July 25, 2009 :: staff :: Comments Off
The Iranian opposition has grown resurgent as top clerics decried the government’s crackdown on civilian demonstrators and called for the release of political prisoners and accountability and legitimacy among the leadership. Now, a global day of action has been organized by Iranian opposition groups in exile, with demonstrations in Manila, Seoul, Brussels, Berlin, London, New York and elsewhere.
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July 20, 2009 :: staff :: 2 Comments
Former president and leading reformist cleric Mohammad Khatami has urged that Iran hold a nationwide referendum to allow voters to judge whether the 12 June election was legitimate or whether the government has sought to stay in power through mass fraud and other illegal means. Several reformist websites have reportedly carried the news, with Khatami saying “Durability of order and continuation of the country’s progress hinge on restoring public trust”.
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July 17, 2009 :: staff :: 2 Comments
Opposition presidential candidates Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karoubi will reportedly attend Friday prayers in Tehran, to be led by Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, their most powerful supporter in the clerical establishment, seen as a chief rival to Pres. Ahmedinejad and Ayatollah Khamene’i. The event will be the opposition leaders’ first public appearance since the disputed presidential election of 12 June.
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July 12, 2009 :: staff :: 5 Comments
The death toll in the capital of Xinjiang rose last week from initial reports of 100, to 140 killed, then 156. Now, there are reports that over 180 people have died in the inter-ethnic clashes between Uighur muslims and ethnic Han Chinese, relative newcomers to the region, brought in by policies imposed from Beijing. Reports of who exactly has borne the brunt of the violence are still difficult to confirm.
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July 11, 2009 :: staff :: Comments Off
Former US vice president Dick Cheney has been linked to the 8-year long cover-up of a secret CIA project about which Congress was never briefed, until last month. The current director of the CIA, Leon Panetta, only learned of the secret project —details of which have still not been released— last month. He immediately ordered its closure. Now, it has been revealed that in a closed-door briefing last month with members of Congress, Panetta revealed that former vice-president Cheney ordered the project be concealed from Congress.
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July 10, 2009 :: staff :: 2 Comments
Post election demonstrations in Iran are getting more confrontational, as smaller numbers of angrier demonstrators continue to suffer physical assaults at the hands of militia and security forces. With conservative clerics stepping up their questioning of the legitimacy of both Pres. Ahmedinejad’s re-election and the continued rule of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamene’i, demonstrators have reportedly been heard chanting “Death to Khamene’i” for the first time.
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June 29, 2009 :: J.E. Robertson :: 2 Comments
It has been said in recent decades that leaders of nuclear-armed states have a “finger on the button”. It is an alarming yet somewhat convenient concept, but it has not generally been all that accurate. It turns out, as we look back on the Cold War “brinksmanship” of mutually-assured destruction (MAD), that both the USSR and the USA guarded their superpotent polarity with carefully complex systems of security, multiple-key activation and other failsafes.
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June 28, 2009 :: staff :: 4 Comments
Iranian authorities have reportedly shut down Kalemeh, the official website of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi. Kalemeh was considered to be Mousavi’s only remaining independent means of communicating directly with supporters or with the world beyond Iran’s borders. The development is an escalation of the government’s efforts to disrupt opposition channels of communication and organizing capacity.
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June 28, 2009 :: J.E. Robertson :: 3 Comments
Iranian authorities have reportedly detained at least 8 employees of the British embassy in Tehran, saying they had been “playing major parts” in stirring up anti-Ahmedinejad sentiments. The government of Pres. Mahmoud Ahmedinejad has taken an extreme hard line on the issue of dissent over the election, accusing unarmed demonstrators of “terrorism” and calling the US president Barack Obama’s criticism of the shooting of demonstrators “unconventional, abnormal and discourteous”.
