Pax Gaea Human Rights World Post

PAX GAEA WORLD POST HUMAN RIGHTS HEADLINES FRIDAY, JANUARY 19, 2007

• Australian held in Gitmo can't get fair trial with new military rules, Marine lawyer claims
• Taiwan Independence bid likely in 2007, unwelcome warns China
• Bangladesh protests against Saddam's execution spurs violence
• Egyptian blogger put on trial for insulting Islam, President Mubarek
• Archbishop Tutu chides ministers to focus on Africa's real problems, not gay clergy
• Vatican "top crime neighborhood" in the world
• UK exchequer Gordon Brown hopes to use Gandhi's inspiration as Prime Minister
• Mexico President Calderon says U.S. is cause of his country's drug problem
• South American leaders at continental summit say poor must be focus of policies
• Former Air America publicist killed in Iraq trying to teach democracy, she was 28

Trial rules worse than first ones: Mori

Mark Coultan in New York and Phillip Coorey

DAVID HICKS'S military lawyer, Major Michael Mori, has criticised new Pentagon rules for putting his client on trial, saying they are in some ways worse than the previous ones ruled illegal by the US Supreme Court. However, the Australian Government yesterday welcomed the military commission guidelines and called for charges to be laid quickly against Mr Hicks and a trial held. The rules, which allow the use of hearsay evidence and evidence gathered using coercion, meant Mr Hicks had no chance of a fair trial, Major Mori said. "It's a fresh coat of paint on a broken-down house," he said."All I want is for David to get a fair trial for a real crime. The real problem is the same people who wrote the previous system created this system." There is no provision in the rules for the US to automatically take into account the five years Mr Hicks has already spent in detention should he be convicted and sentenced, something the Australian Government has asked for. Mr Hicks would have to ask for the deduction during any sentencing submissions. The Labor Party criticised the new trial system, pointing out that US citizens were not to be subjected to it. "Why does the Australian Government accept what no other Western government does?" asked Labor's legal affairs spokesman, Kelvin Thomson. The Law Council of Australia said the military commissions fell well short of fair trial standards and were "designed to rubber-stamp decisions about guilt that were made long ago". Sydney Morning Herald (1/19)

2007, a crucial year for opposing "Taiwan independence"

Two signals spread from the Taiwan Island during the New Year's days of 2007 have intrigued the attention of people worldwide. In his New Year address, Taiwan leader Chen Shui-bian said "there is still something to be done during his term of office, but that should be done quietly and without any boisterous sounds of drums and gongs," and "that has to be spurred by the perspective of Taiwan' principal ideology." Su Tseng-chang, Taiwan "Premier" or head of the Executive Yuan, who had not yet publicly made his own position known with respect to the "name rectification and a new constitution," raised a slogan "to pluck up continuous efforts needed for the "name rectification of Taiwan" on Jan. 17 and, on the same day, the Executive Yuan passed the relevant specifications with a move for the "de-Sinification" of the Palace Museum in Taipei. What does Chen Shui-bian really want to "do quietly"? But as a matter of fact, "every man in the street is aware of Sima Zhao's intention ¨C the villain's design is known to all," as the classic Chinese proverb goes. In March 2003, Chen Shui-bian tossed out a "weathercock ball" at a meeting of "Taiwan Independence" forces in Kaohsiung, alleging that he would go all out to press ahead with the "Taiwan New Constitution" once he got elected. In November of the same year, he explicitly set forth a "Timetable for Taiwan independence, namely, "the birth of the new constitution by the means of referendum" in 2006 that was to become valid in 2008, so that Taiwan would be turned into a "state with independent sovereignty". People's Daily Online/Xinhua (1/19)

Violence breaks out in Bangalore; many hurt as houses, shops attacked

Staff Reporter

BANGALORE: Several people were injured, vehicles damaged, houses and shops ransacked during the violence that rocked Bharatinagar and surrounding areas in the city on Friday. The police said the trouble erupted when a group of people marching towards Shivajinagar Stadium from K.G. Halli to attend a rally organised by the newly formed People's Front to protest the execution of Saddam Hussein and "U.S. imperialism." The processionists set on fire some banners on Seppings Road in Bharatinagar. A group of people took objection to this which led to a clash. Those who were part of the procession started attacking houses, vehicles and shops with stones, the police said. The mob started burning vehicles parked on the road and throwing stones on Thimmaiah Road. Arsonists barged into a web-designing centre, damaged computers and set them on fire. The mob barged into several houses and shops, ransacked them and looted valuables. "I opened the door when a woman who was being chased asked for help. The mob came inside my house, hit me and my two sons with sticks," said a 55-year-old man, who is nursing a head injury in Lakeside Hospital. One of his sons received stitches on his head. A Central Government employee said he was chased and beaten with sticks. The Hindu (India) (1/19)

