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Murdered journalists: 90% of killers get away with it but who are the victims?

by

by The Guardian

With 370 dead over 10 years, governments need to do more to catch the killers, says the Committee to Protect Journalist

A grim toll of 370 journalists have been murdered over the past 10 years in direct retaliation for doing their job. An even more alarming statistic is that 90% of their killers have not been brought to justice, according to statistics from the Committee to Protect Journalists.

The 683 journalists murdered since 1992 Photograph: CPJ data

In its report, The road to justice: breaking the cycle of impunity in the killing of journalists, the CPJ argues that governments need to do much more to catch the killers.

Journalists murdered between 2004 and 2013 with full justice:

Brazil
Samuel Romã, Radio Conquista FM, April 20, 2004
Luiz Carlos Barbon Filho, Jornal do Porto, JC Regional, and Rádio Porto FM, May 5, 2007

Dominican Republic
Juan Emilio Andújar Matos, Radio Azua and Listín Diario, September 14, 2004

El Salvador
Christian Gregorio Poveda Ruiz, freelance, September 2, 2009

Indonesia
Anak Agung Prabangsa, Radar Bali, February 11, 2009

Nicaragua
María José Bravo, La Prensa, November 9, 2004

Peru
Miguel Pérez Julca, Radio Éxitos, March 17, 2007

USA
Chauncey Bailey, Oakland Post, August 2, 2007

Venezuela
Jorge Aguirre, Cadena Capriles (El Mundo), April 5, 2006

Some of the journalists murdered since 1992. For an interactive graphic, see the CPJ website Photograph: CPJ

Some of the journalists murdered since 1992. For an interactive graphic, see the CPJ website Photograph: CPJ

Journalists murdered between 2004 and 2013 with partial impunity:

Bangladesh
Manik Saha, New Age, January 15, 2004
Humayun Kabir, Janmabhumi, June 27, 2004
Gautam Das, Samakal, November 17, 2005

Brazil
Francisco Gomes de Medeiros, Radio Caicó, October 18, 2010
Edinaldo Filgueira, Jornal o Serrano, June 15, 2011
Décio Sá, O Estado do Maranhão and Blog do Décio, April 23, 2012

Colombia
Atilano Segundo Pérez Barrios, Radio Vigía de Todelar, August 22, 2006

Croatia
Ivo Pukanic, Nacional, October 23, 2008

El Salvador
Alfredo Antonio Hurtado Núñez, Canal 33, April 25, 2011

Kazakhstan
Gennady Pavlyuk (Ibragim Rustambek), Bely Parokhod, December 22, 2009

Mexico
Gregorio Rodríguez Hernández, El Debate, November 28, 2004
Amado Ramírez Dillanes, Televisa and Radiorama, April 6, 2007

Nepal
Birendra Shah, Nepal FM, Dristi Weekly, and Avenues TV, October 4, 2007
Uma Singh, Janakpur Today, Radio Today, January 11, 2009

Pakistan
Wali Khan Babar, Geo TV, January 13, 2011

Peru
Alberto Rivera Fernández, Frecuencia Oriental, April 12, 2004

Philippines
Gene Boyd Lumawag, MindaNews, November 12, 2004
Marlene Garcia-Esperat, Midland News and DXKR, March 24, 2005
Klein Cantoneros, DXAA-FM, May 4, 2005
Armando Pace, DXDS, July 18, 2006
Gerardo Ortega, DWAR, January 24, 2011
Fernando Solijon, DxLS Love Radio, August 29, 2013

Russia
Anna Politkovskaya, Novaya Gazeta, October 7, 2006
Anastasiya Baburova, Novaya Gazeta, January 19, 2009

Kremlin critic Anna Politkovskaya was killed in the lift of her Moscow apartment building. Photograph: Stan Honda/AFP

Serbia
Dusko Jovanovic, Dan, May 28, 2004

Somalia
Hassan Yusuf Absuge, Radio Maanta, September 21, 2012

Turkey
Hrant Dink, Agos, January 19, 2007

Venezuela
Orel Sambrano, ABC de la Semana and Radio América, January 16, 2009

Journalists murdered between 2004 and 2013 with complete impunity:

Afghanistan
Christian Struwe, freelance, October 7, 2006
Karen Fischer, freelance, October 7, 2006
Ajmal Naqshbandi, freelance, April 8, 2007
Zakia Zaki, Sada-i-Sulh, June 4, 2007
Abdul Samad Rohani, BBC and Pajhwok Afghan News, June 7 or 8, 2008

BBC reporter Abdul Samad Rohani was killed by Taliban militants in Lashkar Gah, Afghanistan. Photograph: AP

Angola
Alberto Graves Chakussanga, Radio Despertar, September 5, 2010

Azerbaijan
Elmar Huseynov, Monitor, March 2, 2005
Rafiq Tagi, freelance, November 23, 2011

Bangladesh
Kamal Hossain, Ajker Kagoj, August 22, 2004
Sheikh Belaluddin, Sangram, February 11, 2005
Jamal Uddin, Gramer Kagoj, June 15, 2012
Ahmed Rajib Haider, freelance, February 15, 2013

Belarus
Aleh Byabenin, Charter 97, September 3, 2010

Bolivia
Carlos Quispe Quispe, Radio Municipal, March 29, 2008

Brazil
José Carlos Araújo, Rádio Timbaúba FM, April 24, 2004
Luciano Leitão Pedrosa, TV Vitória and Radio Metropolitana FM, April 9, 2011
Mario Randolfo Marques Lopes, Vassouras na Net, February 9, 2012
Valério Luiz de Oliveira, Radio Jornal, July 5, 2012
Eduardo Carvalho, Última Hora News, November 21, 2012
Mafaldo Bezerra Goes, FM Rio Jaguaribe, February 22, 2013
Rodrigo Neto, Rádio Vanguarda and Vale do Aço, March 8, 2013
Walgney Assis Carvalho, freelance, April 14, 2013

Cambodia
Khem Sambo, Moneaseka Khmer, July 11, 2008
Hang Serei Odom, Virakchun Khmer Daily, September 11, 2012

China
Wu Xianghu, Taizhou Wanbao, February 2, 2006

Colombia
Martín La Rotta, La Palma Estéreo, February 7, 2004
Julio Hernando Palacios Sánchez, Radio Lemas, January 11, 2005
Gustavo Rojas Gabalo, Radio Panzenú, March 20, 2006
José Everardo Aguilar, Radio Súper and Bolívar Estéreo, April 29, 2009
Clodomiro Castilla Ospino, El Pulso del Tiempo, March 19, 2010
Édison Alberto Molina, Puerto Berrío Stereo, September 11, 2013

Dominican Republic
Serge Maheshe, Radio Okapi, June 13, 2007
José Agustín Silvestre de los Santos, La Voz de la Verdad, Caña TV, August 2, 2011

Ecuador
Byron Baldeón, freelance, July 1, 2012

Egypt
Al-Hosseiny Abou Deif, El-Fagr, December 12, 2012

Gambia
Deyda Hydara, The Point, December 16, 2004

Greece
Sokratis Giolias, Thema 98.9, Troktiko, July 19, 2010

Haiti
Jean-Rémy Badio, freelance, January 19, 2007

Honduras
Carlos Salgado, Radio Cadena Voces, October 18, 2007
Joseph Hernández Ochoa, TV Channel 51, March 1, 2010
David Meza Montesinos, Radio El Patio, Radio America, Channel 45, March 11, 2010
Nahúm Palacios Arteaga, TV Channel 5, March 14, 2010

