Another A-Pee story. Rest at link.
Challenging a global aversion to guns aboard ships, France has put troops on tuna boats in the Indian Ocean, and Belgium is offering military units to its merchant vessels off the Horn of Africa. Now, U.S. lawmakers are weighing similar action to fight piracy. Step by baby step. Bit by bit.
Opponents fear such moves will escalate the violence and raise a minefield of legal issues. As if the pirates care. If they outlaw guns, only outlaws will have guns. Outlaws would prefer that they be outlawed. And I'm sure the pirates would prefer that their prey be defenseless, too.
In June, the U.S. House of Representatives passed an amendment that would require the Department of Defense to put armed teams on U.S.-flagged ships passing through high-risk waters, specifically around the Horn of Africa where Somali pirates have become a scourge of world shipping. One rule: Don't shoot the boat!
The amendment now goes to the Senate. A separate bill introduced last month would grant immunity from prosecution in American courts to any "owner, operator, time charterer, master, or mariner who uses force, or authorizes the use of force, to defend a vessel of the United States against an act of piracy." Pirate-cruises to begin shortly after the bill is passed.
#2
#1 How about just napalm their home ports on a regular basis until pirate activity ceases for a year? Posted by: 3dc
ARCLIGHT would be more effective, 3dc. There isn't much that will burn in Somalia that hasn't already been turned into charcoal. Problem with the entire idea is that there are still some 250 hostages being held, and there's no guarantee they wouldn't be killed in the operation. Better to sail a brand-spanking new ship, low in the water from a "huge" cargo, with 50 or 60 marines and weapons aboard. Let it operate between Port Said and Mumbai, back and forth, until the pirates take the bait. It won't be long, and it definitely will be a one-off operation.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/14/2009 15:26 Comments ||
Top||
[Iran Press TV Latest] The United States has objected to the release of a Libyan national, Abdel Basset al-Megrahi, who is serving life imprisonment for the 1988 Lockerbie bombing.
"We have made our views clear to the UK government, to other authorities, that we believe that he should spend the rest of his time in jail," State Department Spokesman PJ Crowley said.
On Thursday, British media reported that al-Megrahi's release was imminent on compassionate grounds because he has been diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer. He would be allowed to return to his family in Libya.
Susan Cohen, whose daughter was killed in the bombing, told Sky News that Megrahi's release would be "a disgrace."
In 2001, three Scottish judges sitting at an extraordinary tribunal in the Netherlands had sentenced al-Megrahi, 57, to life imprisonment for the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland on December 21, 1988.
The blast, Britain's deadliest terror attack, killed all 259 aboard and 11 people on the ground due to falling debris. Many of those on the flight were Americans traveling home for the Christmas holidays.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/14/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
[Maghrebia] Scottish officials on Wednesday (August 12th) denied media reports that terminally-ill Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi would definitely be returned to Libya by the start of Ramadan next Friday, international press reported. The Scottish government decision regarding al-Megrahi's deportation to Libya will reportedly be announced next week. Al-Megrahi, who is serving a minimum term of 27 years in a Scottish prison for the 1988 bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over the village of Lockerbie, was diagnosed with prostate cancer last year. Libya requested his release on compassionate grounds.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/14/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
08/14/2009 1:13 Comments ||
Top||
#4
WMF > KOREAN MEDIAS: CHINA: NORTH KOREA BROADLY ALLOWED TO BE ON THE SIDE OF THE USA AS LONG AS IT DOESN'T ENGAGE IN ANTI-CHIN ACTIVITIES/
INTERESTS [aka NOKOR has LIMITED INDEPENDENCE/
SOVEREIGNTY IN SELECT = MINOR GEOPOL AFFAIRS].
* SAME > RAND: PLA CAN EASILY ACHIEVE AIR SUPREMACY IN THE TAIWAN STRAIT [PLA only needs 240 SRBMS agz Taiwan]. US MILITARY BASES NEAR TAIWAN AT HIGH RISK [read, Okinawa-Guam-Phil-SOKOR].
FYI its clear to many WMF Netters that CHIN won't hesitate to unilater or preemptively use "SECOND ARTILLERY" NUCWEAPS AGZ ANY REGIONAL ENEMY(S).
"A Chinese investment company developing a copper mine in North Korea with a North Korean company sanctioned by the UN Security Council has reportedly called an abrupt halt to the project."
