture, the ongoing extra-judicial killing and assassinations - are an agenda of war crimes. The victims are all Muslim, and with a deep religious and cultural resistance to capitalism. The European and North American 'genocide industry' shelters with profound silence this genocide in progress as if those in the interlaced structure of NATO academics, universities, governments and corporations, will be the judges of their own complicity and active participation. Another Muslim civilian population (a national and religious group): early genocide warning.    Partial sources online: "Rice: U.S. Should Do Everything Possible to Bring Down Iran's Government," Nov. 6, 2011, FoxNews.com; "Attack on Iran more & more likely: Israel," Nov. 7, 2011, The Times of India; "Guardian: Potential US Attack on Iran in Works," Nov. 2, 2011, The Jerusalem Post; "Iran Making Nuclear Arms," Damien McElroy and Alex Spillius (London Daily Telegraph), Nov. 2, 2011, The Vancouver Sun; "Iran bigger threat than al-Qaeda: U.S. official," Reuters, Nov. 4, 2011, National Post; "UN rights committee concerned about Iran executions, minority rights," Rebecca DiLeonardo, Nov. 4, 2011, Jurist.

 

      Syracuse New York: the "Hancock 38" are war resisters opposed to the U.S. usage of drones with their high mortality rate of civilians. The 38 were arrested for a "die-in" at Hancock Air Force Base which operates drones. The group trial of 32 before Judge David Gideon Nov. 1 - Nov. 5, is noted here because the testimony of Ramsey Clark on application of the Nuremburg Principles was allowed by the judge. The previous judge, Bob Jokly, refused to allow a "necessity defense" (based on The War Crimes Act and international law), or Clark's expertise in international law to be heard. Ramsey Clark, the former U.S. Attorney General for Lyndon Johnson (and faulted for his treatment of evidence in both Kennedy and King assassinations) has unswervingly supported / defended the antiwar movement since the 1980's. U.S. trials against war resisters usually don't allow mention of the Nuremburg Principles. While charges against the "Hancock 38" were minor (disorderly conduct and obstructing traffic), their refusal to obey a police order to disperse was based on the illegality of the order. The Nuremburg Principles are available at the International Committee of the Red Cross website [access:< http://www.icrc.org/ihl.nsf/full/390 >]; a very brief summary: a crime under international law is punishable whether local law agrees or not. Heads of State and government officials are accountable. "Just following orders" is no excuse. Accused have the right to a fair trial. Punishable crimes: crimes against peace, all stages of preparing or waging a war of aggression, war crimes, crimes against humanity. Complicity is specifically named as a crime.    Partial sources online: "Hancock 38 drone resisters await verdict after 5 days in court ," Carol Baum, Nov. 7, 2011, The Nuclear Resister (with appreciation); "Drones on Trial: 38 Protesters Face Charges for Disrupting Syracuse Base Used in Overseas Attacks," Amy Goodman, Nov. 4, 2011, Democracy Now!; "Trial of drone protesters to continue Saturday in DeWitt," Charles Ellis, Nov. 4, 2011, Post Standard / syracuse.com; "Hancock 38 article in Syracuse' The Post-Standard," ("Court Notebook: Ramsey Clark unfamiliar to prosecutor, irrelevant to protesters' trial," Jim O'Hara / The Post Standard, Sept. 6, 2011, Adopt Resistance.

 

 

November 7, 2011   ongoing

           
 

November 4, 2011

      Canada: on November 3rd the Supreme Court refused the U.S. and Canadian government's appeal to extradite the Canadian Abdullah Khadr to Boston. Canadian courts have repeatedly denied the extradition despite appeals by Canada's Conservative government (previous). Abdullah Khadr was tortured for information in Pakistan allegedly at U.S. request. Omar Khadr, his brother placed in Guantanamo at the age of fifteen, is currently requesting return to Canada from an American prison. Both men are torture victims.    Partial sources online: "Top court ends U.S. bid to extradite Abdullah Khadr," Jordan Press, Postmedia News, Nov. 5, 2011, Montreal Gazette; "Canada Will Not Send Suspect to U.S.," AP, Nov. 3, 2011, The New York Times.

 

      Palestine: the UN General Assembly has admitted Palestine to membership in UNESCO. Canada, the U.S., Australia, Germany and Israel voted against. A U.S. veto in the Security Council can refuse Palestine full UN membership but the U.S. does not have veto power in UNESCO. Now the U.S. Government refuses to fund its UNESCO obligations. The Canadian Government is cutting off further voluntary contributions. Withdrawal of economic support damages the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization programs protecting journalists, freedom of expression, free elections, world heritage sites, the arts, multiculturalism, Holocaust remembrance, non-violence, peace, gender equality, forests, ocean, and other the concerns impeding corporate agenda (previous).    Partial sources online: "Palestinians admitted to UNESCO as full member," Charles Onians (AFP), Nov. , 2011, Google News; "Palestinians get Unesco seat as 107 vote in favour," Oct. 31, 2011, BBC News.

 

      Israel: 2/3rds of the Bedouins' land base in Geer Sheva is slated for direct takeover by the Israeli government. The action, part of the "Prawer Plan," evicts 2300 for relocation next to a garbage dump, and destroys 37 Bedouin villages. The five year plan attempts partial compensations and was neither submitted to nor approved by the Bedouin peoples. The UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) finds the relocation a violation of international law. The action is part of Israel's plan to raise the number of Jewish settlers in the Negev and further massive forestation projects. A Petition calling on the Jewish National Fund which actively supports the forestation projects, to withdraw its complicity with the ongoing disenfranchisement of the Bedouins, appears at www.change.org/petitions/end-jnf-complicity-in-displacing-israels-negev-bedouin. See previous re. Al-Araqib   1  2  3  4  5. A current genocide warning remains.    Partial sources online: "Israel's bulldozers vs the Bedouin Arabs," Catrina Stewart, Nov. 4, 2011, Belfast Telegraph; "Israel to forcibly evict 40,000 Bedouins from ancestral land," Ahni, Oct. 31, 2011, Intercontinental Cry; "End JNF complicity in displacing Israel's Negev Bedouin!" Petition, ongoing [access:< www.change.org/petitions/end-jnf-complicity-in-displacing-israels-negev-bedouin >].

 

      Libya: (background). The murder of Muammar Gaddafi was reported by Western media indicating NATO planes struck his convoy retreating from Sirte; he was found in a culvert, extricated, shot, stabbed in the rectum, beaten, placed still alive on a truck. Visiting U.S. Secretary of State Clinton announced, "We came, we saw,...he died." The new prime minister of Libya under the National Transitional Council / NATO armed takeover is Abdurrahim el-Keib with an M.S., University of Southern California, 1976, PHD, University of North Carolina, 1984. A U.S. citizen as well as Libyan, he taught for twenty years at the University of Alabama. Libya is the second African country overtly taken over by force under mandate of a select international community. In Ivory Coast Alassane Ouattara, former U.S. academic and employee of the International Monetary Fund, recently removed Laurent Gbagbo by armed forces including U.N. and French military. Ivory Coast background:  1   2   3   4   5   6   7. Concerning previous removals of African leaders by force, consider Rwanda (below).    Partial sources online: "Dual US-Libyan Citizen Appointed New Libyan Prime Minister," John Glaser, Nov.1, 2011, antiwar.com; "U.S.-educated professor is Libya's new PM," Associated Press, Nov. 3, 2011, CTV News.

 

      Rwanda: the case against Paul Kagame, President of Rwanda was dismissed by Oklahoma Federal Court Judge Lee West, October 30, 2011. Represented by Pierre-Richard Prosper, Kagame was granted immunity as a head of State. The widow of former head of State, Juvenal Habyarimana, and the widow of the former head of State of Burundi, brought suit in April 2010 against Kagame, suing for 350 million dollars alleging his responsibility for the assassination of their husbands which precipitated the Rwandan genocide. The primary plaintiff attorney, American Paul Erlinder, denied adequate protection by the U.S. Government or U.N., was falsely arrested and imprisoned by Kagame's government May 28, 2010, released temporarily on humanitarian grounds and yet remains under direct threat of prosecution by Rwanda. Kagame's former chief of staff recently offered a public confession of his own complicity with Kagame's guilt (previous). Kagame's speech at a Sacramento State University genocide convention, Nov. 3rd, was protested by the Northern California Congolese Congress due to his government's massacres of Hutu tribespeople in the Congo and the suppression of truth.    Partial sources online: "US court dismisses lawsuit against Rwanda's Kagame," Oct. 29, 2011, Reuters; "US court dismisses lawsuit against Kagame," Oct. 29, 2011, Al Jazeera; "Rwanda’s Kagame, keynote speaker at a Sac State genocide conference?" Ann Garrison, Nov. 2, 2011, BayView; "Protesters gather to oppose Rwandan president," Alex Grotewohl, Nov 3, 2011, The State Hornet.


 

 

October 28, 2011

      Argentina: for their crimes against humanity when the fascists were in power (1976-83) 12 military officers received life in prison and 4 officers sentences of 18 to 25 years. Alfredo Astiz (aka "Blondie," "Angel of Death" etc.) murdered a Swedish girl, two French nuns and three founders of Madres de la Plaza del Mayo, among others. Considered a "counter-terrorist" by the government, he infiltrated human rights organizations and murdered defenseless women. (Desaparicidos - our links page, "The Vanished Gallery"). While the media focuses on Astiz, a lieutenant, his captain, Jorge Eduardo Acosta who gave the orders, was also sentenced to life in prison. The crimes of the convicted, all who worked for ESMA (the Naval Mechanical School) include throwing suspects from airplanes into the sea (an allegation against U.S. interrogators during the Vietnam conflict): of five thousand prisoners taken to the Naval Mechanical School, less than 500 survived (BBC). A relevant trial concerning baby thefts from murdered political prisoners is still underway. Gen. Reynaldo Bignone, once leader of Argentina is serving life in prison under multiple sentences for tortures and murders (previous). Others: 1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   10   11   12   13   14   15   16   17   18   19. The BBC quotes a survivor: "We resisted. We never committed a crime. This is why this is just. They committed crimes. They are imprisoned." For North American treatment of those responsible for torture see previous.     Partial sources online: "Argentine Officials Get Life for Torture, Murder." Oct. 27, 2011, Fox News Latino; "Argentina 'Angel of Death' Alfredo Astiz convicted," Oct. 27, 2011, BBC News; "Argentina former military ruler Bignone gets life," April 14, 2011, BBC News.

 

      Uruguay: Parliament's Congress followed a similar vote in its Senate voting to revoke the amnesty which allowed impunity to those who tortured, disappeared and killed members of the left, 1973 to 1985. The President is expected to sign the removal of amnesty but the action may be challenged at the Supreme Court by Conservative and military opposition.    Partial sources online: "Uruguay overturns amnesty for military-era crimes," Oct. 27, 2011, BBC News; "Uruguay lawmakers revoke amnesty protecting officials of past dictatorship," Associated Press, Oct. 26, 2011, The Washington Post.

 

 

October 27, 2011

      Oakland California: Veterans for Peace member Scott Olsen was critically wounded during a nonviolent Occupy protest, October 25th. Reports suggest he was shot in the head with a tear gas canister by police. He has served two tours as a Marine in Iraq (network data specialist) and according to the Sidney Morning Herald works for a security software company. Initially in critical condition with multiple skull fractures at an Oakland hospital, his condition is now upgraded to "fair". Veterans for Peace supports the Occupy movement throughout the United States. Video: "Oakland: Scott Olsen Injured"   [access:< http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynMBFxiiifI >]    Partial sources online: "Official VFP Statement Regarding Occupy Incident in Oakland," Oct. 26, 2011, Veterans for Peace website; "Veteran Scott Olsen Could Be The First Person To Die At A Wall Street Protest," Linette Lopez and Robert Johnson, Oct. 26, 2011, Business Insider; "Injured vet spent day at work, nights at protest," Terry Collins and Jason Dearen, Oct. 28, 2011, The Sidney Morning Herald

 

 

October 26, 2011

      Canada: update of (previous). Permitted entry despite well-documented cases of torture against him, George W. Bush spoke in Surrey B.C., October 20th, teaming with Bill Clinton to share the glow of American power with British Columbia's Conservative elite. He was not arrested on charges of torture and other war crimes, despite substantial evidence presented the Canadian Minister of Justice, by the Center for Constitutional Rights(U.S.) and the Canadian Centre for International Justice. Both organizations requested his arrest if allowed entry to Canada, with similar requests made by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and Lawyers Against the War. Canada's Attorney General ignored the letters, requests, evidence, and application of the law. The "Iacobucci Report of 2008" has already provided evidence of Canadian complicity in torture abroad (Abdullah Almalki is suing for 100 million; Ahmed El-Maati for 60 million, Muayyed Nureddin for 60 million). Maher Arar was awarded a 10.5 million dollar settlement. On Oct. 20th CCR and CCIJ also filed in B.C. Provincial court a case under Canada's Criminal Code against Bush on behalf of four other Muslim Canadians tortured under Bush policy: with the evidence accepted a hearing was scheduled January 9, 2012. British Columbia's Attorney General has intervened and nullified the action. British Columbia's legal system is already under pressure for selective application of the law, having hosted a large number of young women fed into the wood chipper at Pickton Farm, and generations of native children victim to pedophile rings. Crimes of murders, torture and abuse, committed at B.C. residential schools have not been prosecuted (1 and 2). While Attorney General approval is required for actions against non-Canadians, refusing to apply the law may risk government officials to a crime of omission, therefore complicity in the crime. In the case of Bush, specifically violated are the Geneva Conventions, Canada's War Crimes Act, the Criminal Code of Canada, the Convention against Torture, and the Canadian Charter of Rights. The U.S. judicial system has protected Bush from charges of torture within the U.S.. Canada's omission may be understood as its unwillingness to do U.S. dirty laundry. Usually, selective application of the law is a symptom of corrupt or totalitarian legal systems. When entire groups are deprived equal application of the laws to further a State agenda, it's a tripwire for genocide warnings. In countries under Nazi German occupation, torture, murder, arbitrary and illegal arrest of the victim groups, by the Gestapo were entirely ignored by the law. Currently torture victims of the misnamed "war on terror" are entirely Muslim. Nightslantern carries an early genocide warning for Muslims in both Canada and the U.S.. See previous.

Each State Party shall ensure in its legal system that the victim of an act of torture obtains redress and has an enforceable right to fair and adequate compensation including the means for as full rehabilitation as possible. (from Article 14, the UN Convention Against Torture)
Partial sources online: "Torture Victims’ Case against George W. Bush Received in Provincial Court in British Columbia," press release, Oct. 20, 2011, Center for Constitutional Rights; "Mass genocide of Mohawk children by UK Queen and Vatican uncovered in Canada," Alfred Lamont Weber, Oct. 8, 2011, Seattle exopolitics Examiner; "Pickton victim's missing report sat in drawer for years," The Canadian Press, Oct. 25, 2011, CBC; "Canada AG blocks Bush torture suit," Sarah Posner, Oct. 25, 2011, Jurist; "Human Rights Groups Condemn Canadian Attorney General's Move to Immediately Block Torture Case Against George W. Bush," press release, Oct. 24, 2011, CCR / CCIJ LAW listserv; "Factual and Legal Basis for Prosecution of George W.Bush," CCR / CCIJ, Oct. 19, 2011, & "Letter to the Minister of Justice," CCR / CCIJ, Sept. 29, 2011 & "Letter to the Minister of Justice," CCR / CCIJ, Oct. 14, 2011, & "Torture Victims’ Case against George W. Bush Received in Provincial Court in British Columbia," CCR / CCIJ, Oct. 20, 2011, Center for Constitutional Rights [access:< http://ccrjustice.org/ >]; "RCMP documents indicate terror case against Ottawa man unfounded and racist," Andrew Duffy, Oct. 26, 2011, The Ottawa Citizen.

 

      Bougainville, Papua New Guinea: the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has reinstated the case of genocide, brought by the island's survivors against the Rio Tinto mining corporation (global value, 95 billion). Rio Tinto is accused of complicity in the slaughter of 10,000 island residents during protests of slave-like conditions in the 1980's. The complaint alleges Rio Tinto's international m.o. finds non-whites expendable. The ruling to reinstate the case renders the U.S. Alien Tort Statute of 1789 applicable to corporations and to acts committed anywhere in the world.    Partial sources online: "Bougainville residents can sue Rio Tinto company," Bob Egelko, Oct. 26, 2011, San Francisco Chronicle; "Rio Tinto accused over Bougainville 'genocide'," Reuters, Oct. 26, 2011, 1233 ABC Newcastle; "Ninth Circuit allows Papua New Guineans to sue mining company for genocide," Julia Zebley, Oct. 26, 2011, Jurist.

 

 

October 18, 2011

      Libya: with Sirte and Bani Walid "about to" fall for over a month, conventional media reports Bani Walid under control of NATO / National Transitional Council forces. NATO media reporting is partisan, propagandistic, and suspect; some stories are running without by-line. Alternative sources report Gaddafi's resistance in control of towns and cities throughout Libya. What emerges from personal online accounts is the duress of people under 'rebel' forces they're unfamiliar with. In motion is a takeover of power by an elite rather than a post-Fanon populist revolution . Despite apparent confusion among its regional 'militias', the NTC campaign is marked by think-tank planning, media controls, and racial/ethnic scapegoating of immigrants, migrants, refugees. The campaign relies on NATO's devastating bombing of Libyan people, civilian neighbourhoods and entire cities. A constant of the takeover is that black peoples are being killed, raped, beaten and detained because of their skin colour, a pattern familiar to 19th / 20th Century European colonization. Refugees from Tawarga and other darker people of Libya can be found in makeshift camps under guard. 7000 people are estimated held by the NTC in 67 detention facilities (previous reports noted about half the detainees were black). Throughout NATO's war to 'protect the people of Libya' the victimization of black Africans is media-explained as a result of Gaddafi's hiring sub-Saharan mercenaries. It is a country once home to peoples from throughout Africa; before the war over a third of Libya's population consisted of migrants: 2.5 million out of 6.5 million people. Libya was also a route for African refugees on their way to Europe. The specific destruction of the city of Tawarga and loss of its 30,000 predominantly black residents, is generally portrayed as vengeance for Gaddafi forces' actions against Misrata. NATO's devastating bombing assures Libya's reconstruction with indebtedness and favourable oil contracts to NATO participants; Europe traditionally benefits from desperate African migrants and illegal immigration as a source of cheap labour / slavery, but currently African migrants are not needed as Europe's economies move their own peoples toward joblessness. A genocide warning for black peoples in Libya is repeated (see previous 1 and 2).    Partial sources online: "Libya’s dark-skinned misunderstood, face ire," Oct. 18, 2011, Oman Tribune; "Rebels raise new flag over Bani Walid," AFP, Oct. 18, 2011, The Australian; "Libyan fighters said to advance into Bani Walid," Oct. 17, 2011, Los Angeles Times; "Up to 7,000 held in Libyan prisons, U.N. says," Stephanie Nebehay , Oct. 14, 2011, Reuters; "The Myth of Invasion. The inconvenient realities of African migration to Europe," Hein de Haas, 2008, Third World Quarterly, 29 (7): 1305-1322.

 

      Yemen: The Washington Post reports that Anwar al-Aulaqi's son killed in a U.S. drone strike October 14th, was only 16 years old, and days before had left his family home to search for his father (reportedly assassinated by a U.S. drone strike on September 30th). The teenager, Abdelrahman al-Aulaqi, was born in Denver Colorado, a U.S. citizen. His 17 year old cousin was among other young people killed in the U.S. operation. The Post's source is the al-Aulaqi family which has broken silence to protest the murders of their family members. See previous. There has been no media protest of the extra-judicial killing of a child, an innocent who was also an American.    Partial sources online: "Anwar al-Awlaki's family speaks out against his son's death in airstrike," Peter Finn and Greg Miller, Oct. 17, 2011, The Washington Post.

 

 

October 16, 2011

      Yemen: on October 15th as over 100,000 pro-democracy people including entire families, marched to Sanaa in protest of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, government forces opened fire killing 12, wounding many; the march continued. On October 16th asking for Saleh's resignation, five were similarly killed. USA Today reports as many as 3000 informants on U.S. payroll in the country. On the night of October 14th in Sabwa Province to the South, U.S. drones killed nine suspects: of these five were members of the al-Aulaqi clan and one was Anwar al-Aulaqi's son, Abdelrahman al-Aulaqi. Anwar al-Aulaqi, an American citizen, was killed bya CIA / Joint Special Operations Command airstrike, September 30th, under a U.S. "legal" mechanism authorized by the Justice Department which allows the President to sign an order to kill American citizen suspects, among others, without trial. Initial reports indicate Aulaqi's son was also an American citizen but don't reveal whether the targeting was approved by the President. There is evidence of what may be a policy to kill family members of high profile targets: see the Bin Laden killing (previous   1   2   3 ), and the attempted killing of Gaddafi (previous   1   2   3   4 ). Assassinations, extra-judicial killings, murder of civilians, are war crimes.    Partial sources online: "Yemeni Protesters Defy President Saleh; 12 Killed," Kristina C., Oct. 15, 2011, care2; "U.S. says air strike in Yemen kills 9 militants," Hamza Hendawi (AP), Oct. 15, 2011, San Francisco Chronicle; "Friday Drone Attack Kills Anwar Al-Awlaki's Son in Yemen," Robert Johnson, Oct. 15, 2011, Business Insider; "US officials: US attack in Yemen kills al-Awlaki," Kimberly Dozier (AP), Sept. 30, 2011, Google News; "Secret U.S. memo sanctioned killing of Aulaqi," Peter Finn, Sept. 30, 2011, The Washington Post; "U.S. Strike kills al-Quaeda militants in Yemen," Hani Mohammed (AP), Oct. 16, 2011, USA Today. Update.

 

     California: previous; after nearly three weeks the renewed Pelican Bay hunger strike has ended while some continue at other State facilities. California Department of Corrections and 'Rehabilitation' (CDCR) has promised a close review of its procedures for dealing with gang affiliation but the five core demands have not been met (previous). What is gained is an increased international awareness of the conditions in California's prison system, and strengthened consciousness of inter-racial solidarity. They hate the fact that all races have come together to deal with our pain and suffering, because for over 40 years, CDCR has used race problems as a tool to keep us divided and conquered (Mutope Duguma). The prisoners teach the people with what they have left. People are urged to contact California Governor Jerry Brown at (916) 445-2841, fax (916) 558-3160, email through http://gov.ca.gov/m_contact.php, to assure prisoners are treated as human beings and to stop the torture of long term solitary confinement cells.    Partial sources online: "I sit in starved rebellion," Paul Sangu Jones, Oct.13, 2011, Bay View; "Retaliation at Pelican Bay: Letters from the SHU," Mutope Duguma, and other letters, Oct. 14, 2011, Bay View; "Prisoners at Calipatria Call Off Strike," Oct. 15, 2011, Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity.

 

 

October 14, 2011

     Canada: Prime Minister Harper's Immigration Minister, Jason Kenney, has indicated Canada won't arrest George W. Bush when he visits Surrey B.C., October 20th. On Oct. 12th, Amnesty International joined Human Rights Watch, New York's Center for Constitutional Rights, Canadian Centre for International Justice, and Lawyers Against the War, requesting Bush's arrest if he's allowed to enter Canada. Immigration Minister Kenney called Amnesty's request a "stunt". Kenney has previously defended Bush and the U.S. as Canada's primary ally. Letters to the Government of Canada by Lawyers Against the War and Center for Constitutional Rights / Canadian Centre for International Justice present clear instances where application of laws against torture is required. Under Canadian law the Attorney General's consent is necessary for proceedings enforcing Canada's Crimes against Humanity and War Crimes Act. If politicized by selective application, this portion of the law which also deals with crimes of genocide, would be weakened. While the War Crimes Act, the UN Convention Against Torture, the Geneva Conventions, bind Canada to take action, a functional application of laws against torture may already be there in Canada's Criminal Code (R.S.C., 1985, c. C-46 [Section 269.1]): Every official, or every person acting at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of an official, who inflicts torture on any other person is guilty of an indictable offence.... The definition of "official" includes any person who may exercise powers, pursuant to a law in force in a foreign state, that would, in Canada, be exercised by a person referred to in paragraph (a) [a peace officer],(b) [a public officer], or (c) [a member of the Canadian Forces], whether the person exercises powers in Canada or outside Canada.    Partial sources online:Criminal Code (R.S.C., 1985, c. C-46); "What the #!%*?: Should Canada arrest George W. Bush?" Sarah Boesveld, Oct. 12, 2011, National Post;"Bush, Castro and human rights," Aaron Wherry, Oct. 13, 2011, Macleans.ca; "Ottawa dismisses Amnesty International 'stunt'," David Ljunggren, Reuters, Oct.13, 2011, The Vancouver Sun; "Amnesty International Urges Canada to Prosecute George W Bush," Kristin Craik, Oct. 12, 2011, Business Review Canada.

 

     New York City: New York's Mayor Bloomberg has told "Occupy Wall Street" participants police will move in at 7:00 AM this morning to clear Zucotti Park, for "cleaning." The United National Antiwar Coalition and AFL/CIO are asking people to go to the Park to stand in solidarity with the protestors. Details [access:< http://www.occupywallst.org >]. Update: according to OWS, three thousand people showed up in response to the callout, 300,000 signed a petition against the eviction; the "cleaning" was cancelled.

 

 

October 12, 2011

     California: news of the California prison hunger strike is almost entirely suppressed (previous).Unverified reports suggest that the strike is treated by the California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation as an uprising; retaliation against strikers includes withholding of medical care; in the past both solitary confinement and withholding of medical care have allegedly been applied as methods of information extraction; the number of participating strikers is unavailable; contact between prisoners and the outside is disrupted. In this third week of the hunger strike, denial of requested medical care is endangering the lives of strikers. Solitary confinement for the purpose of extracting information can be defined as torture. By creating conditions which force prisoners to the nonviolent protest of starving themselves to death, prisons become death camps. What is clear is that California Corrections is committing several serious crimes which violate basic human rights. The prison population of America risks being perception-managed out of existence by the U.S. press. Some prisoners are facing death for essential human rights once taken for granted by the American people. Some coverage is available at San Francisco Bay View on our links page, and Prison Hunger Strike Solidarity [access:< http://prisonerhungerstrikesolidarity.wordpress.com/ >].

 

 

October 2, 2011

     Rwanda: trained as a medical doctor, formerly a secretary general of the Rwandan Patriotic Front, a respected diplomat, Rwanda's Ambassador to the U.S. and Paul Kagame chief of staff, Dr. Theogene Rudasingwa was forced into exile. January 14th a Rwandan military court sentenced him to 24 years for, according to the Ministry of Defence, "forming a terrorist group, threatening state security, undermining public order, promoting ethnic divisions and insulting the person of the President of the Republic." In an online statement of September 30th and article in Bayview Dr. Rudasingwa has publicly confessed to working for Kagame while knowing him responsible for the shooting down of Habyarimana's plane, April 6, 1994, an act which terminated the fragile peace process and plunged Rwanda into genocide: Kagame told Rudasingwa in July of 1994 that he - Kagame was responsible for shooting down the plane, which Rudasingwa describes as a "public secret" within Rwandan military circles. Rudasingwa asks forgiveness from the Rwandan people and from God for knowing the truth but furthering a lie. The public confession supports evidence gathered by objective investigators and widely suppressed (previous   1   2   3).    Partial sources online: "Rwanda: Current President Kagame confessed ordering predecessor’s plane shot down," Theogene Rudasingwa, Oct. 1, 2011, BayView; "Rudasingwa Confession! Paul Kagame Killed President Juvenal Habyarimana," Jennifer Fierberg, Oct.1, 2011, MSW Salem-News.com; "Who Assassinated Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana," Felicien Kanyamibwa & OPJDR, Dec. 1, 1999, AfroAmerica Network.

 

 

October 1, 2011

     Canada (concerning the scheduled visit of George W. Bush to British Columbia, October 20th): New York based Center for Constitutional Rights and Vancouver's Canadian Centre for International Justice have jointly provided Canada's Attorney General with a letter of request and draft of an indictment for the prosecution of George W. Bush for torture. The torture documented is at points extreme. The case presented is clear and necessary, and available at CCR's website [access:< http://ccrjustice.org/files/2011.09.29%20Bush%20Canada%20Indictment.pdf >]. There is currently a media blackout of this news. A previous letter to the Harper government by U.S. Professor of Law Francis Boyle and Canadian Gail Davidson of Lawyers Against the War requests Bush be denied entry to Canada or prosecuted, and was provided to all Ministers of Parliament at the end of August. Similar efforts were made to prevent entry or prosecute, when Dick Cheney promoted his book in Vancouver (previous 1 & 2). Bush's visits to Switzerland, February 12th, and Toronto on September 20th, were cancelled.    Partial sources online: "Letter to the Canadian Minister of Justice," Katherine Gallagher & Matt Eisenbrandt, Sept. 29, 2011, Center for Constitutional Rights and Canadian Centre for International Justice; "Factual and Legal Basis for Prosecuition of George W. Bush, Pursuant to the Canadian Criminal Code and the Convention Against Torture," Sept. 29, 2011, Center for Constitutional Rights and Canadian Centre for International Justice.

 

 

September 30, 2011

     Libya: concerning the previous genocide warning: persecution, detention, rape, disappearance, deaths, of black Africans, and members of any tribes loyal to the pre-NATO government (the al-Meshashya tribe, the Tawergha, the Al-Awaqir , the Obeida, the Qadhadhfa, the Tarhouna, among others), should be documented, publicly distributed and presented governments adhering to the Convention on Genocide. Cultural impediments to reporting rape in Libya (ie. reports of "honour killings" of women raped by soldiers), suggest that protection and anonymity is needed by any who speak out. During NATO's campaign against the former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, the FRY charged NATO countries with aggression and genocide at the International Court of Justice (April 1999); the Court denied neither charge but lawyers for NATO countries were able to remove the case from consideration at the time through technicalities. To consider the NATO program in Yugoslavia: "On Crimes of Power: the Bombing of Yugoslavia, 1999", and   1   2   3   4. Update.

 

     California: information is being withheld by the prison system; families and prisoner representatives report at least 6000 incarcerated in California prisons began a hunger strike on September 26th. The strike renews the Pelican Bay hunger strike which ended while California's Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation promised to review its procedures. "Security Housing Units" inmates find no substantial change, maintaining that long term solitary confinement is torture. An estimated 85% of SHU prisoners are Hispanic, African or Indigenous peoples, many held in solitary confinement for over ten years, some for over twenty. "Core Demands" of prisoners are stated at Prisoner Strike Solidarity [access:< http://prisonerhungerstrikesolidarity.wordpress.com/the-prisoners-demands-2/ >].   Partial sources online: "Tortured SHU Prisoners Speak Out: The Struggle Continues," Sept 2011, Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity; "Hunger strike Round 2, Day 3: 6,000 on strike, threats from CDCR," Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity, Sept. 28, 2011, BayView;"Greed drives solitary confinement torture," Mutope Duguma, Sept. 18, 2011, BayView.

