Monday, September 26, 2005

Menezes killing- Police Whistleblower Arrested

The whistleblower who leaked documents revealing discrepancies between the Scotland Yard evidence of the point blank 'mistaken' shooting of Jean Charles Menezes, and the statements they had released to the public through the media has been arrested, but no details of those charges have been made public by Scotland Yard.

Police searched several addresses before arresting the special investigations[IPCC] officer. The woman was released on bail pending further police inquiries.

The leaked photographic evidence showed Menezes was wearing a denim jacket at the time of his death, in stark contrast to Scotland Yard's claims they shot him because his clothing, namely a heavy winter coat[in summer], and his demeanour, made him appear suspicious.

Human Rights in Southern US gaols

The human rights of prisoners in the South of the USA have been highlighted in the media during the last week, with the revelations of New Orleans prisoners having been abandoned, locked in their cells in chest deep water for four days, without food, water and sanitation in fetid water, and air unable to circulate due to no electricity.

Human Rights Watch said, "prisoners were abandoned in their cells without food or
water for days as floodwaters rose toward the ceiling."


The fate of 517 inmates is still unknown as they are missing from the lists of prison evacuees.

Many of those held were gaoled for minor offences such as criminal trespass, public drunkenness or disorderly conduct and had not even been brought before a judge and charged, much less been convicted.

At the same time in Texas, a trial is taking place in which a gay African-American former prisoner tries to assert his rights have been violated by prison guards under the Eighth Amendment[cruel and unusual punishment] with a jury of eleven white people and one black person, which would not appear to be an equitable balance.

Rodderick Johnson claims after being incarcerated he was forced into sexual slavery and witnesses support allegations that during his 18 month sentence he faced being beaten and murdered if he refused sexual servitude for a major prison gang, and it is claimed prison guards failed to protect him because he was gay.

The defence for the prison guards, hasn't denied rape is a problem in the prison but said letters Mr Johnson had written to his alleged sexual abusers are of an affectionate nature.

Guard, Jimmy Bowman, similarly decried Johnson's allegations of sexual servitude claiming the inmate had not demonstrated any effort to resist the offences, "sometimes an inmate has to defend himself," Mr. Bowman said, "We don't expect him not to do anything."

However it would appear the guards statements fail to demonstrate any workable knowledge of victim-abuser relationships, particularly in view of his inability while in custody, to remove himself from the abusive environment.

"Mr. Johnson, 37, is a black gay man with a gentle manner. He is represented by the National Prison Project of the American Civil Liberties Union. Many people in this medium-size city near the Oklahoma border still have raw feelings about the civil liberties union, which won a federal lawsuit in 2000 that forced the local library to put two picture books for children about gay men and lesbians, "Heather Has Two Mommies" and "Daddy's Roommate," back in the children's section." [New York Times, Liptak, Sept 25,05


Journalists:Endangered species

In the last 5 days another four journalists have been killed in Iraq, while another was car-bombed after she questioned the role of Syria in the assassination of Hariri.

The events of this week support Reporters sans Frontieres' claims that journalists are increasingly being targeted by both Coalition and Iraqi services, with Reuters cameraman Ali Omar Abrahem Al-Mashadani held in Abu Graib since August 8, and a correspondent for Iraqi television station Al-Arabiya in Ramadi, Hameed Majeed held by Iraqi authorities for the last 8 days without explanation.

Cameraman Al-Mashdani, faces a gaol term of 180 days, with no prisoner visits from lawyers or family for the first 60 days without an alleged offence being made public.

RSF also said 8 journalists are in the custody of the US army.

Wednesday, September 21, 2005

Deaths in Custody Day

Deaths in Custody Watch[WA] will mark the annual Deaths in Custody Memorial Day 2005 with a ceremony of rememberance to be held at Fremantle Prison on Friday September 23, at 11am.

On this the 22nd anniversary of the death of an indigenous person** which prompted a Royal Commission into Deaths in Custody, implementation of the recommendations of that Royal Commission are yet to be seen in Western Australia.

Deaths in Custody WA attributes ongoing deaths in custody to a flawed justice system which remains unaltered despite the extensive reforms recommended at the Royal Commission into Deaths in Custody, and said that the places of deaths have shifted from predominantly police custody, to prison cells and hospital beds.

