Human Rights
The Guardian.uk recently released a classified court order [pdf] detailing U.S. Justice Department instructions to Verizon Wireless to release information on their entire domestic customer base. While the actual recordings of calls were not released under this order, the government acquired data that includes who called whom, how long they spoke for, and up to the minute location data on every single subscriber.
It is not known if the veteran reporter Glenn Greenwald or editors at the Guardian will be facing indictment in the United States for releasing the full text of the classified order. It is also unknown if the release would have been permitted under the new secret rules now being developed by Eric Holder and cooperative, patriotic news organizations.
The United States government recently named a reporter at Fox News as an unindicted co-conspirator in a leaking case with much less sweeping implications. The warrant obtained granted the FBI access to virtually all his private communications.
It is not known if the veteran reporter Glenn Greenwald or editors at the Guardian will be facing indictment in the United States for releasing the full text of the classified order. It is also unknown if the release would have been permitted under the new secret rules now being developed by Eric Holder and cooperative, patriotic news organizations.
The United States government recently named a reporter at Fox News as an unindicted co-conspirator in a leaking case with much less sweeping implications. The warrant obtained granted the FBI access to virtually all his private communications.
BANGKOK, Thailand -- After executing four killers from Thailand, Laos
and Myanmar last year, China's security forces have extended their
reach by uniting those countries along the Mekong River in a "war on
drugs" and arrested 812 people in the narcotics-rich Golden Triangle.
China's new push into Southeast Asia is described as an anti-drug operation which began on April 19 and will end on June 20.
It includes protecting commerical and passenger ships on the Mekong River against thieves, kidnappers and guerrillas.
Up to now, security forces from China, Thailand, Myanmar and Laos said they confiscated more than two tons of drugs -- including heroin, opium and methamphetamines -- plus guns and ammunition.
The 812 arrests include citizens from all four countries, plus Vietnam, according to Lan Weihong, an officer at the Narcotics Department in China's powerful Public Security Ministry.
Mr. Lan made the announcement at their "command center...staffed by drug enforcement agents from all four countries," located in Jinghong, a Mekong River port in the southern province of Yunnan, China Daily reported on May 21.
China's new push into Southeast Asia is described as an anti-drug operation which began on April 19 and will end on June 20.
It includes protecting commerical and passenger ships on the Mekong River against thieves, kidnappers and guerrillas.
Up to now, security forces from China, Thailand, Myanmar and Laos said they confiscated more than two tons of drugs -- including heroin, opium and methamphetamines -- plus guns and ammunition.
The 812 arrests include citizens from all four countries, plus Vietnam, according to Lan Weihong, an officer at the Narcotics Department in China's powerful Public Security Ministry.
Mr. Lan made the announcement at their "command center...staffed by drug enforcement agents from all four countries," located in Jinghong, a Mekong River port in the southern province of Yunnan, China Daily reported on May 21.
After two days of wrangling, several major mainstream media organizations agreed to meet Friday, May 31 with Attorney General Eric Holder to discuss the circumstances under which the Justice Department would imprison journalists for reporting on human rights abuses if that reporting is deemed to be damaging to national security. Neither the Columbus Free Press nor Wikileaks was invited to attend or offer comment.
Several news organizations, including the Associated Press and Fox News, both of whom have been placed under electronic surveillance, declined to attend the meeting because it would be secret and off the record. It is not known if the First Amendment was on the agenda, which was secret.
At the last moment, Holder loosened the rule for journalists attending the meeting, permitting them to interview each other after the meeting without threat of imprisonment. Three out of the five journalists who did attend spoke briefly with reporters. They have not yet been arrested.
Several news organizations, including the Associated Press and Fox News, both of whom have been placed under electronic surveillance, declined to attend the meeting because it would be secret and off the record. It is not known if the First Amendment was on the agenda, which was secret.
At the last moment, Holder loosened the rule for journalists attending the meeting, permitting them to interview each other after the meeting without threat of imprisonment. Three out of the five journalists who did attend spoke briefly with reporters. They have not yet been arrested.
Part I
The President’s recent address concerning the War on Terror as it relates to drone warfare has supposedly set the stage for a revitalized American foreign policy. Whereas drone strikes merely described the previous administration’s handling of terrorist threats to the United States, this surreptitious war tactic has actually defined and illuminated the current Obama administration’s congruent pursuit. While acknowledging four American casualties, President Obama stridently defended the drone program as effective, moral, and legal. In his address’ most profound and chilling moment, the President reflected on the drones’ tendencies to cause civilian casualties. “For me, and those in my chain of command, these deaths will haunt us as long as we live," he said. Needless to emphasize further, the drone program is a serious matter that raises questions and requires a proper examination and understanding.