 

     Kashmir: attempts are being made to identify 2000 dead people found in mass graves in a region controlled by India. India's Public Safety Act has processed between 8000 and 20000 people in Jammu and Kashmir during the last ten years. At another site near Roonch, 3,844 bodies have been discovered in unmarked graves. When local groups asserted the dead are victims of India's security apparatus, human rights researchers (Arundhati Roy, Richard Shapiro, Angana Chatterji, among others) attempting to enter the region were barred. Most recently the concern of David Barsamian (U.S.) was discouraged by deportation fom India for visa violations. Despite the needs of the Kashmiri people Saudi Arabia is recruiting doctors from the occupied country. Previous   1   2   3    Partial sources online: "Kashmir promises identification of recently uncovered bodies," Jennie Ryan, Sept. 28, 2011, Jurist; "Kashmir: Grave charges," Masood Khan, Sept. 30, 2011, arabnews.com; "Amnesty International asks lawmakers to raise issue of unmarked graves in Indian Kashmir," Associated Press, Sept. 27, 2011, The Washington Post; "Saudi Arabia starts process to recruit Kashmiri doctors," Sept. 30, 2011, APP News.

 

     Ireland: Amnesty International has issued a report, "In Plain Sight," attributing crimes committed by the Church against working class children at reformatories, residential schools and industrial schools, to lack of accountability to civil authorities and within the Church, "failure to investigate complaints", and the State's collaborative lack of monitoring. There is some indication of acts and conditions now considered torture. There is some indication that children of Traveller and 'non-white' heritage under State care have been trafficked for sex. Since "2000, 503 separated children have gone missing from State care, 441 of whom remain missing" (In Plain Sight, p. 309). Parallels to victims of Residential Schools in Canada.   Partial sources online: "Ireland clergy abuse amounts to torture: rights group ," John Paul Putney, Sept. 28, 2011, Jurist "Abuse of children in Irish institutions amounted to torture," Press release, Sept. 26, 2011, Amnesty International; "In Plain Sight: Responding to the Ferns, Ryan, Murphy and Cloyne Reports," Carole Holohan, September 2011, Amnesty International Ireland.

 

 

September 27, 2011

     Libya: on Sept. 26th Canada's Parliament voted to extend its contribution to NATO's war on Libya; the NDP presented opposition,calling for a shift of the military mission to humanitarian objectives. NATO and the National Transitional Council (NTC) forces' attempt to destroy the city of Sirte continues with its residents reporting NATO's bombing of hospitals and schools. With the City of Tawarga, predominantly poor, black and pro-Gaddafi, now burnt and empty, civilians in both Sirte and Bani Walid are reported resisting. Due to the targeted killing of the Chief of State's family, the NTC detention-killing-torture of civilians who are black, current reports in Tripoli and Sirte of group kidnapping of women, the NTC's pledge to surround the City and starve it out, the destruction by NATO of targets protected by Geneva Conventions, the lack of balanced reporting in Western countries, inaction by global human rights organizations including the United Nations, the fabric of international law is broken and maintains credibility of intention through its support by the African Union, left of centre nations in the Americas, possibly Russia and China, and non-aligned groupings globally. Nightslantern places a genocide warning for Libya, particularly for portions of the national group in the cities of Sirte and Ben Wali. NATO's support for one side of the Libyan conflict presents a white military incursion into Africa, without protection for black Africans or those who assure their rights. For a list of emergency medical supplies required in Sirte: "¡¡¡AYUDA !!!URGENCIAS FARMACÉUTICAS PARA SIRTE" [access:< http://leonorenlibia.blogspot.com/2011/09/ayuda-urgencias-farmaceuticas-para.html >]. Previous: 1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   10.    Partial sources online: "NDP retreats to comfort zone with Libya decision," Chantal Hébert, Sept. 26, 2011, thestar.com; "Ottawa extends Libya military mission,"Jessica Murphy, Sept. 26, 2011, Toronto Sun; "Sirte civilians accuse NATO of genocide ,"Tom Coghlan (The Times), Sept. 27, 2011, The Australian; "Sirte Civilians: NATO Committing Genocide," Tony Cartalucci, Sept 27, 2011, InfoWars Ireland & "Libya crisis: Rebel leaders hoping to starve Gaddafi stronghold of Sirte into submission," Rob Crilly, Aug. 28, 2011, The Telegraph; "Libya’s City of Bani Walid Crushes Rebel Advance," Tony Cartalucci, Sept. 27, 2011, Infowars Ireland; "Tawarga: fires blaze and bad blood lingers in Libyan ghost town,"Chris Stephens, Sept. 13, 2011, The Guardian; "Ten reasons why the U.S. war in Libya is a CIA operation," The Historical Research Group of the Nation of Islam, April 26, 2011, Final Call. Update. Update.

 

 

September 25, 2011

      Vancouver: Human Rights Watch has urged the Canadian Government to arrest and prosecute former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, if he visits Vancouver, citing Canada's ratification of the Convention Against Torture, the U.S. torture of Canadian citizens Maher Arar and Omar Khadr, and the applicability of Canadian law. Previous.    Partial sources online: Human rights group urges Ottawa to investigate Cheney over torture," The Canadian Press, Sept. 24, 2011, Toronto Star; "Bring Criminal Charges against Cheney in Canada says Human Rights Watch," Sept. 24, 2011, LAW list.

 

      Libya: NATO and NTC operations against Gaddafi's beseiged strongholds continue, with the hospitals overflowing and families hiding in basements. According to Gaddafi's daughter he is "carrying his gun and is fighting side by side with the warriors" (PANW); he has asked the "lions" of Libya to rise up. The massive explosion (of a French arms ship - unverified) in Tripoli's harbour Sept. 24th is attributed to an electrical malfunction, despite its concurrence with other explosions south of Zawia. On Sept. 22nd, Zimbabwe's Head of State Robert Mugabe addressed the U.N. General Assembly noting over 20,000 "blatant illegal, brutal and callous NATO murderous bombings" of Libya. He re-affirmed his commitment to the UN's Charter and shared a Pan-African perspective concerning the International Criminal Court: "The leaders of the powerful western states guilty of international crime, like Bush and Blair, are routinely given the blind eye...Such selective justice has eroded the credibility of the ICC on the African continent.” AU Commission Chairman Jean Ping has clarified the African Union's position on Libya (see previous): the AU doesn't support the NTC as Libya's government unless it becomes inclusive. Before the UN's Resolution 1973, the AU supported peaceful reconciliation under Gaddafi. South African President Zuma noted in his September 22nd UN address, "AU peace efforts in Libya were wrongly ignored in favour of Nato military activity in Libya, which should stop immediately" (PANW). Previous.   Partial sources online: "Mugabe: ICC letting Bush, Blair off hook," press\tv.ir, Sept. 23, 2011; "Zimbabwe President Mugabe Tells NATO to Stop Abusing the United Nations," Morris Mkwate, Sept. 23, 2011; "AU wants inclusive govt in Libya," Morris Mkwate and Obi Egbuna, Sept. 23, 2011; "President Zuma Tells United Nations That African Union Efforts in Libya Were Ignored," Reuters, Sept. 22, 2011; "Libyan Leader Gaddafi Fighting 'Side by Side With the Warriors'," Hadeel Al-Schalchi, Sept. 24, 2011; all, Pan-African News Wire; "Naval yard explosion rocks Tripoli," Nick Meo, Sept. 24, 2011, The Telegraph.

 

 

September 24, 2011

      Vancouver: at a news conference Sept. 23rd, Minister of Parliament Don Davies, the Official Opposition Immigration Critic, asked the Government to uphold Canadian law and deny Dick Cheney admission to Canada. Citing the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act, his letter to Immigration Minister Jason Kenney requests enforcement. Ellen Woodsworth of the Vancouver City Council issued a statement defending Vancouver's community of peace, asking "...why would the West Vancouver Conservative Party bring a someone like him to Vancouver? It's unconscionable." Arguments against Cheney's appearance were presented by Gail Davidson of Lawyers Against the War, Derrick O’Keefe of Canadian Peace Alliance, and Blake MacLeod of World Federalist Movement of Canada  (video presentation of "Press Conference, Stay Home Dick Cheney" [access:< http://www.livestream.com/w2media/video?clipId=pla_416d2049-7174-4e4b-8825-8295152ffe13 >]).

Background: Cheney's promotion of his new book at the Vancouver Club September 26th is sponsored by the "Bon Mot Book Club" under guidance of Leah Costello, a former communications director for the Fraser Institute. Ms. Costello is a champion of freedom of expression for the extreme right, sponsoring similar events for the American Sarah Palin, and Geert Wilders' ally Oscar Levant. Also: the International Tribunal into Crimes of Church and State (previous) released a statement Sept. 23rd, supporting the Stopwar protest (previous) of Cheney's appearance and implicating the Vancouver Club as a location for sexual abuses of native children dating back to 1994. According to ITCCS: "Indian children go into the Vancouver Club and are never seen again" (statement to the B.C. Supreme Court, April 26.1995, by Atty. Jack Cram); lawyers pressing this case were disbarred and terrorized; investigative reporting by two newspapers was stopped by threat of lawsuit.     Partial sources online: "NDP Immigration Critic calls on Minister Kenney to prevent Dick Cheney from entering Canada," Sept. 23, 2011, Lawyers Against the War list; "Dick Cheney must be barred entry to Canada, Vancouver MP Don Davies says," Carlito Pablo, Sept. 23, 2011, straight.com; "Will Dick Cheney be arrested in Vancouver?" Linda Solomon, Sep 23, 2011, Vancouver Observer; "Kevin Annett: Eye Witnesses of Murder and Torture on Canada's West Coast," Jan.14, 2010, Censored News; "Dick Cheney to Speak at Notorious Child Trafficking Center in Vancouver on September 26," ITCCS International - Brussels office, Sept. 9, 2011, ITCCS list; "Civil society responds to Dick Cheney's scheduled Vancouver appearance," Sept. 22, 2011, Media with Conscience.
 

 

September 23, 2011

      United Nations: Gerald and Maas supports Palestine's application to the United Nations for self-determination, freedom and independent statehood. Nightslantern notes a genocide warnng for Palestine, Gaza, and Arabs in Israel.

 

      Canada: Prof. Christopher Powell at the University of Manitoba, finds Canada's treatment of First Peoples in the residential school system, and the act of removing children from their people in a systematic effort to destroy their culture, constitute genocide. While the U.N. Convention on Genocide is operable in Canada, and despite evidence from Canada's Truth and Reconciliation Commission and extensive work by Kevin Annett (previous), genocide cases of domestic origin are not being pressed.    Partial sources online: "Indian residential school system an act of genocide: prof," Sept. 20, 2011, APTN National News.

In Vancouver the Center for Constitutional Rights (NYC) and Canadian Centre for International Justice are hosting a panel September 29th, to discuss options to make George W. Bush accountable for use of torture in the "war on terror". Panelists are Matt Eisenbrandt of CCIJ, Katherine Gallagher of CCR, Gail Davidson of LAW (Lawyers Against the War). LAW has already strongly suggested by letter to the Harper government and forwarded to Ministers of Parliament, that former U.S. president Bush be denied entry or arrested at his intended visit to Surrey B.C., October 20th (previous). The conference is scheduled for 6:30 to 8:30 pm, UBC Robson Square room C180 (entrance by the ice rink), 800 Robson Street, in Vancouver.     Sources: "Free Public Dicussion on Accountability for Torture, Sept. 29, 2011. Please circulate and post," Sept. 22, 2011, Lawyers Against the War; LAW archive.

 

      U.S.:

      Cherokee Nation: under U.S. government pressure, the Cherokee Nation is allowing Cherokee descendants of slaves to vote in an election requiring federal approval. "Freedmen" without a certificate of Indian blood were stripped of tribal rights in 2006. The rights assured by treaty in 1866 are being contested. See previous (historical note) .

Georgia: on September 21 (previous) with strong evidence of his innocence Troy Davis was executed by the State of Georgia and the failure of the Federal appeals system. His lawyer called the process a "legal lynching". Killings particularly of innocent people, are recognized as a psywar tactic to terrorize a population into compliance. In Afghanistan, Pakistan and Yemen, U.S. drones kill "suspects" along with their families and unidentified civilians. Davis is the 52nd human being executed in Georgia since 1976.

Washington D.C.: the government is debating whether or not to expand extra-judicial killing of "terrorist suspects", from specific areas where there are conflicts, ie. Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen and Somalia, to wherever needed. In Afghanistan a new report by Open Society Foundation finds that night raids are targeting non-combatants and civilians. These are war crimes, without statute of limitations, and in violation of the Laws of War. Illegality of the policy requires and explains the increased control of media and judiciary. Currently Washington feels threatened by the African Islamist groups of Al Qaeda, al Shabaab and Boko Haram. An estimated 27,000 prisoners of the 'war on terror' are believed held in U.S. secret prisons around the world and on U.S. naval vessels.

Historical note: government impunity is being fought through civil suits.
      1. Law Professor Peter Erlinder represents the widow of assassinated former Rwandan President Habyarimana, in a suit against Paul Kagame; Erlinder plausibly believes he can prove to a jury Kagame's responsibility for the act which triggered genocide in Rwanda (Habiyarimana v Kagame). Suit filed with U.S. District Court in Oklahoma, August of 2010, remains despite Rwanda's arrest and extensive personal terrorization of Erlinder (previous.). Kagame's attorney is the Bush administraton's Pierre Prosper, once U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues and a former prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda noted for prosecuting the first modern case of genocide. He is also remembered as the U.S. official who allegedly ordered Carla del Ponte not to investigate Kagame when she was the Chief Prosecutor of the Tribunal. She refused to obey and was fired. On August 29th 2011 the State Department asked the court to grant Kagame immunity from prosecution. In Pittsburgh Carnegie Mellon University hosted Kagame Sept.16th, to inaugurate a CMU Rwandan Campus (University President, Jared Cohon, was appointed by Presidents Bush and Obama to the U.S. Homeland Security Advisory Council).

      2. Former President of Mexico, currently the Director of Yale's Center for the Study of Globalization, Yale professor Ernesto Zedillo, is being sued in Hartford Connecticut as responsible for the massacre in Acteal Chiapas, Dec. 22, 1997. The professor finds the charges "slanderous." Names of the plaintiffs are being withheld for fear of their safety. (Poster).
Partial sources online: "Cherokee tribe reaches agreement to reinstate 2,800 'Freedmen'," Molly O'Toole, Sept. 20, 2011, Reuters; "The Cherokee nation must be free to expel black freedmen," James MacKay, Sept. 17, 2011, guardian.co.uk; "Ex-president of Mexico sued in Conn. over massacre," Dave Collins (AP), Sept. 21, 2011, Yahoo! News; "The Cost of Kill/Capture: Impact of the Night Raid Surge on Afghan Civilians," Regional Policy Initiative on Afghanistan and Pakistan Sept. 19, 2011, Open Society foundation; "New Study Says U.S. Night Raids Aimed at Afghan Civilians," Gareth Porter, Sept. 21, 2011, Counter-Information; "'CIA commits illegal acts, kills people'," Sept. 19, 2011, PressTV; "African Islamist groups seen as U.S. threat: general," David Alexander (Reuters), Sept. 15, 2011, Yahoo! News; "U.S. to Attack Al-Qaeda Terrorists Beyond ‘Hot Battlefields,’ Brennan Says," Margaret Talev, Sept. 16, 2011, Bloomberg; "Obama Adviser Discusses Using Military on Terrorists," Charlie Savage, Sept. 16, 2011, The New York Times; "At White House, Weighing Limits of Terror Fight," Charlie Savage, Sept. 15, 2011, The New York Times; "Obama requests immunity for Kagame re Rwanda Genocide and Congo wars," Ann Garrison, Sept.14, 2011, BayView.

 

 

September 22, 2011

      Canada: Lawyers Against the War asks: why "Canada is the only country in the world that Cheney and G.W. Bush visit." LAW has urged the Mayor of Vancouver and Councilors to deny Cheney safe haven from prosecution for torture and other crimes against humanity and direct the police to make the arrest. Cheney is scheduled to speak at "The Bon Mot" Club, in Vancouver, Sept. 26th (previous). The Mayor and Councilors have remained silent. Like the August 25th letter concerning George W. Bush (previous), LAW's letter of September 19th to the Harper government requests Cheney be denied entry to Canada or prosecuted. Donald Rumsfeld intends to start his book tour in Boston, September 26th. Rumsfeld lost immunity to charges of torturing Americans after a decision of the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals (previous).     Partial sources online: "City of Vancouver a safe haven for accused war criminal?," LAW, Sept. 20, 2011, Lawyers Against the War list; "Oppose safe haven in Canada for Dick Cheney," LAW, Sept. 20, 2011, Lawyers Against the War list; "Welcome to Boston, Mr. Rumsfeld. You Are Under Arrest," Ralph Lopez, Sept. 20, 2011, Global Research / Daily KOS.

 

Historical note "If you took away the names of these Nazis, and just sat down to talk to them, they were like your friends and neighbours." - Howard Triest, a translator for a team of Allied psychiatrists interviewing the defendants at Nuremburg. See previous. Source: "Jewish US army translator who got close to the Nazis," Mario Cacciottolo, Sept. 19, 2011, BBC News
 

 

    gerald and maas c.1980's

September 21, 2011

      Georgia, U.S.: Troy Davis (previous) is scheduled to be executed today at 7:00 PM; the State of Georgia Pardons and Paroles Board has announced it will not give clemency. Davis has always maintained his innocence. Despite recantation of witnesses he was refused a retrial. According to Democracy Now! livestream, at 8:52PM Troy Davis was still alive. Then a last minute emergency appeal to the Supreme Court was refused and Troy Davis was killed by lethal injection at 11:08 PM, Georgia time. The legal system has killed a man it knows might be innocent.     Partial sources online: "BREAKING: Troy Davis clemency denied!" Laura Moye, Sept. 19, 2011, Amnesty International USA alerts; "Global protests held in Troy Davis execution case," Agence France-Presse, Sept. 16, 2011, canada.com; "Democracy Now! Special Broadcast: Troy Davis Execution in Georgia, 9/21 6-8pm EDT...", Sept. 9, 2011, Democracy Now! digest; "Georgia killed Troy Davis," Laura Moye, Sept.21, 2011, Amnesty International USA list.

 

      Libya: on September 20th the African Union with 54 members recognized the National Transitional Council as Libya's government. See September 19th.     Partial sources online: "African Union Recognizes Libya's Transitional Gov't," Sept. 20, 2011, VOA News; Libya war: African Union recognises NTC as leaders," Sept. 20, 2011, BBC News.

 

      New York City: Friends of the Congo (links) and The African Fellowship of Riverside Church announce the showing of the film Lumumba followed by panel discussion and Congolese food, September 25, 2011, 1 to 5 pm, Riverside Church, 490 Riverside Drive, NYC, rm 9T. Nightslantern has a current genocide warning for the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

 

 

September 19, 2011

      Libya: on August 29th Infowars Ireland reported 3 days of heavy NATO missile and bombing attacks on Sirte, and outside the city the presence of British, and French Special Forces, among units from other nations. Gadhafi forces continue to fight in this region and NATO has continued to missile and bomb the city's people. Recent reports (UPI) indicate that "rebel" forces have been repulsed. Throughout the country Black Africans continue to be persecuted by "rebel forces" who targeted African workers since the outset under the assertion that Gadhafi was using black African mercenary troops. While U.N. agencies and NATO forces were to protect civilians (Security Council Resolution 1973), there is no indication black workers were or are protected. This leaves safeguards for basic human rights and humanitarian law increasingly reliant on regional mechanisms, national judiciaries, and the world's people. The U.N. immediately approved "rebel" forces as the government of Libya, a tactic used during Ouattara's invasion and overthrow of the Ivory Coast. The U.N.'s lack of effective resistance to re-colonization of Africa was apparent in its response to the Rwandan Genocide, its acceptance of ongoing genocide against the Congolese people, and the International Criminal Court's attempts to prosecute predominantly anti-Western (ie. anti-neocolonialist) leaders in destabilized African nations. The agenda furthers aggressive foreign gain of Africa's resources. The African Union hasn't recognized the "rebel forces" as Libya's government. Previous.     Partial sources online: "African Union threatens withdrawal from United Nations," Mathaba News Network,June 30, 2011, BayView;"‘NATO commits massacre at Sirte razing the city to the ground’," Inforwars Ireland, Aug. 29, 2011, Infowars Ireland; "Disappeared: Thousands of Libyan Blacks Turn Up Missing in Rebel Offensives," Jason Ditz, Sept. 13, 2011, antiwar.com; "Gadhafi Spokesman: NATO Strikes Killed 354 Civilians," John Glaser, Sept. 17, 2011, antiwar.com; "Anti-Gadhafi fighters beaten back," Maria Golovnina and Alexander Dziadosz (Reuters), Sept. 19, 2011, The Vancouver Sun.

 

      Czech Republic: persecution of the Roma, substantially furthered by French President Nicholas Sarkozy's policy of removal from France, in Northern Bohemia has erupted into brawls and fights reminiscent of Hitler's rise to power. There are only an estimated 250,000 Roma among 10 million Czechs. As more people become impoverished persecution of Roma increases. Prime Minister Petr Necas indicates that the racial tensions are due to social programs which are "overly generous" (Czech Radio). Nightslantern maintains a genocide warning for Roma in Europe. Previous 1   2   3, ongoing.     Partial sources online: "Roma being carted off outside Paris in tram 'reminiscent of wartime France' ," Henry Samuel, Sept. 2, 2011, Telegraph.co.uk; "Wave of Hate: Anti-Roma Protests Turn Violent in the Czech Republic," Frank Brunner, Sept. 16, 2011, Spiegel online; "Necas: Racial tension in North Bohemia the result of ‘overly generous’ social policies," Christian Falvey, Sept. 17, 2011, Czech Radio; "Racial Tensions Rising in Impoverished Czech Towns," Sean Carney, Sept. 13, 2011, Wall Street Journal.

 

 

September 16, 2011
 

New poster: ¡Habrá más poesía!, a poem by U.S. political prisoner, Antonio Guerrero of the Cuban Five.
 

 

September 10, 2011

      Canada: a ThatChannel.com interview [access:< http://blip.tv/thatchannel/real-health-2011-09s-06-kevin-annett-5533270 >] with Kevin Annett updates a community's attempts to grapple with the genocide of native peoples; Annett's program to return remains of residential school victims to their people may also provide forensic evidence in the event European Parliament sees its way to indict Canada for genocide of its First Peoples in residential schools. Annett's work also supports other victims of sexual abuse by the Church. On September 6th the Elders of the International Tribunal into Crimes of Church and State (ITCCS) issued a declaration banishing "The Christian Churches Responsible for the Torture and Murder of our Children: It's Time for You to Leave." The declaration begins: "The Christian churches responsible for the abduction, detainment, forced labor, rape, indoctrination, torture and murder of generations of our children and their descendants have violated the laws of God and humanity, and damaged our societies, far beyond the power of any apology or reparation to undo." As of September 18th the Roman Catholic Church, the Church of England and the United Church of Canada are declared permanently banned from their communities. The ITCCS Executive includes elders from "the Inuit, Cree, Metis, Mohawk, Anishnabe, Basque and Gaelic nations." Entire Proclamation. (.pdf). North American legal communities have not been able to address the destruction of Iraq or the ongoing crimes against native peoples within a perspective of the Convention on Genocide. Previous.

Richard Cheney who openly supports U.S. use of torture, intends to speak at the "Bon Mot Book Club" of Vancouver on September 26th. According to Straight.com, Gail Davidson of Lawyers Against the War believes Cheney should be barred from entry or arrested and tried for torture, or extradited to a country where the judiciary is strong enough to prosecute. Much of the case against Cheney among others of the Bush administration is available in the letter by Francis Boyle and Gail Davidson sent the Harper government August 25th (previous). The letter asks the government and RCMP to bar or arrest George Bush when he visits, October 20th. In the event the Harper government allows Cheney's entry, the Stopwar Coalition of Vancouver is planning a demonstration: "Protest War Criminal Dick Cheney" ~ Monday, Sept. 26, 5:30pm, outside the 'Vancouver Club', 915 W. Hastings.

NATO's war on Libya has exposed members of the Canadian Armed Forces to eventual charges of war crimes. As of Sept.1, Canada's overt commitment to NATO's Libyan operation consisted of a naval frigate, 7 fighter jets, 3 tankers for aerial re-fueling, and 655 troops (Vancouver Sun). NATO's partisan support of Libyan 'rebels', and bombing of civilian areas was outside the United Nations mandate to look after civilians. Attention to the resource-conquest is being deflected in Canada by the Prime Minister's warning against "Islamicization" (a warning previously made by Geert Wilders of the Netherlands ie. 1, 2, and 3), and calls for reinstatement of the expired (2007) police powers effected after 9/11. Mindful of an era when Canada fought Nazis, Foreign Affairs Minister Baird has announced that a "National Holocaust Monument" is to be built in Ottawa.

Partial sources online: "Proclamation to the Churches Responsible for the Torture and Murder of our Children: It is Time for You to Leave," ITCCS, Sept. 6, 2011, genocidetribunal email; "recent TV interview and update with Kevin Annett and ITCCS - please post," Sept. 8, 2011, genocidetribunal email; "Canada takes first step toward Holocaust memorial," AFP, Aug.31, 2011, Google News; "Canada will not shy from using military force, Harper warns dictators," Lee Berthiaume, Postmedia News, Sept. 1, 2011, "The Vancouver Sun; "Harper’s ‘Islamicism’ quip draws heavy opposition fire," Jane Taber, Sept. 7, 2011, Globe and Mail; "Tories to bring back special anti-terror powers for cops," Daniel Proussalidis, Sept. 7, 2011, Toronto Sun; "Vancouver lawyer Gail Davidson seeks Dick Cheney's arrest," Carlito Pablo, Sept. 8, 2011, straight.com; "Sept. 26: Protest War Criminal Dick Cheney in Vancouver," Sept. 9, 2011, LAW.

 

      Honduras: the people of Honduras are in mourning following the assassination of Mahadeo Roopchand Sadloo Sadloo, a naturalized Honduran citizen and resistance leader "Emo", a personal friend of Zelaya. Returning to his tire shop after a FRNP rally Emo was approached by a man who fired six shots into him and fled. On Sept. 1, The Committee of Relatives of the Detained and Disappeared in Honduras (COFADEH) reported to the world community that forced disappearances were again being used against the people, and listed ten men since June 2010 disappeared by the police or men in masks. The victims have not been seen again.     Partial sources online: "En Tegucigalpa, asesinan a miembro de la Resistencia: Emo Sadloo," Red Morazanica de informacion, Sept. 7, 2011, Frente Nacional de Resistencia Popular website; "Honduras: One of the Symbols of the Resistance Killed," Red Morazanica de informacion, Sept. 7, 2011, Frente Nacional de Resistencia Popular (English) website.

 

      Georgia, U.S.A.: both Amnesty Canada and Amnesty U.S.A. have put out pleas for Troy Davis whose execution is scheduled September 21. On September 19 there is a clemency hearing at the Georgia's Board of Pardons and Paroles which has the power to save him amid a system numbed by injustice. 7 of the 9 primary witnesses against Davis at his trial have recanted their testimony. There is very real doubt Troy Davis is guilty of anything. Alex Neve of Amnesty Canada asks for support in "preventing a horrible injustice." See www.amnesty.ca . Previous 1 and 2.     Partial sources: "A man is about to be executed; help us prevent a tragedy," Sept. 8, 2011, Amnesty International Canada email; "An urgent plea from Joan Baez, Amnesty International," September 8, 2011, Amnesty International U.S.A. email.

 

 

September 2, 2011

      Bolivia: on August 31rst the Bolivian Supreme Court unanimously found 5 commanding officers and two cabinet ministers guilty of genocide for killing 68 mostly Indigenous demonstrators during Bolivia's 2003 Black October. The strongest charges were "genocide in the form of a bloody massacre"(AIN); sentences ranged from three to fifteen years. Sensitive to its history Bolivia's penal code defines genocide as the killing of more than three people. Those alleged to be primarily responsible for the crime, former President Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada, and former Defense Minister Carlos Sánchez-Berzain currently reside in the United States where they were given asylum after the European Parliament rejected their request. The U.S. refuses to return them to Bolivia for trial despite a clear extradition treaty; Sánchez de Lozada was educated at an Iowa Quaker School and the University of Chicago. Berzain and Lozada have current claims against them in Florida Courts for compensatory financial damages, resulting from human rights violations (claims evidence also reveals that under Defense Minister Berzin, usually officers carried the automatic weapons and trained as sharpshooters - some victims were shot at home in their beds [COHA]). Sánchez de Lozada faces a thirty year sentence if returned. Andean Information Network notes more people murdered by military and police during Sánchez de Lozada's 14 month presidency than the 7 year term of the Banzer military dictatorship. During the demonstrations of 2003 approximately 70 people were killed and 500 wounded. Tens of thousands of unionists, farmers, students, marched through the streets of La Paz protesting Sánchez de Lozada's plan to sell out Bolivia's natural gas to the U.S. (protesters were largely native people). Evo Morales became the protest's leader; Sánchez de Lozada was forced to resign. Without propaganda or urging popular culture to retribution the current Bolivian court proceedings further the people's consensus of fundamental human rights law, while judicial systems under corporate rule are not prosecuting their countries' war crimes.     Partial sources online: "Bolivian president quits amid turmoil," Oct. 18, 2003, BBC News; "A Case for Extradition: Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada and Carlos Sanchez Berzain," Jacob Abeyta, Sept. 3, 2008, Council on Hemaspheric Affairs; Bolivia officials request extradition of ex-president from US," Safiya Boucaud, Nov. 12, 2008, Jurist; "Verdict Nears in 'Black October' Trial, Could Set Important Precedent for Bolivian Human Rights Cases," Andean Information Network, Aug. 25, 2011, Andean Information Network; "Bolivia high court convicts 7 officials for genocide," Julia Zebley, Aug. 31, 2011, Jurist..

Historical note: on October 9, 1967 in La Higuera Bolivia, by order of the Bolivian Army, personnel of 2nd Ranger Battalion which was trained and monitored by the C.I.A., executed a wounded prisoner in restraints, without a judicial hearing. Che Guevara was buried in an unmarked mass grave.
 

 

August 26, 2011

      Canada: Francis A. Boyle and Gail Davidson of Lawyers Against the War have sent a letter (full text -.pdf) to the Harper government with copies to Parliamentarians and the RCMP, requesting the government either deny George W. Bush entry to Canada, or arrest and prosecute him for torture. Bush is invited to lecture in Surrey British Columbia, October 20th. Canadian law forbids entry to war crime suspects. Canada's war crimes act forbids torture. Charges in Criminal Court against Bush for torture were not pressed during his visit to Canada in 2004: the B.C. court ruled he couldn't be prosecuted while in office, and then B.C. Supreme Court found the charges politically motivated. The Harper government's application of the Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act (see resources) currently focuses mostly on Muslim, African, and Hispanic suspects (previous). The former U.S. President cancelled a trip to Switzerland after his arrest on torture charges was requested there (previous). Human Rights Watch has requested the U.S. Justice Department investigate Bush for torture (previous). Lack of Canadian enforcement would encourage the war crime of torture to continue with impunity, and undermine respect for all human rights and humanitarian laws including the Convention on Genocide.     Partial sources online: "Visit of George W. Bush on October 20, 2011: Canada must prevent entry or arrest and ensure prosecution for torture," Lawyers Against the War, August 26, 2011, LAW website [access:< http://www.lawyersagainstthewar.org/letters/LAW_letter_re_George_Bush__20110825.pdf >]; "G.W. Bush: Bar entry or ensure prosecution for torture," Aug. 28, 2011, Lawyers Against the War email; "Lawyers Against the War and related," Archive (partial), current, nightslantern.ca.

