2007

 

 

december 22, 2007, boston: after vietnam the homeless - largely from enlisted (drafted) ranks of vietnam veterans, hung out around south station; there is a continuing indication that low and middle income vets are not allowed to reintegrate into new england society unless they're 'right-wing;' this past veterans day, a veterans for peace contingent wasn't allowed to march in the veterans day parade, except behind the street sweepers... 18 were arrested for holding signs protesting the american legion's exclusion of veterans for peace from the speakers stand; boston municipal court dismissed the charges but after the fact; see the smedley d. butler brigade vfp website at http://smedleyvfp.org/ (w. apprec. vfp maine list, via rawlings, goldshlag).

        ottawa: the university of ottawa has received a 15 million dollar donation from paul desmarais sr.; his company is major stockholder in the belgian/french total group with its closeness to the military dictatorship in burma, operations in sudan, etc.; at a recent open meeting the university's new president gilles patry, praised mr. desmarais as an outstanding canadian businessman while refusing to acknowledge questioning by a canadian friends of burma spokesman ("meet gilles patry, u.of o. president," jesse freeston, dec.12, 2007, indymedia canadian friends of burma via a.i. group 56); transparency is a better way for universities to handle huge donations; corporate policies find their way into universities with any reliance on defence and corporate funding; in the u.s. university ethics currently serve military crimes and bush administration crimes against humanity.

december 13, 2007, chalk river, ontario: closed by canada's nuclear regulatory agency possibly due to an "unknown problem" affecting the reactor core, a chalk river nuclear plant reactor supplying medical isotopes has been told by canada's government to reopen anyway; parliament has voted to suspend the canadian nuclear safety commission’s authority for 120 days, so the plant can reopen; prime minister stephen harper says the atomic regulatory commission head is 'too cautious' ("canada acts to reopen reactor producing medical isotope," ian austen, dec. 13, 2007, the new york times; "canadian parliament orders isotope reactor restart," david ljunggren, dec. 12, 2007, reuters alert; "mps pass bill to restart urgent isotope production,"dec. 11, 2007, cbc news); over-ruling atomic regulators the government risks the lives of the people for generations; according to reuters the medical isotopes are produced for mds inc. and mds nordion; this canadian company is reported to supply half the world market.

december 10, 2007: international human rights day.
for texts of the universal declaration of human rights in over 300 languages see the office of the un high commissioner for human rights collection; our online publication in english has appeared since 1996 in common rights, a primer of united nations texts supporting the convention against genocide, currently available here.

        ottawa: on dec. 6th, liberal and new democratic party members of the citizenship and immigration committee of the house of commons pushed through a motion (to be presented to the full house) "to allow conscientious objectors and their immediate family members..., who have refused or left military service related to a war not sanctioned by the United Nations and do not have a criminal record, to apply for permanent resident status and remain in Canada" (appreciation to the war resisters support campaign, ed corrigan, linda belanger, dec. 7, 2007, nowar-paix).

        british columbia: the canadian supreme court refused to hear john graham's appeal and on december 6th he was extradited to the united states; as with the extradition of leonard peltier, this places graham at the mercy of the f.b.i.'s longstanding war on american indian movement activists.

        new orleans: standing by the door of a citizen protest asking municipal government to stop demolitions, bill quigley was violently arrested by a plainclothes officer; quigley is a courageous nlg attorney and law professor respected for his commitment to community and human rights; a video of the arrest is available at wdsu.com [access: < http://www.wdsu.com/video/14794232/index.html >]; the roughness of arrest without apparent provocation suggests law enforcement shock tactics to inhibit legal recourse and legal defence ("new orleans fracas over plans to raze housing," associated press, dec. 7, 2007 & "bill quigley arrested in new orleans la !!!" dec. 7, 2007, the christian radical); see also attempts to silence community lawyers on our political prisoners pages.

        chicago: democracy now reports that abdelhaleem ashqar is sentenced in federal court to 11 years, for not testifying about the palestinian group, hamas; palestinian-american, the former professor at howard university said he didn't want to give information that would help the israeli government ("palestinian professor sentenced to 11 years for refusing to testify," nov. 26, 2007, democracy now!);the government of israel is currently engaged in crimes against humanity in gaza; previously acquitted of deep involvement in hamas and supporting terrorism, why is this man sentenced in a chicago court for not participating in a foreign war ? is the judicial system threatening palestinian-americans - to give information to authorities or go to prison ?

        gaza: emergency appeal (via "appeal from ministry of health - gaza," dec. 4, 2007, khaled mouammar):

            Appeal - Appeal - Appeal
We have a very series shortage of diesel in the ministry of Health;the majority of the 11 hospitals of MOH do suffer from a shortage of fuel, the same is for the 52 primary health care clinics and vehicles. I am not speaking now about the consequences but they are catastrophic and include the transportation defect which will not enable the employees of the Ministry to go to their hospitals. Please. We urge you to help us by applying any sort of pressure that could let the Israelis change their mind about this fatal action that would threaten the lives of thousands of civilians in the already under siege Gaza.
Dr Medhat Abbas
General Director of Crisis Management Unit
Ministry of Health, Gaza
Contact: mabbas@gov.ps
 

december 1, 2007, canada: canadian federal court has declared that the u.s. is not a 'safe' third country for refugees...

        u.s.: the pentagon and state department deny that depleted uranium causes any health hazard, citing a world health organization report "that found levels in war zones not harmful to civilians or soldiers" ("cancer in iraq vets raises possibility of toxic exposure," carla mcclain, oct. 28, 2007, arizona daily star 1 globalreasearch.ca); for other notes on depleted uranium see our environment page

        a cbs investigation finds an additional burden of war dead u.s. soldiers through suicides after their return stateside; generally suicide rates for veterans are about triple those for non-veterans ("pentagon cover up: 15,000 or more u.s. casualties in iraq war," mike whitney, nov. 17, 2007, information clearing house; "suicide epidemic among veterans," nov. 13, 2007, cbs); suicide killed many vietnam veterans, particularly from the ranks when they couldn't get work.

november 27, 2007, u.s.:

"law and resistance: the republic in crisis and the people’s response"     by francis boyle

historical note, canada:
in 2004 and 2005, before canada's supreme court decision found security certificates as applied, illegal, a portion of canada's legal community protested the injustice; available here [temporary only / removed ], is a lawyers against the war response to life-threatening hunger strikes by security certificate detainees hassan almrei and mohammad majoub, and "a letter to minister of public safety and emergency preparedness;" see also canadian security certificate detainees.

november 11, 2007, remembrance day ~ canada, veterans day ~ u.s.: a case by amnesty international canada and the b.c. civil liberties association against canadian troops turning over prisoners to afghan authorities is to proceed, canadian federal court has ruled ("canadian court allows human rights suit," ap, nov. 6, 2007, new york times; "ottawa overruled on afghan detainees; charter challenge can proceed, court says," daniel leblanc, Nov. 6, 2007, globe and mail); the crown attempted to disallow the case although human rights groups believe detainees turned over to afghan authorities lack protection against being tortured; conservative party rule is trying to use the crown to further conservative war policies.

        click here for an update on the case of omar khadr illegally held and tortured at guantanamo since the age of 15 without protection by government.

        after 17 months in solitary confinement, qayyum jamal is freed on bail; one of the adult victims in a sensational multi-national case of use to the "war on terrorism", conspiracy to bomb charges against him are simply dropped; lesser charges remain; see night's lantern: the campaign against 'the toronto 18'.

        canadian soldiers subjected to the u.s. operation plumbbob exposure to atomic testing during the 'cold war' lack information , redress and benefits to cover illnesses resulting from a crime by joint commands; evidence suggests that the radiation exposure to each soldier was monitored ("access denied," david pugliese, nov. 10, 2007, the ottawa citzen); the article notes 900 military personnel exposed to atomic testing and irradiated by accidents at the chalk river nuclear plant...

        historically u.s. and canadian reporting of radiation exposure is unreliable; canadians should be particularly sensitive to the case of captain terry riordan (d. april 1999); information on radiation exposure from d.u. weaponry used against iraq may offer some explanation of medical difficulties for canadian troops in afghanistan where u.s. weaponry was previously used; a recent report by doug westerman summarizes difficulties with depleted uranium exposure in iraq and afghanistan ("depleted uranium - far worse than 9/11," doug westerman, oct.1, 2007, thepeoplesvoice.org):

Two strange phenomena have come about in Basra which I have never seen before. The first is double and triple cancers in one patient. For example, leukemia and cancer of the stomach. We had one patient with 2 cancers – one in his stomach and kidney. Months later, primary cancer was developing in his other kidney--he had three different cancer types. The second is the clustering of cancer in families ... Children in particular are susceptible to DU poisoning. - jawad al-ali, doctor and director, oncology centre, basra; 2003 (ibid.).

Everyone seems to be dying of cancer. Every day one hears about another acquaintance or friend of a friend dying. How many more die in hospitals that one does not know? Apparently, over thirty percent of Iraqis have cancer, and there are lots of kids with leukemia.... baghdad diaries, nuha al radi, d. sept. 2004 (leukemia) (ibid.).

there is increasing evidence of the disasterous long term effects of depleted uranium weaponry and dispersion of d.u. dust, with unofficial reports having to rely on evidence from as early as 2002-3; subsequent u.s. and canadian information seems entirely suppressed; for some years night's lantern has carried research by dr, miraki, initially linked and now posted here, concerning effects of depleted uranium in afghanistan; see the silent genocide from america, and the perpetual death from america.

see also dr. al-azzawi's definitive report at hiroshima, 2006 for effects of depleted uranium use in iraq: depleted uranium radioactive contamination in iraq: an overview.

        iraq: in a report from the yagen news agency uruknet.info (information from inside iraq):The General Secretary of the Union of Political Prisoners and Detainees in Iraq, Muhammad Adham al-Hamd declared that the US occupation administration in Iraq relies on systematic rape, torture, and sadistic treatment of Iraqi women prisoners in its prison camps in the country. Al-Hamd said that the enormous crimes being committed against women in the prison camps in occupied Iraq have the support and blessings of the US military, for whom the practices serve as a means to bring psychological pressure on men engaged in the Resistance, in an attempt to break their spirit and fighting will....("u.s. practicing systematic rape, torture, sadism against women in iraqi prison camps," oct. 27, 2007, yagen news agency, translated by muhammad abu nasr); red cross and u.n. covered groups are not being allowed access to prisons under control of 'militias' and there are 'official' warnings of cholera and aids epidemics within these camps (ibid.).

        u.s.: "the violent radicalization and homegrown terrorism prevention act" finds the internet dangerous "in facilitating violent radicalization , ideologically based violence, and the homegrown terrorism process" by making available "terrorist-related' propaganda; in the house the bill was passed 404 to 6, october 23rd ("examining the homegrown terrorism prevention act," lindsay beyerstein, nov. 1, 2007, in these times).

        spain: spanish parliament has passed the "law of historical memory", which forbids public evidence of franco's crimes,expunges many of his atrocities from public life, finds his military trials-with-execution, illegitimate, and honours all the victims of the civil war including clergy; the spanish senate is expected to approve the bill this month; the mass graves of franco's opposition are to be exhumed ("spanish mps condemn franco's rule," oct. 31, 2007, bbc.news; "spanish bill passed condemning gen. francisco franco's dictatorship," ap, oct. 31, 2007, international herald tribune)

historical note - from jarama valley, a song about the lincoln battalion (recorded by woody guthrie, pete seeger as well) :

even though we lost a battle at jarama
we'll set this valley free before we're through
                    all the world is like this valley called jarama
                    its so green and so bright and so fair...

 

november 3, 2007: two quotations from canadian poet, milton acorn (1923-86):

Sleeping Giant
                           :
                What kind of pill did you take
That you sleep and we have nightmares ?

"Jesus Christ Joe
There's ten million dollars of equipment in sight
- how is it that we're poor ?"                

 

october 31, 2007, iraq: according to o.r.b. an english research and polling services company whose clients include the bank of scotland, over twice the murders of iraqis estimated by the lancet (654,965 deaths) have occurred since the 2003 invasion; the methodology of the poll is available and reasonable; the company points out that the number of murdered exceeds the 800,000 lost to the rwanda genocide in 1994 ("september 2007 - more than 1,000,000 iraqis murdered" [access: http://www.opinion.co.uk/newsroom_details.aspx?newsId=78], apprec. lawyers against the war); there is gradually a more widespread understanding of the u.s. and coalition war against iraq as a genocide; stephen lendman's article in global research, "torture, paramilitarism, occupation and genocide," oct. 25, 2007, summarizes data from dr. gideon polya which adds 800,000 deaths of iraqi children under age 5 (unicef data) to o.r.b. data of 1.2 million violence related deaths = 2 million iraqis; the article quotes the figure of "3.2 million" war deaths in afghanistan (including 700 thousand children) since 2001; dr. polya's data shows 8 million unnecessarily dead in iraq, afghanistan, palestine, lebanon; these would be mostly muslims; there is a terrible ongoing crime revealed here.

october 28, 2007, the vatican: the catholic church has beatified another 498 spanish bishops, priests and layworkers martyred in the early days of the spanish civil war when the church was strongly identified with fascism; 500 clergy have previously been made saints since 1980; spain's parliament is expected to pass a bill condemning franco and his criminal excesses ("vatican beatifies 498 spanish martyrs," nicole winfield ap, newsday.com); with support of the church, nazi germany, the italian fascist government, and international corporate fascism, spanish fascists overthrew spain's republic and democracy providing immediate vengeance ("the white terror") with the deaths of 200,000 martyrs who are not beatified; despite obstacles created by canadian and u.s. governments, working class canadians sent nearly 1500 to fight in spain mostly in the mackenzie-papineau battalion and the americans 3000 mostly in the lincoln brigade, - these fought to preserve democracy; of the canadians about half were killed in spain; a memorial dedicated in 2001 stands in green island park in ottawa, inscribed with the names of the 1546 volunteers; no pasaran.

october 27, 2007, u.k.: in great britain the chief of the defence staff sir graham eric ("jock") stirrup has announced that the war in afghanistan has only a political solution (this would rule out a military solution); stirrup "was u.k national contingent commander for operations against the taliban in afghanistan," sep 2001-jan 2002 ("jock stirrup," wikipedia; "stirrup: afghanistan needs political solution," oct. 26, 2007, telegraph.co.uk w. apprec. l.a.w.); in preparation for the nato summit in the netherlands, baron ("paddy") ashdown, former leader of the liberal democrats in the u.k. declared that nato has lost the war in afghanistan and it may prove to be a loss more damaging than the loss of iraq ("afghanistan is lost, says lord ashdown," tom coghlan, oct. 25, 2007, daily telegraph, apprec. l.a.w.); sensitive to international law lord ashdown presented legal testimony against slobodan milosevic at the international court tribunal against former yugoslavia ("paddy ashdown," wikipedia).

october 26, 2007, linz, austria: on this day franz jägerstätter, a farmer, becomes a saint in the catholic church; in 1938 he refused to serve in the nazi military, was found guilty of treason and beheaded in berlin, august 9, 1943.

        paris: visiting france, donald rumsfeld is charged with torture; see genocide warnings & updates.