India
Veeraboina Yadagiri, Andhra Prabha, February 21, 2004
Prahlad Goala, Asomiya Khabar, January 6, 2006
Mohammed Muslimuddin, Asomiya Pratidin, April 1, 2008
Vikas Ranjan, Hindustan, November 25, 2008
Rajesh Mishra, Media Raj, March 1, 2012
Narendra Dabholkar, Sadhana, August 20, 2013
Sai Reddy, Deshbandhu, December 6, 2013

Indonesia
Herliyanto, Radar Surabaya and Jimber News Visioner, April 29, 2006
Ardiansyah Matra’is, Merauke TV, July 30, 2010
Ridwan Salamun, Sun TV, August 21, 2010
Alfrets Mirulewan, Pelangi Weekly, December 17, 2010

Iraq
Nadia Nasrat, Iraq Media Network/Diyala TV, March 18, 2004
Enzo Baldoni, freelance, August 26, 2004
Dina Mohammed Hassan, Al-Hurriya, October 14, 2004
Karam Hussein, European Pressphoto Agency, October 14, 2004
Wadallah Sarhan, Akhbar al-Mosul, November 2004
Raeda Wazzan, Al-Iraqiya, February 25, 2005
Hussam Sarsam, Kurdistan TV, March 14, 2005
Ahmed Jabbar Hashim, Al-Sabah, April 1, 2005
Ahmed al-Rubai’i, Al-Sabah, mid-April 2005
Saman Abdullah Izzedine, Kirkuk TV, April 15, 2005
Ahmed Adam, Al-Mada, May 15, 2005
Najem Abed Khudair, Al-Mada, May 15, 2005
Jerges Mahmood Mohamad Suleiman, Nineveh TV, May 31, 2005
Khaled al-Attar, Al-Iraqiya, July 1, 2005
Adnan al-Bayati, TG3, July 23, 2005
Steven Vincent, freelance, August 3, 2005
Rafed Mahmoud Said al-Anbagy, Diyala TV and Radio, August 27, 2005
Hind Ismail, As-Saffir, September 17, 2005
Fakher Haider, The New York Times, September 19, 2005
Firas Maadidi, As-Saffir and Al-Masar, September 20, 2005
Mohammed Haroon, Al-Kadiya, October 19, 2005
Ahmed Hussein al-Maliki, Talafar Al-Yawm, November 7, 2005
Atwar Bahjat, Al-Arabiya, February 23, 2006
Adnan Khairallah, Wasan Productions and Al-Arabiya, February 23, 2006
Khaled Mahmoud al-Falahi, Wasan Productions and Al-Arabiya, February 23, 2006
Munsuf Abdallah al-Khaldi, Baghdad TV, March 7, 2006
Amjad Hameed, Al-Iraqiya, March 11, 2006
Muhsin Khudhair, Alef Ba, March 13, 2006
So’oud Muzahim al-Shoumari, Al-Baghdadia, April 4, 2006
Laith al-Dulaimi, Al-Nahrain, May 8, 2006
Ali Jaafar, Al-Iraqiya, May 31, 2006
Ibrahim Seneid, Al-Bashara, June 13, 2006
Adel Naji al-Mansouri, Al-Alam, July 29, 2006
Riyad Muhammad Ali, Talafar al-Yawm, July 30, 2006

Hrant Dink was killed by an unidentified gunman at the entrance to his newspaper’s offices in Istanbul, Turkey. Photograph: Burak Kara/Getty

Mohammad Abbas Mohammad, Al-Bayinnah al-Jadida, August 7, 2006
Ismail Amin Ali, freelance, August 7, 2006
Abdel Karim al-Rubai, Al-Sabah, September 9, 2006
Safa Isma’il Enad, freelance, September 13, 2006
Ahmed Riyadh al-Karbouli, Baghdad TV, September 18, 2006
Hussein Ali, Al-Shaabiya, October 12, 2006
Ahmad Sha’ban, Al-Shaabiya, October 12, 2006
Thaker al-Shouwili, Al-Shaabiya, October 12, 2006
Noufel al-Shimari, Al-Shaabiya, October 12, 2006
Abdul-Rahim Nasrallah al-Shimari, Al-Shaabiya, October 12, 2006
Saed Mahdi Shlash, Rayat al-Arab, October 26, 2006
Naqshin Hamma Rashid, Atyaf, October 29, 2006
Muhammad al-Ban, Al-Sharqiya, November 13, 2006
Luma al-Karkhi, Al-Dustour, November 15, 2006
Nabil Ibrahim al-Dulaimi, Radio Dijla, December 4, 2006
Aswan Ahmed Lutfallah, APTN, December 12, 2006
Ahmed Hadi Naji, Associated Press Television News, January 5, 2007
Falah Khalaf al-Diyali, Al-Sa’a, January 15, 2007
Hussein al-Zubaidi, Al-Ahali, January 28, 2007
Abdulrazak Hashim Ayal al-Khakani, Jumhuriyat al-Iraq, February 5, 2007
Jamal al-Zubaidi, As-Saffir and Al-Dustour, February 24, 2007
Mohan Hussein al-Dhahir, Al-Mashreq, March 4, 2007
Hamid al-Duleimi, Nahrain, March 17, 2007
Khamail Khalaf, Radio Free Iraq, April 5, 2007
Thaer Ahmad Jaber, Baghdad TV, April 5, 2007
Othman al-Mashhadani, Al-Watan, April 6, 2007
Raad Mutashar, Al-Raad, May 9, 2007
Saif Laith Yousuf, ABC News, May 17, 2007
Alaa Uldeen Aziz, ABC News, May 17, 2007
Nazar Abdulwahid al-Radhi, Aswat al-Iraq and Radio Free Iraq, May 30, 2007
Mohammad Hilal Karji, Baghdad TV, June 6, 2007
Sahar Hussein Ali al-Haydari, National Iraqi News Agency and Aswat al-Iraq, June 7, 2007
Filaih Wuday Mijthab, Al-Sabah, June 17, 2007
Hamid Abed Sarhan, freelance, June 26, 2007
Sarmad Hamdi Shaker, Baghdad TV, June 27, 2007
Khalid W. Hassan, The New York Times, July 13, 2007
Majeed Mohammed, Kirkuk al-Yawm and Hawal, July 16, 2007
Mustafa Gaimayani, Kirkuk al-Yawm and Hawal, July 16, 2007
Adnan al-Safi, Al-Anwar, July 27, 2007
Amer Malallah al-Rashidi, Al-Mosuliya, September 3, 2007
Muhannad Ghanem Ahmad al-Obaidi, Dar al-Salam, September 20, 2007
Salih Saif Aldin, The Washington Post, October 14, 2007
Shehab Mohammad al-Hiti, Baghdad al-Youm, October 28, 2007
Shihab al-Tamimi, Iraqi Journalists Syndicate, February 27, 2008
Jassim al-Batat, Al-Nakhil TV and Radio, April 25, 2008
Sarwa Abdul-Wahab, freelance, May 4, 2008
Haidar al-Hussein, Al-Sharq, May 22, 2008
Mohieldin Al Naqeeb, Al-Iraqiya, June 17, 2008
Soran Mama Hama, Livin, July 21, 2008
Musab Mahmood al-Ezawi, Al-Sharqiya, September 13, 2008
Ahmed Salim, Al-Sharqiya, September 13, 2008
Ihab Mu’d, Al-Sharqiya, September 13, 2008
Sardasht Osman, freelance, May 5, 2010
Riad al-Saray, Al-Iraqiya, September 7, 2010
Safa al-Din Abdel Hamid, Al-Mosuliya, September 8, 2010
Tahrir Kadhim Jawad, freelance, October 4, 2010
Hadi al-Mahdi, freelance, September 8, 2011
Mohammed Ghanem, Al-Sharqiyah, October 5, 2013
Mohammed Karim al-Badrani, Al-Sharqiyah, October 5, 2013
Bashar al-Nuaimi, Al-Mosuliya TV, October 24, 2013
Alaa Edward Butros, freelance, November 24, 2013
Kawa Garmyane, Rayel, Awene, December 5, 2013
Nawras al-Nuaimi, Al-Mosuliya TV, December 15, 2013
Jamal Abdul-Nasser Sami, Salaheddin TV, December 23, 2013
Raad Yassin Al-Baddi, Salaheddin TV, December 23, 2013
Wassan Al-Azzawi, Salaheddin TV, December 23, 2013

Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory
Suleiman Abdul-Rahim al-Ashi, Palestine, May 13, 2007

Ivory Coast
Sylvain Gagnetau Lago, Radio Yopougon, May 8, 2011

Kenya
Francis Nyaruri, Weekly Citizen, January 2009

Kyrgyzstan
Alisher Saipov, Siyosat, October 24, 2007

Lebanon
Samir Kassir, Al-Nahar, June 2, 2005
Gebran Tueni, Al-Nahar, December 12, 2005

Lebanese journalist Samir Kassir was killed in his car following an explosion in Beirut. Photograph: Al Nahar News Paper/EPA

Libya
Daif al-Gahzal al-Shuhaibi, freelance, June 2, 2005

Mali
Claude Verlon, Radio France Internationale, November 1, 2013
Ghislaine Dupont, Radio France Internationale, November 1, 2013

Mexico
Francisco Javier Ortiz Franco, Zeta, June 22, 2004
Francisco Arratia Saldierna, freelance, August 31, 2004
Dolores Guadalupe García Escamilla, Stereo 91, April 16, 2005
Roberto Marcos García, Testimonio and Alarma, November 21, 2006
Rodolfo Rincón Taracena, Tabasco Hoy, January 20, 2007
Alejandro Zenón Fonseca Estrada, EXA FM, September 24, 2008
Armando Rodríguez Carreón, El Diario de Ciudad Juárez, November 13, 2008
Eliseo Barrón Hernández, La Opinión, May 25, 2009
Norberto Miranda Madrid, Radio Visión, September 23, 2009
Bladimir Antuna García, El Tiempo de Durango, November 2, 2009
Valentín Valdés Espinosa, Zócalo de Saltillo, January 8, 2010
Luis Carlos Santiago, El Diario, September 16, 2010
Noel López Olguín, freelance, March 2011
Luis Emanuel Ruiz Carrillo, La Prensa, March 25, 2011
Maria Elizabeth Macías Castro, freelance, September 24, 2011
Regina Martínez Pérez, Proceso, April 28, 2012

Nepal
Dekendra Raj Thapa, Radio Nepal, August 11, 2004
Prakash Singh Thakuri, freelance, July 2007

Nicaragua
Carlos José Guadamuz, Canal 23, February 10, 2004

Nigeria
Bayo Ohu, The Guardian, September 20, 2009
Sunday Gyang Bwede, The Light Bearer, April 24, 2010
Nathan S. Dabak, The Light Bearer, April 24, 2010
Zakariya Isa, Nigeria Television Authority, October 22, 2011
Enenche Akogwu, Channels TV, January 20, 2012

Pakistan
Sajid Tanoli, Shumal, January 29, 2004
Allah Noor, Khyber TV, February 7, 2005
Amir Nowab, Associated Press Television News and Frontier Post, February 7, 2005
Hayatullah Khan, freelance, June 16, 2006
Zubair Ahmed Mujahid, Jang, November 23, 2007
Chishti Mujahid, Akbar-e-Jehan, February 9, 2008
Mohammed Ibrahim, Express TV and Daily Express, May 22, 2008
Abdul Razzak Johra, Royal TV, November 3, 2008
Musa Khankhel, Geo TV and The News, February 18, 2009
Janullah Hashimzada, freelance, August 24, 2009
Ghulam Rasool Birhamani, Daily Sindhu Hyderabad, May 9 or 10, 2010
Misri Khan, Ausaf and Mashriq, September 14, 2010
Nasrullah Khan Afridi, Pakistan Television and Mashriq, May 10, 2011
Saleem Shahzad, Asia Times Online, May 29 or 30, 2011
Faisal Qureshi, The London Post, October 7, 2011
Javed Naseer Rind, Daily Tawar, November 2011
Mukarram Khan Aatif, freelance, January 17, 2012
Razzaq Gul, Express News TV, May 19, 2012
Abdul Qadir Hajizai, WASH TV, May 28, 2012
Abdul Haq Baloch, ARY Television, September 29, 2012
Rehmatullah Abid, Dunya News TV, Intikhaab, November 18, 2012
Ayub Khattak, Karak Times, October 11, 2013

Panama
Darío Fernández Jaén, Radio Mi Favorita, November 6, 2011

Journalist Sokratis Giolias was gunned down by three assailants in Athens, Greece. Photograph: Icon/Reuters

Paraguay
Tito Alberto Palma, Radio Mayor Otaño and Radio Chaco Boreal, August 22, 2007

Peru
Antonio de la Torre Echeandía, Radio Órbita, February 14, 2004
Pedro Alfonso Flores Silva, Channel 6, September 8, 2011

Philippines
Rowell Endrinal, DZRC, February 11, 2004
Elpidio Binoya, Radyo Natin, June 17, 2004
Rogelio “Roger” Mariano, Radyo Natin-Aksyon Radyo, July 31, 2004
Arnnel Manalo, Bulgar and DZRH Radio, August 5, 2004
Romeo (or Romy) Binungcal, Remate and Bulgar, September 29, 2004
Eldy Sablas (aka Eldy Gabinales), Radio DXJR-FM, October 19, 2004
Herson Hinolan, Bombo Radiyo, November 13, 2004
Philip Agustin, Starline Times Recorder, May 10, 2005
Rolando “Dodong” Morales, DXMD, July 3, 2005
Fernando Batul, DZRH and DYPR, May 22, 2006
Maricel Vigo, DXND, June 19, 2006
George Vigo, Union of Catholic Asian News, June 19, 2006
Martin Roxas, DYVR, August 7, 2008
Dennis Cuesta, DXMD, August 9, 2008
Ernie Rollin, DXSY Radio, February 23, 2009
Crispin Perez, DWDO Radio, June 9, 2009
Henry Araneta, DZRH, November 23, 2009
Mark Gilbert Arriola, UNTV, November 23, 2009
Rubello Bataluna, Gold Star Daily, November 23, 2009
Arturo Betia, Periodico Ini, November 23, 2009
Romeo Jimmy Cabillo, Midland Review, November 23, 2009
Marites Cablitas, News Focus and DXDX, November 23, 2009
Hannibal Cachuela, Punto News, November 23, 2009
Jepon Cadagdagon, Saksi News, November 23, 2009
John Caniban, Periodico Ini, November 23, 2009
Lea Dalmacio, Socsargen News, November 23, 2009
Noel Decina, Periodico Ini, November 23, 2009
Gina Dela Cruz, Saksi News, November 23, 2009
Jhoy Duhay, Gold Star Daily, November 23, 2009
Jolito Evardo, UNTV, November 23, 2009
Santos Gatchalian, DXGO, November 23, 2009
Bienvenido Legarte Jr., Prontiera News, November 23, 2009
Lindo Lupogan, Mindanao Daily Gazette, November 23, 2009
Ernesto Maravilla, Bombo Radyo, November 23, 2009
Rey Merisco, Periodico Ini, November 23, 2009
Reynaldo Momay, Midland Review, November 23, 2009
Marife “Neneng” Montaño, Saksi News and DXCI, November 23, 2009
Rosell Morales, News Focus, November 23, 2009
Victor Nuñez, UNTV, November 23, 2009
Ronnie Perante, Gold Star Daily, November 23, 2009
Joel Parcon, Prontiera News, November 23, 2009
Fernando Razon, Periodico Ini, November 23, 2009
Alejandro Reblando, Manila Bulletin, November 23, 2009
Napoleon Salaysay, Mindanao Gazette, November 23, 2009
Ian Subang, Socsargen Today, November 23, 2009
Andres Teodoro, Central Mindanao Inquirer, November 23, 2009
Desidario Camangyan, Sunrise FM, June 14, 2010
Joselito Agustin, DZJC, June 16, 2010
Romeo Olea, DWEB, June 13, 2011
Christopher Guarin, Radyo Mo Nationwide and Tatak News, January 5, 2012
Mario Sy, freelance, August 1, 2013
Joas Dignos, DXGT Radio, November 29, 2013

