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> Fri., May. 19, 2006
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Today's lead stories:
English as a “National” Language?
New Orleans to Hold Elections With Half the City Displaced
Anti-War Candidate Takes on Joe Lieberman In Democratic Primary
United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues Convenes
12-Day Meeting
Malians Protest Sarkozy Tour
John Howard Drawing Fire For Global Warming
FSRN Headlines
U.N. PANEL CALLS FOR CLOSURE OF GUANTANAMO
In Geneva, the UN Committee Against Torture has called for
the closure of the Guantanamo Bay detention facility. Criticism
was not limited to Guantanamo, but extended to US-run detention
centers in Afghanistan, Iraq, and the so-called "black
site" secret prisons. In an 11 page report released today,
the panel that oversees compliance with the U.N. Convention
Against Torture also called for Washington to (quote) "investigate
and disclose the existence of any such facilities and the
authority under which they have been established and the manner
in which detainees are treated."
AFGHAN HUNGER STRIKERS IN IRELAND
In Dublin, Ireland, a group of Afghan asylum seekers are in
their 6th day of a hunger strike. FSRN's Maeve Conran reports.
A group of 41 Afghans started their hunger and thirst strike
last weekend in St. Patrick's Cathedral in central Dublin.
The asylum seekers are all at different stages in their application
process, some have had their applications denied, while others
have not received a decision on their cases. They say their
lives are in danger if they are forced to return to Afghanistan.
Hunger striker, Samandar Khan, spoke on Ireland's RTE television
about their motives. (Samandar Khan) "What we are concerned
about is that our cases are not dealt with full attention
and we are asking why we have got the wrong decisions towards
our cases, why we are treated wrongly in our decisions."
A representative from the UN's High Commission for Refugees
visited the group earlier this week and appealed to them to
stop their protest, saying that Ireland has a fair asylum
process. The Irish refugee advocacy group, Residents against
Racism says that Ireland's asylum process does not give individual
cases due consideration and asylum seekers often wait up to
5 years for a decision on their case, forcing them to depend
on minimal social welfare during this waiting period. Although
there is a mounting police presence around the cathedral,
none of the hunger strikers have yet been forcibly removed.
More than 4,000 people sought asylum in Ireland last year.
For FSRN this is Maeve Conran.
CRISIS IN SRI LANKA
The European Parliament has recommended a total freeze on
the assets of the Sri Lankan Tamil Tiger rebels. This announcement
comes in the wake of escalation of violence and violations
of the 2002 truce between rebels and the government. Ponniah
Manikavasagam has more.
Sri Lankan truce monitor Ulf Henricsson has said his team
is now monitoring a war rather than a ceasefire. The monitors
say that in the past month, both parties have seriously violated
the truce. Tamil Tigers recently attacked a navy patrol with
the knowledge that international observers were on board.
Officials say more than 200 people, mostly civilians, have
been killed in the past month and Sri Lanka is now facing
its worst crisis since the ceasefire was signed. Two catholic
bishops in the north have made an appeal to the UN secretary
general Koffi Annan to stop the escalating violence in the
north east of the island. Diplomats say the EU is planning
to ban the Tamil Tigers listing them as terrorists in order
to force them to the negotiating table Political observers
say the move of the European Parliament to ban the Tamil Tigers
will worsen the situation. For Free Speech Radio News, I am
Ponniah Manikavasagam, in Vavuniya Sri Lanka.
MOBILIZATIONS IN COLOMBIA
With little more than a week until presidential elections
in Colombia, indigenous and campesino protests this week in
southern Colombia have been met with brutal force by Colombia's
armed forces. From Bogotá, Nicole Karsin has more.
Thousands of indigenous people and coca growers took over
parts of the Pan American Highway in southern Colombian states
of Cauca, Meta and Nariño earlier this week to protest
Colombia's Free Trade Agreement with the United States, unfulfilled
land agreements with the government, fumigations that kill
food crops and what many predict will be the upcoming re-election
of President Alvaro Uribe. The protests were met with brutal
repression: tear gas, use of fire-arms shot at crowds from
helicopters, the burning of indigenous houses. The situation
in Cauca and Nariño is still critical. In an urgent
call to the media yesterday from the offices of Colombia's
National Indigenous Organization (ONIC), spokesman German
Cassama . "We want to dialogue. This mobilization was
to demand that the government hold a popular referendum about
the Free Trade Agreement. The government can't negotiate the
Free Trade Agreement with the United States without the consent
of the people." Hundreds of people have been seriously
wounded, at least three people are confirmed dead and there
are reports of people who were disappeared by the public forces.