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June 26, 2009 :: Anjika Sridhar :: 5 Comments
Dr. Arash Hejazi is one of the bystanders who attended to Neda Agha Soltan when she was shot and killed at a demonstration in Tehran. Hejazi lives and works in England, and he was in Iran visiting. He told the BBC, after returning to Britain, of how the shocking events of that day transpired, and says bystanders seized an armed Basij militiaman who admitted he had shot Soltan.
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June 25, 2009 :: J.E. Robertson :: 2 Comments
Chinese rights activist Liu Xiaobo has been detained on charges of “inciting subversion of state power”. Liu was jailed for 2 years following the TIananmen Square protests in 1989 that ended with a massacre of unarmed protesters. He was one of the co-authors of Charter 08, a petition calling for the diversification of China’s one-party system. Human Rights Watch and other watchdog organizations have strongly condemned his arrest.
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June 25, 2009 :: staff :: 5 Comments
First, I’d like to say a few words about the situation in Iran. The United States and the international community have been appalled and outraged by the threats, the beatings, and imprisonments of the last few days. I strongly condemn these unjust actions, and I join with the American people in mourning each and every innocent life that is lost.
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June 8, 2009 :: J.E. Robertson :: Comments Off
California-based Korean-American journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee have been sentenced to 12 years hard labor in North Korea for “grave crimes” allegedly stemming from their filming video across the North Korean border, from Chinese soil. Reports suggest the two women were abducted by North Korean border guards, who crossed into Chinese territory to seize the journalists in a military raid, while the two women were reporting for Current TV.
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May 15, 2009 :: Severino Villalonso :: Comments Off
Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma’s leading opposition figure and pro-democracy activist, has been removed from her home less than one month before her house arrest was due to be lifted. She was detained by the military junta on charges of violating the terms of her house arrest by meeting with an American citizen in her home.
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April 5, 2009 :: Anjika Sridhar :: Comments Off
A new Personal Status Law designed to govern family relations in the Afghan Shi’a community is being widely assailed as subjecting married women to sexual slavery at the hands of their husbands. The law specifies that married men have a right to sexual activity with their wives at least once every four days and that women may not leave their homes on any occasion without the explicit permission of their husbands.
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March 23, 2009 :: J.E. Robertson :: Comments Off
The government of Sudan, based in Khartoum, and under the rule of Pres. Omar Hassan al-Bashir, has expelled more than a dozen international aid organizations from the country, charging that their activities in Darfur helped agents for the International Criminal Court (ICC) develop their war crimes case against Bashir. Bashir has been indicted on charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes, and a fierce crack-down on dissent, press and international visitors, has been underway since.
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March 11, 2009 :: J.E. Robertson :: 3 Comments
The best thing China’s ruling Communist party can do for itself, for its people and for the stability of the nation, is take seriously all petitions for redress of grievances, investigate all claims of official corruption, negligence or assault, give weight to collective or individual property claims by punishing officials who steal property, blaze a path toward transparency in banking, ban government cover-ups and establish a zero-tolerance policy for public officials who use their power to punish or intimidate citizens who come forward seeking justice.
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January 16, 2009 :: staff :: Comments Off
China has sentenced a would-be Olympic protester to 3 years in prison. The Beijing government set up a process whereby protests could be held only in specifically designated zones, and only with a permit; Ji Zizun appears to be victim of a deliberate strategy of using the application process to ferret out protest leaders, then jail them.
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November 18, 2008 :: J.E. Robertson :: 3 Comments
Despite urging from the Russian prosecutors and the potential national-security implications of a case involving at least one former FSB (successor to KGB) agent, the trial of those accused of conspiring in the killing of journalist Anna Politkovskaya will be held in open court. The first trial hearings began “behind closed doors”, and Karina Moskalenko —a human rights lawyer working with Politkovskaya’s family— was allegedly poisoned while in France.
