Home > Programs
> FSRN
> Tue., Nov. 15, 2005
FSRN
FREE SPEECH RADIO NEWS
Thanks to FSRN.org
for making the daily programs available to Pacifica.org
Today's lead stories:
Senate Passes Defense Authorization Measure
Ben Bernake Testifies at Senate Confirmation Hearing
New Deadline for Medicare and Medicare Recipients Challenged
by Lawsuit
Maoist Jail Break in India Frees Nearly 400 Prisoners
Petitions Filed Criticizing the UN Mission in Haiti
Choice and Access in Communities of Color
FSRN Headlines
SECRET DETAINEES IN IRAQ
Some 170 malnourished detainees have been discovered in a
building administered by Iraq's Interior Ministry. Iraqi officials
have said some of the detainees showed physical signs of torture,
including; indications of severe beatings, missing patches
of skin, and a couple of cases of paralysis. The secret jail
was discovered on Sunday night by U.S. forces. During a press
conference today, Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari
said an investigation will look into allegations of torture
by officials from the Interior Ministry.
EU TO PROBE SECRET JAILS
A Member of the European Parliament today called for a formal
European Union inquiry into allegations that the CIA has been
holding and interrogating terrorism suspects in secret prisons
in Eastern European countries. From London, Naomi Fowler reports:
The European Commission was supposed to be investigating
the allegations about US secret prisons; however, Member of
the European Parliament Baroness Ludford today called it's
efforts 'feeble,' alleging it had done little more than simply
ask and then accept the denials of authorities in Eastern
Europe. British Members of Parliament have already been campaigning
for a formal inquiry into allegations of so-called 'torture
flights' coming through Europe on US-chartered planes. It's
alleged the United States has been flying terrorist suspects
to countries where torture is routinely practised for interrogations
that would be illegal on US soil. This week a Spanish court
received a prosecutor's report that alleges the CIA is using
an airport on the Spanish island of Mallorca for stopovers.
Responding to criticism of the European Commission's investigation
today, EU Justice and Home Affairs Commissioner Franco Frattini
argued the European Commission is only authorized to carry
out informal inquiries. It's up to individual governments,
he says, to examine the allegations. Since neither the European
Commission nor individual governments have the powers to seize
classified files from the CIA, the situation raises serious
questions about the accountability of the United States and
its actions internationally. This is Naomi Fowler in London
for Free Speech Radio News.
EMERGENCY POWERS EXTENDED
France's parliament is set to prolong for three months the
state of emergency declared in response to the riots in many
of the country's low-income areas. Tony Cross reports from
Paris.
Speaking in the National Assembly today, Interior Minister
Nicolas Sarkozy declared that the "republic is reconquering
territory which have been left untouched for too long"
... and that the state of emergency must be prolonged to continue
the work. The clampdown was initially supposed to be for a
fortnight but the government now wants to keep it going for
up to three months. But the sweeping powers that it grants,
including censorship, the right to enter premises without
a warrant and to seal off areas, have hardly been used at
all. On television last night president Jacques Chirac said
that an identity crisis was at the root of the troubles and
denounced the "poison of discrimination". He proposed
to introduce a voluntary scheme which will offer short-term
work and training to 50-thousand young people in the military,
the police and other public services and NGOs. But he also
called for some welfare payments to be cut off from families
judged to have failed to control their children. Meanwhile,
figures released by the police show that only eight per-cent
of those arrested during the riots were of foreign nationality,
casting some doubt on the need for Sarkozy's threat to deport
foreigners who'd been involved in violence. For FSRN I'm TC
in Paris
PRISON FOR PINOCHET'S POLICE CHIEF
THE former head of Chile's deadly secret police was sentenced
to a prison term yesterday. FSRN's Jorge Garretón has
more from Santiago.
A Santiago judge yesterday sentenced retired General Manuel
Contreras to 3 years in prison for the disappearance of a
school teacher. Contreras was the head of the DINA, Chile's
notorious secret police responsible for the large majority
of human rights atrocities committed in the years following
Augusto Pinochet's 1973 military coup. The attorney for the
missing school teacher says he will appeal the light sentence.
Contreras is currently serving a 12 year prison term for the
kidnapping, murder and disappearance of 8 people in the notorious
torture centre Villa Grimaldi. Meanwhile, former dictator
Augusto Pinochet has been interrogated four times this month
following a decision that ruled he was fit to stand trial.