october 25, 2007, u.s.: the christian science monitor suggests that returning veterans of iraq and afghanistan are faced with "a growing need for medical specialists;" also, nearly 40% of those who became veterans administration patients "received a preliminary diagnosis of a mental health condition" ("wounded troops overwhelm care,"brad knickerbocker, oct. 22, 2007, the christian science monitor).

       u.s.: the government accountability office reports that the 'terrorist watch list' ostensibly compiled to keep terrorists out of the u.s. has 755,000 names and is growing by 200,000 a year ("terror watch list swells to more than 755,000," mimi hall, oct. 25, 2007, usa today).

        canada: the conservative government is attempting to reinstate "security certificates" with the mechanism of "special advocates" and only a 48 hour detention-without-recourse; both measures are interpretations of supreme court justice suggestions when unanimously finding security certificates unconstitutional ("top court overturns federal security certificates," feb 23, 2007, ctv.ca;"new bill aims to revise security certificates," oct. 22, 2007, ctv.ca); however, these measures continue to leave a detainee without human rights such as the right to a fair trial, the right to know one's accuser, the right of the accused to know the accusations, the right of 'habeas corpus' etc..- ed..

        canada: former canadian supreme court justice louise arbour, currently removed from active participation in canadian jurisprudence by her appointment as the u.n.'s high commissioner for human rights, has noted with "profound disappointment" the conservative government's refusal to sign the united nations declaration of rights for indigenous peoples ("canada's commitment slipping, u.n. rights boss says," oct. 22, 2007).

october 20, 2007: canadian security certificates are an illegal process taking over guarantees of individuals' human rights, and applied to scare other canadians into accepting injustice; in ottawa the pan canadian day of action against security certificates resulted in a gathering at the human rights memorial about 1:30 to listen to speakers; the justice for mohamed harkat committee's leaflet/pamphlet, "fact sheet: the supreme court ruling on security certificates," points out that unconstitutional aspects of canadian security certificates won't be solved by appointing a "special advocate;" see justice for mohamed harkat website at "http://www.zerra.net/freemohamed/"; for histories of the current applications of canadian security certificates see nights lantern; the cross country day of action was endorsed by gerald and maas among more important backers and groups and continues tomorrow in montreal with a panel discussion at five featuring abdullah amalki, a victim of "extraordinary rendition" (see coalition justice for adil charkaoui at http://www.jerome.koumbit.org/adil/en).

        ontario: with a court date in january 2009, shawn brant faces 9 charges connected with april and june blockades; the crown attorney seeks two years prison apiece for six charges of mischief; currently on bail brant has a high profile as amohawk spokesperson rallying defence of the culbertson tract ("prosecution seeks minimum 12 years of federal penitentiary time," oct. 17, 2007, ontario coalition against poverty); if the law intends to signal a persecution of first peoples by making an example of shawn brant, it can rely on the conservative government's error in refusing to sign the united nations declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples.

        new york city: the u.s. house of representatives has passed the free flow of information act of 2007 ("h.r. 2102"), a bill which allows journalists not to tell on / reveal their sources; this extension of freedom of expression known as a "shield law", finds exception in cases of national security; the senate's deliberation and vote is hoped for this year ("house passes historic federal shield law," corefreedoms@pen.org, oct. 17, 2007, pen american center).

october 14, 2007: montreal: at a montreal gathering of important people discussing genocide, jordanian prince zeid ra'ad zeid al-hussein, a former u.n. worker, has chided the united nations for its lack of faithfulness to human rights; gay mcdougall of global rights, attributes a slowness of international response to violations as poor communication within the u.n.; gregory stanton of genocide watch sees warning signs of genocide in "comments made by iranian president mahmoud ahmadinejad" while comparing him to "hitler" ("u.n. blasted at montreal forum on genocide," oct. 12, 2007, cbc news); with family background in suffrage and anti-slavery (see wikipedia) stanton worked at the u.s. state department before founding "genocide watch" in 1999; with impeccable credentials from the establishment he is able to ignore within any context of a genocide, events such as the current ongoing destruction of the iraqis as a national group, etc..

october 5, 2007, canada: new democratic party immigration critic olivia chow, and ndp b.c. mp alex atamanenko asked the harper government to reconsider deporting american war resister robin long who was subsequently released by immigration authorities in vancouver october 3rd; he still faces assessment; according to the ndp press release, in ontario two thirds of voters favour letting war resisters stay ("ndp calling for the release of u.s. war resister robin long," oct. 2, 2007, ndp press release; "robin long released !" oct. 3, 2007, war resisters support campaign).

u.s.a.: with americans under threat of an illegal bush administration aggression against iran and continuing executive branch takeover, after downing street [access:< http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/ >] presents information useful for impeaching bush and cheney; ellsberg points out below, that democratic procedures probably won't remain if the present course continues; see "national impeachment resource center" [access:< http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/resourcecenter >]. 

october 4, 2007, usa: hillary clinton has refused to endorse an extremely modest affirmation of basic human rights as presented in the u.s. constitution; all other democratic party contenders have affirmed the "american freedom pledge" ("clinton won't commit to renew constitution," john nichols, oct. 3, 2007, the nation online [access: http://www.thenation.com/blogs/campaignmatters?pid=239574]).

october 3, 2007, north america: the people are under ongoing threat that the u.s. government will open another aggressive war, this time against iran; this would further a policy of genocide against muslim nations; on september 20th daniel ellsberg's speech at american university declared that the bush administration was effectively acting out a coup d'etat, and that an attack on iran is likely, and that subsequently a police state is likely to be installed in the u.s. ("a coup has occurred," daniel ellsberg, sept. 26, 2007, consortiumnews.com); there seems a continuing concentrated attempt to criminalize people of conscience, to separate them (ie., in prison or in camps) from a larger socially engineered war against muslim countries; i think it probably is a war of genocide and should be resisted by all tribes, by all religious peoples, and every individual, - ed..

times change; nonviolent resistance led leaders like gandhi and martin luther king jr. and their people into prison; the nonviolence of both appealed to codes of decency and morality within the systems they struggled against; when no morality exists decency has to be re-created by the people; i believe that it's best to keep those struggling for justice out of prison; i believe it's a mistake to surrender oneself to authorities in symbolic actions or protest actions when the power group is deeply criminal; trust of the authorities betrays their victims; instead of letting moral people go to prison we should try to free all political prisoners. - j.b.gerald, ed..

          british columbia, canada : robin long, a war resister, was arrested oct. 2nd, walking down the street in nelson; police officials have moved him to vancouver and say they plan to turn him over to the americans; awol from the u.s. military his partner and child are canadians; he was denied refugee status ("war resister arrested - please call your mp, nelson police," war resisters support campaign, oct. 2, 2007, lawyers against the war email) by canadian policy which for a generation has pretended refugees from the u.s. are not; war resisters support campaign points out no iraq war resisters have yet been turned over to the u.s.; this police action suggests a policy of applying pressure to all resisting movements, possibly for expanded nato / israeli / u.s. military actions war in the middle east.

          u.s.: haaretz reports that the c.i.a. has not released all records pertaining to itstransport and the employment of german nazis during and after world war ii ; the nazi war crimes & japanese imperial government records interagency working group, has brought to light over 8.5 million pages of previously classified material ("report: cia stalling publication of records on use of ex-nazi spies," reuters / haaretz, sept. 29, 2007, haaretz.com); the omissions cover large numbers of nazi and japanese war criminal collaborators; interested in this area for some years i've found references to the use of canada as legal entry point for nazis to the u.s. but find no reference to it in canada where it seems historically to be a non-fact. - ed..

          san salvador atenco, mexico: of 214 survivors who were raped/tortured/arrested in the 3500 agent police invasion of atenco may 3rd and 4th 2006, magdalena garcía durán and 27 others remain in concentration camps (molino de flores, santiaguito) and altiplano prison; they are primarily charged with "attacking a highway" ("marathon to free magdalena garcia durán and atenco prisoners," carolina s.,portland indymedia, sep. 15, 2007,bahia de banderas news); background includes reports of torture with rape and sexual abuse of police victims, the use of the unacceptable to force a civilian population into submission ("police brutality in atenco: reports of rape and murder as the number of politcial prisoners and disappeared passes 400," bertha rodriguez santos, may 6, 2006, the narco news bulletin); for information on political prisoners to the north.

september 25, 2007, ontario: an entire band of 28 navajo understood by the media as "nomadic", is reported arrested en masseand held under anti-terrorist legislation; this is another questionable police action following the harper government's refusal to sign the united nations declaration of aboriginal rights ; violation of this band's rights began on its entry into ontario; as of september 18th the arrests were not verified by the r.c.m.p. or provincial police ("navajo families arrested in canada as terrorists," ahni, sept. 18, 2007, intercontinental cry; "natives arrested en route to protest," sept. 25, 2007, belleville intelligencer).

        shawn brant was released on substantial bail and restrictive conditions august 30, 2007; the hearing remains under publication ban; he is being made to answer for several rail blockades ("shawn brant released on custody," ocap [access: "http://ocap.ca/taxonomy/term/5"]).

        there is some evidence that the conservative party is attempting to capitalize locally on its decision not to honour the international treaty for indigenous rights at the u.n.; in ontario the liberal party claims that the conservative party is risking peace with election promises calculated to please the settlers' side of current disputes ("ontario pd leader 'stirring the pot' in caledonia, says liberals," sept. 23, 2007, cbc news).

        quote from a mohawk nation news article on the arrests of september 20th ("charges laid against caledonia protesters," sept. 20, 2007, cbc news):

"The defenders knew that if one of the cops got hurt, they would be blamed. Most of the people arrested were women in their twenties and thirties, some younger and one elder, and a few men. Most were beaten in the encounter. All emerged with ugly black and blue bruises under their arms, all down the sides of their bodies and back and down their legs. Some had bumps on their heads. These were the scars of what the cops call 'gentle arrests'" - ("what gives ?" kahentinetha horn, sept. 20, 2007, mnn via "6 nations defenders charged with 'mis'chief," mnn sept. 23, 2007, orakwa email).

        north america: decisions to prosecute in two cases of questionable legality, one under u.s. military jurisdiction, the other under canadian law, suggests a concerted effort to serve propaganda interests of the "war on terror" before people's basic human rights; in the u.s. a specially created u.s. military appeals court has decided canadian omar khadr is to be tried despite the judge's dismissal of charges june 4th; in canada the preliminary hearing process against the toronto 18 was suddenly halted by the crown and the suspects re-charged; hearings have been under publication ban; the crown's decision hides elements of its case which are considered ridiculous, and may distract attention from its informants; background.

september 22, 2007, puerto rico: tomorrow is the anniversary of el grito de lares, puerto rico's revolt against colonial spain which was ended by u.s. invasion; the date also marks the senseless extra-judicial killing of filiberto ojeda rios by the f.b.i. in 2005 [access: http://www.september23.org/] ("sept. 23 - rally for puerto rican in dependence and self-determination," ahni, sept 2, 2007, intercontinental cry).

        the u.s. senate has squashed a measure to assure habeas corpus to non-citizen suspects ("senate bars bill to restore detainee rights," susan cornwell, sept. 19, 2007, reuters.com; "habeas corpus and a senate race in maine," john nichols, sept. 20, 2007, the nation - yahoo! news); this intentionally deprives possibly innocent victims of their human rights; the nichols article points out that maine's veteran senator olympia snowe crossed party lines to stand for "habeas corpus" and the constitution, while maine's susan collins stuck with bush; congressman tom allen should be able to replace collins as senator in 2008; from an historical perspective the senate is trying to set itself outside the law...ed. (for more concerning guantanamo).

          gaza: in the invasion of gaza among other casualties we note the death of mahmud kayed at 16, "ripped to shreds" ("israel bars palestinians from aqsa," sept. 21, 2007, alalam.ir) when run over by a bulldozer; he was throwing rocks at invading forces ("palestinian youth crushed to death by israeli bulldozer,"sept. 21, 2007, democracy now!); alalam.ir notes human rights commissioner louise arbour's concern for the suffering of gaza's people, declared an "enemy entity" on sept. 19 by israel's government.

          caledonia: about 50 ontario provincial police officers took over a small native protest at the stirling woods development (where a builder, sam gualtieri was badly beaten); nine were arrested on unspecified charges ("police arrest nine at native protest site in caledonia," anon, sept. 20, 2007, infoshop news; "police arrest nine at native protest site in caledonia," michael-allan marion, sept. 20, 2007, brantford expositor); this pleased some builders, not realizing their common interest is with first peoples in the need to protect the land.

          mexico: the volkswagon plant was closed down for a week; reuters reports that the peoples revolutionary army (epr) blasts damaged the mexican economy (with losses of possibly 1.6 billion dollars); this has begun to raise media interest; targeting of natural gas pipelines, stopped the furnaces from pouring steel; it is likely to be impossible to secure all vulnerable points ("leftist rebel attacks hit heart of mexico economy," jason lange, sept. 20, 2007, reuters u.k.); belittled by earlier newspaper accounts the revolutionary group started up in 1996 and has endured; its leaders are known but not easily caught; the movement is native to mexico; its explosives are simple, plastiques and saltpeter, mining or industrial; two leaders are missing and believed to be dead or under torture by mexican authorities who deny arresting them:gabriel alberto cruz sanchez and edmundo reyes (source: "guerrilla band wages war in mexico," hector tobar, sept. 20, 2007, latimes.com).

          vatican city: when condoleeza rice requested a meeting with pope benedict xvi last summer he wasn't available ("pope 'refused audience' for rice," sept. 19, 2007, bbc news).

september 14, 2007, under u.s. authority: at guantanamo bay an al-jazeera journalist sami al-haj, risks becoming the fifth official suicide resulting from guantanamo's program of psychological torture.

          mexico: in a news story that has neither been explained nor contradicted, several more explosions basically attributed to the peoples revolutionary army (epr) have damaged state owned oil pipelines in southern mexico, without casualties, causing the evacuation of 12 thousand workers ("guerillas blamed as blasts hit mexican oil pipelines," sept.10, 2007, cbc news ).

          canada: while avoiding admission of liability the harper government is granting about 4500 agent orange victims from 7 specific days in '66 and '67, at gagetown, just under twenty thousand apiece, possibly enough to hire a good attorney; april 1, 2009 is the compensation application deadline; i found no mention in canadian media concerning eligibility of u.s. personnel training at cfb gagetown; see below; the ap's report of the story states "the u.s. military tested agent orange, agent purple and several other powerful defoliants on a small section of the base in gagetown, new brunswick, over seven days in 1966 and 1967" ("canada to pay victims of agent orange," ap, sept 13, 2007, msnbc; "agent orange compensation inadequate, victims group says," ken meaney canwest, sept. 13, 2007, national post; "ottawa to offer compensation to gagetown vets," sept. 12, 2007, cbc).

          weakening canada's commitment to human rights the harper government has decided not to sign / honour the united nations declaration on aboriginal rights; what this signals to native americans and all north americans concerned with preserving land mass ecology, is increased surveillance, social controls, and denials of human rights; the current minister of indian affairs explains canada's reversal of direction by finding the treaty rights already well covered by canada's charter of rights; the u.n. assembly approved the treaty with 143 votes in favour, 11 abstentions and canada, the u.s., australia and new zealand against ("canada to vote against u.n. declaration on native rights," sept. 13, 2007, cbc news; "u.n. vote 'stain' on canada's image," les whittington, sept. 14, 2007, thestar.com (toronto star)).

