the bill of rights, amendments to the constitution of the united states                    
the canadian charter of rights and freedoms (d.o.j. canada)                    
& charte canadienne des droits et libertés (m.d.l.j. canada)                    
common rights & expectations ~ several united nations texts                    

is it fascism

september 20, 2006; conclusion; page closed. ARCHIVED

august 18, 2006, pittsburgh: u.s. attorney general gonzalez has recently added "radicalization" as one of the threats of terrorism to be contained; asking for cooperation in a kind of partnership with the people, he says "putting a would-be terrorist behind bars is a tangible example of protecting the american people" [this suggests that no crime need to have occurred]; he stresses the primacy of preventing loss of life over securing a conviction; although the bush administration has been found by supreme court rulings to have violated geneva conventions (torture) and the constitution (nsa spying), attorney general gonzalez states "we are fighting terrorists according to our constitution;" of prisoners and political prisoners: "radicalization is also occurring in prisons; the fbi's national joint terrorism task force and the bureau of prisons are working to stem the growth of these intentions behind bars" (source: "prepared text of attorney general gonzales at the world affairs council of pittsburgh, aug. 16, 2006, u.s.newswire - medialink worldwide); this item is also posted in our political prisoners directory's urgent page.

august 6, 2006, north carolina: democracy now! reports that the state of north carolina is establishing an eight member "innocence commission," to hear inmates and their representatives claiming false convictions ("north carolina establishes 'innocence commission'," "headlines" aug. 4, 2006, democracy now!); an innovative and anti-fascist direction for north carolina, lack of official status in the u.s. for "prisoners of conscience"and other "political prisoners" makes it difficult for this "innocence commission" to cope with moral issues beyond miscarriage of justice in the application of rule; recommended: the nightslantern political prisoners page (archive) presenting a small portion of those in north american prison systems who don't belong there.

august 1, 2006, vatican: calling for an immediate mideast cease-fire, pope benedict xvi said of the killings and destruction, "these facts demonstrate clearly that you cannot re-establish justice, create a new order and build authentic peace when you resort to instruments of violence" ("pope appeals for middle-east ceasefire," ap, july 30, 2006, the state.com (south carolina's home page).

june 29, 2006, u.s.: affirming the geneva conventions, the supreme court has ruled the guantanamo prison camp military trials illegal under both military and civilian law; this overturns a lower court decision by new bush appointee to the supreme court, judge roberts ("supreme court blocks war crimes trials for guantanamo detainees," ap, june 29, 2006, 13 abc.com , toledo; "u.s. supreme court quashes 'illegal' guantanamo trials," june 29, 2006, cbc news); applicability of geneva conventions to guantanamo places the bush administration and the chain of command for the prison camp in jeopardy of eventual criminal prosecutions; this is a brave ruling returning to the rule of law. -ed..

june 21, 2006, u.s.: arguing economics and with disrespect for the rights of the people the u.s. supreme court has ruled in favour of police conducting illegal search and seizures ("supreme court: government can use illegally obtained evidence," june 16, 2006, democracy now!).

        brooklyn: a judge affirming long standing u.s. immigration law has terrified a number of legal authorities in a clarification of current legalized fascism: in a mass action case against authorities after 9/11 (turkmen vs. ashcroft), federal district court judge john gleeson has allowed the indefinite detention of non citizens simply because of their race religion or national group - country of origin; although the judge balanced his decision by not dismissing charges against authorities for abuse and mistreatment, it is neither an american nor a non-fascist judgement, and risks allowing a progression of events toward genocide ("court decision strips foreigners of legal rights: 'in essence, he authorized a repeat of the japanese internment,'" david cole, june 19, 2006, with appreciation to the wisdom fund email 19 june 2006; "judge rules that u.s. has broad powers to detain noncitizens indefinitely," nina bernstein, june 15, 2006, new york times).

        vienna: in preparation for the u.s. president's visit to the european summit , joerg haider, austrian populist and possibly extreme right wing politician, has noted to austria's die presse, "he is a war criminal; he brought about the war against iraq deliberately, with lies and falsehoods" ("austria's haider says bush is a war criminal," reuters, june 17, 2006, yahoo news); with e.u. leaders the u.s. president has prepared a joint statement affirming the war on terrorism and respect for international law and everyone's human rights; european countries are hosting c.i.a. torture flights and torture centres for the war on terror's disappeared ("u.s. vows to respect human rights in war on terror ," michael adler, june 20, 2006, afp - yahoo news).

