BBSNews RSS 2.0 Newsreader Feed

Iraqi Authorities in Kurdistan Gearing Up for Cholera Outbreak

Wed, 07 May 2008 15:38:00 -0400

Cholera Outbreak Last Year Killed 24 While Affecting Over 4,200

A map of Iraq highlighting the six provinces that make up Iraqi Kurdistan, though only three are wholly under the Kurdistan Regional Government.

Image Courtesy: � IRIN

For the image shown above in a larger size, please see: A map of Iraq.

More BBSNews images are available in BBSNews Photos.

BBSNews 2008-05-07 -- BAGHDAD (IRIN) The Iraqi authorities in the self-ruled northern region of Kurdistan are gearing up to face a possible cholera outbreak which last year affected nearly 4,200 people, and caused the deaths of 24 nationwide, a local official said on 6 May.

"We have allocated 25 billion Iraqi dinars (US$20 million) to fight any cholera outbreak in Kurdistan after concerns rose last month when at least 500 patients with diarrhea and vomiting were admitted to hospitals. So far no cases of the disease have been confirmed," said Mohammed Sadiq from the regional Health Ministry.

"We remain alert that there could be another outbreak of cholera this season as the factors that cause cholera still exist: a shortage of clean drinking water, high temperatures during the summer and poor sanitation," Sadiq told IRIN on 7 May.

He said the Kurdistan regional government had started a media campaign to raise awareness about the risks of cholera, how to keep food clean, and how to boil water.

The last cholera outbreak was first detected on 14 August 2007 in the northern city of Kirkuk. It then spread to Sulaimaniyah, Arbil, Dohuk, Tikrit, Mosul, Diyala, Basra, Wasit, Baghdad and Anbar provinces. The hardest-hit provinces were Kirkuk with 2,309 cases, and Sulaimaniyah with 870.

By October 2007, the Iraqi government and UN agencies were saying the outbreak was under control as more than 70 percent of the country's nearly 4,200 laboratory-confirmed cases were being treated successfully.

Cholera is a gastrointestinal disease typically spread by drinking contaminated water and can cause severe diarrhea which, in extreme cases, can lead to fatal dehydration. It can be prevented by treating drinking water with chlorine and by improving hygiene conditions.

###

Leader of Shia Rebels Calls For International Aid

Wed, 07 May 2008 15:24:00 -0400

Severe Clashes Between Shia Supporters and Government Troops Stopped Flow of Food Supplies

Saada residents receiving WFP food assistance.

Image Courtesy: � WFP

For the image shown above in a larger size, please see: Saada residents receiving WFP food assistance.

More BBSNews images are available in BBSNews Photos.

BBSNews 2008-05-07 -- SANAA (IRIN) The leader of Shia rebels in the northern governorate of Saada, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, has called on aid agencies and the UN to focus their efforts on areas that have witnessed fierce clashes between his supporters and government troops over the past few days.

Al-Houthi told IRIN on 5 May the army had blockaded certain areas, preventing food supplies from getting through.

"For more than a week, the army has besieged Al-Takrit and Haidan districts. Food supplies are not being allowed to enter these areas and aid agencies are ignoring them... The authorities will be responsible for any famine that occurs as a result. Aid agencies have to show their kindness towards war-affected citizens," he said.

The blockade was being used to pressure citizens to support government forces, he said.

Dozens on both sides have been killed in the fighting over the past few days, according to the Ministry of Defense.

Al-Houthi said the past four days had seen some fierce clashes: "The army attacked Haidan and Munabeh districts using tanks, artillery and mortars. In other districts there was only tension. Now there is relative calm," he said.

He said the army had also attacked rebel checkpoints. Rashad al-Masri, the governor of Saada Governorate, told the media recently that al-Houthi supporters had escalated the conflict.

Recent major attacks

Sixteen people were killed and 45 wounded in a motorcycle bomb attack outside Bin Salman mosque in Saada city on 2 May. The bomb exploded as worshipers were emerging from the mosque after Friday prayers. Security authorities said the attack was planned by the rebels, an accusation rejected by al-Houthi.

Security authorities said seven soldiers were killed and another 17 injured in a rebel ambush in Majz District on 29 April.

Al-Houthi, meanwhile, has accused the government of not implementing the Qatari-brokered peace agreement signed in February by the two sides.

"They [the authorities] have not ceased fire or released prisoners, and life has not returned to normal. The army has not even vacated our villages, markets, farms and schools. We have complied 80 percent with the peace agreement. Our supporters have come down from 54 sites on the mountains, handed over main routes to the authorities and released prisoners of war," he said.

A new Yemeni presidential committee set up in late April to supervise the peace agreement arrived in Saada City on 4 May and held talks with the Qatari delegation which has also returned to the region in an attempt to end the fighting.

IDPs

"New displacements have taken place due to the latest fighting. Despite a peace agreement signed in February 2008, the situation remains volatile," the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) office in Yemen said, adding that new internally displaced persons (IDPs), were continuing to arrive in Saada city, including over 200 families in the past week.

Earlier, on 22 April, it had appealed for nearly US$3 million to assist 77,000 IDPs in Saada Governorate, one of the results of the stop-go conflict which dates back to 2004.

###

Thousands of Yemeni Abandon Homes Due to Drought

Wed, 07 May 2008 14:03:00 -0400

Only Use Water to Drink and Muslim Ablutions

In rural areas sanitation services are difficult to set up, according to officials.

Image Courtesy: � Mohammed al-Jabri/IRIN

For the image shown above in a larger size, please see: In rural areas sanitation services are difficult to set up, according to officials.

More BBSNews images are available in BBSNews Photos.

BBSNews 2008-05-07 -- SANAA (IRIN) Drought has caused the displacement of thousands of people over the past 10 months from mountainous villages in al-Mahwit Governorate, some 113km northwest of Sanaa city, officials have said.

Hufash, one of al-Mahwit's nine districts, has been hit by drought over the past six months. Hufash includes 12 localities and is home to 40,000 people, according to the 2004 population census.

Abdul-Hamid al-Ashabi, head of Hufash's local council, told IRIN on 4 May that thousands of people had abandoned their homes and moved to the main cities. "The area is suffering from acute water shortages and drought. People depend on springs and rain. Rain has not fallen for almost a year," he said.

Some of those who have moved to cities have rented houses and others have moved in with relatives. Those who have moved to the valleys have erected huts. At present, it is difficult to assess how far they are overburdening local resources and services, said al-Ashabi, adding that most of the displaced could fend for themselves and required little assistance from the government.

Mohammed al-Aqabi, head of Hufash's Education Department, said the displacements had started in March.

"Hufash District is a series of mountains that cannot store water at all. People depend mainly on rainwater," he told IRIN. He said locals got water from a nearby valley some 19km away.

"They walk several kilometer to get a few liters of water a day. They just use water for drinking and 'wudu' [Muslim ablutions]. They cannot take a shower or wash their clothes. To do that they have to go to al-Mahwit city, two hours by car from here," he said, adding that water tankers could not reach the villages due to the rugged terrain and poor roads. "One thousand liters of water costs 5,000 riyals (about US$25). Animals have also been severely affected."

Water projects idle

Hufash local council head Al-Ashabi said there were two water projects in his district -- started 18 years ago -- but that the Urban Water Resources Authority had halted them as they were not being properly implemented.

He said the local council had tried to rehabilitate one of the projects but it had very limited resources. "The projects need millions of riyals... but our annual budget is no more than 70 million riyals (US$350,000)," he said.

The main crops in the area include 'khat' [a mild narcotic], corn, coffee, and fruit, which all depended on rainfall. Farmers were unable to irrigate their crops, he said.

###

One in Six African Children Die Before Age Five

Wed, 07 May 2008 13:43:00 -0400

GLOBAL: Six million children "need not die every year"

Children having fortified food in a kindergarten in northern Turkmenistan.

Image Courtesy: � UNICEF/Giacomo Pirozzi

For the image shown above in a larger size, please see: Children having fortified food in a kindergarten in northern Turkmenistan.

More BBSNews images are available in BBSNews Photos.

BBSNews 2008-05-07 -- NAIROBI (IRIN) More than six million children could be saved from death every year if funding were increased to improve community-level health services in the developing world, where 99 percent of child deaths occur, according to a report by Save the Children-USA.

"One in every six children in sub-Saharan Africa still dies before age five," William First, the chairman of Save the Children's "Survive to 5 Campaign", stated in his forward to the report published on 6 May. "In some countries, parents don't name a child during the first six weeks of life because they fear the baby will not survive even its earliest days."

Save the Children published the report, State of the World's Mothers, to mark Mother's Day on 11 May. It ranks 55 developing countries on their effectiveness in reaching the poorest children with life-saving measures.

