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BushUSwill work with partners on credit crisis

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President Bush makes a statement  

Picture: (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Bush makes a statement in the Rose Garden of the White House after meeting with G7 finance ministers about the financial crisis.

 
President George W. Bush emerged from a meeting with foreign financial officials today and pledged a global response to the credit crisis that will lead toward a "path of stability and long-term
growth."

Bush announced no new strategies to attack the economic woes circling the globe, stressing instead, "We will do what it takes to resolve the crisis and the world’s economy will emerge stronger as a result."

The president said "The United States has a special role to play in leading the response to this crisis, That is why I convened this morning’s meeting here at the White House and it is why our
government will continue using all the tools at our disposal to resolve this crisis."

He added, "As our nations carry out this plan, we must ensure that the actions of one country do not contradict or undermine the actions of another. In an interconnected world, no nation will gain by driving down the fortunes of another. We are in this together. We will come through it together."

Bush’s comments were aimed at avoiding the mistakes that worsened economic conditions during the Great Depression in the 1930s. Then, some nations pursued go-it-alone strategies such as erecting protectionist trade barriers to shield their domestic industries. Those trade barriers ended up only worsening the global downturn
     
Sapa-AP

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Invitation

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Palestine Solidarity Alliance

 

 

 

   image    Unite for Justice      image    

 

PUBLIC  MEETING

 

 

Sunday 12 October 2008

 

 

2:30pm

 

 

Lenasia Cricket Stadium

 

 

Glass House

 

 

 

SPEAKERS

 

 

 

Ø   Hani Abu-Heikel: Palestinian Activist

  Ø   Mikael Menkin: Former IDF Officer

    who founded “Breaking the Silence!”

Ø   Pastor Gerrie Lubbe

 

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Islamic human rights commission alert

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Alert: Libya – Human rights activists handed down heavy sentences

1. Summary

12 human rights activists were handed down heavy sentences on 10 June 2008 for planning a peaceful demonstration to protest against killing of several demonstrators who died due to clashes with police forces as they rallied against cartoons depicting Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) in European newspapers. One of them, Idriss Boufayed, who was sentenced to 25 years imprisonment, is suffering from an advanced form of lung cancer.

IHRC requests campaigners to write to the Ambassador to Libya in their country and urge him/her to release the detained activists.

2. Background

Idriss Boufayed, Jamal el-Hajj and 10 other human rights activists were handed down heavy sentences on 10 June 2008. According to a report by Amnesty International (AI), they were arrested in February 2007, for plannuing a peaceful demonstration to mark the anniversary of the killing of twelve demonstrators and the injuring of tens of others in Benghazi. The demonstration in Benghazi had been held to protest against the depiction of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) in cartoons in several European newspapers, as well as against the ‘actions of an Italian government minister who appeared on Italian television wearing a T-shirt showing one of the cartoons.’

AI further reports that ‘Boufayed, who was sentenced to 25 years imprisonment, suffers from an advanced form of lung cancer.’ Boufayed is ‘an outspoken critic of Mu’ammar al-Qadhafi and secretary general of the Libyan organisation National Union of Reform.’

All human rights activists have been charged with ‘vaguely worded offences’, such as "attempting to overthrow the political system,"spreading false rumours about the Libyan regime" and "communicating with enemy powers."

For further details about their case, please read AI’s report* at:

http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/MDE19/006/2008/en/025816d3-3866-11dd-a7d1-851179bc648e/mde190062008eng.html

http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/feature-stories/one-year-missing-and-imprisoned-libya-20080222

3. Action required

Please write to the Ambassador to Libya in your country and protest against the unjust sentences handed down to the human rights activists.

UK campaigners can write to:

Chargés d’Affaires Mr Omar R Jelban
The People’s Bureau of the Great Socialist People’s Libyan Arab
Jamahiriya
15 Knightsbridge
London SW1X 7LY

Fax +44 207 245 0588

4. Sample letters

Sample letters are given below for your convenience. Please note that model letters can be sent directly or adjusted as necessary to include further details. If you receive a reply to the letter you send, we request you to send a copy of the letter you sent and the reply you received to IHRC. This is extremely important as it helps IHRC to monitor the situation with regards to our campaigns and to improve upon the current model letters.