So bring a bring a friend or plenty of friends, pay your respects and let your presence bring attention to these ongoing and long-term human rights violations which occur silently, right here, in the suburbs of Perth.


*************************************************************************************************************
Ed's note:

In 1978 the Australian Press Council recommended that the media facilitate transparency in the justice and prisons system, after journalist and prisoner human rights campaigner, Bernie Matthews, interviewed 'Jockey Smith' speaking about his experiences being verballed by the NSW CIB, who were later exposed as corrupt in the Wood Royal Commission.

Prisoners currently have no right to vote and no right to defend themselves in a court of law against media frame-ups; no recourse in the face of corruption such as verballings and bashings and as such, the present system does little to prevent cases of wrongful imprisonment as in the case of the Mickelburg brothers and countless faceless, voiceless others.

It is hardly surprising that in a country founded by a toiling criminal colony, that free speech and the human rights of prisoners has never become a priority for the government.

**


Latham a la Flute

Flutey puts Latham Diaries in a nutshell

Ultimate censorship

Another New York Times journalist, Fakher Haider, just 38 y/o, has been abducted, beaten and shot apparently by the same perps who abducted, bashed and shot, NYT journalist and blogger Stephen Vincent in Basra last month.

Mr Haider had been writing about Shiite militia infiltrating the Basra Police Service, which was the same topic Vincent had written about days before his murder.

Mr Haider's murder brings the number of journalists killed in Iraq since the start of the War on Terror, to 68.

Stephen Vincent's last story detailed a hit-squad in Basra, who he alleged were undertaking sanctioned killings and dressed in police clothes and drove a police vehicle, which was the same description witnesses supplied in the abduction of Mr Haider.

The story which appeared in the NYT 2 days before he was found dead, said British Services overseeing the new democracy were turning a blind eye to Shiite militia infiltrating the police service.

British Servicemen also drew global attention today, when they used a tank to break out two fellow servicemen who had been gaoled for opening fire on an Iraqi traffic cop.

The two servicemen shot at the traffic cop allegedly while working under-cover, but Basra police were reticent to release the two, despite ministerial intervention.

Reporters sans frontiers say persecution of journalists in the region by Coalition and Iraqi forces has risen in recent months.

Monday, September 19, 2005

The best man for the job

Accused of being an 'unglamorous frau,' it appears the era of 'The Girl' is on the rise.

Angie Merkel is not the only woman making significant moves in politics with Helen Clarke retaining power and Hillary Clinton and Condoleeza Ryce[future prospects] being groomed as presidential candidates in the next US election, & a record number of Afghani women contending in the election this weekend.

Ironically, while Angela Merkel's beauty and grooming are so important as to be a focal point, when it isn't for male politicians, she stands a good chance of being voted in, in order to rescue Germany's ailing economy.

The right wing politician already has the backing of Blair and Bush, who were long since aggrieved by Chancellor Schroeder's anti-war stance.

And of course in Australia, we have Latham's kiss of death on Gillard.

UPDATE: Merkel, resplendent with obligatory first-lady make-over, but fortunately intellect still firmly intact, has won by a slim margin.

Tuesday, September 13, 2005

Dubious one-upmanship

Melbourne gives Sydney a run for its money.

Anyone easily offended stop reading now... link courtesy of Crikey

Monday, September 12, 2005

Iceman burns it up in Spa GP

Raikkonen took out P1 in the Belgium GP, raising hopes that he is still in the race for the driver's points.

On a
slippery track in rainy, Spa, there were 5 retirements with many teams experiencing difficulties predicting which tyres were best suited to the track. Montoya took a spin off the track. Michael Schumacher, Trulli, Fisichella, Sato and Coulthardt were retired. Almost able to set your watch by Sato crashing into someone, he took out Michael Schumacher's ferrari early in the race and receiving a crowning from Schumie for his carelessness and was dropped 10 places on the grid for the next GP in Sao Paolo.

Alonso took P2 and Jensen Button finally got a look in, courtesy of all the retirements and took P3.

A number of others were afforded driver's points in this leg, with Webber[who?] taking P4, Villeneuve in P5, Ralf Schumacher in P7 and Monteiro getting a P8 in the new Jordan. Even Karthikeyan threw off the wooden spoon for the day scoring a P11.

Klien scored a 9 for Redbull and Massa got P10 for Sauber.