The report focuses on 200 million children under five, who do not get basic healthcare, according to Save the Children. It shows which countries are doing the best, and which are worst in reaching children with basic health measures.

"I believe medicine can serve as a currency for peace," Hirst said. "I've seen those who once took up arms against one another unify and lay down their weapons to build health clinics. I've seen medicine inject hope where once there was only despair."

Charles MacCormack, president and chief executive officer of Save the Children, said in an introductory note that while child mortality rates in the developing world had declined in recent decades, "it is of no solace to the 26,000 mothers who must mourn the loss of a child each and every day".

Four fronts

To address the global challenge of saving the lives of mothers and children, MacCormack said, Save the Children was working on four fronts: increasing awareness of the challenges and solutions to maternal, newborn and child survival; encouraging action by mobilizing the world to support programs aimed at reducing infant and maternal mortality; working with national health ministries and local organizations to deliver high-quality health services throughout the developing world; and leading the way in research on what works best to save the lives of babies.

"We count on the world's leaders to take stock of how mothers and children are faring in every country," he said. "Investing in this most basic partnership of all - between a mother and her child - is the first and best step in ensuring healthy children, prosperous families and strong communities."

According to the report's Basic Health Care Report Card, all 55 developing countries ranked together account for nearly 60 percent of the world's under-five population and 83 percent of all child deaths worldwide.

Eight of the 55 countries reach 60 percent or more children under five with basic healthcare. The Philippines was ranked top while Ethiopia came last.

The ranking also looked at child survival rates in 52 of these countries among children who are better off and those who are very poor.

"A child's chances of celebrating a fifth birthday should not largely depend on the country or community where he or she is born," MacCormack said. "We need to do a better job of reaching the poorest children with basic health measures like vaccines, antibiotics and skilled care at childbirth. These simple measures, while taken for granted in the United States, are not reaching millions of children under age five, and can determine whether a child survives or dies in poor countries and communities."

The report recommends designing healthcare programs to better target the poorest and most marginalized mothers and children; investing in community health workers to reach the poorest of the poor with essential life-saving care, and delivering a basic package of maternal, newborn and child healthcare that takes into account the realities for poor people in developing countries.

###

Lack of Fuel in Gaza Erases Political Divisions

Wed, 07 May 2008 11:25:00 -0400

Gazans Search Trash for Combustibles to Cook Meals

Queues are long in places people think there might be fuel.

Image Courtesy: � Wissam Nassar/IRIN

For the image shown above in a larger size, please see: Queues are long in places people think there might be fuel.

More BBSNews images are available in BBSNews Photos.

BBSNews 2008-05-07 -- JERUSALEM/GAZA (IRIN) Intense political divisions in the Gaza Strip have split people on most issues, except one: the situation has never been worse, nearly everyone agrees.

"I never remember Gaza being this bad," said one man in his early 40s. "Living here has become a game of survival." With fuel supplies nearly dry, many people no longer have cooking gas in their homes, leading some to search for alternative methods to make a meal.

"People now are starting to look through the garbage to find combustibles," a Gazan who works for a large international aid organization told IRIN.

"Even my colleagues have begun to search the garbage bins or the sides of the roads to find wood and plastics to burn so they can cook their food at night," he said, requesting anonymity so as to not embarrass his friends.

To add to the woes of the needy, UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, has said it has been forced to stop food distribution today and is cutting back on other services it normally supplies, owing to the lack of fuel supplies. This is the second time in two weeks it has done this.

Ahmed, a taxi driver from Gaza City, said he ran out of cooking gas at home and he, his wife and their young daughter mostly eat raw vegetables and bread.

The rising cost of food has made matters worse: "Everything is more expensive, all over the world, but because of our situation of unemployment and blockade, it is even harder for us. I am afraid about how I will be able to feed my family," he said.

Lack of spare parts

He had to sell his taxi a few weeks ago as he could not find spare parts in Gaza to fix it. Only humanitarian aid and basic food supplies have been allowed into the coastal territory since the takeover by the Islamist group Hamas last June.

Like many others, Ahmed converted an older vehicle to run on cooking gas, as the Israeli sanctions on the enclave were not supposed to affect supplies of this fuel. However, since an attack on the Nahal Oz fuel crossing by Palestinian militants, imports have dwindled to just a trickle, and this too has run out.

"I don't have cooking gas for my food or my car. I paid US$350 for the conversion, and I still can't work. In the last month I have worked only three days," he said.

For others the situation has already hit rock-bottom.

"My father is unemployed so I collect garbage so I can sell it and bring home some money for my family," a young boy recently said while sifting through a bin with his younger brother. Together they manage to make $1.50-$3 a day.

Those who still have jobs -- not a given due to mounting unemployment -- tend to set their alarms earlier and earlier: Without fuel for buses and taxis, let alone private cars, people can wait for hours before they manage to get a ride in the general direction of their destination. Bus and taxi fares have gone up two or three times what they were a few moths ago.

Some people have attached contraptions to motorcycles enabling them to carry four or five people, somewhat haphazardly. Others, particularly farmers, have rediscovered their donkeys, which can be a suitable mode of transportation when nothing else is available.

UNICEF has also reported a rise in the number of youths not attending school, apparently due to their inability to get there.

"Unsanitary situation"

"Our chief surgeon had to walk to the hospital when he was called for an emergency. It took him 45 minutes, as he could not get a ride," Hassan Khalaf, the head of Gaza's main Shifa hospital, told IRIN.

He has begrudgingly become accustomed to his staff showing up late and some patients saying they cannot come to the medical center at all. Furthermore, the hospital can no longer do its laundry properly as it ran out of generator fuel to run the washing machines.

"This is slowly becoming a dangerous, unhealthy, unsanitary situation," Khalaf said.

This is also an accurate description of a recent incident in which raw sewage flooded a street in downtown Gaza City, when the pump -- out of fuel -- stopped working during a power cut.

Millions of liters of sewage are still being dumped into the sea daily. The Gaza Coastal Municipality Water Utilities, responsible for the sewage, has been given 60 bicycles by the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and this is set to become the primary mode of transport for the staff. Even the new Hamas police officers can be seen riding around on bicycles.

###

Israeli Holidays Mean Stricter Limitations on Movement for Palestinians

Wed, 07 May 2008 11:14:00 -0400

Checkpoints Closed or Moving Very Slow

Palestinians wait at the Qalandia checkpoint outside Ramallah during a closure in the West Bank.

Image Courtesy: � Shabtai Gold/IRIN

For the image shown above in a larger size, please see: Palestinians wait at the Qalandia checkpoint outside Ramallah during a closure in the West Bank.

More BBSNews images are available in BBSNews Photos.

BBSNews 2008-05-07 -- JERUSALEM (IRIN) Israelis commemorating national and Jewish religious days would like to do so in peace, without having to fear attacks by Palestinian militants. However, for Palestinians, the neighbors' holidays mean ever stricter limitations on their movements.

In the past few months, the holidays of Purim and Passover, as well as Holocaust Memorial Day, all translated into "general closures" on the occupied Palestinian territory.

"Every checkpoint is so slow today," remarked a taxi driver, inching his way through roadblocks on Holocaust Day.

Checkpoints where spot-checks were the standard method of control, suddenly created long queues as each car, and in many cases each passenger, was checked. Places known as being tough junctions on a good day were turned into long serpentine queues, causing most people to simply give up.

"When there is a closure, and we know the delays will be for hours, we just stay at home or don't leave the city, because we know it is not worth it," said a man from Nablus.

The problems are worse when the Palestinians are unaware of a closure in advance, and only find out when reaching a checkpoint, causing intense frustration. In general, Israel announces its plans in advance and Palestinian radio stations let their listeners know what to expect.

This week, Israel will mark Memorial Day for its fallen soldiers and then Independence Day. Visits by high-ranking dignitaries, including US President Bush, set to arrive in about a week, often slow things down further.

The Israeli military announced a closure "in light of security assessments" from 5-8 May as it was "a highly sensitive time" though it would try to preserve "the daily life of the Palestinian population".

A brutal suicide bombing at an Israeli hotel dining room at the coastal city of Netanya in 2002, during the main feast of Passover, left 30 people dead and created a collective Israeli scar. The Netanya bombing is often cited by Israeli officials as a primary reason why the holidays mean a lock-down for the Palestinians.

"All these restrictions could be avoided if there were no terrorist organizations on the other side," Shlomo Dror, the spokesman for Israel's Ministry of Defense, told IRIN. He said Israel wanted as many soldiers as possible home for the holidays, and that required security arrangements in which fewer troops were needed.

A primary impact of the "general closure" was a complete ban on Palestinian entry to Israel, except for humanitarian cases. As most Israelis were on vacation during the holidays, Dror felt the Palestinians did not require access to Israel, as their places of employment would be closed.

