Human Rights

The Difference Between Terrorists and Wedding Guests

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on

"What exactly did U.S. military aircraft attack in the western Iraqi desert in the early morning of May 19, 2004?" asks Jefferson Morley. "If you read the U.S. press, that question is the subject of legitimate dispute and official investigation. If you read the overseas online media, you will find little doubt that the U.S. forces, deliberately or accidentally, perpetrated a 'massacre' near the village of Qaim that killed up to 45 people, including many women and children.

No
Main Source: 
Washington Post, June 1, 2004
Topics: 
Iraq
Journalism
Human Rights
U.S. Government

Trading Places?

Submitted by Diane Farsetta on

After being arrested by Israeli secret service agents "on suspicion of having arranged a television interview with Mordechai Vanunu in violation of state gagging orders," British journalist Peter Hounam was released today. Hounam was in Israel working on a BBC documentary about Vanunu, a former nuclear technician turned whistleblower. In 1986, Hounam's reporting "helped to reveal Israel's nuclear secrets," after Vanunu came forward with weapons programs information.

No
Main Source: 
The Times (London), May 27, 2004
Topics: 
Human Rights
International
Secrecy

Celebrate (or Protest) Somewhere Else

Submitted by Diane Farsetta on

The Boston Globe reports that the Democratic National Convention Host Committee's message has changed over the past month, from "Celebrate Boston" to "Let's Work Around It." "The desire to make the convention a community celebration is rubbing up against security precautions ordered for the first political convention since the Sept 11, 2001, terrorist attacks," the Globe writes. Protest restrictions at both the Boston Democratic and New York Republican conventions are raising concerns.

No
Main Source: 
The Boston Globe, May 21, 2004
Topics: 
Activism
Terrorism
Democracy
Human Rights

The Decriminalization of Dissent

Submitted by Diane Farsetta on

In a rare "directed verdict" issued less than three days into the trial, the environmental group Greenpeace was found not guilty of the 19th century crime of "sailor mongering." A Miami federal judge found that activists who boarded a ship six miles from the Port of Miami-Dade did not break the 1872 law, which requires the ship be "about to arrive." The ship was carrying some 70 tons of mahogany from the Brazilian rain forest.

No
Main Source: 
Miami Herald, May 20, 2004
Topics: 
Activism
Environment
Human Rights
U.S. Government

The Real Space Invaders

Submitted by Diane Farsetta on

How should the U.S. handle torture allegations in Iraq, Afghanistan and Cuba? The Army may use video games. The America's Army game, which is currently used "to train and recruit soldiers... could also be modified to include lessons on prisoner treatment." Reuters reports: "The PC-based game...

No
Main Source: 
Reuters, May 13, 2004
Topics: 
Crisis Management
Human Rights
U.S. Government
War / Peace

Free the Press!

Submitted by Diane Farsetta on

The Associated Press and the Mississippi paper Hattiesburg American filed a lawsuit "against the U.S. Marshals Service over an incident in April in which a federal marshal erased reporters' recordings of a speech Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia gave to high school students" about the U.S. Constitution.

No
Main Source: 
Associated Press, May 10, 2004
Topics: 
Journalism
Human Rights
Secrecy
U.S. Government

Torture, Brand America and the Bottom Line

Submitted by Diane Farsetta on

In its damning report, the Red Cross states that "physical and psychological coercion were used by [U.S.] military intelligence in a systematic way to gain confessions and extract information and other forms of cooperation" from Iraqi detainees.

No
Main Source: 
Associated Press, May 10, 2004
Topics: 
Human Rights
International
Marketing
U.S. Government
War / Peace

The Power of Pictures

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on

"By many accounts, the horrible treatment of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. soldiers and mercenaries has been going on ever since the end of the invasion," notes Dan Gillmor. "The Red Cross warned U.S. officials a year ago. Yet it took those appalling photographs to turn this into the huge story that it's become.

No
Main Source: 
Dan Gillmor Journal, May 7, 2004
Topics: 
Iraq
Human Rights
Media

Pages

Subscribe to Human Rights