june 15, 2006, langley virginia, u.s.: there is believable evidence that u.s. intelligence services are covertly flying [muslim] suspects to other countries to torture them, and that the operation is run by the counter terrorist intelligence center, langley, breaking international law with the collusion of cooperative foreign governments ("torture flights: the shocking facts," gordon thomas, may 25, 2006, canadafreepress.com).

        canada: canada's gradual shift into repressive mode under a conservative government is suggested by changes in policy for news management which give the government increased power to manipulate the press: pre-selection of those who can ask questions at press conferences, declaring the returning military dead off limits to cameras ("questions in canada , but only some can ask them," ian austin, may 29, 2006, new york times), increasing use of judicial publication bans for issues concerning the electorate, the disappearance of some subjects from media news.

        toronto: a news report of the head of csis commenting on the presence of terrorists among canadian muslims was followed by the arrest of 17 terrorist suspects in toronto; they were accused of planning acts of terrorism against canada,and specifically six were charged with bomb making with fertilizer and its ominous parallels to the u.s. oklahoma bombing; the rcmp has noted that it supplied the bomb making materials to the accused, and an article in the toronto star has straightforwardly presented police actions as a publicity operation; if so, it is well coordinated; an australian paper ("terrorist arrests give novice leader election boost," david nelson, june 5, 2006, the australian) notes the arrests as a boon to prime minister harper easing his minority government toward parliamentary support; following the arrests in toronto the mosque was vandalized and over 36 windows broken and five windshields smashed while the cbc notes the arrests with equanimity as a 400 officer operation and the largest so far under canada's anti-terrorism act ("police put on a 'good spectacle': snipers, leg irons, selected evidence, police brass - all calculated to sway the public, lawyers and security experts say," linda diebel, june 5, 2006, toronto star, "mosque vandalized," jim wilkes, june 5, 2006, toronto star; "in depth: toronto bomb plot, overview," june 5, 2006, cbc online); as the suspects appear in court, the prosecution has asked for and won a publication ban on court proceedings, which makes it difficult to publicly refute initial charges carried by the media ("court imposes blanket publication ban against 17 terror suspects," canadian press, june 12, 2006, canada.com; "blackout irks terrorism suspects' lawyers," beth duff-brown, june 12, 2006, ap - the state.com, south carolina's home page); the coordination of what may well be a publicity action in raising anti-muslim hatred bears some marks of a continuing campaign against muslims as a religious goup; though the individual instances might not warrant it, neutral countries should place muslims in north america on a genocide watch: records should be kept of human rights violations against muslims including public statements; aside from laws against hate crimes and the laws that protect civil liberties when applied, u.n. texts claim that it is a crime to propagandize for war. - jbg.

        ottawa: alex jones, syndicated by http://www.coasttocoastam.com/, appeared on george norry's radio show as available to the coast of maine at 1 am june 9, 2006, and claimed he was interrogated 15 hours by the police after traveling from austin to ottawa; they said "you americans bleed all over us" and threatened him with prison; jones and his film crew were in town to film the bilderberg conference; he described the police as "freaked out with tears in their eyes ...dressed like storm troopers on a death star..." screaming at him, terrorizing him; trying to make him sign confessions; he believes they were controlled by bilderberg security; for substantiation: http://www.coasttocoastam.com/, or "alex jones detained on orders of bilderberg group," paul joseph watson, june 8, 2006 [access: http://bellaciao.org/en/article.php3?id_article=12220]; the ottawa citizen described the difficult officers as "citizenship and immigration canada agents" and limited the time of his detention to four hours ("bilderberg-bound filmmaker held at airport," laura payton, june 8, 2006, ).

        u.s.: on may 30, 2006, marjorie cohn, president of the national lawyers guild, in discussing "the haditha massacre" (truthout | perspective), was able to state and publish: "we must pull our troops out of iraq immediately, and insist that our leaders be held to account for the war crimes committed there."