Egypt tries blogger who 'insulted Islam'

By ASSOCIATED PRESS

CAIRO, Egypt- An Egyptian blogger went on trial Thursday on charges of insulting Islam and inciting sectarian strife for his Internet writing criticizing Muslim authorities and the Egyptian government, his lawyer and court officials said. It was the first trial of a blogger in Egypt, where a string of anti-government bloggers have been arrested the past year, drawing condemnation from human rights groups. Abdel Kareem Nabil, who has been in detention since his arrest in early November, could face up to seven years in prison if convicted on the charges, court officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of court rules.His lawyer, Radwa Sayed Ahmed, said Nabil had been held in solitary confinement, forbidden visits from his family and lawyers. In Thursday's brief court session, "he didn't look good," she told the Associated Press from court in the port city of Alexandria.Nabil was charged with inciting sedition, insulting Islam, harming national unity and insulting the president, the court official said. Jerusalem Post (1/19)

Tutu: Focus on Africa's woes, not gay clergy

Wangui Kanina

Nairobi, Kenya- Archbishop Desmond Tutu on Friday urged the African Anglican church to concentrate on the continent's grim problems rather than on the row over gay clergy, and said persecuting gay people is akin to racism. The debate over the role of homosexuals in the church threatens to split the world's 77-million Anglicans, pitting traditionalists in developing countries against liberals in the West. African Anglican bishops have threatened to refuse to sit at the same table as Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, who heads the United States Episcopal Church and supports gay clergy, at a global meeting in Tanzania next month. "I am deeply disturbed that in the face of some of the most horrendous problems facing Africa, we concentrate on 'what do I do in bed with whom'," the South African Nobel Laureate Tutu told a news conference in Nairobi. "For one to penalise someone for their sexual orientation is the same as penalising someone for something they can do nothing about, like ethnicity or race. I cannot imagine persecuting a minority group which is already being persecuted." Tensions in the loose worldwide union of churches over homosexuality reached boiling point with the appointment of openly gay US Bishop Gene Robinson in 2003."The God I worship would not consider that [gay clergy] to be a priority concern," Tutu said, adding that churches should instead be thinking about poverty, HIV/Aids and conflict resolution. Mail & Guardian (South Africa) (1/19)

Is the Vatican a Rogue State?

The top crime neighborhood in the world isn't in Sao Paulo or Lagos. It's not the Bronx in New York, or even Wedding in Berlin. It's the small city ruled by Pope Benedict XVI, which apparently sees more criminal cases per capita than any other part of the world. The Vatican's attorney general Nicola Picardi released the astounding statistic at the start of 2007: The tiny nation's justice department in 2006 had to contend with 341 civil and 486 criminal cases. In a population of 492, that measures out to 1.5 cases per person -- twenty times the corresponding rate in Italy. By this measurement at least, crime is soaring in the Vatican in spite of a security force that would put a police state to shame. The seat of the Catholic Church has one Swiss guard for every four citizens, not to mention museum guards and police assigned to the Vatican by Italy. Picardi did say that most criminal cases were matters of pickpocketing or purse-snatching. The rest amounted to other petty crimes like fraud and forgery -- committed not by kleptomaniacal nuns but by a handful of black sheep among the 18 million pilgrims and tourists who visit St. Peter's Cathedral, St. Peter's Square and the Vatican Museums every year. About 90 percent of these crimes go unpunished, which is not a measure of Christian mercy but a sign of the perpetrators' favorite method of escape. They can break for the border -- a few meters away -- to Italy. Der Spiegel (Germany) (1/19)

Brown says he hopes to be a leader like Gandhi

By Justin Huggler in Delhi

Gordon Brown chose a visit to the spot where Mahatma Gandhi was cremated to declare his vision of the sort of Prime Minister he intends to be. Speaking to journalists after paying his respects, he said: "I could never compare myself to Gandhi and all the other heroes of mine but I do take inspiration from the way they dealt with the challenges they found." Seeming to spell out a moral vision of his expected premiership, Mr Brown said he hoped Gandhi would inspire "the way I will deal with the challenges the country and the world face, including the security challenge. That means having the strength of belief... to do what is right for the long-term even when there are easier short-term gains on offer."The Chancellor was trying to regain control of a tour of India that has not gone according to script. He came here to prove he can perform as a statesman on the world stage, only to be sucked into the controversy over Big Brother and the alleged racist attacks on the Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty that have overshadowed his visit. Mr Brown was speaking after strewing rose petals and laying a wreath at Rajghat, the spot where Gandhi was cremated on the banks of the river Yamuna in Delhi. The Chancellor was wearing what looked like the flimsy white slippers given out for free at expensive hotels to comply with the Hindu requirement to remove his shoes. Rajghat is India's memorial to its national hero and it is customary for visiting foreign dignitaries to pay their respects here. But rather than just politely following the custom, Mr Brown seemed to want to use it to claim Gandhi as his own inspiration. Independent (United Kingdom) (1/19)