Russia
Paul Klebnikov, Forbes Russia, July 9, 2004
Pavel Makeev, Puls, May 21, 2005
Magomedzagid Varisov, Novoye Delo, June 28, 2005
Vagif Kochetkov, Trud and Tulsky Molodoi Kommunar, January 8, 2006
Maksim Maksimov, Gorod, November 30, 2006
Ivan Safronov, Kommersant, March 2, 2007
Magomed Yevloyev, Ingushetiya, August 31, 2008
Telman (Abdulla) Alishayev, TV-Chirkei, September 2, 2008
Natalya Estemirova, Novaya Gazeta, Kavkazsky Uzel, July 15, 2009
Abdulmalik Akhmedilov, Hakikat and Sogratl, August 11, 2009
Gadzhimurad Kamalov, Chernovik, December 15, 2011
Kazbek Gekkiyev, VGTRK, December 5, 2012
Mikhail Beketov, Khimkinskaya Pravda, April 8, 2013
Akhmednabi Akhmednabiyev, Novoye Delo, July 9, 2013

Rwanda
Jean-Léonard Rugambage, Umuvugizi, June 26, 2010

Saudi Arabia
Simon Cumbers, BBC, June 6, 2004

Serbia
Bardhyl Ajeti, Bota Sot, June 25, 2005

Sierra Leone
Harry Yansaneh, For Di People, July 28, 2005

Somalia
Kate Peyton, BBC, February 9, 2005
Martin Adler, freelance, June 23, 2006
Mahad Ahmed Elmi, Capital Voice, August 11, 2007
Ali Sharmarke, HornAfrik, August 11, 2007
Bashiir Noor Gedi, Radio Shabelle, October 19, 2007
Nasteh Dahir Farah, freelance, June 7, 2008
Hassan Mayow Hassan, Radio Shabelle, January 1, 2009
Said Tahlil Ahmed, HornAfrik, February 2, 2009
Mukhtar Mohamed Hirabe, Radio Shabelle, June 8, 2009
Sheikh Nur Mohamed Abkey, Radio Mogadishu, May 4, 2010
Abdisalan Sheikh Hassan, freelance, December 18, 2011
Hassan Osman Abdi, Shabelle Media Network, January 28, 2012
Abukar Hassan Mohamoud, Somaliweyn Radio, February 28, 2012
Ali Ahmed Abdi, freelance, March 4, 2012
Mahad Salad Adan, Shabelle Media Network, April 5, 2012
Farhan Jeemis Abdulle, Radio Daljir and Simba Radio, May 2, 2012
Ahmed Addow Anshur, Shabelle Media Network, May 24, 2012
Liban Ali Nur, Somali National TV, September 20, 2012
Abdisatar Daher Sabriye, Radio Mogadishu, September 20, 2012
Abdirahman Yasin Ali, Radio Hamar, September 20, 2012
Ahmed Farah Ilyas, Universal TV, October 23, 2012
Mohamed Mohamud Turyare, Shabelle Media Network, October 28, 2012
Abdihared Osman Aden, Shabelle Media Network, January 18, 2013
Mohamed Ibrahim Raage, Radio Mogadishu, Somali National Television, April 21, 2013
Liban Abdullahi Farah, Kalsan TV, July 7, 2013
Mohamed Mohamud, Universal TV, October 26, 2013

Somali journalist Mohamed Mohamud holds his camera in the Medina hospital compound in Mogadishu, Somalia. Photograph: Farah Abdi Warsameh/AP

Sri Lanka
Aiyathurai Nadesan, Virakesari, May 31, 2004
Bala Nadarajah Iyer, Thinamurasu and Thinakaran, August 16, 2004
Dharmeratnam Sivaram, TamilNet and Daily Mirror, April 29, 2005
Relangi Selvarajah, Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corp., August 12, 2005
Subramaniyam Sugitharajah, Sudar Oli, January 24, 2006
Subash Chandraboas, Nilam, April 16, 2007
Selvarajah Rajeewarnam, Uthayan, April 29, 2007
Paranirupasingham Devakumar, News 1st, May 28, 2008
Lasantha Wickramatunga, The Sunday Leader, January 8, 2009

Sudan
Mohammed Taha Mohammed Ahmed, Al-Wifaq, September 6, 2006

Syria
Ihsan al-Buni, Al-Thawra, July 12, 2012
Ali Abbas, SANA, August 11, 2012
Mosaab al-Obdaallah, Tishreen, August 22, 2012
Abdel Karim al-Oqda, Shaam News Network, September 19, 2012
Suhail Mahmoud al-Ali, Dunya TV, January 4, 2013
Mohammad Saeed, Al-Arabiya, October 29, 2013
Yasser Faisal al-Jumaili, freelance, December 4, 2013

Thailand
Athiwat Chaiyanurat, Matichon, Channel 7, August 1, 2008
Jaruek Rangcharoen, Matichon, September 27, 2008 ­
Wisut “Ae” Tangwittayaporn, Inside Phuket, January 12, 2012

Turkey
Cihan Hayırsevener, Güney Marmara’da Yaşam, December 19, 2009

Turkmenistan
Ogulsapar Muradova, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, September 2006

Uganda
Paul Kiggundu, TOP Radio and TV, September 11, 2010

Yemen
Muhammad al-Rabou’e, Al-Qahira, February 13, 2010

Zimbabwe
Edward Chikomba, Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (former), March 31, 2007

Report to UN condemns US government’s “international criminal program of torture”

by

by Thomas Gaist, WSWS

Music-tortureA recent report to the UN Committee Against Torture concludes that the US presidential administrations of George W. Bush and Barack Obama are responsible for far-reaching violations of international law for directing and covering up a global torture program developed by the US Central Intelligence Agency in the years following the September 11, 2001 attacks.