 

      Congo: the ongoing genocide of the Congolese is clarified in the film Crisis in the Congo: uncovering the truth (short version) [access:< http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLV9szEu9Ag >] [link update]; the film is recommended. Perpetrators of the genocide are major corporations and profit seekers of NATO countries stripping the country of its resources. Since the crime of genocide has no statute of limitations profit takers should be logged for eventual prosecution. The genocide warning is more than a warning; prevention is failing.     Partial sources online: "Crisis in the Congo: Building Momentum," Aug. 26, 2011, Friends of the Congo email; "Rwanda: Colonizing Eastern Congo with U.S. support," Ann Garrison, July 30, 2011, Bay View..

 

      Peru: on August 24th the Congress unanimously passed a Prior Consultation Law requiring First Peoples' assent to development projects by private companies on their lands, and any laws by government that might affect Indigenous rights. President Humala is expected to sign the bill within 15 days. A similar previous bill approved by Congress was vetoed by former President Garcia. Mining stocks declined at the June election of Humala, considered a leftist. On Aug. 25th, the government levied a 1.1billion dollar tax increase on the mining sector.     Partial sources online: "Peru approves ‘historic’ Indigenous rights law," Aug. 24, 2011, Survival; Peru: UN human rights expert commends new Indigenous consultation law," Aug. 25, 2011, UN News Centre; "Peruvian Congress Unanimously Passes Indigenous Consultation Law," Aug. 25, 2011, Amnesty International; "Peru to impose extra tax on mining groups," Jack Farchy & Naomi Mapstone, Aug. 25, 2011, Financial Times..

 

 

August 21, 2011

      U.S.: as millions move more deeply into poverty, and foreign policy violates humanitarian law, as the American public finds itself increasingly hostage to warmaking, on August 18th the two leading serious organizations defending civil liberties and human rights in U.S. courts, the Center for Constitutional Rights, the National Lawyers Guild, offer a website with free download of the Jailhouse Lawyer's Handbook, [access:< http://www.jailhouselaw.org >]. The work includes "issues of importance to women prisoners," ..."pre-trial detainees," ...non-citizens and immigration detainees," and this 5th edition collaborates with Sylvia Rivera Law Project to include issues of importance to transgender prisoners.The Columbia Human Rights Law Review (Columbia University Law School) puts out a similar handbook, A Jailhouse Lawyer's Manual, Ninth Edition available at [access:< http://www3.law.columbia.edu/hrlr/jlm/toc/ >]. Both books carry legal disclaimers ("The law prohibits us from providing any legal advice to prisoners," -Columbia), which limits protections available under laws protecting the people. The cost of a Columbia law degree is $150,000 plus. See also our recommended links for political prisoners. For information about prisoner rights on the Canadian side of the border, PovNet, working with poverty related issues, devotes a section of its website to prisoners' rights [access:< http://www.povnet.org/issues/prisoners-rights >].     Partial sources online: "Jailhouse Lawyer's Handbook Now Available Online," Annette Warren Dickerson, Aug. 18, 2011, Center for Constitutional Rights emailing; the websites noted above; "Why Does Law School Cost So Much?" James Vescovi, Summer 2006, Columbia Law School Report.

 

      France: declaring the Roma to be a "serious threat to public order" on August 9th a Marseilles court supported the Sarkozy party Mayor's plans for further evictions of Roma. Mayor Gaudin is quoted by RFI: "Those people, there are too many of them in this city, we want them to go somewhere else...". Marseilles, historically resistant to fascism, presents a piece of a widespread European phenomenon addressed succinctly by Slavoj Zizek: "Such a politics always relies on the manipulation of a paranoid multitude." A similar mechanism eventually affects all immigrant groups. To quote at greater length: "From France to Germany, from Austria to Holland, in the new spirit of pride in one's cultural and historical identity, the main parties now find it acceptable to stress that immigrants are guests who have to accommodate themselves to the cultural values that define the host society - 'it is our country, love it or leave it' is the message" (Zizek -ABC). The Independent reports 75% of France's 'illegal' Roma camps bulldozed but most of the 9000 Roma expelled have returned. Bloomberg notes that the TB rate for Roma in camps is 2.5% while .03% for the French in general (German TB patients were a target of elimination policies under the Third Reich). News concerning Roma in France is increasingly rare. Nightslantern carries an ongoing genocide warning for Roma in various European Union countries. Previous. Lack of adequate resistance to extremist right wing agendas may be traced to decades of anti-communist propaganda and perception management programs to further corporate capitalism.

Historical note, WWII: to administer occupation of Germany in 1945 the U.S. Army examined why ordinary Germans had cooperated with a Nazi government - why there was no effective underground / resistance within Germany itself, even to occupation by Allied forces. European and North American capacities for mirroring the Nazis which seem both alarming and mundane now, were notable in 1945 denazification reports : "It is not the purpose of this report to deny that many Germans were Nazis in the full sense of the term, and that many others were deeply affected by Nazi doctrine. Yet it is denied here that this "new morality", this new barbarism converted the great mass of the German people. Their basic feelings remained those of civilized Christian man. When they did Hitler's will it was sometimes out of fear, sometimes out of ignorance, sometimes because they could see no alternative. The explanation is not simple. Yet their basis of judgement remained, and remains today, fundamentally the same as ours." - Samuel H. Beer
    Partial sources online: "Roma Health in France Worsened Since Crackdown, Group Says," Gregory Viscusi, July 26, 2011, Bloomberg."Marseille to evict 90 Roma," RFI, Aug. 10, 2011, ; "Anti-Immigration Politics: Barbarism with a Human Face," Slavoj Zizek, July 27, 2011, ABC Religion and Ethics; "Sarkozy under fire as Roma crackdown fails," Aug. 3, 2011, John Lichfield, The Independent; "Learn lessons from Nazi Roma killings: Council of Europe," Aug. 2, 2011, expatica.com; "Preliminary Report on Public Opinion in Post-Nazi Germany," John E. Shield, July 24, 1945, HQ Military Government Detachment E:B3 / "Report on Public Opinion in Post Nazi Germany," Samuel Beer, 1945 Samuel H. Beer Papers / NLJFK.

 

 

August 16, 2011

      U.S.: without addressing the unprosecuted crime of production, provision and deployment of Agent Orange, Bill H.R. 2634, the Victims of Agent Orange Relief Act of 2011 before the House of Representatives, would provide relief to victims of Agent Orange in both the U.S. and Vietnam. Effects of dioxin exposure are inter-generational; the Bill includes relief for descendants of exposed Veterans. Currently The Agent Orange Act of 1991 provides 84,000 U.S. veterans with benefits when there's a concurrence of a presumptive disease along with Agent Orange exposure; another 74000 requests are pending. The slide show accompanying the Phil Ochs song (below) notes effects of Agent Orange on the people of Vietnam. Re. Canada and the State of Maine: 1,   2,   3,   4.   Criminal prosecution for use of agent orange as a tactic of chemical warfare has not been applied in North America. Similarly, current use of depleted uranium weaponry remains beyond reach of the courts and U.S. controlled media coverage (recent  1   &   2 ). The Voice of Russia reports an Italian court has ordered payment of 500,000 euros to the family of a soldier whose death was traced to d.u. exposure from ordnance used against Kosovo.     Partial sources online: "Compensate Victims of U.S. Chemical Warfare," Marjorie Cohn, Aug.10, 2011,Vietnam Agent Orange Relief & Responsibility Campaign apprec. TML Weekly Information Project / Nowar-paix; "New Agent Orange claims surpass 84,000," Tom Philpott, Aug. 14, 2011, Montgomery Advertiser; "Depleted Uranium," Public Health, current, United States Department of Veterans Affairs; "Depleted uranium continues to claim victims," Aug. 13, 2011, The Voice of Russia.

Historical notes: the war against Vietnam
“We're the Cops of the World”   Phil Ochs song with slide show [access:< http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_2x3JWWzvY >]
"Swedish Anti-Vietnam War Communist Song (English subtitles)"   [access:< http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jHq2r6BQA0 >]
"The Collapse of the Armed Forces," by Col. Robert D. Heinl, Jr., 7 June,1971, Armed Forces Journal   re. G.I. resistance; [access:< http://chss.montclair.edu/english/furr/Vietnam/heinl.html >]; [access:< http://libcom.org/history/vietnam-collapse-armed-forces >].

 

 

August 15, 2011

      Canada: in Toronto at its current annual meeting, the American Bar Association (400,000 members) signed a written agreement with the Canadian Bar Association (37,000 members) "committing the two bars to closer cooperation, information exchanges and other joint efforts" (ABA ). American Bar President Stephen N. Zack noted... "Our people are really one people." The commemorative ceremony was attended by Chief Justice of Canada's Supreme Court, Beverley McLachlin. At the Canadian Bar Association meeting held in Halifax, Canada's Governor General David Johnston addressed the gathering, encouraging the legal profession to regain the trust of the people. He faulted the profession for its rates, exclusivity, speed of processing, and aptly, for its silence. He strongly urged lawyers to serve the public. Suppressed news: The Liberal and Harper governments' commitments to U.S./NATO wars make Canadians vulnerable to application of laws against war crimes, both at International Criminal Court and under domestic law. The U.S., having refused jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court, is currently, not. The Harper government's attack on Canada's judiciary, evident in his government's appeal of court decisions affirming human rights (ie. previous), and evident in the Minister of Immigration's public disapproval of Federal Judges for not cooperating with the Government's attempts to remove and deport people, was noted by Canadian Bar Association President Rod Snow early in 2011 when he wrote Immigration Minister Kenney: “Your public criticism of judges who follow the law but not the government’s political agenda is an affront to our democracy and freedoms,” a position supported by Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin, who in Halifax thanked the CBA for defending the integrity of the judiciary. She stressed a need for public confidence in the courts as the place for conflict resolution.

Neither the U.S. nor Canadian legal system has proved capable of applying the Convention on Genocide to the attempted destruction of Iraq, or of its own native peoples, etc..
    Partial sources online: "Chief Justice supports criticism of Kenney," Richard Foot, Aug. 13, 2011, National Post; "Forceful Governor General tells lawyers 'Heal thyself '," Richard Foot (Postmedia News), Aug. 14, 2011, Ottawa Citizen; "The ABA and Canadian Bar Put Their Special Relationship into Writing," James Podgers, Aug. 6, 2011, ABAjournal; "American Bar Association holds annual meeting in Toronto," Drew Hasselback, Aug. 3, 2011, Financial Post.

 

      U.S.: in the U.S. Army 22 active soldiers and 10 reservists committed suicide during the month of July (previous). The figures don't include attempted suicides, statistics for other branches of the service, for covert and ghost operations, for field casualties from stress fatigue, or for veterans.     Partial sources online:"Army Suicides Hit Record High," John Glaser, Aug. 12, 2011, antiwar.com; "Army suicides set record in July," Greg Jaffe (The Washington Post), Aug. 13, 2011, Bangor Daily News.

Despite Harvard's institutional propensity for silence a Law School Professor, Chibli Mallat, has written an article protesting the U.S. violation of the Geneva Conventions by its extra-judiciary killing of Osama Bin Laden. Mallat notes recent evidence presented in The New Yorker by Nicholas Schmidle, which makes clear the victim was executed against the laws of war. The illegal operational procedure is turning U.S. soldiers into war criminals. See"Against the Killing of Anwar al-Aulaqi & Others."     Partial sources online: "The Geneva Conventions and the Death of Osama Bin Laden," Chibli Mallat, Aug. 4, 2011, Jurist; "Against the Killing of Anwar al-Aulaqi & Others,"J.B.Gerald, April 19, 2010, nightslantern.ca.

Torture update: the torture suit brought against Donald Rumsfeld by 2 U.S. contractors tortured by the U.S. military and black operations, is proceeding by order of the U.S.7th Circuit Court of Appeals. See previous.     Partial sources online:"Federal appeals court allows Rumsfeld torture suit to proceed," Chris Morris, Aug. 9, 2011, Jurist; "U.S. Navy Vet Sues Donald Rumsfeld for Torture in Iraq, Court Allows Case to Move Forward," Amy Goodman, Aug. 11, 2011, Democracy Now!

 

      India: reports of persecution of Christians by Hindu extremists continue (see previous) as a constant in Orissa, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh. The incidents involve the order to abandon Christianity or face community ostracism, disruption of prayer meetings and religious events, accusations of forcing conversion to Christianity, threats, arrests, beatings of church and school workers and their spouses, destruction of religious items and a church, lack of appropriate police response. In Delhi July 26th, a thousand Dalits (sometimes referred to as 'outcastes,' sometimes as 'untouchables') both Christian and Muslim, went on hunger strike for two days to protest a government law denying them benefits offered Dalits who are Hindus, Sikhs or Buddhists. The Hindu reports that Anders Breivik of Norway supported the Hindu nationalist movement in India, which he found to have the same goal as Europe's far right in opposing Islam.     Partial sources online: "Norwegian mass killer's manifesto hails Hindutva," Praveen Swami, July 26, 2011, The Hindu; "India Briefs: Recent Incidents of Persecution," July 25, 2011, Compass Direct; "India: Christian Dalits engage in 2-day hunger strike," July 26, 2011, CatholicCulture.org.

 

      Japan: (previous); credible sources have found airborn radiation in Japan a thousand times the fallout from U.S. H-bomb tests in 1963, and three hundred times the radiation in the air around the Chernobyl catastrophe in 1986. Those responsible for the Fukushima disaster are considered to be Tokyo Electric Power, and General Electric (Nichols), though some responsibility must be assumed by the nuclear industry at large; the U.S. Department of energy lists bombing Hiroshima and Nagasaki as among the "1300 U.S. nuclear weapons 'tests'" (Nichols). U.S. and Canadian government environmental and health websites are not offering comprehensible monitoring of North American exposure. Independent community- based monitoring (October 30, 2009, environment page) is needed. Example: Canadian Network for radiation Awareness & Monitoring [access:< http://changeagents2011.wordpress.com/home/ >].     Partial sources online: "Citizen group wants radiation tests done in Canada following Fukushima nuclear disaster," Charlie Smith, Aug. 11, 2011, straight.com; "Fatal radiation levels at Fukushima now ‘off the scale’," Aug.3, 2011, thejournal.ie; "Fukushima Radiation 1,000 Times H-Bomb Peak: Dr. Chris Busby Speaks with the Japanese People," Bob Nichols, Aug.2, 2011, VeteransToday; "Radioactive British Columbia: Collaborative Testing Begins in Wake of Ongoing Fukushima Nuclear Meltdown Disaster," Change Agents, Aug. 13, 2011, Pacific Free Press.

 

      Cote d'Ivoire: the U.N. Mission is reporting extra-judicial killing of Laurent Gbagbo's supporters, as evidence of war crimes by Ouattara government forces accumulates. Previous. Although Ouattara has formed a war crimes commission it's arresting only his political opponents and their supporters. U.S. Senator Jim Inhofe, a Republican from Oklahoma, has called on the U.S. State Department to stop the arrests and extra-judicial killings which are eliminating Ouattara's opposition: victims include a 17 month old child. Inhofe refers to Ouattara as the "rebel leader". The U.N. Security Council has voted to maintain the United Nations military 'presence' for another year as the once-independent African nation drifts into occupation.     Partial sources online: "Troops blamed for mass graves in Ivory Coast," Daniel Howden, Aug. 13, 2011, The Independent; "Ivory Coast president's forces continuing extrajudicial killings: UN," Julia Zebley, Aug. 11, 2011, Jurist; "Inhofe Condemns Killings and Prosecutions under Ouattara's Regime," Aug. 14, 2011, politicalnews.me; "UN extends Côte d’Ivoire peacekeeping mission another year," BNO News, July 27, 2011, channel6news.

 

      Israel / Palestine: the State of Israel has brought a 1.8 million dollar suit against Bedouins who have attempted to re-build their homes demolished by Israeli bulldozers. The village leader of Al-Arakib (see previous & background) is quoted by Haaretz as saying: "We also submit a lot of complaints but no one listens to us, about all the buildings of ours that they destroyed - and the state does not care. The first demolition cost us NIS 4 million. The trees that were uprooted in the village cost us NIS 500,000. They destroyed the village 27 times; that cost us NIS 150,000 each time." Nightslantern maintains a genocide warning for Arab peoples and Muslims in territories claimed by Israel. Concerning the Knesset's consideration of Avi Dichter's bill which makes non-Jews second class citizens: there is some parallel to defining an entire ethnically, racially, religious group as an "internal enemy" or criminal, which is a mechanism of genocide (see Guatemala). Under the European Inquisition (12th century on) and genocide of the Cathars, those who were not traditional Catholics were often given the option of converting to avoid torture or death. The option was also offered 'heathen' or 'pagans' in the 'discoveries' of the Americas.     Partial sources online: "Israel’s 'Jews first, democracy second' law and its racist authors," Uri Avnery, Aug. 13, 2011, Redress; "Israel sues 34 Bedouin for costs of repeated demolitions of their homes","Jack Khoury, July 27, 2011, Haaretz; "Israel sues Bedouin for $500,000 in eviction costs," Yolande Knell, July 27, 2011, BBC News.

 

 

August 13, 2011

The entries of August 2nd and August 6th are re-posted after an unexplained removal. To contact the writer directly: J.B.Gerald at gandm@nightslantern.ca - jbg

      Guatemala: four Guatemalan elite special forces (Kaibiles) officers convicted in the 1982 massacre of 201 civilians in Las Dos Erres, were sentenced to thirty years apiece for each death [sic], doubled by additional conviction for human rights violations. A fifth officer recently deported from the U.S. will be tried separately. At that time Guatemala was under military rule by General Efrain Rios Montt, currently immune as a Senator from charges in Guatemala. On June 17th General Hector Mario Lopez Fuentes, in charge of the Guatemala's armed forces in 1982 was arrested on charges of genocide, and on June 20th indicted for genocide among other crimes against humanity, but specifically for the program against the Maya Ixii which criminalized the group as an internal enemy. See background. The military is considered responsible for 95% of 200,000 deaths in Guatemala's 36 years of civil war.     Partial sources online: "Guatemala sentences four in landmark civil war trial," Aug 2, 2011, Herbert Hernandez, Reuters; "War crimes trial over Guatemala massacre begins," Zach Zagger, July 26, 2011, Jurist; "Guatemala: Ex-armed forces chief Lopez Fuentes arrested," June 18, 2011, BBC News; "First Arrest for Genocide in Guatemala," NISGUA Staff, June 17, 2011, NISGUA Blog; "General Héctor López Fuentes indicted for genocide," NISGUA Staff, June 17, 2011, NISGUA Blog.

 

 

August 6, 2011

      Canada: two high profile immigrants, formerly targeted by the Canadian Intelligence Services, are being used again in Canada for the propaganda war against Islam. Widely disseminated photographs reveal that neither looks 'European'. Adil Charkaoui (background 1 and 2), a former Security Certificate detainee freed by Canadian courts, andAbousfian Abdelrazik (background), a Canadian tortured in Sudan and held there six years until Canadian Federal court ordered the government to renew his passport, are subjects of a La Presse (Montreal) report sourced as an Intelligence Services transcript: two men plot in 2000 to blow up an airplane. The 'transcript', if valid, would have required both be arrested and charged under regular domestic laws. Yet both men have been under intense scrutiny by CSIS, the RCMP, the Courts and public for about a decade and remain without legal charges against them. The cost to their lives, families, and Canadian civil liberties is immense. Currently Charkaoui's lawyers are suing Canada for 25 million dollars. Abdelrazik's are suing for 27 million and attempting to remove his name from the U.N. Security Council's terrorist watchlist.     Partial sources online: "CSIS intercepts reveal plot to bomb plane: La Presse,"Aug. 5, 2011, CBC News; "CSIS leak raises suspicions of former terror suspects ," Guiseppe Valiante (QMI), Aug. 5, 2011, Toronto Sun; "Abdelrazik deserves no compensation, Ottawa argues," Paul Koring, Oct. 14, 2011, The Globe and Mail.

 

 

August 2, 2011

      Libya: on July 22nd NATO bombed Libya's water supply pipeline/water supply network, and on July 23rd, bombed the water pipes factory in Brega which produces the pipes to repair the water distribution network for 70% of Libya's population. The targeting of civilian infra-structure is a war crime threatening survival of the Libyan people. As in the bombing of Iraq, the targeting of civilian infra-structure (usually declared part of military target) calls into application the Convention on Genocide by "Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part." NATO has made 6100 strikes so far (ie. previous), recently a hospital in Zlitan July 25th.     Partial sources online: "NATO war crime: Libya water supply," J. Perez, July 24, 2011, Counter-Information; "NATO war crime: Libya water supply," Timothy Bancroft-Hinchey, July 23, 2011, pravda.ru; "Rebels Say Qaddafi Must Face Trial as Airstrikes Hit Tripoli," Associated Press, July 22, 2011, Fox News; "Libya war exposes U.S./NATO crimes against humanity," Abayomi Azikiwe, July 30, 2011, Workers World.

 

      Colombia: on July 26th Colombia's Mineworkers Union (Sintramienegética) leader, Rafael Tobón was murdered by rightwing paramilitaries near his home. The Union has reported threats to its leaders traced to the recent disenfranchisement of workers and takeover of the Colombian company, Frontino Gold Mines, by two Canada based merging companies: Medoro Resources (Yukon) Inc. and Gran Colombia Gold,S.A. (Zandor Capital). Region.     Partial sources online: "Mineworkers’ Leader, Rafael Tobón, Gunned Down in Antioquía, Colombia," Judi Lynn, Aug. 1, 2011, Democratic Underground; "Asesinado Otro Líder Minero en Segovia," Comité Ejecutivo Nacional Funtraenergetica, July 27, 2011, Diario Ojo Pelao.

 

      Canada: the government continues its policy against the Khadr family and July 29th appealed the Ontario Superior Court decision refusing extradition of Abdullah Khadr to Boston. The Government has appealed to Canada's Supreme Court having lost its most recent appeal to Ontario Superior Court last May. Abdullah Khadr was returned to Canada from Pakistan in 2005 and alleged he was tortured in a Pakistani prison for information requested by the U.S.. According to the CBC the U.S. government paid Pakistani agents half a million dollars to kidnap the Canadian citizen. See previous   1   2   3. For recent evidence of U.S. torture of suspects, a war crime, see the historical note below. In Boston he is currently charged with supplying arms to terrorists. His younger brother, Omar Khadr, was stripped of his human rights by the U.S. at Kandahar and Guantanamo, without Canada's intervention.

Historical note: Murat Kurnaz, arrested in Pakistan at 19, tortured at U.S. base Kandahar, then Guantanamo gives clear believeable and outrageous evidence of torture of suspects in an interview with Daniel Bushell of RT. Kurnaz, from Turkey living in Germany, married a Muslim and converted to Islam. Of Khandahar he says in broken English "I saw many people got killed under torture in Kandahar... I got waterboarded after I'd seen a couple of people got killed in front of me. It wasn’t first or second one, I saw several people killed. Some of them got kicked on their head until they died. Another one was hanged on a chain until till he died." This area of murder of suspects was avoided in the interview Kurnaz gave CBS 60 minutes in February. Kurnaz was tortured by deprivation of food, solitary confinement, temperature change, sound, the conditions of his confinement, waterboarding, forced inhalation of water, electroshock, and being hung from the ceiling in chains until he signed a false confession. U.S. government evidence affirms his innocence and after five years he was released. Re. U.S. military ethics similar to Nazi practice, while Kurnaz was hanging from the ceiling in Kandahar a doctor would come in periodically to see if he could survive further torture. He provides evidence of torture and murder at Guantanamo as well. His statements contribute to a pattern of atrocities which are proving verifiable. The acts of torture are war cimes and outside statutes of limitation.
Partial sources online: "Government to appeal court ruling to halt Khadr extradition," Beatrice Fantoni Postmedia News, July 30, 2011, Ottawa Citizen. "RT's Daniel Bushell Speaks to Former Gitmo Detainee Murat Kurnaz," (in Bremen Germany) posted August 2, 2011, YouTube / “In Gitmo I was punished with 30 days in darkness for feeding iguanas,”July 25, 2011, RT; "Ex-Terror Detainee Says U.S. Tortured Him," CBS News, February 11, 2011, 60 minutes; "Ottawa demande l'extradition d'Abdullah Khadr," Agence France Presse, July 30, 2011, canoe.ca; "Abdullah Khadr extradition request may go to top court," The Canadian Press, July 29, 2011, CBC News .

      In the wake of Anders Breivik's massacres in Norway and the clear influence of European Islamophobic organizations such as Geert Wilders' Freedom Party in the Netherlands, there's no change in an apparent Canadian anti-immigrant bias strengthened by the Conservative government. Wilders, who on May 9th told his audience in Toronto, "Mohammed was one of the most evil men that ever lived," went on to speak at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, May 10th. See previous   1   2   3.

Historical note: in some instances generous, Canada' immigration policies reflect a current government's biases. In 1930 the S.S. St. Louis left Hamburg carrying approximately 900 Jewish refugees fleeing the persecution accompanying the rise of Nazism, bound for Cuba which refused landing, then to Halifax where Mackenzie King's government denied the ship entry to the harbour, then to Belgium which accepted the Jews as refugees who were subsequently subjected to the Holocaust. Gerald Steinacher's book Nazis on the Run: How Hitler's Henchman Escaped Justice, notes that 8000 Nazis found their way into Canada and Britain at the end of WWII. While information is available on assistance by the Vatican, International Red Cross, and U.S. Army intelligence, who helped the war criminals flee a defeated Germany and certain Soviet prosecution, 'ratline' mechanisms to Canada have remained unexposed by academics and media.
Partial sources online: "Anders Breivik and Europe's anti-immigrant bias," Mark Townsend, July 30, 2011, guardian.co.uk; "Voyage of the St. Louis," January 31, 2011, Canada and the World; "Thousands of Nazis escaped across the world, including to Canada: book," Randy Boswell, May 27, 2011, National Post; "Review: Nazis on the Run: How Hitler’s Henchmen Fled Justice," David Cesarani, June 22, 2011, New Statesman.

 

      Cote d'Ivoire: previous; a former advisor to the once-President Laurent Gbagbo who is currently prisoner to the international community's Alassane Ouattara government, has supplied the International Red Cross with the names of sixty former officials detained by the Ouattara regime. Some are subject to physical and psychological torture. The International Crisis Group has warned that a victor's justice may be affecting handling of war crimes resulting from the takeover. About 670,000 displaced people are still afraid to return to their homes. On July 29th, U.S. President Obama welcomed to the White House and praised Ouattara, Boni Yay of Benin, Alpha Conde of Guinea and Mahamadou Issourfou of Nigeria, for being unconditional partners of the U.S. and models of democratic development...     Partial sources online: "Côte Ivoire : un proche de Gbagbo interpelle le CICR au sujet des prisonniers," AFP, August 1, 2011, abidjan.net; "Côte d`Ivoire : la réconciliation doit commencer "immédiatement" (ICG), AFP, August 2, 2011, abidjan.net; "Displaced Ivorians 'too afraid to return'," July 28, 2011, Al Jazeera; "M. Obama salue quatre chefs d`État africains, des modèles de démocratie," Stephen Kaufman, August 1, 2011, abidjan.net.

 

 

July 29, 2011

      Belgium: the American press is reporting a suit filed in civil court July 27th by French (Marcel Ceccaldi) and Belgian (Ghislain Dubois) lawyers, against NATO for the bombing and killing the wife and children of Khaled Hemidi in Libya.Mr. Hemidi's father, close to the ruling regime was targeted but escaped death. 15 (including 3 children) died in what NATO called an attack on a command centre. The Belgian lawyer previously filed suit for Muammar Gaddafi's daughter at a Belgian court able to deal with war crimes and genocide, but the court couldn't find a link between the crime and Belgium where NATO's headquarters are located. NATO also claims diplomatic immunity. Aisha Gaddafi's home was bombed killing her baby daughter, her brother and other family members. Khaled Hemidi on the other hand, is currently a member of Libya's Revolutionary Council. Both legal actions are justified as a response to NATO's breaches of the Geneva Conventions. Despite the different courts involved, the long and short of it favours one side of the conflict, NATO's. Selective application of international law consistently benefits the war-makers' policy, alienating the judicial process from the world's people. While the ICC plans to prosecute Gaddafi for war crimes, a Russian columnist writes "I wonder why NATO soldiers' wives accept killers in their beds." Previous 1   2   3   4   5.     Partial sources online: "A few words to the killers from NATO," Konstantyn Sceglikov. July 28,2011, pravda.ru; Libyan sues NATO for killing his family, Agence France Presse , July 27, 2011, National Post; "Gaddafi daughter's war crimes lawsuit against NATO dismissed," 27 July, 2011, Sunday Times; "Family Sues NATO Over Civilian Deaths in Libya," AP, July 28, 2011, The New York Times; "Attorneys file civil suit against NATO for Libya air strike, Maureen Cosgrove", July 28, 2011, Jurist.

 

 

July 28, 2011

      Haiti: previous. There is a resurgence of cholera. The official death toll from the disease has reached 5800. In normal circumstances cholera isn't usually fatal. With foreign emergency medical services, the community's needs of adequate sanitation and clean water sources are not adequately addressed, causing the spread of disease. The medical problem is innate to colonialism which creates situations of dependency aid by refusing to address the causes of need. A team (1 doctor 5 nurses) from Boston's Mass General hospital is visiting the Schweitzer Hospital in Deschapelles and helping to train medical staff. Schweitzer organizations should further preventive measures and outreach both water and sanitation facilities to communities sourcing their patients. Part of what distinguished the Doctor's early faith-motivated efforts when Western medicine was generally unavailable in Africa was his adapting patient care to the African village community. Without primacy of the community, the people, Western medicine becomes a control. There are reports of a thousand cases a day in June, four times as many as in April. The death toll is expected to mount as hurricane season approaches. Los Angeles Times reports that in Cité Soleil's Tapi Vert encampment, there are now toilets, which no one has emptied for three months. Haiti remains under genocide warning due to multi-national and UN policies. Example: as summarized by Ezili Dantò: "On July 6, 2005 at 3:00 am in the morning, 1,000 UN soldiers surrounded Site Soley, 440 UN soldiers entered this shack-filled space of sleeping Haitian civilians, fired a total of 22,000 bullets and when it was over, Dred Wilmè, his children, his family and about 60 others from Site Soley, mostly unarmed, sleeping civilians were dead." See: "Haiti defines resistance – July 6, 2011 marks the 6th anniversary of the UN assassination of Emmanuel Dred Wilmè," Ezili Dantò for Haitian Perspectives, July 6, 2011, links: hlln / ezili dantò.     Partial sources online: "Boston health team battles Haiti cholera," Neena Satija, July 24, 2011, Boston Globe; "Rainy Season Brings More Cholera to Haiti," July 25, 2011, CBNNews.com; "Haiti again caught in cholera's grip," Allyn Gaestel, July 24, 2011, Los Angeles Times;

 

 

July 26, 2011

      Canada: according to the Canada Border Services Agency website, "Government will not tolerate war criminals in our communities." The CBSA site has posted photographs of thirty non-Canadians in the country and currently accused of war crimes; the public list has encouraged tips from Canadians. Suspects are from Africa, Afghanistan, Pakistan, former Yugoslavia, and South and Central America. The U.S. is not on the list (previous). Groups concerned with Civil Liberties point out the men may be innocent and the identification of so many as "criminal" increases fear and hatred of foreigners.     Partial sources online: "Wanted by the CBSA," current [access:< http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/wc-cg/menu-eng.html >]; "Feds say 30 men suspected of 'war crimes' are living in Canada,"Jeff Davis (Postmedia News), July 22, 2011, Montreal Gazette; "2nd suspected war criminal arrested," July 23, 2011, CBC News; "Two alleged war criminals arrested from illegal immigration most-wanted list," Colin Freeze, July 23, 2011, Globe and Mail; "Government of Canada Enlists Help of Canadians to Enforce Canada's Immigration Laws," Press release, July 21, 2011, Canada Border Services Agency.

