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> Thur., Nov. 30, 2005
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Today's lead stories:
Bush Announces More Strategy for Iraq
Christian Peacemakers Kidnapped in Iraq
John Robert's First Abortion Case
Texas Death Row Inmate Granted Stay of Execution
Virginia Death Row Inmate Granted Clemency
US Government Taken to Court for Border Patrol Killing
Gay Rights Advocates March Throughout Poland
FSRN Headlines
ICC RULING ON KOSOVO CASE
The International Criminal Court in the Hague handed down
its first verdict today relating to alleged war crimes committed
against Serb and Albanian civilians during the 1998-1999 civil
conflict in Kosovo. Jackson Allers has more from Pristina.
Bands of independence minded ethnic Albanians, who constitute
90% of Kosovo's population, celebrated the Hague's decision
today to acquit Kosovo Liberation Army commander, Fatmir Limaj,
for alleged war crimes committed during the guerrilla insurrection
in the last civil conflict in the former Yugoslavia. Limaj
was charged with establishing an illegal prison camp that
allegedly tortured prisoners. He was also charged with chain
of command culpability for the executions of a group of 9
Serbs and their alleged Albanian collaborators. Two other
KLA fighters under Fatmir Limaj's command were also charged
with the crimes. Although the court found no evidence linking
Limaj and another indictee, Isak Musliu, with torture or murder.
The presiding judge said the prosecution had successfully
proven the existence of a prison camp at Lapusnik, near Pristina.
A third indictee, Haradin Bala, was sentenced to 13 years
and convicted of torture and murder at the same prison camp.
Kosovo has been under United Nations control since 1999 following
the unilateral NATO bombing campaign of the former Yugoslavia.
Kosovo's former Prime Minister, Ramush Haradinaj, has also
been indicted for war crimes and is awaiting trial. From Kosovo,
I'm Jackson Allers reporting for Free Speech Radio news.
BRITAIN PRESSURED TO PROVE INVESTIGATION
The British civil rights group, Liberty, is threatening to
take the British government and senior police officers to
court they fail to prove they've investigated reports that
CIA "torture flights" have landed in Britain or
used British airspace. From London, Naomi Fowler reports.
According to reports, aircraft used by the CIA transferring
detained terrorist suspects to interrogation centers where
they are likely to be tortured - known as "rendition"
- have flown into the UK at least 210 times since the 9/11
attacks. Complicity of any kind in torture violates British
law, international law, and European and UN human rights conventions.
Up 'til now, government ministers have cut short parliamentary
questions about the flights, claiming the British government
has no knowledge of them. But today, the civil rights group
Liberty has written to foreign secretary Jack Straw and to
senior police officers, giving them two weeks to disclose
what they know about the flights. If they fail to show they've
investigated the allegations, Liberty will take them to court
to demand a judicial review. The Council of Europe is investigating
the allegations against various EU member states; European
justice and home affairs commissioner Franco Frattini has
threatened EU members states found to have cooperated with
the so-called 'torture flights' with a loss of voting rights.
This is Naomi Fowler in London for Free Speech Radio News.
U.S. TO RESPOND TO E.U. (cut for time) Click
HERE to download
Facing pressure from the European Union, US Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice has promised to clarify reports of covert
CIA prisons in Eastern Europe. Katia Al Awwad reports from
Washington DC.
In yesterday's meeting with Germany's Foreign Minister Frank-Walter
Steinmeier, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice promised to
respond to allegations that the CIA is running secret detention
centers in Eastern Europe. Human Rights Watch has repeatedly
pointed to Poland and EU-candidate state Romania as likely
locations for the so-called "black-site" secret
prisons. Private planes contracted by the CIA have also been
spotted at a number of European airports. State Department
spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters that questions about
the prisons should be viewed in a "larger context"
of the battle against terrorist networks. The Bush administration
has yet to confirm or deny the allegations. For Free Speech
Radio News, in Washington DC, this is Katia Al Awwad.
10 YEARS IN A PERUVIAN PRISON
Today is the tenth anniversary of Lori Berenson's incarceration
in Peru. Berenson was pulled off of a public bus in Lima by
security forces, charged with collaboration with the Tupac
Amaru Revolutionary Movement, and later sentenced to life
in prison by a hooded military tribunal. Her sentence was
later reduced by a civilian court. She is scheduled for release
in 2015.
DARFUR PEACE TALKS IN ABUJA
Peace talks to end the crisis in Sudan's Darfur region have
resumed today in Nigeria's capital. Sam Olukoya reports from
Lagos.
The peace talks include representatives of the Sudanese government
and rebels operating in the Darfur region. Although the negotiations
have been on for about a year without success, the rebels
say they are hopeful that a final agreement will be reached
during this latest round of talks. The split among the rebel
groups is blamed for the failure of previous talks. This time,
the rebels will present a united front. An upsurge in fighting
has further underscored the need to urgently end the crisis.
African Union peacekeepers in the region were recently killed
in the face of repeated ceasefire violations. The Darfur crisis
started two years ago when rebels of Black African origin
took up arms against the Arab-dominated government. They accused
the Sudanese government of discriminating against Black Africans.
The crisis escalated when pro-government Arab militias started
attacking the African population. Over 70,000 people have
died in two years of conflict in the Darfur region and more
than a third of Darfur's six million inhabitants have fled
their homes. For Free Speech Radio News, this is Sam Olukoya
in Lagos.
