Democracy & Civics

U.S. Water Pollution Laws Routinely Flouted: Report

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For years, U.S. municipal governments, corporations, and even the EPA have circumvented Clean Water Act safeguards against industrial pollution. More than half of all city wastewater treatment plants and industrial facilities in the United States exceeded pollution limits, according to a national report released last week by the activist group U.S. PIRG. Fifty-seven percent of the 3,600 major facilities violated the Clean Water Act by dumping cyanide, mercury, coliform and other pollutants at least once in 2005 — and California is in the “top ten” list of violators. Environmentalists say the EPA has been lax in enforcing the law, which in its defense says it continues to fine violators. But questions persist as to whether a simple fine is enough to get a facility to clean up — and whether the agency itself is serious about enforcement.

World

Girls, Pollution, Poverty: The Other Mining Disasters

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Recent stories about workers trapped in mines often overlook an array of related labor, ecological and human rights issues. Most articles never mention the biggest growing mining sector workforce: young girls. A recent report by the International Labor Organization singles out Ghana, Niger, Peru and Tanzania as places where girls are increasingly doing dangerous small-scale mining work. Underground, they are exposed to toxic dust and metals and are forced to work long hours without proper safety gear, according to the report. Pollution is also rampant.

Democracy & Civics

AIDS Bias Targets 11-Year-Old Boy

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An 11-year-old who received “regular blood transfusions” for years was diagnosed as HIV-positive, and later kicked out of a school in West Bengal 20 days after being admitted. School authorities were reluctant to enroll him, and kept him on a separate bench from the other students, who were told to “shun” him. Such discrimination is illegal, but officials have not intervened, despite efforts by local AIDS and health advocates. Source:
“HIV-positive student thrown out of Bengal school”
Indo-Asian News Service, October 12, 2007

Democracy & Civics

New Testimony in Indonesia Activist Death

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A “massive” dose of arsenic in an airline meal took the life of a prominent critic of the Indonesian government, and now may send a former airline executive to jail for decades. The Times of London reports that an off-duty Garuda Air pilot was initially convicted of the “agonizing” mid-flight death of Munir Said Thalib in 2004, who was en route to Amsterdam to present a report on military abuses in Indonesia’s Aceh and Papua provinces. The pilot made more than 40 phone calls to a director of Indonesia’s spy agency immediately prior to Thalib’s death, but was later acquitted by the Supreme Court for lack of evidence. Now, Indra Setiawan, former head of Garuda Air head, has testified that he received a letter signed by a deputy chief of Indonesian intelligence, requesting that the pilot serve as the security officer on Thalib’s last flight. Meanwhile, activists say Thalib’s wife since been targeted by death threats, and was sent a decapitated chicken along with a note not to implicate the military in her husband’s death.

Democracy & Civics

Families a Casualty of Kashmir Split

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As many as 50,000 Indian-Pakistani families have been divided by the disputed Kashmir province since 1989. Among them are several hundred women who have not seen their husbands in decades, and are subject to harassment and worse. According to Women’s E News, Hanifa Aktar has lived alone for years on the Indian-controlled side of the border, separated from her husband and daughter in nearby Pakistani territory. Although the official peace process has allowed some 2,000 people to reunite in Kashmir, Aktar’s petitions to cross have been repeatedly denied. The Web site reports that Indian authorities, convinced that her husband is a separatist, have registered her name on a computerized blacklist, confiscated her passport, block phone contact, and periodically raid her home.

Democracy & Civics

The World's Prison Crisis

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Overcrowding, poor hygiene and drug addiction aren’t just issues that affect U.S. prisons, but extend to those of other regimes worldwide. In Iraq, several prisoners in Interior Ministry facilities have been diagnosed with scabies — though it’s not clear whether the problem extends to U.S.-run prisons. The government denies that scabies are a problem, and refuses to accept medication from an Iraqi advocacy group, which is now calling for international intervention. “Bad management of prisons isn’t something new in Iraq but sometimes I think it is worse now than it was during Saddam Hussein’s regime,” said one Iraqi prison guard, speaking anonymously to the United Nations news service. In Zimbabwe, overcrowded prisons — crammed with 40,000 people, but designed for only 16,000 — are rife with filth, and have become home to a mass outbreak of dermatomyositis.

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.