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> Tue., Aug. 24, 2004
FSRN
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Today's lead stories:
Guantanamo Tribunal Begins
Top Military Officials Faulted for Prisoner Abuse
Update from Central Baghdad
Guatemala's Hydroelectric Project
Texas Lawmaker Seeks to Take Child from Parents
FSRN Headlines
The Israeli attorney general recommends that his government
should finally refer to operations in the Palestinian territories
as an occupation and fall in line with international law.
Laila El-Haddad has more from Gaza.
Activists gathered today to raise awareness that the vestiges
of slavery still exist and that reparations are the answer.
Grace Anderson reports from D.C.
17-hundred health care workers are on strike at the nation’s
oldest HMO in Washington. Sarah Turner with the Workers Independent
News Service has the story.
The highest military court in the nation has skirted the
issue of whether laws against consensual homosexual sex are
unconstitutional. In yesterday’s unanimous ruling, the
United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces denied
an appeal based on the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision
that essentially overturned state sodomy laws, Lawrence vs.
Texas. The military case centered on a former Air Force sergeant
who was convicted in military court four years ago on charges
that included consensual sodomy but focused on having sex
with subordinate men in his chain of command – considered
a more serious breach of military conduct. One Airman testified
that Sergeant Eric Marcum “might have taken advantage
of him.” The court said that any constitutional protections
are therefore inapplicable. The court’s decision leaves
Article 125, the military ban on sodomy, in tact. There are
at least nine other related military cases under appeal.
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Guantanamo Tribunal Begins (3:22)
Pre-trial hearings for one of the four terrorism suspects
being held in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba took place today. Human
rights organizations and journalists have been allowed to
witness proceedings, although access has been restricted.
Selina Musuta reports more on these controversial hearings.
[top]
Top Military Officials Faulted for Prisoner Abuse
(4:10)
Today a high level panel of former Pentagon officials released
a report that criticized top current leaders for creating
an environment that led to abuses at detainment centers in
Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo Bay. The panel did not find,
however, that abuse was directly ordered by Defense Secretary
Donald Rumsfeld or Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General
Richard Meyers. Mitch Jeserich reports from Washington DC.
[top]
Update from Central Baghdad (4:19)
Muqtada Al Sadr and his Mehdi army continue to resist against
Iraqi National Guardsmen, who are in day 20 of their attack
on the holy city of Najaf. As the US-appointed interim government
struggles to sieze the region, Iraq's education and environmental
ministers have been targeted in separate car bomb attacks.
Both attacks happened simultaneously in Baghdad, and although
neither of the ministers were hurt, at least 4 other people
were killed as a result. A band of insurgents linked to Abu
Musab al-Zarqaei claimed responsibility for the strike against
the environmental minister. Peggy Nish works with the Christian
Peacemakers Team. She joins us today from Central Baghdad.
[top]
Guatemala's Hydroelectric Project (4:05)
Guatemala has big plans for reducing its dependence on petroleum
by turning its abundant rivers into a hydroelectric goldmine.
But, as the government proudly unveils plans for building
three large dams, a heated conflict in rural, eastern Guatemala
is forcing the nation to think twice about hydro projects.
Jill Replogle reports from Rio Hondo, Zapaca, Guatemala.
[top]
Texas Lawmaker Seeks to Take Child from Parents
(3:30)
A custody battle between an African couple and a Texas lawmaker
came to a close on Monday. The lawmaker had cited ethnicity,
immigration status and poverty as reasons he and his wife
sought permanent custody of the couple's child. From KFPT
in Houston, Renee Feltz reports.
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