###

UN Should Reject Sri Lanka's Bid to Join Human Rights Council

Wed, 07 May 2008 10:22:00 -0400

Don't Reward Failed Promises to Improve Rights

BBSNews 2008-05-07 -- New York (HRW) Sri Lanka's worsening human rights record and failed promises for improvement undermine its claim for a place on the UN Human Rights Council, a coalition of more than 20 national and international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) said in a letter released today.

Elections to the 47-member council, the United Nations' leading human rights body, will be held in New York on May 21, 2008. Council members are required to "uphold the highest standards" of human rights and "fully cooperate" with the council.

In a letter to UN members, the NGO Coalition for an Effective Human Rights Council noted that Sri Lankan Government forces have in the past two years been implicated in a wide range of serious abuses, including hundreds of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances, widespread torture, and arbitrary detention. Sri Lanka obstructs the work of the council's own appointed human rights experts, ignores their recommendations, publicly attacks senior UN officials who speak out on human rights issues, and has been unwilling to engage in serious discussions regarding UN human rights monitoring. The coalition noted in the letter that the armed separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam have long been implicated in serious human rights abuses, but says this provides no justification for government abuses.

Sri Lanka pledged when it joined the Human Rights Council in 2006 to implement recommendations from UN bodies. It has notably failed to do so -- including through its refusal to confront the problems of torture and enforced disappearances.

The coalition's letter follows concerns expressed last week by a group of leading Sri Lankan NGOs, which urged UN members to "hold the Sri Lankan government accountable for the grave state of human rights abuse in the country" by rejecting its candidacy. The Sri Lankan organizations said that their government has "presided over a grave deterioration of human rights protection" since first winning membership in 2006, and "has used its membership in the Human Rights Council to protect itself from scrutiny."

"The Human Rights Council is meant to uphold human rights, not undermine them," said Steve Crawshaw, UN advocacy director at Human Rights Watch. "To elect Sri Lanka would be a travesty, given its appalling rights record over the past two years."

Six candidates -- Bahrain, Japan, Pakistan, South Korea, Sri Lanka, and Timor Leste -- are running for four seats allocated to Asian states.

"Many countries have human rights problems, but Sri Lanka truly stands out amongst this year's candidates," said Michael Anthony, program coordinator of the Asian Human Rights Commission. "Sri Lanka is the Asian state in this year's election which most clearly fails to meet the council's membership standards, without even a hint of possible improvement."

In 2007, a coalition of NGOs successfully opposed the candidacy of Belarus for the Human Rights Council.

"Cheers went up amongst human rights defenders around the world when Belarus was defeated," said Hassan Shire Sheikh of the East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project in Uganda. "This year's election provides an opportunity for African states to send a strong signal, following up on the defeat of Belarus. The Human Rights Council must stand with the victims, not become an abusers' club."

"Sri Lanka's record of torture, disappearances, and extrajudicial killings should lead Latin American countries to oppose electing such an abusive government to the Human Rights Council," said Salvador Herencia, legal adviser with the Andean Commission of Jurists.

The letter from the NGO coalition to the UN Human Rights Council, opposing Sri Lanka's candidacy, is available online.

###

U.S. 'War on Drugs' Unjust to African Americans

Wed, 07 May 2008 10:05:00 -0400

Two National Reports Detail Racial Disparity in Arrests and Imprisonment

BBSNews 2008-05-07 -- Washington, DC, (HRW) Ostensibly color-blind, the US "war on drugs" disproportionately targets urban minority neighborhoods, Human Rights Watch and The Sentencing Project said in two reports released today. Although whites commit more drug offenses, African Americans are arrested and imprisoned on drug charges at much higher rates, the reports find.

In the 67-page report, "Targeting Blacks: Drug Law Enforcement and Race in the United States," Human Rights Watch documents with detailed new statistics persistent racial disparities among drug offenders sent to prison in 34 states. All of these states send black drug offenders to prison at much higher rates than whites.

"Most drug offenders are white, but most of the drug offenders sent to prison are black," said Jamie Fellner, senior counsel in the US program at Human Rights Watch and author of "Targeting Blacks." "The solution is not to imprison more whites but to radically rethink how to deal with drug abuse and low-level drug offenders."

Key findings in the Human Rights Watch report include:

Across the 34 states, a black man is 11.8 times more likely than a white man to be sent to prison on drug charges, and a black woman is 4.8 times more likely than a white woman.

In 16 states, African Americans are sent to prison for drug offenses at rates between 10 and 42 times greater than the rate for whites. The 10 states with the greatest racial disparities in prison admissions for drug offenders are: Wisconsin, Illinois, New Jersey, Maryland, West Virginia, Colorado, New York, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Michigan.

The Sentencing Project's 45-page study, "Disparity by Geography: The War on Drugs in America's Cities," is the first city-level analysis of drug arrests, examining data from 43 of the nation's largest cities between 1980 and 2003. The study found that, since 1980, the rate of drug arrests in American cities for African Americans increased by 225 percent, compared to 70 percent among whites. Black arrest rates grew by more than 500 percent in 11 cities during this period; and, in nearly half of the cities, the odds of arrest for a drug offense among African Americans relative to whites more than doubled.

"The alarming increase in drug arrests since 1980, concentrated among African Americans, raises fundamental questions about fairness and justice," said Ryan S. King, policy analyst for The Sentencing Project and author of "Disparity by Geography." "But even more troubling is the fact that these trends come not as the result of higher rates of drug use among African Americans, but, instead, the decisions by local officials about where to pursue drug enforcement."

Among The Sentencing Project report's key findings:

African-American drug arrests increased at 3.4 times the rate of whites despite similar rates of drug use.

Extreme city variations in drug arrests point to local enforcement decisions as a prime contributor to racial disparity.

Six cities experienced more than a 500-percent rise in overall drug arrests between 1980 and 2003: Tucson (887 percent), Buffalo (809 percent), Kansas City (736 percent), Toledo (701 percent), Newark (663 percent), and Sacramento (597 percent).

The Sentencing Project and Human Rights Watch urge public officials to restore fairness, racial justice, and credibility to drug-control efforts. They recommend public officials take a number of concrete steps, including:

Eliminating mandatory minimum sentences and restoring judicial discretion to sentencing of drug offenders;
Increasing public funding of substance abuse treatment and prevention outreach to make these readily available in communities of color in particular;
Enhancing public health-based strategies to reduce harms associated with drug abuse and reallocating public resources accordingly.

Today's reports follow in the wake of the March 2008 recommendations of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. The committee urged that US criminal justice policies and practices address the unwarranted racial disparities that have been documented at all levels of the system.

The report: "Targeting Blacks: Drug Law Enforcement and Race in the United States," is available online.

The report: "Disparity by Geography: The War on Drugs in America's Cities," is available online.

###

Zogby Poll: Obama Expands Lead in NC; Dems Still Biting Nails in Indiana!

Tue, 06 May 2008 12:14:00 -0400

Obama enjoys a strong final day of polling before the elections

BBSNews 2008-05-06 -- (Zogby) UTICA, New York - On the strength of good polling numbers on the final day before the primary elections in Indiana and North Carolina, Barack Obama of Illinois holds a convincing lead in North Carolina, but the race is simply too close to call in Indiana, the latest Zogby two-day telephone tracking poll shows.

The pair of surveys of the Democratic presidential contests shows Obama with a significant 14-point lead in North Carolina, winning 51% support to Hillary Clinton�s 37%. Another 12% said they were either favoring someone else or were as yet undecided. In Indiana, the race is clear as mud, as Obama holds a statistically insignificant lead of two points, winning 45% support to Clinton�s 43% support, with 12% either undecided or favoring someone else.

The electorates in both states are divided significantly along racial lines, income, and age, the telephone survey shows.

The telephone surveys, conducted May 4-5, 2008, are the final of Zogby�s two-day daily tracking surveys. In North Carolina, 643 likely Democratic primary election voters were polled. In Indiana, 644 likely voting Democratic primary voters were surveyed. Both surveys carry a margin of error of +/- 3.9 percentage points.

The telephone surveys were conducted using live operators working out of Zogby�s call center in Upstate New York.

###

Israel's High Court Rejects Plea to Save Palestinian Village from Demolition

Mon, 05 May 2008 10:35:00 -0400

Small Palestinian village faces slow death

A playground in the kindergarten which received demolition orders.

Image Courtesy: � Shabtai Gold/IRIN

For the image shown above in a larger size, please see: A playground in the kindergarten which received demolition orders.

More BBSNews images are available in BBSNews Photos.

BBSNews 2008-05-05 -- AQABA, WEST BANK (IRIN) At the entrance to the small village, labourers continued to work on a cement divider, creating two lanes to make the road safer, while in a side room next to the village kindergarten, Haj Sami Sadiq, the head of the local council, carried on sorting out agricultural development projects for his residents.