september 7, 2007, ottawa: in the midst of the turmoil created by politicians and generals we announce our publication today of two books made entirely in our workshop: a alphabet   by julie maas, a politically incorrect alphabet [see press list]; and manifest  by john bart gerald, with drawings by julie maas, essays discovering the genocides we are living through and where they come from.

august 29, 2007, sharbot lake ontario: an ontario court judge has ordered algonquins off lands claimed by a local company for uranium mining ("mnn urgent! judge orders invasion of sharbot lake algonquins wed. aug. 29," kahentinetha horn, aug. 28, 2007, orakwa email); uranium mining in the region would threaten the water table and the future; see july 28th, below; note canada's role as a global supplier of uranium; other concerns about uranium mining are noted amid historical notes on our environment page; canada's defence industry remains relatively unhampered by civilian restrictions; japanese journalists, naomi toyoda and hitoshi shimizu, have released a short video about the current effects of depleted uranium in iraq where civilians and international military personnel lack information on radiation exposure levels: unknown terror of du, is available at http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8703746205082819717 (appreciation nowar-paix); for the effects of depleted uranium on the children of afghanistan see the silent genocide from america, by mohammed daud miraki.

august 26, 2007, quebec: three masked quebec provincial police, confronted by a union leader at the montebello protest of the security and prosperity partnership meeting, were finally admitted to be police agents though quebec provincial police has denied their role as provocateurs ("quebec police admit to using provocateurs," steve lambert canadian press, aug. 23, 2007, the toronto star); the press has focussed on this aspect of the trilateral meeting; demo's at montebello seem to have been small, but the result of considerable care and effort by a wide range of canadian groups in particular; ottawa's sunday march (august 19th) in support was substantial for ottawa at two to three thousand marchers, families, children, under heavy police surveillance and presence; use of 'provocateurs' is by now a standard mechanism of police and covert intelligence at north american demo's, rallies, 'marches'; there is some evolution in that this time the provocateurs were publicly confronted and caught; valid challenges to 'provocateurs' are necessary; officers in charge of 'provocateur' operations should be answerable for attempting to subvert the people's legal rights ...ed.

        for updates on the cases of omar khadr and other political prisoners.

august 23, 2007, massachusetts:
historical note: august 23, 1927, anarchists nicola sacco and bartolomeo vanzetti, immigrants to the u.s. from italy, were executed; in 1977 michael dukakis as governor of massachusetts issued a proclamation that "any disgrace should be forever removed from their names" ("sacco and vanzetti," wikipedia access of aug. 22, 2007).

I champion the weak, the poor, the oppressed, the simple and the persecuted; I maintain that whosoever benefits or hurts a man benefits or hurts the whole species. I sought my liberty and the liberty of all, my happiness and the happiness of all. I wanted a roof for every family, bread for every mouth, education for every heart, light for every intellect. I am convinced that human history has not yet begun, that we find ourselves in the last period of the prehistoric. I see with the eyes of my soul how the sky is diffused with the rays of the new millennium – bartolomeo vanzetti (from sacco and vanzetti,dir. peter miller, first run features, w. appreciation "sacco and vanzetti: 80 years after their execution, a look at the men, the murders, and the judgment of mankind,:" amy goodman, aug. 22, 2007, democracy now! );

So, Son, instead of crying, be strong , so as to be able to comfort your mother...take her for a long walk in the quiet country, gathering wild flowers here and there...But remember, always, Dante , in the play of happiness, don't use all for yourself only... help the persecuted and the victim because they are your better friends... - from nicola sacco's last letter to his son, dante (a people's history of the united states , howard zinn, 1980 , harper & row);

for contemporary north american political prisoners see night's lantern's political prisoners pages

august 20, 2007, netherlands: an article by arthur max ("nazi archive opens up," arthur max ap, aug. 19, 2007, newsday.com), reveals that concentration camp records held half a century are being released by the international tracing service to museums keeping records in jerusalem and washington; the material is entirely computerized with images of 20 million pages; the material may be available to the public after examination by the museums's experts; there is no explanation why the records are not released to a wide range of victimized groups, including the roma and communist parties in europe; the international tracing service is administered in cooperation with the international red cross; after wwii its mandate to trace persons missing in war covers all german and occupied country concentration camp (and other detention) prisoners from 1933 to 1945, jewish deportees, foreigners in reich territory, internationally registered displaced persons, and children of the above; requests for information can be made directly to the central tracing office, according to its website at www.its-arolsen.org/ , available in english, french and german ("who may file an inquiry and how ?" [access: http://www.its-arolsen.org/english/index.html]); the source cited refers inquiries about german citizens not victims of the nazis, to the tracing service of the german red cross, munich.

august 17, 2007, new york: with fascism the lack of balance only increases; reuters notes that an nypd report suggests the internet enables the process of "radicalization" leading to muslim extremism ("internet is the 'new afghanistan': ny police commissioner," michelle nichols and edith honan, aug. 15, 2007, reuters ~ yahoo! news); the argument reflects the anti-intellectual, anti-learning, anti-freedom of information mechanism we think of as 'nazi'.

august 16, 2007, colombia: a report on ynetnews.com ,"israeli guerillas in colombia," states that israeli army personnel are working with americans and british, supporting government forces; the focus is on intelligence gathering and military structuring; israeli forces are working under a ten million dollar contract; the article quotes an upper level official:" israel's methods of fighting terror have been duplicated in colombia" ("report: israelis fighting guerillas in colombia," beatrice overlander, aug. 10, 2007, israel news - ynetnews.com, courtesy a.k.mohideen).

        mexico: the peoples revolutionary army (epr) claimed two explosions august first, one close by a sears, another near a u.s. owned bank; there were no casualties or injuries ("rebels take credit for mexico bomb blast," ap, aug. 2, 2007, usa daily).

        houston texas: democracy now! reports a bullet fired through plate glass into houston’s pacifica studio narrowly missing mary thomas at the microphone for her zydeco show, august 6; law enforcement efforts in the case seem minimal; the station, kpft, was bombed ‘by the klan’ two times in the 1970's (“kpft targeted: bullet pierces studio window of pacifica’s houston station,” amy goodman, aug. 15, 2007, democracy now!).

        palestine: khalid amayeh reports from occupied jerusalem that the gaza strip is becoming hell for one and a half million palestinians; “gazans are being pushed into a situation very similar to that which prevailed at the ghetto warsaw” (“gaza: the auschwitz of our time,” khalid amayreh, aug. 9, 2007, citizens international, courtesy a.k.mohideen ).

august 13, 2007, canada: the globe and mail reports that the canadian bar association was moved to an outpouring of sympathy and a standing ovation in response to omar khadr's u.s. military lawyer, lt.-cdr. william kuebler, who told them he couldn't understand why canada hadn't intervened under law, for the rights of khadr as a minor child; agence france press reports that the c.b.a. has presented harper with a letter asking for khadr's repatriation and reminding the prime minister of canada's signing the optional protocol on the rights of the child on the involvement of children in armed combat ("canadian bar association moves to support rights of khadr," kirk makin, aug. 11, 2007, globe and mail; "canadian lawyers call for guantanamo suspect's repatriation," afp, aug. 12, 2007, yahoo news; "canada lawyers urge pm to work for omar khadr release from guantanamo bay," michael sung, aug. 13, 2007, jurist); some momentum is gathering to correct a shameful omission of rights by u.s. and canadian administrations; for the lawyers against the war letter of june 12th to the harper government, click here [ archived]; see the entry below of june 13th for background.

august 12, 2007, ottawa: as canadian anti-fascist communities prepare for the bush, calderon, harper,"security and prosperity partnership" meetings, two ottawa activists against are reported arrested without explanation; the arbitrary arrests are interpreted as an attempt to silence dissent with charges that remove activists from participation; the two activists, matt morgan brown and dan sawyer, were released at 2:30 am sunday morning to thirty protesters at the station ("group calls for disclosure of the reasons why opponents of the security andprosperity partnership were targeted," dylan penner, aug. 12, 2007, act for earth with appreciation nowar-paix list).

        as russia makes an undersea claim to the ocean floor of a portion of the arctic, prime minister harper states canada is establishing 2 military bases in the far north; canada also has sovereign claim to the northwest passage; the danes are currently mounting a scientific expedition to advance a claim to the oil rich region; the u.s. and norway also make claims in the arctic ("pm starts fight for north," canadian press, aug. 10, 2007, the toronto star; "now danes test claim on pole,"ap/cp, aug. 11, 2007, the toronto star; "canada pm asserts arctic claims," aug.10, 2007, bbc).

        venezuela: representatives of forty indigenous peoples gathered at mapiricure to advance an international indigenous anti-colonial movement; kahentinetha horn, one of two women in the mohawk delegation helps explain such gatherings noting that canada exempted indigenous people from its definition of 'human being' until 1951 ("mnn bears mount silver eagle to meet condor in venezuela," kahentinetha horn, aug. 5, 2007, mohawk nation news ~ orakwa).

u.s. : upi reports testimony to the "research advisory committee on gulf war veterans' illnesses" reveals that a quarter of the 175,000 veterans of the gulf war are very sick; committee chairman james binns says no effective treatment is there for gulf war syndrome; the committee's scientific advisor,lea steele, considers toxic chemical exposure a prime cause; 260 million has been spent on defence/veterans related studies; disability is now available for illnesses with non-specific causes ("gulf war illness still incurable," rosalie westenskow (upi), aug. 2, 2007, space war w. appreciation rawlings); symptoms suggest radiation exposure, inherent with depleted uranium; a particularly high rate of illness in gulf war veterans suggest a lowering of immune & health recovery defences against toxicity, yet problems of radiation exposure aren't mentioned.

        the international committee of the red cross reports that tactics used by bush administration cia amount to torture and probably break the geneva conventions, according to the new yorker which is releasing material unavailable to media less involved with covert agencies ("red cross confirms bush administration, cia used torture in interrogations," patrick martin, aug. 7, 2007, world socialist web site w. appreciation l.a.w.).

        the jurist notes that johnson & johnson is suing the american red cross for allowing a red cross to be used on commercial products other than johnson and & johnson's ("johnson & johnson sues red cross for trademark infringement," michael sung, april 10, 2007, jurist); it is a particularly ugly example of corporate institutions trying to claim intellectual property that belongs to the people; the red cross has become an international symbol of medical aid andany company or institution making exclusive claim to it is a hazard.

        quoting an interview in newsweek with senator joe biden, think progress and democracy now! relay an alternative to bush's impeachment:"i think we should be acquiring and accumulating all the data that is appropriate for possibly bringing criminal charges against members of this administration at a later date"("biden suggests bringing criminal charges against bush admin.," aug. 9, 2007, think progress; "sen. biden suggests criminal charges against bush officials,"amy goodman, aug.10, 2007, democracy now!): data preservation is a standard response to takeovers of democratic procedures and accompanying war crimes; information on this site concerns violations of geneva conventions, of the convention against genocide, war crimes, violations of canadian charter rights, of u.s. constitutional rights; an effort is made to supply documentation/sources, and to correct postings if mistaken; currently record keeping is encouraged concerning the treatment of muslim peoples in north america; political prisoners; losses among the poor and minority groups; ie. see "is it fascism," june 15, 2006 (orange letters).august 3, 2007, ottawa: the spp conference in montebello this month continues attempts by conservative leadership of the u.s. mexico and canada to take away people's rights and use humanity's resources for corporate profits (we post a graphic of our "no spp" poster with etching by julie and permission to reprint w. credit).

        new brunswick: under a ruling from the "supreme court of newfoundland and labrador" a class action suit initiated july 12, 2005, proceeds through canadian courts, geared to benefits for about 440,000 canadian forces vets and their families and residents of gagetown; there's no mention of access to restitution for u.s. vets though the maine guard has used gagetown as a training base for years; maine veterans services was reported to be tracing guardsmen with possible exposure ("n.b.soldiers' agent orange lawsuit gets go-ahead," anne kyle canwest news service, aug. 2, 2007, canada.com; "agent orange fears may send u.s. soldiers elsewhere," cbc staff, april 10, 2007,cbc;"new study suggests health problems from gagetown herbicides," dec. 7, 2006, cbc news); see archives july 17, 2005; there's some evidence that the u.s. used gagetown for testing the effects of chemicals.

july 28, 2007, ontario, canada: according to an article in mohawk nation news the port hope (toronto area) storage for nuclear waste is currently closed due to leakage; this is suggested as a reason algonquins in the sharbot lake area are being asked to accept other aspects of the nuclear industry, and are having to mobilize to stop uranium mining / and development on their caretaking land ("mnn canada/frontenac "nuke" algonquins of sharbot lake," kahentinetha horn, july 24, 2007, mohawk nation news ~ orakwa); to follow up its report of july 9th (see july 14,2007) mohawk nation news suggests the 'secret' site on land under algonquin claim is a weapons testing ground used by m.r.e.l. (mining resources engineering limited), a canadian defence supplier, and close to areas planned for uranium mining by frontenac ventures corp.; according to mnn:

ardoch algonquin first nation and sharbot obaadjiwan first nation will be conducting a protest and information toll on highway 7 in perth on july 28th from 3pm-6pm... to stop uranium exploration and mining in north frontenac county ... [for more information contact chief paula sherman omanikwe@bell.blackberry.net 613-329-3706, bob lovelace at 613-374-5598, chief randy cota 613-541-8205, lynn daniluk at 613-268-2746 and ormond lee at 613-267-75] ("special mnn report: is canada the world's   --   for testing bombs and wmds ??," kahentinetha horn, july 26, 2007, orakwa , by email july 27 mnn).

at the united nations july 18th representatives of "370 million indigenous peoples" called on the general assembly once again to recognize their rights to ancestral lands; passage of the declaration of indigenous rights once worked out in part by canada is currently impeded by euro-colonial unease ("rights: native peoples renew call for u.n. recognition," haider rizvi ips, july 18, 2007, inter press service).

        sudan: with the government of sudan agreeing to a joint u.n. / african union force of 26,000 peacekeepers, efforts are being made to press rebel leaders to cease; u.n. high commissioner for human rights, louise arbour, has asked the government of sudan to police bir dagig, a village with particularly high incidence of human rights violations at the hands of unidentified uniformed men ("sudan: un calls on key rebel leader to embrace peace efforts," irin, july 20, 2007, ; "u.n.'s arbour tells sudan to protect darfur village," reuters / yahoo! news, july 20, 2007, war crimes prosecution watch vol. 2, issue 24).

july 19, 2007, oaxaca, mexico: reports reveal a federal and state, police offensive against appo in its attempt to provide an alternative cultural festival when the city's guelaguetza dance festival was co-opted by the state; in recent actions police attacked a caravan / march of over ten thousand ("oaxaca government armed forces use violence to prevent the people's use of the guelaguetza auditorium," nancy davies, july 17, 2007, the narco news bulletin; "mexican police violently block protest march in oaxaca," amy goodman, july 17, 2007, democracy now!; "police attack oaxaca's alternative guelaguetza," anon, july 17, 2007, infoshop news).