RADIO SAGARMATHA BACK ON AIR
A Nepalese FM radio station is now back on the air after a
government raid shut it down on Sunday. Binu Alex has more
from Ahmedabad.
Nepal's Supreme Court has lifted a government order against
Radio Sagarmatha; South Asia's oldest community radio station.
Five of the Radio's staff members were arrested on Sunday
when security forces raided the station. Within hours of the
court's ruling, the government of Nepal asked Radio Sagarmatha
not to air the BBC'S Nepali service. Plans to broadcast a
controversial interview with the leader of Nepal's Maoist
insurgency is thought to have provoked Sunday's raid. Although
the five staffers have been released from jail, confiscated
equipments has not been returned, A government decree issued
after King Gyanendra's coup prohibits the broadcast of news
content on almost all of Nepal's 40 FM Radio stations. From
Ahmedabad in India, I am Binu Alex for Free Speech Radio News.
[top]
Bush Announces More Strategy for Iraq (2:47)
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi announced today that
she supports Congressman John Murtha's plan of withdrawing
from Iraq in 6 months. This is a change to Pelosi's original
stand on Murtha's plan, and she made the announcement after
President Bush's speech today in front of the US Naval Academy
in Annapolis, Maryland, concerning his strategy in Iraq. Listing
key steps for victory, Bush called the Democrats' demand for
withdrawal timetable 'an artificial deadline'. Meanwhile,
US ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad is reported to be making
contacts with some armed groups in Iraq with the goal of reaching
a political settlement. Iraq Anastasia Gnezditskaia has more
from DC.
[top]
Christian Peacemakers Kidnapped in Iraq
(2:39)
As we reported yesterday, a video showing four men taken
hostage was released by Al-Jazeera. The four are members of
the Christian Peacemaker Team, one of the last remaining human
rights groups working in Iraq that since the U.S.-led invasion
of Iraq in 2003, has focused on documenting the human rights
abuses of Iraqi prisoners and detainees. The Christian Peacemaker
Team was the first organization to publicly identify and denounce
the torture of Iraqi people at the hands of U.S. forces in
prisons, long before the Western media exposed what was happening.
KPFA's Salam Talib spoke with Anita David, a CPT team member
on the ground in Iraq about how CPT came to document the abuse
of Iraqi detainees and the conditions of their imprisonment.
[top]
John Robert's First Abortion Case (4:06)
Chief Justice John Roberts heard his first abortion case
today, over a New Hampshire law that requires minors to notify
their parents 48 hours before they have an abortion. Advocates
on both sides of the abortion debate see the case as an important
precursor to what lies ahead. Mitch Jeserich reports from
Washington.
[top]
Texas Death Row Inmate Granted Stay of Execution
Texas Death Row inmate Tony Ford received a 30-day stay
of execution last night while investigators proceed with further
DNA testing. 14 years ago, Ford was convicted for the murder
of Armando Murillo. Murillo's mother and one of his sisters
were injured in the same shooting. His mother was shot in
the head and is permanently disabled. Ford has always maintained
his innocence in the crime, and has alleged that another man,
Victor Belton, was responsible for the shooting. Belton was
arrested on another charge that occurred on the same day,
after the murder. Richard Burr is one of Tony Ford's attorneys
and describes what happened after the other man, Victor Belton,
was arrested.
[top]
Virginia Death Row Inmate Granted Clemency
(2:28)
Virginia Governor Mark Warner has commuted the death sentence
of Robin Lovitt to life without parole. The case has captured
international attention, as the US moves toward executing
the 1000th prisoner since the reinstatement of the death penalty,
and because a court employee willfully destroyed all of the
physical evidence suring the appeals process, thus preventing
modern DNA testing and possible exoneration from murder charges.
From Richmond, FSRN's Catherine Comps has reactions to the
Governor's clemency decision.
[top]
US Government Taken to Court for Border Patrol Killing
(1:55)
Over 3 years ago, 18-year-old Bennett Patricio was killed
by a border patrol officer driving a vehicle on the Tohono
O'odham reservation's Highway 20, near Tucson. US Border Patrol
Agent Cody Rouse struck Bennett Patricio and dragged his body
at least 50 feet before stopping. When the agent called in
to report the incident, he simply claimed there was a body
on the side of the road - and did not admit that he struck
Bennett Patricio until later in the investigation.
Patricio's mother, Angelita Ramon, was told by police officers
that her son was killed - she then waited days, weeks and
months to hear an apology for her son's death from the Border
Patrol, but never got one. A trial is now underway in a US
District Court, charging the US government with responsibility
for Patricio's death. Wake Up Call's Deepa Fernandez spoke
with Bennett Patricio's mother, Angelita Ramon about the trial.
[top]
Gay Rights Advocates March Throughout Poland
(2:56)
Gay rights activists have recently rallied in several Polish
cities to protest the banning of a gay rights march a week
prior, and to demand tolerance and freedom of speech from
Poland's new conservative leaders. Poland is already under
a warning from the EU to not attempt to limit the rights of
gays and lesbians. In June, then mayor of Warsaw, Lech Kaczynski,
banned a Gay Pride march through the city, although 2,500
demonstrators turned up anyway. The following week, he allowed
right-wing extremists, led by the League of Polish Families,
to protest against what they view as "abnormal"
relationships. Danuta Szafraniec reports from Warsaw.
[top]
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