      Under a Conservative government the surveillance of non-criminals continues to increase. An article in The Dominion reveals the Harper government in 2006 on assuming power began targeting and monitoring First Nations groups for native "unrest." The Department of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada supplied the RCMP with information about the trouble spots - areas provoked by the incursion of corporate interests.Recently Montreal has created a special police unit (GAMMA, Guet des activités des mouvements marginaux et anarchistes) for surveillance of anarchists and other difficult-to-classify groupings.     Partial sources online: "First Nations Under Surveillance," Russell Diabo, Shiri Paternak, July 13, 2011, The Dominion; "Montreal police unit to monitor anarchists," Max Harrold, July 21, 2011, Montreal Gazette.

      Independent news of radiation levels in Canada as a result of the catastrophe at Fukushima Japan (previous) is hard to find. Data available through Health Canada [access:< http://hc-sc.gc.ca/hc-ps/ed-ud/respond/nuclea/data-donnees-eng.php >] claims no threat to health. Reports that radiation readings in Western Canada have exceeded emergency safety levels, remain unverified. Earthquakes continue to hit the Fukushima area of Japan, ie. July 7 (5.6), July 23 (6.4), July 25 (6.2). Both the U.S. and Canada are continuing nuclear energy programs. National Public Radio reports Oak Ridge Tennessee is expecting the delivery of a thousand tons of German nuclear waste, for burning and disposal.     Partial sources online: "6.2 quake hits Fukushima — 6.4 quake in same area Saturday," July 25th, 2011, EneNews; "Dangerous Levels Of Radiation Recorded In Canada As Fukushima Radiation Dangers Continue," Alex Thomas, July 19, 2011, The Intel Hub; "Doctors express 'deep concern' about Fukushima impacts on Canada," Linda Solomon, April 1, 2011, Vancouver Observer; "Tennessee Awaits Tons Of German Nuclear Waste," Matt Shafer Powell, July 26, 2011, NPR.

 

      California: according to the Guardian 11 prisoners hunger striking at the Pelican Bay Security Housing Unit since July 1 (previous), began accepting food July 21rst; BayView reports some continuation of the strike: as of July 22nd 500 prisoners from Tehachapi, Corcoran, Calipatria, remained on strike. 7000 California prisoners have participated. Updates are available at Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity [access:< http://prisonerhungerstrikesolidarity.wordpress.com >]. While the California Prison system has refused major concessions it has promised a review of procedures and granted tokens. The strike has established international awareness of the inhumanity of prolonged solitary confinement as applied at the Pelican Bay SHU where some American citizens have been held in solitary confinement for years under conditions of cruel and unusual punishment. The strike has continued to increase awareness of brotherhood among prisoners, maintained the dignity of resistance to placing people in cages, and suggests to all facing prisons of poverty and over-surveillance, the need for solidarity beyond group differences.     Partial sources online: "Hunger strikes and national protests continue," Deborah Dupre, Human Rights Examiner, July 22, 2011, BayView; "A hunger for justice in Pelican Bay," James Ridgeway and Jean Casella, July 25, 2011, guardian.co.uk; "What Did Prisoners on Hunger Strike Want, What Did They Get?" Jon Brooks,news fix, July 25, 2011, KQED News.

 

 

July 13, 2011

      U.S.: Human Rights Watch has issued a report, "Getting Away with Torture: the Bush Administration and Mistreatment [sic] of Detainees," recommending the President ask the Department of Justice to investigate officials of the Bush administration for their uses of torture. It names primarily George Bush, George Tenet, Richard Cheney, and Donald Rumsfeld. The report covers a well footnoted history of U.S. illegal acts against detainees during the Bush administration, and the laws broken. While the people are aware of these crimes of power, U.S. human rights organizations have been slow to apply human rights law in court to U.S. leadership, and unwilling to or incapable of raising issues of genocide as applicable to U.S. policies. Human Rights Watch is considered by the unaligned press to be a voice of the State Department. Legal actions to hold Bush accountable for torture have been attempted in Canada (see "2005" entries at the Lawyers Against the War archive), Germany, and Spain which returned its case to U.S. jurisdiction. The HRW report has recommended investigation by the organization currently sanctioning torture and which has upheld the government's right to torture suspects and detainees since the opening of Guantanamo. American law accommodates conditions which are arguably torture within its own prison system. The report also recommends investigation by "an independent nonpartisan commission," created by Congress. A third recommendation suggests international law or international use of U.S. domestic laws if nothing is done.     Partial sources online: "Getting Away with Torture: The Bush Administration and Mistreatment of Detainees," July 11, 2011, Human Rights Watch; "Human Rights Watch Calls For Criminal Investigation Against Bush Officials," Heather Maher, July 13, 2011, Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty.

      California: Southern California Public Radio reports approximately 200 prisoners in the Pelican Bay long-term solitary confinement unit are starving themselves. On the 13th day of their hunger strike some are reaching the point of organ damage. As many as 6600 prisoners have participated: by the 12th day 795 in six prisons were refusing food. This is heading toward a terrible tragedy. The Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity has asked people to call Governor Jerry Brown (916-445-2841) and ask the State to negotiate the prisoners' requests (previous). 38% of California's prison population is Latino, 29 % African Amerian.     Partial sources online: "Relatives say California inmates on hunger strike getting sick, weak," Julie Small, July 12, 2011, KPCC / KPCV; "Hunger strikers' health rapidly deteriorating," Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity, July 12, 2011, SF BayView; "Who's in Prison ? The Changing Demographics of Incarceration," Amanda Bailey and Joseph M. Hayes, August 2006, California Counts Public Policy Institute of California.

 

      Libya: while an improvement on NATO's policy of killing Gaddafi's grandchildren in their home, the International Criminal Court has tested its legitimacy by ordering the President of Libya's arrest and that of his son and his intelligence chief. Warrants are issued charging them with crimes against humanity for the murder of civilians in the early days of the Libyan revolt. While the charges may prove valid critics of the ICC will note the Court's action is partisan to NATO's war on a sovereign nation, and that for now the Court lacks objective application of humanity's laws. Gaddafi joins the ranks of African heads of State and normal citizens targeted by the ICC, while millions have died from U.S and NATO policies in Iraq and Afghanistan without the benefit of international law's protection. The African Union has voted to ignore the warrants. Libya's Moussa Ibrahim has said, "The ICC is a European Guantanamo Bay. It's only against the African leaders. It never deals with the crimes committed by the United States of America ... and by the European powers ... everywhere in the world" (AP). Mathaba reports that the Carribean community (CARICOM) summit condemned "the NATO white racist aggression against Libya." Voltaire Network reports that one of ten NATO missiles strikes at random and all contain depleted uranium. A roughly estimated 3 tons to 400 tons of depleted uranium are being expended on Libya with predictable carcinogenic effect. Background 1   2   3   4   5   6.     Partial sources online: "Intern'l Judges Order Arrest Of Moammar Gadhafi," Associated Press, June 27, 2011, NPR / PBS; "AU members agree to disregard ICC Gadhafi warrant," Rukmini Callimachi (AP), July 2, 20-11, Yahoo! News; "CARICOM Summit Condemns NATO Neo-Colonial Aggression Against Libya," July 7, 2011, Mathaba; "Cruise missiles with depleted uranium on Libya," Massimo Zucchetti, July 7, 2011, Voltaire Network.

 

 

July 11, 2011

      California: by July 8th 6500 had prisoners participated in a hunger strike affecting 13 of California's prisons (previous 1 and 2). The strike is not going to go away;some strikers are willing to die if their reasonable demands aren't met. The numbers of inmates refusing meals varies, and is claimed by the Bureau of Prisons to be, currently, 2100. Establishment media are covering the strike. The New York Times notes that traditional means of dividing inmates including gang affiliations have been transcended by the hunger strike (see the Georgia Prison Strike). This continues a victory of current prisoner resistance.     Partial sources online: "6,600 California prisoners refused meals," July 6, 2011, Los Angeles Times; "Hungry for Californian prison reform," Isaac Ontiveros, July 10, 2011, Al Jazeera; "Hunger Strike by Inmates Is Latest Challenge to California's Prison System," Ian Lovett, July 7, 2011, The New York Times; "Thousands of CA Inmates Show Solidarity with Hunger Strike," Bryan Gerhart, July 11, 2011, the indypendent.

 

      U.S.: in a recent article Edwin Black (who remains an unchallenged authority in this area) reveals that identification number tattoos for inmates of Nazi concentration camps in WWII, originated with IBM as part of their Hollerith data card identification programs for the Third Reich. The tattoo identification system was adapted to the needs of individual ministries or death and slave labour camps. Black wrote extensively about the use to Hitler's machinery of IBM subsidiaries, and Hollerith machine systems in his IBM and the Holocaust (recommended). The American IBM technology was leased to the Germans and serviced by IBM technicians. Recently discovered: the largest IBM Hollerith facility was within the I.G. Farben factory near Auschwitz III (Monowitz). The Polish operation was directly responsible to New York IBM headquarters until the U.S. entered the war, then responsible to its Geneva office. The discovery of the Hollerith bureau at I.G. Farben is of value: in 1944 most hard evidence of the IBM machines and records was destroyed as Allies approached. This area of public concern was entirely suppressed at the celebrations of IBM's centennial Celebration of Service, June 15th. By Edwin Black and also recommended: War Against the Weak: Eugenics and America's Campaign to Create a Master Race.     Partial sources online: "America's Nazi Nexus: Infamous Auschwitz Tattoo Began as an IBM Number," Edwin Black, June 16, 2011, The Cutting Edge News; IBM and the Holocaust: the Strategic Alliance between Nazi Germany and America's Most Powerful Corporation,, Edwin Black, 2001, Crown Publishers, New York.

 

     Italy: in absentia, nine members of the Nazis' "Hermann Goehring" Division, now in their eighties and nineties, were found guilty of massacring civilians in 1944, primarily in northern Italy and sentenced to life imprisonment; they are also required to pay compensation to the victims' families.     Partial sources online: "Nine Nazis get life sentences in Italy," AFP, July 7, 2011, The Sidney Morning Herald.

 

 

July 10, 2011

     Guatemala: on his way to the airport a 5:20 in the morning of July 9th Facundo Cabral was killed by three carloads of unknown gunmen. The Argentinian singer was 74.     Partial sources online: "Argentine singer Facundo Cabral shot dead in Guatemala," July 9, 2011, msnbc.com; "Argentine singer Facundo Cabral killed in Guatemala," Mike McDonald (Reuters), July 9, 2011, The Baltimore Sun.

"Pobre mi patrón"   [access:< http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dA_dO9bgi6Q >]

 

      Europe: the European Court of Human Rights has decided U.K. troops in Iraq are bound by the European Convention on Human Rights, ie. human rights law. The UK had ruled they weren't. Families of the plaintiffs represented by Public Interest Lawyers (UK) were awarded costs, expenses, damages. The principle of the UK's responsibility to the families of those made victim by UK troops of occupation acting outside the limits of human rights law is now established and applicable in Great Britain (and in principle to other countries of the European Union).     Partial sources online: "European Court Issues Historic Judgment on British Army in Iraq," Public Interest Lawyers; "European Court Issues Historic Judgment on British Army in Iraq," July 7, 2011, thenakedfacts; "Court ruling 'paves way for UK Iraqi abuse hearings'," July 7, 2011, BBC New; "ECHR: UK failed human rights duty during Iraq occupation," Zach Zagger, July 7, 2011, Jurist.

 

      Sri Lanka: the militaries of India and Sri Lanka plan to exchange training. Tamil victim groups claim both countries seek the extermination of Sri Lanka's Eezham Tamils (see previous). Dominique Strauss-Kahn as Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund was considered responsible for the 2.6 billion dollar loan to the government of Sri Lanka after its military victory over Tamil forces. The writer Arundhati Roy has noted that the genocide in Sri Lanka provides a regional model for other governments and that in the refugee camps Eezham Tamil rebels were "treated like animals."     Partial sources online: "India adopts a genocidal Army to achieve military integration," July 2, 2011, TamilNet; "Strauss Kahn suffered for funding Genocide of Tamils," Sidbarthn Gautham Sundar, July 2, 2011, Truthdive; "Sri Lanka committed genocide of Tamils: Arundhati Roy," June 12, 2011, Tamilnet; "India’s genocide of its own tribal nations," March 24, 2010, Tamilnet

 

 

July 6, 2011      California: according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, prisoners in 11 of the State's 33 prisons are participating in the hunger strike which began at the Pelican Bay Security Housing Unit, July 1(previous). As many as 400 Pelican Bay inmates may be refusing meals, and an estimated 2800 inmates within the State's correctional system now participating in some way. The Corcoran and Tehachapi facilities are named. A hunger strike is dangerous and close to final recourse. The difficulty for both State and inmates is that some prisoners would rather die than continue to live under the cruel and unusual punishment and conditions of long term solitary confinement. According to Southern California Public Radio the State requires close medical monitoring of prisoners refusing nine meals so this strike places California in a medical emergency. At the U.S. Guantanamo Prison Camp under military law, and which bears increasing parallel to domestic high security units, forced feeding was used with non-compliant suspects called "enemy combatants." California's civilian inmates are a portion of the American people (the U.S. prison population is estimated at 2.3 million people). Solitary confinement is allegedly being used at Pelican Bay as a means of information extraction from suspected gang-members (ie. torture). Prison management, architects and psychologists responsible for the facilities struck should be accountable for the effects of their program. Official U.S. and international media continue to suppress this issue.     Partial sources online: "Hunger strike expands to 11 Calif. prisons," July 6, 2011, UPI.com; "Hunger strike at Pelican Bay State Prison spreads," July 6, 2011, 89.3KPCC / Southern California Public Radio.

 

 

July 3, 2011

      Pelican Bay State Prison, California: 50 to a thousand inmates of the Security Housing Unit were expected to enter a hunger strike of undetermined length, July 1. News of the strike is being suppressed. Liberation notes that Pelican Bay is a supermax prison featuring "long-term solitary confinement under conditions of extreme sensory deprivation." There are 6x10 cells, no window, 24 hour lights, half hour a day out of the cell in the exercise pen, and for most no outside contact. Behavioural modification programs are applied usually without means of rehabilitation, to create conditions which are unbearable. When these force prisoners to the danger of hunger strikes, or to mass action, suicide, violence, the programs are engineering the removal of the poor from society and then their deaths (note: the Convention on Genocide, article ii, c). Record should be kept of those designing and applying conditions that force prisoners to extremes (see also the Georgia Prison Strike, where striking prisoners faced repercussions, and the Lucasville hunger strike which was successful). Through ethnogenesis the American poor are becoming an ethnic group with common interest, culture, traditions, and heritage. A country's prisoners are a distinct part of the national group. Prison populations should be included under the Genocide Convention's protection. The Security Housing Unit at Corcoran State Prison has expressed solidarity and support to the hunger strikers.The Black August Organizing Committee has expressed solidarity and support. Use of solitary confinement and other borderline instances of psychological torture as behavioural controls are familiar to the public as measures applied to terrorist suspects and U.S. political prisoners. At the Pelican Bay Secure Housing Unit the inmates from varying groups are suspected of gang connections. According to California Prison Focus [access:< http://www.prisons.org/hungerstrike.htm >] the hunger strikers are requesting:

    1. Eliminate group punishments.
    2. Abolish the debriefing policy and modify active/inactive gang status criteria.
    3. Comply with the recommendations of the US Commission on Safety and Abuse in Prisons (2006) regarding an end to long term solitary confinement.
    4. Provide adequate food.
    5. Expand and provide constructive programs and privileges for indefinite SHU inmates.
The demands aren't radical. They simply request human decency.     Partial sources online: "Pelican Bay Shu Hunger Strike Started on July 1, 2011," CPF, current, California Prison Focus; "Pelican Bay prisoners on hunger strike against inhumane treatment," Michelle Schuidel, July 2, 2011, Liberation; "Pelican Bay Prisoners Reportedly on Hunger Strike," Joshua Johnson, July 1,2011, KQED news; "Corcoran SHU prisoners join Pelican Bay hunger strike," NCTT Corcoran SHU June 30, 2011, BayView; "Solidarity and commitment," Shaka At-Thinnin, June 30, 2011, Bayview.

 

 

July 1, 2011   Canada Day

      Netherlands: on June 23rd, under presiding judge Marcel van Oostenon Amsterdam's District Court acquitted Dutch Parliamentarian Geert Wilders (see previous 1 and 2 ) of inciting hatred against Islam, finding his statements in the Netherlands within limits of protected speech. Dutch Parliament has cut funding to immigrants and increasingly accedes to a neo-conservative agenda.     Partial sources online: "Is This the Death of Dutch Multiculturalism?" Lauren Comiteau (Time), June 29, 2011, Yahoo News; "Dutch Court Acquits Anti-Islam Politician," David Jolly, June 23, 2011, The New York Times.

 

      Switzerland: Dominique Baettig, a Federal Assembly Representative for the Canton of Jura, whose threat of arrest helped block the George Bush visit to the country earlier this year (previous), pressed Swiss authorities to arrest Henry Kissinger for war crimes when he attended the Bilderberg conference at St. Moritz mid-June. Baettig is a member of the majority Swiss People's Party which is conservative, nationalist and generally anti-immigrant (previous). While Kissinger attended without difficulty, the youth groups of the Swiss People's Party and the Socialists were able to join in protest.     Partial sources online: "Dominique Baettig," current, Wikipedia; "Prominent Swiss Politician Calls For Arrest of Kissinger at Bilderberg," Paul Joseh Watson, June 8, 2011, Hamsayeh.net.

 

      Belgium: Etienne Davignon is among the dozen Belgians under complaint by Francoise Lumumba and other relatives of Patrice Lumumba who was murdered in 1961 with Belgian collaboration. Davignon is currently the chair of the Bilderberg conference. See previous. U.S. involvement remains unaddressed.     Partial sources online: "Bilderberg Chairman Etienne Davignon complicit in the assassination of Congo’s first Prime Minister in 1961," June 23, 2011, Infowars Ireland.

 

      Uruguay: with the amnesty granted military officers nullified by decision of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (previous), President Jose Mujica has also removed extensive blocks to investigating crimes by the military government from 1973 to 1985. "Amnesties" and bureaucratic reluctance have discouraged Uruguayans seeking justice, particularly for the crimes of Operation Condor. For example, a request for Henry Kissinger's extradition was filed Feb. 16, 2007 with the Uruguayan Supreme Court concerning the disappearance-torture-murder of Bernardo Arnone in 1976. The lawyer alleged the program originated with Henry Kissinger and the U.S.; the case disappeared from the news (note previous). During those years Uruguay with Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Bolivia, participated in Operation Condor's extermination of leftists and leftist thinking. Supervised by the United States, the operation was headquartered in Pinochet's Chile under its secret police (DINA), with alleged CIA payments to its principals. Ecuador and Peru collaborated. Canada, Mexico, France, U.K., Sweden, Costa Rica, gave refuge to those who fled. Note Dec. 30, 2006.     Partial sources online: "Condor legacy haunts South America," Robert Plummer, June 8, 2005, BBC News; "Uruguay president to allow probe into military junta crimes," Zach Zagger, June 28, 2011, Jurist; "Operation Condor," current, Wikipedia; "The Crimes of Operation Condor Nazis, Augusto Pinochet and Henry Kissinger, Are the Subject of Legal Investigations," March 26, 2007 , La Republica, EFE.

 

      Libya: Black Agenda reports Libyan rebels using racism against blacks as a weapon of war, ethnically cleansing a black neighbourhood and threatening to obliterate a black town. Corporate media allegations that Gadaffi troops commit mass rape weren't substantiated by Amnesty International's investigation. U.S. Representative Mike Turner (R. Ohio) reports the misgivings of Admiral Samuel Locklear (NATO Chief of Joint Operations) that the NATO mission has exceeded its mandate in targeting Gadaffi (this targeting is also against the Laws of War), and by working toward regime change. While the U.S. Congress hasn't officially approved the President's military actions against Libya as required by the U.S. Constitution, Congress has provided funds and the government's experts say it's legal. Previous 1 and 2.     Partial sources online: "U.S. Media Imagine Nonexistent Mass Rape in Libya, But are Blind to Mass Murder of Black Africans," Glenn Ford, June 28, 2011, Black Agenda; "Nato 'trying to kill Col Gaddafi'," Alex Spillius, June 26, 2011, telegraph.co.uk.

 

 

June 8, 2011

      Peru: by a slim majority Ollanta Humala has won Peru's presidency.His opposition candidate Keiko Fujimori had promised to pardon her father, a former president currently in prison as a war criminal. If she had won, Peru's electorate would have tacitly legitimized rule by death squad. Humala has shown concern for the country's poor. Some of Peru's elite are expected to move to Miami. At announcement of his victory the Peruvian stock market declined in value by 12.5 %.     Partial sources online:"Left-winger Humala wins Peru election, markets dive," Teresa Cespedes & Caroline Stauffer, June 6, 2011, Reuters / Yahoo! News; "Peru’s new president faces testing times," Naomi Mapstone, June 7, 2011, FT.com / Financial Times.

 

      Ethiopia: the Ogaden is a resource rich area of Ethiopia with four to six million people. The people are starving. There is a particularly severe drought. Currently the Ethiopian government is blocking all aid relief agencies including Doctors without Borders and the United Nations. The International Committee of the Red Cross was recently denied a permit to provide relief to the area. The Ethiopian government is Africa's largest recipient of Western funds. Head of state Meles Zenawi is the West's enforcer in the region. The Ogaden National Liberation Front said to number in the several thousand, has maintained a low intensity warfare of resistance since 1984. The ONLF reports that on May 7th the Ethiopian army began a program of mass killings of inhabitants in area towns and nomadic villages. On May 13th, workers from the UN World Food Program attempted to enter the area. Their driver was killed, another wounded and two WFP personnel abducted. The ONLF was blamed until it overran a government town and freed the aid workers. Ogaden Online reports a "pattern of summary executions and mass terror is found around major oil exploration sites." Mass killing of villagers has accompanied the opening of resource prospecting sites in Shilabo, Qabri-dahare, Gode. This presents a parallel to the killing of villagers during development by European corporations of for example, the Thar Jaff oilfields in the Sudan, 1999 (see "The Tactical Use of Genocide in the Five Lakes Region of Africa"). The government of Ethiopia is about to open bids on oil and gas concessions in Ogaden, placed for sale by Petronas of Malaysia. A Petronas affiliate lost a British geologist to unidentified attack about a year ago. Three years ago the Chinese company Zhongyuan was attacked by the Ogaden National Liberation Front killing 9 Chinese, 65 Ethiopians. Currently prospecting and possible bidders include: Afar Exploration (Oklahoma), Falcon Oil & Gas (Denver), Pexco (Texas), SouthWest Energy (Hong Kong), Africa Oil (Vancouver), Tullow Oil (London U.K.). 1. Because there is evidence of a pattern of mass killings in areas where corporations are taking over the people's resource rights, particularly as the areas are opened for prospecting and development; 2. because mass killings of the civilians by the Ethiopian army are reported; 3. because the government of Ethiopia represents a different tribal group than the Ogadeni; 4. because the government of Ethiopia is barring outside witness to the area; 5. because emergency food aid to the civilian population is being blocked; 6. because this news is thoroughly suppressed by the Western media: genocide warning. Military aid to Ethiopia should cease. The U.N. should demand emergency food delivery to the people of Ogaden and the presence of international observers. The U.S. should make future financial support contingent on democratic tribal representation and power sharing (nightslantern has also placed a genocide warning for the Oromo people in Ethiopia). The government should be held accountable for mass starvation or mass killings. The Convention on Genocide should be applied to any foreign corporate resource developers in areasof mass killing, starvation or population displacement.     Partial sources online: "West Funds Full Blown Genocide in Ethiopia," Thomas C. Mountain, May 8, 2011, Sri Lanka Guardian; "Ethiopia, UN Mount Joint Search Operation for Kidnapped Aid Workers," May 15, 2011, VOA; "Ethiopian Rebels Say They Found Missing WFP Workers," May 26, 2011, VOA; "Ethiopia rebels say they take town, free UN staff," Aaron Maasho, May 26, 2011, Thomson Reuters; "Ethiopia opens biding for oil, natural gas production in Ogaden," June 6, 2011, SomailandPress.com; "Mass Killings of Rural Communities in Ogaden," May 19, 2011, Ogaden Online; "Ethiopia: on the future of Oromo and Ogaden armed groups,"Nov. 24, 2009, Jimma Times.

 

      Israel: the government plans to evict 30,000 Bedouin from their homes and relocate them to the Negev desert.Their current encampments are the result of previous relocation efforts when the Bedouins lost their land at the formation of the country. Construction of 2400 units for 10,000 Israelis is planned for one of the villages. Of an estimated 90,000 Bedouin currently living in the Negev desert, some in unofficial villages are refused applications to connect to company water mains. Of the approximately 40,000 Bedouin peoples living in UN refugee camps in the Israeli occupied West Bank since 1967, the group has informed the United Nations May 24th that it's fragmenting under cultural and identity oppression and attacks by Israeli settlers (Haaretz). Genocide warning. Generally the Bedouin are being socially engineered out of existence in a country which has lost its understanding of the meaning of genocide. Previous 1   2   3.     Partial sources online:"Israel's plan to forcibly remove 30,000 Bedouin slammed as cruel," Vita Bekker, Jun 7, 2011, The National ; "Bedouin refugees complain to UN about discrimination in West Bank ," DPA, May 24, 2011, Haaretz.com; "Israel: Tacit Approval of Discrimination against Bedouins," Richard Lightbown, June 6, 2011, The Palestine Chronicle.

 

 

June 7, 2011

      Spain: entirely suppressed in the NATO media is the current youth revolution which has claimed millions of all ages in its ranks, sleeping out, occupying city squares across the country since May 15th. Over 21% of the population is unemployed (45% of Spain's youth, age 18 to 25) and amid increased 'austerity' measures many are without expectations. Well organized and demanding a re-structuring of a society which is failing its people the Spanish protest of "Indignados" has inspired similar actions in France and Greece. A nationwide event is scheduled July 17th. The Labour movement is holding its options.     Partial sources online: "'Indignant' campers to continue revolt for a further fortnight at least ," June 5, 2011, TheReader.es; "Mass demonstrations in Spain spread across Europe," Ben Carroll, June 5, 2011, Workers World.

 

      Canada: acceding to a request from France, Ontario Superior Court has ruled to proceed with the extradition of Hassan Diab (previous), despite evidence of mistaken identity and information likely to have been extracted by torture. Canada's right wing is moving forward with an overt anti-Islam agenda: in Ottawa, on June 8th at seven pm, the National Archives and Library of Canada is hosting an event by the Free Thinking Film Society, called "Problems with Immigration in Europe." Featured with Bruce Bawer, U.S. author of "Surrender: Appeasing Islam, Sacrificing Freedom" (praised by Geert Wilders as an "excellent book" and "eye-opener") is the Norwegian, Hege Storhaug, whose book about Islamic immigration in Europe is translated by Bawer. Also featured: David B. Harris, formerly chief of stategic planning for the Canadian Intelligence Service, referred to by Wikipedia as an outspoken defender of Canadian Security Certificates. The Free Thinking Film Society regularly makes available global neo-conservative films previously spared the public. Its president Fred Litwin, introduced the Geert Wilders event at the National Arts Centre (previous). Also invited to Canada to express himself is Henry Kissinger who is considered by most people to be a war criminal. At Toronto's Roy Thomson Hall on June 17th, Kissinger is to participate in the Aurea Foundation's Munk Debate: "Be it resolved, the 21st century will belong to China." Kissinger is to argue against. The former U.S. Secretary of State has effected military slaughters in Vietnam, Cambodia, Chile, Turkey, East Timor, Indonesia, Iraq and Iran, of altogether millions of people. Demographics of the victim groups, usually dark-eyed, Catholic or Christian, Muslim, non-capitalist, suggest his strategic vision is entirely at ease with genocide while favouring nordicists and Israel. In Quebec, children of Abousfian Abdelrazik, a Muslim Canadian denied his right to return home (previous) after visiting his mother in Sudan, have been denied Regie des rentes du Québec benefits due children because their father's name appears on the United Nations sanctions 1267 list. The U.S. has alleged Mr. Abdelrazik was connected to al-Qaeda. Presence on the United Nations list denies him the right to work.     Partial sources online: "Event Reminder. Caledonia. No More Nightmares," ed., March 211, 2011, The Propagandist; "Geert Wilders, Ezra Levant, Jonathan Hausman, Fred Litwin Ottawa May 10th 2011," Vlad Tepes, May 24, 2011,Vimeo / YouTube; "Free Thinking Film Society: a fine imbalance," Cormac Rea, April 9, 2009, Xpress; "Free Thinking Film Society presents – Salim Mansur, David B. Harris, Bruce Bawer and Hege Storhaug: ‘The Problems of Immigration in Europe’," FTSF press release, June 3, 2011, www.VoiceofCanada.ca;"Hassan Diab: Canada allows bomb suspect's extradition," June 6, 2011, BBC News; "Accused Paris synagogue bomber's extradition approved," June 6, 2011, CBC News; "Quebec blocks Abdelrazik’s child benefits," Paul Koring, May 31, 2011, The Globe and Mail; "Toronto welcomes Henry Kissinger, accused war criminal," Gerald Caplan, June 3, 2011, The Globe and Mail; "Be it resolved: the 21st Century will belong to China," announcment, current, munk debates.

 

 

June 6, 2011

      Spain: the Supreme Court has overruled convictions of four people sentenced for defending the Holocaust and disseminating neo-Nazi propaganda. The Court linked guilt to incitement rather than ideology.     Partial sources online: "Spain high court overturns convictions of Nazi propaganda disseminators," Maureen Cosgrove, June 3, 2011, Jurist; "Spanish court overturns convictions of 4 people charged with spreading Nazi ideology," AP, June 4, 2011, Canadian Press / Google.

 

      Cote d'Ivoire: under the mantle of the International Monetary Fund, United Nations and French forces, Alassane Outtara has assumed the presidency (previous 1   2   3). There are reports that residual forces of deposed president-elect Laurent Gbagbo are being selectively killed (ie. IPS: since April Outtara's Republican Forces have killed 149 people suspected of loyalty to Gbagbo, some after Outtara was officially installed). Counter claims are made as well; with the impartiality of the U.N. compromised by committing forces to one side of a conflict, recourse to human rights is largely in the hands of NGO's financed by NATO countries. Human Rights Watch reports some torture of pro-Gbagbo "Young Patriots." Russian, Chinese, Venezuelan, human rights groups or witness are not mentioned in the media, nor is there indication they're permitted in the area. The International Committee of the Red Cross and Ivorian Red Cross are engaged in distributing food to 20,000 refugees and their hosts in the country's west.     Partial sources online: "Reports of Abuses Stain New Ivorian President's Record," Elizabeth Whitman, June 2, 2011, IPS; "Côte d'Ivoire: over 36,000 people receive aid in forgotten area," May 31, 2011, ICRC; "HRW reports violence continues in Ivory Coast," Julia Zebley, June 3, 2011, Jurist.