Sadiq pretends it is "business as usual", but he knows that at any moment Israeli troops can arrive and begin demolishing most of the village's structures and even some of the streets.

Israel's High Court last month rejected petitions by Aqaba residents asking that it cancel the military's demolition orders, which include the kindergarten, the mosque, a health care centre and residential homes.

"The first demolition orders were issued in 1997. In 2003, 13 more were issued, and since then every year they have given us more. In the whole village there are 45 structures and 35 have orders against them," he said.

The village, in the northeast section of the occupied Palestinian territory, at the top of the Jordan valley, has had a troubled existence since Israel occupied the West Bank in 1967.

Following the occupation, which caused many residents to flee, the area was declared a military zone, and training bases for the Israeli army were established in and around the village. According to the local council, eight residents have been killed and 42 injured during training exercises.

Unexploded ordnance

"We still find unexploded ordnance around the village, and we tell the children never to touch anything," one resident said. While working the fields recently several small rockets were found, as well as shells and bullets.

"When I was 12, I found a live tank shell. I didn't know what it was and I played with it. It exploded and burnt my hands and my face," said one man, now in his 40s.

In January 2008 residents found a man "blown to pieces", according to a person who saw the body, by an explosive the soldiers left behind.

One of those injured by the training exercises was Sadiq himself, now confined to a wheelchair from the bullets that entered his torso in the early 1970s. "They also destroyed harvests by driving tanks through our fields," Sadiq said, moving on from his personal plight.

The military bases were pulled out in 2003, after the residents petitioned the Israeli High Court, saying their safety was at risk.

No new buildings

On the outskirts of the village Abdullah Daraghmeh rents a small area for his wife and four children. They were kicked off their own land, further away in a valley, in 1984.

Abdullah and his family live in makeshift tents because "the [Israeli] army has threatened to demolish any structure I build," he said.

That is exactly what happened to 85-year-old Salem Jaber. He worked for decades as an imam (Muslim priest) in a mosque in the lower Jordan Valley. Several months ago he decided to retire and return to his native village.

"Right after I started building a home here, for myself and my family, they issued stop-building orders," he said.

"This land was my grandfather's grandfather's land. Why are they preventing me from building a house? I don't have anywhere else to live," he said.

Israel's Civil Administration in the West Bank told IRIN the High Court had approved the orders given, though for now the mosque and kindergarten would probably not be destroyed.

"There is no master plan for the village. The residents asked for permits after they had already built," a spokesman said. "They can go and live in Taiyser, so they have a solution," he added, referring to a village a few kilometers away.

The residents said that in some cases the permits were indeed requested retroactively, but that there is a specific process for such cases and it is not unusual. In any event, they said, even properly filed permits were never granted.

"They want us off this land and that's it. They will always find an excuse," said Sadiq.

###

Zogby Poll: Obama Leads by 8 Points in NC; Race Still Very Tight in Indiana

Mon, 05 May 2008 09:51:00 -0400

Undecideds in both states remain high, as likely voters wait for last minute to commit to Clinton or Obama

BBSNews 2008-05-05 -- (Zogby) UTICA, New York - The Democratic Party presidential contests in Indiana and North Carolina remained remarkably stable on Sunday, with Illinois' Barack Obama holding an 8-point lead in North Carolina and a statistically insignificant two-point lead in Indiana, the latest Zogby daily tracking telephone poll shows.

The survey of likely Democratic Party primary voters shows that in North Carolina, Obama leads with 48% support, compared to 40% for Clinton and 13% either undecided or preferring someone else. In Indiana, Obama is nursing a tiny lead of two points, winning 44% support, compared to 42% for Clinton and 15% unsure or wanting someone else.

Both candidates stumped for votes in Indiana Sunday, as the state's voters prepare to cast ballots in Tuesday's elections. Actually, early voting has been underway in both states for awhile (longer in North Carolina than in Indiana), and this latest Zogby polling shows one-quarter of North Carolina voters - 26% - have already voted, and 13% in Indiana have already cast ballots.

While Obama holds a small edge in Indiana, Clinton appears to hold at least a small advantage among those who are yet undecided. Among those undecided Indiana voters who said they were leaning toward one candidate or the other, Clinton held an edge. It also remains unclear what impact, if any, the new Indiana requirement that voters show identification before casting ballots will have on the contest.

More evidence of turmoil in Indiana: among those Hoosier voters who said they have changed their support in the last two weeks, one-third of them - 33% - said the recent statements of Barack Obama's former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, made them less likely to support him.

###

Kosovar and Albanian Governments Should Investigate Postwar Abductions

Mon, 05 May 2008 09:39:00 -0400

Official Dismissals Premature

Map of Kosovo, 1998

Image Credit: The University of Texas at Austin.

For the map shown above in it's full size, see Map of Kosovo, 1998.

More maps are available in BBSNews Maps.

BBSNews 2008-05-05 -- New York (HRW) Additional information has emerged that bolsters allegations of abductions and cross-border transfers from Kosovo to Albania after the 1998-1999 Kosovo war, Human Rights Watch said today. The Kosovar and Albanian governments should open independent and transparent investigations to help resolve the fate of approximately 400 Serbs who went missing after the war.

"Serious and credible allegations have emerged about horrible abuses in Kosovo and Albania after the war," said Fred Abrahams, senior emergencies researcher at Human Rights Watch, who investigated human rights violations in Kosovo and Albania for the organization from 1993-2000. "The Prishtina and Tirana governments can show their commitment to justice and the rule of law by conducting proper investigations."

The allegations became public recently in a new book by Carla Del Ponte, former chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). Human Rights Watch has obtained independent information and documentation that provides credibility and corroboration of much of what Del Ponte writes about postwar abuses in Kosovo. Del Ponte's Italian-language book is titled "The Hunt: War Criminals and Me."

Human Rights Watch wrote letters to Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci and Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha on April 4 to request that they open investigations into the allegations, but by May 2 neither government had replied, Human Rights Watch said. Top officials in both places publicly rejected the claims as unsubstantiated and libelous.

According to Del Ponte, the ICTY received information from "credible journalists" in 2003 that individuals in Kosovo had abducted and transported between 100 and 300 persons from Kosovo into northern Albania after June 12, 1999, when NATO forces entered Kosovo. The information was consistent with and corroborated what the tribunal had developed in house.

Human Rights Watch viewed the information the ICTY obtained from the journalists and considers it well researched and credible: seven ethnic Albanians who served in the Kosovo Liberation Army, interviewed separately, gave details about participating in or witnessing the transfer of abducted Serbs and others prisoners from Kosovo into Albania after the war.

According to the journalists' information, the abducted individuals were held in warehouses and other buildings, including facilities in Kukes and Tropoje. In comparison to other captives, some of the sources said, some of the younger, healthier detainees were fed, examined by doctors, and never beaten. These abducted individuals -- an unknown number -- were allegedly transferred to a yellow house in or around the Albanian town of Burrel, where doctors extracted the captives' internal organs. These organs were then transported out of Albania via the airport near the capital Tirana. Most of the alleged victims were Serbs who went missing after the arrival of UN and NATO forces in Kosovo. But other captives were women from Kosovo, Albania, Russia, and other Slavic countries.

"The information on organ trafficking is suggestive but far from complete," said Abrahams. "But the fact remains that hundreds of people, most of them Serbs, are reported to have gone missing after the war. The Kosovo and Albanian governments should try to determine the fates of these people by launching serious investigations with adequate witness protection."

According to the information obtained by the ICTY, the bodies of some of the abducted individuals were buried near the yellow house and a nearby graveyard about 20 kilometers south of Burrel. Investigators from the tribunal and the UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), accompanied by an Albanian prosecutor, inspected the house in February 2004. The house had been painted white but, in a photo of the investigation site viewed by Human Rights Watch, a yellow strip was visible at the house's base.

According to Del Ponte, near the house investigators found medical equipment used in surgery -- syringes, gauze, drip bags, and medicine vials for muscle relaxant often used in surgery. Using a chemical spray, the team found evidence of significant blood stains on the walls and floor of one room, except for a clear six-foot by two-foot rectangle on the floor.

Human Rights Watch spoke separately with two people who were present during the visit of the ICTY and UNMIK investigators to the house near Burrel. Both people corroborated the story as told in Del Ponte's book.

Human Rights Watch also obtained a copy of UNMIK's official report from the February 4-5, 2004 investigation, titled "Forensic Examination and Assessment in Albania," which largely corroborates Del Ponte's claims. The chemical spray called Luminol, the report says, revealed traces of blood in two rooms, including one spot at a right angle on the floor, which "would indicate that there may have been by [sic] a rectangular item covering this area." In a stream bed next to the house, investigators found an empty intravenous bag, syringes, and empty bottles of medicine, which they collected as evidence.

