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| http://salon.com/news/feature/2006/02/16/abu_ghraib/portfolio.html Salon exclusive: The Abu Ghraib files Never-published photos, and an internal Army report, show more Iraqi prisoner abuse -- evidence the government is fighting to hide. By Mark Benjamin Feb. 16, 2006 | Salon has obtained files and other electronic documents from an internal Army investigation into the Abu Ghraib prisoner-abuse scandal. The material, which includes more than 1,000 photographs, videos and supporting documents from the Army's probe, may represent all of the photographic and video evidence that pertains to that investigation. The files, from the Army's Criminal Investigation Command (CID), include hundreds of images that have never been publicly released. Along with the unpublished material, the material obtained by Salon also appears to include all of the famous photographs published after the Abu Ghraib scandal broke in April 2004, as well as the photographs and videos published Wednesday by the Australian television news show "Dateline." The source who gave the CID material to Salon is someone who spent time at Abu Ghraib as a uniformed member of the military and is familiar with the CID investigation. The DVD containing the material includes a June 6, 2004, CID investigation report written by Special Agent James E. Seigmund. That report includes the following summary of the material included: "A review of all the computer media submitted to this office revealed a total of 1,325 images of suspected detainee abuse, 93 video files of suspected detainee abuse, 660 images of adult pornography, 546 images of suspected dead Iraqi detainees, 29 images of soldiers in simulated sexual acts, 20 images of a soldier with a Swastika drawn between his eyes, 37 images of Military Working dogs being used in abuse of detainees and 125 images of questionable acts." The photographs we are showing in the accompanying gallery represent a small fraction of these visual materials. None, as far as we know, have been published elsewhere. They include: a naked, handcuffed prisoner in a contorted position; a dead prisoner who had been severely beaten; a prisoner apparently sodomizing himself with an object; and a naked, hooded prisoner standing next to an American officer who is blandly writing a report against a wall. Other photographs depict a bloody cell. The DVD also includes photographs of guards threatening Iraqi prisoners with dogs, homemade videotapes depicting hooded prisoners being forced to masturbate, and a video showing a mentally disturbed prisoner smashing his head against a door. Oddly, the material also includes numerous photographs of slaughtered animals and mundane images of soldiers traveling around Iraq. Accompanying texts from the CID investigation provide fairly detailed explanations for many of the photographs, including dates and times and the identities of both Iraqis and Americans. Based on time signatures of the digital cameras used, all the photographs and videos were taken between Oct. 18, 2003, and Dec. 30, 2003. It is noteworthy that some of the CID documents refer to CIA personnel as interrogators of prisoners at Abu Ghraib. But no CIA officers have been prosecuted for any crimes that occurred within the prison, despite the death of at least one Iraqi during a CIA interrogation there. Human-rights and civil-liberties groups have been locked in a legal battle with the Department of Defense since mid-2004, demanding that it release the remaining visual documents from Abu Ghraib in its possession. It is not clear whether the material obtained by Salon is identical to that sought by these groups, although it seems highly likely that it is. Barbara Olshansky, deputy legal director at the Center for Constitutional Rights, said, "We brought the lawsuit because we wanted to make sure the public knew what the government was doing, particularly at these detention facilities," and, "It is the public's right to know." Based on a verbal description of the files and images, Olshansky said she believes that the material obtained by Salon represents all of the Abu Ghraib images and video the Pentagon has been fighting to keep confidential. "I'm guessing that what you have is a pretty rare and complete set," she said. The Pentagon initially argued in federal court that release of more Abu Ghraib images would violate the privacy rights of the Iraqi prisoners. Later, government lawyers argued that public release of the records might "endanger" soldiers in Iraq because publication of the pictures could incite further violence. The government's argument was rejected by a federal district court last September. Judge Alvin Hellerstein said in his ruling, "Terrorists do not need pretexts for their barbarism." Release of the photographs in the suit has been delayed as the government appeals Hellerstein's decision. Meanwhile, military trials of the soldiers who served at Abu Ghraib continue. Next month, two more enlisted men, both dog handlers, will face a military court at Fort Meade in Maryland. No high-ranking officer or official has yet been charged in the abuse scandal that blackened America's reputation across the world. Additional reporting by Mark Follman, Page Rockwell and Michael Scherer. -- By Mark Benjamin |