 

      Libya: Previous 1 and 2; former Georgia Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney visited Gadaffi's home where his son and grandchildren were killed by NATO missiles, and found it to be simply a home with toys amid the wreckage, not a command centre. The U.S. House has voted to call President Obama to account for not seeking or receiving Congressional approval for the war on Libya. The President's legal authority was limited to 60 days from March 19th. Military.com finds confusion about whether participating in the current NATO action is legal. French President Sarkozy and British Prime Minister Cameron have submitted plans for a ground war on Libya to the U.S. President while NATO helicopters are being used in the attacks. Ground invasion furthers an armed aggression against a sovereign nation. International law is providing no effective resistance. Luis Moreno-Ocampo of the International Criminal Court has set his sites on Gaddafi and two family members whom he pledges to pursue for war crimes.     Partial sources online: "Bipartisan Congress rebuffs Obama on Libya mission," Stephen Dinan, June 4, 2011, Washington Times; "Is Libyan Op Illegal Now ?" Bryant Jordan, June 2, 2011, Military.com; "Boots on the Ground": Sarkozy and Cameron Prepare to Land in Libya,"Manlio Dinucci, June 1, 2011, Voltairenet.org; "Military Escalation: "Phase Two" of the War on Libya," Michel Chossudovsky, June 1, 2011, Global Research; "NATO deploys attack helicopters in Libya," June 4, 2011, RT.com; "Wanted: Gadhafi and Co.," David Kaye, May 20, 2011, CNN.

 

 

June 1, 2011

      Canada

Ottawa: the Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries showplace, the CANSEC weapons festival, begins today. For those not involved in the arms trade, Coalition against the Arms Trade provides a list of corporate exhibitors [access:< http://coat.ncf.ca/CANSEC2011/exhibitors.htm >]. Those exporting to the Middle East and North Africa are specifically identified [access:< http://coat.ncf.ca/mideast/MilitaryExporters.htm >]. COAT's database WikiWeapons Canada is also available online [access:< http://coat.ncf.ca/research/US.htm >]. This material is recommended for students of complicity in wars affecting the Convention on Genocide. The Spring Nuremberg Action Group (SNAG) will ask exhibitors to sign a pledge honouring the Nuremberg Principles. The protest activities start at 8 in the morning, Landsdown Park. For additional information: Nowar-paix [access:< http://www.nowar-paix.ca/snag/index.html >]. Tomorrow June 2nd, at 11:30, Parliament Hill, some poets from Poets against War will read their poems or play dead.     Partial sources: above, & "CANSEC Arms Bazaar Protest, June 1, Ottawa," COAT, May 31, 2011, listserv.

Ontario: Al-Jazeera has made available a video on the use of Agent Orange in Ontario (and other provinces) for thirty years, linking extreme incidence of cancer to heavy use of the defoliant used against Vietnam during the Vietnam war [access:< http://www.youtube.com/v/qwpsv76cd_I >]. In northern Ontario the herbicide spraying campaign began in 1956 with Spruce Falls Power and Paper Company (co-owned by The New York Times and Kimberly -Clark) which supplies the paper The New York Times is printed on. The issue remains generally suppressed. Compensations for Agent Orange exposure are left to Canada's and Provincial governments and health care systems. Canada has minimally compensated 3,137 military veterans for Agent Orange exposure at Canadian Forces Base Gagetown,(previous 1   2   3) with a revised project deadline of June 30, 2011. After years of denial the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs now compensates U.S. veterans for exposure related diseases.     Source: "Canada probes use of toxic chemical," AlJazeeraEnglish, May 30, 2011, Youtube; "Star Exclusive: Agent Orange 'soaked' Ontario teens," Feb. 17, 2011, thestar.com; "Agent Orange haunts Vietnam veterans decades later,"Deirdre Cox Baker, May 27, 2011, Quad-City Times.

Toronto: Sotheby's May 26 auction of substantial Canadian art, failed to sell 63 of 198 lots. Unsold pieces included a work by Jean-Paul Riopelle valued at 800,000 plus, a work by Tom Thomson valued at 450,000 plus, and a work by Lawren Harris. Canada's nationalism in the visual arts which often excludes the 'not-born-here' may be isolating Canadian artists; expression in cinema and music is more open to the people's concerns.     Partial sources online: "Paintings by some of Canada’s top artists get chilly reception at auction," James Adams, May 27, 2011, Globe and Mail; "Works by Tom Thomson, Jean-Paul Riopelle fail to find buyers at Sotheby's," Canadian Press, May 27, 2011, Google News.

Abroad: Kevin Annett (previous   1   2) who was to speak at the Trafalgar Square (London) annual Against child abuse rally, was refused entry to the U.K., held a night in detention and deported. Annett has championed the rights of Canadian residential school victims and victims of Catholic clergy internationally.     Partial sources online: "Urgent Alert: Kevin Annett Jailed, Barred from re-entering England," ITCCS, May 30, 2011, Hidden from History email; "No bomb that ever bursts shatters the crystal spirit: With Farid and others in a British prison," Kevin Annett, May 31, 2011, Hidden from History email.

 

 

May 31, 2011

      Gaza: anniversary of the deaths of at least nine peace activists and crew on the Mavi Marmara en route to Gaza with emergency supplies when the civilian convoy of six ships and 700 peace activists was attacked by Israeli Defense Forces. All evidence was confiscated. See (previous). Israel has not been brought to account.

 

      Spain: while the U.S. judiciary is allowing crimes against humanity to continue as policy, Spanish Judge Eloy Velasco has indicted 20 El Salvadoran military officers for the killings of six Jesuits and their housekeeper and her daughter in El Salvador in 1989. Five Jesuits were Spaniards. The killing was effected by a U.S. trained military death squad. Two El Salvadoran officers previously convicted of the murders were freed under an amnesty. Cases against El Salvadoran officers hidden in the U.S. have been met with payments of money to the victim's family rather than criminal charges (see 1   2   3   4); this has not deterred war crimes or exporting the practice of death squads. In Spain Judge Balthasar Garzon, who attempted to charge with torture U.S. administration officials, (previous 1 and 2) among other cases in defense of reason, is currently barred through the efforts of Spain's extreme right (previous).     Partial sources online:"Salvadoran officers indicted over 1989 Jesuit killings," May 30, 2011, BBC News; "US role in Salvador's brutal war ," Tom Gibb, March 24, 2002, BBC News.

 

      Libya: NATO's "Operational Media Update" of May 28th, while noting "The aim of Operation Unified Protector is to protect civilians from attack or the threat of attack," has flown 8729 sorties including 3327 air strikes (bombings). The update makes no mention of civilian deaths while Tripoli is being heavily bombed. The Toronto Star notes the Pan-African Parliament considers the NATO actions a "military aggression." The Ottawa Citizen reports Canada ordered an additional 1300 laser guided missiles for the operation. Libyan government sources reported May 13th, that 11 imams in the town of Brega were killed by a bomb while they slept. Cynthia McKinney in Tripoli reported that people were terrorized by the heavy bombings of a city packed with civilians. While the death toll for "rebels" in Libya is reported as 15,000 as of May 19th, no civilian casualty statistics from NATO bombings are available in the press. In France, attorneys Roland Dumas and Jacques Verges are prepared to sue French President Sarkozy for "crimes against humanity" on behalf of the victims of NATO's ongoing bombing of Libya.     Partial sources online: "Sarkozy Accused of Crimes against Humanity in Libya ," May 30, 2011, Prensa Latina; "French lawyers to sue Sarkozy over crimes in Libya," May 30, 2011, voltairenet.org; "Canada orders 1,300 smart bombs," David Pugliese, May 128, 2011, The Ottawa Citizen; "NATO Bombs Libyan Capital in Heaviest Strikes Yet," John F. Burns, May 24, 2011, The New York Times; "Cynthia McKinney in Libya under NATO attack (NATO: a Feast of Blood)," May 26, 2011, Clarity Press; "The Libyan war that should not have been," Thomas Walkom, May 26, 2011, thestar.com; "Libya: Nato air stirke 'kills 11 imams'," Andrew Gilligan, May 13, 2011, telegraph.co.uk; "Libyan Rebel Official Says Death Toll After Revolt Reaches at Least 15,000," Mariam Fam, May 19, 2011, Bloomberg.

 

 

May 28, 2011

      Brazil: on May 24th José Cláudio Ribeiro da Silva with his wife Maria do Espírito Santo, of the Projeto Agroextrativista Praialta-Piranheira, were murdered in circumstances bearing the marks of an execution for hire (Mr. Silva's ear was cut off as proof of death to the contractor). The outspoken environmentalists, under death threat for defense of the Amazon rainforest against logging and charcoal production, were denied protection by Brazil's National Protection Programme for Human Rights Defenders. In early May the President of Brazil broke off relations with the Inter-American Human Rights Court of the OAS, because it upheld the rights of activists protesting the Belo Monte damming of the Amazon (previous) and the rights of slum dwellers being displaced in Rio de Janeiro for the 2016 Olympics. Brazil's Congress has recently passed legislation accommodating de-forestation of the rainforest. Remaining native peoples of the rainforest are still threatened with a pattern of genocide that has lasted centuries. Previous.    Partial sources online: "Two Environmentalists 'Executed' in the Brazilian Amazon," Stephen Messenger, May 24, 2011, treehugger; "Assassination of Mr. José Cláudio Ribeiro da Silva and Mrs. Maria do Espírito Santo da Silva," BRA 002 / 0511 / OBS 084, May 27, 2011, World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT); "Brazil hits back in anger over giant dam protest," May 2, 2011, upi.com; "Slash and burn: Brazil shreds laws protecting its rainforests," Guy Adams, May 26, 2011, The Independent.

Update: on the morning of May 27th, Adelino Ramos ("Dinho"), a leader of the poor farmers association -Movimento Camponês Corumbiara (MCC) in the rainforest region of Rondonia, was shot six times and killed in front of his wife and children, by two men on a motorcycle. He was under death threat for protesting illegal logging. He survived a massacre of 13 people in 1995. Forbes reports that the Catholic Comissão Pastoral da Terra (CPT)) has a list of 124 environmentalists under death threat: Mr Silva (above) was on the list; his wife and Adelino Ramos were not; a nun on the list found it better to survive without State protection since they fear police guard could be bought. The groups need unaffiliated international protection and witness.     Partial sources online: La Inteligenta Indigena / The Aboriginal Press News Service (links); "Third environmentalist killed in a week in Brazil's Amazon Rainforest region," Xinhua, May 28, 2011, People's Daily Online; Brazilian Amazon community leader shot dead," Reuters, May 28, 2011, asianone news; "Policia sabe quem matou Dinho," May 28, 2011, Diario da Amazonia; "Like many before, Amazon activists silenced by gun," Bradley Brooks (AP), May 28, 2011, Forbes.com.

 

 

May 20, 2011

      New York City: following the reports of the extra-judicial killing of Bin Laden and other unarmed members of his family ( previous), the New York Times has published the names of Bin Laden's family tree, specifically identifying twenty children and several wives. Since the information has already appeared in print, its use at this point by the NYTimes suggests extension of a campaign villifying Bin Laden, to a group of women and children deserving protection of the Geneva Conventions and Laws of War, and basic human rights of any civilian outside a war zone. Although U.S. authorities declare killing Bin Laden without a trial "legal," the invasions of Iraq, overt use of torture, suspension of human rights at Guantanamo, were called "legal" under U.S. law. Ongoing genocide warning.     Partial sources online:"Pornography Is Found in Bin Laden Compound Files, U.S. Officials Say," Scott Shane, May 13, 2011, The New York Times; "Bin Laden as Patriarch," Scott Shane, May 14, 2011, The New York Times; "Bin Laden’s Family Tree," May 14, 2011, The New York Times.

 

      Canada: the Fraser Institute, a right-wing think tank has issued its report on the value of immigrants to Canadian society. Summary: immigrants are too expensive. The position has been stated in the U.K. by the British National Party. The Institute's release of "Immigration and the Canadian Welfare State 2011," follows the speaking tour of Dutch extremist Geert Wilders (previous) who has not apologized to Canadians for insulting Islam. In Canada the Fraser Institute is respected by the CBC, the National Post and Sun Newspapers, which regularly source this think tank to make a propaganda point as news.     Partial sources online: "Immigrants cost $23B a year: Fraser Institute Report," Kathryn Blaze Carlson, May 17, 2011, National Post; "Immigration and the Canadian Welfare State 2011," Herbert Grubel and Patrick Grady, May 2011, "Studies in Immigration & Refugee Policy," Fraser Institute.

 

      Hungary: American businessman Richard Field has left the country for his safety. Field helped the Hungarian Red Cross organize an Easter weekend evacuation of Roma families terrorized by a concurrence of neo-Nazi paramilitary (previous).     Partial sources online: "Government official slams role of US businessman and activist in Gyöngyöspata controversy," May 16, 2011, The Budapest Times; "Good night, and good luck," Richard field, May 17, 2011, The Budapest Times.

 

 

May 15, 2011

      Knoxville Tennessee: on April 29th, Judge Bruce Guyton ruled that arguments of international law and religious faith could not be presented in the trial of 12 veteran peace activists who trespassed at the Oak Ridge nuclear weapons complex. This gagging of defence testimony has become standard judicial procedure in U.S. trials of anti-nuclear activists and others with a conscience (ie.   1   2). Some defendants were able to introduce moral and religious concerns in cross-examination. Denying a legal defense based on morals, religious principle or international laws which are applicable to U.S. citizens outside the U.S., gradually removes the concept of right and wrong from U.S. law replacing it with regulations and slave-codes. The Y12 Nuclear Weapons Complex, Oak Ridge Tennessee makes nuclear weapons of mass destruction, built the atom bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945, and currently processes uranium for use in hydrogen bomb warheads for Trident submarine missiles. 36 activists, mostly elders, were arrested July 5, 2010 (previous). Of the 12 convicted for trespassing 7 judged not likely to return for sentencing were taken into custody; all risk a year in prison as well as $100,000 fine.     Partial sources online: "With enemies like this, who needs friends?" Ralph Hutchison, May 11, 2011, The Nuclear Resister;"Seven Nuclear Resisters in Federal Custody After 12 are Convicted of Trespass at Y12 Nuclear Weapons Complex," John LaForge (Nukewatch), May 11, 2011, The Nuclear Resister; "12 Nuclear Resisters Convicted for Trespassing at Nuclear Bomb Plant," Amy Goodman, May 13, 2011, Democracy Now!.

 

 

May 14, 2011

      Chile: at Easter Mass of the Metropolitan Cathedral in Santiago, Mapuche activists interrupted the service to ask for the release of 4 Mapuche prisoners on hunger strike which began March 15th. Their names: Héctor Llaitul, Ramón Llenaquileo, José Huenuche, Jonathan Huillical. Acquitted of "terrorism" offenses, nevertheless these received sentences of 20 to 25 years under a law instituted by Pinochet's rule, for attacking a prosecutor, according to court evidence from a witness who remained anonymous, and a statement allegedly extracted by torture. People of conscience expressing solidarity with the hunger strikers include the Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano and Guatemalan Peace-Nobelist Rigoberta Menchú. For 300 years the Mapuche successfully resisted Spanish conquest. After Chile's Independence the government took over their region by force in the "pacification of Araucania" (1860's -80's) and Mapuche native population diminished from half a million to 25,000 people in extreme poverty (Wikipedia). Neither Pinochet nor his opponents countered the ongoing genocide; left and right wing governments maintain a silence of persecution. Aside from poverty current Mapuche difficulties include persecution of villagers by police, corporate attempts to take over their lands, government's covert war on the Coordinadora Arauco-Malleco - an organization seeking return of native lands, and the use of "terrorist laws" to control protest. Sergio Ojeda, head of the Human Rights Commission of Camara in Chile points out the injustice of applying antiterrorist laws to a people in a centuries old struggle for their own lands. Mapuche: ongoing genocide warning.     Partial sources online: "Chile: Mapuche Prisoners Start New Hunger Strike," April 26, 2011, Weekly News Update on the Americas; "WNU #1069: Indigenous Chileans Acquitted of 'Terrorism'," Feb. 27, 2011, WNUA w. update of March 1, 2011; "WNU #1077: Mapuche Prisoners in New Hunger Strike ," April 24, 2011, WNUA; "Chile: Profundizan investigaciones ante irregularidades en el juicio contra líderes mapuche," May 13, 2011, telesur.

The Chilean poet Pablo Neruda: When the Spanish conquistadors pushed them back, after three hundred years of fighting, the Araucanian Indians retreated to those cold regions. But the Chileans continued what they called "the pacification of Araucania," their war of blood and fire to turn our countrymen out of their own lands. Every kind of weapon was used against the Indians, unsparingly: carbine blasts, the burning of villages, and later, a more fatherly method, alcohol and the law. The lawyer became a specialist at stripping them of their fields, the judge sentenced them when they protested, the priest threatened them with eternal fire. Of the names of their towns Neruda writes, These Araucanian names always signified something delicious: buried honey, lagoons or a river beside a forest, or a woodland with the name of a bird. from: Pablo Neruda, trans. Hardie St. Martin, Memoirs. New York: Farrar Straus & Giroux, 1974.

 

      Greece: on May 11, participating in a union led 24 hour walk-out nationwide an estimated 20,000 Greeks marched in Athens to protest government austerity measures (previous). The BBC reports nationwide disruption of public service and transport.     Partial sources online: "Greek unions stage anti-austerity strike," May 11, 2011, Al Jazeera; "Greece: Clashes in Athens between police and protesters," May 11, 2011, BBC News.

 

 

May 11, 2011


"Al Dameer Al Arabi (The Arab Conscience) Part 3 of 5"   [access:< http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQQIYx99Zec >]

      Ottawa: European far-right political parties are increasing in strength and exporting xenoracism and Islamophobia, which finds some harmony with Western governments pursuing policies of military force. On May 10th Geert Wilders (previous) spoke in Ottawa at the government funded National Arts Centre of Canada. Minimal media reporting of the event is available. Ottawa's response to this anti-Islam right wing minister of Dutch Parliament is cool, careful, and possibly embarrassed. His May 9th speech in Toronto carries a strong and extremely offensive insult to Islam's prophet Muhammad within an agenda that finds Islam itself "dangerous." Wilders fails to explain that increasingly, Muslim immigration to Europe and North America is the result of destruction of lives and futures of millions of families in their homelands. If NATO countries bomb or destabilize a country so that its civilians flee, then to deny them refuge or to destroy the religion and culture of groups which sought refuge, places military and refugee policies in violation of the Convention on Genocide: it shows clear intention to destroy a religious group.
Historical note: in 1928 the Mexican artist Diego Rivera visited Germany during the early days of Hitler's rise to power and was horrified by the man his friends discounted. Recommended: Diego Rivera (w. Gladys March), "Hitler," My Art, My Life, New York, Dover Publications, 1991 / Citadel Press, 1960 [available access:< http://www.american-buddha.com/cia.hitlerdiego.htm >]. See also, "Xenophobia: Europe’s Death Knell," Les Back and Alex Rhys-Taylor, May 10, 2011, openDemocracy.net.
 

 

May 9, 2011

      Scotland: on May 6 in general elections the Scottish National Party won a majority, which may leave the country open to self-redefinition of its status within the British empire.

 

      U.S.: additional reports concerning the death of Osama Bin Laden, May 1, 2011 (see previous) include: the victim wasn't armed, was shot several times on retreating from the doorway of his bedroom, and was not "in the field" nor were the others killed in the attack on his residence. No U.S. casualties are reported. The deprival of Bin Laden's human rights is one more step in the dehumanization of Muslims. Targeted killings and assassination are against military, international and domestic law. The victim was never tried for a crime; the extra judicial killing places a team of highly trained U.S. forces in the position of a death squad - its identities withheld from the press. What some consider an international homicide, is declared justifiable and legal by the U.S. Attorney General. A media-primed U.S. public response is portrayed as filled with enthusiasm. Muslim leaders and communities are stating relief at the murder of a man in his bedroom by a U.S. special operations team. Historically, the Royal Ulster Constabulary killing of Gerard Casey April 4, 1989, in his bedroom mid-family, or the Chicago Police murder of Fred Hampton in his sleep December 4, 1969, are remembered both as cowardice and as crimes. Neglecting the Geneva Conventions, rights of U.S. military as prisoners of war are jeopardized and increasingly become reliant on the humanity of their victim groups. CIA / military use of drone attacks consistently kills families of "suspects" defined as "suspected terrorists" in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen etc.. The Bin Laden assassination coincides with NATO's bombing of the Qaddafi home compound in Libya. Targets of these crimes are exclusively Muslim. On May 8, Geert Wilders (see previous), the Dutch far-right MP tried in the Netherlands for inciting hatred of Islam, was scheduled to share his gospel in Tennessee. On Feb. 26, 2009 Wilders presented his anti-Koran and hate filled movie "Fitna" to U.S. Congressmen whose names are omitted from the news account. There is increasing evidence that the U.S. is participating in a war on Islam. An early genocide warning for Muslims in the U.S., remains.

 

      Canada: Toronto prepares to host Geert Wilders on May 9th. His trial for discrimination and inciting hatred of Islam in Holland ended May 2nd. If Wilders is found guilty Canada's entry laws could deny him future entry. He was barred from entering the U.K. in 2009 but appealed the ban in court. With the Harper Conservatives majority at the polls May 2nd, Wilders and his security team are in Canada to share his agenda for Islam as a 'dangerous' religion. Sponsoring Wilders are the International Free Press Society of Canada and Christian College. The IFPS website lists as President, Lars Hedegaard convicted for hate speech by a Danish court May 5th (Hedegaard states it's freedom of speech and Muslim women that concern him). Wilders is scheduled for Ottawa May 10th. Under constant police guard due to threats from "Muslim extremists" the exact location and time for his events is semi-secret. He carries the mantle of a Salmon Rushdie, but the agit-prop campaign which turned what fundamentalists considered Rushdie's verbal abuses of Islam - into a global best-seller for Viking Penguin, has matured into a frontal attack on Islam and Islamism. The Wilders incursion into a Canadian norm arrives almost unnoticed amid reflections on the murder of Osama Bin Laden. Under pressure from the U.S. "war on terrorism" Muslim communities in Canada have expressed relief at news of Bin Laden's death. Wikileaks reveals a Montreal mosque is under suspicion and defamed through identification with a U.S. "terrorist suspect". A Muslim charity recently lost tax status through an alleged gift to a U.S. "terrorist cell". Canada's pro-Israeli foreign policy has skewed the cultural life of a country with a vast amount of land, resources, good will and friends, into placing at a disadvantage Islamic people among others questioning Israel's influence so far from home. Despite the wisdom of the Ontario Court of Appeals which recently upheld a lower court's ruling refusing the U.S. request to extradite Abdullah Khadr for terrorism-related charges, an early genocide warning for Muslims in Canada is reinstated. The difficulty is that massive civilian deaths through U.S./Coalition/NATO actions in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and massive violations of historical standards of human rights in North America, target a victim group religiously defined as Muslim. Ref. "Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide."

 

 

May 5, 2011

Robert Gerard Sands, March 9, 1954 - May 5, 1981; Bobby Sands song
[access:< http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2M9CF23Ecx0 >]
 

 

May 3, 2011


Poem / poster: "mind control"
 

 

May 2, 2011

      U.S.: the media is accepting extra judicial murder and assassination without protest. NATO forces have bombed Muammar el-Qaddafi's home compound killing three children under the age of 12 and a civilian adult. The adult is Quaddafi's 29 years old son, Saif al-Arab Muammar el-Qaddafi. The children are Qaddafi's grandchildren, Carthage (age 2), Mastura (age 6 months), Saif Mohammed (age 15 months). Lt. Gen. Charles Bouchard of Canada is currently in charge of NATO operations against Libya. In 1986 the U.S. bombed Qaddafi's home killing his daughter. Qaddafi remains the head of state of an African nation. Offices of the UN, the Italian Embassy, the UK Embassy, have been burned. Media reports state that in Pakistan a CIA / Joint Special Operations Command operation using Navy SEALS took over Osama Bin Laden's residence in the town of Abbottabad, killing with him his wife, his son, and two men tentatively identified as his brothers; these victims of the extra-judicial killing are denied names by the media. Reuters has confirmed that U.S. orders were to kill rather than capture. Bin Laden is reported to have been buried at sea from a U.S. aircraft carrier. The procedure denied him a burial proper under Islamic law and there is no media mention of the disposition of the bodies of his family.     Partial sources online: "Angry mobs force UN out of Tripoli," AP, May 3, 2011, The Australian; "UN staff leave Tripoli after mob attack," May 2, 2011, Al Jazeera English; "Qaddafi Is Said to Survive NATO Airstrike That Kills Son," Kareem Fahim and David D. Kirkpatrick," April 30, 2011, The New York Times; "Bin Laden killed," Patricia Zengerle and Alister Bull, May 2, 2011, Thomson Reuters; "Bin Laden burial followed Islamic custom: official," Phil Stewart and David Alexander, "May 2, 20112, Thomson Reuters; "How the U.S. found and finished Bin Laden," David Ignatius, May 2, 2011, The Washington Post; "Islamic leader condemns bin Laden sea burial," Sami Aboudi, May 2, 2011, Thomson Reuters; "U.S. team's mission was to kill bin Laden, not capture," Mark Hosenball and Matt Spetalnick, May 2, 2011, Thomson Reuters.

 

      Czech Republic: events at the town of Brno (see previous) showed a neo-Nazi march of about 500 countered by protestors numbering about 1000, in a significant and necessary protest against the extreme right-wing establishment. The anti-Nazi coalition in support of the Romaalso included an ecumenical church service held in front of the Museum of Roma Culture. Among anti-Nazi speakers the head of Brno's Jewish community is quoted: "People turned away from recognizing a similar evil 70 years ago, and it ended in millions of dead Jews, hundreds of thousands of dead Roma, and a world war. We don't want neo-Nazis in Brno, we don't want neo-Nazis anywhere else!" The Green Party chair is quoted: "We must take back the public space being dominated by the neo-Nazis today and we must do it together, irrespective of our skin color." An anonymous old woman is quoted: "If we don't stand up to them now, they will be beating us up on every street corner soon." (quotes from ROMEA).     Partial sources online: "Online reporting from 1 May counter-protest against neo-Nazis in Brno, Czech Republic," ROMEA, May 5, 2011, Romea.cz; "Brno far-right march changes route due to protest," CTK, May 2, 2011, Ceske noviny.

 

      Canada: voters go to the polls after an election campaign which has avoided discussion of the ongoing nuclear industry disaster at Fukushima Japan, Canada's rendition of Afghan suspects to torture, NATO's role in the bombing of Libya, and other concerns of international law woven into Canada's legal statutes.

 

      Israel: Holocaust Remembrance Day.

 

      Colombia: resistance to the government continues. A song from Pablo Neruda'spoem, "A las Madres de los Milicianos Muertos," encourages the guerrillas to not forget their dead - "No han muerto"    [access:< http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHcObUIxFgc >].

 

 

May 1, 2011

      Ottawa: overturning a lower court's decision on April 29, 2011 the Supreme Court of Canada ruled against Ontario farmworkers' right to unionize and right to collective bargaining. Need for unionization became apparent in degrading work conditions alleged by workers. In Ontario these rights, gained as recently as 1994 were taken away by the Conservative government - and the union began fighting in court. The decision is a victory for Conservatives, union-busting, and some small farmers but with other wrongs it lessens protection against work-with-no-rights: some refugee families among the farmworkers escaped to Canada from corporate wars against their countries of origin.     Partial sources online: "Supreme Court denies right of farm workers to unionize," Sharon Hill (Postmedia News), April 29, 2011, The Vancouver Sun; "Farm workers have no right to unionize, top court rules," Kirk Makin, April 29, 2011, The Globe and Mail.

At 1:00 pm on Parliament Hill, a May Day rally is called for United Steel Workers Local 1005. Workers have been locked out of their plant in Hamilton Canada by U.S. Steel for over five months. U.S. Steel bought out Stelco and demands cuts in pension benefits for 9000 retired workers. Grievances, rally and bus information are available at the Local's website (www.uswa1005.ca).

 

      New York City: May 1 through May 31 at the Brecht Forum: poet & artist, 30 posters from the heart, 30 years of posters and broadsheets by Gerald and Maas, an exhibit dedicated to the Mexican artist, Jose Guadaloupe Posada. Announcement.

 

 

April 27, 2011

      Sri Lanka: resisting pressures to suppress its findings, the U.N. has released its "Report of the Secretary-General's Panel of Experts on Accountability in Sri Lanka" of March 31, 2011. The report reveals major human rights violations by the Government of Sri Lanka during its overt war on the Tamil population, and found lesser violations by the defending forces. Nightslantern first declared a genocide warning for the Tamil on Feb. 4, 2009. Others: 1,   2,   3,   4,   5,   6. The U.N. report finds "credible allegations" against the government for: (i) "killing of civilians through widespread shelling; (ii) shelling of hospitals and humanitarian objects; (iii) denial of humanitarian assistance; (iv) human rights violations suffered by victims and survivors of the conflict, including IDP and suspected LTTE cadre; and (v) human rights violations outside the conflict zone, including against the media and other critics of the Government. The U.N. panel has also found the Government of Sri Lanka's standard of accountability sub-standard. The Government continues to deny all allegations. The U.N.'s refusal to protect the Tamil civilian population under fire slows further investigation, but the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has called for an investigation of mass murder of Tamils: The way this conflict was conducted, under the guise of fighting terrorism, challenged the very foundations of the rules of war and cost the lives of tens of thousands of civilians... - Navi Pillay. Canada, the U.S., Australia, the European Union are among the countries listing the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) as a terrorist organization.     Partial sources online: "U.N. Chief Rejects Request to Quash War Crimes Report," Thalif Deen, April 21, 2011, IPS; "As UN Withholds Sri Lanka Report, Confirms Nambiar Reviews, Russia Read Out?" Matthew Russell Lee, April 19, 2011, Inner City Press; "Pressure to Probe Sri Lanka Atrocities Expected to Continue," April 26, 2011, VOA; "Sri Lanka denies UN war report," April 26, 2011, ; OHCHR asks to open inquiry into Sri Lanka 2009 massacres," April 26, 2011, AGI.; "UN human rights chief welcomes Sri Lanka report, urges further investigation into conduct of final stages of the war," Press release, April 26, 2011, OHCHR.

 

      Pennsylvania: Mumia Abu-Jamal is a high-profile journalist / political prisoner on death row in Pennsylvania. See background, and "Letter to American Writers, 1994". Observations: 1. the injustices in arrest, conviction and sentencing seemed normal and acceptable to Philadelphia law enforcement and judiciary; 2. the agenda of ruling a black community by fear was unmistakeable in the police bombing of the MOVE community dwelling where families lived with their children; Philadelphia police and court sent nine of the targeted victims to prison for thirty years and more (see "the MOVE Nine"). The unprosecuted crime of a city police force bombing its civilian population is a silenced factor in the case of Mumia Abu-Jamal whose reporting documented and exposed the MOVE bombing. Thirty years of persecuting the journalist hasn't changed history or his faith in freedom of speech. Once again the U.S. Court of Appeals has found the sentencing of Mumia Abu-Jamal unjust and on April 26th once again ordered re-sentencing.