The Minardi-Cosworths and Red Bulls suffered under tyre selection, and Montoya and Pizzonia crawled in after slippery track bingles.

Sunday, September 04, 2005

Monza Grand Prix

There were no surprises in the podiums at the Italian GP, Montoya P1, Alonso P2, Fisichella P3 and Raikkonen P4. But many unexpected results were still witnessed with Heidfeld stand-in Pizzonia taking P7 for Williams, in a race which saw no retirements.

Webber struggled for the duration of the race without a glimmer of luck, besides avoiding any bingles with Sato on this leg of the F1 circuit & P14 was disappointing considering Webber's fast qualifying times in this leg.

David Coulthardt, P15, failed to gain position from Webber, but managed to place ahead of Takuma Sato despite his early top placing. Barrichello and Schumacher also failed to shine, managing a poor P10 & 12 for Ferrari.

Monteiro managed to raise his performance in the new EJ15B to about 3/4 of the way back in the field, a promising development for Jordan, while Karthikeyan in the old EJ15 kept his grasp on the wooden spoon.

Doornbos and Albers in the Minardi-Cosworths maintained their usual performance as 'also rans' at P18 & 19.

Saturday, September 03, 2005

Comment-spam rigmarole

Sorry all you frenetic commenters to my blog, due to comment spam triggered by terms such as 'New Orleans' all comments will have to follow anti-spam protocol [with the typed in id word]. Sorry 'bout that old chaps. Cheerio ab.

Rapper, Congressmen & Blogosphere:Media coverage of New Orleans disaster racist

Looks like it is not only the blogosphere's resident Saint who has been concerned with the racial bias in the media coverage of the New Orleans disaster area.

Kanye West, a rap star taking part in an benefit gig for New Orleans aid relief, made comments that were too candid for the government appeasing networks broadcasting the concert, who hastened to cut Kanye's comments, to more benign entertainment and corporate disclaimers.

The comments by West were made amidst widespread heavy criticism by those interviewed in New Orleans, of the innovative hands-off approach to the relief effort, by George Dubya Bush.

Afro-american members of the US Congress have said the treatment of the black community in New Orleans has been an outrage and called on Condoleeza Ryce to address the issue.

Ryce did her best to appease all, diplomatically voicing her sympathy and concern about how hard-hit this demographic had been, but said the situation was not being viewed with perspective as emotions and distress were running high as the world watched on unable to assist the victims.

Kanye West claimed Bush delayed aid to both the poor and black people in the community due to a lack of interest in their survival and also making reference to the number of the stronger members of their community having been sent away to fight the war on Iraq so that they were not around to protect their communities.

West also highlighted the blatant racial bias in the US media coverage, which described black people scavenging for food as 'looters' while white people scavenging for food were described as merely 'looking.'

The New Orleans security services' adoption of the controversial 'shoot to kill' policy, recently criticized for being the cause of the point blank shooting of an innocent man by Scotland Yard, came under fire from West also.

A beautiful story

Feminism, a broad term[no pun intended] at the best of times, has many detractors in this affluent, predominantly middle-class, patriarchal society.

But even the hardest heart could not look upon this story and not be touched by the bravery and strength with which these Islamic women face Afghanistan's parliamentary elections.

The 52 seats that have been set aside for representation by women, are being contested by 582 women in what is traditionally a volatile political climate that has severe penalties for those who break the societal taboo of being independent women and giving women in that patriarchal society a voice.

Aussie deported from Britain

British Home Office: don't have to answer for mistakes or give their names

Australian tourist & mother of 3, Julie Hope, was living in England under a non-visa system which allows for a 6 month stay with an option to extend on the proviso there is an intention to travel home afterwards.

Julie Hope hit a brick wall after the 4th month when she applied to extend her stay, upon which, authorities claimed she was working for her accomodation and immediately ejected her to France, removing her right to stay for the rest of the initial 6 months.

Immigration officials refused to sign their names on the official documents which they used to justify the deportation of Ms Hope and when they were questioning high profile friends Ms Hope had been staying with, officials refused to identify themselves.

The Australian has found herself in a situation where few answers are being offerred, but surely DFAT or the Australian Consulate in the UK would have access to some means of accountability on the part of the British Home Office who are refusing to answer for their actions.