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July 11, 2008 :: J.E. Robertson :: Comments Off
President George W. Bush yesterday signed an update to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) into law, after the Senate passed the controversial legislation, giving telecommunications firms retroactive immunity for cooperating with warrantless wiretapping conducted on American citizens, with no foundation in US law and in direct violation of the original FISA law, and the US Constitution. A federal court had ruled that the warrantless wiretaps violated the US Constitution, prompting a move by Pres. Bush and his allies in Congress to pass a new law correcting the legal problem.
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July 11, 2008 :: The Editors :: Comments Off
Karl Rove has chosen to ignore a subpoena to testify before the House Judiciary Committee in relation to allegations he was part of an administration campaign against officials who did carry out a partisan agenda. By not appearing to testify under subpoena, he has opened himself up to charges of contempt of Congress, and the committee’s chairman, Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) has threatened to prosecute Rove if he does not comply, as has Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-CA), chairwoman of the subcommittee on commercial and administrative law.
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July 2, 2008 :: The Editors :: Comments Off
A 3-judge panel on the DC-circuit Court of Appeals has ruled against the evidentiary grounds on which the Pentagon has held Huzaifa Parhat, a Uighur Muslim from western China, for 6 years as an enemy combatant. The government argued it had grounds to hold Parhat because the charges they allege against him had been repeated in three secret documents; evidence supporting the claims has not been made public.
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June 29, 2008 :: J.E. Robertson :: Comments Off
Zimbabwe’s 5-term president Robert Mugabe, the only one since liberation from the British nearly 3 decades ago, looks poised to serve a 6th term after holding a “presidential runoff election”, in which his opponent was forced to withdraw due to allegations of constant violence and intimidation from ruling-party supporters and paramilitaries. Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai had asked his supporters to vote for Mugabe if they felt their safety would otherwise be in jeopardy.
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June 23, 2008 :: Denver Lessing :: Comments Off
Pres. Robert Mugabe has been accused by the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, as well as numerous independent observers, of using state-backed and paramilitary violence to intimidate his opponents and “rig” the vote scheduled for 27 June. Now, the MDC’s leader Morgan Tsvangirai has withdrawn his candidacy for the vote, calling the entire process illegitimate. Tsvangirai won more votes than Mugabe in the 1st round of voting, even by the state’s official count, which many believe may have been manipulated in order to force a runoff.
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June 15, 2008 :: J.E. Robertson :: Comments Off
The US Supreme Court has taken its fourth serious action in limiting the expanded war powers claimed by the administration of Pres. George W. Bush. Observers who favor the president’s views have sought to accuse the court of “liberal” behavior, but 7 of the 9 justices were appointed by Republican presidents. In fact, the Court has moved to scale back revolutionary expansions of legal authority claimed by the executive branch. And, the four rebukes to White House claims in this time of war, are a historic intensification of the Court’s role in protecting the Constitution’s basic principles.
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June 13, 2008 :: staff :: Comments Off
The United States Supreme Court has ruled 5 to 4 that individuals held in detention at the US naval base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, can appeal their detention in US civilian courts. The ruling cites the intended permanence of Constitutional safeguards and their relevance to all US government prosecutions. Writing for the majority, Justice Anthony Kennedy explains “The laws and Constitution are designed to survive, and remain in force, in extraordinary times”.
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June 7, 2008 :: J.E. Robertson :: Comments Off
In a not-too-thinly-veiled effort to rig the outcome of the 27 June runoff election, in which Robert Mugabe (Zanu-PF), incumbent with 28 years in power, will contest Morgan Tsvangirai (MDC), the Mugabe regime has attacked foreign diplomats looking into charges of state-sponsored violence, banned all NGOs from the country, cracked down on foreign press, and beaten and detained members of the opposition. Tsvangirai has been detained twice in the last week.
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April 23, 2008 :: staff :: Comments Off
23 April :: Zimbabwe opposition refuses coalition gov’t headed by Mugabe; Mugabe’s Zanu-PF says it is planning for runoff election, not power-sharing; Tsvangirai’s MDC says it won the vote already held and will not accept any arrangement where Mugabe remains in power… Burgeoning Asian rice crisis attributed to economic planning focusing on modernization, devoting few [...]
