23 posts tagged “exposure”

Israel and Palastine seem to have been regions where bloodshed, war and devastation have been the common norm for decades. I have picked up on a current news item by the Guardian who constantly make excellent, informative balanced reports in multimedia on-line. Rather than try to summarize what's going on out there I thought I would provide a link so those who are interested can follow the news series......... A week in Gaza 

The murder of two radio activists in Oaxaca has brought the repression suffered by indigenous Mexicans into sharp focus. Oaxaca has the biggest percentage of indigenous people who speak many different languages and suffering serious discrimination including the theft of their natural resources.

One such example is the village of San Isidro Aloapam who have been fighting the destruction of their local forest by commercial loggers who are bending the law to justify their activity. Attempts by the villagers to protect the forest have been met with extreme violence leaving many villagers injured and imprisoned. The village is represented politically by indigenous action group CIPO-RFM who have organized a series of media and international solidarity events to highlight the struggle. CIPO-RFM activists Miguel Cruz Moreno and Pedro Bautista Rojas were recently interviewed by IMC UK about the struggle.

oaxaca resists

CIPO-RFM in Oaxaca have documented to date 517 detentions and tortured people, 103 police and paramilitary incursions into their communities, 81 prison orders, 229 penal, civil and commercial processes, 263 people assaulted, 37 death threats and 27 murders - There will be a prisoner support benefit gig in London on Wednesday April 16th.

[ clipping from indymedia ] full story www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/04/396419.html which has various links to get the background on the main item with much more detail.

The US defence secretary Robert Gates said yesterday the deployment of a second aircraft carrier to the Gulf could serve as a "reminder" to Iran of American resolve to defend its interests in the region. I wonder what interest he refers too though. CBS News reported the Pentagon has ordered commanders to explore new options for attacking Iran and that the state department was formulating an ultimatum calling on Iran to stop arms smuggling into Iraq. Gates claimed: "What the Iranians are doing is killing American servicemen and women inside Iraq." - Whereas what Americans are doing is killing Iraqis inside Iraq. What's the difference.

It's that American attitude and double standards again - We can do what we want and everyone else must do what we say - or - Do as we say and not as we do.

From the Times On-Line: Scores of children and babies have been locked up in filthy prison cells in Harare as Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe’s president, sinks to new depths in his campaign to force the opposition into exile before an expected run-off in presidential elections. Twenty-four babies and 40 children under the age of six were among the 250 people rounded up in a raid on Friday, according to Nelson Chamisa, spokesman for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). Yesterday they were crammed into cells in Southerton police station in central Harare.

full story - www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/africa/article3822569.ece

A Chinese cargo ship carrying 77 tonnes of arms, including more than 3m rounds of ammunition, AK47 assault rifles, mortars and rocket-propelled grenades has docked in the South African port of Durban for transportation of the weapons to Zimbabwe. The South African government confirmed this yesterday and claimed it was powerless to intervene as long as the ship's papers were in order.

Copies of the documentation for the Chinese ship An Yue Jiang show that the weapons were sent from Beijing to the ministry of defence in Harare. Headed "Dangerous goods description and container packing certificate", the document was issued on April 1, three days after Zimbabwe's election. It lists the consignment as including 3.5m rounds of ammunition for AK47 assault rifles and for small arms, 1,500 40mm rockets, 2,500 mortar shells of 60mm and 81mm calibre, as well as 93 cases of mortar tubes. The carrier is listed as the Cosco shipping company in China.

That's one way to win the next election then, start a war and kill the opposition.

An estimated 374 people will be executed in China during this summer's Olympic games in Beijing, Amnesty International has claimed. A new league table of the world's most frequent executioners showed China officially used capital punishment 470 times last year. But some campaigners believe the true figure may be 8,000.