A tribunal spokeswoman confirmed on April 16 that ICTY and UNMIK investigators had looked into the allegations and visited the house near Burrel, but that they "could not substantiate the allegations and had no further basis on which to proceed in relation to [the tribunal's] jurisdiction." In response to a question, the spokeswoman said the investigators found "no reliable evidence" to substantiate the allegations.

"Collecting reliable evidence to launch a criminal prosecution and collecting evidence that adds weight to assertions are two different things, and the evidence found near Burrel clearly adds weight to the assertions," Abrahams said. "The tribunal mandate also only covers crimes committed during the armed conflict, which ended on June 12, 1999. The alleged kidnappings and other crimes took place after that date, so that was a further obstacle to pursuing an investigation."

Last week, Albanian Foreign Minister Lulzim Basha dismissed Del Ponte's allegations as "immoral" and "libelous."

"Minister Basha should take the allegations more seriously because he knows from his own experience that there is credible evidence of cross-border transfers," Abrahams said. "He worked for the tribunal and the Justice Department at UNMIK after the war, and personally investigated reports of detention facilities in northern Albania."

Human Rights Watch said it had not conducted its own investigation into the reports, beyond viewing the material presented to the ICTY, obtaining the UNMIK investigation report and speaking with two people who were present during the investigation in Burrel. But it noted the large number of persons missing from the Kosovo war -- Albanians, Serbs, and other ethnic groups.

According to the International Committee of the Red Cross, 1,613 persons from Kosovo are still reported missing and 350 are reported dead, but their bodies have not yet been found and identified. The organization gives no ethnic breakdown. According to the Association of Families of Kidnapped and Missing Persons in Kosovo and Metohija, 533 Serbs from Kosovo remain missing, 430 of whom disappeared after June 10, 1999.

Human Rights Watch also urged the Serbian government to help solve the fate of the roughly 1,500 missing ethnic Albanians from the war. Human Rights Watch has documented the removal of ethnic Albanian bodies from 10 places in Kosovo in 1999. Hundreds were reburied in mass graves inside Serbia, including on a base used by the special police.

"The Serbian government is rightfully complaining about the reported abductions and transfers of Serbs to Albania," Abrahams said. "But it has also failed to cooperate enough to shed light on the even larger number of Kosovo Albanians missing from the war."

###

Tuesday Primaries: Obama Leads in North Carolina, Tied with Clinton in Indiana

Sat, 03 May 2008 11:29:00 -0400

Zogby Poll: Obama Lead in NC Shrinks; He and Clinton Remain Deadlocked in Indiana

BBSNews 2008-05-03 -- (Zogby) UTICA, New York - Democrat Hillary Clinton made gains in North Carolina yesterday, drawing within single digits of rival Barack Obama, while the two remain deadlocked in Indiana with just days before Tuesday's primary elections in those states, a pair of new Zogby daily tracking telephone polls show.

Obama leads in North Carolina by a 46% to 37% margin, with 17% either unsure or favoring someone else. In Indiana, Obama won 43% support, compared to 42% for Clinton, with the balance either favoring someone else or undecided.

The telephone surveys, conducted May 1-2, 2008, are the latest of Zogby's two-day daily tracking surveys that will continue until Tuesday. In North Carolina, 627 likely Democratic primary election voters were polled. The survey carries a margin of error of +/- 4.0 percentage points. In Indiana, 629 likely voting Democratic primary voters were surveyed. That poll also carries a margin of error of +/- 4.0 percentage points.

The telephone surveys were conducted using live operators working out of Zogby's call center in Upstate New York.

###

NASA Successfully Test Fires Reusable Solid Rocket Motor

Fri, 02 May 2008 09:47:00 -0400

Test Evaluated Possible Performance Changes As Motor Ages

BBSNews 2008-05-02 -- NASA's Space Shuttle Program on Thursdaysuccessfully conducted a test firing of a space shuttle reusablesolid rocket motor in Utah.

The test firing of Flight Verification Motor 2 evaluated possibleperformance changes as motors age. Space shuttle solid rocket motorsare certified for flight for five years from their date ofmanufacture. At more than seven years of age, the four-segment motortested Thursday is the oldest ever fired. The test furthersubstantiates the certification that was established by NASA at thebeginning of the shuttle program.

The test also provided important information for continued launches ofthe shuttle and development of the Ares I rocket, a key component ofNASA's Constellation Program that will launch the Orion crew vehicleon missions to the moon.

The test measured external sound, or acoustics, to help definemotor-generated external loads for Ares I. This valuable data willassist in the final design of the launch structure for Ares I rocketsby engineers from NASA and ATK Launch Systems Group of Promontory,Utah.

Preliminary indications are that all test objectives were met. Afterfinal test data are analyzed, results for each objective will bepublished later this year.

"This test is an example of the aggressive testing program NASApursues to assure flight safety," said David Beaman, manager of theReusable Solid Rocket Booster Project office at NASA's Marshall SpaceFlight Center in Huntsville, Ala. "It also allows us to gatherinformation on how motors with different ages perform."

The test provided a unique opportunity to compare performance datafrom two motors of different ages to validate midlife and full-lifecertification of their components. The segments tested Thursday wereoriginally stacked at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida in 2002and returned to Utah in 2004. As a result of this test, engineerswill better understand the effects of aging and exposure to differentclimates for extended periods of time.

Each space shuttle launch requires the power of two reusable solidrocket booster motors to lift the 4.5-million-pound shuttle vehicle.They burn for approximately 123 seconds and generate an averagethrust of 2.6 million pounds. In Thursday's test, the motor generated3.3 million pounds maximum thrust for two minutes, which is the sametime each reusable solid rocket motor burns during a space shuttlelaunch.

The space shuttle reusable solid rocket motor is the largest ever tofly. It is the only solid rocket motor rated for human flight and thefirst designed for reuse. Two motors provide 90 percent of the thrustneeded to launch the space shuttle.

The Reusable Solid Rocket Booster Project Office manages the tests.ATK Launch Systems Group, a unit of Alliant Techsystems Inc.,manufactures space shuttle solid rocket motors.

More information about the Space Shuttle Program is available online.

More information about Constellation Program is also available online.

###

Tibetan Protesters Denied Fair Trial in China

Fri, 02 May 2008 09:28:00 -0400

Sentenced in Secret After Party Urges 'Quick Hearings'

Map of China, 2004.

Image Credit: The University of Texas at Austin.

For the map shown above in it's full size, see China.

More maps are available in BBSNews Maps.

BBSNews 2008-05-02 -- New York (HRW) The trials of 30 Tibetans accused of participating in violent protests on March 14 in Lhasa were not open and public, as claimed by the Chinese government, and did not meet minimum international standards of due process, Human Rights Watch said today.

On April 29, 2008, the Intermediate People's Court in Lhasa, capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), conducted a "sentencing rally" (xuanpan dahui), during which the Tibetans' sentences, which ranged from three years to life in prison, were announced. Reports from the official Chinese news agency Xinhua characterized the proceedings as an "open court session." The actual trial proceedings, in which evidence from the prosecution was introduced, had been conducted covertly on undisclosed dates earlier in April.

"Guilty or innocent, these Tibetans (and any other defendant in China), are entitled to a fair trial," said Sophie Richardson, Asia advocacy director at Human Rights Watch. "Instead, they were tried on secret evidence behind closed doors and without the benefit of a meaningful defense by lawyers they'd chosen."

Human Rights Watch said that severe flaws in the regional authorities' handling of the Tibetan protests precluded fair trials of people suspected of having participated in the disturbances. These flaws included a consistent failure to establish a distinction between peaceful and violent protesters; statements by the Procuratorate (the Public Prosecution) at the time of the suspected protesters' arrest that assumed their guilt rather than their innocence; and secret trial proceedings. On March 17, Zhang Qinli, the TAR Communist Party secretary, urged that there be "quick arrests, quick hearings, and quick sentencings" of the people involved in the protests, virtually a political directive to circumvent guarantees for a fair and impartial legal process.

In addition, these 30 Tibetans may have been denied their right to their own counsel. All the lawyers who had publicly offered to defend Tibetan protesters were forced to withdraw their assistance after judicial authorities in Beijing threatened to discipline them and suspend their professional licenses. The authorities claimed that the Tibetan protesters were "not ordinary cases, but sensitive cases." The government made clear it would not respect their right to choose their own counsel. In China, criminal suspects are often coerced by the law enforcement authorities to forfeit their right to a defense lawyer or to accept court-appointed attorneys who are under effective control of the judiciary. In a 142-page report published on April 29, Human Rights Watch documented a pattern of interference and political control of lawyers who take cases viewed as politically sensitive by government and party authorities.