| AFRICA - ZIMBABWE [J.I Comment: When Zimbabwe was the UK, White ruled Rhodesia, White soldiers were given fertile lands taken from you know who. Black soldiers were give brand new - bicycles. Zimbabwe is now redressing that ugly, racist theft to the howls of the thieves and their international supporters. Unless Africans can own their own lands [not bits bought from the thieves or their offspring or benefactors] Africans will remain bound in economic slavery. As well, they will need to have the fruits of their vast mineral, logging, botanical, pharmaceutical botanicals and oil & gas resource in their control, not in that of corrupt Black surrogates for the extractors. The Zimbabwe model is opposed by exploiting Capital which demonizes Robert Mugabe, leader of Zimbabwe.] The report below concerns SOUTH AFRICA's feeble attempts to reverse the slavery of Apartheid. --------------------------------------- UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Sunday 19 February 2006 SOUTH AFRICA: From landless to landowners - the benefits of land reform © Gretchen Wilson/IRIN Joseph Makhadi in front of one parcel of land claimed by the Manavhela community MAKHADO, 17 Feb 2006 (IRIN) - In the late 1990s – still the early days of South Africa's democracy – Joseph Makhadi couldn't afford to continue his studies at a local technical college. He dropped out and lived, unemployed, in a humble dwelling along with 10 members of his extended family. But in 2002, Makhadi and his family were among 700 households given title to a vast piece of rolling bush in South Africa's Limpopo Province, a result of the government's ambitious land reform programme. Now, the 29-year-old manages the poultry farm owned and operated by the beneficiaries, known locally as the Manavhela community. This week, Makhadi toured the buildings that hold some 6,000 chickens and marvelled at how his future had opened up. "After we got this land back, I began corresponding at the University of South Africa to get my degree in human resource management," he said. "I can afford to pay for that now." More than a decade after the end of apartheid, land reform remains a vexed issue for many South Africans. Under the ruling African National Congress (ANC), the government has compensated more than 870,000 people dispossessed by racially discriminatory laws and practices. The payout has totalled 1 million hectares of restored ancestral land and financial compensation of about US $404 million. Yet South Africa's black majority still own only 16 percent the nation's agricultural land, and the government is scrambling to boost it to 30 percent by 2014. In advance of upcoming local government elections, President Thabo Mbeki promised to prioritise the issue in his state of the union address earlier this month. "Land reform and land restitution are critical to the transformation of our society," he said. Next month, South Africa will begin expropriating land owned by some white farmers, a move that's drawn quick comparisons to neighbouring Zimbabwe, where the seizure of white-owned forex-earning commercial farms for redistribution to subsistence farmers helped trigger the country's economic collapse. "Some people are sensationalising this topic of land reform and are using very acrimonious language of 'land seizures', 'land grabs', and this is not the state of our approach," South Africa's Chief Land Claims Commissioner Tozi Gwanya told IRIN. "We will continue to be committed to the market economy and we will continue to be committed to fairness and paying a fair price to those people we get land from for the purposes of land reform," Gwanya said. Redressing a History of Race-Based Dispossession Indigenous South Africans were systematically dispossessed of land ever since the first European settlers arrived at the Cape in 1652. In the centuries that followed, sweeping tracks of land were appropriated through the physical enclosure of property, military conquest, and legal wrangling. During the rush for gold and diamonds in the 19th-century, local governments used tax legislation to force many indigenous South Africans from land-based farming communities into the cash economy of the mines. Race-based dispossession was formalised in 1913, when the colonial government limited indigenous land ownership in the Natives Land Act. In the coming years, whole communities were forcibly removed, sometimes repeatedly, to accommodate white property owners. In 1994, the government passed the Restitution of Land Rights Act to restore property to communities dispossessed after 1913, mirroring other decolonialisation struggles worldwide. The act was seen by many South Africans, particularly by the landless and rural poor, as a breakthrough for the new democracy. But rollout has been slow, delayed in part by a so-called "willing-seller, willing-buyer" policy, in which land owners and government negotiate over the fair price of contested property – a market-based model created to