 

 

April 25, 2011,   ongoing genocide warning for Roma peoples in Europe:

      Vatican City: with 75 of 200 Roma camps around Rome destroyed in the campaign to remove Roma from Italy (ongoing), on Good Friday 150 Roma sought refuge in the Basilica of Saint Paul. On Saturday there were incidents with Vatican police; pilgrims as witness called out "shame!" Police offered Roma a thousand euros apiece and passage "home", to leave. Twenty may have accepted. On Easter Sunday the International House of Women and several local anti-racist groups provided over a hundred Roma with a picnic on the lawn outside the Basilica. The Pope's emissary visited the Roma group to express the Pope's "closeness" and assure everyone that other accommodations were found which allowed men as well - instead of the Mayor's policy of separating out Roma women and children (the policy common to wealthy areas destroys families). The Vatican is not protesting the destruction of Roma encampments.

      Hungary (ongoing): in the first two weeks of March the Roma of Gyöngyöspata were terrorized by the Jobbik party (see previous) supported paramilitary similar to the "Hungarian Guard" (previous) which placed checkpoint perimeters around the Roma neighbourhood. Police didn't interfere. The Hungarian Civil Liberties Union protested in a letter to the Minister of the Interior. When the Red Cross arranged an evacuation of 300 women and children terrified with the takeover of Gyöngyöspata by a conservative culture of "security," martial training and ideology, the Minister of the Interior announced they were taking an Easter excursion. The excursion was to a camp near Budapest while the vigilante group, Vedero, held paramilitary training near Gyöngyöspata over Easter weekend.

      Czech Republic (ongoing): on April 9th , Czech police brutally disrupted a Roma religious service to make way for a neo-Nazi march to pass through a Roma neighbourhood in Brno. Though the left is gaining strength a recent poll shows 74% of the country's people find Roma "unlikable." Resistance to neo-Nazi organizing is being met by the Czech Ecumenical Council of Churches, journalists from Czech radio, organizations called "BRNO BLOCKS" and "We Don't Want Neo-Nazis in Brno," Czech singer Iva Bittova ("Improvisation - 1" [access:< http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3JAbvpGNbM >]), celebrities, bands, professors, actors, and others attempting to block another neo-Nazi march through Brno's Roma quarter, May 1.

      Canada: an inquest jury found that Jan Szamko, a factory worker Roma refugee who fled neo-Nazi persecution in the Czech Republic, died from heart failure caused by a viral infection. Awaiting deportation he was considered uncooperative by medical staff and died Dec. 9, 2009 in Toronto's Immigration holding centre (previous). The Toronto Star reports circumstances of his death include two days naked on the jail concrete floor, refusing food or water while covered with urine and feces. A log of his positioning on the floor was kept every twenty minutes. The Conservative government's current restrictive visa requirements (previous) discourage asylum requests by Czech Roma and Mexicans.

      Denmark: in Copenhagen an immigration court's order to deport 14 Roma for reasons of "public order and health" (previous) was overturned March 31 by Denmark's Supreme Court, under a complaint by The European Roma Rights Centre.

Partial sources online: "Pope expresses concern for Roma seeking refuge in Rome basilica," Cindy Wooden, April 25, 2011, CatholicHerald.co.uk; "In Easter message, Pope Benedict XVI urges diplomacy in Libya ," Frances D'Emilio (AP), April 24, 2011, cleveland.com; "Gypsies Protest Rome’s Shelter Plan," AP, April 23, 2011, The New York Times; "Vatican police clash with gipsies on steps of basilica," Josephine McKenna, April 24, 2011, telegraph.co.uk; "Roma eat Easter lunch outside St. Paul's Basilica," April 24, 2011, AGI News; "Roma deportations judged unlawful," April 19, 2011, the Copenhagen post Online; "Vatican kicks out Roma on Easter," April 24, 2011, Press TV; "Hungary: Waiting for the Hungarian Guard," Marietta Le, March 19, 2011, Global Voices; "Roma flee Hungarian paramilitary 'training camp'," April 22, 2011, Mail & Guardian online; "Almost 3/4 of Czechs averse to Roma people..." ROMEA, April 17, 2011, Romea.cz; "Czech journalists support 1 May blockade of neo-Nazis in Brno, world media also invited," ROMEA, April 21, 2011, Romea.cz; "Czech activists demand explanation for Saturday's police brutality against religious services," ROMEA, April 12, 2011, Romea.cz; "Not ‘good to fly’: the tragic death of a Roma refugee," Nicholas Keung, March 28, 2011, thestar.com; "UNHCR: Czech asylum bids to Canada plummet," Brian Kenety, March 29, 2011, czechposition.com.

 

 

April 22, 2011

  Ivory Coast: previous; previous; previous; previous; on April 15th UNICEF began delivering humanitarian aid to Abidjan, an area deprived of substantial infra structure by the U.N./French/Ouattara invasion of the south: as of April 21, the single functioning hospital in Abidjan (4 to 5 million residents) is reported to be a 12 bed facility run by Doctors without Borders. The intent of U.N. and French presence as part of a humanitarian mission remains arguable. In the NATO and UN agenda for removing the country's ruler, the European Union's embargo of Ivory Coast's ports occasioned a cut off of medical supplies. Africa News points out that the "World Bank, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria," the important donors to the fight against Aids in Ivory Coast, closed down their Abidjan offices during the crisis. To live, 104,000 Ivorians were / are reliant on black market antiretroviral drugs. With the supply of water-sanitizing chemicals interrupted since January when the banks pulled out, and the widespread destruction of safe drinking water sources in the Abidjan area by the invading forces, cases of cholera and polio are appearing in the conquered area. According to IRIN the U.N. is aware of 6000 cases of cholera in neighbouring Ghana, and 515 cases in Cote d'Ivoire between January and March when data release ceases. Ghana respected Ivorian law's election of Gbagbo, and closed its embassy in Abidjan April 18th, withdrawing personnel on the assumption of power by Ouattara and the "international community". Reports of ongoing military resistance to the occupation of southern Cote d'Ivoire are minimal. International media haven't accepted responsibility for their part in the Ouattara campaign's resulting slaughters. In southern Cote d'Ivoire where a resistant population presents a problem to neo-colonial controls, as in the entirety of Zimbabwe (see historical note), as in Haiti, if there's an epidemic in Ivory Coast it should be documented within a perspective of possible genocide. Economic and military attack on a country's infrastructure accompanied by withholding of medication may be considered biological warfare. After the U.S. and Coalition destroyed Iraq's infra-structure, some brave Americans tried to spare the U.S. a clear intention of genocide by providing Iraq with medical supplies. But as a result Dr. Rafil Dhafir is serving a 22 year sentence. Bertram Sacks and others from Voices in the Wilderness are facing fines for taking medications to Iraqi chldren.     Partial sources online: "Ivory Coast: Victims of an absurd crisis," March 28, 2011, Africa News; "Unicef delivers aid to Ivory Coast," April 15, 2011, Charities Aid Foundation; "Disease claims young victims in Ivory Coast Crisis," AP, April 22, 2011, Google News; "Ivory Coast crisis could impact drinking water supply," IRIN, April 20, 2011, All Headline News; "Ghana shuts down Embassy in Cote d’Ivoire," April 20, 2011, Ghana Web; "Ivory Coast: French deception about Laurent Gbagbo’s overthrow," James M. Inhofe, April 16, 2011, Voltairenet.org .

 

 

April 13, 2011

      Japan: The Fukushima nuclear disaster is upgraded to level 7, a disaster level reached by Chernobyl. See previous. A 6.5 Richter Scale earthquake struck Japan April 12, and a 7 point on the Richter Scale earthquake, April 11th. Radiation exposure from Iodine-131 was found in Beijing China's spinach a week ago. Radiation levels reported in U.S. milk and drinking water have exceeded the safety limit but officially are considered no danger because Iodine-131 has only an eight day half-life. The radiation source continues to contaminate so duration of exposure will accumulate. The nuclear industry is not able to contain its disaster and has not predicted closure. In Germany the nuclear industry is being phased out to be replaced with renewable energy.     Partial sources online: "Germany Plans Faster Nuclear Exit," Bernd Radowitz, April 12, 2011, Wall Street Journal; "Japan raises nuke accident severity to highest level," Xinhua, April 12, 2011, Infowars Ireland; "6.5-magnitude quake hits off east coast of Honshu, Japan," April 12, 2011, Xinhua; "M 7 quake jolts Japan, tsunami alert lifted," April 11, 2011, Xinhua; "Radiation found in China's vegetables," Shan Juan and Wang Zhenghua, April 7, 2011, China Daily; "Radiation Levels Up to 1,000 Times Higher than Current "Safety Levels," washington's blog, April 5, 2011, Global Research.

 

      Canada: in a candidates' debate on the CBC 7PM April 12th, none addressed the need for Canada to close its nuclear industry, power plants, and uranium mining operations. The candidate showing direct concern for the poor was Gilles Duceppe of the Bloc Quebecois. New Democrat leader Jack Leighton spoke for multiculturalism, the needs of immigrants, health care, representational democracy, and inclusion of the Green Party. Among other minority parties the Green Party was entirely barred from the debate, but not from the elections May 2nd. Previous

 

      Haiti: as of March 25 the number of cholera cases in Haiti reached 261,985, with 4737 deaths. 47% of the people do not have safe drinking water, 83% lack sanitation facilities, and 165,977 of the internally displaced live under threat of eviction. A report from the "Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center" in the April 11th Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, reports the number of cholera deaths could have been halved if oral anti-dysentery drugs were available to Haitians early in the epidemic. Previous     Partial sources online: "Humanitarian bulletin, 10-25 March, 2011, OCHA Haiti; "Haiti cholera epidemic could have been blunted with use of mobile stockpile of oral vaccine," April 11, 2011, EurekAlert!; "Seasonal Rains Bring Rise in Cholera Cases in Haiti," Talea Miller, April 12, 2011, PBS.

 

      Ivory Coast: captured President Laurent Gbagbo has asked supporters to lay down their arms. Both U.N. forces and French military forces (Mr. Ouattara's marriage into a French family in 1990 was "officiated by Nicholas Sarkozy" - Wikipedia) supported the international banker's forces in their attacks on Gbagbo and his supporters. The U.N.'s legal justification for armed presence in the country was 'protection of civilians'. As aggressor, Mr. Ouattara's forces have taken over the Ivory Coast militarily and brought the international media and peacemaking machinery to support one side of a disputed domestic election. An "international community" seeking peace would have pressed for dispute resolution at international court. On April 12th U.S. President Obama called Mr. Outtara to congratulate him on the victory. At a greater distance, China's Xinhua published a recent profile of Gbagbo noting that Cote d'Ivoire's Constitutional Assembly declared Mr. Gbagbo President after finding the contested vote invalid. The people of Cote d'Ivoire loyal to their country first are likely to suffer under a colonial victory, and their President is likely to face 'victor's justice.' During the battle for Abidjan over two thousand people have found refuge in St. Paul's Cathedral in Abidjan, without facilities, food or water, and the Catholic News Service has reported priests targeted by the rebel forces who have now assumed power. See previous and previous.     Partial sources online: "Profile: Cote d'Ivoire's captured ex-leader Laurent Gbagbo," April 12, 2011, English - Xinhuanet.com; "NYT Demands Libyan War Escalation," Robert Parry, April 8, 2011, CIJ; "Nuncio says priests targeted in Ivory Coast; Caritas priest missing," Jonathan Luxmoore, March 31, 2011, Catholic News Service; "Abidjan cathedral provides refuge for hundreds," April 8, 2011, BBC.

 

 

April 8, 2011

      Iraq: on April 9th to note the 8th anniversary of the U.S. occupation, ongoing sit-ins start throughout the provinces. Among other demands these ask unconditional withdrawal of occupiers, sovereignty for Iraq, a transparent electoral process without outside interference, release of all the innocent prisoners, disclosure of secret prisons, judicial investigation of security forces, support for the agenda of Iraq's February 25th "Uprising of Rage". Tents will be set up in front of U.S. military bases. There are 14 large U.S. military installations currently in the country with 58 others tentatively planned.

      U.S.: under the United National Antiwar Committee a large demo is planned for tomorrow at Union Square, noon, and April 10 in San Francisco, to ask for peace, a healthy planet, peoples' rights, and to protest war in Afghanistan, Iraq (U.S. military destruction began in 1990), Pakistan, Libya, South and Central America, troops, mercenaries, contractors, 'sanctions', a fake 'war on terrorism', aid to Israel, fbi raids, persecution of the vulnerable, torture, renditions, death squads, drones, occupations. Endorsed by 500 labour organizations, 600 approved individuals and organizations, and over 100 Muslim leaders, there is an effort to encourage solidarity with Muslim groups currently under particular government pressure. Background: "When the 'War on Terror' Becomes Genocide."

      Canada: Canadian Peace Alliance and Collectif Échec à la guerre call a cross Canada day of action April 9th to end the war in Afghanistan and intervention in Libya. In Ottawa, the "Ottawa Peace Assembly" calls for a "Day of Dissent: no to war, no to harper, yes to democracy," at the Human Rights monument, 1 pm.

Partial sources online:"March with WRL on April 9 in NYC!" Press release, current WRL; "Occupying the Bases: April 9 and Iraq’s ‘Day of Salvation’," Ali Issa, March 30, 2011, IndyBlog; " April 9, 2011: Pan-Canadian Day of Action to End the War in Afghanistan, No Military Intervention in Libya, Make the war an election issue!" Canadian Peace Alliance, April 7, 2011, Global;Research.

 

 

April 4, 2011

      Cote d'Ivoire:

Context: having despoiled with d.u. weaponry, mining, nuclear production & facilities, countries it would conquer (ie. Japan, Iraq, Republic of Yugoslavia, Afghanistan), the U.S. and NATO have opened a military African front attempting to replace Omar Khaddafi in Libya, and Laurent Gbagbo in Cote d'Ivoire. In both cases the U.N. is partisan to a corporate agenda. The resisting rulers are former revolutionary leaders, nationalists, with the backing of their armies, security forces, and legal systems. Human rights violations by both are selectively used in campaigns against them by western media. Each ruler has enough support from the people to make takeover by foreign interests a bloodbath. Blame for a civil war can be traced early to the invader. In Zimbabwe revolutionary leader President Robert Mugabe countered western calls for invasion (and subsequent civil war) allowing Harvard-processed Morgan Tsvangirai to become the prime minister. In Rwanda, invasion by U.S. supported Paul Kagame occasioned the extreme of civil war resulting in genocide as the U.N. turned its back. Insensitive to history the U.S. and NATO have attempted to take over Cote d'Ivoire by proclaiming their candidate victor in contested national elections.
Cote d'Ivoire President, Laurent Gbagbo, as confirmed by the country's legal system and constitution, is socialist, French educated, revolutionary leader, Catholic, vulnerable to the Muslim north of his own country which previously rebelled under Ouattara. Previous. Like the President of neighbouring Liberia who has also been through the Harvard process, Ouattara has several U.S. university degrees (Phd, Pennsylvania). He has worked for the International Monetary Fund in Washington, which requires a catastrophe for 'disaster-capitalism' to work, etc.. Linking the rebel movement to international corporate interests, he is declared by those interests "President" of Cote d'Ivoire, despite evidence of voting irregularities in regions controlled by former rebels as well as those dominated by the legitimate government. The New York Times, furthers the campaign of its "international community" to claim Ouattara elected President of Cote d'Ivoire, under the protection of 11, 000 U.N. troops and French forces who periodically enter their former colony to selectively destroy opposition to French economic interests. Currently Ouattara is invading / taking over the country by force, recently causing the death of a thousand civilians in Duekoue. There are reports of French forces (about 1000) in action against the resistant forces, often young people loyal to Gbagbo. United Nations forces are using helicopter gunships against the resistant forces. Refugees fleeing to Liberia report Ouattara forces murdering civilians. The youth movement of Cote d'Ivoire, loyal to President Gbagbo, is fighting for a future, the right to be alive and African, the right of the land under their feet, for the rights of trees and rivers, the right of women to give birth, the right to religious differentiation or to be animist, or without religion, when faced with over-rule of enslavement to corporate greed; youth are the most vulnerable group to blame for human rights violations as reported by the State Department's human rights agencies, all from the world that presents African nations with the tragedy of colonial rule in modern dress. Credible sources for regional information are: the International Commission of the Red Cross, Communist and Socialist parties in surrounding countries, and africanist news sources. Lacking is a non-partisan global media to stand as the country's objective witness, a need suggested in the previous genocide warning. As Ouattara forces make their 'final' onslaught on the capital of Abidjan, western media is increasingly drawn to slaughter of Africans by Africans. A million people in Cote d'Ivoire are displaced by the 'international community''s politics of greed. As both U.N. and French military forces become active combatants with U.N. forces targeting the home of President Gbagbo's family ("Ivory Coast: UN Forces Fire On Gbagbo's Home ," April 4, 2011, sky news), U.S. Secretary of State Clinton says "Gbagbo is pushing Cote d'Ivoire into lawlessness" ("U.N. helicopters attack Gbagbo camp in Ivory Coast," Staff, April 4, 2011, CNN).

 

 

April 3, 2011

      Tacoma, Washington: five participants in the Disarm Now Plowshares action (see previous) were sentenced for their protest of U.S. nuclear first strike weapons at Naval Base Kitsap, November 2, 2009. According to Catholic News Service the base hosts the U.S. nuclear Trident missile armed sub fleet with possibly 2300 nuclear warheads on hand. Fr. Bill Bichsel, s.j. (82), received 3 months imprisonment, 4 months of house arrest; Fr. Steven Kelly, s.j. (62), 15 months in prison; Sr. Anne Montgomery (84, a member of the original Plowshares action), 2 months, 4 months of house arrest; Susan Crane (67) 15 months in prison; Lynne Greenwald (61), 6 months in prison, 60 hours community service. The group was fined for damages as well. "Dona Nobis Pacem." The AP reports that "a judge prohibited them from using international law and the lethality of nuclear weapons as a defense." The judge in this case is Judge Benjamin H. Settle.U.S. judges' refusal to allow the simplest standards of international law in court is a reversible constant in the history of the Plowshares movement. The judiciary's refusal to allow citizens basic recourse to international humanitarian and human rights protects and encourages irrecoverable crimes by government. See previous. For a chronology of the Plowshares movement see nightslantern links: plowshares disarmament actions.     Partial sources online:"Activists sent to prison for Washington State weapons depot protest,"Dennis Sadowski, March 29, 2011, Catholic News service; "5 Wash. peace demonstrators sentenced to prison," AP:, March 28, 2011, Yakima,WA, msnbc.com. "Two elderly priests and a nun jailed for up to 15 months for breaking into navy base in protest over nuclear weapons," March 30, 2011, Daily Mail U.K.

 

      Argentina: on March 31, once-general Eduardo Cabanillas, a participant in "Operation Condor" of the "dirty War" (previous) received a life sentence for murder, torture, illegal imprisonment. Intelligence personnel Honorio Martinez and Edcuardo Ruffo received 25 years each. Military intelligence agent Raul Guglielminetti received 20 years.     Partial sources online: "Argentine general gets life for torture," April 1, 2011, UPI.com; "Chile's leader to formally ask for CIA files to help Pinochet dictatorship probe," AP, March 22, 2011, The Washington Post; "Argentina ex-general sentenced to life for 'Dirty War' crimes," LaToya Sawyer", April 1, 2011, Jurist.

 

 

March 31, 2011

      Georgia: the U.S. Supreme Court refuses to hear the case of Troy Davis who now relies on the Georgia Pardons and Parole Board to save him from execution. Davis is convicted of killing an off duty policeman. 7 of the witnesses against him have recanted and another man has confessed to the murder. Previous. A. evidence suggests Davis is innocent; B. eventually capital punishment will be understood as a crime. See the U.N.'s protocol on abolition of the death penalty.     Partial sources online: "'Shocked and Appalled': Sister of Death Row Prisoner Troy Davis Responds to Supreme Court Ruling," w. Amy Goodman, March 29, 2011, Democracy Now!; "Justices Deny New Appeal by Convict in Georgia," Adam Liptak, March 28, 2011, The New York Times.

 

      Japan: nuclear accidents at Fukushima previous have not been contained and are mixing high levels of radioactive water with seawater. Tokyo children are cautioned not to drink tapwater. Foreign governments are saying evidence of radiation in their countries' water and air is currently not a concern; long term cumulative risk is not mentioned. In Canada Physicians for Global Survival (and its U.S. counterpart) have called for immediate cease in nuclear plant construction and a shutdown for review of reactors on fault lines. On March 18th an earthquake of 4.3 between Montreal and Ottawa drew assurances from Canada's Nuclear Safety Commission that there was no risk to Canada's reactors. As an election nears neither major political party, Conservative or Liberal, is discussing the nuclear industry's primary threat to Canada's future.     Partial sources online:"Doctors org. Prescribes Nuke Power Moratoria," Press Release, March 29, 2011, Pacific Free Press Progressive Opinion.

 

      Europe: in Germany's district of Baden-Württemberg where conservatives usually win the elections, Prime Minister Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union was soundly defeated by the Green Party. Previous. Business interests suffered in the country's regional elections. In France's second round of local elections President Sarkozy's party was defeated. The Socialists won and the far right gained strength. Sarkozy has tried to woo the far right with anti-Muslim, anti-Roma, anti-immigrant, anti-union neo-conservative agendas.     Partial sources online:"Merkel feels the pain after defeat in election," David Scally, March 29, 2011, The Irish Times; "Shock As Merkel's Party Loses Key State ," Lulu Sinclair, Marchy 28, 2011, Sky.com; "Nicolas Sarkozy defeated in local elections," Henry Samuel, March 28, 2011, Telegraph.co.uk.

 

      South America: In Argentina, currently serving life imprisonment for kidnap, torture and killing of four dissidents during Argentina's "Dirty War" (1976-83) once-General Luciano Benjamin Menendez was given an additional life sentence for murdering five members of an urban guerrilla group. With him, a police inspector general / director of a concentration camp, Roberto Heriberto Albornoz, received the same sentence. Among other prosecutions against those responsible for the 20 to 30 thousand "disappeared," the country's former Dictator-President Jorge Rafael Videle, serving life in prison for the deaths of prisoners, is again on trial, this time for a program of stealing the babies of political prisoners. For background on the "Dirty War", see The Vanished Gallery ~ Desaperacidos on our links page. In Uruguay, a decision by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights released March 23rd found the Uruguayan government guilty of disappearing from Argentina Maria Claudia Garcia Iruretagoyena de Gelman in 1976. This nullifies Uruguay's law granting amnesty to military officials associated with Operation Condor. In Colombia, while in 2000 the Colombian Prosecutor General's "Justice and Peace Unit" found 50,000 were missing or disappeared, in 2009 alone there were 18,236 disappearances (Colombia Reports).     Partial sources online: "Argentina court gives ex-general additional life sentence for 'Dirty War' crimes," Carrie Schimizzi, March 25, 2011, Jurist; "Argentine ex-general sentenced to life for dictatorship-era killings," Staff, March 24, 2011, CNN; "Human rights court invalidates Uruguay military amnesty law ," Michael Haggerson, March 25, 2011, Jurist; "OAS court: Uruguay must drop 'dirty war' amnesty," AP March 24, 2011, Forbes; "Where have all Colombia's disappeared gone?" Julian Esteban Torres Lopez, March 28, 2011, Colombia Reports; "Argentina: Prosecution for child-thefts during dictatorship begins," Emile Schepers, march 7, 2011, People's World; "Colombia, 48 muertes violentas por día," Redacción Bogota, May 4, 2010, ElEspectador.com.

 

 

March 30, 2011

Historical note ~ cultures of resistance:

Rural U.S.: "Lorena"   [access:< http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XniCP-oB1_E >]
New York City: Lenny Bruce on Adolf Eichmann   [access:< http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuLK-Hbxsek >]
Lithuania: "The Bending Willows Were Weeping Silently"   [access:]
Colombia: "guerrilleras, musica fariana"   [access:< http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4P9VVblq8hQ >]

 

 

March 27, 2011

      Maine: Governor Paul LePage has ordered removal of a 36 foot wide mural from Maine's department of Labor: the mural honors the history of the labor movement in Maine. The plan met organized protest on July 25th, by the AFl-CIO and Maine Union of Visual Artists. At the protest union workers read the names of those who died in the NYC Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire of March 25, 1911, where a 146 young women and men garment workers were burned alive or jumped from the eighth floor of a downtown New York building.The deaths are generally attributed to management's locking the fire exits to prevent theft and union organizing. Governor LePage becomes one of an enclave of extremist Republican Governors with no true respect for history: in Germany the Nazi program required and accomplished destruction of the unions. The Republicans are blaming the State's budgetary problems on working people and are singling out public service unions for sacrifices in pensions and retirement (see previous). This attack on unions strikes a chord familiar to New England history when textile mills enslaved twelve year olds, and paper mills, lumbering, fish processing plants, and the trades held off unionization through use of goons and impoverished strike breakers. The Governor also plans to strip the Department of Labor conference rooms of the names of those who helped build the labor movement. In The Bangor Daily News Maine's AFL-CIO President Don Berry remembers what they struggled for: Frances Perkins (a witness to the New York Triangle Shirtwaist crime against workers, for massive workplace reforms when she became FDR's Secretary of Labor), Rose Shneiderman (for women's union rights and protest: What the woman who labors wants is the right to live, not simply exist ...The worker must have bread, but she must have roses, too), Cesar Chavez (for farmworker, Latino, and immigrants' human rights), Marion Martin (for womens' labor rights), William Looney (for child labor laws), Charlie Scontras (for labor's history). In a region where many workers remain without union protection, the wages of union workers provide a base for labor's value.     Partial sources online: "Celebrate, don’t erase, Maine’s labor history," Don Berry, March 24, 2011, Bangor Daily News; "A picture of labor unrest," Ann S. Kim, March 26, 2011, Portland Press Herald; "Supporters, critics face off over proposed changes to Maine pension plan," Clarke Canfield, march 2, 2011, The Republic (Indiana); "The Nazi Regime in Germany," current, Jewish Virtual Library; "LePage Exempts Own Pension From Budget Cuts," Mike Tipping, March 13, 2011, Maine Politics; "Rose Schneiderman," current, Wikipedia; "100th Anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire," March 25, 2011, Democracy Now!

 

      Ottawa: the Conservatives' ongoing totalitarian tactics have forced the House of Commons to a vote of "no confidence" for contempt of Parliament, hinging on a lack of budgetary transparency. That brings down the government. Elections will be May 2nd and may signal gains for the New Democratic Party, a strengthening of the Green Party, and gains for the Bloc Quebecois, if Canada's electoral means to represent the people remains viable. The Harper government's recent positions include joining the attack on Libya and holding firm to Canada's programs for nuclear energy as a possibly irrecoverable nuclear catastrophe in Japan (previous) spreads radiation and misinformation. In Toronto NDP Minister Peter Tabuns has asked the government of Ontario to stop construction of two additional units at the Darlington Nuclear Generating Station east of the city. Ontario Power Generation claims its Pickering nuclear facility can withstand an earthquake of 6 to 7 magnitude. Japan's tsunami / earthquake 'surprised' experts with a magnitude of 9.1. On March 21st, four Greenpeace activists were arrested for disrupting a public meeting considering the construction of four new reactors on Lake Ontario by Ontario Power Generation, a particular risk to the Province's heavily populated south as well as Quebec, New York State and the Saint Lawrence Seaway.     Partial sources online: "Ontario won’t change nuclear plans, says energy minister," John Spears, March 18, 2011, thestar.com; "Police arrest Greenpeace protesters at Ontario nuclear hearings," Allison Jones, March 22, 2011, The Globe and Mail; "Ontario not making plans to replace nuclear power," March 15, 2011, ctv.ca.

 

 

March 21, 2011

"Union Maid" [access:< http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rs5_gB582IM&NR=1 >]

 

 

March 19, 2011


      Haiti: on Feb. 29, 2004 Jean Bertrand Aristide, the democratically elected president of Haiti, was overthrown by a U.S., Canadian and French supported coup and forcibly removed from Haiti (previous). His exile in South Africa has ended. After seven years Haiti gave him his passport last month. Yesterday he returned to Port au Prince with his wife (once a New York lawyer) and two children, despite U.S. efforts to keep him away from the current "elections" March 20th. Aristide's attorney Ira Kurzman told Democracy Now! that U.S. President Obama asked the South African President not to let Aristide out of South Africa. In Haiti, Aristide's political base, the majority party Fanmi Lavalas, is barred from the "elections". During his absence his supporters were brutally attacked and murdered by authorities (example; other examples: 2004,   2005,   2005,   2005,   2006,   2009). Despite the persecution of his supporters Aristide remains popularand loved. In his absence his opposition has used the international press, the UN forces, the courts, a political process that install its own representatives, earthquake recovery funds, organizations providing medical relief, all to strengthen its control of a ravaged people. The global outpouring of financial support to relief efforts after Haiti's earthquake has not reached the people of Haiti. 4600 have died from cholera and a new Harvard Medical School study predicts nearly 800,000 cases and 11,000 deaths in the next year. On arriving in Port au Prince Aristide thanked Cuba's Medical Brigades for treating 40% of all the cholera cases. In 2005 Aristide claimed a holocaust was occurring against Haiti's poor (previous). His return provides the first real hope of prevention. His protection is those who believe in democracy and those who believe in the Haitian people. The poor have welcomed the Aristides home and the poor are everywhere. Recent: 2010,   2010,   2011,   2011,   2011,   2011.     Partial sources online: "US Researchers Predict Widening Outbreak Of Cholera in Haiti," March 17, 2011, VOA News; "Aristide arrives in Haiti after 7-year exile," March 18, 2011, CBC News; "Haiti: Former President Thanks Cuban Doctors' Help to his Country," March 18, 2011, Cuba News Agency; "Haiti's First Lady, Mildred Aristide speaks to Essence," Oct. 25, 2005, Essence Communications Inc. / Assata Shakur Forums; "Haitians celebrate ex-president's homecoming," March 18, 2011, Al Jazeera English; "Factbox: Haiti's Aristide a champion of poor reviled by elite," Pascal Fletcher, March 14, 2011, Thomson Reuters; "Defying U.S., Former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide Returns Home," Amy Goodman, March 17, 2011, Democracy Now!

 

 

March 17, 2011

      Czech Republic: on March 12 about 500 held a right wing rally in the town of Novy Bydzov,under the banner of the DSSS (Workers' Party of Social Justice), with participation of National Resistance and the Autonomous Nationalists - both considered neo-Nazi. 200 opponents were not allowed by police to protest. 3 Roma activists were attacked and one taken unconscious to the hospital. See sample previous. Romania has declared February 20th a holiday to celebrate the day the enslavement of Roma was abolished, Feb. 20, 1856.    Partial sources online: "Roma activist unconscious after extremists' rally in Czech town," CTK, Mar. 14, 2011, Prague Daily Monitor; "Romania sets holiday to mark end of Gypsy slavery," AP, March 15, 2011, vcstar.com; "Human rights defenders backed the Roma, mayor and police backed the neo-Nazis in Nový Bydžov," March 14, 2011, Romea.cz.