Calderón: More help needed from U.S. gov’t

The president bluntly says the United States is "a fundamental cause" of the drug problemWire services, El UniversalThe government has sent the strongest message in years to the United States that it must do "a lot more" to help its neighbor in the fight against drugs.In the first published interview with the foreign press since he became president, Felipe Calderón told the Financial Times: "The United States is jointly responsible for what is happening to us ... in that joint responsibility the U.S. government has a lot of work to do. We cannot confront this problem alone." That blunt message to the U.S. government follows Calderón´s decision several weeks ago to launch a head-to-head war against drugs organizations in Mexico. Since taking office on Dec. 1, the 44-year-old center- right technocrat has deployed thousands of troops to several states across the country to combat the illicit trade. In recent years, Mexico has become an important supplier of drugs to the U.S. market. At the same time it has suffered ever-increasing levels of violence as gangs compete for a share of the lucrative business, which experts say is worth billions of dollars a year.Several months ago, Mexicans were horrified when severed heads - victims of feuding between rival gangs - were washed up on the tourist-filled beaches of Acapulco, one of the country´s best-known resorts and a popular destination for U.S. tourists. El Universal (Mexico) (1/19)

South American leaders focus on poor

By ALAN CLENDENNING, AP BUSINESS WRITER

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil -- Lifting South America's poor masses from misery is a top priority for the Mercosur trade bloc, leaders said during a summit that ends Friday. But how to cut poverty - through aggressive socialism that rejects U.S. economic models or a more cautious approach - is disputed. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who is using his nation's oil riches to dole out profits to his nation's poor as well as needy people across the Americas, said that his version of "21st century socialism" is the solution. Mercosur must "change in its structure, in its objectives, the social emphasis of Mercosur and the fair treatment of inequalities between countries," Chavez said Thursday. The avowed socialist also said now is the time to "decontaminate" South America's main trade bloc of its founding pillars: U.S.-supported free market policies and privatization of state industries that swept the region during the last decade. But Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, hosting the two-day summit attended by all of the continent's leaders except Peru's Alan Garcia, urged a more cautious approach for resolving South America's wide divide between rich and poor. The moderate leftist who embraces free market economic policy insisted the five-nation bloc - which could grow to six with the addition of Bolivia - must move carefully to promote regional economic integration in a way that also accommodates each nation's political differences. Argentina Star/Seatlle Post Intelligencer (1/19)

Ambush Kills an American Teaching Democracy to Iraqis

By DAMIEN CAVE

BAGHDAD, Jan. 18 — An American woman killed here on Wednesday when gunmen fired on her convoy of vehicles was ambushed just minutes after leaving the headquarters of a prominent Sunni Arab political party, where she had been teaching a class on democracy, party members said Thursday. They said the woman — Andrea Parhamovich, 28, of Perry, Ohio — left the party’s fortified compound in western Baghdad around 4 p.m., heading east to her group’s offices outside the Green Zone, when she and her armed guards came under attack from all sides. Les Campbell, Middle East and North Africa director for the National Democratic Institute, which hired Ms. Parhamovich about three months ago, said that during the fierce firefight, guards tried to escape, fought back, then called for reinforcements from other private security contractors. The attackers — perhaps as many as 30 men, according to witness accounts passed on to Mr. Campbell — used heavy weapons, possibly rocket-propelled grenades, destroying the armored sedan that Ms. Parhamovich was in and killing three of her armed guards: a Croatian, a Hungarian and an Iraqi. Two other security contractors were wounded. The attackers then scattered back into the neighborhood. Saleem Abdullah, a senior member of the Sunni political group, the Iraqi Islamic Party, said that Ms. Parhamovich’s group might have been chosen as a target when it arrived. “It seems that someone, when they saw her in the area, set up an ambush,” he said. “That’s what we think.” New York Times (1/19)

posted by Dave Carroll @ 1/19/2007 05:21:00 PM