Salem-News.com World- articles Page 13

Amnesty International: 83 Zimbabwean Activists Detained

(PORTLAND, Ore.) - Amnesty International is calling on Zimbabwean authorities to release 83 activists, arrested during a peaceful demonstration in the capital city Harare.

"These arbitrary arrests and unlawful detentions are clearly aimed at restricting the rights to freedom of expression and assembly," said Michelle Kagari, Deputy Director of Amnesty International’s Africa Program.

Eritrea: Journalist Hunted for 9 Years

“The European Union firmly calls for the unconditional release of these prisoners, and of all other persons detained for having peacefully expressed their views..” - Catherine Ashton, High Representative, EU

(PORTLAND, Ore.) - Nine years have passed since the brutal political purge in Asmara, September 18, 2001, journalists and political opposition members were violently hunted and detained.

Today Eritrean authorities continue to gag all forms of free expression and recently arrested another journalist as he was trying to flee the country.

Somalia: Independent Media Targeted

Al-Shabaab and Hizb-Al-Islam are both on the RSF list of “Predators of Press Freedom”.

(PORTLAND, Ore.) - Reporters Without Borders (RSF) together with The National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) condemns the assault by Islamist militias on two radio stations in Mogadishu.

“Taking over the ownership and control of independent radio stations by force and putting the owners and the journalists in a state of panic, risk and fear is a criminal act that cannot be condoned. This is unacceptable and amounts to the highest degree of media freedom violation,” said Omar Faruk Osman, NUSOJ secretary-general.

The Truth Will Set U.S. Free: Breaking Israel`s Stranglehold over American Foreign Policy

“At present, the American public is ignorant of Israel’s all-pervasive influence" - Jeff Gates, former counsel to the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance

(OSAKA, Japan) - If Israel’s stranglehold over U.S. foreign policy is to be broken, Americans will need to be informed about the harm that Washington’s unconditional support for the Jewish state is doing to American interests, say leading analysts.

“Plenty of people in the United States, especially inside the Beltway, know that Israel is an albatross around America’s neck,” John J. Mearsheimer, co-author of The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy.

Senegal: Torture with Impunity

Senegal’s contempt for the rule of law is demonstrated by its failure to bring former Chadian dictator Hissene Habre to trial.

(PORTLAND, Ore.) - Incessant use of torture is leading to detainee deaths by Senegal’s security forces, leaving the many in custody terrified for their lives.

“For decades Senegalese men and women have been subjected to cruel and elaborate torture and ill-treatment at the hands of those who should be protecting them,” said Salvatore Saguès, West Africa researcher at Amnesty International.

Ken O`Keefe`s Northwest Speaking Tour Meets Positive Reaction

Ken speaks in Newport Friday at 6:00 p.m.

(SALEM, Ore.) - Ken O'Keefe's speaking tour of the NW is off to a great start, so far Ken has appeared twice in Eugene, Oregon, once in Corvallis, and the next date is Newport, Oregon, that happens tonight at 6:00 p.m.

A clip from Ken's talk at Tsunami Books is included with this brief update. It features Ken talking about his night aboard the Mavi Marmara, 29 May 2010.

`Because of My Grandfather`

Israel is founded and maintained with Jewish paranoia and xenophobia and Western empire building building at its core, using a heavy hand to acquire (steal) land from the Palestinians.

(DUBLIN) - On our second day in Be’er Sheva Prison, the prison guards were growing increasingly frustrated with Fiachra’s insistance that prisoners be allowed to make phone calls, contact lawyers, and contact our embassy; he was asking for, you know, basic legal rights.

They didn’t like that.

Moroccan Journalists Held in Algeria

"This situation must end." - Younes Mjahed, IFJ Senior Vice President

(PORTLAND, Ore.) - Two Moroccan journalists are being denied permission to leave their hotel, subjected to hours of interrogation and their documents withheld, according to the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ).

"Algerian authorities must respect journalists' right to freedom of movement across the country, especially free access to conflict zones so the public can be properly informed," said Younes Mjahed, IFJ Senior Vice President.

Obama Speaks at the UN... Goodbye to Peace

Perhaps most depressing of all was Obama’s statement about the need for an independent Palestinian state. It is required, he said, to provide Israel with “true security”.

(LONDON) - On marks out of ten for his speech to the UN on the subject of ending the conflict in and over Palestine that became Israel, I’d give President Obama minus five.

Earlier this month (on 4 September) I wrote a piece with the headline Obama has signalled his coming complete surrender to Zionism and its lobby. That surrender, it seems to me, is now effectively a fait accompli.

Israeli Action Against Gaza Flotilla `Unlawful` -UN Human Rights Council Panel

“It betrayed an unacceptable level of brutality. Such conduct cannot be justified or condoned on security or any other grounds. It constituted grave violations of human rights law and international humanitarian law.”

(GENEVA) - Israeli forces violated human rights and international humanitarian law during the 31 May incident involving a convoy of aid ships bound for Gaza, the United Nations Human Rights Council’s international, independent fact-finding mission has concluded.

In a 56-page report, the fact-finding mission, which is separate from Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s four-member panel of inquiry into the same incident, found that the action of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) in intercepting one of the ships, the Mavi Marmara, on the high sea was “clearly unlawful.”