The report, prepared by the “Advocates for US Torture Prosecutions,” Dr. Trudy Bond, Prof. Benjamin Davis, Dr. Curtis F. J. Doebbler, and The International Human Rights Clinic at Harvard Law School, states unequivocally that entire sections of the state apparatus are responsible for “breathtaking” crimes against international law.

“Civilian and military officials at the highest level created, designed, authorized and implemented a sophisticated, international criminal program of torture,” the report states.

The report details the vast scale of the torture system, noting that detainees were tortured not just at the US Guantanamo Bay Military Base in Cuba, but in numerous secret black sites worldwide, including in “Bosnia-Herzegovina, Canada, Djibouti, Egypt, Indonesia, Iraq, Italy, Jordan, Libya, Lithuania, Mauritania, Morocco, Pakistan, Poland, Romania, Russia, Syria, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom (Diego Garcia), and Yemen.”

Having been “conceived and authorized at the highest levels” of the US government, responsibility for the crimes committed is shared by numerous top officials, the report concludes, including “President George W. Bush, then Vice President Dick Cheney, then Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) George Tenet, then National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, then Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, then Secretary of State Colin Powell, and then Attorney General John Ashcroft.”

The torture techniques were devised by the CIA in collaboration with intelligence officers from the Egyptian and Saudi regimes, according to the report.

“The techniques in question, sometimes styled as interrogation techniques and sometimes as detention procedures, included near-drowning (‘waterboarding’), sleep deprivation for days, and forced nudity,” the report notes.

“They have caused many people intense suffering, including severe mental harm and, in some cases, death,” the report notes.

“Retroactive legal approval” was then contrived by US government lawyers at the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC).

In order to justify the new methods of “enhanced interrogation,” the torture lawyers of the Bush administration drew up an “absurdly narrow” definition of torture to justify the administration’s policies.

As a CIA lawyer commented to personnel at Guantanamo Bay when summarizing the content of the Bush administration torture memos, “…it is basically subject to perception. If the detainee dies you’re doing it wrong.”

“The fact is that senior officials in the United States government solicited information on how to use aggressive techniques, redefined the law to create the appearance of their legality, and authorized their use against detainees,” notes a report by the US Senate Armed Services Committee, cited in the new report to the UN.

Using the definition advanced under Bush, former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein himself “would be exculpated” for the systematic torture carried out by his regime, Yale Law School Dean Harold Koh told the rapporteurs.

Far from being limited to the Bush administration, the report makes clear that the Obama administration, the Justice Department and multiple federal courts have upheld the conception that those involved in “waterboarding, dietary manipulation, walling, long-time standing, sleep deprivation and water dousing” should receive immunity, and that these techniques do not constitute torture.

The Obama administration has sought to safeguard all the senior Bush administration officials most directly responsible for torture from prosecution or any form of legal or punitive action for their involvement in torture.

As the report notes, all senior US government officials have received blanket immunity for their involvement in orchestrating a worldwide torture network, and “courts-martial and administrative proceedings for acts of torture have been almost exclusively limited to low-level private contractors or soldiers.”

The authors conclude that the “enhanced interrogation” methods violated the UN Convention Against Torture or Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment, which builds on the ban on torture contained in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

The report maintains that “the prohibition against torture is absolute,” rejecting the legal concepts of the Bush administration and calling for the prosecution of top Bush administration lawyers, including the drafter of the three main “Torture Memos,” Deputy Assistant Attorney General John Yoo.

The failure of the US government to hold accountable any of the leadership elements that organized the torture is undermining the “preemptory norm against torture,” according to the report. Torture is becoming more widespread and viewed as more acceptable by states everywhere in response to the unabashed repudiation of international law by the US.

In its concluding recommendation to the UN Committee Against Torture, the legal scholars demand that the US government adopt a legal and policy course that is 180 degrees opposed to that followed by the Obama administration since taking office.

“The United States should promptly and impartially prosecute senior military and civilian officials responsible for authorizing, acquiescing or consenting in any way to acts of torture committed by their subordinates,” the rapporteurs write.

Were the demands of the report to be implemented, the result would be the prosecution of command elements and numerous individuals within the upper layers of the most powerful agencies of the American government, including the CIA, the military and the Department of Justice, together with numerous high-ranking members of the Bush and Obama administrations.

Countless figures, many now ensconced in academia and the corporate establishment, would face long jail sentences.

No such accountability will be forthcoming from any section of the political establishment, however, given that the torturers and their defenders are the preeminent political servants and military-intelligence specialists of the capitalist class.

The torture program was developed and implemented as part of an explosion of American militarism, as the ruling class has sought to maintain its global position through war and violence in every corner of the globe. It is also part of a wholesale assault on democratic rights, directed fundamentally against any opposition to the policies of the corporate and financial elite.

Far from prosecuting those responsible, the Obama administration is currently seeking to prevent the release of a Senate Intelligence Committee summary on CIA torture, working closely with the spy agency itself to cover up its crimes.

Hamas: Closure of Gaza crossings 'collective punishment'

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Palestinians walk past trucks loaded with gravel at the Kerem Shalom crossing between Israel and the southern Gaza Strip (Reuters / Ibraheem Abu Mustafa)

Palestinians walk past trucks loaded with gravel at the Kerem Shalom crossing between Israel and the southern Gaza Strip. (Reuters / Ibraheem Abu Mustafa)

Gaza City/Ma’an: Senior Hamas official Mousa Abu Marzouq early Sunday condemned an Israeli decision to close crossings into Gaza, calling it “collective punishment.”

“The justifications given by the (Israeli) occupation to shut down crossings are unacceptable,” Abu Marzouq said in a statement.

He also criticized the Palestinian Authority for what he called a failure to arrange the entry of goods into Gaza.

“Where does the PA come in regarding this Israeli closure? And where does it come in regarding its responsibilities, especially after PA employees have resumed work at Gaza crossings?”

He said Israel’s decision to close the crossings violated international laws and conventions.

Instead of closing the crossings, he said Israel should establish more crossings in order to allow for greater freedom of movement for people and goods in and out of Gaza.

Israeli authorities on Saturday announced that the Erez and Kerem Shalom crossings would be closed until further notice, following reports that a projectile fired from Gaza landed in Israel overnight Friday without causing damage or injuries.

They said exceptions would be made for humanitarian emergencies.

Israel and Palestinian factions signed a ceasefire agreement on Aug. 26 after a deadly 50-day war in Gaza. Over 2,100 Palestinians, most of them civilians, were killed in Israeli attacks.

The ceasefire deal stipulated an end to hostilities, and Israel agreed to ease its devastating blockade on the Strip and expand the fishing zone off Gaza’s coast.

However, Palestinians accuse Israeli forces of regular ceasefire violations, with near-daily reports that navy soldiers have fired at fishermen off the coast of the enclave, and occasional reports of Israeli troops shooting and injuring Palestinians near the border.

Continued Cairo ceasefire talks to iron out further details of the truce were postponed to November following a deadly attack on Egyptian soldiers in the Sinai Peninsula.

Gaza has been under a severe economic blockade since 2007, set into place by Israel after Hamas won democratic elections and later took power in the Strip.

Lifting the blockade has been the main grievance of Gaza militant groups in the bloody conflicts with Israel in 2008-2009, 2012, and 2014.

British-Iranian woman jailed for a year for trying to watch volleyball game

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Law graduate from London found guilty of spreading ‘propaganda against regime’ following secret hearing in Iran

Ghoncheh Ghavami has already been detained for four months after being arrested at Azadi stadium in Tehran.

