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> Tues., May 11, 2004
FSRN
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Today's lead stories:
General Taguba testifies
US Citizen Beheaded in Iraq ~ Video Appears on Internet
Independent Investigators: Prisoner Abuse is Systemic
Colombian Paramilitaries Arrested in Venezuela
Election 2004: Targeting Latinos in Florida
FSRN Headlines
Seven Israeli soldiers were killed in a blast in the Gaza
Strip this morning after a bomb exploded under an armored
vehicle. As many as 100 people have been injured. The military
wings of Hamas and Islamic Jihad claim responsibility for
the action that they say is in response to the Israeli military’s
current incursion. Salif Nasser, a Community Leader in the
Gaza Strip describes the Israeli militaries most recent action
in the occupied territory.
Israeli military spokespersons say the most recent incursion,
with three-dozen tanks and several dozen bulldozers, is to
dismantle alleged sites of rocket producing workshops. A United
Nations relief worker says that the military’s incursion
may leave as many as 11-hundred people homeless.
Ralph Nader's campaign filed a lawsuit filed against the
state of Texas claiming access rules to the ballot are unconstitutional.
From KPFT in Houston, Renee Feltz reports.
Monsanto announced they are putting the brakes on their genetically
modified wheat production. With more on the story, Kellia
Ramares.
A California based environmental advocacy groups claims U.S.
residents carry unhealthy levels of pesticides in their systems.
From KPFA, Max Pringle reports.
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General Taguba testifies
Today General Antonio Taguba, who's report was uncovered
by the New Yorker magazine detailing systemic abuses at Abu
Ghraib prison in Iraq, testified that the detainee abuses
were due to a breakdown in leadership, but, as Mitch Jeserich
reports, he did not put responsibility for the breakdown on
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld or Chairman of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff General Richard Meyers.
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US Citizen Beheaded in Iraq ~ Video Appears on Internet
As we go to air today, CNN is reporting that a video has
been discovered on a website that the news network says is
linked to al Qaeda which shows a man who identifies himself
as an American being beheaded in Iraq. CNN reports that in
the video the captors say the United States refused to exchange
him for prisoners in the Abu Ghraib prison. The American is
shown sitting in front of five hooded men. After the statement
is read by one of the men, the victim is pushed to the floor
and his throat is cut. Finally, one of the captors holds up
the man's severed head. Again, this report is yet to be confirmed
by the State Department We’ll have more on this story
as it unfolds tomorrow.
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Independent Investigators: Prisoner Abuse is Systemic
Independent investigations of Iraqi detainees by Amnesty
International and Human Rights Watch conclude that abuse and
torture have not been isolated but in fact systemic. In July
of 2003 Amnesty issued its first report documenting widespread
use of torture and other ill-treatment by Coalition Forces.
Human Rights Watch says the treatment of Iraqi detainees stems
from an atmosphere of impunity cultivated in the Bush administration.
They conclude that orders to relax or ignore international
norms originated with the treatment of prisoners in Afghanistan
and Guantanamo Bay, and became more widespread during the
occupation of Iraq. FSRN’s Martha Baskin investigates
further.
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Colombian Paramilitaries Arrested in Venezuela
Over the past two days Venezuelan state security forces
arrested over 100 Colombian paramilitary fighters on the outskirts
of the Venezuelan capital city Caracas. These arrests were
the result of an investigation into alleged Colombian paramilitary
activity with ties to Venezuela’s radical opposition
to destabilize the leftist government of President Hugo Chavez.
FSRN’s Greg Wilpert has the story from Caracas.
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Election 2004: Targeting Latinos in Florida
The year 2000 census found that Latinos are the largest
ethnic population in the United States, at that time, they
made up almost 40 percent of the US population, and that number
is steadily rising. Florida has the 4th largest Hispanic population
in the country, and the major political parties have stepped
up efforts to appeal to what they see as the swing vote which
may determine who controls Congress and the White House. But
while community members are spreading awareness and a sense
of responsibility so that people can use their political power
wisely, many in the Hispanic community are struggling to find
candidates that really speak to their needs. Andrew Stelzer
reports from Tampa.
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