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Gaza War

Goldstone cited for worldwide efforts

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(source: Arutz Sheva)

The Swedish-based International Legal Assistance Consortium awarded South African justice Richard Goldstone its first Stockholm Human Rights Award on Thursday night. The award cites Goldstone for his work in South Africa, Yugoslavia and Rwanda, among other places, in addition to the report he wrote which accused Israel, and to a lesser extent Hamas of crimes in last winter’s Operation Cast Lead counterterror operation.

The consortium runs a program in what it calls the "Occupied Palestinian Territories" which "is mainly to support the Palestinian Bar Association," according to the group’s website. Those occupied territories include Gaza, which has not had a full-time Israeli presence since the Israeli government uprooted Gaza Jews in 2005.

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Defend and advance the freedom of expression for all

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AIDC Statement on the threats to Press Freedom – 13 August 2010

(source: www.aidc.org.za.)

Press Freedom is a right enjoyed by a privileged minority of South Africans. Our print media is controlled by a cartel of four corporations. Broadcast Media is dominated by the SABC. The profiteering of private media and commercialization of the SABC have seen the mass media catering to the expression and information needs of lucrative markets (LSM 8- 10) representing under 15% of South Africans.

Rather than striving to extend the freedoms of expression and access to information to all South Africans, the ANC government is perusing a series of reforms that will further curtail these freedoms:

  • The Protection of Information Bill allows every organ of state – from government departments and parastatals to the smallest municipality – to throw a blanket of secrecy over its documents. If the law is passed whistle blowers leaking, and journalists reporting, on these documents can face up to 25 years in jail;
  • The ICASA Amendment Bill gives the Minster of Communications powers to determine the functions of individual ICASA councilors and to conduct performance appraisals of councilors; 
  • The Public Service Broadcasting Bill narrows the social mandate of community and public broadcasters to serve the "developmental goals of the Republic" and extends the powers of the Minister of Communications over the SABC and municipal officials over community radio; 
  • The proposed Media Appeals Tribunal will introduce formal censorship to print media limiting the role of the media in ensuring transparent and accountable government.  

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George w bush calls off Europe visit after arrest threat over torture of terror suspects

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(source: The Australian)

He was once mocked for his scant foreign travel. Now George W. Bush faces the prospect of a retirement confined to the United States after the cancellation of a trip to Switzerland amid fear of being prosecuted for torture. The former president’s first trip to Europe since leaving office was called off after human rights groups lodged a complaint with the Swiss courts urging that he be prosecuted under international laws forbidding torture.

Mr Bush had been due to speak in Geneva on February 12 at a dinner for the pro-Israeli United Israel appeal. A lawyer for that organisation told Swiss media that the event had been cancelled because of the risk of violence at planned protests against Mr Bush.

But human rights groups, including the London-based Amnesty International and the New York-based Centre for Constitutional Rights, claimed a victory in their battle to have Mr Bush prosecuted for his role in ordering terror suspects to be tortured. The groups filed their complaint with the Swiss courts on Friday, accusing Mr Bush of torture based on the frank admission in his recent memoir, Decision Points, that he personally gave the go-ahead to the waterboarding of terror suspects held in CIA custody.

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