The President’s recent address concerning the War on Terror as it relates to drone warfare has supposedly set the stage for a revitalized American foreign policy. Whereas drone strikes merely described the previous administration’s handling of terrorist threats to the United States, this surreptitious war tactic has actually defined and illuminated the current Obama administration’s congruent pursuit. While acknowledging four American casualties, President Obama stridently defended the drone program as effective, moral, and legal. In his address’ most profound and chilling moment, the President reflected on the drones’ tendencies to cause civilian casualties. “For me, and those in my chain of command, these deaths will haunt us as long as we live," he said. Needless to emphasize further, the drone program is a serious matter that raises questions and requires a proper examination and understanding.
Hackivist Jeremy Hammond accepted a non-cooperating plea agreement Thursday, May 30 in the Stratfor case which could land him in prison for 10 years. Hammond was arrested in March 2012 for his role in the LulzSec hacking attacks on private security and public safety servers.
StratFor is the the trade name for Strategic Forecasting Inc., which bills itself as a private CIA. In documents released by Hammond to Wikileaks, it was revealed that StratFor was spying on ecological and corporate justice activists and marketing it's intelligence to major corporations and government agencies for a subscription fee that often ran to $40,000.
Hammond has spent 15 months in incarcerated without bail and the last several months in total isolation where he is restricted from family visits for 1 year and community visits for 2 years. Additionally, he may be required to pay up to $2.5 million in restitution to his victim, the private intelligence firm StatFor, for lost business and a judgement in civil action against them by their clients for failing to properly secure their private data.
StratFor is the the trade name for Strategic Forecasting Inc., which bills itself as a private CIA. In documents released by Hammond to Wikileaks, it was revealed that StratFor was spying on ecological and corporate justice activists and marketing it's intelligence to major corporations and government agencies for a subscription fee that often ran to $40,000.
Hammond has spent 15 months in incarcerated without bail and the last several months in total isolation where he is restricted from family visits for 1 year and community visits for 2 years. Additionally, he may be required to pay up to $2.5 million in restitution to his victim, the private intelligence firm StatFor, for lost business and a judgement in civil action against them by their clients for failing to properly secure their private data.
BANGKOK, Thailand -- Buddhists and Muslims are clashing with
increasing ferocity in Myanmar, Thailand and Sri Lanka where minority
Islamic ethnic groups blame racism by majority Buddhists more than
religious intolerance.
"It is like the K.K.K. (Klu Klux Klan) in America during the period of the civil rights movement," said Myo Win, a Muslim activist based in Yangon, Myanmar, comparing recent deadly attacks by Buddhists in his Southeast Asian country with white U.S. mobs lynching blacks during the 1960s.
"We are really afraid," Myo Win said on May 9 addressing a Bangkok conference titled, "Violence in the Name of Buddhism."
In Myanmar, also known as Burma, the powerful military and its civilian government representatives refuse to accept 800,000 minority Muslims as citizens.
Myanmar insists they are illegal ethnic Bengali immigrants from impoverished Muslim-majority Bangladesh, who describe themselves as indigenous ethnic Rohingya in western Rakhine state.
"It is like the K.K.K. (Klu Klux Klan) in America during the period of the civil rights movement," said Myo Win, a Muslim activist based in Yangon, Myanmar, comparing recent deadly attacks by Buddhists in his Southeast Asian country with white U.S. mobs lynching blacks during the 1960s.
"We are really afraid," Myo Win said on May 9 addressing a Bangkok conference titled, "Violence in the Name of Buddhism."
In Myanmar, also known as Burma, the powerful military and its civilian government representatives refuse to accept 800,000 minority Muslims as citizens.
Myanmar insists they are illegal ethnic Bengali immigrants from impoverished Muslim-majority Bangladesh, who describe themselves as indigenous ethnic Rohingya in western Rakhine state.
This weekend I chaired a conference entitled "Re-examining the Lucasville Uprising." The following is the unanimous resolution passed on the 20th anniversary of the Lucasville Uprising, the largest prison uprising in the history of the United States.
RE-EXAMINING LUCASVILLE RESOLUTION
Having met in Columbus on April 19-21, 2013, to re-examine the history of the uprising in April 1993 and the judicial proceedings that followed, we conclude:
1. No one should be executed for alleged conduct during the rebellion! The State relied on the unreliable testimony of prisoner informants, obtained in exchange for substantial benefits. The State also concedes that it does not know who were the hands-on killers of Officer Vallandingham and the other victims. Investigators and prosecutors pursued a strategy of targeting prisoners who served as spokespersons and negotiators, in violation of the settlement agreement. There was no physical evidence except for the testimony of medical examiners, which repeatedly contradicted prosecution theories. For these and other facts, see below.