Ghoncheh Ghavami has already been detained for four months after being arrested at Azadi stadium in Tehran.

by Josh Halliday, The Guardian

A British-Iranian woman detained in Iran for trying to watch a volleyball game has been sentenced to one year in a notorious prison, according to her family and lawyer.

Ghoncheh Ghavami, 25, a law graduate from London, was found guilty of spreading “propaganda against the regime” following a secret hearing at Tehran’s revolutionary court.

Ghavami has been detained for 127 days in prison since being arrested on 20 June at Azadi (“Freedom” in Farsi) stadium in Tehran where Iran’s national volleyball team was scheduled to play Italy. Although she had been released within a few hours after the initial arrest she was rearrested days later.

Speaking to the Guardian, Ghavami’s brother Iman, 28, said the family felt “shattered” by the court verdict.

“We are really disappointed because we felt she would get out on bail immediately. She’s been through a lot and now it’s a full-year sentence and she’s already served four months,” he said.

No reason was given for the conviction, although Ghavami had been accused of spreading propaganda against the regime, an unspecific charge often used by Iran’s judiciary.

Ghavami’s parents, who have been based in Tehran throughout their daughter’s ordeal, were too distressed to talk after Saturday’s court hearing – which they were not allowed to attend.

“I found out the verdict from the lawyer. My parents were with him but were too emotional to talk. As we speak my parents are scrambling from one office to another to see if we can get leniency or bail,” said Iman.

Ghavami’s lawyer, Alizadeh Tabatabaie, was quoted in Iranian media as saying: “According to the verdict she was sentenced to one year.”

Asked if the sentence could be reduced, Tabatabaie, who has not been allowed to visit his client, said: “Considering that Ghoncheh Ghavami has no criminal record, the court can alleviate the verdict.

“In a meeting Ghoncheh had with her mother on Wednesday, she said no new charges have been filed against her.”

In early October Ghavami spent 14 days on hunger strike in protest at her detention. Her arrest has drawn condemnation from the highest political level. David Cameron underlined his concerns in a meeting with Iran’s president, Hassan Rouhani, in September at the UN general assembly in New York.

Iman, from London, said he hoped his sister would be moved to another wing of the notorious Evin prison, where she has been held since June in relative solitary confinement in a jail known for housing high-profile political prisoners and activists.

He said: “She will be in the same prison but we hope she’s going to be transferred to a general section of it where she can interact with other people because now she’s being held in solitary confinement. It’s hell for everyone who is kept there.”

A petition on the site Change.org started by Iman has amassed more than 700,000 signatories calling for Ghavami’s release.

Mass protests push Hungary to cancel controversial Internet Tax

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Prime Minister Viktor Orban scraps proposed tax after large-scale anti-government protests rock Budapest

Tens of thousands of Hungarians marched over the Danube River this week, protesting a proposed tax on Internet usage. (Photo: Janos Marjai/European Pressphoto Agency)

Tens of thousands of Hungarians marched over the Danube River this week, protesting a proposed tax on Internet usage. (Photo: Janos Marjai/European Pressphoto Agency)

by Deirdre Fulton, Common Dreams

Mass protests in Budapest this week against a proposed Internet usage tax apparently worked: Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban said Friday that his government would scrap the tax, at least for now.

“We are not Communists, we don’t govern against the people,” Mr. Orban said in his regular weekly interview on Hungarian radio. “We govern together with the people. So this tax, in this form, cannot be introduced.”

Protest organizers, who said the levy not only imposed a financial burden but threatened to restrict free speech, silence dissent, and access to information, celebrated the U-turn. “Mr. Orban admitted his defeat,” they said in a statement. “We are the people! And we the people have the right to rule the country.” A victory rally is planned for Friday evening.

The BBC‘s Nick Thorpe, writing from Budapest, noted that “Orban does not often back down, but he has done so on this occasion for several reasons.”

For one thing, the proposed tax of about 61 cents per gigabyte of data managed to unify those who are opposed to Orban and his ruling Fidesz party, which has been accused of authoritarian impulses. The reasons for the tax were poorly communicated, while opposition was well-organized. And Orban’s line about Communists, Thorpe said, is “a sign that growing comparisons between Fidesz and the old Hungarian Socialist Workers’ Party are hitting the mark.”

“What happens next?” Thorpe wondered. “Mr. Orban’s decision to cancel the tax deprives his opponents of a valuable rallying cry. The big question for them will be whether they can use the momentum of two big rallies to create new forms of opposition to Fidesz. They have proven that he can be defeated. Mr. Orban has proven that he is more flexible than many analysts give him credit for.”

‘Entire villages disappeared’: Ebola deaths in Sierra Leone ‘underreported’

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Reuters / Susana Vera

Reuters / Susana Vera

by RT

Ebola’s toll on Sierra Leone is much greater than previously thought, with entire villages killed off by the virus. This means up to 20,000 people could have succumbed to the disease by now, a senior coordinator for Doctors Without Borders (MSF) believes.

According to Rony Zachariah, coordinator of operational research for MSF, the Ebola impact on Sierra Leone is in fact “under-reported,” AFP quotes.

“The situation is catastrophic. There are several villages and communities that have been basically wiped out. In one of the villages I went to, there were 40 inhabitants and 39 died,” Zachariah told the agency.“Whole communities have disappeared but many of them are not in the statistics. The situation on the ground is actually much worse.”

The latest figures from the World Health Organization (WHO) put the total number of dead at 4,951 out of 13,567 recorded cases.

But the real total could be up to 20,000 people dead, Zachariah argues. “The WHO says there is a correction factor of 2.5, so maybe it is 2.5 times higher and maybe that is not far from the truth. It could be 10,000, 15,000 or 20,000.”

Zachariah also highlighted the shortage of healthcare workers in the country.

“You have one nurse for 10,000 people and then you lose 10, 11, 12 nurses. How is the health system going to work?” he said.

Even at this point, the pace of dealing with Ebola is slow, he added. “We might get a vaccine and a treatment…but even now we need to go much faster because the clock is ticking…We want action now.”

Meanwhile, the latest cases of Ebola in Spain and the US have sparked fears of an even bigger outbreak, prompting Canada to step up its border security so as to limit the risk of infection spreading into the country.

The federal government announced on Friday it is suspending the processing of visa applications for residents and nationals who have been in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone in the last three months. The same goes for permanent residence applications.

Afghan retreat echoes of Vietnam defeat

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US-soldier-Afghanistan

by Finian Cunningham, Press TV

It didn’t quite garner the same media highlight, but nevertheless there was the unmistakable comparison this week between the evacuation of American troops from southern Afghanistan and the Fall of Saigon, South Vietnam, in 1975.

Both events mark embarrassing retreats by a failing American empire whose hubris always manages to deny reality until the illusion of power finally comes crashing down.

This week thousands of US and British troops were hurriedly airlifted from the giant military base known as Camp Bastion in southern Helmand Province.

It was a huge logistical operation involving a fleet of transport planes and helicopters landing and taking off over a 24-hour period.

The scene of hasty imperial removal from Helmand reminded one of the classic photographs taken in 1975 by UPI photographer Hubert Van Es, which captured American Huey choppers lifting hundreds of desperate personnel from off the rooftop of the CIA headquarters in Saigon ahead of imminent defeat by Vietnamese insurgents.

This week in Helmand the evacuating troops were the last of the US-led NATO force that has occupied Afghanistan for the past 13 years. At its peak, there were 140,000 American troops in the country with the second biggest contingency being the British, along with soldiers from nearly 50 other nations.