Human Rights Watch said that the government's efforts at preventing the involvement of lawyers in the Lhasa cases suggested a deliberate policy of secrecy and concealment.

"The Chinese authorities have so restricted the dependents' rights that the hearings are no more than a rubber stamp," Richardson said. "This isn't fair and transparent justice, it's political punishment masquerading as a legal process."

Human Rights Watch said that the Chinese government had the right to prosecute and punish individuals who had committed violent acts, but that it should not suspend due process guarantees. Human Rights Watch said the political character of these first convictions raised serious concerns about future trials. A large number of trials of Tibetans accused of involvement in protests across Tibetan areas are expected to be held in the coming months.

Beijing 2008: China's Olympian Human Rights Challenges.

India Should Ensure Fair Trail for Honored Rights Advocate

Fri, 02 May 2008 09:18:00 -0400

Chhattisgarh Government Should Not Use Naxalite Issue to Silence Critics

Map of India, 2003

Image Credit: The University of Texas at Austin.

For the map shown above in it's full size, see Map of India, 2003.

More maps are available in BBSNews Maps.

BBSNews 2008-05-02 -- New York (HRW) Criminal charges against award-winning human rights defender Dr. Binayak Sen raise serous concerns that he will not get a fair trial in Raipur district court in Chhattisgarh state when hearings begin on April 30, Human Rights Watch said today.

Chhattisgarh state officials charged Sen in February 2008 with being a member of a "terrorist organization." Sen has been in custody since May 14, 2007. If convicted, he could be sentenced to life imprisonment.

For over two decades, Sen has provided medical care in remote tribal villages in Chhattisgarh. He has received numerous awards in recognition of his work. On April 22, the Global Health Council announced that he won the 2008 Jonathan Mann Award for Global Health and Human Rights.

"Dr. Sen appears to be a victim of the Chhattisgarh government's attempt to silence those who criticize its policies and failure to protect human rights in its fight against Naxalites," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "The court should ensure that this trial is not used by the state government to cover up its failures by punishing the messenger."

Human Rights Watch said that likely political motivations for the charges and other fair trial concerns in Chhattisgarh merit the trial's change of venue to another Indian state. The case against Sen was brought after he called on the Chhattisgarh government to respect human rights in its campaign against Maoist armed combatants called Naxalites.

The presiding judge has allowed only one of Sen's supporters to attend the hearings at a time, despite a provision in international law that trials be public. A judge may cite public order reasons to restrict the attendance of the press and public. However, the district court's limit of one supporter of the defendant at the trial is unnecessarily restrictive and raises broader concerns about the fairness of the trial.

"The actions of the local authorities and the presiding judge call into serious question whether Dr. Sen will receive a fair trial," said Adams. "To ensure fairness, the venue should be moved to another state with no political axe to grind."

In 2005, the Salwa Judum movement was started with state support in Chhattisgarh to oppose the Naxalites. With state backing, the Salwa Judum began committing serious human rights abuses, including killings, beatings of critics, burning of villages, and forced relocation of villagers into government camps. As a prominent leader of the human rights group People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), Sen called for an end to Salwa Judum abuses. He also opposed the Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act, criticized human rights violations such as torture, extrajudicial killings and campaigned for improvements in prison conditions.

Sen was first detained under the Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act, 2006. Human Rights Watch has criticized this law because it could lead to serious abuses. The law allows detention for "unlawful activities," a term so loosely defined that it can severely restrict the peaceful activities of individuals and civil society organizations in violation of the Indian constitution and international human rights law.

The state's primary evidence produced in court thus far includes letters from an alleged Maoist leader, Narayan Sanyal, which Sen allegedly smuggled out of prison. The police say that Sen visited Sanyal in prison a number of times, and that documents and other materials, including his computer, confiscated after his arrest, allegedly contain unspecified subversive materials. Sen has denied all these charges and said that his meetings with Sanyal were facilitated by jail authorities to provide medical care.

"The laws in Chhattisgarh make it easy for the government to prosecute human rights defenders like Dr. Sen," said Adams. "The court must fairly decide whether a real crime has been committed."

More information on human rights in India is available online.

###

Burmese Referendum Aimed at Entrenching Military

Fri, 02 May 2008 09:04:00 -0400

Governments Should Not Endorse Vote on New Constitution

Map of Burma, 2004.

Photo Credit: The University of Texas at Austin.

The map shown above in it's full size is available in BBSNews Maps.

BBSNews 2008-05-02 -- New York (HRW) Burma's May 10 referendum on a new constitution is a sham process aimed at entrenching the military, Human Rights Watch said in a new report released today.

Conditions for a free and fair referendum do not exist in Burma because of widespread repression, including arrests of opposition activists, media censorship, bans on political meetings and gatherings, the lack of an independent referendum commission and courts to supervise the vote, and a pervasive climate of fear created by the ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) in the run-up to the referendum.

"The Burmese generals are showing their true colors by continuing to arrest anyone opposed to their sham referendum, and denying the population the right to a public discussion of the merits of the draft constitution," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "International acceptance of this process will be a big step backward."

The 61-page report, "Vote to Nowhere: The May 2008 Constitutional Referendum in Burma," shows that the referendum is being carried out in an environment of severe restrictions on access to information, repressive media restrictions, an almost total ban on freedom of expression, assembly, and association, and the continuing widespread detention of political activists. It highlights recent government arrests, harassment and attacks on activists opposed to the draft constitution.

Since the announcement of the referendum in February 2008, the Burmese military government has stepped up its repression, detaining those expressing opposition to the draft constitution. For example, on March 30 and April 1, security forces detained a total of seven opposition activists who had held a peaceful protest wearing T-shirts emblazoned with the word "No" in Rangoon. Throughout Burma, similarly peaceful protests are immediately broken up by the authorities. The Thailand-based Association for Assistance to Political Prisoners in Burma reported that more than 70 Burmese activists have been arrested trying to stage demonstrations in Burma between April 25-28.

The SPDC's wide use of spies and informants severely limits the ability of people to speak freely even when talking with friends in teahouses or private homes. Any gathering of more than five people is banned in Burma, and even solitary peaceful protesters face imprisonment.

SPDC-backed groups routinely threaten violence against members of the leading opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD). In April 2008, such groups allegedly were responsible for physical attacks on NLD officials and human rights activists.

The draft constitution, a 194-page document only available in Burmese and English, was released just a month before the referendum. Many Burmese citizens are ethnic minorities who do not speak Burmese or English, and so have no ability to read the draft.

"You can't hold a free and fair referendum when you deny every basic right to your people," Adams said. "The generals expect the Burmese people to just shut up, follow their orders, and approve the draft constitution without any discussion or debate. That's not exactly how democracies are born."

The referendum is taking place just months after the Burmese junta violently crushed massive nationwide pro-democracy protests in September 2007, documented in the Human Rights Watch report, "Crackdown: Repression of the 2007 Popular Protests in Burma". The brutal crackdown drew international condemnation and renewed pressure on the government to end its repression and bring about real democratic reform. Apparently in response, the SPDC accelerated its "seven-step path to democracy" and announced the referendum.

The draft constitution emerged from the 14-year-long National Convention. The National Convention was a tightly controlled, repressive, and undemocratic process that excluded the vast majority of the representatives elected in the annulled 1990 parliamentary elections. Any statement to be made at the National Convention had to be pre-approved and censored by the military-controlled Convening Commission. Criticism of the National Convention was punishable by prison sentences of up to 20 years. Two delegates were sentenced to 15- and 20-year prison terms respectively, simply for disseminating speeches delivered at the convention.

The new report analyzes key elements of the draft constitution, demonstrating that it seeks to entrench military rule and limit the role of independent political parties. Under the draft constitution, the commander-in-chief will appoint military officers for a quarter of all seats in both houses of parliament, and the military has even broader representation in the selection of the president and two vice-presidents.

The draft constitution treats political parties with open hostility: draconian restrictions exclude many opposition politicians from running for office, and a custom-drafted clause prevents NLD opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi from holding any elected office because she is the widow of a foreigner. The draft constitution makes it virtually impossible to amend these clauses, because more than three-quarters of the members of both houses of parliament need to approve any amendment. Given that the military holds at least one quarter of the seats -- they can also run for any "open seats," so their representation will be significantly higher -- it holds an effective veto.

Human Rights Watch called on the international community not to give any credibility to the referendum process, and to firmly insist on real reform from Burma's military rulers. The United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and his special envoy on Burma have a particular responsibility to speak out clearly and forcefully and make it clear that only a referendum that meets international standards will be recognized.