may 30, 2006, ottawa: under a conservative national government the police are unable to resist more weapons; monday's newspaper headline read "ottawa police will shoot to kill: patrol officers to get combat weapons to 'eliminate' mass murderers" (may 29, 2006, ottawa citizen); the last 'mass murder' in ottawa was in 1999 when a former ottawa transportation employee opened fire on his former co-workers.

        in what appears to be an attempt to raise suspicion of immigrants as a group in canada, c.s.i.s. (canadian intelligence services) is currently asserting that young immigrants who have adapted to canadian society may still be terrorists ("home-grown terrorists living in canada"csis," may 29, 2006, cbc news; "csis can't screen 90% of immigrants," may 30, 2006, ottawa citizen).

may 23, 2006, canada: in a bravely rational decision justice eleanor dawson of canada's federal court has allowed mohamed harkat released from his imprisonment since 2002 on a canadian security certificate; a canadian security certificate is a mechanism which essentially strips suspects of legal rights and human rights built through centuries in the gradual advancements of euro-north american law, and places the suspects in prison indefinitely; these are intensely political arrests to the service of frightening all the people and it requires strong judges to affirm just law; restrictive bail conditions reflect the pressures for 'security' (sources: "canada releases terrorism suspect on bail," reuters, may 23, 2006, reuters foundation alertnet; "terrorist suspect harkat ordered released on bail," andrew duffy, may 23, 2006, ottawa citizen; "judge grants bail in security case," may 23, 2006, cbc news).

april 15, 2006:
historical note
william sloane coffin died april 12th in vermont, of a heart attack; a united church of christ minister and presbyterian, a leader of the u.s. antiwar movement during vietnam, he was known for high profile draft resistance as yale chaplain; the media eased him into recognition as an american hero; a founder of s.a.n.e. he blended antiwar with anti-nuclear with clergy and laity concerned; however movement people learned of his prior commitments to military intelligence and the c.i.a. only when the war was over or not at all; riverside church in new york became a resistance centre under his ministry, but as a mechanism of anti dissidence and antiwar movement controls in the u.s. coffin's duality helps explain why the vietnam war was able to last for ten years without popular support.

for more information: he was a third generation member of skull and bones society at yale; he served in military intelligence as an officer in wwll and was patton's russian interpreter in germany; his specialty was in training russian agents; his fierce anti-communism turned him to covert service; he entered union theological school, then worked for the c.i.a. from about 1950 to 1953, then returning to religion he became chaplain at williams, then yale; he was not able to provide alternatives to vietnam or to an economic system that required war; as he assumed an antiwar leadership position his brother in law was working with henry kissinger to elect richard nixon; while known for his early commitment to martin luther king jr. and civil rights, in 1961 the c..i.a. was murdering lumumba; if under george bush jr. (also skull and bones) there are criminal wars without appropriate american resistance, william sloane coffin's career may help provide an answer; in reporting his death the washington post mentions, yes he was a cia agent and explains how stalin's atrocities would have forced any reasonable man to become one too, while democracy now! portrays him only as an antiwar hero, as though in 1953 the c..i.a. wasn't overthrowing iran's mossadegh or preparing guatemala for its legacy of genocide in the 1954 overthrow of arbenz ("chapter vii - skull and bones: the racist nightmare at yale," webster g. tarpley & anton chaitkin, george bush: the unauthorized biography [april 15, 2006 access: http://www.kmf.org/williams/bushbook/bushb.html];"spooks in blue," doug henwood, spring 1988, grand street; "former yale chaplain william sloane coffin dead at 81," david gram ap, april 12, 2006, boston.com news "frank lindsay," as of april 15, 2006,wikipedia the free encyclopedia; "modern american patriot: william sloane coffin," feb. 5,1995, america's defense monitor: center for defense information; "william sloane coffin jr.; chaplain was lifelong 'disturber of the peace,' matt schudel and adam bernstein, april 13, 2006, washington post; "guide to the william sloane coffin, jr. paper: manuscript group 1665, tom hyry & scott libson, jan. 30, 2006, yale university library, manuscripts and archives; "crisis of conscience," warren goldstein, march/april 2004, yale alumni magazine; "william sloane coffin jr, 81; former yale chaplain and civil rights, peace activist,"mary rourk, april 13, 2006, los angeles times; "rev. william sloane coffin, 81, dies," april 13, 2006, democracy now!).

