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> Tues., Aug. 12, 2003
FSRN
FREE SPEECH RADIO NEWS
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Today's lead stories:
Mass Deportation Planned
US Military Clash with Students in South Korea
Utah Governor for EPA Head
Government to Blame for Gang Violence?
African Dictator on his Deathbed
Mumia Abu Jamal Commentary: Nick's Turn
Mass Deportation Planned
According to a report released yesterday by the Coalition
for the Human Rights of Immigrants, the Department of Homeland
Security immigration enforcement arm – the BICE or Bureau
of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement is set to deport as
many as 100 Middle Eastern detainees from Buffalo, New York
as soon as tomorrow morning. Although FSRN could not confirm
through the Department of Homeland Security or BICE that a
deportation was occurring - critics of post 911 immigration
policy claim Reuters reported on July 28 a similar deportation
of some 25 Middle Eastern detainees one and a half months
after Reuters original inquiries to the DHS. From Pacifica
station WBAI in New York City, Jackson Allers has more on
some surprising trends in new immigration deportation procedures.
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US Military Clash with Students in South Korea
Its been an unpleasant day for the U-S military in South
Korea. First, an American Army officer was caught by police
after dropping a body wrapped in a garbage bag off a bridge
into the sea near Seoul's international airport -- the body
turned out to be his wife. Then, a few hours later a U-S Army
C-12 transport plane crashed into a rice field killing both
soldiers on board. Tensions between U-S soldiers and the South
Korean people have been running high since last Thursday when
members of the South Korean students association Hanchonyoun
broke into a US military base and burned the American flag
and climbed on a the tank. The tank was part of a mobile combat
team that fired ammunition in the direction of North Korea.
The US military said the drills were necessary to protect
South Korea and give American troops familiarity with the
conditions and terrain of the Korean peninsula . The students
said they were worried the next target would be North Korea.
Since then, daily protests have continued amid angry statements
from the Korean government and American military. From Seoul,
Eun-ji Kang has more.
[top]
Utah Governor for EPA Head
Yesterday President Bush nominated Utah Governor Mike Leavitt
to replace Christie Todd Whitman as head of the Environmental
Protection Agency. While Leavitt portrays himself as a moderate
on the environment, Utah environmentalists are expressing
deep concerns about the nomination. Leigh Robartes has more.
[top]
Government to Blame for Gang Violence?
Four people have been killed and five others wounded in
violence between Salvadoran gang members in the nation's capitol
over the last two weeks. Not since 1999 when violence between
Salvadoran gang members claimed the lives of 8 people in a
single weekend has fighting between immigrant gangs resulted
in such a high death toll. The shootings have taken place
in the rapidly gentrifying Columbia Heights neighborhood and
the adjacent neighborhood of Adams Morgan, one of the cities
wealthiest. Community groups in Washington DC say existing
federal monies need to be funneled into youth programs to
combat record-high youth unemployment and gutted youth programs.
Despite the availability of 3.8 million dollars in federal
funds for such programs, the DC lawmakers chose instead to
rely on a federal program administered by the Department of
Justice called "Weed and Seed". Yet as Tom Gomez
reports from the nation’s capital, community groups
say the “weed and seed” program doesn’t
work and only serves to re-enforce distrust between law enforcement
and communities of color.
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African Dictator on his Deathbed
As warlord and now ex-Liberian President Charles Taylor
today went into exile, former Uganda dictator Idi Amin Dada
is in a comma in King Faisal hospital in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Amin’s family has been unsuccessful in trying to convince
the government to allow Amin to die in his homeland. President
Yoweri Museveni says the former military leader will be tried
for the crimes he committed during his reign if he were to
return. From Kampala, Uganda Joshua Kyalimpa reports about
the man who presided over one of the bloodiest regimes in
Africa.
[top]
Mumia Abu Jamal Commentary: Nick's Turn
As a Boston federal judge yesterday deemed a man accused
of multiple murders "eligible for execution", Judge
Mark Wolf also voiced strong concerns that the current use
of the death penalty kills innocent people. Our commentator
on death row, Mumia Abu Jamal reflects on how DNA evidence
could be used to exonerate innocent death row inmates.
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