"This referendum and the draft constitution it seeks to impose on the Burmese people are designed to forever entrench more of the same abusive rule that Burma has endured for nearly half a century already," said Adams. "The Burmese junta's friends, including China, India, and Thailand, should not give any credibility to this process. If they do, it will simply expose them to ridicule for having said they were committed to democratic change in Burma."

The Human Rights Watch report "Vote to Nowhere: The May 2008 Constitutional Referendum in Burma," is available online.

A chronology of Burma's constitutional process is available online.

###

Al Jazeera Cameraman Freed From Guantanamo After Six Years

Thu, 01 May 2008 18:39:00 -0400

Sami al-Hajj endured a long hunger strike, forced feedings, beatings and isolation with no charge

BBSNews 2008-05-01 -- Al Jazeera is reporting that their cameraman, Sami al-Hajj, held without charge in GuantanamoBay for nearly six years has been released and is on a plane to his native Sudan. Al-Hajj was working as a cameraman in Afghanistan in December 2001 when he was captured by Pakistani authorities, held for 23 days and subsequently handed over to US forces. After various stops including the widely reviled Bagram AFB detention center, in Afghanistan, Al-Hajj spent nearly the last six years in the infamous prison camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba where he was held without charge.

Al-Hajj, known as prisoner number 345, has been a source of lasting shame for the United States as there seemedto be a clear double standard for world press services on one hand, and Al Jazeera on the other. The question hasoften been asked if such a scenario could be imagined for a cameraman from CNN or BBC, and the answer has invariablybeen that there seemed to be a troubling bias against the Arab satellite television news organization in particular because of the sheer length of time that went by with no charges ever laid against Al-Hajj, although there have been nearly a dozen journalists held and released by US forces in the interim. However one Canadian journalist is still being held without charge at Bagram AFB in Afghanistan.

Al Jazeera is reporting that A-Hajj was told by US authorities at least several times that he could go free if he spied against Al Jazeera and reported back to American handlers. He refused, and during the last sixteen months he was on a hungerstrike so he was force fed by the Americans, with a tube brutally forced down his nostril and down his throat twice a day.

Another former inmate of Guantanamo, Martin Mubanga, of Great Britain, yet another detainee who was released after not being charged in 2005, was interviewed during the wait for Al-Hajj's plane to arrive in Khartoum and he spoke of the inhumanity of Guantanamo where even a refusal to leave the cage for "recreation" would bring a IRF (Immediate Reaction Force) team dressed in full riot gear who would sometimes drenching Al-Hajj in pepper spray, throw him to the ground and bruise him up.

Many campaigners, journalists, human rights organizations, The Committee to Protect Journalists and individual Americans have called for Guantanamo Bay to be closed, end the practice of torture, and release prisoners who are being held without charge in the so-called "war on terror" thatas feared, has turned out to be as selective in its prosecution as has the so-called American War on Some Drugs.

Keith Ellison, the US Congressman from Minnesota, tried in November 2007 to get Al-Hajj released according to a Web site called Prisoner345devoted to the Sami Al-Hajj ordeal. Ellison, a Democrat readers may remember, was embroiled in a controversy of his own as he wasthe first Muslim elected to the United States Congress.

He also caused quite a stir with anti-Muslim groups such as "The American Family Association" and columnist Dennis Prager, who wrote a scathing and bigoted column that provokedoutcry among moderate and progressive Americans, and solidarity between Prager and some of the most virulent racistsin America who hated the idea of Ellison using the Quran as his holy book during the photo-op swearing in ceremony. No bookis used for the actual swearing in, a religious test to hold office is unconstitutional (for now) in the US.

Sami Al-Hajj is scheduled to arrive in Khartoum at about 7:30 pm Eastern US time where his family is waiting to greet himas well as feed him because he vowed to not eat until he was back in his native Sudan.

The Pentagon is expected to make a statement sometime near the time that Al_hajj's plane sets down. It may be entirelycoincidental that the release is happening just prior to World Press Freedom Day on May 3. The Committee to Protect Journalists conducted a study that shows worldwide, about 17% of journalists who are jailed for whatever reason, are held without charge.

###

US Government Sponsored Prayers and The Pledge of Allegiance

Thu, 01 May 2008 16:39:00 -0400

The American Way

BBSNews 2008-05-01 -- By Naman Crowe. I've sung this song but I'll sing it again. Let's get real. Let's start looking to the day when we can put to rest the tired tradition of opening Congress with the Daily Prayer and Pledge of Allegiance, on the grounds that they go counter to our Constitution which requires a separation of Church and State.

I know it will happen at some time in the distant future, but I'm tired of waiting for the cake to bake. Is it needful for these honorable men and women to reaffirm their fidelity to their country every time they open their sessions?

Don't any of these people deserve the respect of having their allegiance go unquestioned? Doesn't every citizen deserve the respect of having their allegiance accepted as a given? Does reciting the Pledge of Allegiance make it so?

Wouldn't a spy or some other type person working undercover for a foreign country or some terrorist organization just go ahead and recite the Pledge of Allegiance anyway? So, what does it prove? It proves that America pays too much attention to the vain and superficial than it does to reality and substance.

And look at these prayers every morning. What are they but Christian preachers delivering up instructions to God? Listen to these prayers closely and see if they are not just basically asking God to do the right thing and follow their instructions and explanations as they recite them publically before Congress and the nation?

There is no Separation of Church and State in this practice, which should never have been started in the first place. I believe it was Ben Franklin that started the mess. I don't fault him for it. We all make mistakes. Besides, that was a special moment and place. I wouldn't have offered up a prayer but probably would have let out a yell and thanked God for the birth of the United States of America.

Ben would have to agree with me today when I say that was the birth of freedom, not only freedom of religion but freedom from religion. Good God All Mighty, spare me from the bonds of revealed religion. Thomas Paine, without whom it could not have been accomplished, would agree with me too.

So, what are we doing 232 years later starting the whole thing off with a Christian prayer? We even pay for these prayers. Both the House and the Senate have their own chaplains. Often there are guest preachers. And then the first order of business (as I saw this morning) is for the congressman that invited the preacher, a relative of his, to get up and talk about what a jewel of a Christian he is.

And what have all these daily prayers gotten us? What good have they been? What good are they? What's the purpose? I can see no other purpose than the natural inclination to continue a worn out tradition and vain ritual that, in effect, bonds the Church with the State right out of the box.

And as for the Pledge of Allegiance, again, we should have never allowed that to get started. No child in school should ever be subjected to a Pledge of Allegiance requirement. That may have been fine for a nation ruled by Hitler, but it doesn't represent Freedom and it shouldn't represent the United States.

We're living in the most dangerous times in the history of humanity, because of nuclear weapons, greed, ignorance and hate, even among the religions, and having the only Super Power in the world also showing itself to be the greatest warmonger in the world.

It's time for the U.S. Congress to get real and put away all the foolish trappings and get serious about this world that we're living in. It's time for all Americans to wake up to it. It's time to bring true intelligence and moral wisdom into the fray and push the Bushites back so far that their ideological hats float.

Never forget that Bush himself has made the claim that he was led to pull a preemptive war on Iraq by God. There can be no separation of Church and State when the president claims to have the ear of God and is allowed to act accordingly.

I don't doubt that Hitler believed in God and thought he had the same ear as Bush. But I'm not a believer in revealed religion. I don't believe that anybody has ever had the ear of God. I believe that we should take God out of it and admit that it is us that is responsible for this stinking mess that we've gotten ourselves into.

As for God, that's God's business. Let God take care of God and let humans start taking care of humans. If God wants to get involved, fine. But let's begin to realize that we cannot continue to instruct God or claim that we have the ear of God. There's no reason and no time for that. It's time to take on the responsibility of being a human facing human problems that only humans can solve.

I'll conclude with what Job took from his run-in with God. God is God and Job is Job. And that's the way it's always going to be. Humanity has a responsibility down here on Earth to take care of its own and it's time that it started getting down to business and doing it.

As long as the U.S. Congress continues to open its sessions with a vain and ignorant prayer and a phony Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag, there is no reason to believe that we truly understand the concept of freedom and the true price that has to be paid for it.

It's time to get real. That's the price. Throw all the unnecessary baggage overboard. It's too heavy and it's sinking the boat. Freedom is freedom. Period. Freedom to do and think and act as one pleases as long as it doesn't cause any legitimate harm to another individual or the human race in general.

We must first understand this for ourselves before we can begin to comprehend the world and our place in it. Humanity is humanity, made up of equal and joining parts. And God is God. We don't speak for God, we don't have God's ear and we are not God.

In the end, as in the beginning and the here and now, we are two different things. God is God and man is man. Don't make the mistake of converging the two. Let's do away with the daily instructions to God and the silly Pledge of Allegiance and get down to the business that we were sent down here for.