march 16, 2006, toronto: harrassment of muslim women on campus at the university of toronto is under-reported, possibly because the victims are reluctant to file complaints, and possibly because university response to what is reported seems inadequate("hate attacks rock toronto university campus muslim student assaulted at hart house; sac says admin is ignoring Islamophobia," sarah barmak, march 13, 2006, the varsity).

        austin texas: the following information issues from a lecture by texas supervisory fbi officer g.charles rasner to the university of texas law school class : law and national security; groups potentially involved with terrorism: white supremacist, islamic terrorists, anarchists; on the texas terrorist "watch list": food not bombs, indymediacenter, communist party.( "fbi officer speaks at law school, lists indymedia, food not bombs, communist party of texas on 'terrorist watch list'", liz, march 9, 2006, austin.indymedia.org; "fbi comes to class," ian, march 9, 2006, probative).

        u.s: the washington post reports that the fbi is routinely closing muslim humanitarian organizations as suspected of serving terrorism ("the crime of being a muslim charity," laila al-marayati, basil abdelkarim, march 12, 2006, washington post); for an extreme example of this policy note the case of dr. rafil dhafir.

march 3, 2006, new mexico: democracy now! reports that a u.s veterans administration nurse, laura berg, is accused of sedition as retribution for her letter published in a newspaper and criticising bush administration katrina and iraq policies; turned over to the f.b.i., her work computer taken, and falsely accused of sedition by her boss, she asks for an apology; senator jeff bingaman has asked for investigation (info source: "v.a. nurse accused of sedition after publishing letter critical of bush on katrina, iraq," goodman & staff, march 2, 2006, democracy now!).

february 24, 2006, iraq and afghanistan: according to a new report from human rights first, 98 detainees have died since august 2002 while in u.s. hands; 8 were surely tortured to death, 45 died of probable homicide; however the accounting concerns only deaths reported; the report acknowledges that information is withheld; the report found the cia and special forces basically without accountability; there is a breakdown in u.s. military justice at the officer level ("torture blamed for detainee deaths," reuters, feb. 23, 2006, the australian, news.com.au; & "torture: quick facts," "u.s. law & security," accessed feb. 24, 2006 human rights first; & "command's responsibility: detainee deaths in u.s. custody in iraq and afghanistan," hina shamsi and deborah pearlstein, february 2006, human rights first [access: http://www.humanrightsfirst.info/pdf/06221-etn-hrf-dic-rep-web.pdf]).

february 24, 2006, california: california has joined alaska, colorado, hawaii, idaho, maine, montana, vermont, in passing resolutions to deflect or neutralize the patriot act; the california senate joint resolution 10 makes some effort to safeguard constitutional rights and civil liberties; 53 cities have passed similar resolutions ("california is the latest state to pass a resolution against the patriot act," matthew dailey, feb.23, 2006, national libertarian party).

february 22, 2006, toronto: in federal court the ministry of citizenship and education lawyer arguing against canadian refuge for u.s. army deserters, has claimed that the "soldier has no responsibility to determine the legality of the conflict;" although this position puts responsibility for war crimes (ie. aggression, severe violations of the geneva conventions, torture) on officers and politicians, it risks encouraging war crimes by exempting all military personnel from individual responsibility for their actions ("legality of iraq war 'irrelevant,' court told," peter brueger, feb. 9, 2006, national post).

february 17, 2006, u.s.: concerning the list of 325 thousand names of suspected terrorists or collaborators at "the national counterterrorism center," the agency refuses to reveal how many of these are u.s. citizens; the f.b.i.'s own list has 270,000 names according to last year's data ("325,000 names on terrorism list," walter pincus & dan eggen, feb. 15, 2006, washington post).

january 29, 2006, u.s.: consider the gap between current policies/practices and the u.s. bill of rights.