#7
The South Koreans should have long ago set up a major, but discreet, discussion group in China, with both Chinese political and military types. The idea would be to quietly brainstorm endless ideas about what to do about North Korea, but cloaked deeply with very dull trade talks.
The idea is to carefully establish unofficial liaisons among the Chinese trade and military delegations who know where the South Koreans are coming from, and dutifully report it through intelligence channels.
99% of such communications are noted and ignored, but sooner or later, the Chinese intelligence-political section will spot that other 1%, as a key potential agreement with the South that pays off handsomely for China as well.
The Chinese appreciate diplomatic subtleties like that, and though it takes a long time, it can result in a very satisfactory outcome.
#8
I have been an advocate of that kind of approach for a long time, Moose.
And it doesn't need to be so "unofficial" either. South Korea and China are continuing to open their economies to each other. South Korea currently maintains a trade surplus with China.
China could easily have a role in creating an economic asset on its border rather than a liability and have a strong friendly neighbor for generations.
crosspatch, I think the StrategyPage business strategy is that you get the sources, and the deep analyses, when you pay their fee. For free, you get "Trust me" summaries.
#10
South Korea should have made secret agreements with China to have China replace the madmen in charge of North Korea in exchange for an acceptance of North Korean independence for ten or twenty years, and withdrawal of US forces from the Penninsula. Then the Chinese could use the cheap labor, and economic connections with South Korea that would result to ensure that a unified Korea (whenever it happened) would not be hostile to China (and in fact might be an ally against Japan), would not have nuclear weapons, and most of all the Chinese would not have to deal with a flood of starving refugess. In fact South Korea would avoid the refugee problem as well as having to rebuild the North suddenly.
#4
This being the case, it sounds like some Psyops are in order. That is, convince them that there are hidden cultists among them that want to kill them back for being Muslims.
Yet these cultists pretend to be Muslims themselves. And the way you can tell them from *real* Muslims, is that they want to execute Muslims by claiming they are fake Muslims.
#5
83% favor stoning adulterers (really women only)
80% favor cutting off hands of thieves
(so you see, they're going easy on the Apostates)
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
08/14/2009 14:27 Comments ||
Top||
#6
With neighbors prone to riot and pogrom, what fool would speak aloud his doubt about such things? The shock, really, is that so many were willing to be recorded as being against.
[Geo News] President Asif Ali Zardari has allowed political activities in FATA while the announcement came during a celebration gathering hosted here in Presidency to mark 63rd Independence Day on Thursday. According to sources, addressing the celebrations, President Asif Ali Zardari has announced the allowance of political activities in FATA. President on the occasion said, nothing but democracy can be the only future of Pakistan. All the upcoming decisions will be made through all political parities' consultation, he concluded.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/14/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[Geo News] As many as 100 people have received bullet injuries owing to aerial firing on the eve of Independence Day here on Thursday night, police sources said. According to sources, people in jubilation opened indiscriminate aerial firing for marking celebrations of 63rd Independence Day on Thursday mid night which has brought critical injuries for at least 100 people during separate occasions in various areas of metropolis. The wounded people have been rushed to different government and private hospitals for medical attainment, rescue sources said. Some among injured unfortunates have been said to be critical in condition, hospital sources said.
News flash
Gravity still in effect in Karachi!!
Posted by: Fred ||
08/14/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
Question: Some people believe that the (Pakistani) Taliban are the greatest threat to the country, some believe India is the greatest threat, whereas some believe US is the greatest threat. Who do you think is the greatest threat for Pakistan?
#1
And Musharaf consistently topped popularity polls, even as he co-operated - somewhat - with US officials.
The latest contradiction is: support from anyone who matters, for the border operations. The enemy-villian image isn't different from that held by American troops in Afghanistan.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
08/14/2009 14:00 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Hard to believe Al Jizz's numbers. I'm sure the numbers aren't rosy, but I think Al Jizz is taking significant "artistic license" to get the sheeple to start thinking what they think their neighbor is thinking. It's not like anyone else is taking polls there just to make sure the numbers are accurate. If we didn't mow them down to get to Afghanistan after 9/11, chances are they don't need to worry about us. They aren't worth it.
A Human Rights Watch report claiming IDF soldiers killed 11 Palestinian civilians holding white flags in the Gaza Strip during Operation Cast Lead is "based on unreliable witness reports," the IDF said in a statement released Thursday.