We're here to spread the idea of freedom. Spreading peace, not war, is the only way to do it. Let's get real and really get down to business while we've still got time to do it. It's time to throw off the false and put on the armor of truth, justice and the American way.

###

Naman Crowe, a combat veteran of the Vietnam War, is an award winning journalist who has been practicing his craft since 1971, working first with The Chattanooga Times and later with various North Georgia newspapers including The Summerville News, The Dalton Daily Citizen and The Catoosa County News, as well as numerous other publications.
A poor boy, born in Atlanta and raised and educated in the Chattanooga area where he still resides, Naman Crowe is - in the words of the late, great John Popham, the legendary Southern correspondent for The New York Times - "a delight in today's world. His background is something you can't get every time you study the masses."
Naman Crowe, continues Popham in his tribute, "Is an excellent writer and thinker and is committed to the best world he can help create on his own terms."
What you will find within the columns and writings of Naman Crowe is just that, a commitment to the best world possible, on his own terms, which is the right to stand up and talk back. The tools of his craft are the thinking mind and the written word.
We are in agreement with Popham's conclusion. "You will like him."

The Three Stooges: Obama, McCain and Clinton on Israel

Thu, 01 May 2008 12:40:00 -0400

Three possible choices for US President in lockstep on AIPAC driven Israel does no wrong policy

BBSNews 2008-05-01 -- By Stuart Littlewood. I don't know about you, but Hillary Rodham Clinton scares the pants off me.

"I want the Iranians to know that if I am president, we will attack Iran," she ranted when asked what she'd do if Iran launched a nuclear attack on Israel. Not only that, she'll "totally obliterate them"... 70 million people.

Jeepers... what kind of lunatic would drag us all into World War 3 to defend a lawless, racist regime like Israel?

I see the Council on Foreign Relations helps keep tabs on the stooge-for-Israel inclinations of each presidential candidate, so how's Hillary doing? "Clinton co-sponsored the Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Act of 2006," says the CFR. "She also sponsored a Senate resolution in 2007 calling for the immediate and unconditional release of soldiers of Israel held captive by Hamas and Hezbollah."

Was she concerned about the 9,000 Palestinians, including women and children, abducted from their homes and held in Israeli jails? Apparently not.

Since taking office in 2000, Clinton has regularly supported military and financial aid packages to Israel. In a speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) she spouted the now-compulsory mantra: Hamas should not be recognised "until it renounces violence and terror and recognises Israel's right to exist."

She supports Israel's 'security wall' and its declared purpose of preventing terrorist attacks. Does she support the wall's undeclared purpose - which has nothing to do with security - and the way it bites deep into Palestinian territory?

Barack Obama has said the United States must isolate Hamas. He also co-sponsored the Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Act of 2006 and called on the Palestinian leadership to "recognise Israel, to renounce violence, and to get serious about negotiating peace and security for the region". OK, why don't America and Israel get serious about implementing the dozens of UN resolutions on the subject? He doesn't say.

He called Carter's meeting with Hamas leaders "a bad idea", so what's his pledge to talk with US adversaries without preconditions worth? If elected, Obama will insist on fully funding military assistance to Israel. Does this mean paying them even more billions of US tax dollars so that they can fire even more high-tech munitions at Gaza, vaporize more women and kids and knock out more infrastructure that Britain and the EU paid for?

John Sidney McCain the Third says he's "proudly pro-Israel" and argues that there can be no peace process "until the Palestinians recognise Israel, forswear forever the use of violence, recognise their previous agreements..." Has he asked Israel to do the same? No.

He criticises Carter's meeting with Hamas, calling it "a grave and dangerous mistake for an American leader". And he wants the United States to continue providing Israel with whatever military equipment and technology it needs. If elected McCain would "work to further isolate the enemies of Israel". Surely his time would be better spent worrying about why half the world hates the US.

McCain even thinks Israel's military action in Lebanon in 2006 was justified. He's willing to use military force against Iran if it acquires a nuclear weapon and poses a "real threat" to Israel. Well, we know from past experience what "real threats" boil down to. And guess what: he too co-sponsored the Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Act of 2006.

What is this Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Act they all so desperately wanted? It doesn't make nice reading. The idea is to heap misery on any Palestinian government in which Hamas has a hand, ignoring the fact that the resistance movement is democratically elected and shows no sign of running away. The Act demands everything from the Palestinians and nothing from Israel, which can do no wrong in Washington's eyes but, as everyone outside America knows, is the biggest terror organisation and law-breaker in the region.

Palestinians are perfectly entitled to put up armed resistance against illegal military occupation. Nevertheless the US requires them to end their struggle, get on their knees and publicly kiss their tormentors' ass. They must re-commit to the Road Map and the two-state solution even though the 'irreversible facts on the ground' Israel is hurrying to establish and the impoverished, fragmented leftovers of land the Palestinians will be left with (less than 20% of what was originally theirs) are not a recipe for peace.

The plan is plainly to support Israel's lust for prime land and strategic resources and end all hope of Palestinian viability and self-determination.

So the three main presidential candidates are singing off the same hymn-sheet and running neck-and-neck for the job of Stooge-in-Chief. Whichever finally makes it into the White House can count on us Brits being equally well prepped, thanks to the Israel lobby's energetic string-pulling on this side of the Atlantic too.

Israel's prime minister Olmert says AIPAC is "the greatest supporter and friend that we have in the whole world". It is certainly busy, claiming that "through more than 2,000 meetings with members of Congress... AIPAC activists help pass more than 100 pro-Israel legislative initiatives a year... procuring nearly $3 billion in aid critical to Israel's security." Lobbyists meet every member of Congress and cover every hearing on Capitol Hill that touches on the US-Israel relationship.

Little wonder that Ariel Sharon was able to brag: "We, the Jewish people, control America, and the Americans know it." Had he been available for comment today he'd probably be saying the same about the UK where AIPAC's little brother, Friends of Israel, has succeeded in embedding itself deep inside British politics and at the heart of government. Its stated aim is to promote Israel's interests in Parliament and sway policy.

Conservative Friends of Israel, for example, claims 80 percent of Conservative MPs and provides a programme of weekly briefings, events with speakers, and delegations to Israel. It also operates a 'Fast Track' for parliamentary candidates fighting target marginals at the next election.

According to senior Conservatives Israel is "a force for good in the world... In the battle for the values that we stand for, for democracy against theocracy, for democratic liberal values against repression - Israel's enemies are our enemies and this is a battle in which we all stand together".

Are they mad? We're talking here about a ruthless ethnocracy with racist policies, an apartheid agenda, advanced skills in state-terrorism and contempt for the UN Charter and international law.

Nevertheless MPs of all parties, and ministers, are basking in Israel's hospitality, absorbing the propaganda and allowing themselves to be persuaded to push the interest of this foreign military power sometimes at the expense of our own. Such conduct is at odds with the second of the Seven Principles of Public Life, namely Integrity � "Holders of public office should not place themselves under any financial or other obligation to outside individuals or organisations that might seek to influence them in the performance of their official duties."

Efforts are being made to have the influence of the Israel lobby investigated, but the people's watchdog - the Committee on Standards in Public Life - is itself infiltrated and refuses to act.

This week former Serb officers went on trial at The Hague for ethnic cleansing. They face life sentences for murder, persecution, forced deportations and inhuman acts during the 1991-95 Balkan wars. Many people feel it's time Israelis faced charges for similar crimes during the 60 years of occupation and catastrophe they have inflicted on the Holy Land. The list includes:

torture
collective punishment
targeted assassinations
house demolitions
wholesale slaughter
use of indiscriminate and prohibited weapons against civilians
land theft
engineering humanitarian disasters
creating medical and public health crises
the wanton destruction of key infrastructure and public ... private property
restrictions on movement and trade
illegal detention
suppression of education
denial of basic human rights
denial of the right of refugees to return
illegal settlements
violation of every convention and code of conduct.

Speaking of the Holy Land, are the three stooges aware that Christian communities under Israeli occupation are being oppressed and crushed along with their Muslim neighbours?

It was heartening to read in The Guardian this week a letter signed by more than 100 prominent Jews saying they cannot celebrate the 60th birthday of a state "founded on terrorism, massacres and the dispossession of another people from their land... and that even now engages in ethnic cleansing." They'll celebrate when Arab and Jew live as equals in a peaceful Middle East.

So there you have it. Hillary/Barack/John the Third, you would do well to steer a different course in the Arab-Israel conflict. Quit stooging, kick AIPAC into touch, back off and re-think US foreign policy.

How much support do you think you'd get for annihilating 70 million Iranians?

###

Stuart Littlewood is a business consultant turned writer and photographer living in England. He is author of the book Radio Free Palestine, which tells the plight of the Palestinians under occupation. For details please visit www.radiofreepalestine.co.uk