january 26, 2006, atlanta: u.s. homeland security spying has extended to domestic peaceful protest: a young vegetarian woman protesting at a meat market was arrested for photographing the license plate of covert surveillance; the aclu has brought suit; police followed the victims to another location; the undercover officer refused to provide i.d. in making the arrest of the photographer; no crime was committed by the victims (childs, freeman vs. dekalb county... [access jan. 26, 2006: http://www.acluga.org/briefs/honeybaked/Complaintl.pdf] ;"aclu releases government photos," shirek, jan. 25, 2006, 11alive.com, wxia-tv atlanta).

january 12, 2006, baltimore: baltimore pledge of resistance a group allied with the american friends service committee, was subjected to extreme illegal nsa surveillance, circa july 4, 2004 (“national security agency mounted massive spy op on baltimore peace group, documents show,” zeese, jan. 10, 2006, raw story); the american friends service committee is a nonviolent group of such strong long standing integrity and support for social justice, that surveillance of their people suggests a takeover of reason; nsa offices in baltimore may be implicated in psychological warfare testing: in 1978 and 1985 baltimore hosted government warfare on the move headquarters (ie. the outrageous illegal bombing of a civilian tenement by civil authorities) and the subsequent attempt to silence a journalist who reported the event (mumia abu jamal was placed on death row).

recommended reading: individual responsibility and complicity, katherine hughes on the trial of a muslim american [no longer available at this site - see www.dhafirtrial.net ].

december 31, 2005, u.s.: the department of justice is investigating the source of leaks to media about the nsa's illegal spying on u.s. citizens; the journalists are made to fear testifying and the choice of revealing their sources or facing prison ("breaking news, dec. 30, 2005, the wayne madsen report [access: http://www.waynemadsenreport.com/]).

december 16, 2005: the u.s. passenger check lists of suspected terrorists issued to swedish airport authorities exceeds 80,000 names; u.s. homeland security is contacted if the passenger name is found on the classified list; within the u.s., some peace activists and antiwar meetings are once again subject to military surveillance ("operation talon") of citizens acting entirely within their legal rights (sources: "u.s. terror watchlist 80,000 names long," dec. 8, 2005, agence france press, yahoo! news; "pentagon will review database on u.s. citizens," pincus, dec.15, 2005, washington post).

november 11, 2005, white house: according to an online paper, "capital hill blue," a computerized list of people who don't like bush is kept by staff and nurtured by the f.b.i. with information from "national security letters" (single source: "white house keeps dossiers on more than 10,000 'political enemies'," thompson, nov. 8, 2005,capitol hill blue).

november 9, 2005, u.s.: the fbi is using a device called "national security letters," to force american citizens to reveal information in secret to the government without court order or crime committed; information gathered about innocent citizens can be held until uses are found for it ("the fbi's secret scrutiny," gellman, nov.6, 2005, washingtonpost.com); this mechanism betrays the generations of americans that struggled for both freedom and justice.

october 19, 2005, u.s.: voice of america, reports that president mugabe of zimbabwe "absolutely ruined" (words of a u.s. diplomat) a u.n. food agency event. by comparing bush to hitler and blair to mussolini; president mugabe, objecting to the destruction of iraq, noted that the two leaders "formed an unholy alliance to attack an innocent country" ("us diplomats say zimbabwean leader ruined un ceremony," mwakalyelye, october 17, 2005, voice of america online); nationalizing white owned farms for veterans of the country's struggle for independence, zimbabwe's is being destabilized, and starved out by the foreign controllers of its agricultural markets.

    connecticut: stephen kobasa was a catholic high school teacher for twenty-five years; he was just fired from his position teaching english literature at kolbe cathedral high school, bridgeport , for refusing to permanently display the american flag in his classroom; he writes - " an essential elementof the mission of catholic education is to offer evidence of the practice of nonviolent peacemaking and principled resistance to nationalism that have been nourished and expressed within our tradition;"the teachers association of the diocese has not supported him; he believes "obedience to the gospel" shouldprecede "national loyalty" ("stephen kobasa fired for refusing to display flag in his classroom" email, friday, october 14, 2005 2:56 PM. disarmnow@jonahhouse.org); for more information see jonah house [access:< http://jonahhouse.org/ >]).