Of course it's unreliable -- it came from Human Rights Watch, which as the article notes at the end, has done this sort of thing before ...
"Moreover," the statement continued, the international human rights organization "didn't bother to give the report to the IDF before releasing it to the public via the media, to allow for in-depth investigation."
The army stressed that soldiers were under orders to "honor the 'white flag' as a sign of surrender... and to avoid harming" anyone raising such a flag.
#2
Bad things happen in war. I generally care about human suffering. But not when they happen to people who condone launching rockets from civilian areas, encourage children to blow themselves up, use ambulances for terrorist operations, have a history of false truces, etc. Even if this story were true, I really would not care. These people have dehumanized themselves.
#3
"Moreover," the statement continued, the international human rights organization "didn't bother to give the report to the IDF before releasing it to the public via the media, to allow for in-depth investigation."
An in-depth investigation is the last thing Human Rights [Abusers] Watch wants. And they have been found to have been lying in the past. Nobody really believes their claims - but they may a good justification for blaming Israel...
. "In each case, the victims were standing, walking, or in a slow-moving vehicle with other unarmed civilians who were trying to convey their non-combatant status by waving a white flag,"
Funny - no mention of Ham-Ass and company abusing the white flag and ambulances by HRW.
To HRW - everything any terrorist says is the absolute truth while anything those 'dirty jooos' say is absolute lies. Did Cater found them or something?
[Al Arabiya Latest] Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday ruled out resuming peace talks with Israel unless it stops building of settlements in the occupied territories and insisted on the Palestinians right to "legitimate resistance."
Abbas made the comments during the inaugural meeting of the new 23-member Central Committee that his Fatah party elected during its first convention in two decades.
He said negotiations with Israel would only resume "on the basis of commitments made by both sides ... particularly a halt to all forms of settlement activity without exception in Jerusalem and the rest of the occupied territories."
Brilliant, just brilliant.
The Israelis are building on what you consider to be your land. If you don't talk to them and get a deal they'll just continue to build. Eventually they'll have their settlements around Jerusalem (which the Israelis say is theirs forever) completely set and you won't be move to negotiate for anything.
But instead of talking, you'll do .. something else. Except that all the stuff you've been doing these last sixty years hasn't worked, and you're out of new ideas.
Brilliant, Mahmoud, brilliant.
Thank you, President Obama.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/14/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: Palestinian Authority
" These deaths stand out because the civilians were in groups waving a white cloth, T-shirt or scarf, and no Palestinian fighters were in the area at the time "
HRW
[Al Arabiya Latest] Israeli soldiers shot and killed 11 innocent Palestinian civilians, including four children, who were in groups waving white flags during the Gaza assault, Human Rights Watch said on Thursday, adding this was not the only case of unlawful killings that took place.
"The Israeli military should conduct thorough, credible investigations into these deaths to tackle the prevailing culture of impunity," the New York-based organisation said in a 63-page report.
It said the 11 people were only small fraction of the total number of civilians and combatants killed in the 22-day land, air and sea assault of the impoverished strip.
"However, these deaths stand out because the civilians were in groups waving a white cloth, T-shirt or scarf, and no Palestinian fighters were in the area at the time," HRW said. "Under the laws of war, individuals who carry out or order deliberate attacks on civilians are responsible for war crimes," the report continued.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/14/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
#1
Better to kill them with white flags than white phosphorus!
Why do I suspect, assuming the basic facts are true (hah!), that there is more to this story than reported?
#3
Presumably they were in the middle of a firefight, and instead of just tucking their head down and waiting for it to be over, they felt the need to go traipsing through the tulips. Maybe they were out of food, maybe somebody was sick, but more likely this is whole cloth invention by the human rights bastards. Take a couple victims of the general fighting, find some typical Gazan Arabs to do a song-and-dance about how they actually died, and voila! Instant My Lai.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
08/14/2009 10:23 Comments ||
Top||
Ma'an/Agencies - "The forgeries in Iran were much smaller than what we had in Palestine," the Israeli news website Ynet quoted former Palestinian Prime Minister and Central Committee member Ahmad Qureia as saying.