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April 11, 2008 :: The Editors :: Comments Off
The Zimbabwe opposition party Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), led by Morgan Tsvangirai, has been meeting with African leaders in an effort to shore up support against the regime of Robert Mugabe, which preliminary vote counts suggest may have lost the recent election, both for parliament and the presidency. Mugabe’s suppoerters have been fighting to keep down opposition support, while Mugabe has refused to allow vote counts to be made public.
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March 22, 2008 :: The Editors :: 2 Comments
The Chinese government’s military crackdown on demonstrators in Tibet and in neighboring Chinese provinces has been intense, though foreign media have been unable to confirm reports of mounting death tolls. In Sichuan province, there are allegations of 23 killed by security forces in one incident, including a 16-year-old. Reports of mounting fear among civilians in Tibet and Sichuan have become common in recent days.
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March 15, 2008 :: The Editors :: Comments Off
International media reports say that sources in the Tibetan exile community, from India to New York, have confirmed that at least 30 civilian demonstrators were killed by Chinese security forces as they moved to end a demonstration in the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, on Friday. Demonstrations had begun on Monday, and for four days, reports suggest the majority of demonstrations were peaceful.
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March 8, 2008 :: The Editors :: Comments Off
Reports that have cropped up online, through the blogosphere and which echo a Newsweek report from mid-2004, suggest the White House may be planning to implement a security protocol that would include canceling the 2008 elections in case of “catastrophic emergency”. The key may lie in still classified “top secret” document that combines National Security [...]
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December 1, 2007 :: The Editors :: Comments Off
EUROPE’S TOP ELECTION MONITORING BODY HAS REFUSED TO OBSERVE SUNDAY’S ELECTIONS SAYING PROCESS HAS BEEN UNFAIR Reports from across Russia indicate that by various means, state authorities are pressuring organizations and institutions of all kinds to force mass voter turnout for Pres. Putin’s United Russia party. The Kremlin denies the allegations, but at least one [...]
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August 13, 2007 :: J.E. Robertson :: Comments Off
As China officially began the countdown to the Beijing Olympic Games, various groups report foreign journalists have been intimidated, harassed and even detained, while trying to do their work in China. There is an apparent campaign from the highest levels to limit the ability of Chinese citizens to speak out about corruption, state violence, ecological crisis and authoritarianism; the state is apparently not embarrassed by being seen as a closed totalitarian system.
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December 9, 2006 :: J.E. Robertson :: Comments Off
After Russia launched an official criminal investigation into the radiation poisoning of ex-spy Alexandr Litvinenko, it also announced it would no longer be permitting foreign agents to interview suspects on Russian soil, and there would be no extradition to Britain for Russian suspects. Now, state-run media are reportedly feeding stories into the international media to make accusations against Litvinenko and against the credibility of those who would support him.
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October 26, 2006 :: J.E. Robertson :: Comments Off
In the wake of major terrorist attacks against densely populated civilian centers in several countries across Europe, Asia and America, governments and private industry are looking at ways of using biometric scanning technology to determine who should or should not have access to certain locations and services. The technology is complicated and highly advanced, but unproven, and potentially highly flawed.
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January 17, 2006 :: J.E. Robertson :: Comments Off
Former US Vice President Al Gore gave what is being described as an historic non-partisan speech, calling for a passionate nationwide movement to defend and uphold the Constitution of the United States. Gore gave the speech in a non-partisan context, speaking at the Daughters of the American Revolution hall, with the express support and participation of Representative Bob Barr, Republican of Georgia.
The speech was attended by both Republicans and Democrats and thousands of people who fear that new arguments made by the Executive branch for expanded police powers pose a serious threat to the nation’s system of government and the rule of law.
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