        u.s.: tom hayden edges toward recovery by exposing in the nation magazine the carr center for human rights at harvard for its role in current iraq counterinsurgency planning; center personnel have teamed with u.s. military personnel in producing a counterinsurgency manual and policy, said to rely for support on the british in kenya, the french in algeria, operation phoenix etc.; hayden points out that former carr center director, michael ignatieff, went on to become a canadian liberal minister of parliament, and "is famed for endorsing the u.s. as a 21st century imperium, an empire lite, and publicly calling for acceptable degrees of coercive interrogation" ("the humanitarian hawks of harvard," tom hayden, july 16, 2007, the nation with appreciation - mostly water).

        chile: the supreme court rejected a request by the government of peru for fujimori's extradition to face trial in the country he misruled; the chilean judge found lack of evidence; the response by chilean justice to the crimes of general pinochet, helped ease the contemporary world into accepting impunity by presidents ("chile: judge rules against extraditing fujimori," benjamin whitte, july 12, 2007, updside down world).

the leon czolgosz autonomous and destructive forces has claimed responsibility for a bombing the night of july 16th, close to the u.k. embassy in santiago, in solidarity with the resistance of iraq and afghanistan ("anarchist group claims uk embassy bomb in chile," reuters, july 18, 2007, reuters alert.net).

        israel: over forty musicians in israel have broken the ranks of silence and called for peace, two states, and an end to the occupation ("dozens of classical musicians issue joint peace manifesto," noam ben ze'ev, july 18, 2007 [access: www.haaretz.com], with appreciation to khaled mouammar); the separation between involvement in music on the one hand and ideology on the other is unacceptable to me - dutchi lichtenstein (ibid.).

july 14, 2007, sharbot lake ontario: on june 23rd ardoch algonquin first nation (non status) issued a "statement on uranium mining:" in summary it states that frontenac ventures corporation is appropriating without their consent or any dialogue, algonquin lands, filing claims through northern mining and development and with funds from silvio ventures inc. a company formed as amalco will take on the "frontenac project," to mine uranium about forty miles north of kingston; this area is filled with water that will become contaminated by radiation; the mississippi river passes through a proposed mining area; the ardoch algonquin believe the governments of canada and ontario are failing in their duty to protect caretaking the land and the land itself (they believe government responsibility was clarified in the haida nation , taku , musqueam , blaney , cases); the ardoch algonquin have asked for closing of all exploratory actions and removal of all corporate equipment etc. (sources: "statement on uranium mining," ardoch algonquin first nation, june 23, 2007 [access: http://www.aafna.ca/Uranium_mining.html]; "mining claims in frontenac county," map [access: http://www.aafna.ca/]; "algonquin land to be mined for uranium. ongoing blockade. help requested. july 9, 2007, intercontinental cry); mohawk nation news reports the area algonquins' request for help and logs a support team visit which discovers radiation contamination, and a weapons testing site on alqonguin land claimed to be wilderness and unknown (source: "'manhattan project' at sharbot lake," kahentinetha horn july 9, 2007, mohawk action news; unverified to date); due to recently improved road access for heavy equipment and presence of highly advanced technology the site is probably a government-sanctioned operation; the amount of explosives and testing of car bombs, may indicate dnd or preparations for a false flag operation.

july 12, 2007, mexico: the associated press reports that a guerrilla attack on a gas pipeline has forced temporary closing of kelloggs, honda, hershey's, nissan, and mexican industry as well in the region of guadalajara; although there are no injuries from the explosion authorities evacuated two communities; the action following similar explosions of july 5th, was claimed by the peoples revolutionary army (epr) which requests release of two political prisoners taken in oaxaca: edmundo reyes amaya, raymundo rivera bravo ; the mexican government denies they are in custody ("mexican gas explosions force shutdowns," lisa j. adams, july 11, 2007, ap world news / newsday); in oaxaca according to amnesty international there are threats against and surveillance of lawyers representing detainees from the teachers strike and peoples' actions of may through november 2006 (ongoing): jesus manuel grijalva, and mayen arellanes of the comite de liberacion 25 de noviembre, have received numerous verbal and in-person threats from anonymous sources ("mexico: human rights defenders in oaxaca face reprisals," june 20, 2007, amnesty [access: http://www.amnesty.ca/take_action/actions/mexico_hrds_face_reprisals.php]); faced with overwhelming evidence of human rights violations the mexican supreme court has initiated a commission to investigate the 25 murders, 575 arbitrary detentions and 300 wounded among other crimes against the oaxacan popular movement ("mexico's supreme court accepts the case of oaxaca," nancy davies, june 21, 2007, the narco news bulletin).

        peru: granma reports peruvian military deployment throughout peru, in response to the announcement of a general strike; the general federation of peruvian workers general strike complements the teachers union (sutep) strike which began about nine days ago, and that in addition to the national agrarian federation protesting a u.s. free trade agreement; the entire country was stopped by various actions, including the blocking of highways, and the takeover of radio stations and airports; despite deployment of armed forces the workers continue to strike ("peruvian trade union protests and strikes continue," july 11, 2007, digital granma international); to note the parallel between social protest and unjust judicial practices, peru currently unjustly holds under long sentences three political prisoners known to the world, among many others : lori berenson, the american; abimael guzman, a peruvian political leader; elena iparraguirre, the poet, his partner.

july 11, 2007, dominican republic: reporters without borders protests the deterioration of freedom of expression/press freedom in the dominican republic; where the national union of press workers reports 30 attacks on the press so far this year; authorities are not responding to threats against journalists, shots fired at a home, threats of lynching, etc. (source: rsf, "dominican republic flash: radio journalist's home shot upon; sports tv journalist receives death threats," rsf, july 10, 2007, ifex action alert network).

        france: exploring the power of leadership in an era of fascists, newly elected french president sarkozy is refusing the traditional bastille day pardon to numerous prisoners who had hoped to leave overburdened french prisons ("french president stops mass pardons," ap, july 8, 2007, my way; "france president balks at traditional bastille day pardons," michael sung, july 10, 2007, jurist).

       canada: north american protest to a future planned for corporate profit by "los tres amigos,"will surface briefly on august 19th to 21 at montebello quebec (between montreal and ottawa) where bush, calderon, harper, expect to meet; act for earth among others, believes their security and prosperity partnership provides a mechanism for privatization of state services and further stripping of human rights in the service of the bush administration's war on terrorism; leadership does not have strong support of the peoples; bush is disliked; calderon's election sparked a parallel government, and harper's openly minority government has with questionable legality placed canada at war in afghanistan; the protests this august are part of a growing solidarity among the peoples of north america; a press release from the council of canadians ("rcmp, u.s. army block council's public forum in papineauville," july 11, 2007, brent patterson) reports that the council was blocked from renting a community centre in papineauville near montebello, because the rcmp, sûreté du québec, "and the u.s. army" ordered the town not to; how is the u.s. army allowed to operate within canada ? these also plan to place a 25 mile perimeter around montebello during the conference (multiple other sources include: "symmetry of resistance," announcement / dylan penner, july 11, 2007, nowar-paix list; "mobilize and protest against bush, harper et calderon (august 19-21, montebello quebec),"no one is illegal montreal , july 10, 2007, nowar-paix); for events in ottawa see the nowar-paix website.

        ottawa: the conservative government has put a gag order on information concerning detainees taken prisoner in afghanistan; defence minister o'connor has been embarrassed since it is against international and canadian law to allow detainees to be turned over to forces that torture them; members of parliament concerned with law and human rights find the censorship undemocratic ("ban on detainee details 'undemocratic': critics," richard brennan, july 10, 2007, toronto star).

        mexico city: victims from the 1968 massacre of leftists and dissidents buried under a hospital garden were discovered in 1981 by construction crews; the new york times reports that the architect was kept from reporting discovery of the bodies, by plainclothes military police and death threats to her child who has now grown and left the country; next to the hospital is the tlatelolco plaza, where students were trapped and shot in what was said to be a military operation ("bodies found in mexico city may be victims of 1968 massacre," james c. mckinley, jr, july 11, 2007, new york times); there is some evidence of links between the massacre and the u.s. embassy/c.i.a.; see "nov. 24, 2006," genocide updates archive .

july 7, 2007, new york city: companion cases by vietnamese victims and u.s. vietnam veterans, damaged by agent orange, wereargued june 18th 2007 before new york city courts; the vietnam association for victims of agent orange/dioxin, representing over 3 million victims in vietnamclaims monsanto, dow chemical among many others knowingly provided poisonous agents for weaponry ("agent orange lawsuit on behalf of vietnamese victims charges dow, monsanto and 35 other chemical companies with spraying chemical they knew was toxic," press release, june 18, 2007, center for constitutional rights).

        argentina: former chaplain to the police during the routine murder of leftists and dissidents (1976-83), christian von wernich,is accused of encouraging victims to talk while under torture; church policy supported the dictatorship despite the slaughter of between eleven and thirty thousand argentinians; current trials of this nature are experiencing disappearance and fear among key witnesses ("argentina tries ex-chaplain on 'dirty war' crimes," hilary burke, july 5, 2007, reuters alertnet; "argentinian police chaplain goes on trial for alleged rights abuses in 'dirty war'," gabriel haboubi, july 5, 2007, jurist); see also the vanished gallery [access:< http://www.yendor.com/vanished/ >], la galeria de los desaparecidos [access:< http://www.yendor.com/vanished/s-index.html >].

        washington d.c.: the affirmed dismissal of charges against omar khadr is being appealed by the pentagon, without interference by canada's conservative government; see guantanamo updates.

july 1, 2007, canada day, guantanamo: on june 29, 2007, military judge peter e. brownback iii, reaffirmed his ruling of june 4 and refused to renew charges against canada's omar khadr; the canadian government should press for this man's return to canada; law's letter of june 12th to the harper government is available here with additional signatures; the u.s. supreme court reversed its decision of april 2007, in order to hear detainee appeals for habeas corpus ("guantanamo judge rejects charges for canadian," reuters, june 30, 2007, msnbc; "guantanamo military judge refuses to reinstate case against khadr," june 29, 2007, jurist; "omar ahmed khadr," trial watch; "high court to hear guantanamo detainee case," ap, june 29, 2007, msnbc).

june 14, 2007: u.s.: the fbi watch list for 'terrorists' includes over a half million names and is growing ("f.b.i. terror watch list 'out of control'," justin rood, june 13, 2007, abc news - the blotter).

        germany: german and italian news sources of june 7th report a u.s. false flag operation at the heiligendamm control point during the recent g-8 summit; police caught a group of u.s. security men carrying concealed military c-4 explosives - when the explosive filled suitcase was discovered the plainclothes agents identified themselves ("la police allemande dejoue une tentative d'attentat états-unienne contre le g8," june 11, 2007, voltaire édition international).

        canada: amnesty international canada has appealed to prime minister harper to intervene for omar khadr; the letter signed by parliamentarians, human rights organizations, and professors of law among others, notes that canada is the only country which has not openly tried to protect and repatriate a citizen ("omar khadr - open letter to stephen harper," news release, june 14, 2007, amnesty international canada, w. appreciation, homes, ottawa listserve).

june 13, 2007: canada: believing that canada has a legal obligation to protect omar khadr's rights and bring him home to canada, lawyers against the war ("a canada-based committee of jurists and others who oppose war and promote enforcement of international humanitarian law") has put out a call to action; click here [ archive ] for law's letter to the government (june 12, 2007); if you or your organization can help in your own way or add your name to a list of supporters, email - lawyers against the war, law@portal.ca ; concerning omar khadr's treatment at guantanamo see "background" [archive], and ongoing in archives and current.

        santiago: the chilean supreme court has placed fujimori under house arrest so he won't flee extradition; the former president of peru was arrested in chile attempting to return to peru and run again for office ("peru's fujimori under house arrest in chile, june 8, 2007, reuters alertnet; "chile supreme court judge places fujimori under house arrest," michael sung, june 8, 2007, jurist); when in power fujimori was considered under the control of montesinos, his security chief, a cia asset; the fujimori regime was noted for its murder of civilians, disregard for laws protecting essential human rights, kidnapping of suspects, incarceration and killing of lawyers, embezzlement, and relative economic stability (see the case of peruvian political prisoner, abimael guzman); chilean law puzzles those concerned for victims since it was able to keep chile's own former dictator accused with substantial evidence of the murder of thousands, out of prison for many years until his death (see genocide warning archives ).

        u.s.a.: the 4th u.s. circuit court of appeals has ruled that the bush administration lacks authority to detain under "enemy combatant" status a "quatari national", suspect, in the states, ali saleh kahlah al marri; the reuters report makes no mention that al marri is a legal resident of the u.s.; al marri has been held under military detention since 2003, in solitary confinement ("man labeled 'enemy combatant' wins us court case," june 11, 2007, reuters alertnet; "u.s. appeals court rules against bush's enemy combatant policy," ap, june 11, 2007, globeandmail.com); see north american political prisoners, ali saleh kahlah al marri; the incarceration of this man without his human rights was and remains a crime.

june 12, 2007, canada: the canadian peace alliance and collectif échec à la guerre have issued a callout for protest to the summit meeting of the s.p.p. (security and prosperity partnership), around 21 august; on august 19th ottawa will host a mass rally ("no to war- - non à la guerre - no to the security and prosperity partnership of north america - non au partenariat nord-américain pour la sécurité et la prospérité," canadian peace alliance, june 11, 2007, email; "the plan to disappear canada," murray dobbin, june 10, 2007, thetyee.ca); among difficulties with the partnership are: it represents corporate interests rather than the people's needs.

        the supreme court of canada has ruled in favour of the workers rights to organize their workplace; the ruling extends to the rights of government workers and police to collectively bargain; previous supreme court decisions did not extend freedom of association to collective bargaining ("supreme court reverses itself in landmark ruling hailed as 'victory for workers' from coast to coast," tracey tyler, june 9, 2007 the toronto star).

        new york: the new york center for constitutional rights, amnesty international, cageprisoners, nyu center for human rights and global justice at the nyu school of law, human rights watch, and reprieve, issued a report (off the record: u.s. responsibility for enforced disappearances in the 'war on terror') and filed a lawsuit for more information ("ccr and other leading human rights groups name 39 cia 'disappeared' detainees" [access (june 12, 2007): http://www.ccr-ny.org/v2/reports/report.asp?ObjID=QTCm433A4f&Content=1045]; this coalition includes organizations with a track record of service to the state department during an extended period of criminal war; by 2007 it is difficult to rely on u.s. human rights organizations whose favours are not always shared impartially; for example, since the founding of any of these groups the rights of the american poor are no stronger; the ny times article on the report says that the practice of secret detention "drew widespread objections, including from within the bush administration" ("rights groups call for end to secret detentions," scott shane, june 7, 2007, new york times).