 

      Japan: following the March 11 earthquake / tsunami in northern Japan, news media report explosions at three nuclear plants, two other reactors also in danger of core meltdown, and six cooling pools at risk. Specific statistics on radiation exposure are minimally reported and under differing units of measure. Specific exposure dosages are withheld. Length of exposure per dose isn't clarified. Lethal dosage measurement standards are minimally reported. Confusing data gives maximum leeway for contamination of the civilian population. Children are at much greater risk from exposure than adults. There are no reports of official evacuations of children and the young as a primary concern. The New York Times reports that business executives are leaving Tokyo ("Crisis Prompts Exodus of Executives From Tokyo," David Jolly & Ken Belson, March 17, 2011). Many foreign governments are flying their embassy staffs and citizens out of Japan. Meltdown(s) of Japanese plants would render the area permanently uninhabitable. According to the Japanese Prime Minister the power company TEPCO, has not responded with urgency and he has had to call up defense forces instead to fight radiation. Japanese workers are risking their lives in efforts to contain radiation with civilian equipment. The U.S. military is not assisting Japanese Defense forces on the ground.("Frustrated with TEPCO, Kan turns to SDF in nuclear crisis," March 17, 2011, The Mainichi Daily News) U.S. naval forces have pulled away from irradiated areas. There are at least 35,688 U.S. military personnel still occupying Japan (2009) with 75% on Okinawa, a separate island. Some Navy, Air Force and Army facilities are beginning to evacuate families and "non-essential" workers. The Japanese people who can't avoid contamination in the event of a 'worst case scenario' remain hostage to the nuclear industry. With the unexpected strength of the earthquake initially reported as 9.1, safety mechanisms have proven useless. The industry's emergency management procedures failed. The civilian population was uninformed and unprepared for current risks. The industry which has taken over its regulators (Canadian example: previous 1,   2) lacks credibility. Despite official U.S. and Canadian assurances that radiation from Japan presents little risk to north Americans, potassium iodide tablets (for prevention of thyroid cancer resulting from radiation) are increasingly 'out of stock' at pharmacies. Exposure readings within north America are hard to find or government sourced. For a sample of U.S. domestic nuclear management policies see: "Nuclear Notes: the Savannah River Watershed" (2010).     Partial sources online: by synthesis: historically, official and media information on nuclear events is managed by the government or nuclear industry, and difficult to verify..

 

      U.S.: the Department of Veterans Affairs is increasing its efforts to prevent an estimated 25 suicides of active and inactive personnel each month (2010), by advertising its Veterans Crisis Line: 1-800-273-8255. Press #1 for a VA mental health professional 24 / 7. 379,000 people have called this service since 2007. There were 11,000 attempted suicides in 2009, with about 700 effective.     Partial sources online: "Suicide thoughts plague veterans," Bernard A. Lubell Medill News Service, March 13, 2011, nwitimes.com; "VA Launches New PSA on Suicide Prevention for Veterans: Confidential Crisis Line Provides 24/7 Access to Help" March 15, 2011, Veterans Today; "Rep. Rush Holt Reintroduces Military Suicide Prevention Act, Hopes Senate Doesn't Block It For The Third Time," Amanda Terkel, March 16, 2011, Hufflington Post; .

 

 

March 10, 2011

georgia prison strike poster
      Georgia: following the largest prison strike in U.S. history ( previous) as of Dec. 15th Georgia prisons continue to function with enslavement of prisoners who work without pay - old practice, new millennium. 7 guards were arrested for brutality regarding a prisoner hospitalized December 16th. Little else is reported of retaliations against striking prisoners or the location of so-called 'strike leaders'. 37 are unaccounted for, 'hidden' in the prison system. Socialist Alternative reports Shawn Whately has requested protective custody against retaliation from Georgia prison staff (SA). The growing prison movement throughout the U.S. isn't likely to rely on traditional media. Suggested sources: [state name] Prison Watch, ie. Maine Prison Watch, etc..After the Georgia Strike, Lucasville 5 death row inmates in Ohio began a hunger strike for minimal human rights ( previous). Jan. 15th Bay View reported the 3 participating so far were eating again with demands met.     Partial sources online: "Prisoners' protest over. For now," Rhonda Cook, Dec. 15, 2010, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution; "Georgia Prisoners End Protest, But Continue Demands," Julianne Hing, Dec. 15, 2010, colorlines; "A great rally, a great victory for the Lucasville hunger strikers," Denis O’Hearn, Jan. 15, 2011, BayView; "Seven Georgia guards face charges in wake of prison strike," Feb. 22, 2011, Reuters; "Seven prison guards arrested on charges of beating inmate," Rhonda Cook, Feb.21, 2011, Atlanta Journal-Constitution; "Protest retaliation against Georgia prisoners," Mary Ratcliff, Feb. 20, 2011, BayView; "Immediate Justice and Human Rights for Georgia State Prisoner Shawn Whatley!" Eljeer Hawkins, March 1, 2011, Socialist Alternative.

 

      Canada: prisoners at the Mountain Institution in Agassiz British Columbia are attempting to bring Canada's prison system into the 21rst century by founding the Canadian Prisoners' Labour Union, Local 001. The prisoners are both Canadian citizens and workers looking for rehabilitation. North American prisons are increasingly a labour pool and prisoner labor unions could provide some answer to slave labour, criminal labour practices, 'company stores' which leave prisoners without funds on release. Mountain Institution at Agassiz was at founding a prison for the Sons of Freedom of the Doukhobors, a Canadian Russian immigrant group persecuted for its pacifism and sound principle.

Historical note: pacifism of the Doukhobors pre-dates Gandhi, Schweitzer and King. About 1900 with respect for animals some Doukhobor pulled their own ploughs. Between 1953 and 1959 British Columbia deprived Doukhobors of about a hundred children who weren't in school and placed them in Residential Schools: children spoke to parents through chain fences. From a song recorded in 1962 ("Canadian Journal for Traditional Music (1976): Sons-Of-Freedom Songs in English," F.M. Mealing):
Our brothers' blood, we will not spill;
Enough of wars and all destruction;
Our aim: restore the land to till.
Unite, all brothers and all sisters...
    Partial sources online:"B.C. inmates attempt to form first prison labour union in Canada," Canadian Press, March 4, 2011, Globe and Mail; "B.C. prison inmates fighting to unionize," Canadian Press, March 4, 2011, CTV News; Doukhobor, current, Wikipedia; "Doukhobor survivors want apology from B.C.," Sept. 10, 2001, CBC News; Righting the Wrong, Dulcie McCallum, 2002, Ombudsman of British Columbia [access:< http://www.llbc.leg.bc.ca/public/pubdocs/bcdocs/328851/bc_ombudsman_pr38_99.pdf >].

 

 

March 5, 2011

      Toronto: the new issue, #18, of 4strugglemag, is available at http://4strugglemag.org . Editor Jaan Laaman, was a member of the Sam Melville / Jonathan Jackson Brigade, as was Tom Manning; both political prisoners remain in U.S. prisons; the extreme length of their sentences was an attempt to crush American resistance that wasn't exclusively nonviolent: a gerald and maas broadsheet - political prisoners links.   In Brampton Shareef Abdelhaleem, the 11th convicted of the "Toronto 18" (background), maintained he "had no intention of causing injury or bodily harm” (Toronto Sun) and asked to be sentenced as the judge would sentence a white Catholic (CTV). He received the maximum sentence, life in prison, a possibility of parole in 10 years. Previously, Zakaria Amara also received a life sentence. None of the convicted was a professional or military element. The means of violence was supplied by police agents. No crime of violence was committed. All were Muslim men.     Partial sources online: "Terrorist gets life in prison," Louie Rosella, March 04, 2011, mississauga.com; "Last of Toronto 18 not remorseful: Judge," Ian Robertson, March 4, 2011, Toronto Sun; "Convicted Toronto 18 member handed life sentence," March 4, 2011, CTV.ca.

 

      Israel: On February 7th, the Bedouin town of Al-Araqib was destroyed a twelfth time. The military has claimed the area and doesn't allow journalists entry. After each bulldozing inhabitants go back and rebuild their homes. Israel claims its actions comply with law. See background. On February 27, Israeli bulldozers under armed guard began demolishing homes in the Negev town of Al-Zaroura. The Bedouins are subject to forced evacuation. Palestinian Bedouin families in the areas of the Adam and Maale Michmash settlements to the southeast of Jerusalem have received about 1000 eviction notices. In the nineties a thousand people were deported to an area around Jerusalem's garbage dump. These are thought to be Jahalin families, previously evicted from the Negev in the 1950's. (AIC).    U.S.: Pete Seeger, singer of the American history excised from schoolbooks, has joined the campaign to boycott Israel (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions / BDS), and left a project linked to the Jewish National Fund because it's involved in the Bedouin removal from Al-Araqib (Adalah-NY). Seeger donates a portion of his royalties to the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD).    Ottawa: events for Israeli Apartheid Week which starts on March 7th, are listed at http://ottawa.apartheidweek.org/ .     Partial sources online: "Israel continues demolishing homes in Negev," Samar Mohaisen, Feb. 27, 2011, The Palestine Telegraph; "Israel Issues Eviction Orders to 600 Palestinian Bedouins in Jerusalem Area," Sergio Yahni, Feb. 28, 2011, The Alternative Information Center; "Israel razes Bedouin village for 12th time," Mohammed Mar'i, Feb. 8, 2011, Arab News; "Pete Seeger officially joins anti-Israel boycott," Nir Hasson, Feb. 19, 2011, Haaretz; "Folk music legend Pete Seeger endorses boycott of Israel," Press release, Feb. 28, 2011, Adalah-NY.

 

      Vancouver: the effects of residential school abuses were discussed at the Hidden Legacy Conference called by the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs in Winnipeg late February; over 2500 participants attended. Dr. Gabor Maté (recommended reading) and Dr. Eduardo Duran spoke of the long term effects of extreme abuse. On March 1-3 the Canadian Government's Truth and Reconciliation Commission met in Vancouver, a forum attended by international visitors to found a national research centre and heal the crimes of residential schools. Speakers at the Sheraton Wall Centre included a witness of Rwanda's genocide, Stephen Smith of the Shoah Foundation, Phil Fontaine and others, webcast in French and English. Visitors reportedly paid 400 dollars; First Nations people were allowed in free. Canada's TRC is said to be collecting data on murders of children at residential schools, hiring a former civil servant and a professor to research. However traditional chiefs of the Squamish Nation have ordered the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to get off their lands and have asked their people not to cooperate. With Kevin Annett (see previous) whose pressure is partly responsible for Canada's public re-examination of residential school crimes, the International Tribunal into Crimes of Church and State (ITCCS) was formed in England to deal with the history of residential schools as a continuing crime and to ask for criminal charges against responsible officials. A primary eyewitness to appear in England at the September 12th first meeting of the ITCCS Tribunal, William Arnold Combes, died suddenly in February after entering the hospital for tests. His testimony concerns an abduction of ten Indian children in 1964 by a couple presented to the children of a Catholic residential school as the Queen and Prince Philip. Another witness, Johnny Bingo Dawson, was allegedly beaten to death by Vancouver police in December 2009. Another four witnesses from Friends and Relatives of the Disappeared have died in the last year or two (see previous - "Winnipeg"). A vocal native activist Harriet Nahanee, died February 24, 2007, after release to a hospital from a BC jail. With ongoing deaths of witnesses the group remains small. ITCCS evidence reveals policies currently beyond reach of reconciliationwhen the crimes continue. Annett's group has previously documented locations of mass burials of Indian children (see previous) and asked for investigation and return of remains. The ITCCS website is available at www.itccs.org. The Tribunal is also concerned with unprosecuted child abuse by the Church hierarchy internationally.     Partial sources online: "Where are the childen buried ?" Alexandra Paul, Feb. 19, 2011, Winnipeg Free Press; "Residential schools conference draws crowd," Feb. 23, 2011, CBC News; "Commission tries to lay deadly chapter to rest," Ethan Baron, March 2, 2011, The Province; "Winnipeg conference probes eight generations of residential school damage," Kevin Rollason (Postmedia), Feb. 23, 2011, The Vancouver Sun; "Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada Hosting Webcast," staff, March 1, 2011, netnewsledger.com; "Residential school commission hears stories of healing from Rwanda, South Africa," Tamsyn Burgmann (Canadian Press), March 3, 2011, Winnipeg Fee Press; "Breaking News: Canada's 'Truth and Reconciliation Commission' ordered off the territory of the Sovereign Squamish Nation Government," Feb. 28, 2011, ITCCS,; "Mass Grave Sites across Canada to be Surveyed by International Tribunal; Prime Minister Harper to be Summoned to Answer Charges," Feb. 24, 2011, ITCCS.

 

 

March 1, 2011

      Madison Wisconsin: A New York Times / CBS News poll finds Americans back public service unions' rights to collective bargaining, two to one. Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker has threatened to begin laying off 1500 State workers this week, as the protest enters week three with up to a hundred thousand in the streets of the capitol last weekend in a snowstorm. Police and firemen unions are standing in solidarity. See previous 1 and 2.     Partial sources online: "Majority in Poll Back Employees in Public Sector Unions," Michael Cooper & Megan Thee Brenan, Feb. 28, 2011, The New York Times; "In Wisconsin, Flinging Blame and Citing Deadlines," Richard A. Oppel, Feb 28, 2011, The New York Times; "Beyond collective bargaining, Wisconsin governor to reveal full intentions for state in budget," Scott Bauer (AP), Feb. 28, 2011, StarTribune.com; "Over 100,000 Rally in Madison; Thousands Join Nationwide Protests," Feb. 28, 2011, Democracy Now!

Historical note: "Roll The Union On," Almanac Singers [access=< http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4YeDI4R9MA >].

 

 

February 28, 2011

    Iraq: nationwide protest on February 25th resulted inthe deaths of 23 protestors. Protest was not allowed in Baghdad. At some demonstrations the military has fired on civilians. Funeral processions on February 26th were attacked by security forces. As for freedom of speech as introduced by occupation, journalists from Sumeria News Network, Al-Dyar TV, Society for the Defense of Press Freedom members, Reuters, Al-Salam TV, were attacked, arrested and beaten, as reported by the Iraqi Society for the Defense of Press. 4 released journalists report being beaten and threatened with death. A professor was assassinated, a moment in a long history of persecution of Iraqi academics in an agenda that cripples the country's ability to rebuild its own culture. Previous.     Partial sources online: "Update on the Iraqi 'Day of peaceful Anger'," Feb. 27, 2011, Brussells Tribunal; "Saturday: 19 Iraqis Killed, 33 Wounded, Hundreds Possibly Beaten," Margaret Griffis, Feb. 26, 2011, antiwar.com; "Bad Day for freedom of press and democracy in Iraq," Feb. 26, 2011, Aswat Al Iraq; "Iraq 'Day of Rage' protests followed by detentions, beatings," Stephanie McCrummen, Feb. 26, 2011, Washington Post.

 

      Ottawa: Canada's Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union, sent Union leaders to Madison Wisconsin in solidarity. The CEP (above) and United Steelworkers of America writing for the affiliates of the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (20 million members) wrote Wisconsin's Governor Walker stating unequivocal solidarity with the workers of Wisconsin; "Trade union rights are democratic rights and human rights which are recognized and protected through the conventions of the United Nations and the International Labor Organization." (ICEM) . See previous.     Partial sources online:"The Canadian union joins forces with Madison workers", Feb. 24, 2011, CEP; "Letter to Governor Walker,"Feb. 24,m 2011, ICEM.

 

      Libya: Canada has closed its embassy and withdrawn its personnel. Previous     Partial sources online:"Canadian embassy shut down in Libya, evacuations ongoing," Bradley Bouzane (Postmedia), Feb. 26, 2011, The Gazette; "Canada evacuates embassy staff from Libya," AP Feb. 26, 2011,The Washington Post.

 

      Brazil: the government owned Companhia Hidro Eletrica do Sao Francisco has for the moment been stopped from building the huge Belo Monte dam, intended to block a tributary of the Amazon, displace 50,000 people, destroy several native peoples, and sacrifice a portion of the rain forest. Judge Ronaldo Desterro ruled that requirements protecting the environment were not met.     Partial sources online:"Brazil judge blocks Amazon Belo Monte dam," Feb. 26, 2011, BBC News; "Amazon Tribes March Against World's 3rd Largest Dam," Katia Cortes, Feb. 8, 2011, Bloomberg.

 

      Greece: the country held a successful and for the most part nonviolent general strike February 23rd, shutting down public transport throughout Greece. The strike was called by "the General Confederation of Greek Workers, the Civil Servants Federation, and Pan-Hellenic Laborers' Fighting Front" (Ocon). It has not changed the government's economic policies. The U.S. has labeled a Greek activist organization "Sect of Revolutionaries" a "terrorist" organization, and added it to the State Department list.     Partial sources online:"Greece's Paralyzing General Strike Turns Violent In Central Athens," Feb. 23, 2011, The Wall Street Journal; "US adds left-wing Greek group to terror list,"AFP, Feb. 24, 2011, Yahoo! News;"Violence erupts in Greece," Tyler Ocon, Feb. 24, 2011, College Media Network.

 

      Navajo Nation, Arizona: Brenda Norrell's Censored News reports delivery of 80,000 pounds of drinking water by "Pastor Jimmy Bowling and Operation Compassion." The area drinking water is contaminated by arsenic and uranium. More than philanthropy is needed; the condition of the environment indicates an ongoing genocide of the land's residents. There are 100 million tons of radioactive mill tailings in the area, 1300 abandoned uranium mines with piles of slag. Coal mining as well contaminates the drinking water; "three percent of families has electricity and 10 percent have running water" (Monestersky).     Partial sources online:"Truck load of safe drinking water for Navajos drinking uranium poisoned water," Brenda Norrell, Feb. 19, 2011, Censored News; "Forgotten People Navajo Nation Laboratory - Geology, Threats and Environmental Justice," Marsha Monestersky and Don Yellowman, Oct. 31 -Nov.3, 2010, GSA Denver Meeting.

 

      France: the Senate has countered the Sarkozy government's attempted legislation to deprive French citizens-of-less-than-ten-years of their nationality for certain crimes. Since July 2010, 70 percent of the illegal Roma camps in France have been liquidated and 3700 Roma deported under President Sarkozy's program administered by French Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux. There are an estimated 12 to 15 thousand Romany people in France. Previous and ongoing.     Partial sources online:"Nationality loss for crimes blocked," Feb. 4, 2011, The Connexion; "France relishing its harsh practices vis-á-vis Roma migrants," Feb. 18, 2011, Romea.cz.

 

      Tennessee: a bill is currently proposed by State Senator Bill Ketron (Republican) to make it a crime to follow to Sharia law. After investigation, anyone found guilty of following Sharia law could be imprisoned for up to fifteen years. See Article 1, Amendments to the Constitution of the United States.     Partial sources online: "Tennessee bill would jail Shariah followers," Bob Smietana, Feb. 23, 2011, The Tennessean; "'Sharia' bill not needed," editorial, Feb. 27, 2011, TheLeafChronicle.com.

 

 

February 24, 2011

      U.S.A.: Newsweek of Feb. 13th carries the results of an interview with John A. Rizzo, the former CIA lawyer about his role in deciding exactly who is targeted for death on the DIA/CIA hit lists in a program which Mr.Rizzo says began in 2001. Currently this concerns targeted drone executions in Pakistan. The selected are suspected terrorists. These are executed on foreign soil without trial and against the laws of war. According to Mr. Rizzo Administration lawyers are involved in the process and a raft of law school professors back up the Administration's rights to murder suspects who may be civilians. On February 3, 2010, Dennis Blair as Director of National Intelligence revealed the list was expanded to include American citizens. However in principle, any policy of state executing its own citizens without a trial isn't the will of the citizens. The Center for Constitutional Rights and the American Civil Liberties Union brought a case against the Administration on behalf of Anwar Al-Aulaqi's father, to stop the targeted killing of his son, an imam and an American citizen. On December 7th, 2010, Judge Bates ruled that Aulaqi's father wasn't eligible to press the case and the issue was beyond the court's jurisdiction. The decision also states: "The United States has neither confirmed nor denied the allegation that it has issued a "standing order" authorizing the CIA and JSOC to kill plaintiff's son." He also wrote, "this Court does not hold that the Executive possesses 'unreviewable authority to order the assassination of any American whom he labels an enemy of the state.'" The time for appeal has elapsed. While al-Aulaqi is currently labeled America's number 1 terrorist threat by the U.S. Counterterrorism Director, Investor's Business Daily claims Imam al-Aulaqi's name doesn't appear on the FBI's most wanted list or the "State Department Rewards for Justice" (bounty) list. See previous.     Partial sources online: For a consideration of risks in the U.S. government executing American citizens and others without trial, see J.B.Gerald "Against the killing of Anwar al-Aulaqi & others" (2010); for an insight into the established practice of covert operations against civilians, see Ralph McGehee's "CIA Support of Death Squads" 1999.[access:< http://www.serendipity.li/cia/death_squads1.htm >]; "Inside the Killing Machine," Tara Mckelvey, February 13, 2011, Newsweek; "No Appeal in Al-Aulaqi," Benjamin Wittes, Feb. 22, 2011, Lawfare; "Wanted Or Not ?" unsigned editorial, Feb. 18, 2011, Investor's Business Daily; "Civil Action No. 10-1469 (JDB)," Dec. 7, 2011, United States District Court for the District of Columbia.

 

 

February 23, 2011

      Sri-Lanka: the military occupying the Jaffna peninsula has instituted civilian registration of all residents. The action is thought to be a step in the long term rule and containment of Eezham Tamils, the targets of crime by the military forces. The Tamil National Alliance has petitioned the Supreme Court with a human rights violation in response to the forced registrations, a procedure usually reserved for criminals. Sri-Lanka remains under a genocide warning for the Tamil.     Partial sources online: "‘Nazi-style registration of civilians in Jaffna’," Feb. 6, 2011, TamilNet; "TNA files HR petition against forced registration in Killinochchi, Jaffna," Feb. 23, 2011, Tamilnet.

 

      Haiti: as of mid-February Haitian deaths from cholera reached 4549. Cholera isn't usually a fatal disease.There is substantial lack of access to clean water and toilets. Background: 1 and 2.     Partial sources online:"Cholera death toll in Haiti rises to 4,549 ," Feb. 16, 2011, Xinhua; "Haiti cholera challenge 'failed' by agencies," Mark Doyle, Feb. 14, 2011, BBC News.

 

      California: six years ago twice the acceptable level of arsenic was discovered in the drinking water at Kern Valley State Prison in Central Valley. Unacceptable levels of arsenic cause various forms of cancer. Approximately 5000 prisoners have to drink it. Prison staff are said to bring their own water in bottles to work. Promises to solve the problem haven't been met. Central Valley, also has a problem with valley fever due to a fungus in the soil.     Partial sources online:"Prisoners Have No Choice But to Drink Arsenic-Laced Water," Charles Davis, Feb. 15, 2011, IPS; "Drink up -- assuming you like arsenic, that is," Michael Rothfeld, Dec. 29, 2008, Los Angeles Times.

 

 

February 22, 2011

      Madison Wisconsin (see previous): throughout the U.S. Republicans are furthering a nation-wide agenda of union-busting. The Governor of Wisconsin has proposed legislation to cut back the bargaining rights and benefits of public service workers. Democracy Now! reports 85 thousand people on February 19th protesting in the streets of Madison. The protests continue, often swamping the Capitol building. Pro-worker Democrat legislators, required by law to vote on unacceptable legislation are in hiding. FromOttawa James Clancy, representing the membership of the National Union Of Public and General Employees / Syndicat National des Employées et Employés Généraux et du Secteur Public (NUPGE), has written Wisconsin's Governor Walker to protest the threat to remove collective bargaining rights. In Ohio a large demonstration is planned today at the Columbus State Capitol where workers with support from United Steel Workers, UAW and other unions are struggling against "Senate Bill 5." Maine Democrat State Representative Diane Russell (Portland) has taken a U-haul trailer with coffee and supplies to Madison with some handwarmers and hugs in support of the demonstrators ("...if the levees break in Wisconsin, we all flood..." - Russell to The Maine Campus). Maine's Republican Governor is trying to raise the retirement age for state workers (see Europe). He also wants to freeze their cost-of-living increases for three years, make them pay more and longer for health coverage etc.. Most immediately this hits 28,000 retired State workers. To manage voters the Republicans are proposing legislation requiring photo I.D.s to vote - about 100,000 (mostly the old, or poor, or shy) lack these.     Partial sources online: "Portland lawmaker en route to Wisconsin to support protesters," Michael Shepherd, Feb. 21, 2011, mainecampus.com. "Bill would require voters to show ID at polls," Tom Bell, Feb. 20, 2011, Morning Sentinel; "Process of changing state pensions could get 'ugly'," Susan M. Cover, Feb. 20, 2011, Morning Sentinel; "Wisconsin protests spill into Ohio," Joe Cogliano, Feb. 21, 2011, Dayton Business Journal; "Republicans challenging unions in state capitols," David A. Lieb & Sam Hananel (AP), Feb. 18, 2011, Breitbart.com.

 

      Iraq: news of Iraq is being heavily suppressed. Its government is the only Arab government directly installed by U.S. occupation which was aided by a sectarianism used to divide the people. With the revolts in other Arab countries the sectarianism may be giving way to a sense of commonality. On February 13th a protestor set himself on fire in Mosul. Three protestors were recently killed in the city of Sulaimaniya as protests continue in northern Iraq. Organized local workers' strikes have occurred throughout Iraq since February 1. In Fallujah protestors have called for the resignation of government officials. Parliament is currently suspended for a week so representatives can return home and look for support among constituents. Baghdad is preparing for Iraq's “Day of Peaceful Anger,” also translated as a "Revolution of Iraqi Rage," February 25th. On Feb. 22nd, 40 National Guardsmen (sic.) from Indiana leave for a year's tour guarding the Baghdad international airport. The legality of the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq and a judgement of the genocide of its people, remain an issue without a court.     Partial sources online:"Support Iraqi protests!" February 20, 2011, BRussells Tribunal; "Restraint urged in Iraq’s Kurdistan Region following more protester deaths," Amnesty International, Feb. 31, 2011, Canada views.ca; "Strikes and demonstrations in Iraq,"Falah Alwan, Feb. 18, 2011, Workers' Liberty; "Protests spread throughout Iraq,"Alex Lantler, Feb. 18, 2011, World Socialist Web Site; "Iraq man dies of self-immolation to protest rising unemployment," DPA, Feb. 13, 2011, Haaretz.com;N. Ind. National Guard unit deploys to Iraq," AP, Feb. 21, 2011, Chicago Tribune.

 

      Libya: two jet fighter planes (Mirage F1s) landed in Malta and their pilots defected: they said they were ordered to fire on their own people... Among others Libya's Justice Minister has resigned. Reports state security forces have discarded their uniforms. Armed men have killed protestors in the streets. Canada's Prime Minister Harper condemns the use of violence, saying: “We find the actions of the government, firing upon its own citizens, to be outrageous and unacceptable..." (Toronto Sun). The Canadian Embassy phone number in Tripoli is 218 (21) 335-1633 . Reuters provides an unconfirmed report of Libyan airplanes and helicopters bombing and firing on civilians.     Partial sources online: "Libya crumbling amid massacre reports," Feb. 22, 2011, The Syndey Morning Herald; "Libya: eyewitness account from the streets of Tripoli," Feb. 21, 2011, The Telegraph; "Firing on your own people 'outrageous': Harper," Brian Lilley, Feb. 21, 2011, Toronto Sun; "Libya warplanes bombing Tripoli: Resident," Reuters, Feb. 21, 2011, The Gazette; "Gaddafi loyalists launch attacks against civilians as conflict in Libya escalates," Sudarsan Raghavan, Feb. 21, 2011, The Washington Post.

 

 

February 21, 2011

      Madison Wisconsin: "Tom Morello at the Capitol" [access:< http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4-7DFyk_qM >].

 

 

February 19, 2011

      Canada: Parliament's House of Commons has passed a bill specifically including transgender people's rights. The bill C-389 will probably not be passed by the Senate currently packed with Conservative appointees. The New Democrat, Liberal and Bloc Québécois parties voted for passage. Conservatives voted against. See previous.     Partial sources online: "Bill to Protect Transgendered Passes House of Commons," Arthur Weinreb, Feb. 10, 2011, suite101.com; "MP defends vote against protecting transsexuals," Feb. 18, 2011, CBC News.

 

      Montreal: Mafia related violence (previous and previous) continues with the attempted shooting of the wife of a contractor and associate of the Rizzuto family, not far from her home. Her husband, Tony Magi, was the object of an assassination attempt in 2008. For insight into contemporary "mob violence" consider how it works in Boston: on February 10th, 2011 the 6th District Federal Appeals Court threw out an over eight million dollar award from the federal government to two Boston Irish families. The award was compensation for the murder of a working man and the F.B.I. informant who asked him for a ride home. Both were [allegedly] killed by a more "important" F.B.I. informant, James Joseph Bulger, the mob boss of Boston for several decades. Bulger was in the F.B.I.'s "Top Echelon Informant" program which allowed his 'Irish' mob to take over in Boston as part of the F.B.I.'s ongoing war on the 'Italian' Mafia. F.B.I. protection of Bulger is believed to have covered 18 murders. Early in his career while in federal prison in Atlanta (1956-59) Bulger was a volunteer test subject for the CIA Mk-Ultra project of mind-control. After marked success in Boston he was placed on the F.B.I.'s wanted list in 1995 but remains at-large. The murder victims whose families were denied their redress were a truck driver Michael Donahue, and former Bulger associate Edward Halloran who had turned Bulger in thoroughly to the F.B.I.... which then told Bulger. While the victims' families discovered the F.B.I.'s matrix for the crime through media reports and court proceedings, Justice Department lawyers fought awarding any redress by insisting the families didn't file their case in time. Government infiltration and control of Boston's academia and mob are currently assured by overwhelming research, defense and homeland security contracts at M.I.T. and Harvard. By denying the people redress, the Justice Department is claiming the right to impunity.     Online partial sources: "Woman targeted in Mafia-linked shooting," Feb. 18, 2011, CBC News; "Tony Magi's wife fired at in brazen daytime shooting," ctvmontreal.ca, Feb. 18, 2011, CTV.ca; "Bulger victims' kin to push legal battle," Shelley Murphy, Feb. 12, 2011, Boston Globe; " A soul in the machine," Kevin Cullen, Feb. 13, 2011, boston.com; "James 'Whitey' Bulger," Anthony Bruno, current, trutv.com.