    u.k.: the new british terrorism bill attempts to extend the time those suspected of terrorism can be held "without charge" ie. interned at the whim of officials, from 14 days to 90 days ( "90 days: plans to lock up terror suspects without charge provoke outcry," morris and russell, oct. 13, 2005, the independent).

august 28, 2005, u.s.: at it's national convention the american legion "vowed to use whatever means necessary to ensure the united support of the american people for our troops and the global war on terrorism" ("legionnaires condemn war protests, pledge," aug. 23, 2005, the american legion, http://www.legion.org/); the legion national commander has asked for an end to public protest against the war; the legion has a membership of about 2.7 million ("american legion declares war on protestors -- media next ?" e&p staff, aug. 24, 2005, editorandpublisher.com; "american legion declares war on peace movement," goodman, aug. 25, 2005, democracy now); "whatever means necessary" is extreme for a membership of veterans of wartime service.

august 20, 2005, canada: by approving parallel profit health care ("mds change tactics, refuse to denounce private health care," andre picard, aug.17, 2005, the globe and mail) the canadian medical association has taken a step against people's right to premium health care from government; the excuse is a supreme court decision requiring alternatives when there is lack of timely health care services ("mds give full support to private health care: doctors vote 2-to-1 in favour of allowing private insurance," mark kennedy, aug. 18, 2005, ottawa citizen); the c.m.a.'s approval and supreme court decision both serve the wealthy and employed since the poor cannot afford to pay or buy insurance; in this way the empowered attempt to deny lives to the vulnerable.
    ontario: the provincial government has funded the hiring of fifty additional midwives ("ontario to fund 50 midwives," aug.19, 2005, cbc news).

july 22, 2005, washington d.c.: affirming "the government's power to eavesdrop, conduct secret searches and demand library records," the u.s. house of representatives renews the patriot act ("house votes for a permanent patriot act," lichtblau, july 22, 2005, new york times, nytimes.com).

june 25, 2005, washington d.c.: the u.s. supreme court ruled on june 24th that local authorities can take over private homes for projects of private developers; depriving u.s. home owners of the right to be secure in their homes (articles "iv" and "ix", bill of rights), the decision upholds the city of new london connecticut's claim on private properties which are to be cleared for a health club/hotel in "complement" to the pfizer ⁽¹⁾ drug company ("development 'homes' in on the u.s. economy," vicini reuters, june 25, 2005, the times company); in new jersey 55 towns prepare to take over the homes of people in "blighted" areas ("in 55 n.j. towns, planners watch as the light turns green," lane, june 24, 2005, star ledger); the mistaken decision reverses people's expectation of rights within community; it subverts the u.s. constitution to the accumulation of wealth; it creates a mechanism for the gradual genocide of the poor; it places the home at the mercy of the authorities whose emergency powers have overcome constitutional protections.
historical note
the mechanism is familiar to students of german history of the 1930's as laws were passed stripping jews of their legal standing; "recht ist was dem deutschen volke nuetzt - law is that which benefits the german nation" (p.80, the black book: the nazi crime against the jewish people; new york, nexus press, 1981); "party and industry grew rich on the liquidated 'interests' of their opponents and competitors"(ibid. p. 82).

____________footnote 1: pfizer, founded in williamsburg brooklyn, 1849, doubled its volume during the civil war and during world war 2 became the world's primary producer of penicillin; it now operates as a team oriented pharmaceutical group globally, providing much of the world with anti-aids medication and viagra; its current ceo board chairman is also chair of the president's advisory council on hiv/aids, a member of the m.i.t. corporation, on the board at exxon, etc. (passim, pfizer url: www.pfizer.com,"history").

june 3, 2005, recent u.s. arrests under anti-terrorism laws:
charged under "animal enterprise terrorism" with offenses against huntingdon life sciences, six members of "stop huntingdon animal cruelty" are accused of "harassing and vandalising" this british based company due to its policies of testing drugs on animals; they are expected to plead not-guilty before a trenton new jersey judge, to charges carring fines of up to 250,000 USD and prison terms of three years and five years (source: "animal rights activists face trial under terror law," june 3, 2005, the new zealand herald, nzherald.co.nz); see environment / animal rights.
two u.s. citizens, tarik shah of new york, a respected musician, and rafiq abdus sabir of florida, a doctor, husband and father, are accused of "conspiring to provide material support" to a terrorist organziation, and are denied bail in new york and florida ("no bail for two accused of al quaeda links," june 1, 2005, the washington times www.washingtontimes.com).