avoid expropriation. But in practice, many land owners have demanded greater compensation than the government has been willing to pay. The deadline for filing restitution claims was in 1998, but some negotiations have gone on for years without resolution. In order to settle the 7,000 outstanding restitution claims by March 2008, the new policy sets a six-month time limit for negotiations. The restitution budget has also jumped from about $32 million in 1999 to $423 million this year. Next year it jumps again to $545 million. "We must put restitution to rest," Gwanya told IRIN. "Let's resolve all of these claims, and show certainty for investment and development of these properties." From Landless to Land Owners When the Manavhela community launched their claim on 2,611 hectares of ancestral land in 1996, the majority of it constituted the Ben Lavin Nature Reserve, named after the farmer from the Cape colonies who claimed the land in the 1930s. Lavin's widow had donated the property as a game farm to the non-profit Wildlife and Environmental Society of South Africa (WESSA) in 1976. Theirs was a relatively civil negotiation process. The community agreed to maintain the property under conservation principles, while WESSA agreed it would help in the transfer of the game farm, now renamed Manavhela Ben Lavin Nature Reserve. "People will always compare how we're doing, especially because it was run by the white people before," said reserve manager Masala Ramovha. "Now that we are black, they are always going to compare if we're still doing great. We're waiting to prove them wrong, because we're working really hard to make it work." Ramovha looks after the park's lodges and luxury tents tucked into the bush at the foot of the Soutpansberg Mountains. The reserve is home to an array of wildlife – including giraffe, zebra, kudu, and more than 230 bird species. Visitors can buy curios and camping supplies in the gift shop – and the profits, like those generated through lodging and daytime fees, are funnelled through the collective's Community Property Association (CPA). For the near future, the community has voted to reinvest earnings into the facility, but in coming years, some grants will be given to beneficiaries to cover children's school fees. The game reserve remains busy after four years of community management. International visitors read about it in the Lonely Planet travel guide, and the community has begun marketing in local media to boost local tourism. Ramovha credited part of the ongoing success to the community's decision to retain the employees who had worked for the old owners – sometimes for decades. "We just took them to work with us, because we wanted to learn skills from them," said Ramovha, a former language trainer who now studies environmental education at the University of Johannesburg. The game reserve's success is mitigated by the fact that many beneficiaries still lack permanent employment, mirroring the economic standing of many of South Africa's previously disadvantaged communities. According to the most recent government figures, 31.5 percent of black South Africans are unemployed and actively seeking work, while many more have given up looking. Though the nation needs more than land restitution to reduce poverty, it has created significant opportunities. "Before I was working odd jobs, and I was suffering," said Mashudu Manavhela, 34, who has worked for the past year as the reserve's maintenance operator. From the dusty road at the park's entrance, Manavhela said his income has been a blessing for his family. "Now we get enough money, so I can get any food I like," he said. "I've got good accommodation – three rooms and a shower. I can now afford a decent cell phone, and I might buy a second-hand car next year." Not All Follow Their Forefathers Approximately 80 percent of South Africa's restitution claims were urban, and most of these claimants have opted for financial compensation instead of land rights. Manavhela claimants elected land rights, but not all beneficiaries want to return to rural living. "They couldn't pay me to return to the rural areas," said Lawrence Mathelemusa, 41, now a post office manager in Pretoria. "My life has changed a lot since I was living there. My salary is much higher now, and I must be able to maintain my lifestyle and further my career," he said, adding the 400 km to Makhado prevents him from being more active in the CPA. It's not uncommon for beneficiaries to remain in cities, according to Lucas Mufamadi, executive director of Nkuzi Development Association, an organisation that works with communities to lodge claims. While economic conditions are an important factor, he also cited the substandard education given to black South Africans under apartheid, which he said didn't promote the value of land ownership. "People associate working on farms with a lot of pain, because they see a lot of people undergoing treacherous experiences on a daily basis while they work for commercial farmers," Mufamadi said. Farm owners had, historically, committed physical abuse, sexual assault, and economic swindling with impunity, he