        ethiopia: der spiegel confirms that suspects from somalia and kenya are being sent to ethiopia for interrogation by cia operatives ("us Interrogates terror suspects in ethiopian jails," june 11, 2007, der spiegel online ); the country is currently used by bush agenda policy and covert actions in the 'war against terror' for the invasion of somalia, and war crimes against somalia's civilian population; this use for aggression requires the loss of democracy within ethiopia where the people have no need to wage war on neighbouring countries; last february, trial began for 129 human rights workers and politicians for their roles in an anti-government demonstration in 2005; the charges were genocide and "treason", punishable by death ("ethiopia elections protesters treason trial begins," jaime jansen, feb. 25, 2006, jurist); those charged were the country's democratic opposition; they have claimed they were not allowed meetings with their lawyers ("ethiopian election protestors claim lawyers denied them," jaime jansen, december 28, 2005, jurist); on june 11, 2007, 39 were convicted for "rebellion" and "outrages against the constitutional order"; they mounted no defence against charges allowing death or life in prison ("ethiopian opposition leaders convicted," june 11, 2007, ap, myway; "ethiopia opposition members convicted for election protests," michael sung, june 12, 2007, jurist).

        west africa: the u..s. navy is planning to patrol west african waters in response to a guinean request for greater maritime security; there is no active threat of regional war but the area supplies 15% of u.s. crude; this project is referred to as a "floating schoolhouse" ("u.s. navy plans six-month regional training mission," vince crawley, june 8, 2007, u.s. dept. of state: usinfo.state.gov); most west african host-countries own only a portion of their own economies.

june 5, 2007, u.s.a.: kbr of houston texas (a global concern) has won the department of homeland security contract to make the detention facilities for a national emergency; kbr was previously a subsidary of halliburton ("bush's detention facilities," jerome corsi. may 30, 2007, world net daily).

        guantanamo: taken prisoner at fifteen, held for over five years in solitary confinement, omar khadr was returned to his cell after charges against him were dismissed in military court june 14th; liberal and conservative canadian governments have remained silent while this citizen as a minor child was incarcerated and tortured without protections of the geneva conventions; -ed..

may 31, 2007
        the office of the high commissioner for human rights special rapporteur's report, "preliminary findings on visit to united states by special rapporteur on promotion and protection of human rights while countering terrorism," clarifies u.s. violations of international law (war crimes); (suggested reading) summary and link to the official ohchr press release (other sources: "un rights investigator says us committing violations, " brett murphy, may 26, 2007, jurist ; "un expert faults us on human rights," evelyn leopold, may 26, 2007, news.com.au).

        nigeria: democracy now! reports that nigeria has charged pfizer, the drug company, for testing drugs known to have dangerous side effects, on african children without their parents' consent and causing the deaths of over a hundred; other children were seriously damaged ("drug giant faces wrongful death lawsuit in nigeria," amy goodman, may 30, 2007, democracy now!).

        england: the attorney general is accused of having stated that the military isn't bound by the human rights act when detaining or interrogating prisoners in iraq; the attorney general called the charges "ridiculous," affirming the military's responsibility to thegeneva convention and british law ("human rights in iraq: a case to answer: revealed: how lord goldsmith advised army chiefs to deny detainees ' full' legal protection," robert verkaik, may 29, 2007, the independent; "attorney general denies iraq claim," press association limited, may 30, 2007, banbury guardian; "baha mousa decision: further developments," may 26, 2007, lawyers against the war email).

may 25, 2007
        iraq: please note the call from doctors for iraq at genocide warnings & updates.

        unicef, a united nations organization, notes 70% of iraq's children lack access to water safe for drinking; democracy now! quotes roger wright for unicef, saying "it's obviously going to be a troubled generation"("unicef launches new appeal for iraqi children," amy goodman, may 24, 2007, democracy now!)....

        u.s.: the amnesty international report 2007is available; in a change of policy from twenty years ago amnesty now notes the u.s. and canada in its list of nations violating human rights; the u.s. entry finds violations of article 3 (geneva conventions) "...a continued failure to hold senior government officials accountable for torture and other illtreatment of war on terror detainees" (u.s. entry, loc.sit. ); see also guantanamo updates.

        canada: the canadian peace alliance asks for the reinstatement of malalai joya, a courageous afghan activist for women's rights; trying to represent her people rather than foreign interests she was recently suspended as member of the afghan parliament ("reintstate malalai joya!: afghan and women's rights activist suspended by canadian supported warlord government," may 23, 2007, canadian peace alliance):

"When i speak in parliament they threaten me. In May they beat me by throwing bottles of water at me and they shouted, ‘Take her and rape her.’ These men who are in power, never have they apologized for their crimes that they committed in the wars, and now, with the support of the US, they continue with their crimes in a different way. That is why there is no fundamental change in the situation of women," - malalai joya (ibid).

        colombia: testimony of a paramilitary commander to investigators hearing evidence concerning the murders of thousands of leftists, unionists, labour rights activists, claimed regular payments from chiquita, dole and del monte; the hearings were closed to the press and the statement was made by a lawyer for the victims; dole food has denied; del monte hasn't returned the ap's calls; a chiquita subsidary is to pay the u.s. justice department 25 million dollars for its part in the murder of at least ten thousand people; the u.s. justice department considers the paramilitaries ("a.u.c."), "a terrorist organization" ("u.s. firms 'paid colombia militias'," may 18, 2007, aljazeera.net).

may 18, 2007
        israel stands accused by the international committee of the red cross, of ignoring "its obligations under international humanitarian law --and the law of occupation in particular" ("red cross report says israel disregards humanitarian law," steven erlanger, may 15, 2007, new york times); the i.c.r.c. is a primary caretaker of the geneva conventions and historically relatively steadfast in its adherence to ethical standards and decisions of the international court of justice while most large ngo's find themselves vulnerable to political agendas; the times article quotes the report concerning israel effecting "the detriment of the population of the occupied territory;” generally, i think that countries that don't improve the lives of peoples in occupied territories, risk eventual challenge under the u.n. convention against genocide; - ed..

        u.s.: the defence department notes over about 150 thousand u.s. service personnel from the gulf war (1991) showing symptoms of "low level exposure to sarin;" sarin is a lethal nerve gas; apparently available to saddam hussein and undeployed and unused in the gulf war, the u.s. is reported to have bombed sarin missiles ("nerve gas may have harmed troops, scientists say," ian urbina, may 17, 2007, the new york times).

        u.s.: a new presidential/congressional agreement could allow 12 million undocumented immigrants to become u.s. citizens for $5000 @, among other requirements, and hundreds of thousands of 'guest workers' ("bush move to legalise millions of immigrants," susan milligan and michael kranish ~ the boston globe, may 19, 2007, the age ~ theage.com.au).

may 15, 2006

may 10, 2007
        u.s.: democracy now! notes a new study appearing in health affairs, a medical journal, which reports uninsured patients at u.s. hospitals being charged two and a half times the prices of insured patients("study: u.s. hospitals charging uninsured more," amy goodman, may 9, 2007,democracy now!); the poor and unemployed have to survive without health insurance, the injury by the system is compounded; withholding of medical care from the sick whether they can pay or not, is basically wrong; american medical professionals are internationally at risk for not treating the poor. ed..

        new york: judith miller who wrote of weapons of mass destruction that never were, for the new york times, easing the u.s. into an unnecessary, and criminal war, wrote an article which appeared on the wall street journal op. ed page, "when activists are terrorists;" using tactics of joe mccarthy she defends illegal police actions before and during the 2004 republican convention, by associating demonstrators with terrorists; police spying and the predominantly arbitrary arrests of 2000 have caused lawsuits against the n.y.p.d. ("judith miller defends new york police repression of 'antiwar terrorists'," bill van auken, may 5, 20007, world socialist web site ).

        baghdad: to understand better the effect that neglect of the geneva conventions at guantanamo has on the u.s. armed forces, consider results of a recent pentagon survey: 60 percent of marines would not report a war crime, ie. the murder of a civilian, by one of their own, while 41 % believe torture is justified to save the life of a military person ("petraeus 'concerned' by ethics report," brian murphy, may 7, 2007, associated press - my way news; & bradentown herald).

        iraq: a soldier's report suggests u.s. casualty statistics are severely under-reported ("only one in ten u.s. dead in iraq are reported," tbr news, april 30, 2007, global research) [i haven't found media corroboration for one-in-ten reported, by 18 may 07, - ed.].

        iraq: "iraq's child mortality rate has soared by 150 percent since 1990" ("iraq is last in child survival rankings," maria cheng ap, yahoo! news); we began publishing the convention against genocide with supporting texts, in 1989; our canadian edition, common rights & expectations, from 1996, is dedicated to the children of iraq. - ed.

        iraq: sultan hashim ahmad al-tai, the former defence minister of iraq, accused with others in service to saddam hussein of using chemical weapons against a kurdish village, states simply "i did not receive any chemical-related weapons;" these men face death by hanging in the alleged deaths of 180,000 people; while the prosecution claims deaths by nerve gas and other chemical agents the defence is without autopsy reports or post mortems: no proof that deaths occurred is presented to court so that the crimes can be addressed; the defence claims evidence that saddam hussein ordered the villages in question to be "relocated"; with iraq illegally invaded and saddam hussein illegally tried and illegally executed it is hard to consider the trial within a perspective of 'law'; the judge for this case may be charged in a u..k. court for judicial oversights ("former saddamist denies chemical orders," sameer n. yacoub, may 6, 2007 , washington post; "iraq tribunal hears defence closing in anfal genocide trial," jeannie shawl, may 8, 2007, jurist).

        zimbabwe: the times reports that on may 8 demonstrating lawyers (about 30) were beaten with police truncheons and a group was taken in a lorry to a field and subjected to "punishment beatings;" of these, in 2005 beatrice mtetwa received the new york committee to protect journalists press freedom award ("armed police drag leading lawyers on to lorry for public beating," jan raath, may 9, 2007, times online).

        paris: protesters greeted the election of a new right wing french president with 730 burned cars and 78 policemen hurt, the first night, with protests continuing in a number of cities without media coverage; expecting difficulty, mr. sarkozy whom some protesters consider a fascist, was reported with his family on a yacht near malta ("anti-sarkozy protests continue as president goes on holiday," may 8, 2007, ria novosti).

        canada: canada's mining is being bought out by foreign interests; on may 7 new york's alcoa inc. attempted a 33 billion dollar takeover of montreal's alcan inc.; the toronto star points out this places another 64,700 canadian workers at the service of non-canadians ('politicians silent as a corporate giant again poised to leave canadian control," david olive, may 8, 2007, the toronto star); the article fails to point out that canadian people are receiving less and less care from government while huge corporations drain the landmass of its substance; in sudan the moral difficulty of the people's rights to what lies beneath the surface of their lands may have contributed to their tragedy; their rights are being suppressed by arbitrary wars, famine, displacement, which save large oil companies huge payments eventually owed the people; although recognition of the people's rights to their nations' resources is not encouraged in north america, as the history of aboriginal land claims suggests; venezuela's current care for its people challenges liberal democracies, with enfranchisement.

        canadian armed forces recruitment is going after 16 year old first peoples in the countryside, offering three thousand dollars to take a two month summer course with the option of joining-up; a 10th grade education is required ("talking the kids out of soldiering: a mother resists the military's push to recruit aboriginals," mordecai briemberg, may 2, 2007, the tyee.ca).

        canada: bay of quinte first peoples' mild resistance in a land dispute, a token and alleged blockading of cn rail service on two occasions, is being met by the corporation with a lawsuit to recover 'damages' ("cn rail sues native protesters over rail blockades," news staff, may 9, 2007, ctv.ca); truly impartial arbitration might call for stopping any commercial activity on the disputed land until its ownership and rights are settled. - ed..

april 27, 2007
        el salvador: the "international law enforcement academy" with direct support of the u.s. department of homeland security opened in july 2005; there is concern that this facility will replace fort benning georgia's school of the americas; amid a growing number of uninvestigated disappearances and assassinations i.l.e.a. is finding some resistance to its construction; c.i.s.p.e.s. information states death squads are now again operating within el salvador's police/military structure; aside from direct liaison with u.s. offices and providing international law enforcement "teams," i.l.e.a. will train international office for migration teams to encourage u.s. investment throughout the americas, and immigration and customs enforcement (i.c.e.) teams for sweeps; deportees are to be tracked subsequent to deportation ("el salvador: fight against i.l.e.a. u.s. police academy, j.l. heyward, cispes, april 25, 2007, upside down world); for additional information see the committee in solidarity with the people of el salvador, c.i.s.p.e.s [access:< http://www.cispes.org/ ]; see also school of the americas watch [access:< http://www.soaw.org/ >].

        israel / palestine: irish peace activist mairead maguire was shot in the leg by a steel covered rubber bullet when israeli soldiers fired on nonviolent international peace activists; israeli peace activists and palestinian members of parliament as well were objecting to the wall in bilin, a village on the west bank ("irish nobel peace laureate mairead maguire shot with rubber bullet by israeli military at nonviolent protest," amy goodman & interview with mairead maguire, april 23, 2007, democracy now!).

        argentina: pardons which president carlos menem granted two generals, jorge videla (former president), and eduardo massera, in 1990, have been overturned as unconstitutional by a criminal court; both men both were found guilty of multiple killings, tortures, illegal confinements, during the "dirty war" of the seventies and sentenced to life in prison ("argentina revokes generals' pardon," april 26, 2007, al jazeera).

        ottawa: the catholic archdiocese has quietly announced the closure of saint brigid's church which ministered to the irish, the working class and the poor for over a hundred years; a well-appointed historically french-language church near-by, notre dame recently received substantial renovations to keep pace with its closer neighbours, the new u.s. embassy and canada's national gallery; why would anyone need st. brigid's with such a beautiful church and large parking lot available only two blocks away ? yet local feeling for st. brigid's is strong; about a hundred people attended a town meeting in lowertown april 23rd, to save the church with uneven steeples; guided toward preservation of the buildings themselves, people seemed stunned at hearing the church was to be deconsecrated; in ottawa there were once "no irish need apply" signs; amid the new gentrification and expensive condos people here for a while are not materialists; it is a terrible mistake to destroy anyone's spiritual place ("save st. brigid's !" leaflets, april 23, 2007, st.brigid's heritage coalition; "catholic church firm on decision to shut st. brigid's in lowertown," katie lewis, oct. 19, 2007, ottawa citizen, see also : "save st.brigid's church" [access: http://www.stbrigidottawa.com/]); see also sept. 15, 2006.

        canada: the canadian government has shown no overt reaction to the trial of canadian citizen, omar khadr, arrested in afghanistan at 15 and held in solitary confinement at guantanamo camp by the u.s. under conditions amounting to torture; for more information...; canadians support and are vulnerable to international laws which affirm human rights; also, canada subscribes to the international criminal court; currently the harper government is under extreme pressure for allowing canadian forces to turn over captured afghan people to torture by local forces ("what ottawa doesn't want you to know," paul koring, april 25, 2007, globe and mail).

april 22, 2007
        canada: canada's b'nai brith reports a 12.8% increase in anti-semitic incidents over its 2005 statistics, and four times as many as ten years ago; the report shows a 50% increase in ottawa with 72 cases reported ("antisemitism hits an all-time high in canada in 2006 - overseas crises trigger ugly reaction at home," march 21, 2007, b'nai brith canada; "2006 audit of antisemitic incidents: findings of the audit," )[ access april 22, 2007:"http://www.bnaibrith.ca/"]).