 

 

February 14, 2011   Valentine's Day

Baez / Farina, prison performance   [access:< http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKQ-WzzQvyY >]
Valentine's Day broadsheet
 

 

February 10, 2011

A new poster and broadsheet from Gerald and Maas
"The Greed of Death" and "Red Arabesque"
 

 

February 7, 2011

      Honduras: transexuals are being "executed" in the streets and in their homes. Since 2004 at least 50 transexuals have been murdered. In the last sixty days 6 women of the lesbian gay transgender community have been killed in Tegucigalpa. The Committee of Families of the Detained and Disappeared in Honduras (COFADEH) reports 1071 violations of human rights occurred during the initial 3 months of Lobo Sosa's "presidency", 8 journalists killed in the first six months, and 36 activists murdered so far. Pacific Free Press reports children of resistance (pro-Zelaya) groups kidnapped and leaders under constant surveillance. See previous. Note: what seems to be a program of targeted attacks on the LGT community in Honduras is also seen in Uganda.     Partial sources online: "Hate crimes, killings rising, say Honduras activists," Rafael Romo, Feb. 1, 2011, CNN; Six trans women killed in Honduras in two months," PinkNews,co.uk, Feb. 1, 2011, PinkNews;"Grave Human Rights Violations Continue in Honduras," Red Morazánica de Información, Jan. 19, 2011, Monthly Review; "Honduras Human Rights Abuses Worse One Year After President Lobo Took Office," Bill Quigley & Pam Spees, Jan. 27,m 2011, Pacifica Free Press.

 

      Haiti: the government has decided to issue former president Aristide a diplomatic passport so he can return home as a private citizen. See previous. Calling on Haiti to investigate and prosecute the well-documented human rights violations committed under Jean Claude Duvalier's regime, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, has offered technical assistance. Meanwhile Switzerland has blocked Duvalier's funds held there. As of January 29 the number of Haitian deaths attributed to cholera reached 4,131. Reported adjustments to Haiti's presidential election process and candidates continue to ignore the exclusion of the country's majority party.     Partial sources online: "Haiti to issue ex-president Aristide with passport," Jan. 31, 2011, BBC News; "UN Stabilization Force Might be Responsible for Cholera Outbreak in Haiti: French Scientists," Jan. 29, 2011, Topnews; "UN Human Rights chief offers Haitian authorities assistance in Duvalier case," Press release, Feb. 1, 2011, OHCHR; "Haiti Cholera Situation Report #35," Feb. 4, 2011, OCHA.

 

      U.S.: former president George Bush has changed his plans and won't visit Switzerland February 12th after all. Amnesty International and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) had asked the Government of Switzerland to investigate Bush for violating the Convention on Torture. The European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights in conjunction with the Center for Constitutional Rights prepared a 2500 page document charging Bush with torture. The former U.S. president and former president Clinton are planning to speak in British Columbia on February 20, 2011. Both men become subject to international law and Canadian law at the border if allowed to enter Canada. A previous Canadian attempt to charge Bush for torture was denied a hearing by the court, initially on the grounds that Bush was a sitting U.S. president. On appeal the British Columbia Supreme Court threw out the case for being 'politically motivated' - a decision which dispenses with the concept of justice at law. For background see the Lawyers Against the War press releases and documents:   1  2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   and 10. On October 6, 2009, the Brussells Tribunal tried to charge Bush among other officials responsible for the war in Iraq, with genocide and other war crimes, before a Spanish court. The case was denied a hearing (see previous). The case is strong and the crimes lack any statute of limitations.     Partial sources online: "Anti-torture group urges Swiss to probe Bush," Feb. 4, 2011, expatica.com; "Presidents Clinton and Bush at 2011 Surrey Regional Economic Summit," Feb. 1, 2011, City of Surrey; "Protest Threats Derail Bush Speech in Switzerland," James Risen, Feb. 5, 2011, The New York Times; "Breaking: CCR and ECCRHR To File Torture Case Against George W. Bush!" angel d, Feb. 4, 2011, Daily Kos; "Vancouver lawyer says she'll try to stop George W. Bush from visiting Surrey," Chuck Smith, Feb. 1, 2011, Straight.com; "Former U.S. president George W. Bush decides not to travel to Switzerland," Charlie Smith, Feb. 5, 2011, Straight.com.

 

 

February 4, 2011

Re. Egypt:

The Canadian Peace Alliance (see links) asks that Canadians write their MPs to protest Prime Minister Harper's decision to support President Mubarak and his "transition" of power plan. For MP email addresses: http://bit.ly/MPsbypostalcode.Egyptian Solidarity Protests, are scheduled throughout Canada, February 5th from 1 to 4 (for Ottawa: Parliament Hill).

The Canadian Arab Federation has called a "rally for freedom and democracy in Egypt and Tunisia: Mubarak, you're fired !" February 5, underway at 2:00 in Toronto, Queen's Park.

Amnesty International USA asks people to "tell Egyptian officials to release Amnesty International's staff member and all human rights monitors." Amnesty link to apply pressure.

Amnesty International Canada urges people to "Stand with the People of Egypt." Amnesty call to protect the people.

Contribution from Anonymous Somebody, a local stand-up comedian: “Now that it looks like a real democracy is coming to Egypt, the U.S. State Department has asked that ALL AMERICANS LEAVE IMMEDIATELY!”

 

 

February 3, 2011

      Egypt: the people of Egypt, without violence acting together have refusedto be governed by fear. Risking everything they've let the entire world know people can do without a government that doesn't serve them. On February first two million gathered in the streets to demand the dictator Mubarak's immediate departure. Instead Mubarak has with U.S. backing pledged an "orderly transition" to more of the same. He appoints as vice president his intelligence chief, he who deals with those rendered to Egypt for torture. The people have said no to an entire privileged government that was too unjust for thirty years. The poverty, torture, arrests, and mind controls went too far. Breaking free the people say their parliament is a sham - it doesn't represent them. The people of Egypt are standing without fear against violence while being attacked, shot, beaten with journalists in particular a target, by pro-Mubarak security thugs. The security thugs are in every country where government doesn't serve the people and they cause the violence. Some use torture. Others take away your family, home or money without leaving a mark. They make you conform out of fear. They are oppression. The Egyptian people have said no in a revolution against their dictator and against the fear in all of us. Humanity stands with them.

 

 

January 28, 2011

      Palestine: following Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela, Cuba, Uruguay, Bolivia, Ecuador, Chile, Venezuela, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua, on January 24th Peru both affirmed Israel's right to exist and announced its recognition of Palestine as a sovereign free state accordng to its pre-1967 borders when Israel occupied Gaza and the West Bank. On January 25th Ireland upgraded its recognition of the Palestinian Authority's delegation to "diplomatic mission." Norway has already done so.     Partial sources online: "Peru Recognizes Palestinian State," AP, Jan 24, 2011, The New York Times; "Europe starts process of recognizing Palestine," Jan. 26, 2011, Israel Today Magazine; "Shin Bet chief: EU countries may recognize Palestine," Israel News, Jan. 18, 2011, ynetnews.com; "International gains for Palestinian sovereignty; Zionists aghast," Jan. 25, 2011, WW 4 Report; "International recognition of the Palestinian state," Essa bin Mohammed Al Zedjali, Jn. 27, 2011, Pakistan Observer."Recognition of Palestine by Latin American States," Anna Mahjar Barducci, Jan. 12, 2011, Hudson New York;"Four more South American countries recognize Palestine," Jan. 18, 2011, WW4 Report.

 

      Peru: American Lori Berenson is allowed to stay out of prison and raise her child. On January 18th the Court refused the government prosecutor's request to overturn her parole. Parole conditions require she stay in Peru five years more unless pardoned by the President to return to NYC. Background.     Partial sources online: "Parole is Sustained for Lori Berenson ," Jan. 24, 2011, Committee to Free Lori Berenson; "Peruvian court: No more prison for Lori Berenson," Associated Press, Jan. 24, 2011, Google News.

 

      Uganda: on January 27th, Uganda's leading gay rights advocate David Kato was found murdered in Kampala. Uganda is still considering legislation to make sexual acts between consenting same-sex adults a crime punishable by death. The media encourages homophobia, said to have been brought to Uganda by U.S. evangelical Christians . President Museveni has relied on the Church to legitimize persecution of gays. David Kato gave his life for essential human rights of personal freedom. There is evidence police are not investigating. Uganda is acooperative US. ally and a base for its African policy in the region.     Partial sources online: "As it Happens," Jan 21, 2011 : 7:45pm, CBC; "How Uganda's President Museveni Created Kill-The-Gays Mentality," Jan. 27, 2011, Black Star News; "Ugandan Who Spoke Up for Gays Is Beaten to Death," Jeffrey Gettleman, Jan. 27, 2011, The New York Times.

 

      Congo / Rwanda, historical note: for insight into U.S. African policy: "Lecture about profiteering from Genocide in Central Africa," Keith Harmon Snow, Oct. 30, 2010, Brecht Forum, NYC, made available by wbai.org [access:< http://wbai.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=11161&Itemid=1 >]. This mind-bending presentation of Euro-American policies balances years of media news management that allowed the destabilization of Africa, extraction of its resources, and genocide of its peoples. See also "Tactical Use of Genocide in Sudan and the Five Lakes Region." Nightslantern carries current genocide warnings for Rwandan Hutu and people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo as a national group. The extent of news suppression was revealed by Rwanda's arrest of U.S. Attorney Peter Erlinder for revealing massacres of Hutu tribes people (see previous). While Erlinder remains under threat of prosecution, his Rwandan client, the political prisoner Victoire Ingabire remains in detention for asking Hutu dead be honoured. Note: with respect for Snow his passing reference to General Dallaire needs adjustment. Sent in as a U.N. peacekeeper without appropriate briefing Dallaire was a victim, a professional soldier, Canadian and apparently out-of-the-loop of U.S. covert policy makers. He's respected for fighting the unacceptable and surviving his abandonment under arms. - jbg.

 

 

January 24, 2011

      Cote d'Ivoire: with the removal of Haiti's democratically elected President Aristide and the recent election denying majority Lavalas Party participation, and after the replacement of Honduran democratically elected president Manuel Zelaya, the credibility of U.N., U.S. and French support for democracy is in question once again. In the Ivory Coast, they have declared as president one candidate while the country of the Ivory Coast has declared another. Amid polarization of the Ivorian press into support for Mr. Ouattara or for President Gbagbo, and due to a consistent pro-Gbagbo hard line by the state radio station and the intransigence of political positions, chief of U.N. Human Rights operations in-country, Simon Munzu, issued a genocide warning January 13th. An earlier genocide warning was made by Youssofou Bamba, December 29th at the U.N. presenting himself as Mr. Ouattara's ambassador for the Ivory Coast. A more widely publicized U.N. genocide warning is noted in the previous entry. Evidence of deaths and threats remains unshared with the media. There have been reports of sporadic attacks on U.N. troops by President Gbagbo supporters. The President has asked U.N. troops to leave the country. European bankers and account managers enforcing sanctions against him have been ordered to leave the country. The French Ambassador was asked to leave. The Ouattara pretender government has said he must stay. The Ouattara Prime Minister has asked for foreign military intervention to install Ouattara's people. There are already over 9000 U.N. troops in country with another 2000 pledged. The U.N. troops are protecting Ouattara, whom the U.N., France and the U.S. among others have recognized as President, despite the finding of the country's own Constitutional Council, sole relevant authority under the Cote d'Ivoire's Constitution, which has declared Laurent Gbagbo the winner of the vote. With Ouattara's claim to the presidency despite evidence of fraudulent results in his favour, U.N., Euro-American, International Monetary Fund interests may have initiated a coup. Gbagbo has for ten years represented the country's resistance to foreign takeover of its resources. There is a chance of extreme violence with the outside military intervention Ouattara has called for. He has asked ECOWAS, the regional African economic coalition to send in its NATO trained military. If ECOWAS doesn't respond well, French Forces could go in (once more) or the U.S. AFRICOM - the U.S. African military command (See source: Rozoff). Great Britain has said it would support military intervention sanctioned by the U.N.. A genocide warning was also issued by the neighbouring Chadian Action for Unity and Socialism/Popular and Ecological Revolutionary Party, on December 3, 2010: "Le soutien des puissances impérialistes au gouvernement illégal et illégitime de Ouattara dans le même pays risquerait de déclencher un second génocide." The Party Declaration warns of genocide by the United Nations at French urging in an ongoing campaign against those loyal to their homeland first. U.S. African controls are consistently supportive of French controls asserted through policies of vote management in 'French Africa.'. Under the threat of ECOWAS, French or U.S. military intervention, there may be valid reason for a genocide warning concerning Cote d'Ivoire's people as a national group. In event of an invasion the presence of non-U.N. (impartial) witness is necessary.     Partial sources online: "Ivory Coast: Testing Ground For U.S.-Backed African Standby Force"," Rick Rozoff, Jan. 23, 2011, OpEdNews.com; "Déclaration de l’ACTUS/prpe sur la situation en Côte d’Ivoire," N/Réf : 13.12/SG /10, ( ACTUS/prpe); "Côte d`Ivoire: Blé Goudé accuse la France, les chefs d`Etat ouest-africains," Jan 23, 2011, (Agence France Presse),Abidjan.net; " le Premier ministre du camp Ouattara demande une intervention militaire extérieure pour mettre fin à la crise," Xinhua, Jan. 23, 2011, Abidjan.net; "Cote d'ivoire: Domestic Media Raise the Stakes," Irin, Jan.23, 2011, Spero News; "Cote d'Ivoire: ONUCI warns of signs of genocide," Jan. 14, 2011, Afrique en ligne; "U.N. Adds 2,000 Troops in Ivory Coast," Joe Lauria & Will Connors, Jan. 20, 2011, Wall Street Journal; "'Genocide' in Ivory Coast: A real threat, or just politics?" Dan Murphy, Dec. 30, 2010, Christian Science Monitor; "Britain says it will support military intervention in Ivory Coast," Tom A. Peter, Dec. 31, 2010, Christian Science Monitor.

 

 

January 22, 2011

      Haiti: from a U.S. military enforced exile in South Africa Haiti's legally elected president Jean Bertrand Aristide has again asked to return to his people. The "Haitian government" has refused to renew his passport. He asks for return also to spare him the "unbearable pain" related to continuing eye surgeries in South Africa. Meanwhile former dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier, returned to Haiti from exile in France after 25 years of luxury. Duvalier is believed to have stolen close to a billion dollars from impoverished Haiti. He was detained January 18th to face the disposition of the court initially for economic crimes. Amnesty International has turned over to the court more than a hundred documents of Duvalier human rights violations. In both Haiti and Montreal human rights lawyers have called on the Haitian disapora to make specific greivances known so these might be presented to the court. See previous.     Partial sources online: "Human Rights Groups Call for Immediate Arrest of Jean-Claude Duvalier ," C. Ailes, Jan. 17, 2011, nowar-paix list; "Haiti/Cholera: World Bank Approves US$15 Million Grant," Jan. 19, 2011, Financial Times; "Haiti ex-president Duvalier charged with theft, corruption," Julia Zebley, Jan. 19, 2011, Jurist; "Haitian lawyer seeking Canadian help in case against Duvalier," The Canadian Press, Jan 21, 2011, thestar.com; "Canadian government condemns return of dictator (Baby Doc) Duvalier to Haiti," Jonathan Montpetit & Andy Blatchford (Canadian Press), Jan. 21, 2011, CBC News; "Haiti - Politic: Letter of Aristide about his return in Haiti," Jan.19, 2011, HaitiLibre.com.

 

      Ivory Coast: lacking in a BBC profile of presidential contender Alassane Ouattara, is mention of Mr. Ouattara's background in the United States with a B.A., M.A. and PhD from schools in Pennsylavania and service in D.C. from 1968-73 working for the International Monetary Fund. Representing foreign controls yet capitalizing on the largely Muslim and former rebel population of the North he has claimed victory in a presidential election against President Laurent Koudou Gbagbo who has refused to cede the presidency. While international mechanisms have rallied to Mr. Ouattara's defense, their support coincides with a non-ivorian (international) support base. Voice of America reports the U.S. has frozen Mr. Gbagbo's assets. United Nations officials Edward Luck and Francis Deng have issued a genocide warning due to increasing tensions and division between the Muslim north adhering to Mr Ouattara, and the Christian center and south as well as army and police infrastructure, adhering to Mr. Gbagbo. International media avoid considering this the logical result of imposing a U.S. trained politician, Mr. Ouattara, on a country under the security of Mr. Gbagbo (President and former political prisoner who took his doctorate in France). Edward Luck, U.N. "Special Advisor on the Responsibility to Protect" is a professor at Columbia University with a covey of degrees from other U.S. institutions. Francis Deng, the U.N. "Special Adviser for the Prevention of Genocide," a Sudanese with a Yale degree, left his role as ambassador from Sudan to various NATO countries, for an appointment with the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and fellowships at M.I.T., City College, the Brookings Institute, Johns Hopkins etc.. While both men are highly respected they share with Mr. Ouattara, reliance on the U.S.. There are currently 191 other member states of the United Nations.     Partial sources online: "Edward Luck," current, Wikipedia; "Francis Deng," current, Wikipedia; "UN Secretary-General’s Special Advisers on the Prevention of Genocide and the Responsibility to Protect on the Situation in Côte d’ Ivoire,". Press release, Dec. 29, 2010, United Nations; "UN warns of possible Ivory Coast genocide," Julia Zebley, Jan. 20, 2011, Jurist; "UN has ‘concrete intelligence’ of Gbagbo’s incitement to violence, Ban Ki Moon says," Jan. 14, 2011, African Diplomacy; "Ouattara Says Gbagbo Stalling for Time to Arm Himself," Jan 16, 2011, VOA.

 

      U.S. on January 20th, the FBI arrested 127 alleged mafia suspects in New York, New Jersey and Rhode Island, and Sicily, among them, three elders of the Gambino and Columbo families. The 800 officer operation against "organized crime," said to be the largest in U.S. history, supplements the Bush/Obama administrations' "war on terror" and its rounding up of immigrant groups (Muslim, Mexican, Haitian, etc.). Instead of to police stations, the suspects were taken to "an army center in Brooklyn" (Telegraph). The current FBI move on the Mafia may be of concern not because it applies established law to alleged criminals, but because the action may indicate an attempt to "sanitize" organized crime of groups not under covert U.S. control. On November 10th, Canada's alleged mafia boss Nicolo Rizzuto was assassinated in his Montreal kitchen, the most recent in a series of murders targeting the Montreal mafia. See previous.     Partial sources online: "FBI arrests 110 Mafia suspects," Bernd Debusmann Jr.(Reuters, Jan.20, 2011, Toronto Sun; "Junior Lollipops and Tony Bagels: top names of New York's arrested mafia mobster," Alex Spillius, Jan. 21, 2011, The Telegraph (U.K.); "New York Mafia Bust: a Mini Guide to the Mob," Jan. 21, 2011, Huffington Post; "FBI arrests 127 US mafia suspects," Alan Rappeport, Jan 20, 2011, Financial Times.

 

      Ottawa: on January 21, a deportation order was served Mohamed Harkat, a Canadian Security Certificate detainee, currently living at home on restrictive bail. His certificate was upheld by a court decision relying on secret evidence, hearsay, the witnessing of secret informants, degradation of the suspect's humanity and attacks on his character. Although the Canadian Supreme Court has ruled the certificates illegal as applied, the current government's procedural changes toward compliance still deny lawyers for the suspect access to "secret evidence" against their client, or the right to know and confront accusers. While Canada's security agency claims Harkat is a "sleeper agent" he maintains his innocence with considerable personal transparency. It's clearly possible that Mohamed Harkat is an innocent refugee. With secret evidence hidden from all Canadians, he is to be deported to the country he left. Harkat believes this is a death sentence. His lawyers will appeal. The years of detention, the stigmatization, the disruption of family, the expenses, the legal fees, the need for help from strangers, the psychological torture of being falsely charged, of being misunderstood, exact a terrible price from the accused and his family and community and anyone who believes in human rights. See previous.    Partial sources online: "Accused terrorist served with deportation order; vows to fight," Postmedia News, Jan. 21,2011, Monteal Gazette; "Accused terrorist says he's getting the boot," Bryn Weese, Jan21, 2011, Toronto Sun.

 

 

January 15, 2011

      U.S..   A note on application of the Convention on Genocide
      In 2004 the U.S. District Court in Seattle found the Convention on Genocide inapplicable under U.S. law. The ruling was part of its decision in the Bertram Sacks case. Sacks was among those fined for violation of the travel ban to Iraq under "Sanctions" (see Aug. 17, 2005). He was delivering necessary medical supplies for children. Asking the fine be dismissed in court Sacks invoked the Convention on Genocide. Discussion of the case can be found at his website, "Fined for Helping Iraqi Kids" [access:< http://www.iraqikids.org/ >]. The Court's position was confirmed on appeal in 2006 and refused for consideration by the Supreme Court in 2007. The Government case to proceed with fining Sacks goes to court September 19, 2011 in Seattle. A Muslim doctor who tried to save children of Iraq through founding a charity, Dr. Rafil Dhafir, is serving twenty-two years in a maximum security prison. Meanwhile the Brussells Tribunal in Belgium continues presenting clear evidence that the U.S. has committed genocide in Iraq (see previous). The difficulty of applying laws against genocide to the U.S. Government results from the Proxmire Act which became Title 18 Part 1 Chapter 50a Section 1091 Genocide, added to United States Code in 1988, finally moving the U.N. Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide into U.S. law as pledged at signing in 1948. The U.S. text stresses "specific intent," while under the U.N. Convention simply "intent" is used relying on the obvious. Special U.S. exceptions at ratifcation of the U.N. Convention also rely on intention and jurisdiction to protect U.S. policymakers from accountability (see Foreword to Common Rights, and U.S. Declarations and Reservations at ratification). Implemented in 1988 along with Section 1091(above) was Section 1092, called "Exclusive remedies" and used in the Sacks case to deny enforcement of Section 1091. The "Exclusive remedies" in 1092 include: nor shall anything in this chapter be construed as creating any substantive or procedural right enforceable by law by any party in any proceeding. As interpreted the clause may knock out application of the Convention in the U.S., violating the U.N. treaty. The judge noted "the United States has ratified only part of the Convention," and that to invoke the Convention requires "procedural rights" not permitted under 1091. The judge also found not legally binding on the U.S. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. However there is a strong disparity between legal opinion and what many Americans consider decency. After the destruction of Iraq's infra-structure in 1991 by the U.S. and Coalition, Sacks among other men and women of conscience in Voices in the Wilderness took medical supplies to the children of Iraq many times. The situation of the civilian population was desperate and beyond politics the children were entirely innocent victims. Note Daniel Berrigan, "Accounts Come Home" (Iraq,1991), a poem, and Kathy Kelly of Voices in the Wildnerness (Iraq, 1998): Banning child sacrifice: A difficult choice?" While "Exclusive remedies" discourages domestic prosecution of the warmakers for now, citizens outside the U.S. are subject to International Law as interpreted by International Criminal Court. The Government's ongoing need to avoid application of the Convention, confirms a long term genocide warning for the U.S. poor and minorities at home.     Partial sources online: "Sacks vs OFAC, USDT, et al (C04-108JLR)," Judge James L. Robart, Oct. 22, 2004, U.S.District Court Western District of Washington at Seattle; "1091. Genocide" and "1092. Exclusive remedies," U.S. Code, current, Cornell University Law School; "Can the US Kill Iraqi Children Legally?" Bert Sacks, Jan 4, 2007, CounterPunch; "The Compassionate Outlaw," Geov Parrish, Apr. 2, 2003, Seattle Weekly News; "Is the U.S. Really a Signatory to the U.N. Convention on Genocide ?" J.B.Gerald, Dec.1995, serendipity; "Foreword," J.B.Gerald, 1995, Common Rights and Expectations.

 

 

January 10, 2011

      Canada: Kevin Annett's Hidden No Longer: Genocide in Canada, Past and Present appears at www.hiddennolonger.com [moved]. The work is necessary and recommended for its continuing presentation of evidence on Canadian Government and Church apparent intention to destroy Indigenous peoples. There is intersection with U.S. policies of medical experimentation and abuse. Annett's work documents extreme dehumanization in residential schools run by Christian churches from the 1840's to 1996. The Canadian Government's official efforts for Indigenous people are available at the Bureau of Indian and Northern Affairs website [access:< http://www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/ >] which notes endorsement of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Nov. 12, 2010. But Government suppression of historical ugliness has allowed policies that forced the deaths of at least half a million Indigenous children in the schools, to continue. Annett reveals the buying off of 'cooperative' indians and damaging of others, unsolved murders, missing Indigenous women, torture, rape, sexual abuse, medical experimentation, forced sterilization, denial of tb care, trafficking of childen, brutality, justice denied again and again, takeover of indian councils, of Indigenous lands, taking away of children, crimes which occurred and find their way into the present. He doesn't explore issues such as bad water, over-representation of Indigenous people in the prisons, stripping of land resources for corporate profit, and an ambivalence in native access to rights assured "everyone" under the Canadian Charter of Rights (see Resources). Simply Indigenous peoples have not found justice: Hidden No Longer claims no one has ever been charged in the death of a residential school child. Overlooking the obvious economic motive for genocide by resource corporations and their investors (see also below), Reverend Annett finds genocide inherent in "Christian Supremacy" and faults the Christian Church and churches unflinchingly. Elie Wiesel previously noted the concurrence of Nazism with Christian European tradition, in Against Silence (1985) but offers little insight into the current genocide of Palestinians. It may be that a problem rises from coining the spiritual of any religion for political power. Annett's undeniable refusal of indifference to atrocities concerns crimes against long terrorized people who dare speak out, risking them and risking himself. U.N. investigation of this issue has not been adequate: a long term genocide warning remains. Previous: 1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8.

Historical note: If thy God commands thee to go to the country of strangers, robbing and burning, killing and doing every sort of evil, we give thee to understand that we are not inclined to believe in him, nor even in his law. A cacique to Fernando de Soto, Governor of Florida, c. 1540, noted by Girolamo Benzoni, 1572 (apprec. P. Lenz).
 

      International: John Pilger's The War You Don't See, currently available on youtube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsmMX5Woa9Q [censored], explores the mass media's selling wars of aggression.

 

 

January 8, 2011

      Canada: the release of a report suggesting the effects of depleted uranium on the civilian population around Fallujah remains suppressed news in Canada. "Cancer, Infant Mortality and Birth Sex-Ratio in Fallujah, Iraq 2005–2009" (July 6, 2010) confirms an "alarmingly high" rate of infant mortality and cancer. An article in The Dominion last November, "Saskatchewan Uranium, Fallujah's Children," has helped bring the problem home: Canada's Cameco company operation in Saskatchewan (McArthur River) is said to provide 15 % of global uranium production, much of it for the United States military, and the product finds its way into the depleted uranium munitions used in Iraq. The report directly contradicts a perception management program within the U.S. and Canada under- estimating the impact of depleted uranium on health, particularly of veterans. After 2005 necessary impartial studies of D.U. effects are not available. However scientists of other countries are concerned and on December 8, 2010, 148 nations passed the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 65 on "Effects of Use of Depleted Uranium," requesting cooperation and transparency by countries who have used D.U. in revealing exactly where the weaponry was expended. Voting no: the U.S., U.K., Israel, France. Canada abstained. A depleted uranium user's refusal to supply location data makes the correlation of health studies with depleted uranium dispersal, difficult, and suggests major powers may understand the use of D.U. as a crime. See previous 1   2   3 and 4 (Dr. Moret).   Cameco Corporation's clients are not limited to the U.S.. According to the WISE Uranium Project in 2007 Cameco agreed to a joint venture in Nunavit with a Russian company; in 2009 it indicated a plan to sell 7 million pounds of uranium to India. During 2010 Cameco agreed to provide China with uranium concentrate, 23 million pounds to one project, 29 million pounds to another, if the Harper government approves. A difficulty remains for those concerned with the health of Canadians, the First Peoples, the workers, the people in areas of mining and transport, the water table and heritage for the future. With increasing evidence of the environment's destruction in areas of uranium mining, British Columbia banned uranium exploration or development in 2008. Six companies are currently pursuing uranium exploration in New Brunswick. In Ontario there are about 45 companies exploring for uranium. There are over a hundred in Quebec (currently the Mistissini Cree Nation is strongly opposing Strateco's project for uranium exploration but the company has proceeded to apply for license). There is a 3 year moratorium on uranium related development in Labrador's Inuit Lands. Nova Scotia's moratorium on uranium mining or exploration began in 1982, and while the Premier may try to lift the ban others are attempting a legislated ban. Chief Grace Conrad of the Native Council of Nova Scotia is asking for a permanent ban. International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War called for a world wide ban on uranium mining , August 29th, 2010.     Partial sources online: primary, WISE Uranium Project, current [access:< http://www.wise-uranium.org/index.html >]; "Radiation and Health - Current Issues," Dec. 3, 2010, WISE Uranium Project (Germany); "Horrifying Aftermaths of British Troops' Uranium Munitions in Iraq ," Jan. 3, 2011, Fars News Agency; "Saskatchewan Uranium, Fallujah's Children," Nov. 25, 2010, Garson Hunter, Sarah Pedersen, The Dominion / MAC: Mines and Communities; "Resolution of August 20, 2010," March 25-30, 2010, International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War; "148 states call for transparency over depleted uranium use in UN vote," Dec. 8, 2010, ICBUW; "Annex IX," 65th General Assembly, 60th Meeting, 8 Dec. 2010, United Nations General Assembly; "The Cover Up continues on DU - Canada and US Connections," Denise Nichols, Dec. 17, 2010, Veterans Today; "US used uranium on Iraq community: Interview with Ali al-Nashmi," Jan. 4, 2011, Press TV; "Cancer, Infant Mortality and Birth Sex-Ratio in Fallujah, Iraq 2005–2009," Chris Busby, Malak Hamdan & Entesar Ariabi, July 6, 2010, International Journal ofEnvironmental Research and Public Health.

 

 

January 3, 2011

      Canada: in 2007 the Supreme Court found Canadian Security Certificates unlawful (see previous). But the Conservative government's adjusted use continues to deny lawyers for defendants entire access to evidence or the ability to question accusers. Portions of proceedings remain secret (see previous). Those held under Canadian Security Certificates risk deportation to torture and possible death, yet without trial, each is innocent under the law. A petition protesting current application of Canadian Security Certificates, is available at www.harkatstatement.com.

 

      U.S.: protesting their convictions and 18 years of 23 hour/day lockdown, the first of four of the Lucasville Five begins a hunger strike today on death row at Youngstown, Ohio State Penitentiary, a 'supermax' (maximum security) prison. In three days another of the four will join . Then in three days another, and another. These men were accused and bore the blame for the Lucasville prison uprising of 1993. There is evidence of their innocence. Because their extreme ongoing punishment is both cruel and unusual, as well as state retribution for political action (the Lucasville riot was noted for unity of differing ethnic, racial, cultural, religious groupings) the Lucasville Five are noted under our political prisoners pages.     Partial sources online: "Hunger strike of the Lucasville uprising prisoners starting Monday, Jan. 3," Staughton Lynd / Lucasville Uprising Freedom Network, Dec. 31, 2010, SF Bayview; "Lucasville Five Hunger Strike Begins --An interview with author Staughton Lynd," Angola 3 News, Jan. 2, 2011, San Francisco Bay Area Independent Media Center.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A branch that comes from violence will not take root;
for a blighted root is on sheer rock, like reeds by the
banks of a river, which are dried up before any grass; but
kindness, like eternity, will never be cut off, and faithfulness
will be established forever
- from Ben Sira
(Dead Sea Scrolls Bible, Abegg et al)

 

This account is against forgetfulness. 

 

 

 

 


by j.b.gerald
guest contributions as noted
graphics: j. maas
gerald and maas night's lantern
30 December 2011
Subsequent edit in [#BDBDBD] Jan. 28, 2012
Edit [ ] Feb 5, 2012
links & format updated november 2012
additional a name links march 2013
link update 31 December 2019