The site ran an unsourced interview Thursday, where the ousted Qureia alleged that "arrangements were made behind the scenes that led to having some of the names pushed aside and other names forced in," and accused election winners Muhammad Dahlan, Jibril Rajoub, and Tawfiq At-Tirawi of being "coordinators with the occupation." Qureia wondered out loud about a connection between the men's alleged ties with Israel and their win at the ballot boxes.
The allegations follow a series of elections recounts from the Sixth Fatah Congress, where 2,241 members cast their votes for 18 spots in the party's Central Committee and 80 spots in the Revolutionary Council. Results from the first set of elections were affirmed Wednesday following two recounts and quiet accusations of elections irregularities.
A Central Committee election upset saw formerly 19th place aide to Palestinian President and Fatah Chair Mahmoud Abbas, At-Tayyib Abdul Rahim, rise to 16th place, while 18th place went to a tie. Qureia himself called for the first recount after he got the 20th highest number of votes, meaning he would no longer be a member of the top body.
"There will be no harmony within the group that was elected," said Qureia of the newly elected Central Committee. He called the entry of Abdul Rahim "shameful" and asked "How does such a thing happen?"
Posted by: Fred ||
08/14/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: Fatah
Ma'an/Agencies - Regardless of the outcome of the elections in Fatah's Sixth Congress Farouq Qaddoumi maintains he is still the legitimate secretary of the faction, a Gaza-based on-line news agency, Shehab, reported Wednesday.
There has been little word from Qaddoumi since he launched accusations at Fatah Chair and Palestinain President Mahmoud Abbas along with Fatah leader from Gaza Mohammed Dahlan, saying the two had conspired with the CIA and Israel to assassinate Yasser Arafat.
Qaddoumi did not attend the Sixth Fatah Congress in Bethlehem, and did not nominate himself for a seat on the Central Committee, the top governing body of Fatah of which he has been a part for the last 20 years. The day voting for the committee started, and following the uncontested election of Abbas to the head of the committee, Abbas publically invited Qaddoumi to return to the party. "Those who own their mistakes are the best among us," he said.
The speech sparked rumors that Abbas would seek to appoint Qaddoumi to one of the now three vacant seats in the Central Committee. Responding to the suggestion, however, he was quoted as saying: "I am still the secretary of Fatah, and I don't need a recommendation from anyone as my record in the Movement testifies for me."
The long-time leader, who now lives in exile in Tunis, categorically rejected the legitimacy of the conference proceedings and the elections in Bethlehem. He alleged that the party regulations do not allow for public voting. Abbas was elected by a show of hands, on camera, on the third day of the conference.
"This form of voting is considered as indirect coercion to influence the will of the electorate and give absolute power to the ruler to banish his opponents," Qaddoumi told the paper.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/14/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under: PLO
Your Predator drone has all the latest gear, including communications, laser target designator, day and night cameras and, of course, Hellfire missiles. But, according to Special Operations Command, it still needs that essential finishing touch: the latest sound system. The command is setting out to correct this, providing speakers not just for drones but also for plenty of other applications, in a new high-tech loudspeaker program...
A former leader of the Jemaah Islamiya terrorist group in Indonesia, Abu Bakar Bashir, has praised two of the terrorists killed in raids last weekend. Bashir attended funerals of the two men near Solo, in central Java.
In co-ordinated raids last weekend, Indonesian police attacked a house in central Java and a house in Bekasi, near Jakarta. Last month, bombings of luxury hotels killed nine people, including three Australians. Police claim one residence was the nerve centre of those bombings - and also where bombs were being built to attack the home of Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. One of the dead men, Air Setiawan, was involved in the Australian embassy bombing in Jakarta in 2004.
Banners in the dead men's village praised them as martyrs and said in English that "Jihad still continues". The former leader of Jemaah Islamiya, Abu Bakar Bashir, said that while Air Setiawan and Eko Joko Sardjono may have different ideas about jihad, he hoped "they would be rewarded because they were fighting for Islamic law".
[Al Arabiya Latest] Iran's defeated presidential candidate Mehdi Karoubi said on Thursday some of those arrested after the country's June presidential election were killed under torture, his website reported. "We observe that in an Islamic country some young people are beaten to death just for chanting slogans in (the post- election) protests," the Etemademelli website said.
Karoubi said on Sunday that some protesters, men and women, had been raped in detention. His allegation was rejected by Iranian authorities as "baseless."
