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Fmr. NY Congressmember Holtzman Calls For President Bush
and His Senior Staff To Be Held Accountable for Abu Ghraib
Torture
Zimbabwe Amb. vs. Trade Union Leader on Forced Urban Removal
in Harare
Fmr. NY Congressmember Holtzman Calls For President
Bush and His Senior Staff To Be Held Accountable for Abu Ghraib
Torture
In a newly-published article in The Nation former New York
Congressmember Elizabeth Holtzman, who served on the committee
that voted to impeach Richard Nixon calls on the public and
the press to demand President Bush and his senior White House
staff be held accountable for the torture of Abu Ghraib and
be prosecuted under the 1996 War Crime Act.
In the last few months, mainstream human rights groups have
been calling for top U.S officials in the Bush administration
to be held accountable for the torture and abuse of military
prisoners at U.S detention centers around the world. In April,
Human Rights Watch demanded that a special prosecutor be named
to investigate Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, former CIA
director George Tenet and other top officials for possible
war crimes related to the abuse. Last month, Amnesty International
issued a damning report blasting the Bush administration for
ignoring international law and mistreating detainees. The
group criticized the Bush administration for failing to carry
out a full and independent investigation of the torture at
Abu Ghraib and for failing to hold any senior officials accountable.
Well, The Nation magazine is publishing an article in its
July 18th issue titled "Torture
and Accountability." In the article, the author,
former Congressmember Elizabeth Holtzman, writes that there
is precedent to hold U.S officials accountable for wrongdoing.
She points to public pressure that forced Congress to end
the Vietnam war, relentless press coverage of the Watergate
scandal which ultimately lead to Nixon's resignation and public
demands that led to the independent 9/11 commission.
- Elizabeth Holtzman, She served for eight years as a U.S.
Congresswoman and won national attention for her role on
the House Judiciary committee during Watergate. She was
subsequently elected District Attorney of Kings County,
the only woman ever elected DA in NYC, serving for eight
years. Liz was also the only woman ever elected Comptroller
of New York City. Liz was appointed, by President Clinton,
to the Nazi and Japanese War Criminal Records Interagency
Working Group, which is overseeing the declassification
of the U.S. government's secret Nazi war crimes files.
Zimbabwe Amb. vs. Trade Union Leader on Forced Urban
Removal in Harare
In Zimbabwe, a government-sponsored urban clearance campaign
is the center of a heated debate within the country and around
the world. Critics see the campaign as a move to drive out
political opposition and punish those who supported the opposition
group, Movement for Democratic Change, in recent parliamentary
elections. Estimates of the number affected range between
300,000 and 1.5 million of the urban poor. At least two children
have been crushed to death in demolished houses. A United
Nations envoy met with President Mugabe yesterday during a
visit to assess the results of the campaign. We speak with
Simbi Veke Mubako, Zimbabwe's ambassador to the United States,
Wellington Chibebe, the secretary general of the Zimbabawe
Congress of Trade Unions and Bill Fletcher, president of TransAfrica.
In Zimbabwe, a government-sponsored urban clearance campaign
is the center of a heated debate within the country and around
the world. President Robert Mugabe says "Operation Murambatsvina"
is a clean-up operation intended to rid the capital, Harare,
of illegal structures and crime. The government said it would
step up a new housing program to benefit those left homeless.
Critics see the campaign as a move to drive out political
opposition and punish those who supported the opposition group,
Movement for Democratic Change, in recent parliamentary elections.
Since the campaign was launched on May 19, police have burned
and bulldozed tens of thousands of shacks, street stalls and
vegetable gardens. Estimates of the number affected range
between 300,000 and 1.5 million of the urban poor. At least
two children have been crushed to death in demolished houses.
More than 200 international human rights and civic groups
last week demanded an end to the campaign. So have Western
governments, including the U.S., Britain and Australia. Zimbabwe's
Roman Catholic Archbishop Pius Ncube called for Mugabe's arrest
and prosecution on Friday.
On June 9th, President Mugabe defended the campaign in an
address to Parliament, citing the regulation of small-medium
enterprises, or SMEs, as a major aim.
- President Robert Mugabe:
"The current chaotic state of affairs, were SME'S (small
businesses) operated outside the regulatory framework and
undesignated and crime ridden areas, could not be countenanced
for much longer. In tandem with the ongoing cleanup campaign
the government is in a process of reorganising the sectors
operation - the process which include the provision of essential
and dignified infrastructure, vendor-mart, technical and
management skills training and clustering the enterprises
in designated areas."
President Mugabe speaking earlier this month. Both the African
Union and South African President Thabo Mbeki have refused
to condemn what they call Zimbabwe's "internal affairs."
This has provoked sharp criticism from UK Prime Minister Tony
Blair as well as international human rights organizations.
A United Nations envoy met with President Mugabe yesterday
during a visit to assess the results of the campaign. UN envoy
Anna Tibaijuka reported having a "constructive discussion"
with Mugabe.
Also this week, state doctors went on strike to protest low
pay. And the government announced it would raise medical fees
and triple the price of gasoline to bail the country out of
economic crisis.
- Simbi Veke Mubako, Zimbabwe's ambassador to the United
States.
- Wellington Chibebe, secretary general of the Zimbabawe
Congress of Trade Unions, speaking from Harare.
For a copy of today’s program, call 1 (800) 881 2359.
Our website is www.democracynow.org.
Our email address is mail@democracynow.org.
Democracy Now! is produced by Mike Burke, Sharif Abdel Kouddous,
Ana Nogueira, Elizabeth Press, Jeremy Scahill and Parvez Sharma.
Mike Di Filippo is our engineer.
Thanks also to Uri Galed, Angela Alston, Orlando Richards,
Simba Russeau, Johnny Sender, Rich Kim, Joe Murgio, John Randolph,
Chris Zucker, Karen Ranucci, Denis Moynihan, Eric Rweyemamu,
Jenny Filipazzo and Isis Phillips.
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