The human rights group called on Olympic athletes and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to press for greater openness about executions by the host country. Amnesty's UK director Kate Allen said: "As the world's biggest executioner, China gets the 'gold medal' for global executions. "According to reliable estimates, on average China secretly executes around 22 prisoners every day - that's 374 people during the Olympic games.....Everyone involved in this year's Olympics, especially the IOC, should be pressing China to reveal the extent of its use of the death penalty, to reduce the 60-plus crimes for which it can be imposed and to move toward abolition."

full story @ www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/apr/15/humanrights.olympicgames2008

At approximately 12:30pm on 2nd April hundreds of Romanian police violently raided a convergence center in Bucharest, the country's capital. The convergence space was set up to facilitate an anti-NATO gathering and was legally rented. It is reported that during the raid at least two protesters were hospitalized. Various reports state people are badly beaten while in custody and even while taken to hospital. Numerous people are reported to be seriously injured and some have been refused medical assistance while in custody.

It is estimated that 46 people have been arrested. No demonstration or action had happened before the raid and all the arrests were made inside the convergence center. Police officers were masked and reportedly very aggressive towards journalists trying to access the scene. The convergence center is located near the center of Bucharest, which is hosting a NATO summit that just got underway today. It is estimated that up to 27,000 police officers, military, snipers and secret police are 'guarding' the city. The security alert code yellow has been announced, meaning that all demonstrations are forbidden in the whole city amongst other restrictive laws. [sourced @ indymedia.org.uk]

US President George Bush is holding his final meeting with Vladimir Putin today, in an attempt to patch up the US's battered relationship with Russia. Bush, who arrived last night in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, is holding talks with Putin on the contentious US plans to install an anti-missile defence system in central Europe. It will be the last encounter between the two world leaders before Putin leaves office on 7 May.

They are expected to sign a 'strategic plan' setting out the future direction of the US-Russian relationship. Both leaders are likely to adopt a friendly tone - with Bush keen to present today's 'roadmap' document as a rare foreign policy success.

Last night, however, analysts said there was little prospect of any meaningful breakthrough on the issue that divides both sides - the Pentagon's plan to install a missile interceptor and radar system in Poland and the Czech Republic respectively, allegedly to shoot down any rogue missiles fired by Iran.

Nato agreed to support the controversial American proposal during its Bucharest summit last week. But Russia remains vehemently opposed - arguing that the system upsets Europe's strategic balance. It also believes that the threat from Iran is non-existent.

Bush is expected to offer Putin guarantees that the system will be used only in the event of a verifiable Iranian threat. Russian officials, meanwhile, expressed confidence last night that the system would never be built - with either a Democrat-controlled US Congress shooting down the plan, or a possible democratic revolution in Iran.

One leading foreign affairs specialist said today's deal was likely to be strong on rhetoric and weak on substance. 'A roadmap sounds impressive and dynamic. At the same time it's absolutely non-binding and has no legal status,' said Fyodor Lukyanov, editor-in-chief of the journal Russia in Foreign Affairs

As well as holding talks with Putin, Bush will also meet for the first time Dmitry Medvedev, Putin's presidential successor. The talks are also expected to include a discussion on terrorism, Russia's offer to provide a transit corridor to supply Nato troops in Afghanistan, and arms control. Bush has shown scant interest in arms reduction, but is now reportedly keen to negotiate a successor treaty to Start II, which obliges Russia and the US to reduce nuclear warheads and expires in 2012.
[source - www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/apr/06/usa.russia ]

Chinese paramilitary police have killed eight people after opening fire on several hundred Tibetan monks and villagers. Full Story in the Times - www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article3683878.ece

China’s Great Firewall must be lifted during the Olympic Games to ensure free access to the rest of the world. That was the message from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to the Beijing organisers of the Games during meetings that will be the last official sessions between IOC inspectors and the Chinese hosts before the Games open on August 8. Kevan Gosper, vice-chairman of the IOC co-ordinating commission, said blocking the internet during the Games would reflect very poorly on the host nation. “Even this morning we discussed and insisted again. Our concern is that the press is able to operate as it has at previous Games — at Games time.”

China routinely blocks access to certain sites on the internet and can implement at will a blacklist of words that cannot be found and will crash a search engine, barriers to certain parts of the internet have been enforced with even greater vigour. [source-times on-line]