" Some of the detainees said they were forced to take off their clothes. Then they were made to go on their hands and knees and were ridden (by prison guards) "
Defeated presidential candidate Mehdi Karoubi
He repeated the allegation on Thursday, calling for the formation of an independent fact-finding committee to review his evidence in "a calm atmosphere where relatives of detainees and freed protesters can talk".
"Some of the detainees said they were forced to take off their clothes. Then they were made to go on their hands and knees and were ridden (by prison guards)," Karoubi said. "Or the prison authorities put them on top of each other while they were naked," Karoubi added.
Many of the post-election detainees were held in south Tehran's Kahrizak prison, built to house people breaching vice laws. At least three people died in custody there and widespread anger erupted as reports of abuse in the jail spread.
The abuse allegations, also rejected by Tehran's police chief, have created a rift among hardline politicians, many of whom backed President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's re-election. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ordered the closure of the Kahrizak prison last month.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/14/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
[Iran Press TV Latest] A senior Iranian cleric says defeated presidential candidate Mehdi Karroubi must be prosecuted for "libeling the system", unless he can prove his allegations.
Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami on Thursday addressed the issue of a letter sent by Karroubi to Expediency Council head Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani in which the defeated candidate proposed an inquiry into allegations of sexual abuse of post-election detainees.
"If a person libels someone with allegations of sexual abuse, then he deserves to be punished for libel," said the cleric.
Under Iranian law, the punishment for libel consists of 80 strokes of the lash.
"If someone libels the system by saying that rape takes place in prisons, then he must either prove it or, if he cannot, then the system must press charges and the public prosecutor must act," Khatami insisted in his address to the clerics of the Political-Ideological Organization of the Ministry of Defense, ILNA reported.
"If allegations are proven with witnesses, then, without any considerations, the perpetrators must be severely punished. But, what if they are not proven?" asked the member of the Assembly of Experts. "How long should the system remain silent, in the face of such attacks?"
The controversy surrounding the report of sexual abuse of prisoners has attracted much attention in Tehran.
"The people who informed me about these events hold sensitive positions in the country ... these officials told me of the things that happened in the detention centers... Even if one count of what is said is true, it would be a tragedy for the Islamic Republic," Karroubi had said in his letter.
"A number of detainees have said that some female detainees were raped savagely," he said. "Young boys held in detention have also been savagely raped."
Following the probe request by Karroubi, Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani called for an inquiry into the report and assigned a special committee to investigate the issue.
On Wednesday, Larijani dismissed the allegations as "sheer lies", saying that a "precise and comprehensive" inquiry found no cases of sexual abuse. Larijani is among the officials who have demanded that Karroubi present evidence to prove his claims.
Majid Ansari, a member of Majma'e Rowhaniyoun-e Mobarez (the Combatant Clergy Association), has added to the controversy by telling IRNA that the issue was true.
"The very existence of such an issue (jail rape reports) has been confirmed and the report has been taken up with officials," the former vice president said.
On Tuesday, Ayatollah Hashemi-Rafsanjani demanded officials to respect the rights of the detainees.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/14/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani has reportedly responded to a letter by former Iranian presidential candidate Mehdi Karroubi on 'jail rape' claims.
In a letter dated July 29 to Rafsanjani, the Chairman of Expediency Council, Karroubi, the Veteran Reformist figure, had urged a probe into reports of the sexual abuse of prisoners at the notorious Kahrizak detention center in southern Tehran, where he said several of both male and female detainees were brutally raped.
According to a report by Iranian daily Jomhuriye Eslami, upon receiving the letter from Karroubi, Ayatollah Rafsanjani sent it to outgoing Judiciary Chief Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi-Shahroudi and called for an investigation into the issue.
Ayatollah Shahroudi reportedly responded to the letter, saying that such treatment had not happened in those detention centers that are under the supervision of the judicial branch.
The office of Ayatollah Rafsanjani then sent the letter by Ayatollah Shahroudi to Karroubi, according to the report.
"The people who informed me about these events hold sensitive positions in the country ... these officials told me of the things that happened in the detention centers that even if one count is true, it would be a tragedy for the Islamic Republic," Karroubi said in his letter.
"A number of detainees have said that some female detainees were raped savagely," he said, adding "Young boys held in detention have also been savagely raped."
Following the request to probe the issue, Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani urged an inquiry to the report and assigned a special committee to investigate the issue.