may 29, 2005, u.s.: a month and ten days before the destruction of the world trade center september 11, 2001, headquarters department of army published "military police internment / resettlement operations," field manual 3-19.40 of august 1, 2001, which provides the means to place u.s.citizens as well as others, domestically or abroad, in concentration camps; the manual reiterates a respect for the geneva conventions which are provably neglected or subverted by contemporary u.s. military detentions in afghanistan, iraq and guantanamo bay.

may 28, 2005, u.s.a.: the fbi is currently "suggesting environmental and animal-welfare militants are now the biggest terrorist threat in the us" ("eco-militants are greatest threat, warns fbi," usborne, may 20, 2005 the guardian, u.k.); see environment / animal rights.

april 16, 2005, vatican: as official mourning for john paul II ends cardinal josef ratzinger is a prime candidate for selection to be pope; few church leaders have as thorough experience surviving extremes of fascism; after service in a german anti-aircraft battalion, and training in the nazi wermacht, cardinal ratzinger deserted at war's end and was taken prisoner when the americans occupied his father's house; he continued his studies on release (sources: "a chronology of notable events in ratzinger's life," the cardinal ratzinger fan club as of april 16, 2005, http://ratzingerfanclub.com/Biography.html; "analysis: ratzinger in the ascendance," siemon-netto, upi april 2, 2005, the washington times).

april 16, 2005, chile: chile's supreme court is officially shutting down its special judges mid their successful investigations of crimes under pinochet's reign of terror; human rights watch reports that "on january 25, 2005, the chilean supreme court ordered all judges investigating human rights violations under military rule to halt their inquiries within six months;" human rights watch and other chilean and international human rights groups have registered protest ("chile: probes of pinochet-era crimes face shut down," april 15, 2005, human rights news, http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2005/04/15/chile10494.htm).

from march 19, 2005, washington, d.c.: the u.s. has officially claimed the prerogative of first strike ("policy oks first strike to protect u.s.:pentagon strategic plan codifies unilateral, preemptive attacks; the doctrine marks a shift from coalitions such as nato, analysts say," hendren, march 19, 2005, los angeles times).

from feb. 28, 2005, in atlanta georgia, a court of appeals reversed a 54.6 million judgement against el salvadoran generals retired to florida, josé guillermo garcía and carlos eugenio vides casanova, for the 1980 rape and murder of four u.s. church women by el salvadoran soldiers, on the grounds that the statute of limitations for the crime had expired ("u.s. court reverses $54M verdict against salvadoran generals convicted of torture," democracy now, march 2, 2005).

february 18, 2005:   human rights warning, re. the february 17th nomination of john negroponte as u.s. director of intelligence: his record, starting in vietnam from 1964-68 ("accused human rights violator, john negroponte nominated as un ambassador," democracy now, feb. 20, 2001) concurrent with operation phoenix, and in honduras, and in iraq, suggests a lack of understanding of human rights; when u.s. backed contras were set against nicaragua's government, insurgents were trained in and supported through honduras where john negroponte became u.s. ambassador (1981-1985); u.s. policy and intention were made clear to the honduran left by death squads, in particular the 316 battallion trained by the cia and veterans of the argentinian military ("cold war warrior reputation hangs over negroponte," palencia, reuters alertnet, 17 feb 2005); it is difficult to extricate negroponte from complicity, if not authority for the continuing crimes against the honduran left, crimes which have not been brought to justice; to understand the crimes in honduras under negroponte's tenure - a short reading list: "a carefully crafted deception," cohn and thompson, baltimore sun, june 18, 1995; "glimpses of the 'disappeared'," cohn and thompson, baltimore sun, june 11, 1995; "torturers' confessions: now in exile, these cia-trained hondurans describe their lives -- and the deaths of their victims," thompson and cohn, baltimore sun, june 13, 1995; "former envoy to honduras says he did what he could: u.s..embassy fought rights abuses, reported facts, negroponte says," cohn and thompson, baltimore sun, december 15, 1995; "how a journalist was silenced," cohn and thompson, baltimore sun, june 15, 1995; "when a wave of torture and murder staggered a small u.s. ally, truth was a casualty; was the cia involved? did washington know? was the public deceived? now we know: yes, yes and yes," cohn and thompson, baltimore sun, june 11, 1995.