        mexico: president felipe calderon has transferred the authority for mexico's 'dirty war' investigation to the offices of the mexican attorney general; former president vincente fox's special prosecutor, ignacio carrillo prieto, found hundreds of leftists, students, dissidents, murdered and disappeared by government forces and death squads, with clear indications of c.i.a. influence; traditionally the mexican elite has overlooked the crimes although luis echeveria, former cia employee and former president of mexico, is currently awaiting trial on charges of genocide ("hope lost for answers in mexico's dirty war, activists fear," david ovalle, april 21, 2007, mcclatchey); see genocide warnings and updates archives 1 and 2.

        global: international non governmental organizations (ngo's) enjoy special privilege within the united nations but increasingly are considered partisan in supporting foreign policies of their funding sources; recently this has damaged ngo effectiveness in sudan, zimbabwe and russia ("russian police raid u.s.-funded ngo," steve gutterman ap, april 20, 2007, thestate.com).

april 17, 2007
        toronto: a canadian mother and her four children are being frightened and refused police protection while her husband is held at the maplehurst detention centre; qayyum abdul jamal has spent 10 months in solitary confinement awaiting trial as one of the group formed by police and covert agency arrests as "the toronto 18;" the concern is urgent because a canadian family's human rights are being denied; illegal pressure to cooperate is being placed on an accused prisoner (threats against the prisoner's family); the toronto press has not protested continuing mistreatment of men who haven't been found guilty of any crime, particularly when their forced isolation borders on the crime of torture; see more at urgent.

        britain: not mentioned in canadian media, the british government notes 3.8 million of its children living in poverty; green left online from australia also reveals that according to unicef britain is 21rst in a list of "rich" nations' care for children, while the u.s. is 20th ("3.8 million british children in poverty," alex miller, april 12,2007, green left weekly, issue of april 18, 2007).

        iraq: u.s and canadian media are noting the transfer of iraq's huge oil reserves to america; it is the fulfilment of a genocidal policy; canadians are begining to recognize similar policies of aggression in afghanistan where prime minister harper has committed canadian troops to search and destroy missions for economic profit; the canadian media call it 'improving the lives of the people of aghanistan'; canada is realizing that it will have to withdraw or face interminable guerilla warfare ("war on terror looks like a fraud," john glesson, april 12, 2007, winnipeg sun; "is it time to go ?" thomas walkon, april 14, 2007, toronto star).

        argentina: university professor carlos fuentealba was shot and killed with a tear gas cannister by police as teachers protested for a pay raise; the teachers and union continue to protest while mourning the death of their colleague, outside the offices of the governor of neuquen, despite resignations of the ministers of education and of security, while health workers have joined in ("neuquen follows oaxaca's example," walter yola, april 12, 2007, green left online); north americans find it difficult to understand police shooting of a university professor; in north american universities the police / government agency / professor interface is taken for granted; with a few outstanding exceptions academic personnel are either politically cooperative with the illegal policies of government & long term agendas, or silent about the truth; if not, they are not encouraged to teach (consider the cases of sami al-arian, ward churchill).

april 13, 2007
        somalia: the bbc reports over a thousand dead, 400 wounded, in mogadishu due to ethiopian troop actions which included the heavy artillery shelling of a civilian neighbourhood; the bbc holds the english line that the union of islamic courts government was replaced by ethiopian troops and a tenuous interim somali government in december; local groups resisting the invasion are being called "insurgents"; jendayi frazer who remains the u.s. assistant secretary of state for african affairs was on scene last week during the fighting; while hawiye tribal elders accuse washington of causing the current problems, ms. frazer blames it squarely on eritrea; as reports come in of civilians trying to flee the region, there is verification of american uniforms among the interrogators of handcuffed and subsequently abused women and children ("mogadischu clashes 'killed 1000'," april 10, 2007, bbc news; "swedish teen: u.s. troops led operation," karl ritter ap, april 12, 2007, yahoo! news; "eritrea proxy islamist war against ethiopia," dr. abdullahi mohamed, april 10, 2007, han-geeska afrika online).

        brasilia: a vigilante death squad operation of about five years duration and possibly a thousand persons assassinated, is challenged with the arrest of 15 police and businessmen in the state of pernambuco; a federal prosecutor is quoted as saying "unfortunately, these extermination groups exist all over brazil" ("brazilian police say death squads killed hundreds," reuters , april 12, 2007, reuters altertnet).

        oaxaca: nafta has made it easier for foreign corporations and privatization to acquire lands protected by the rights of communities and the mexican constitution; under the new colonialism over half of mexico's foreign mining concessions are canadian; the following canadian mining companies have interests in the oaxaca area: chesapeake gold corp & pinnacle mines (vancouver), horseshoe gold mining inc. (vancouver), halifax linear gold corp, continuum resources (vancouver) ("made in canada violence: mining in mexico," by mandeep dhillon, assisted by antoine libert amico, april 12, 2007, upside down world).

        iraq: once commander of saddam hussein's republican guard, saifeddin fulayh hassan taha al-rawi, has accused the u.s. of using neutron weaponry in its takeover of baghdad airport: "the bombs annihilated the soldiers but left the buildings and infrastructure at the airport intact" ("u.s. accused of using neutron bombs," april 9, 2007, al-jazeera ~ global research ); the article also notes that al-rawi is under a million dollar u.s. bounty; yet he remains free.

        iran: soviet general ivashov writes : "after the very first nuclear strike, it will become totally impossible to prevent the use of all of the available means of mass destruction" ("iran: the threat of a nuclear war," general leonid ivashov, march 30, strategic culture foundation, april 9, 2007, global research ); he finds humanity in danger.

april 7, 2007
        zimbabwe: a report by the u.k's the guardian ("u.s. reveals its efforts to topple mugabe regime," ewen macaskill, april 6, 2006) states the u.s. admits to attempting destabilization of robert mugabe's regime to replace him; [access: http://www.guardian.co.uk/zimbabwe/article/0,,2051354,00.html];this may help understand a pattern of destabilization in eastern africa resulting in terrible losses to humanity in sudan, previously rwanda, and the ongoing assertion of euro-american interests over the resources of the congo.

        somalia: donald yamamoto as the u.s. ambassador to ethiopia has claimed it to be a strategic partner in africa enjoying trade privileges and a "pivotal role" in anti-terrorism ("ethiopia: a major contributor to bring peace in africa," dr. abdullahi mohamed, march 15, 2007, geeska afrika online & han); on march 30, a press release from "the somali concern group" reports ethiopian occupation forces murdering innocent civilians in mogadishu, and use of heavy artillery against a defenceless civilian population in the markets and other populated areas; "the somali concern group" considers the ethiopian aggression a genocide and asks for international concern ("ethiopian troops massacring civilians in somalia, press release, mohamed gure, somali concern group london, march 30, 2007, han-geeska afrika online); the previous report is substantiated by the bbc ("fighting continues in somalia," 31 mar, 2007, bbc) which also speaks of civilians fleeing the city; the u.s. associated press reports people from 19 countries including the u.s., france, sweden, canada, suspected of terrorism held in secret prisons in ethiopia; many fled somalia at the invasion by ethiopian forces with u.s. advisors; many of the prisoners are women and children who have complained of abuse and interrogation by a "u.s. intelligence agent" ; u.s. officials are said to have admitted ethiopia has given the c.i.a. and f.b.i. access to interrogate in the secret camps ("ap: u.s. interrogating at africa's secret prisons: cia, fbi agents looking for al-qaida militants at notorious ethiopia jails," associated press, april 3, 2007, msnbc); in summary by this april 7, the guardian reports 400 dead from the ethiopian operation in mogadishu between march 29 and april 1 and threats of war crime charges, including european union complicity for political and financial support, before the international criminal court ; u.s support for ethiopia's invasion is recognized; the targeting of specific muslim clans or families for eradication has become a specific legal concern ("e.u. given war crime warning over somalia aid," xan rice, april 7, the guardian).

april 5, 2007
        canada: canadian forces are deployed to an increasingly unwelcoming afghanistan, in a region which may be contaminated by depleted uranium from previous actions; the assignment remains awkward under international law, with legal propriety relying on nato solidarity; prime minister harper has promised veterans an ombudsman to look after their rights, increased funding (20 million), and a new veterans bill of rights which becomes effective immediately ("veterans get ombudsman," richard brennan, april 3, 2007, toronto star; "ottawa to appoint veterans' ombudsman," gloria galloway, april 3, 2007, the globe and mail - globeandmail.com; "harper announces bill of rights for veterans," april 3, 2007, the record.com ).

        u.s.: the exclusion of vietnam veterans (the ranks) from american society is currently noted by a department of veterans affairs report as 190 thousand homeless veterans; non v.a. estimates increase the figure to millions ("more homeless vets than beds," thomas watkins, march 31, 2007, san francisco chronicle); high suicide rates of vietnam veterans for over thirty years has made the generalized poverty less noticeable.

        mexico: journalists aren't being killed only in iraq; p.e.n. international's writers in prison committee has asked for appeals to the president of mexico on behalf of the journalist, rodolfo rincón taracena, while the inter american press association (iapa) has asked the governor and attorney general of tabasco to investigate his disappearance; rodolfo rincón taracena is a reporter for tabasco hoy; the paper's editor said the journalist disappeared as the paper ran his article on local crime, jan. 20; much of local violence is blamed on "military trained contract killers" ("iapa calls for investigation into mexican journalist's disappearance," iapa press release, jan. 26, 2007, ifex; "disappearance of journalist rodolfo rincón taracena," sara whyatt, feb. 8, 2007, wipc ~ international pen) iapa has also noted the disappearance of journalist rafael ortiz martinez, july 8, 2006, and the disappearance of alfredo jiménez mota, april 2, 2005 (ibid.), and has asked brazil's president to look into the murder of nicanor linhare batista, shot by two men june 30th, 2003, after criticizing local government on his radio station in ceará state brazil ("iapa calls for brazil journalist murder to be solved," march 29, 2007, orden cronológica, sociedad interamericana de prensa).

march 29, 2007
        canada: the new canadian forces "counterinsurgency manual" is reported to be targeting activities of mohawk and other first peoples' groups in canada as "insurgencies" as it classifies conflicts in afghanistan and haiti ("canada: counterinsurgency manual shows military's new face," jon elmer, march 25, 2007, www.globalresearch.ca; "canada's military plots war crimes against indigenous people," kahentinetha horn march 27, 2007, mnn mohawk nation news); there are few mohawk due to previous colonial military policies; it is criminal for the military to target canadian first peoples groups as "insurgencies" since first peoples are civilian populations, where some few claim rights to their own lands; in issues of land claims first peoples are relying on the law and lands assured by treaties; reading: the u.n. convention against genocide.

march 26, 2007
        uruguay: gustavo salle, lawyer for a leftist activist, bernardo arnone, disappeared in 1976 under operation condor has asked his government to extradite henry kissinger as responsible for "a plan of extermination"("kissinger's extradition to uruguay sought over operation condor," agence france presse, march 25, 2007, yahoo! news).

        montreal: charged with two counts of genocide among other crimes under the crimes against humanity and war crimes act of 2000, désiré munyaneza, a hutu from rwanda faces trial starting today and a possible life sentence; he arrived in canada in 1996 and was refused refugee status ("canada's first war crimes trial gets underway," march 26, 2007, cbc news).

        iraq: iraqi government statistics show that "200 iraqi academics, 110 physicians and 76 journalists have been killed since hussein's fall" ("a searing assault on iraq's intellectuals," alexandra zavis, march 25, 2007, l.a.times; see also the brussells tribunal, "stop the assassination of iraqi academics" campaign [access: http://www.brusselstribunal.org/]); dr. gideon polya, a credible source/scientist/academic in australia/author of a work in progress on avoidable mortality, presents statistics currently ignored by the media; he finds a total of one million avoidable iraqi deaths since the second invasion of iraq; of these, 0.6 million children under the age of five; in the first invasion and sanctions from 1990-2003 he finds 1.7 million avoidable deaths ( 1.2 million children under five); he gives the post invasion death count for coalition troops as 3360 (3100 americans); "the carnage in iraq constitutes a continuing u.s.-driven iraqi genocide" ("u.s. iraqi holocaust and one million excess deaths," dr. gideon polya, feb. 7, 2007 [access: http://www.countercurrents.org/iraq-polya070207.htm]).

historical note
Those primarily responsible for the carnage of the Iraqi Holocaust and the Afghan Holocaust - Bush, Blair, Dr Rice (Dr Death) and their Coalition and NATO confreres such as Australia’s Howard and Canada’s Harper - should be arraigned and tried before the International Criminal Court as demanded by 2005 Literature Nobel Laureate Harold Pinter (see: http://www.countercurrents.org/arts-pinter081205.htm ). - dr. gideon polya (ibid.).

historical note re. "the war on terror"
The culture of fear has bred intolerance, suspicion of foreigners and the adoption of legal procedures that undermine fundamental notions of justice. Innocent until proven guilty has been diluted if not undone, with some -- even U.S. citizens -- incarcerated for lengthy periods of time without effective and prompt access to due process. There is no known, hard evidence that such excess has prevented significant acts of terrorism, and convictions for would-be terrorists of any kind have been few and far between. Someday Americans will be as ashamed of this record as they now have become of the earlier instances in U.S. history of panic by the many prompting intolerance against the few.- zbigniew brzezinski ("terrorized by 'war on terror'," march 25, 2007, washington post).

the “war on terror” is not a war in the military sense, but a political weapon in the hands of the bourgeoisie ("labour must fight 'anti-terror' witchhunt," fall 2006, spartacist canada no 150).

march 23, 2007
        tyendinaga mohawk territory / canada: loyal to the british during the u.s. war for independence, the bay of quinte mohawk band was made to leave the u.s., arriving here in 1784; a portion of their settled lands, the culbertson tract of about 925 acres, was never surrendered by the mohawks and its possession has been confused since 1837; a formal land claim was filed by mohawk in the nineties and acknowledged by the federal government in 2003; a focus of current native protest is the land around deseronto; thurlow aggregates, a gravel quarry operation hauling out 15 thousand tons a year continues despite the land claim; a kingston developer's decision to build condos on the land forced native protest in early january, and in january the crown briefly arrested reclamation workers shawn brant and mario baptiste (sources: " a leaflet" from mohawk territory distributed march 21, 2007 by ocap, "quarry use on disputed culbertson tract: mohawk community demands end to stealing of land"; "mohawks want land claim settled," samantha craggs, jan. 27, 2007, the belleville intelligencer; "mohawk land protest closes road, business," bruce bell, jan. 10, 2007, the belleville intelligencer); over 125 band members entered the gravel quarry early this morning and are encamped there and dug in; the band council doesn't necessarily approve ("mohawks block off disputed quarry: group wants gravel pit's operations stopped, land claim settled," by jeremy ashley, march 23, 2007, deseronto/osprey news network / the kingston whig-standard with thanks to ipsm & orakwa).