said. "That's led to a situation where a lot of youth feel are no longer interested in farming," he noted. "What they don't realise is that if they become farm owners, they can actually dictate how people live on their land." Mufamadi, whose own family was forcibly removed from their land in 1969 – the year he was born – considers the fact that black South Africans own only 16 percent of agricultural land "criminal". "What will bring about change is when white people start to realise that land reform is actually crucial; that there is no future without black people," Mufamadi said. "We need to work together as partners and equals. If it doesn't change, then there is no future for us in South Africa." Profit-generating Business Back at the Manavhela Poultry Farm, Makhadi recalled passing this very land when he was a child. His parents would point and say "this is ours" and explain how farmers evicted his family in the 1930s. Today, as with the nature reserve, proceeds are managed collectively and reinvested. Often, Makhadi said, the farm uses the funds to employ additional beneficiaries for odd jobs – like cutting back bush or improving the infrastructure. Other beneficiaries have received government grants for agricultural training. "We are able to change the life of other people in the community," Makhadi said. "It's a positive thing. We have done something." Makhadi said the community could use more resources and support from government and commercial partners. The community’s business plan includes the development of its cash crop operation – three hectares of carrots, onions and tomatoes were planted in 2004 – as well as the cultivation of their macadamia nut trees and citrus orchard. For days, Makhadi has used a hand-held machine to slowly clear back overgrowth on one plot of land, and wishes he could afford a tractor to use the land to the community's full advantage. Still, he is happy with what has been accomplished in just four years. "I deserve to be here. This land is our forefather’s land," Makhadi said. "I am happy to be back, because this is where I belong." [ENDS] Copyright © IRIN 2006 The material contained on www.IRINnews.org comes to you via IRIN, a UN humanitarian news and information service, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies. All IRIN material may be reposted or reprinted free-of-charge; refer to the IRIN copyright page for conditions of use. IRIN is a project of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. |
| Victims of the Towers - 9-11-01 List of Names INCLUDING passengers on air planes |
| IRAN VS ZIONISM The debate. Transcription of speech by Iranian President by MEMRI the Israeli organization that focuses on negative aspects of the Islamic and Arab world. |
| INDEPENDENT [UK] African bio-resources 'exploited by West' By Andrew Buncombe Published: 17 February 2006 Dozens of Western multinationals have made millions of pounds in profits from exploiting African bio-resources taken from some of the poorest nations on earth, with not a penny offered in return. Pharmaceutical firms are accused of breaching the United Nations convention on biodiversity, which states that nations have sovereignty over their own natural resources, by scouring continents for samples of unique materials, from plants to bacteria. A ground-breaking report identifies numerous materials, taken from Africa to Western laboratories, which have developed and patented products worth hundreds of millions of pounds - from a trailing plant beloved of gardeners across Europe to a natural cure for impotence and a microbe used in fading designer jeans. In some cases companies accept that their product is based on a traditional source and yet there is no evidence the companies have compensated countries from which they took them. "It's a new form of colonial pillaging," said Beth Burrows, of the US-based Edmonds Institute, the environmental group that published the report. "We have identified a number of cases that require a lot of explanation. The problem is that we have a world [where companies] are used to taking whatever they want from wherever and thinking they are doing it for the good of mankind." Mariam Mayet, of the South Africa-based African Centre for Biodiversity, co-authors of the report, said: "There is a total disregard and disrespect for Africa's resources. Our findings were made after just one month of research. Imagine what we could discover with two years of research." Among the companies named is the British firm SR Pharma, which it says holds patents for a mycobacterium collected in Uganda during the 1970s and used to develop a treatment for chronic viral infections, including HIV. SR Pharma's final director Melvyn Davies confirmed his company had neither offered the product or financial compensation to Uganda. He said the drug had not made any profits for the company, although it had raised $20m (£11.5m) in funding for research. "If you pick up a natural substance from the street, does that mean it belongs to the country in which you found it? [Our researcher] just happened to be in Uganda," he said. "The issue is not about where the source