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> Thur., Feb. 16, 2006
FSRN
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Today's lead stories:
United Nations Allegees Human Rights Violations at Guantanamo
Bay
Congress Continues to Slam Hurricane Katrina Response Failure
Biloxi, Mississippi: The Forgotten Survivors of Hurricane
Katrina
Peltier’s Lawyers Ask for Re-Trial
Study on Logging Causes Nationwide Backlash
Exxon-Mobil Breaks Revenue Records, But Niger Delta Communities
Getting Poorer
FSRN Headlines
PREVAL DECLARED WINNER IN HAITI
Early this morning, Rene Preval was declared the winner of
last week's presidential election in Haiti. He rose above
the 50%-plus-one margin necessary to avoid a runoff after
tens of thousands of blank ballots were removed from the official
tally. Preval will be the first elected president to take
office since the 2004 ouster of Jean Bertrand Aristide.
NEW OFFICE TO INVESTIGATE CRIMES AGAINST JOURNALISTS IN MEXICO
In Mexico, a federal office charged with investigating crimes
against journalists will begin work today. This, amidst a
national scandal in which leaked recordings of telephone conversations
between a powerful textile magnate and a state governor demonstrate
an apparent complicity of the state in attempts to silence
an outspoken journalist. Vladimir Flores reports from Oaxaca.
(phone audio)
In recordings leaked to the press this week, the governor
of Puebla jokes in obscene language with a powerful businessman
about the ordered detention of journalist, Lydia Cacho. The
scandal has grabbed national headlines just as the federal
government opens a new office to investigate crimes against
journalists. The new office will expand similar work that
began at the state level last September. The National Human
Rights Commission describes 2004 and 2005 as "the dark
years" of Mexican journalism, and says that crimes against
media workers (including threats, intimidation, and assassinations)
have increased by 60 percent during the government of President
Vicente Fox. Vladimir Flores, FSRN, Oaxaca.
BOLKESTEIN DIRECTIVE PASSES EU PARLIAMENT
The European parliament has passed a revised version of the
controversial Bolkestein directive on creating a free market
in services. It's supposed to oblige employers to observe
working conditions and pay rates in the country that they
operate in, rather than their workers' country of origin …
but not everyone's convinced. Tony Cross reports from Paris.
After two hours of voting on hundreds of amendments, the
Euro MPs agreed the plan by 391 to 213. The text's supporters
say that it will open markets and reduce red tape. And they
claim that they've accepted changes that will protect workers'
rights. Services, such as health-care and security, are excluded
from the provisions. But French Socialists, who voted against,
say that sectors like water and education aren't protected
and that there's no provision to harmonise different countries'
laws on services. The uproar caused by the original directive
helped lead to a no vote in France's referendum on a proposed
European constitution and European trade unions continued
protests this week. The plan now has to go to the European
Commission and member-countries for review. A final vote in
the European parliament will probably take place in the fall.
For FSRN, I'm Tony Cross in Paris.
INCREASED FUNDING TO IRANIAN OPPOSITION
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has requested $75 million
from Congress in order to fund internal opposition to the
rule of religious leaders in Iran. This funding will support
TV and radio broadcasting into Iran, student exchanges as
well as labor unions and human rights groups. Anastasia Gnezditskaia
reports from Washington, DC.
In today's hearing on international affairs budget proposal,
Condoleeza Rice laid out the State Department's plan concerning
Iran. "We will be asking in a supplemental request an
additional $75 for democracy programs in Iran. Perhaps the
biggest problem that we face is the policy of the Iranian
regime which is a policy of destabilization of the world's
most volatile and most vulnerable region." Senator Sam
Brownback, a Republican from Kansas, praised the initiative
as the "absolutely right move at this point in time."
Martin Indyk, a former Clinton administration official and
an expert on the Middle East, said that U.S. aid to democratic
forces within Iran will cause mistrust within their bases
of support and could, therefore, be counter-productive. For
Free Speech Radio News, I am Anastasia Gnezditskaia in Washington,
DC.
LA STATE LEGISLATURE ON DISPLACED VOTING RIGHTS
Two bills to make it easier for Louisiana's displaced persons
to be able to vote passed through the state's legislature
on Wednesday and are expected to be signed into law. A version
of one of the bills that passed had been voted down on Monday,
causing a group of black lawmakers to walk out of the special
legislative session called by the Louisiana governor. Christian
Roselund has more.
Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco is expected to sign into
law SB 22 and HB 12, two bills that will allow voters who
registered by mail to be able to vote absentee and also set
up satellite voting centers in ten parishes. Lawmakers say
that the intent of these bills is to enable those displaced
to vote in local elections where they lived before the storm.
Both bills were proposed by New Orleans lawmakers, where as
of January, there are three hundred thousand fewer people
living than last July. HB 12 had initially been defeated,
triggering a walkout by the Louisiana Black Caucus, but an
amended version of the bill passed on Wednesday. Governor
Kathleen Blanco told local press this week that she couldn't
say that the effort to keep the displaced from voting was
not racially motivated. Joe Cook, executive director of ACLU-Louisiana,
which lobbied for both bills, explains the importance of these
measures. (sound Cook) "If you make it onerous, if you
put up barriers to vote, many people won't exercise their
right to vote. People have already been through too many changes
we should not disenfranchise them on top of that." For
FSRN, I'm Christian Roselund.
NEWMONT AGREES TO SETTLEMENT IN POLLUTION CASE
The American mining company, Newmont, agreed today to pay
$30 million dollars to Indonesia as part of an out-of-court
settlement. The company had been facing a civil case in Indonesia
which sought $133 million in damages for pollution in the
North Sulawesi province. While today's settlement will end
the civil trial against the company, an executive will continue
to face criminal charges for his alleged role in the improper
disposal of toxic waste.
[top]
United Nations Allegees Human Rights Violations
at Guantanamo Bay
A team of legal experts organized under the United Nations
has found that the US is in violation of international human
rights laws that they are obligated to follow at the Guantanamo
Bay Prison in Cuba. The US says the so-called war on terror
is only bound by humanitarian law and is not applicable to
international human rights laws. But, after meticulous examination
of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
and the UN Convention Against Torture, a team of legal experts
say that under current international law, the prison at Guantanamo
Bay is unacceptable. Manfred Nowak is the UN's Special Rapporteur
on Torture.
[top]
Congress Continues to Slam Hurricane Katrina Response
Failure
“Stay the course and take action.” That’s
what members of Congress are saying about government response
to Hurricane Katrina. Leigh Ann Caldwell reports from Capitol
Hill, where Congress members continue to offer a blistering
critique of disaster relief efforts.
[top]
Biloxi, Mississippi: The Forgotten Survivors of Hurricane
Katrina
Residents living near the waterfront in Biloxi, Mississippi
are facing enormous obstacles to rebuilding their lives after
Hurricane Katrina – and the difficulties that they have
been facing have been largely drowned out by reports focusing
on New Orleans, although the eye of the storm actually hit
east of the Louisiana coast. As FSRN’s Andrew Stelzer
reports, an independent no-strings attached aid distribution
and community center has been evicted by the city, in what
residents say is a move driven by pressure from developers,
and a city government that believes the area’s demographics
are due for a change.
[top]
Peltier’s Lawyers Ask for Re-Trial
Native American AIM activist Leonard Peltier’s attorneys
are fighting for his release in Missouri’s 8th District
US Court of Appeals, for a possible re-trial, posing a legal
challenge to the US Government’s right to have prosecuted
Peltier in the first place. Peltier was convicted in 1977
for the murder of two FBI agents on the Pine Ridge Reservation
in 1975. Robin Carneen has more.
[top]
Study on Logging Causes Nationwide Backlash
A study of the effects of salvage logging on forest re-growth
in Oregon has caused nationwide backlash. The federally financed
study had its funding suspended last week, sparking a national
discussion of the delicate relationship between science and
policy. FSRN’s Julie Sabatier reports from Portland,
Oregon.
[top]
Exxon-Mobil Breaks Revenue Records, But Niger Delta
Communities Getting Poorer
US oil company, Exxon-Mobil, recently announced an unprecedented
net income of over $36 billion for 2005. About a fifth of
the company's oil exploitation is done in Nigeria's Niger
Delta region – where Exxon-Mobile’s oil output
and profit is on the rise. But, as FSRN’s Sam Olukoya
reports, in contrast to Exxon-Mobil’s record-shattering
revenues, Niger Delta’s local communities are getting
poorer.
[top]
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