march 21, 2007
        iraq: there are indications that george bush and tony blair could be held legally responsible for crimes of the iraq war; judge garzon in spain has made repeated efforts to affirm human decency through the application of international law in spain; he notes the 650 thousand excess deaths of iraqis since the u.s. aggression in 2003 ("spanish judge urges bush, blair war crimes tribunal," march 21, 2007, press tv iran ~ with appreciation lawyers against the war); luis moreno-ocampo, the head prosecutor of the international criminal court at the hague has admitted as well that the u.s. president and u.k. prime minister could be charged before his court with war crimes in iraq ("hague court could try bush, blair," gethin chamberlain, march 18, 2007, london sunday telegraph / the washington times; "war crimes prosecutor says bush & blair could face charges,"amy goodman, march 20, 2007, democracy now!); the u.s. president warns that a pullback from iraq could bring about another 9/11 ("bush: 'iraq withdrawal may spark 9/11 repeat,'" toby harnden & damian mcelroy, march 20, 2007, news telegraph u.k.) and the threat of military takeover remains one of the president's protections against the application of international law domestically in the u.s.; it may help understand the u.s. difficulty in withdrawing from iraq, to realize that iraq remains a likely venue for eventual war crimes trials which the u.s. will need to control to discourage application of international law to its actions; currently, taha yassin ramadan, vice president under saddam husein, was executed march 20th in what his son called a "political assassination"("taha yassin ramadan," lawrence joffe, march 21, 2007, the guardian); from vatican city the relief agency caritas reports that malnutrition in iraq has risen to 28%; infant mortality - high due to sanctions, has increased, and iraq with the next to largest global oil reserves, shows poverty comparable to sub-saharan africa; "we are seeing minority groups such as christians completely disappear from the country..." ("third of iraqi children now malnourished four years after u.s. invasion," march 16, 2007, caritas internationalis / reuters alertnet).

        new bedford massachusetts: march 6th, 500 u.s immigration police arrested nearly 350 employees of a new bedford factory as alleged "illegals"; while owner and managers were arrested and bailed, the immigrants were placed in shackles and bussed to fort devens; about 150 to 200 children remained separated from parents and reliant on friends within a poverty community; help is needed; to contribute to the ninos fund go to the massachusetts immigrant and refugee advocacy coalition ( m.i.r.a.) homepage at [access: "http://www.miracoalition.org/"] ( passim; "u.s. immigration system at its worst," ali noorani of m.i.r.a., march 9, 2007, the boston globe).

        new york stock exchange: the march 19th peace action coalition gathered at the new york stock exchange to protest megaprofits of the warmakers, noting among others boeing, haliburton, general dynamics; 44 were arrested on discon charges and failure to obey; the area is a difficult venue due to increased military security ("anti-war protesters outside of nyse arrested," cnn, march 19, 2007, cnn money).

march 16, 2007
        ottawa: gerald and maas endorses the march 17 day of action rally, one o'clock by the louise bourgeois spider in front of the national gallery of canada; we support the canadian peace alliance international day of action.

end the occupations !
        sudan update: an american group of families is suing sudan in federal court in virginia for the relatives killed and wounded by a suicide attack on the u.s.s. cole in 2000; the u.s. is holding millions of sudan's assets; but what of the u.s. bombing under clinton of a pharmaceutical company which supplied half sudan's pharmaceuticals ? what of the millions of people displaced, starving, embattled whose source of help was their legal government, challenged by billions of u.s. dollars and by "rebels" such as john garang (deceased), the u.s. trained rebel leader in the south; although the government of sudan is usually under attack by western media, the u.n. human rights council as well recently found sudan implicated in crimes against its civilian population, and finds that sudan has failed to protect the people in darfur; if you think about it, sudan seems reactive in predictable ways to de-stabilizing efforts by rebel groups with divisive agendas; this isn't a question of different sides in a war but of a mass crime engineered against a third world people, a national group; the media hasn't addressed the crime ("rebels implicated in attacks against refugee station in darfur," edmund sanders, march 12, 2007, l.a. times; "sudan sued over uss cole attack," march 13, 2007, bbc.news; "u.n. mission says sudan took part in rights crimes," warren hoge, march 13, 2007, new york times); the government of sudan continues to reject an outside court of justice; to understand sudan's military and policy choices consider u.s. military actions during vietnam, and the u.s. policies evading international law; the u.s. media avoids approving the u.n. human rights council whatever its positions; as the council entered a new geneva session the new york times ran "dismay over new u.n. human rights council" ( warren hoge, march 11, 2007, new york times) quoting kenneth roth of human rights watch saying - "so far it's been enormously disappointing..."; the times like the u.s. state department and the bush administration, is no longer considered entirely capable of understanding human rights; for background on the tragedy of sudan see notes on sudan and accompanying essays.

       u.s.: one in three returning vets is found to have a "psychosocial illness," while one in four has a mental health problem... ("mental illness common in returning u.s. soldiers," reuters, march 12, 2007, cnet.tv); mark benjamin reports that soldiers found 'unfit' for fighting are being re-deployed to iraq to keep up with the numbers required ("the army is ordering injured troops to go to iraq," mark benjamin, march 11, 2006, salon.com).

march 8, 2007
        canada: the international committee of the red cross states it can't monitor the prisoners canada turns over to other forces in afghanistan ("red cross contradicts ottawa on detainees," paul koring, march 7, 2007, globe and mail); this puts canadian forces at risk of violating international law; please note this "letter [to the canadian government concerning transfer of afghan detainees to U.S. custody," [archived] of march 8 from lawyers against the war to prime minister harper, attorney generalnicholson, minister of foreign affairs mackay and minister of national defence o'connor, warning of violations of canada's legal obligations in the transfer of prisoners by canadian troops in afghanistan to afghan and u.s. authorities: the government of canada by authorizing or failing to stop such transfers is violating international and canadian law; we urge you to take remedial action immediately; - davidson, lawyers against the war.

        mohawk nation news reports katenies is in hiding; a grandmother elder from akwesasne she and her family have had difficulty with state, provincial, national borders which have imposed themselves between her and by a two minute car ride, her daughter; accused of running a border on her own land, she has questioned colonial authority remaining outside of court under threat of arrest ; she requests dismissal and challenges the jurisdiction of the case; to offer support: support.katenies@gmail.com; for information: kahentinetha2@yahoo.com at mohawk nation news ("mnn katenies remains in hiding; border challenge," march 5, 2007, orakwa email).

march 5, 2007
        oklahoma: although the supreme court of the cherokee nation ruled in march 2006 that freedmen were to be included, an overwhelming vote by "blood members" of the nation has tried to disenfranchise from tribal citizenship the freedmen, who were originally included as former slaves; this would exclude blacks and black - first peoples lineage as reliant on the dawes commission rolls made a hundred years ago; ("cherokees vote out slaves' descendants," murray evans, march 4, 2007, ap news); band 'leaders' say limiting tribal membership and rights to "blood listings" is the band's prerogative; it is in principle racist, with historical precedent in apartheid south africa, zionist israel, the south of the ku klux klan, and the euro-american officer class of world war ii; the vote reflects an attempt to fragment peoples to the service of rule rather than maintaining their human rights, and is uncharacteristic of peoples that have resisted other forms of colonial oppression.

        belgium: passed into law by its senate, belgium's parliament will publish the names of companies making cluster bombs and banned from investment or credit ("belgium criminalizes investment in cluster bomb manufacturers," lisl brunner, march 3, 2007, jurist).

        canada: the supreme court affirmed canada's charter of rights and freedoms, countermanding a parliamentary decision in 2000 which denied same-sex couples retroactive survivor benefits pre 1998, but has limited these to a year ("mixed supreme court ruling on same-sex survivor benefits," march 2, 2007, nupge; "canada supreme court rules same-sex couple benefit ban unconstitutional," joshua pantesco, march 1, 2007, jurist univ. pittsburgh).

march 1, 2007
        canada: canada's supreme court found security certificates illegal feb. 23rd ("canada rules indefinite detention wrong," beth duff-brown ~ ap, feb. 23, 2007, findlaw); then feb. 27th, parliament refused to extend anti-democratic provisions of its anti terrorist act which end march 1 ("mps vote against extending anti-terrorism measures," feb. 27, 2007, cbc news; "canada parliament set to kill anti-terror measures," david ljunggren, feb. 27, 2007, reuters alertnet); by a very gradual concensus canadians are responding to the "war on terror" by affirming traditions of human rights.

        canada: on feb. 23rd in nelson british columbia police without a warrant went into kyle snyder's home, handcuffed him, took him to the station and said they were sending him back to the states for being absent from the army; with assistance from his support group and two n.d.p. ministers of parliament he was released and will continue to try to live in canada; the order for arrest is believed to have come from the u.s. army ("iraq war resister kyle snyder arrested in canada, then released u.s. army requested the illegal apprehension," press release, condon & zaslofsky, feb. 28, 2007, lawyers against the war email; "oh canada...", feb. 28, 2007, the christian radical).

       u.s.: after revelations that the military's showcase walter reed hospital is unsanitary, lacking maintenance and offering sub-standard care to the wounded from afghanistan and iraq, soldiers in the medical hold unit have been told not to talk to the press, and staff are wondering if the extra hassles and personnel shifts are meant as punishment; press coverage of all d.o.d. medical facilities is being limited ("walter reed patients told to keep quiet," kelly kennedy, feb. 27, 2007, army times; "the shame of walter reed," rob kezelis, feb. 28, 2007, capitol hill blue; "army fixing patients' housing," dana priest & anne hull, feb. 20, 2007, washington post).

        u.s.: confirming bush's decision to rule by force of arms, u.s. secretary of state rice said the president intends to defy congressional legislation effecting troop withdrawal from iraq ("rice says bush will not abide by legislation to limit iraq war," ap, feb. 25, 2007, international herald tribune); u.s. troops want out of iraq ("lt. watada is not alone," sarah olson, feb. 28, 2007, antiwar.com) where they are held hostage to the illegal occupation.

historical note
in an article arguing that the "el salvador option" (ie. use of death squads) has been implemented by the u.s. in iraq and is augmenting a genocide, edward herman refers to the u.s. war on vietnam as "the genocide option," due to application of the phoenix program; he notes an assessed 40 thousand assassinations and the destruction of the village hamlet system ("iraq: the genocide option," by edward herman, jan. 24, 2007, znet ~ serendipity); for a consideration of operation phoenix as part of a broader u.s. policy of genocide see "essay on state terrorism," by j.b.gerald.

        concerning iran: threats by israel and the bush administration to attack iran continue to frighten people who no longer really believe the leaders of aggressor nations will honour basic laws and treaties against genocide and wars of aggression; genocide warning; sunday times (u.k.) reports ("u.s. generals 'will quit' if bush orders iran attack,' michael smith & sarah baxter, feb. 25, 2007) that a number of u.s. top generals will resign if bush attacks iraq; relying on british intelligence the report cites tactical reasons in the "war on terror" as motivation for the generals' resignations rather than their sense of honour or a practical understanding that crimes of aggressive war and genocide can be punishable under u.s. laws or eventually international laws.

        the hague: the international court of justice in the hague ruled february 26th that serbia neither committed genocide nor was complicit in genocide in bosnia which brought the charge in 1993; the u.n. war crimes tribunal previously found individuals guilty; the i.c.j. did find serbia failed international law by not stopping the massacre at srebrenica ("court clears serbia of genocide," feb. 26, 2007, bbc news; "world court finds serbia innocent of genocide charge," christian jennings, feb. 27, 2007, scotsman.com; "serbia not guilty of genocide against muslim bosnians," iuliu blaga, feb. 26, 2007, playfuls.com ); the i.c.j. still holds under consideration whether canada and other nato countries committed genocide in the destruction of yugoslavia and particularly the bombing of kosovo; in canada the issue of possible complicity in genocide remains entirely suppressed in the media; the charges were brought by slobodan milosevic during nato's bombing; after the nato action was completed, while charged and on trial at the international criminal tribunal for the former yugoslavia milosevic died of unsure cause in that court's prison.

        the hague: the international criminal court has identified two suspects in a policy of attacks on civilians in darfur - "to persecute civilians [that] they associated with rebels" ("sudan 'war criminals' named," mike corder, feb. 28, 2007, business day ): ahmed muhammed harun a government of sudan minister; ali kushayb (ali mohammed ali abd-al-rahman) is identified as a janjaweed leader (ibid.); in the past international courts have rarely pressed cases where their jurisdiction is not accepted, ie. the i.c.j. rejected yugoslavia's charge against the united states for genocide during the bombing of yugosalvia, on the grounds that the u.s. did not accept jurisdiction; the terrible crime of persecuting civilians thought to have connections to rebels may be responsible for the high death toll of iraqi civilians and has filled the prisons of iraq and guantanamo, etc.; the i.c.c.'s revelations coincide with the official visit feb. 28th by the president of iran to sudan as an ally in defence ("iran's president to visit sudan on wednesday," feb. 28, 2007, xinhua peoples daily), as iraq once was; see also sudan update of january 9, 2007.

february 23, 2007, ottawa: by unanimous decision canada's supreme court has ruled against the government's illegal practice of canadian security certificates; three detainees were able to challenge the government in court; one of these, hassan almrei has been on hunger strike in the kingston area facility, "guantanamo north;" mohamed harkat is on bail in ottawa; adil charkaoui is on bail in montreal; the decision is a victory for canada's charter of rights; it's unsure how the decision will effect those still held at kingston; the other two detainees who have also been on hunger strike are mahmoud jaballah and mohammad mahjoub who was recently ordered released to his family; the gazette notes a sixth detainee, manickavasagam suresh, held on a security certificate for ten years while released in toronto; the court decision has given the government a year's grace to hold the prisoners if it needs while it re-writes the law ("top canadian court strikes down anti-terror law," david ljunggren, feb. 23, 2007, reuters canada; "canadian supreme court annuls anti-terror measure," andrew mayeda , canwest, feb. 23, 2007, the gazette, montreal); canada's supreme court by affirming charter rights, presents some resistance to the conservative government's move toward bush style fascism where a u.s. congress and president have with the military commissions act overruled the u.s. supreme court decision which assured u.s. detainees right of habeas corpus; canadians may be able to hold against the stripping away of human rights.

       u.s.: on february 13th senate democrats introduced a bill , "restoring the constitution act of 2007," which would reinstate habeas corpus and begin to codify extremes of authority("bill would restore detainees' rights, define 'combatant'," josh white, feb. 14, 2007, washington post).

february 11, 2007, james bay: noting that the community has a damaged infrastructure and no community centre or functioning grade school, charles angus the new democratic party minister of parliament from timmins/james bay has placed kashechewan's hopelessness before the house of commons; in the past month 21 young people attempted suicide ("angus calls for immediate action on suicide crisis in kashechewan," feb. 7, 2007, ndp newsletter; "kashechewan report on reserve's future just weeks away," mike oliveira cp, sept. 24, 2006, canada.com).

        oaxaca: despite upper level union attempts to dissociate from the appo the teachers of oaxaca joined the february third march to affirm the appo, the ouster of ulises ruiz ortiz, and freedom for political prisoners; in oaxaca the education workers union is a continuing force for a democracy that represents the people ("oaxacan teachers support the appo and the ninth megamarch," nancy davies, feb. 5, 2007, narco news); for background, bulletin archives november 2006.