february 14, 2005, krasnoye (st. petersburg), russia: when the nazi german army approached leningrad, partisans with red army soldiers went into the woods behind enemy lines; one of them was a girl called zoya; "she was beautiful and had big eyes that were as crystal clear as the springs shooting up at the source of the velikaya river;" a collaborator betrayed her to the nazis, and "she was led through krasnoye, her hands tied behind her back, smiling at the sun and the people; and beside the krasnoye birch-trees which grow by the lake on a slope, she shook her shoulders, threw off her fetters, grabbed an officer's submachine gun and shot the monster;" the nazis tortured her and threw her body in the swamp (data and quotations from defending leningrad, women behind enemy lines, ed. and trans. cottam, new military publishing, canada, 1998).




january 22, 2005, argentina: u.s. policy allows torture ("gonzales excludes cia from rules on prisoners," new york times, iht online, jan.20, 2005), neglects the geneva conventions, admits to forming death squads and deploying "action teams" ("the coming wars," hersh, new yorker, jan. 17, 2005); for the result of such policies see the following site documenting the victims of argentina's u.s. approved war ("state department opens files on argentina's dirty war," the national security archive currently online, jan. 2005) against the left from 1976 to 1983; military officers identified as responsible for the crimes enjoy 'normal' lives: the vanished gallery: desaparecidos of argentina [access:< http://www.yendor.com/vanished/ >].

january 6, 2005, u.s.: poverty worker denied the right to continue her work: carol gilbert a dominican nun and poverty worker in baltimore maryland has been denied the right to return home to jonah house when she is released from prison; sister gilbert is currently serving a 33 month sentence for a peace action against a missile silo near greeley colorado ; a similar restriction is likely at the release of jackie hudson; sr. hudson ("december letter," jonahhouse.org/hudson1204.htm, "epistle 7," winter 2004-5) notes her slave labour wages of eight cents an hour (u.s.) while in prison, and the government's insistence on restitution for damage done by sabotage; the sisters have taken vows of poverty; with sister ardeth platte (release not expected until 2006), all three have refused to pay restitution for their action "calling this u.s. government to accountability for its own lawlessness as the nuremberg principles and our own u.s. constitution calls for;" (ibid) see jonah house [access:< http://jonahhouse.org/index.htm >].

december 19, 2004, u.s.: according to the associated press, a survey by cornell university found that "44 percent of americans" approve restricted civil liberties for muslim americans (msnbc online, "poll shows u.s. views on muslim-americans: nearly half of those surveyed say some rights should be restricted," ap, dec. 17, 2004); such restrictions would violate u.s. constitutional law, civil rights law, and international laws.

december 19, 2004, london england: in response to the house of lords affirmation of a right to a trial for foreign detainees, u.k. foreign secretary straw protests, defending such practices, if they serve the state's purpose; according to the bbc, he insists "it was for parliament, and not judges, to decide how best britain could be defended against the threat of terrorism" ("lords wrong on detainees - straw," bbc online, dec. 17, 2004).

november 7, 2004, ontario canada: existing ontario educational legislation permits a judge to place a student in jail for failure to attend classes; in 2003 a judge threatened a fifteen year old with jail for this, and for poor attendance records about half a dozen Waterloo Region students were placed in jail for periods of up to a month and forced to attend classes ("ontario teens who cut class could face jail," lindgren, ottawa citizen, nov. 7, 2004).

november 7, 2004, vatican city: papal advisor joseph cardinal ratzinger, who has persecuted liberation theology, labeled homosexuality "an intrinsic moral evil," and counseled american clergy denial of communion to supporters of abortion rights (catholic presidential candidate john kerry supported a woman's right to choose), has with bush'es claim to the presidency, become a leading contender for a position as next pope (ref. "'der panzerkardinal' becomes voice of rome," daniel williams, ottawa citizen, nov.7,2004).

 

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