Nation

U.S. Leads in Weapons Trade — For Now

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The United States still dominates the global arms trade, but its modus operandi has come under increased scrutiny, even as competitors battle for first place. Australia, Britain, Japan and mush of Africa are among 100 countries that would like to create a U.N. treaty regulating the arms trade. The NRA vehemently opposes the proposal — which would focus only on arms imports and exports, but which the advocacy group perceives as a slippery slide toward domestic gun regulations. The United States has studiously avoided taking a position on the treaty, but last December was the lone dissenting vote among 153 nations on a General Assembly resolution creating the treaty process, reports Australia’s Herald Sun. U.S. arms exports totaled $17 billion last year, giving it close to a 42 percent market share, according to the Congressional Research office.

World

Political Asylum Becomes Private Detention

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“Untouchable” refugees — including the elderly, certain ethnic groups, large families, single men and poorly educated individuals — remain unwelcome in many prospective host countries, according to a new U.N. report. The report notes that even if their asylum claims are justified, refugees from countries like Iraq, Sri Lanka and Somalia face a poor reception depending on where they go. Some countries even refuse to allow ocean-traveling refugees to disembark when their ships make landfall. Those that are permitted entry may be treated no differently than criminals, facing “legal limbo” in private detention centers, according to Reuters. A U.N. official said the surge of private detention centers allows governments to shed their responsibility for the refugees, creating prison-like conditions that are reinforced by a growing detention industry.

Democracy & Civics

French DNA Bill Stirs Anti-Immigrant Fears

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If a French bill becomes law, any immigrant seeking to join relatives in France will have the option of taking a DNA test to prove they are related. The controversial bill is described as voluntary, but opponents say they fear anyone who refuses will be discriminated against when they apply, and that the law has been proposed to stir up anti-immigrant sentiment ahead of municipal elections. The legislation also requires would-be immigrants to prove their understanding of the French language and cultural values, and that their family can support them and earn minimum wage. Sources
“France: Senate backs controversial migrant DNA tests”
ADNKronos, October 4, 2007

Nation

Genocide Resolution a Threat to Turkey's Jews?

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Turkey’s Foreign Minister issued a cryptically threatening remark in response to a non-binding resolution before the U.S. Congress that would declare the World War I killings of Armenians in eastern Anatolia to be genocide. The Turkish government still denies the murders happened on such a large scale, and warned that if the U.S. were to pass the resolution, it would “further damage” U.S.-Turkish relations, reports the Istanbul-based newspaper Today’s Zaman. Foreign Minister Ali Babacan also said the move would create a backlash directed at Turkey’s Jewish population. “We have told [the American Jewish groups] that we cannot explain it to the public in Turkey if a road accident happens. We have told them that we cannot keep the Jewish people out of this,” he said.

Nation

Inter-Agency Spying a U.S. "Intelligence Nightmare"

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A Marine at San Diego’s Camp Pendleton pleaded guilty to passing top secret documents along to L.A. police and counterterrorism officers — but says he did it out of a sense of patriotism. Sgt. Gary Maziarz said bureaucracy was preventing military and civilian agencies from working together, and spirited more than 100 classified documents out of the base and into the hands of an L.A. detective and an intelligence analyst at a Colorado command center. The San Diego Union Tribune reports that the extent of the inter- agency spying may be far more profound — reaching back to the early 1990s — and indicative of a deep disconnect between U.S. intelligence and counterterrorism agencies. Experts also told the newspaper that the spying case reveals the growing role of the U.S. military in domestic security, and “confirms that U.S. officials believe al-Qaeda is active in the United States.”

World

Refugees: A Risky Route to Yemen

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Thousands of Somali and Ethiopian refugees attempting to flee to Yemen are risking their lives in covert smuggling voyages across the dangerous Gulf of Aden, reports ADNKronos. Of the 4,741 people who crossed in September alone, 89 were killed and 154 are missing and presumed dead. Many refugees are killed by asphyxiation below board or drown when smugglers throw them into the water before reaching shore. Refugees say the smugglers also beat them with pipes, while the Yemeni coast guard opens fire when they see the boat approaching. The United Nations has committed to building a new refugee camp on the Yemeni coast, and will train the coast guards and immigration officials on refugee law, humanitarian law and rescue at sea.

World

Russia and the Muslims

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A series of unprovoked attacks on native Russian families living in Ingushetia, a Muslim Republic in Southern Russia, have brought hundreds of Russian security forces into the area and increased the level of carnage in recent days. Accusations abound as to who is responsible for the killings. Some believe the assailants are boyeviki, or Muslim rebels based in the mountains, who want to gain power in the region. Others think the killings are organized by opponents of President Murad Zyazikov as a way to get him out of office. For its part, the opposition points out that the killings make it easy for Zyazikov to argue that he needs to stay in office.

Democracy & Civics

The Death Sentence on Trial?

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Support for capital punishment may be on the wane, as the Supreme Court ponders a Kentucky case that pivots on the question of whether lethal injections constitute “cruel and unusual punishment,” reports the Globe & Mail in Toronto. In Texas, at least one inmate’s execution has been put on pending a decision in the case, according to the Houston Chronicle. Lawyers there are predicting that judges will begin placing a moratorium on all executions until the case is heard this winter. But Texas Governor Rick Perry wants the scheduled executions to move forward unabated. Legal observers say the Supreme Court’s decision will have no bearing on whether the death penalty is humane or not.

Democracy & Civics

A Nuclear "Renaissance"

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Although it is a long way from becoming a reality, pundits are already predicting a “nuclear renaissance” in America for the first time in 30 years, even as plans for new plants take shape around the world. A New Jersey company has filed an application with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to built two nuclear power plants in Texas, and the NRC expects to receive applications to build 28 more reactors in the next 15 months, according to the Christian Science Monitor. The traditional arguments against nuclear energy — that it is dangerous, costly, offers terrorist attack targets and creates radioactive waste — have not changed. What has changed is the fact that the U.S. government is offering to guarantee investors against loan defaults, and the potential of nuclear power as an energy source with low greenhouse gas emissions. Given the history of nuclear power plants in the U.S. — many of which were never built, at huge cost overruns, after the Three Mile Island meltdown — many experts predict taxpayers will have to pay up when companies default on their loans.

World

Bhutto Promises Nuclear Access

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Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto said that if she were to return to power, she would permit the United Nations — but not the United States or other Western powers — to interview the nuclear weapons expert AQ Khan. Khan, who was pardoned in 2004 by President Pervez Musharraf for passing nuclear secrets to Libya, Iran and North Korea, has “lived under virtual house arrest” since then, reports Agence France-Press. Bhutto, who plans to return from exile to Pakistan on October 18, is jockeying for power amid growing dissatisfaction with Musharraf. According to Reuters, negotiations with Musharraf have “stalled,” and could lead to mass resignations by her political allies ahead of contested elections there. Source:
“Bhutto would give UN access to nuclear expert AQ Khan”
Agence France-Presse, September 26, 2007
“Pakistan’s Bhutto says talks with Musharraf stalled”
Reuters, October 3, 2007