        italy: an italian military court has condemned to life in prison paul albers, josef baumann, hubert biehler, max roithmeier, max schneider, heinz fritz traeger, georg wache, helmut wulf, adof schneider, kurt spieler, all men over eighty; they must also pay the amount of one hundred million euros to victim families; the crime was the ss unit massacre of 800 civilians , women, children in marzabotto, another thousand in its immediate area, in 1944; the ss unit was the 16th ss armoured infantry division commanded by walter reder; the massacre followed the august massacre at sant anna di stazzema; reder was held responsible for both and sentenced to life by an italian military court but the sentence was commuted to five years under intense pressure from the german government and the vatican; the massacres were in specific retaliation for italian resistance to the occupation, fifty italian civilians per german (ed. note: i'm relying heavily on "former ss officers sentenced for massacre in marzabotto, italy," elizabeth zimmerman, feb. 10, 2007, world socialist web site); germany has shown no inclination to honour prosecution of nazi war ciminals or make them pay damages within country (ibid.); see april 13, 2004, bulletin archives 1995-2005, oradour-sur-glane near limoges france.

historical note
                  Prenez garde a vos pattes
                   L'homme a les pieds en sang.
                                  - paul éluard

february 3, 2007, ottawa: see urgent concerning efforts for the three canadian security certificate detainees.

        concerning the increasing effects of international law: italy has signed warrants for the arrest of 26 alleged c.i.a./ military /italian security operatives in the case of imam abu omar (deceased); wayne madsen who is good at this, says the u.s. operatives' spending patterns suggest rumsfeld's special missions units ("the news" jan. 31, 2007, wayne madsen report); a german court has signed warrants for 13 c.i.a. operatives in the abduction of khalid al-masri.

february 1, 2007 ottawa: please note three canadian security certificate detainees on hunger strike at "guantanamo north;" these people have not been accused, tried or convicted of a crime; they are treated without their charter rights and internationally recognized human rights; they are risking their lives in a hunger strike and need medical monitoring and canadian government respect for their simple requests; see urgent; advance notice: campaign to stop secret trials in canada and others have called a rally february 2nd, friday, 10:30 parliament hill ottawa.

          january 31rst: the bush administration considers military action against iran ("why can't americans see it ?" paul craig roberts, jan. 27, 2007, ichblog ~ information clearing house; "bush targets iran," marjorie cohn, jan. 31, 2007, mwc news; and others); a genocide warning.

advance notice: january 27, 2007: a democracy now! headline : "massive anti-war protest set for dc saturday," (jan. 26, 2007); in ottawa, at the american embassy, "stop the surge !" 1 pm. sussex and york ([nowar-paix] stop the surge on 27 january," jan. 23, 2007, nowar-paix).

        u.s.: according to an article in yesterday's washington post "the bush administration has authorized its military to kill or capture iranian operatives inside iraq; the order was given by u.s. army lt. gen. david h. petraeus, the u.s. commander in iraq, expanding a policy of his predecessor army gen. george w. casey jr. ("troops authorized to kill iranian operatives in iraq, " dafna linzer, jan. 26, 2007, the washington post); common sense would suggest that since iran has not declared war on the u.s., an attempt to single out and kill iranians in iraq is illegal. - ed..

        u.s. law has covered up the murder of two mississippi black teenagers, charles eddie moore and henry hezekiah dee, since 1964; a police deputy, james ford seale, accused with another alleged klansman by an informant at the time, was spared prosecution for over forty years because he was said to be dead, though living in the same locale; a second man charles marcus edwards, has not yet been charged; ("ex-sheriff's deputy is held in '64 death of 2 black men," emily wagster pettus and lara jakes jordan, ap jan. 25, 2007, azcentral.com ; "'system failed' in 1964 race killings: fbi director," jan. 25, 2007, cbc news; "ex police deputy arrested in the 1964 murders of black youths," amy goodman, jan. 25, 2007, democracy now!); as i remember police klansmen were recognized as the killers of michael schwerner, andrew goodman, james chaney , 3 civil rights workers (white and black) in the same area of mississippi at about the same time; not prosecuting murders committed by law enforcement is a threat to the people; see "confronting the big lie," an essay.

notice january 25, 2007, ottawa: we support the rally to "close down guantanamo," called by amnesty international; 11:00 am, york and sussex, american embassy; wear orange; for notes on guantanamo bay camp 2004, 2005, 2006 ; for 2007 updates; event : for two hours about sixty people stood together in minus10 degree celsius (15 degree F.) cold, some with signs saying " close guantanamo/ fermez guantanamo;" and "stop the torture"; "detainees" in orange jump suits, shackled in paper cuffs, hooded in black, and "guards"in field camouflage, enacted and re-enacted the ritual of entering and leaving a small gray painted wooded cage; the bullhorn, in possession of the event's guide from a local amnesty group, reminded people that human rights are without exception everywhere; this participant did not hear specific mention of three canadian security certificate detainees currently starving in a kingston ontario facility dubbed "guantanamo north" -ed.; see urgent.

january 20, 2007, ottawa: gerald and maas night's lantern is re-posting francis a. boyle's "iraq and the laws of war," a clarification of the ongoing crime of the u.s./coalition war and occupation of iraq; [ archive] we're also re-posting gail davidson's factsheet, "omar khadr, illegal detention and torture by u.s.forces in guantánamo bay;" [ archive] canada's government hasn't been able to assure omar khadr the basic human rights intended for people on any side of a conflict.

january 19, 2007, u.s.: the associated press notes that in a pre-released report for the american enterprise institute, the u.s. attorney general alberto gonzalez states federal judges aren't qualified to rule on terrorist cases which affect national security policies ("gonzalez: judges unfit to rule on terror policy: attorney general says federal jurists should defer to president's will,"associated press, jan. 17, 2007, msnbc); gonzalez surrenders the judiciary's power to the nation's president placing the president above the law.

historical note
pinochet apologists, the wall street journal and the washington post, reflect in editorial reassessments of the mass murderer, the perspectives which tied the chilean genocide to american foreign policy and interests; both papers speak of chile as latin america's "economic miracle;" would they encourage other nations down chile's ugly path ? pinochet betrayed democracy, ordered the extra judicial murder of thousands, wiped out political support bases of his opponent and stood as a reminder to democratic countries, of the nazis; pinochet's rule was a miracle for the rich while "by the time pinochet surrendered the presidency, the average diet for the poorest 40 percent of the population had fallen from 2,019 calories a day to just 1,629," and those "without adequate housing had risen from 27 to 40 percent," according to bill van auken's excellent article "mourning for pinochet - us establishment shows its affinity for fascism," bill van auken, jan. 14, 2007, global research.

        texas: for u.s. military personnel severely debilitated/disabled in afghanistan and iraq (and elsewhere), army medical command has opened "the center for the intrepid," a new medical facility at the fort sam houston brooke army medical center, texas, with quarters available for families during rehab ("severely injured get new rehab facility," karen jowers, jan. 13, 2007, army times); rarely mentioned currently, the u.s. military death toll from depleted uranium has reached 11,000 soldiers, according to james tucker in american free press; article sources give the total veteran disability toll from both gulf wars as 518,739 ("depleted uranium death toll among us war veterans tops 11,000;nationwide media blackout keeps u.s. public ignorant about this important story," james p. tucker jr., oct. 29, 2006, global research).

        canada: january 11-15 across canada small groups held vigils, orange jump suit events, protests, screenings in protest of torture and illegal incarceration at guantanamo bay and guantanamo north; the three canadian security certificate detainees at guantanamo north (kingston) remain on hunger strike; the conservative government refuses to accede to the minimal demands for better treatment, calling the strike which for one of the detainees has extended to over fifty days, a "voluntary fast" ("hunger strike drags on at gitmo north; report back from cross-canada days of action," jan. 17, 2007, tasc); the principle of indefinite detention, introduced to the public by canada's spy services is upheld by the harper government but challenged in court.

advance notice january 15, 2007: martin luther king jr. day in canada has inspired groups to protest the continuing detention of three muslim men on hunger strike at the kingston facility, millhaven penitentiary - guantanamo north ("mon., jan.15, 12 noon: martin luther king day at toronto's deportation factory," jan. 4, 2007, email tasc).

january 14, 2007, u.s. / canada: california's governor schwarzenegger is supporting president bush's troop increase in iraq despite the u.s. people's clear preference for withdrawal; "I think we should give it everything," shwarzenegger told abc news ("gov. backs bush's plans for iraq," jordan rau, jan. 13, 2007, l.a. times); the governor has just been invited to ottawa by canadian conservative prime minister harper; the two met at the inauguration-on-the-run of felipe calderon who represents the wealthy in mexico ("prime minister to host california's 'governator'," carly weeks, jan. 14, 2007, the ottawa citizen).

historical note...
it will help to understand canada, to take a look at a random day's newspaper: in the ottawa citizen today the lead article, "will the no-fly list fly ?" looks at the no-fly rules coming into force; the information is being published just after a 75 day period for public comment has elapsed and confirms that all canadians will be checked at airports for domestic as well as international flights to see if one is on a "no-fly" list (individual arrest at ticket counters has always been available, internationally, by police request); after the check "police might even appear and take you away into custody," don butler's article points out; the article also makes clear there is no way to adjust the list prior to arrest of an innocent; the piece doesn't mention that this defies international laws against arbitrary arrest; both the newspaper and the legislation are controls on civilians, and risk frightening people into compliance with injustice; usually a government asserts unjust controls when it intends to break international law or human rights laws domestically; today's citizen, which is the capital's primary newspaper, shows no major stories of international news; there is no mention of rallies anywhere in the world in opposition to the bush escalation of war in iraq; no mention at all of the war in afghanistan where canadian troops are at risk without proper mandate; in particular the paper carries no news of south and central america where political perspectives are changing radically; by isolating canadians from the americas the media is forcing democratic canada into unwitting cooperation with right wing policies.

        u.s.: for news of actions in resistance to guantanamo prison camp see guantanamo updates.

        u.k.: returning british soldiers are showing substantial levels of stress-related illness which the system is not prepared to cope with; ministry of defence statistics show 1,897 have mental health problems and of these 278 post traumatic stress syndrome (also mentioned as about 2%); a basic marine receives 12000 pounds pay ("plight of traumatised soldiers 'ignored by government,'" terri judd, jan. 13, 2007, the independent, u.k.); for recent u.s. estimates see bilmes & stiglitz.

january 13, 2007, u.s.: human rights watch executive director kenneth roth has publicly recognized the loss of credibility of the u.s. human rights program; hrw's 2007 world report blames practices of the bush administration's war on terror and particularly guantanamo prison camp; outside a u.s. sphere of influence the organization is often regarded as a voice for state department policies; the report issues warnings on peru and venezuela and particularly north korea ("u.s. has lost credibility on rights, group asserts," nora boustany, jan. 12, 2007, washington post).

        caracas: "fatherland, socialism or death"..."i swear by christ, the greatest socialist in history...." moments of hugo chavez at his swearing in as newly re-elected president of venezuela; his advancement of socialism includes nationalization of telecommunications and electrical companies ("chavez takes oath and hails socialism," ian james, jan. 11, 2006, philadelphia inquirer; chavez sworn-in to 3rd term," amy goodman, jan. 11, 2007, democracy now!) "the revolution will not be televised,"directed and photographed by kim bartley and donnacha o'briain of ireland, the documentary about the 2002 cia / right wing coup-attempt to replace chavez and suppressed for several years, is available online at google video ~ http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5832390545689805144.

        canada: the canadian war resisters support campaign has put out a canada wide call for lodgings after receiving a high number of requests from u.s. military personnel faced with deployment to iraq under the bush administration's current plans for a 'surge' ("more american soldiers seeking to flee to canada, group says," thulasi srikanthan, jan. 11, 2007, toronto star).

        u.s.: a report from harvard ("the economic cost of the iraq war: an appraisal," linda bilmes & joseph stiglitz) states the v.a. is currently unable to adequately handle its case load of casualties from iraq; the study notes 200,000 u.s. veterans of iraq and afghanistan treated, with walk-in low budget community based centers treating 144,000 vets; there are 400,000 new claims pending and a projected need to handle 750,000 new cases; fifty percent of the veterans from "desert storm" in 1991 subsequently asked the v.a. for help; 44% filed claims for disability ("study: number of wounded veterans could cripple v.a.," o'ryan johnson, jan. 7, 2007, boston herald; "the battle of iraq's wounded," linda bilmes, jan 5, 2007, latimes.com); these are staggering statistics, without mention of long term effects of depleted uranium inhalation, d.u. exposure, other radiation and chemical poisoning; effects of d.u. are still being denied by u.k., canadian, and u.s. militaries.

advance notice january 11, 2007: guantanamo bay prison camp opened five years ago and is known before the world for its disregard of geneva conventions; gerald and maas joins international calls for closing guantanamo bay camp and guantanamo north and for returning to all people the right of habeas corpus.

january 10, 2007, africa: the bush administration has followed its support of the ethiopian invasion of somalia with air actions against suspected al qaeda operatives in a southern somalian city; 31 civilians are claimed dead (ie. :u.s. strikes in somalia reportedly kill 31," jan 9, 2007, cbs news); long term effects of u.s. policy interests in this part of africa are war, area destabilization, impoverishment, regional starvation, more starvation, forfeit to corporations of indigenous peoples' rights, reduction in the number of indigenous peoples, loans from the world bank which can't be repayed, militarization; to consider policy efforts in adjacent areas of eastern africa see: "the tactical use of genocide in sudan and the five lakes region".

        detroit: within muslim communities of detroit, attacks on shia merchants over the weekend put broken glass on the streets and families in fear; reason for the vandalism is given as the execution of saddam hussein who was recently put to death in iraq before he could give evidence concerning the charge of genocide against him ("vandals hit shia stores : muslim leaders cite saddam's execution in detroit damage," darren a. nichols & gregg krupa, jan. 9, 2007, the detroit news).

[3 entries of january 10, 2007 moved to political prisoners 2007 updates]

january 9, 2007, canada: an average of five workers a day die in canada from work accident or work related illness, according to a new government financed report by le centre de niveaux de vie (cenv) ("explosion du nombre des décès au travail au canada," lee parsons, 4 jan. 2007, world socialist web site).

        canada - u.s. border: the "automated targeting system," a new u.s. security system in place since dec. 4th subjects each person entering the states to database information gathering which can be stored for up to 40 years, noting personal information which includes food and religious preferences all without the traveller's permission ("vie privée: peu de remous," jan. 7, 2007, radio-canada.ca).

        democratic republic of north korea: both united nations programs - the world food program (wpf) and children's fund (unicef) have announced funding difficulties in their efforts assisting the people of north korea; this is in addition to food shortages predicted due to heavy flooding; for example a million ton cereal shortage is estimated for next year for a population where a third of the people remain undernourished and "37 percent of the children were stunted because of malnutrition" ("worsening food shortages in dpr korea spark warning from un agencies," dec. 22, 2006, un news centre).

 

 

detail from an etching "because..." by julie maas

 

suppressed news
atelier

gerald and maas night's lantern
ed. & commentary by j.b. gerald; images j.maas
not for sale or reproduction for profit
update dec. 29, 2007
links updated october 2011