Pen Thoughts

Friday 27 August 2010 Amnesty International calls for the eight men, all detained after taking part in a protest against poor safety conditions, to be tried by a civilian court for recognizable criminal offences. Amnesty international has condemned the trial before an Egyptian military court of eight factory workers, all civilians, detained after taking part in a protest against poor safety conditions at the factory, following an explosion which killed one of their fellow workers. The trial of the eight workers from Helwan Factory for Engineering Industries (Military Factory No. 99) resumes at the military court in Nasr City, in the east of Cairo on Saturday. It is the first such trial since the authorities amended the Military Justice Code in June to allow workers in a military factory to be tried before a military court for “stopping work in utilities of public interest" and "assault on freedom to work”, preventing others from working. "Trials of civilians before milit...

Friday 27 August 2010 Amnesty International has criticized the Kenyan government for its failure to arrest Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir during his visit to the country to join celebrations ushering in Kenya’s new constitution. Amnesty International has criticized the Kenyan government for its failure to arrest Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir during his visit to the country to join celebrations ushering in Kenya’s new constitution, viewing the refusal to arrest President al-Bashir as an obstruction of justice for victims in Darfur. The President of Sudan is the subject of an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Darfur. “Kenya has regrettably followed the example of Chad, which violated its obligations under international law by providing safe haven to President Bashir during his visit to the country last month,” said Michelle Kagari, Deputy Director in Amnesty’s Africa programme. As Kenya has ratified the Rome St...

Friday 27 August 2010 Abdallah Abu Rahma, head of the "Popular Committee Against the Wall" in the West Bank village of Bil'in, now faces imprisonment for exercising his right to freedom of expression. Amnesty International has condemned the conviction by an Israeli military court of a Palestinian non-violent political activist who has been detained since last December because of his involvement in protesting against the fence/wall which the Israeli authorities have been building largely on Palestinian land. Abdallah Abu Rahma, head of the "Popular Committee Against the Wall" in the West Bank village of Bil'in, was found guilty of "organizing and participating in an illegal demonstration" and "incitement" by an Israeli military court on Tuesday. He was acquitted of two other charges of "stone-throwing", and "possession of arms". He is expected to be sentenced within the next few weeks and could face up to 10 years in pr...

Hutu rebels deny DR Congo rapes - Africa - Al Jazeera English

Kofi Annan’s Bombshell

ei: Israel's multi-front war on Lebanese resistance : "The 3 August border clash itself that left two Lebanese soldiers, one Israeli officer and a Lebanese journalist dead underscored several realities of the current political and military climate. Despite the incessant war-mongering by Israel over the past few months, the killing of one of its high-ranking officers -- a colonel -- did not translate into a massive offensive the same way Hizballah's capturing of two Israeli soldiers did in July 2006. This clearly undermines arguments blaming Hizballah for starting the July 2006 war. Wars are rarely improvisational affairs. Specific incidents are almost always pretexts rather than triggers of war. Israel was ready and eager to go to war in 2006. In spite of its rhetoric, this time Israel was not."

http://socialistworker.org/2010/08/17/the-withdrawal-that-isnt Interview: Michael Schwartz The withdrawal that isn't August 17, 2010 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Michael Schwartz , the author of War Without End: The Iraq War in Context [1] and a commentator on U.S. wars and occupations for Web sites such as Huffington Post and TomDispatch, talked with Ashley Smith about the Obama administration's announcement that the withdrawal of "combat troops" is on schedule--and what its plans for Iraq really are. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - PRESIDENT OBAMA recently announced that he was fulfilling his promise to withdraw U.S. combat troops from Iraq. Is the U.S. really bringing the occupation to an end? ON THE surface, that appears to be case, but it's not in fact true. Obama plans to retain 50,000 soldiers in Iraq after the supposed withdrawal of combat troops. He is merely re-branding these remaining combat troops as advisers and trainers. These remai...

In Baghdad there are still 56 thousand soldiers, to be reduced to 50 thousand at the end of the month. U.S ensure it is not a complete withdrawal, but the beginning of a new phase. Iraqi Lieutenant General: "The U.S. must remain until 2020. Baghdad (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The last U.S. combat brigade, the 4th Stryker, left Iraq yesterday, crossing the border with Kuwait. In Iraq there are still 56 thousand American troops, but the number should decrease to 50 thousand by the end of August. The remaining soldiers will be converted into assistance forces. Philip Crowley, spokesman for the State Department, spoke of a "historic moment" and assured that it is not the end of the American presence in Iraq, but the beginning of a new phase: "The last thing that we want to see is an occasion where we have to send troops back into Iraq yet again. This is not the end of something. It's a transition to something different. We have a long-term commitment to Iraq". Th...

Monday 16 August 2010 Amnesty International condemns the executions of two people for 'eloping', carried out in a Taleban-controlled village in the province of Kunduz. Amnesty International has condemned the first Taleban executions by stoning carried out in Afghanistan since 2001. A couple were stoned to death on Sunday for "eloping", in a Taleban-controlled village in Kunduz, northern Afghanistan, Amnesty International confirmed on Monday. "The stoning of this couple is a heinous crime. The Taleban and other insurgent groups are growing increasingly brutal in their abuses against Afghans," said Sam Zarifi, Amnesty International's Asia-Pacific Director. The stoning came two days after Afghanistan's highest Islamic religious body, the Council of Ulema, called on the government to more strictly enforce physical shari'a punishments, known as hudood, as a concession to the Taleban in an attempt to end the war. Under the Taleban, hudood punishments...

Wednesday 18 August 2010 Amnesty International calls on the Bahraini authorities to reveal the whereabouts of eight human rights defenders, political activists and Shia clerics arrested in a clampdown by the authorities. Amnesty International calls on the Bahraini authorities to reveal the whereabouts of eight human rights defenders, political activists and Shia clerics arrested in a clampdown by the authorities amid fears that they could be prisoners of conscience. Muhammad Saeed, a board member of the banned Bahrain Centre for Human Rights was arrested at his home in Sehla, northern Bahrain, in the early hours of yesterday morning by security forces. Two others, Abdulhadi al-Mokhoder and Mirza al-Mahrus, both clerics, were also arrested yesterday at their homes in Sanabis, and Manama, respectively. “The Bahraini authorities must make it clear why these eight men have been arrested, and either release them or charge them with recognizable criminal offences. It is unacceptable for them...