IDEALS

BUENOS AIRES, (Aug. 10, 2009) IPS/GIN – Leonardo Henrichsen turned
his film camera on the soldier who was aiming at him and held it
steady until he was shot to death. But the justice system never
caught up with the killer of the Argentine journalist, murdered 36
years ago in Chile while he was filming a military uprising for
Swedish television.

Less than three months later a coup d’Çtat against socialist
President Salvador Allende (1970-1973) ushered in the 17-year
dictatorship of the late general Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990).

The abortive military rebellion known as the “tanquetazo” (tank
putsch) was put down in a few hours by troops loyal to the leftwing
Popular Unity government, in a battle in central Santiago close to
the presidential palace of La Moneda, where Allende died 11 weeks
later in an aerial bombardment unleashed by Pinochet’s forces.

The tanquetazo left 22 civilians dead, among them Henrichsen, a
33-year-old correspondent in Chile for Swedish Public Service
Television (SVT) who filmed the soldiers who shot him at close
range. Read the rest of this entry →

RIO DE JANEIRO, (Jun. 3, 2010) IPS/GIN – The policy of a saturation
police presence in the favelas or shantytowns that are home to
around 20 percent of the population of this Brazilian city is
merely a means of criminalizing poverty, because it does nothing
to address the underlying question of social exclusion which drives
the violence, human rights groups complain.

Rio de Janeiro state Governor Sergio Cabral began a year and a half
ago to send Pacification Police Units (UPPs), made up of members
of the military police, into the slums to wrest control over the
neighborhoods from drug gangs.
Read the rest of this entry →

EAST JERUSALEM, (Aug. 24, 2009) IPS/GIN – Israel’s continued policy
of Judaising East Jerusalem in order to establish facts on the
ground before the future of that part of the city is decided, has
left dozens of Palestinians homeless and sleeping on the streets.

Hundreds more are at risk, amidst allegations of document forgery
by Israeli settlers who have taken over Palestinian homes.

Israeli riot police have forcibly evicted 53 Palestinian refugees
including 20 children from their homes in the East Jerusalem suburb
Sheikh Jarrah. Many sustained injuries during the process. The
refugees are from the Hanoun and Al-Ghawi families. Read the rest of this entry →

LAGOS, (May 11, 2010) IPS/GIN – It has been nearly twenty years
since an official execution has taken place in Nigeria. State
governors have been unwilling to sign the execution warrants of
persons on death row.

Amnesty International reported in 2008 that it had evidence of a
number of executions in the northern state of Kano, but Nigeria
has observed an unofficial moratorium on executions since 1999.

Resolved to resume executions.

So it was a surprise when state governors emerged from an Apr. 20
meeting to announce they had agreed to begin to execute prisoners
in a bid to decongest overcrowded prisons.

The governors said the failure to carry out death sentences was
mostly due to a lack of courage on their part.

But they also blamed prison authorities for failing to recommend
executions. According to Abia State governor Theodore Orji, the
execution papers should be initiated from the prisons. “It is when
the recommendation comes to the government that it can be
implemented.

Governors are willing to execute those found guilty of offences
ranging from murder to kidnapping and armed robbery, he said. “We
agreed that those people who have been condemned should be executed
accordingly.”
Read the rest of this entry →

LUSAKA, (Apr. 30, 2010) IPS/GIN – Zambia is pushing forward with
an anti-counterfeit draft law which will include medicines, despite
the controversy that has surrounded similar laws in East Africa and
despite having existing legislation which has been used to
successfully prosecute counterfeiters of medicines.

Kenneth Musamvu, registrar of copyright at the ministry of
information and broadcasting services, confirmed in an interview
with IPS that a proposal to draft an anti-counterfeiting bill that
will include medicines has been put together and presented to the
policy makers. Read the rest of this entry →

LIMA, (Apr. 28, 2009) IPS/GIN – It is highly unlikely that the
Peruvian Supreme Court will overturn or reduce the 25-year sentence
handed down to former president Alberto Fujimori, because the
verdict is well-supported, said chief prosecutor JosÇ Antonio
Pel†ez.

In this interview with IPS, the state prosecutor also noted that
first-degree murder, one of the crimes of which Fujimori was
convicted and sentenced on Apr. 7, is not subject to pardon.

Taking into account time served on remand, Fujimori will be due
for release on Feb. 10, 2032, at the age of 94. Read the rest of this entry →

FREETOWN, (Apr. 28, 2009) IPS/GIN – On Apr. 8, the UN-backed
Special Court for Sierra Leone passed sentences on three former
commanders of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), bringing to an
end the trials of militia leaders deemed responsible for atrocities
committed during the country’s bloody civil war, fought from 1991
to 2002.

Issa Sesay, the interim leader of the RUF after the death of its
founder Foday Sankoh, field commander Morris Kallon and chief of
security Augustine Gbao were found guilty of war crimes, crimes
against humanity and serious violations of international
humanitarian law. The three were slammed with a total of 117 years
in prison.

In 2008, members of the two other factions involved in the conflict
were tried on similar charges. Three leaders of the Armed Forces
Revolutionary Council (AFRC) and two from the pro-government Civil
Defense Force (CDF) were all found guilty and sentenced to lengthy
jail terms. Read the rest of this entry →

WASHINGTON, (Apr. 28, 2009) IPS/GIN – The leaders of several of
the United States’ largest civil rights and faith groups urged the
passage of a bill to strengthen protection from hate crimes
Tuesday.

The Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which is
expected to go to a vote in the House of Representatives on
Wednesday, is supported by over 300 national civil rights
organizations, faith groups, and law enforcement organizations.

“It is time for us as a nation to say crimes based on gender, race,
colour, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender
identity or disability are crimes against all of us, crimes against
our communities,” said Rabbi David Saperstein, director of the
Religious Action Centre of Reform Judaism. Read the rest of this entry →