Now Camp Bastion has been handed over to Afghan troops and police, who will take over the daunting task of maintaining security across the country against a deadly resurgence of Taliban militants.

Officially, the US-led international force is to wind down its operation in Afghanistan at the end of this year, but some 10,000 American military and CIA will remain in the country in a “support role” to national security forces under a deal signed between Washington and the new Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.

Just like the Fall of Saigon in April 1975, in which thousands of American personnel were scrambled out the country ahead of the Vietnamese victory, the retreat from Afghanistan this week signals another humiliating defeat for the warmongers in Washington.

Not only a humiliating defeat, but the end of a long and bloody chronicle of futile war. Thirteen years ago, the Americans invaded Afghanistan allegedly to topple a fundamentalist Taliban regime and eradicate an international source of terrorism led by Saudi al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.

Tens of thousands of deaths later, plus trillions of dollars billed to the American taxpayers, the US troops are clearing out from a country that is left in worst shape. The American-installed government can barely maintain security in the capital, Kabul, never mind the surrounding regions. What’s more terrorism of the Al-Qaeda brand has spread internationally eliciting the deployment of even more American militarism abroad, and the ramping up of state security powers within the US and its NATO allies.

In Afghanistan, the Taliban are resurgent not only in their southern heartlands, but have taken over large parts of the east, west and north of the country, where they previously had little presence. Schools and other civic administration in these areas are now reportedly run, not by the US-backed government in Kabul, but by the militants.

Cultivation of poppy for heroin production – a main source of finance for the Taliban warlords – has reached an all-time high with over 200,000 hectares under cultivation. Nearly half of all Afghan poppy is harvested in Helmand Province, where US President Obama launched his much-vaunted surge of 30,000 extra marines in 2009-2010. Despite Washington spending $7.6 billion to curb poppy production, Afghanistan has emerged as the world’s biggest source of heroin, while drug addiction in the US is reportedly soaring.

On security matters, between March and August this year, nearly 1,000 Afghan troops and 2,200 police officers were killed in militant attacks. That represents the worst casualty rate for local forces over the past 13 years.

With the last of the US-led foreign forces pulling out this week, there is an ominous sense of the security levee bursting across Afghanistan.

If anything, the prognosis for Afghanistan is a lot worse than it was for Iraq where US troops beat a similar hasty retreat three years ago.

By comparison, Afghanistan has a much more active insurgency raging even as the Americans are pulling out. Iraq has gone on to descend into chaos, so the portent for Afghanistan would seem a lot worse.

Reuters news agency reported the view of US Marine Staff Sergeant Kenneth Oswood, who participated in both the Iraq withdrawal and this week’s evacuation from Afghanistan. He said: “It’s a lot different this time. Closing out Iraq, when we got there, we were told there hadn’t been a shot fired in anger at us in years. And then you come here and they are still shooting at us.”

The US marine added: “It’s almost like it’s not over here, and we’re just kind of handing it over to someone else to fight.”

More like handing it over to someone else to do the dying.

The “exceptional” Americans in Washington like to refer to their foreign interventions as “nation building.” Like Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan, among dozens of other unfortunate countries to have hosted American “nation builders” over the past century, the people of these wretched lands have experienced Washington’s reverse Midas Touch. Far from turning to gold, everything Washington touches brings death and destruction.

And in the end when the American destroyers finally pack up and run, it is the people that remain who must pick up the pieces and actually begin the real process of national development. How easier it would be if Washington just kept its imperialist, predatory hands off others.

Finian Cunningham (born 1963) has written extensively on international affairs, with articles published in several languages. He is a Master’s graduate in Agricultural Chemistry and worked as a scientific editor for the Royal Society of Chemistry, Cambridge, England, before pursuing a career in journalism. He is also a musician and songwriter. For nearly 20 years, he worked as an editor and writer in major news media organisations, including The Mirror, Irish Times and Independent.

How Israel is turning Gaza into a Super-max prison

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A Palestinian boy climbs through the rubble of a house after it was hit in an Israeli air strike in Gaza City, Aug. 25, 2014. (Photo: Wissam Nassar / The New York Times)

A Palestinian boy climbs through the rubble of a house after it was hit in an Israeli air strike in Gaza City, Aug. 25, 2014. (Photo: Wissam Nassar / The New York Times)

by Jonathan Cook

It is astonishing that the reconstruction of Gaza, bombed into the Stone Age according to the explicit goals of an Israeli military doctrine known as “Dahiya”, has tentatively only just begun two months after the end of the fighting.

According to the United Nations, 100,000 homes have been destroyed or damaged, leaving 600,000 Palestinians – nearly one in three of Gaza’s population – homeless or in urgent need of humanitarian help.

Roads, schools and the electricity plant to power water and sewerage systems are in ruins. The cold and wet of winter are approaching. Aid agency Oxfam warns that at the current rate of progress it may take 50 years to rebuild Gaza.

Where else in the world apart from the Palestinian territories would the international community stand by idly as so many people suffer – and not from a random act of God but willed by fellow humans?

The reason for the hold-up is, as ever, Israel’s “security needs”. Gaza can be rebuilt but only to the precise specifications laid down by Israeli officials.

We have been here before. Twelve years ago, Israeli bulldozers rolled into Jenin camp in the West Bank in the midst of the second intifada. Israel had just lost its largest number of soldiers in a single battle as the army struggled through a warren of narrow alleys. In scenes that shocked the world, Israel turned hundreds of homes to rubble.

With residents living in tents, Israel insisted on the terms of Jenin camp’s rehabilitation. The alleys that assisted the Palestinian resistance in its ambushes had to go. In their place, streets were built wide enough for Israeli tanks to patrol.

In short, both the Palestinians’ humanitarian needs and their right in international law to resist their oppressor were sacrificed to satisfy Israel’s desire to make the enforcement of its occupation more efficient.

It is hard not to view the agreement reached in Cairo this month for Gaza’s reconstruction in similar terms.

Donors pledged $5.4 billion – though, based on past experience, much of it won’t materialise. In addition, half will be immediately redirected to the distant West Bank to pay off the Palestinian Authority’s mounting debts. No one in the international community appears to have suggested that Israel, which has asset-stripped both the West Bank and Gaza in different ways, foot the bill.

The Cairo agreement has been widely welcomed, though the terms on which Gaza will be rebuilt have been only vaguely publicised. Leaks from worried insiders, however, have fleshed out the details.

One Israeli analyst has compared the proposed solution to transforming a third-world prison into a modern US super-max incarceration facility. The more civilised exterior will simply obscure its real purpose: not to make life better for the Palestinian inmates, but to offer greater security to the Israeli guards.

Humanitarian concern is being harnessed to allow Israel to streamline an eight-year blockade that has barred many essential items, including those needed to rebuild Gaza after previous assaults.

The agreement passes nominal control over Gaza’s borders and the transfer of reconstruction materials to the PA and UN in order to bypass and weaken Hamas. But the overseers – and true decision-makers – will be Israel. For example, it will get a veto over who supplies the massive quantities of cement needed. That means much of the donors’ money will end up in the pockets of Israeli cement-makers and middlemen.

But the problem runs deeper than that. The system must satisfy Israel’s desire to know where every bag of cement or steel rod ends up, to prevent Hamas rebuilding its home-made rockets and network of tunnels.