was but the work that has been done to develop it. Should Uganda share in the profits that will be generated if [it did not invest in the development]?" Another company mentioned in the report is the German company Bayer. It says that Bayer acquired a strain of bacteria from Lake Ruiru in Kenya, from which it has developed a drug that helps diabetes sufferers. The patented drug is usually sold under the name of Precose or Glucobay and has generated at least $380m (£218m) in sales. And yet Kenya has received nothing in return. Bayer spokeswoman Christina Sehnert confirmed the product had been developed from the Kenyan bacteria but said that the drug was a product of biotechnology. She said. "You are not using the original. What has been patented is the bio-tech product." Also taken from Kenya were microbes discovered in the Rift Valley lakes in 1992 by California-based Genencor International. The microbes were used in the manufacture of enzymes used to give jeans a faded look. The exploitation of Africa's natural resources in this manner breaches the 1992 International Convention on Biological Diversity which protects the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits from the use of genetic resources, according to Arthur Nogueira, a senior official with the convention's secretariat in Canada. How nations are losing out * Canadian company Option Biotech has patented seeds of Congo's Aframomum stipulatum for an anti-impotence drug called Bioviagra. A bottle of 24 capsules costs £17. * A microbe from Kenya's Lake Nakuru is owned by US company Genencor and is used to fade blue jeans. Enzymes of another microbe owned by Genencor are used in Procter & Gamble's global detergent brands. The Kenyan government claims it is not receiving any benefits. * Tanzania's Usambara mountains are home to the plant Impatiens usambarensis, used by Switzerland-based Sygenta and sold as a hanging basket plant. Sygenta made £85m from it in 2004. The Tanzanian government has had no share in the profits. Dozens of Western multinationals have made millions of pounds in profits from exploiting African bio-resources taken from some of the poorest nations on earth, with not a penny offered in return. Pharmaceutical firms are accused of breaching the United Nations convention on biodiversity, which states that nations have sovereignty over their own natural resources, by scouring continents for samples of unique materials, from plants to bacteria. A ground-breaking report identifies numerous materials, taken from Africa to Western laboratories, which have developed and patented products worth hundreds of millions of pounds - from a trailing plant beloved of gardeners across Europe to a natural cure for impotence and a microbe used in fading designer jeans. In some cases companies accept that their product is based on a traditional source and yet there is no evidence the companies have compensated countries from which they took them. "It's a new form of colonial pillaging," said Beth Burrows, of the US-based Edmonds Institute, the environmental group that published the report. "We have identified a number of cases that require a lot of explanation. The problem is that we have a world [where companies] are used to taking whatever they want from wherever and thinking they are doing it for the good of mankind." Mariam Mayet, of the South Africa-based African Centre for Biodiversity, co-authors of the report, said: "There is a total disregard and disrespect for Africa's resources. Our findings were made after just one month of research. Imagine what we could discover with two years of research." Among the companies named is the British firm SR Pharma, which it says holds patents for a mycobacterium collected in Uganda during the 1970s and used to develop a treatment for chronic viral infections, including HIV. SR Pharma's final director Melvyn Davies confirmed his company had neither offered the product or financial compensation to Uganda. He said the drug had not made any profits for the company, although it had raised $20m (£11.5m) in funding for research. "If you pick up a natural substance from the street, does that mean it belongs to the country in which you found it? [Our researcher] just happened to be in Uganda," he said. "The issue is not about where the source was but the work that has been done to develop it. Should Uganda share in the profits that will be generated if [it did not invest in the development]?" Another company mentioned in the report is the German company Bayer. It says that Bayer acquired a strain of bacteria from Lake Ruiru in Kenya, from which it has developed. ======================================= Comment: by John Ishmael: " Isn't it time for a series of Reparations claims?" |
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| View pictures of unspeakable American savagery inflicted on Iraqi Muslims by American personnel and 'contractors' from its closest ally. Published at the U.S's SALON magazine. Those pictures NOT published are even more depraved. In Afghanistan Canadian forces are turning over Afghan citizens to these same Americans. Is this what you want? |