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> Wed., July 21, 2004
FSRN
FREE SPEECH RADIO NEWS
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Today's lead stories:
Democratic Party Platform Regarding Israel and Palestine
International Day of Action against Coca Cola
Journalists Protest in Senegal After Arrest of Editor
Republican Convention Protest Organizers Agree to Rally Site
Local Battles to Increase Minimum Wage
FSRN Headlines
In Afghanistan, A US citizen on trial for running a private
prison and torture chamber has told reporters he was working
with the full knowledge of US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
Afghanis freed from the prison say they were hooded, beaten,
and in at least one case, shackled upside down. Jonathan Idema,
a former member of a US special Forces reserve unit, faces
up to 20 years in prison if convicted. The US State Department
has denied any links with his group, but Idema says he will
present e-mails, faxes, and recorded phone calls to prove
his connections to top Defense Department officials. [Today
was the first day of trial; the judge agreed to delay proceedings
up to 20 days to allow Idema and his codefendants to prepare
their defense.]
Last night, the United Nations General assembly overwhelmingly
passed a resolution calling on Israel to dismantle the security
wall it is building in the West Bank. The resolution comes
in response to a world court decision that the wall is illegal.
Haider Rizvi reports from the UN.
This morning, Palestinian leaders hailed the resolution as
a victory; top Israeli officials said the government will
not comply with it, and summoned key European ambassadors
to protest their countries’ support for the resolution.
Eight states and the city of New York are using federal public
nuisance law to sue electric utilities over their emissions
of greenhouse gases. Kellia Ramares has more:
A lesbian couple in Florida has filed a lawsuit that could
force every state and the federal government to legally recognize
their Massachusetts marriage. Mitch Perry reports:
Last night, Senate Democrats successfully blocked President
Bush's appointment of a former lobbyist for mining and cattle
interests to the Ninth Circuit court of Appeals.
Max Pringle has the story.
[top]
Democratic Party Platform Regarding Israel and Palestine
At next weeks Democratic Convention, delegates will vote
on numerous positions ranging from health care to international
affairs in creating a party agenda. For the first time the
Democratic Party is poised to support a two state solution
to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and reject the right of
return for Palestinian refugees. Mitch Jeserich reports that
some delegates from 3 different states are calling foul, saying
that motions to make financial aid to Israel contingent on
following international law were undemocratically quashed
at the local levels.
[top]
International Day of Action against Coca Cola
The World Social Forum declared tomorrow, the 22nd of July,
as an International Day of Action against Coca Cola. Organizers
are encouraging schools and organizations to stop stocking
coke machines and are asking individuals to refrain from buying
Coca Cola products. In the US the campaign to boycott ‘Killer
Coke’ is spreading across college campuses and communities
around the country. The boycott was launched last year by
the Colombian food and beverage workers’ union, SINALTRAINAL,
to bring attention to the murders of Coca-Cola trade unionists
there that they believe were executed by company-hired death
squads in a country often described as the world’s most
dangerous place for labor activists. Free Speech Radio News
spoke with Jana Silverman --s a consultant for the AFL-CIO
Solidarity Center in Bogota and a columnist on labor issues
for the online magazine Colombia Week.
[top]
Journalists Protest in Senegal After Arrest of Editor
On Monday, hundreds of independent journalists in Senegal
staged a sit-in at the Information Ministry to protest the
jailing of an editor last week by Senegalese authorities that
they claim was politically motivated. Press professionals,
human rights groups and political parties denounced the arrest
as an attempt to muzzle the press. From Senegal – Ngiaga
Seck.
[top]
Republican Convention Protest Organizers Agree to
Rally Site
Protest organizers for the Republican National Convention
conceded today to New York City officials demands that a massive
rally be held on the far west side of Manhattan. The activists’
decision comes on the heels of a court ruling that gives protesters
more freedoms at demonstrations. Leigh Ann Caldwell from WBAI
in New York City.
[top]
Local Battles to Increase Minimum Wage
Throughout the1950's and 60's, minimum wage workers were
paid roughly 50% of the earnings of the average worker. Today
the minimum wage is only 33% of the average wage. According
to the AFL-CIO, if the minimum wage had kept pace with inflation
since 1968, when it was a $1.60 an hour, it would have reached
$8.46 an hour by 2003. Eleven states and the District of Columbia
have acted independently to raise the base wage in their jurisdictions
above the federal minimum. Free Speech Radio News correspondent
Tom Gomez reports that last Monday, the District of Columbia
City Council held a public hearing to consider raising minimum
wage there yet again, to $7.00 hour.
[top]
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