RE-EXAMINING LUCASVILLE RESOLUTION
Having met in Columbus on April 19-21, 2013, to re-examine the history of the uprising in April 1993 and the judicial proceedings that followed, we conclude:
1. No one should be executed for alleged conduct during the rebellion! The State relied on the unreliable testimony of prisoner informants, obtained in exchange for substantial benefits. The State also concedes that it does not know who were the hands-on killers of Officer Vallandingham and the other victims. Investigators and prosecutors pursued a strategy of targeting prisoners who served as spokespersons and negotiators, in violation of the settlement agreement. There was no physical evidence except for the testimony of medical examiners, which repeatedly contradicted prosecution theories. For these and other facts, see below.
First, we were desensitized to water-boarding at Gitmo and electrical shocks to the genitalia at Abu Ghraib. Now torture has trickled down to elementary schools in the U.S. with the “body sock” for autistic kids.
Recently, Naqis Cochran, a ten-year-old autistic child, was restrained with a device known as a “body sock” at Columbus’s South Mifflin Elementary School. The Sock served as Naqis’ punishment for laughing during class. This restraining device is made of stretchy, purple lycra material that is zipped to cover a child’s arms, legs and head. While zipped inside the Sock, the autistic boy fell on his face and knocked out a permanent front tooth, requiring two emergency root canal surgeries.
The teacher told WCMH-TV in Columbus that she instructed Naqis not to move with the Sock on. Again, Naqis is autistic and asthmatic, a point stressed repeatedly by his parents Asad Shabazz and Amatullah Shields on my Talktainmentradio.com radio show last Wednesday. Just like with water-boarding, any person would tend to panic when their head, arms, and legs are encased and zipped into a physical restraining device.
Recently, Naqis Cochran, a ten-year-old autistic child, was restrained with a device known as a “body sock” at Columbus’s South Mifflin Elementary School. The Sock served as Naqis’ punishment for laughing during class. This restraining device is made of stretchy, purple lycra material that is zipped to cover a child’s arms, legs and head. While zipped inside the Sock, the autistic boy fell on his face and knocked out a permanent front tooth, requiring two emergency root canal surgeries.
The teacher told WCMH-TV in Columbus that she instructed Naqis not to move with the Sock on. Again, Naqis is autistic and asthmatic, a point stressed repeatedly by his parents Asad Shabazz and Amatullah Shields on my Talktainmentradio.com radio show last Wednesday. Just like with water-boarding, any person would tend to panic when their head, arms, and legs are encased and zipped into a physical restraining device.
In international law, there is little doubt that torture is a war crime. The United States, along with 149 other nations, has adopted the protocols of the Geneva Conventions. Despite an attempt by the Bush administration to define torture differently than the rest of the world, in 1993 the UN agreed that the protocols defined in the Geneva Conventions had passed into customary international law, and is thus binding on non-member states. This would make any attempts to re-define torture by any state, member or non-member, irrelevant within any international accepted legal framework.
In 1975, the World Medical Association issued the Declaration of Tokyo, which specifically prohibits physicians and psychologists from participating in torture. Closer to home, the State of Ohio has specific rules about patient rights, including laws regarding standards of care and patient confidentiality.
In 1975, the World Medical Association issued the Declaration of Tokyo, which specifically prohibits physicians and psychologists from participating in torture. Closer to home, the State of Ohio has specific rules about patient rights, including laws regarding standards of care and patient confidentiality.
Feb 15th, 2013, Youngstown Ohio-"I did break my hunger strike, with none of my issues satisfied" said Cornelius Harris, in a message to supporters sent on Monday. He says he "felt it was better to come off and do some ground work rather than risk my overall health". Mr Harris had been on hunger strike since January 4th, making him the longest known hunger striker at Ohio's super max prison, Ohio State Penitentiary (OSP).
While on hunger strike, Mr Harris also went to trial, defending himself against criminal charges stemming from incidents of violence with OSP correctional officers. He was facing 9 felony charges, including two counts of aggravated attempted murder. He represented himself, arguing that the fights were self-defense against guards who were systematically harassing him and regularly threatening his life. A jury found him not guilty of the most serious charges, but the judge sentenced him to 32 years for the remaining assault and weapons possession charges. The maximum sentence Judge Maureen Sweeny could have given Mr Harris was 36 years.
While on hunger strike, Mr Harris also went to trial, defending himself against criminal charges stemming from incidents of violence with OSP correctional officers. He was facing 9 felony charges, including two counts of aggravated attempted murder. He represented himself, arguing that the fights were self-defense against guards who were systematically harassing him and regularly threatening his life. A jury found him not guilty of the most serious charges, but the judge sentenced him to 32 years for the remaining assault and weapons possession charges. The maximum sentence Judge Maureen Sweeny could have given Mr Harris was 36 years.