On Wednesday, Larijani dismissed the allegation as 'sheer lies', saying that a 'precise and comprehensive' inquiry found no cases of sexual abuse. Larijani, then, called on Karroubi to present strong evidence to prove his claims.
The 'non-standard' prison of Kahrizak was shut down upon a direct order by the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei in July after reports surfaced about the mistreatment of detainees who protested against the result of the disputed presidential vote.
Amid controversies surrounding reports of the sexual abuse of prisoners, Majid Ansari, a member of Majma'e Rowhaniyoun-e Mobarez (the Combatant Clergy Association), told IRNA that the issue was indeed verified.
"The very existence of such an issue [jail rape reports] has been confirmed and the report has been taken up with officials," former vice president said without mentioning the name of any officials.
On Tuesday, Ayatollah Rafsanjani demanded officials to respect the rights of the detainees.
"Judgment and proxy as well as (protecting) the rights of the accused can provide guarantees for the presence of justice in the final verdict."
After the shutdown, the head of Kahrizak prison was dismissed and arrested for 'dereliction of duty'.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/14/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
[ADN Kronos] United Nations human rights experts voiced serious concern on Thursday over accusations of torture and rough interrogation tactics used against protesters jailed during the recent unrest in Iran following its disputed presidential election.
"No judicial system can consider as valid a confession obtained as a result of harsh interrogations or under torture," stressed Manfred Nowak, the UN's special rapporteur on torture.
The victims include lawyers, journalists and other human rights defenders, as well as members of the opposition who took to the streets to demonstrate over the results of the 12 June polls, according to the UN experts.
About 200 people arrested during the mass protests provoked by June's disputed election, remain in detention, around 100 of whom are facing trial. The charges include spying, conspiracy, rioting and vandalism.
The opposition alleges the polls were rigged to ensure hardline president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's re-election, and wants the them annulled. The government says the election was the "healthiest" since the 1979 Iranian Revolution.
Nowak said he had brought more than 300 cases of alleged torture and ill-treatment to the attention of Iranian authorities. The allegations came from ex-detainees as well as relatives and lawyers of people still being held, Nowak said.
Most involved alleged torture at Evin prison in Tehran or at Kahrizak detention centre outside the capital, but also concerned police stations, according to Nowak.
"These confessions for alleged crimes such as threats against national security and treason must not, under any circumstances, be admitted as evidence by the Revolutionary Court," added El Hadji Malick Sow, vice-chairperson of the UN's working group on arbitrary detention.
Sow was referring to the court currently conducting trials of detained protesters, which have been described by some western and other commentators as show-trials.
Foreign media have been banned from covering the judicial proceedings and it is unclear whether the defendants have adequate legal counsel, noted the experts. They also include the UN's special rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, Margaret Sekaggya.
The experts added that many detainees are kept without any communication with the outside world, without knowing the charges they face, medical treatment, legal assistance or family visits.
The UN rights experts said they continue to receive reports of people dying in custody, and whose families are given false or contradictory information regarding the cause of death.
Iran's most senior dissident cleric, Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, has compared the mass trials of government opponents and public confessions to the tactics of former Soviet dictator Josef Stalin, former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and other authoritarian rulers.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/14/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
[Iran Press TV Latest] Iran has issued a new stamp to commemorate the massive turnout in the country's 10th presidential election held on June 12, 2009.
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and senior Iranian officials attended a ceremony to unveil the new stamp on Thursday, Fars news agency reported.
Some 85 percent of Iran's eligible voters went to the polls in the latest presidential election.
During the ceremony, Iran's Minister of Communication and Information Technology, Mohammad Soleimani, said the Iranian nation's massive turnout was unparalleled in the world.
"The stamp will be the symbol of the Iranian nation's unity and their massive turnout in the presidential election," he added.
Samples of the stamp will be sent to the museums across the world, Soleimani noted, adding that 400,000 copies of the new stamp will be published over the next three months.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/14/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
A former leader of the Jemaah Islamiya terrorist group in Indonesia, Abu Bakar Bashir, has praised two of the terrorists killed in raids last weekend. Bashir attended funerals of the two men near Solo, in central Java. 
[Iran Press TV Latest] Iran has issued a new stamp to commemorate the massive turnout in the country's 10th presidential election held on June 12, 2009. 
