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> Fri., June. 30, 2006
FSRN
FREE SPEECH RADIO NEWS
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Today's lead stories:
Congress Moves to React to Supreme Court Ruling
Israel Continues Attack on Gaza Strip
House Passes Bill to Open Coastal Drilling
Death Penalty Abolitionists Demonstrate Outside Supreme Court
Haitian Solidarity Groups Call for Debt Relief
Preview to Mexican Elections: Part 2
FSRN Headlines
NEW ALLEGATIONS AGAINST U.S. TROOPS IN IRAQ
An AP reporter embedded with the 101st Airborne Division in
Iraq is reporting that five US soldiers are currently under
investigation for allegedly raping, murdering, and burning
a young Iraqi woman and killing 3 of her family members in
the town of Mahmoudiya, to the south of Baghdad. A U.S. military
spokesman confirmed that the investigation is underway, but
did not give further details. All of the soldiers under investigation
are from the 502nd Infantry Regiment. The AP article reports
that at least four soldiers have been confined to their base
and that one soldier is in custody and has admitted to having
a part in the alleged crime.
CONGRESSIONAL RESOLUTIONS
The House of Representatives passed a resolution yesterday
condemning the publication of information on a secret government
program to track financial transactions. The resolution's
wording also included language to declare that the program
is legal. Although the resolution did not specifically name
the New York Times, the debate came one week after the Times
published a front-page report on the financial monitoring
program. The New York Times has also received criticism from
Bush administration allies for breaking the story of the National
Security Agency's massive warrant-less wiretapping program.
Yesterday's votes were mostly along party lines, with Republicans
accusing the media of putting the nation's security at risk
and Democrats accusing their GOP counterparts of attempting
to undermine press freedoms. A similar resolution was introduced
in the Senate yesterday. In his resolution, Senator John Cornyn
calls on the Senate to urge the Department of Justice to investigate
and prosecute those who leak sensitive information to the
press.
TURKEY'S NEW ANTI-TERROR LEGISLATION
The Turkish Parliament has approved a controversial anti-terror
bill just before its summer recess. Ezgi Seritas reports from
Ankara.
Despite concerns raised by human rights activists, journalists,
and academics, Parliament passed the new anti-terror law.
The law expands the definition of terrorism and gives police
forces broader powers. It also defines more than 50 crimes
as terrorist activity, including wearing a mask, carrying
emblems of a so-called terrorist organization, or any speech
that could be interpreted as terrorist propaganda. Sentences
will increase when the propaganda of a terrorist organization
is made through the press. Opponents of the law say it limits
both freedom of expression and freedom of the press. Justice
Minister Cemil Cicek said yesterday that the law does not
aim to limit such freedoms and warned police forces to be
very careful in their enforcement of the law. Many NGOs that
had protested the bill before its passage, predict that the
new law will bring increased prosecution of intellectuals
and journalists. Many human rights activists say the law runs
counter to recent reforms that had been implemented to improve
Turkey's dismal record of human rights abuse. Ezgi Seritas,
FSRN, Ankara.
CAFTA TO TAKE EFFECT TOMORROW
Small farmers, labor unions, and other social organizations
are preparing for nationwide protests throughout Guatemala
tomorrow. Jill Replogle reports from Guatemala City.
The actions come just one day before the Central American
Free Trade Agreement (or CAFTA) takes effect. In a coordinated
action yesterday, members of organized groups of small farmers
occupied 5 large tracts of land in three provinces. The National
Coordinating Body of Campesino Organizations says that 300
families are participating in the land occupations. The CAFTA
treaty provoked huge demonstrations in Guatemala when that
nation's Congress was debating its ratification. CAFTA opponents
say the free trade agreement will only benefit the very rich
and sink millions into extreme poverty. Jill Replogle, FSRN,
Guatemala City.
COKE WOES IN INDIA
A two-day conference on water rights opening today in the
north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh is the latest of a series
of actions by local communities to build pressure on the government
to cancel the license of a Coca-Cola bottling plant in the
region. Binu Alex has more.
Residents of Mehdiganj village in Uttar Pradesh began their
indefinite protest against a local Coca-Cola bottling plant
in late March. One week ago, many of the protesters started
a hunger strike. Locals say the bottling plant has drastically
depleted and has polluted nearby fields and water bodies with
toxic effluents. After a study of 16 bottling plants nationwide,
India's Central Pollution Control Board found unacceptably
high levels of lead, cadmium, and chromium in the effluent
sludge produced by Coke's Mehdiganj plant. Local's blame the
10 foot drop in groundwater levels on the plant's overuse
of water. Tensions over the allocation of local water resources
become particularly heated during the summer months - which
coincide with the plants peak production time. As wells run
dry and monsoon rains fail to appear, the provincial government
is having to send in water tankers to meet the basic water
needs of the village. Residents seeking a permanent solution
are asking for the government to cancel the plant's license.
From Ahmedabad in India, I am Binu Alex for Free Speech Radio
News.
[top]
Congress Moves to React to Supreme Court Ruling
(3:57)
On Capitol Hill, Congress is moving quickly in reaction
to yesterday's Supreme Court decision which rejected the use
of military tribunals to try Guantánamo Bay detainee
Salim Ahmed Hamdan. Congress says they will now step in and
examine the military tribunals. Yet critics add that there
is an existing court system, already in place, to try the
detainees. Washington Editor Leigh Ann Caldwell reports.
[top]
Israel Continues Attack on Gaza Strip (4:06)
The Israeli army has heightened its attack on the Gaza Strip,
bombarding at least 30 targets, including the home of Palestine's
Interior Minister. The military carried out several overnight
attacks on Gaza, with further attacks on the West Bank killing
two Palestinian resistance fighters, in an attempt to pressure
Palestine's Hamas-led government to release an Israeli soldier
captured Sunday . Manar Jibrin reports from Bethlehem.
[top]
House Passes Bill to Open Coastal Drilling
(2:39)
Ahead of the Fourth of July weekend, Congress wanted to
take a win back to their home districts amid high gas prices
and high electricity costs. The House of Representatives passed
energy legislation along mostly a party line vote. The bill's
major component opens up coastal drilling, an initiative that
has been highly contentious, particularly in California and
Florida, for many years. Republican Representative Richard
Pombo from California, lead sponsor of the bill.
[top]
Death Penalty Abolitionists Demonstrate Outside Supreme
Court (2:37)
This Sunday marks the 30th anniversary of the landmark Supreme
Court case that reinstated capital punishment. A group of
activists, including family members of murder victims, along
with former death row inmates, are holding a vigil in front
of the Supreme Court today. Their message: abolish the death
penalty. Yanmei Xie reports from Washington DC.
[top]
Haitian Solidarity Groups Call for Debt Relief (3:15)
According to Haitian solidarity groups, that country's fledgling
democratically-elected government could be jeopardized by
it's massive foreign debt. Now, as FSRN’s Jacob Fenston
reports, U.S. Representative Maxine Waters has added her voice
to those calling for debt relief by introducing a house resolution
urging international financial institutions to cancel the
debt.
[top]
Preview to Mexican Elections: Part 2 (3:40)
Mexican voters, including those living abroad, are preparing
to head to the polls for a presidential and legislative vote
Sunday. Two of the five candidates running for a 6-year term,
Andres Manuel Lopez Orbador and Felipe Calderon, are running
neck-to-neck in the one-round vote. Lopez Obrador, or AMLO,
as he's called, is holding a slim margin. In part two of our
pre-election coverage, FSRN's Norman Stockwell reports from
Mexico City, where some are concerned about what will happen
after they cast their votes.
[top]
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