The tunnels, and element of surprise they offered, were the reason Israel lost so many soldiers. Without them, Israel will have a freer hand next time it wants to “mow the grass”, as its commanders call Gaza’s repeated destruction.

Last week Israel’s defence minister Moshe Yaalon warned that rebuilding Gaza would be conditioned on Hamas’s good behaviour. Israel wanted to be sure “the funds and equipment are not used for terrorism, therefore we are closely monitoring all of the developments”.

The PA and UN will have to submit to a database reviewed by Israel the details of every home that needs rebuilding. Indications are that Israeli drones will watch every move on the ground.

Israel will be able to veto anyone it considers a militant – which means anyone with a connection to Hamas or Islamic Jihad. Presumably, Israel hopes this will dissuade most Palestinians from associating with the resistance movements.

Further, it is hard not to assume that the supervision system will provide Israel with the GPS co-ordinates of every home in Gaza, and the details of every family, consolidating its control when it next decides to attack. And Israel can hold the whole process to ransom, pulling the plug at any moment.

Sadly, the UN – desperate to see relief for Gaza’s families – has agreed to conspire in this new version of the blockade, despite its violating international law and Palestinians’ rights.

Washington and its allies, it seems, are only too happy to see Hamas and Islamic Jihad deprived of the materials needed to resist Israel’s next onslaught.

The New York Times summed up its concern: “What is the point of raising and spending many millions of dollars … to rebuild the Gaza Strip just so it can be destroyed in the next war?”

For some donors exasperated by years of sinking money into a bottomless hole, upgrading Gaza to a super-max prison looks like a better return on their investment.

Jonathan Cook is a Nazareth- based journalist and winner of the Martha Gellhorn Special Prize for Journalism.

MacBride Peace Prize to the people and government of the Republic of the Marshall Islands

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This U.S. Navy handout image shows Baker, the second of the two atomic bomb tests, in which a 63-kiloton warhead was exploded 90 feet under water as part of Operation Crossroads, conducted at Bikini Atoll, Marshall Islands in July 1946 to measure nuclear weapon effects on warships. [Photo: U.S. Navy/Handout via Reuters]

This U.S. Navy handout image shows Baker, the second of the two atomic bomb tests, in which a 63-kiloton warhead was exploded 90 feet under water as part of Operation Crossroads, conducted at Bikini Atoll, Marshall Islands in July 1946 to measure nuclear weapon effects on warships. [Photo: U.S. Navy/Handout via Reuters]

The International Peace Bureau announced today that it will award its annual Sean MacBride Peace Prize for 2014 to the people and government of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, RMI, for courageously taking the nine nuclear weapons-possessing countries to the International Court of Justice to enforce compliance with the Non-Proliferation Treaty and international customary law.

The tiny Pacific nation has launched a parallel court case against the USA at the Federal District Court.  RMI argues that the nuclear weapons-possessing countries have breached their obligations under Article VI of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) by continuing to modernize their arsenals and by failing to pursue negotiations in good faith on nuclear disarmament.

The Marshall Islands were used by the USA as testing ground for nearly 70 nuclear tests from 1946 to 1958. These tests gave rise to lasting health and environmental problems for the Marshall Islanders. Their first-hand experience of nuclear devastation and personal suffering gives legitimacy to their action and makes it especially difficult to dismiss.

The Marshall Islands are presently working hard on both court cases, whose final hearings are expected in 2016. Peace and anti-nuclear activists, lawyers, politicians and all people seeking a world without nuclear weapons are called upon to bring their knowledge, energy and political skills to build a powerful constituency to support this court case and related actions to ensure a successful outcome.

It is certainly not the case that the RMI, with its some 53,000 inhabitants, a large proportion of whom are young people, have no need of compensation or assistance. Nowhere are the costs of a militarized Pacific better illustrated than there. The country is burdened with some of the highest cancer rates in the region following the 12 years of US nuclear tests. Yet it is admirable that the Marshall Islanders in fact seek no compensation for themselves, but rather are determined to end the nuclear weapons threat for all humanity.

The world still has some 17,000 nuclear weapons, the majority in the USA and Russia, many of them on high alert. The knowhow to build atomic bombs is spreading, largely due to the continued promotion of nuclear power technology. Presently there are 9 nuclear weapon states, and 28 nuclear alliance states; and on the other hand 115 nuclear weapons-free zone states plus 40 non-nuclear weapons states. Only 37 states (out of 192) are still committed to nuclear weapons, clinging to outdated, questionable and extremely dangerous ‘deterrence’ policies.

IPB has a long history of campaigning for disarmament and for the banning of nuclear weapons (http://www.ipb.org). The organisation was, for instance, actively involved in bringing the nuclear issue before the International Court of Justice in 1996. The International Peace Bureau hopes to help draw attention to the aim of the various court cases on this issue by awarding the Sean MacBride Peace Prize to the people and government of the Marshall Islands. IPB sincerely hopes that the Marshall Islands initiative will be a significant and decisive step in ending the nuclear arms race and in achieving a world without nuclear weapons.

The prize ceremony will take place in Vienna in early December at the time of the international conference on the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons, and in the presence of the RMI’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Tony de Brum and other dignitaries. Since its inception in 1992, many eminent peace promoters have received the Sean MacBride Prize, although it is not accompanied by any financial remuneration.

Noam Chomsky at United Nations: It would be nice if the United States lived up to International Law

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noam_chomsky_at_un

by RT

The US should live up to its own laws in regards to arming other countries, specifically considering its own policy on Israel, which has, according to the world-renowned academic Noam Chomsky, itself been violating both US and international law.

Chomsky made the comments at a UN session last week and pursued a deeply critical vein throughout.

“When President Obama rarely says anything about what’s happening, it’s usually, ‘If my daughters were being attacked by rockets, I would do anything to stop it.’ He’s referring not to the hundreds of Palestinian children who are being killed and slaughtered,” Chomsky stated.

While everyone has the right to self-defense, according to Chomsky, “whether it’s an individual or state…if you won’t even permit peaceful means, which is the case here, then you have no right of self-defense by violence,” he added.

On July 8, 2014, Israel launched a seven-week military campaign, dubbed Operation Protective Edge, against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, which resulted in the deaths of some 2,200 people and widespread physical destruction, with much of the slither of land wedged between Egypt and Israel resembling an earthquake zone.

At the beginning of August, the US approved emergency funding to support Israel’s Iron Dome defense system. Congress overwhelmingly approved an emergency measure to grant $225 million in additional revenue to Israel for the country’s Iron Dome missile defense system.

Chomsky cited the Leahy Law divulged by Senator Patrick Leahy. The human rights amendment prohibits the US Department of State and Department of Defense from dispatching any weapons supplies to states which are involved in human rights violations.

“There isn’t the slightest doubt that the Israeli army is involved in massive human rights violations, which means that all dispatch of US arms to Israel is in violation of US law,” Chomsky said.

He took a critical approach to the “boycott, divest, sanctions (BDS) movement,” describing it as a set of tactics rather than principles. “Tactics are not principles. They’re not actions that you undertake no matter what because you think they’re right,” he pointed out to the UN.

The international community has been deeply critical of Israel’s actions against Palestine, with several prominent academics and writers such as Israeli historian Ilan Pappe, film director Ken Loach, and children’s author and poet, Michael Rosen.

Chomsky brought one further contention to the international delegates – the tax-free status for US organizations in Israel which are engaged in human rights violations.

“Remember, a tax exemption means I pay for it,” he said.

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