1. Sample letter to Libyan Ambassador

[Your Name]
[Your Address]

[Date]

Chargés d’Affaires Mr Omar R Jelban
The People’s Bureau of the Great Socialist People’s Libyan Arab
Jamahiriya
15 Knightsbridge
London SW1X 7LY

Dear Mr Omar R Jelban,

Re: Libyan human rights activists handed down heavy sentences

I am very concerned about 12 human rights activists who were handed down unjust sentences on 10 June 2008, for apparently no reason except that they chose to express their right to freedom of expression. They were  arrested in February 2007 for holding a peaceful demonstration in Tripoli, to mark the anniversary of the killing of 12 demonstrators who died during clashes with the police while they were protesting against the depiction of Prophet Muhammad (may peace be upon him) in cartoons in European newspapers.

According to reports that I read, these human rights activists were subjected to incommunicado detention, poor diet and insufficient medical care. Some were subjected to regular torture as well. The group went on hunger strike to protest against this mistreatment.

On 10 June 2008, they were convicted on vague charges such as "attempting to overthrow the political system," "spreading false rumours about the Libyan regime" and "communicating with enemy powers."

During the trial under the new state security court, the activists did not have the right to counsel except one detainee and were not allowed to contact their lawyers outside court

I am especially concerned for one of them, Mr Idriss Boufayed, who has been sentenced to 25 years, and is suffering from an advanced form of lung cancer. According to reports, a medical committee established by the Ministry of Justice had determined that Mr Boufayed should be released on medical grounds. Further, another human rights activist, Mr Abdelrahman al-Qateewy, arrested with the others in February 2007, remains missing.

Your country is state party to International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and is thus obliged to respect the right to freedom of speech and association of its citizens. I therefore urge you to grant these individuals immediate release, as their lives are at grave risk. They have already suffered much during their detention. I urge you to ensure that all their rights are respected and that they are allowed to propagate their ideas peacefully.

Yours sincerely,

[Your Signature]
[Your Name]

IHRC is an NGO in Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations

Please help IHRC by visiting http://www.ihrc.org.uk/catalog and making a donation or buying an item from our on-line store.

"And what reason have you that you should not fight in the way of Allah and of the weak among the men and the women and the children, (of) those who say: Our Lord! Cause us to go forth from this town, whose people are oppressors, and give us from Thee a guardian and give us from Thee a helper."
Holy Qur’an: Chapter 4, Verse 75

Islamic Human Rights Commission
PO Box 598
Wembley
HA9 7XH
United Kingdom

For more information, please contact the office on the numbers or email below:

Telephone (+44) 20 8904 4222
Fax (+44) 20 8904 5183
Email: info@ihrc.org
Web: www.ihrc.org

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Arabs jews clash in Isarael city

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image 

Picture: (AFP/Jonathan Nackstrand)
The country marked Yom Kippur — the Day of Atonement — the most sacred observance in the Jewish calendar.

The Haaretz newpaper reported today that cars and stores were damaged as Jews and Arabs clashed in the Israeli city of Acre after an Arab man was assaulted for driving during Yom Kippur.

The unrest erupted around midnight, several hours after Jews began marking Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, the holiest observance in the Jewish calender, when Israel comes to a virtual standstill.

A group of Jewish youths assaulted an Arab man who was driving his car, in an incident that touched off large-scale rioting between Jews and Arabs, resulting in extensive damage to dozens of cars and shops.

Police used force to disperse the crowd of several hundred peoples, the newspaper said, citing police officials.

About one third of Acre’s population of almost 50,000 residents is Arab.

Arab MPs have for years asked security forces to take tougher action to prevent Jews from stoning cars driven by Arabs on Yom Kippur.

One of them, Abbas Zkoor, said such attacks occurred frequently.

Zkoor said "Despite numerous complaints filed in police stations, officers were not sent to disperse the racist gatherings".

He called on religious authorities to condemn such behaviour, which he said "surely contravenes the basic principles of the Jewish religion."

Israel came to a virtual standstill as the country marked Yom Kippur, which started at sunset on Wednesday and was to end this evening.

Sapa-AFP

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