From Bogota, I'm Nicole Karsin For FSRN.
DROUGHT IN ENGLAND
The south east of England is facing its worst drought in 100
years. But private water companies may be jeopardizing the
recovery of water supplies. From London Naomi Fowler reports.
Public body the Environment Agency has advised private water
companies like Thames Water to apply now for drought orders
to the governmental Department for the Environment. A drought
order gives water companies the power to enforce non-essential
water use. According to the Environment Agency, failure to
do this could lead to the worst case scenario of the public
having to get their water from standpipes in the street. One
water company in Surrey which has applied for a drought order
affected 58 golf courses; each of them was using enough water
to supply up to 3,000 homes. But other water companies seem
reluctant to restrict water use in this way. Presently in
un-metered parts of the country, companies are still paying
the same rates as domestic users of water. According to campaigners,
industrial use of water must be addressed; and this crisis
in water resources has highlighted the problems of a commodified
water service. This is Naomi Fowler in London for Free Speech
Radio News.
[top]
English as a “National” Language?
(4:11)
Yesterday the U.S. Senate approved two amendments to its
immigration bill regarding the role of the English language
in America. One declares English the “national”
language, the other declares English a “common and unifying
language.” Some lawmakers say they’re contradictory,
and no-one seems to be sure exactly what impact they would
have. FSRN's Leigh Ann Caldwell reports.
[top]
New Orleans to Hold Elections With Half the City
Displaced (3:22)
New Orleans will vote tomorrow in eight municipal races
including the election of a new mayor. More than half the
city’s population is still displaced, and many evacuees
will not be able to vote. Christian Roselund filed this report:
[top]
Anti-War Candidate Takes on Joe Lieberman In Democratic
Primary (2:59)
Democratic Senator Joe Lieberman from Connecticut has been
an outspoken supporter of the Iraq war who’s cultivated
a close relationship with President George W. Bush—bush
even kissed Lieberman on the cheek after his 2005 state of
the union address. Now Lieberman’s critics are hoping
that Bush’s sagging popularity will catch up with the
hawkish democrat. Melinda Tuhus files this report on Anti-war
candidate Ned Lamont, who’s challenging in the democratic
primary.
[top]
United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues
Convenes 12-Day Meeting (1:50)
The United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues
has begun a 12 day meeting in New York in the hopes of addressing
the economic marginalization, political repression, and mass
displacement faced by many of the 370 million indigenous people
living around the world. Today, we bring you the voice Western
Shoshone grandmother Carrie Dann, who used the occasion to
speak out about the Defense Threat Reduction Agency’s
plans to experimentally trigger a massive explosion to simulate
the effects of a bunker-busting nuclear bomb. The project
is called Divine Strake: Dann: "I don't know why
they call it divine? When you are out to destroy things it's
not Divine. This was schedule for June 2, and what I am hearing
now is that it is postponed, scheduled June 23rd. And so it's
still you know it is still in the plan to detonate on Shoshone
land. It is in Nevada at the nuclear test site, and I think
that is a very bad idea, nobody knows what is going to happen.
It might destroy the water table underneath and we don't know
if it will contaminate anything. It is a bunker buster, it
will go down instead of going up. But we do know that it will
disturb the radiation that is already on that land, and certainly
that is not good for anybody." (1:16) FSRN's Rebecca
Myles spoke with Carrie Dann. The UN Forum on Indigenous issues
continues next week.
[top]
Malians Protest Sarkozy Tour (3:35)
French Interior minister Nicholas Sarkozy’s controversial
immigration bill has secured the support of France’s
parliament by a two to one vote. Critics call the bill a racist
measure that will cut young African immigrants off from access
to jobs. When Sarkozy began a tour of Africa, in Mali Wednesday,
protests erupted-- some local officials called his visit a
provocation. Ndiaga Seck reports from Senegal.
[top]
John Howard Drawing Fire For Global Warming
(4:00)
Australia's Prime Minister John Howard is visiting North
America this week. His close ally George W. Bush wined and
dined Howard earlier this week, and Howard also met with his
Canadian counterpart to discuss the Asia Pacific environment
partnership, a breakaway group designed to undermine the international
Kyoto Protocol. Meanwhile, back in Australia, Howard’s
critics are attacking the latest federal government budget
for neglecting the issue of climate change. Erica Vowles has
this report.
[top]
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