Democracy & Civics

Rwanda: Genocide Inquiry Stumbles on French Connection

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With the U.N. International Criminal Tribunal on Rwanda due to wrap up early next year with many genocide suspects still at large, Rwanda is keen to find and prosecute fugitives at home or abroad. But distance, cost, and international politics make this an unlikely goal. Along with France and Switzerland, Canada is trying Rwandan genocide suspects who stole across its borders in 1994. Genocide survivors claim to have seen at least five who are still at large in Canada. These expatriates criticize the Canadian government of tolerating the fugitives in the same way they refused to intervene during the genocide.

World

In Iraq, School is Out

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Iraq’s school system, reportedly once one of the finest in the Middle East, is wracked with violence and disrepair following the sanctions imposed under Saddam Hussein’s regime and the sectarian violence that followed his downfall. Children are regularly kidnapped for ransom and about 600 teachers were killed last year, according to the Ministry of Education. In Baghdad, daily violence disrupts classes and parents are pulling their children out of school to be tutored at home, according to the Institute for War and Peace Reporting. UNICEF estimates that 800,000 students, 63 percent of them girls, did not attend school in 2005-2006. Sectarian graffiti covers school walls and classrooms have become divided by sect, with Sunni teachers separated from Shia teachers.

Nation

The FBI's Just a Mouseclick Away

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New details on the FBI’s domestic wiretapping program reveal it to be far more technologically sophisticated than experts believed. FBI wiretapping rooms across the country, connected by a private network run by Sprint, gives officials direct access to the country’s telecom infrastructure. Wired News reports that with a few clicks of a mouse, the FBI can now intercept land-line phone calls, cell phone calls and text messages, broadband, wireless, and internet streaming conversations on Vodaphone and other networks. The surveillance system, called DCSNet, for Digital Collection System Network, pays telecom companies thousands of dollars for weeks of access to a user’s phone calls. Once a court order is issued and a company turns on the wiretap, the FBI can download the communication data in real time.

Nation

Thousands Still Sick from Cold War Radiation

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Government records show 36,500 Americans were sickened from exposure to uranium, plutonium and beryllium since 1945, most from building or transporting atomic weapons. At least 4,000 people have died from related illnesses, although an investigation by the Rocky Mountain News suggests many more were affected than the government is willing to compensate. Former atomic bomb manufacturers say no one ever told them it would be dangerous to breathe in, eat next to, or sit on piles of uranium. Well into the 1960s, soldiers were ordered to march toward nuclear bomb tests in the Nevada desert, putting them within three miles of the blasts. Marines were exposed to nuclear blasts on the deck of an aircraft carrier 16 years after Hiroshima.

World

Afghanistan: A Fundamentalist Surge Gains Ground

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The Taliban is making political as well as military headway in many parts of Afghanistan, and using opium production to further entrench their dominion. The guns have been silenced at last over Musa Qala, a district of Helmand province newly controlled by the Taliban, according to the Institute for War & Peace Reporting. With no one willing to challenge them, including the Afghan government and the occupation forces, the Taliban have been able to reinstate Islamic law and customs, take over government and police forces, and ensure security for its grateful residents. Business pay a tax to the organization, but it has discontinued the practice of conscripting one man from each household for militia service, and has relaxed other rules, such as permitting women to leave the house alone. But residents are now altering their own lifestyles to avoid upsetting the theocrats — such as not watching TV and not listening to any music besides Taliban songs.

World

A House Divided: Palestinians Trapped by Warring Factions

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There seems to be little hope for any sort of resolution in the ongoing civil war between the Palestinian Fatah party and its rival, Hamas, which took over the Gaza Strip two months ago. Hamas is cracking down on Fatah supporters at protests and in the street with beatings and torture, and has banned all demonstrations and even outdoor weddings without prior approval, according to the Telegraph. Neither Fatah nor Hamas want local residents to hear criticism of their leadership, so Fatah has banned distribution of all Hamas-affiliated newspapers in the West Bank, and Hamas has banned all Fatah-connected papers and radio stations in the Gaza Strip. Palestinian journalists have been caught in the crossfire, and last week announced a series of protests against the violent treatment they have received at the hands of both factions. One critical voice has been heard — that of Dr. Ghazi Hamad, who resigned this week as spokesman for Hamas.

Economy

Biodiesel's Mixed Blessings

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Biodiesel shows promise as an alternative fuel, but it presents substantial challenges to produce locally, efficiently, and in quantities to keep prices down and sustain a budding industry. Hawaii’s main electric companies have committed to using biodiesel in energy production by 2009, but are under pressure to make sure the soybean oil is locally grown to avoid driving clearcuts in Indonesia for soybean plantations, reports the Honolulu Star Bulletin. The Associated Press notes six organic farmers in California’s Santa Cruz county are also taking a local approach, growing mustard seed instead of soybeans to fill school buses, tractors and three local biodiesel fueling stations. Most of the soybeans would otherwise be grown in the Midwest and processed outside the state — not a very efficient use of energy. The high cost of producing and transporting biodiesel and its components remains one of the technology’s biggest problems.
Dozens of new soybean processing plants are popping up across the Midwest, and provide jobs with benefits in economically depressed areas.

World

Zimbabwe: The Toll of Fake AIDS Drugs

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A growing number of Zimbabweans infected with HIV are being sold counterfeit or contaminated anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs) at non-approved dispensaries such as flea markets and hair salons, according to IRIN, the United Nations news service. With the health system in collapse and medication in short supply, only a fraction of Zimbabwe’s estimated 300,000 patients in need to ARVs have access to real medication. Most cannot afford to pay private-sector prices for the drugs, while government-subsidized programs cannot handle the demand. Trade groups blame the government for a lack of internal controls and for not going after the counterfeiters, while unlicensed “doctors” perform illegal surgeries and then sell patients counterfeit drugs, often with fatal consequences. Source:
“ZIMBABWE: Fake ARVs threaten lives”
IRIN (United Nations), August 24, 2007

World

Hungarian Militia Casts a Fascist Shadow

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Hungary’s Jewish community sees frightening precedent in the recent creation of the Magyar Garda (Hungarian Guard) by the far-right party Jobbik this week. The Guard, a paramilitary group with the avowed goal of providing “physical, mental and spiritual training to help maintain public order, preserve Hungarian culture and defend the nation in extraordinary situations,” has uniforms and a coat of arms similar to that of Hungary’s Nazi-aligned Arrow Cross party that coordinated efforts to send Jews to concentration camps during World War II. The creation of the Guard sparked counter-demonstrations and condemnation by Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany, who called them “Hungary’s shame.” Jobbik has no seats in Parliament, but its candidates competed widely in the last election, according to Deutsche Presse-Agentur. Source:
“Extreme-right party swears in first members of militia”
Deutsche Presse-Agentur, August 26, 2007

World

Pakistan: Unregulated Donations Fund Terror

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Black-market money transfers in Pakistan, known as Hawala, are done verbally, leave no paper trail, and fund much of the Islamist violence in northern Pakistan; Osama bin Laden used it to fund his terror operations, according to the 9/11 Commission. U.S. officials are frustrated with the Pakistani government for not cracking down on the practice, which thrives in tribal areas under Taliban command. Although some money transfers are legit, like wage remittances, much is disguised as zakat, a Muslim charity tax, that funds the work of Muslim mosques, madrassas and militias. Wealthy donors who feel a religious obligation to give to charities and “don’t think too hard about where it goes,” one U.S. expert told the Guardian. Trying to regulate zakat is “impossible,” he adds.