Pinochet is being questioned in the so-called Operation Colombo
case and the illicit enrichment Riggs Bank case. For FSRN
this is Jorge Garretón in Santiago.
LA TIMES COLUMNIST MISSED
Activists in Los Angeles have planned a protest for today
outside of the LA Times building in opposition to the termination
of a long-time contributor to the paper. Kelly Barnes reports
from KPFK.
Robert Scheer worked for 30 years as a columnist at The Los
Angeles Times until the paper terminated his contract last
Friday without explanation. In response to the firing of the
outspoken critic of the war in Iraq, grassroots activists
have called for a protest today outside the Times building
in downtown Los Angeles. Protester Marcy Winograd says she
feels disenfranchised by Scheer's termination and calls this
an ominous moment in media history. Winograd says Scheer raised
important questions regarding the credibility of the evidence
used as a pretext for the war in Iraq and laments that an
important voice has been taken out of a mainstream paper.
From Los Angeles, I'm Kelly Barnes for FSRN.
[top]
Senate Passes Defense Authorization Measure
(3:54)
The Senate passed a mammoth $492 billion Defense Authorization
measure today that would, for the first time, require the
Bush administration to give periodical reports on the status
of the war in Iraq. Although Senate Democrats failed to push
through an amendment to allow cases brought by detainees back
into the federal courts, another compromise amendment would
allow detainees to challenge any conviction by a military
tribunal that results in ten years or more in prison or death.
Washington Editor Mitch Jeserich has more.
[top]
Ben Bernake Testifies at Senate Confirmation Hearing
(1:05)
President Bush’s nominee to chair the Federal Reserve
and replace Allan Greenspan, Ben Bernanke, testified at his
Senate confirmation today. Bernanke told the Senate Banking
Committee the best way to combat poverty is through business
growth and inflation controls.
[top]
New Deadline for Medicare and Medicare Recipients
Challenged by Lawsuit (2:13)
A coalition of eight consumer health care advocacy groups
filed a lawsuit opposing a January 1 deadline that would force
people who receive Medicare and Medicaid to switch their coverage
to the Bush-backed new Medicare prescription drug plan. People
who are under Medicare and Medicaid have until December 31
to choose their new plan. Organizations like the Medicare
Rights Center say that a significant number of the 6.4 million
recipients of both health care programs have not been contacted
about the process and will therefore slip through the cracks
and become ineligible for coverage for life saving medication.
With enrollment for the new Medicare prescription drug plan
set to begin today, opponents of the plan are afraid that
there is not enough time for beneficiaries to make good choices
for their health. Selina Musuta reports from Washington, DC.
[top]
Maoist Jail Break in India Frees Nearly 400 Prisoners
(3:36)
In one of the world's largest jailbreaks, nearly 400 political
prisoners were freed by armed Maoists in an Eastern Indian
prison early Monday morning. A prison complex guarded by armed
policemen failed to put up a fight against the action by more
than 1000 Maoists. The Communist Party of India (Maoist) is
the most powerful left party in India with a strong presence
in South and Eastern states. From Delhi, Vinod K. Jose files
this story.
[top]
Petitions Filed Criticizing the UN Mission in Haiti
(3:01)
The Brazilian-led UN Force that monitors Haiti has come
under harsh criticism for human rights abuses in carrying
out its security operation. Security forces have failed to
bring stability and peace to Haitian citizens, where some
feel the UN has been responsible for fostering a police state.
Meanwhile a group announced the filing of two petitions with
the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Gus Carvalho
reports.
[top]
Choice and Access in Communities of Color
(3:55)
Bush’s pick to replace Sandra Day O’Connor on
the Supreme Court, Samuel Alito, is trying to distance himself
from a comment he made in 1985 to the Reagan administration,
that stated women have no constitutional right to an abortion.
As Alito’s nomination to the Supreme Court has embroiled
the nation in a renewed debate about abortion rights, many
women of color and poor women are reframing this national
debate along the lines of “access” rather than
“choice”. Without economic security, they say,
choice is a mirage, and access to affordable housing, job
and food security, and free or low-cost child care, are just
as much a part of the debate around choice as abortion itself.
Sarah Olson has more from Oakland, California.
[top]
|
Listen
to the show 
Help
stream
download
