<nettime> ivogram x5: .mk, enrongate, antiterror cloak, prlic/ICTY, cuba

["Ivo Skoric" <ivo@reporters.net>]

     [digested + reformatted @ nettime]

"Ivo Skoric" <ivo@reporters.net>
   (Fwd) Helsinki Committee in Macedonia Under Pressure from Interior Ministry
   Re: ENRONGATE
   Re: HRW: Anti-Terror Campaign Cloaking Human Rights Abuse
   Re: J Prlic and ICTY
   (Fwd) Goldstone very worried about camps in Cuba

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From: "Ivo Skoric" <ivo@reporters.net>
Date: Thu, 17 Jan 2002 13:29:53 -0500
Subject: (Fwd) Helsinki Committee in Macedonia Under Pressure from Interior Ministry

Actions like this in the past (in Serbia, Croatia and Bosnia) often 
suggested the willingness of the regime to take more bold steps 
against minorities and to indulge in a more human rights abuses. It 
always starts with singling out outspoken human rights activists 
and independent journalists. Now, knowing the pattern, the 'global 
village' should exert pressure on Macedonian government to steer 
away from that course of action early on.

ivo

------- Forwarded Message Follows -------
http://www.ihf-hr.org/appeals/020116-mac.htm

Helsinki Committee in Macedonia Under Pressure from Interior Ministry,
Media, Church

"Human Rights Are Vanishing In the Air."

Vienna, 16 January 2002 -- The Helsinki Committee for Human Rights of
the Republic of Macedonia is being demonized by government bodies, by the
state-controlled media, and by the Orthodox church. The president of the
Helsinki Committee, Mirjana Najcevska, has been threatened with arrest as
punishment for the Committee's efforts to hold the government accountable
for fulfilling its human rights obligations.

Interior Minister Ljube Boskovski has referred to her as "state enemy
number 1," "anti-Macedonian" and an "attorney for the Albanians", when he
spoke in front of the daily newspaper Vecer, and on A1 and Sitel
television immediately after the New Year. After that other media referred
to these statements. These reactions are evidently based on the Minister
having received a leaked draft of the Helsinki Committee's Annual Report,
and the IHF has received information that a campaign against the Helsinki
Committee has been discussed in the National Security Council of the
government. The government's attacks have been amplified in the
state-controlled media.

Some days later the Macedonian Orthodox Church publicly criticized the
Helsinki Committee for its condemnation of the mono-ethnic composition and
mono-religious services among the newly-formed special forces of army and
police ('Lions' and 'Tigers').

The husband of Ms. Najcevska, Sasko Todorovski, has been removed from his
position as Macedonia's Acting Permanent Representative of Macedonia to
the Council of Europe. Mr. Todorovski is also a member of the board of the
Helsinki Committee.

According to Ms. Najcevska, the campaign against the Committee "proves
that democracy in Macedonia is falling apart and human rights and freedoms
are vanishing in the air."

The IHF is appealing to delegations of the OSCE (Organization for Security
and Cooperation in Europe) for assistance in stopping this effort to
intimidate civil society groups seeking human rights and justice in
Macedonia.

"We are deeply concerned. We can not and will not tolerate efforts to
silence our colleagues who are fulfilling their obligations to uphold the
Helsinki human rights standards, and their obligation to report to the
International Helsinki Federation on violations of those standards,"
stated Aaron Rhodes, IHF Executive Director.

For further information:

International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights:
Aaron Rhodes, Executive Director, Tel- +43-1-408 88 22 or +43-676-635 66
12, or
Henriette Schroeder, Press Officer, +43-676-725 48 29

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From: "Ivo Skoric" <ivo@reporters.net>
Date: Thu, 17 Jan 2002 13:29:16 -0500
Subject: Re: ENRONGATE

And what about this choking on a pretzel? I've talked to several 
doctors. Men choking on a pretzel sitting on a couch, does not fall 
on the floor. He chokes and dies sitting on a couch. Even if he gets 
up and then falls on the floor, he does not fall on his face. The 
particular scenario involving falling on the face has to include a 
violent jerk and the loss of ones faculties before falling down - a 
common occurence in the epileptic seizure. That picture would 
become even more intriguing, if we consider that such seizures 
may result from the history of alcohol and drug (cocaine) abuse. 
But I think the pretzel-choking-theory sounds much better in the 
media.
ivo

date sent:      	Tue, 15 Jan 2002 22:26:11 -0500
send reply to:  	International Justice Watch Discussion List
             	<JUSTWATCH-L@LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU>
from:           	Miroslav Visic <visic@PIPELINE.COM>
organization:   	New World Disorder
subject:        	ENRONGATE
to:             	JUSTWATCH-L@LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU


Well! There can be no doubt about the need for a special prosecutor... I
still see the image I had back last spring for a political cartoon of Bush
sucking from a "piece of pipeline" protruding from the pants of a "big oil"
tycoon who in my old image was a vaguely unidentifiable Cheney look alike
wearing a "Big Oil" button, but who we know we can now identify as none
other than Kenneth Lay! Caption: "Sucking Crude... sure tastes sweet to me!
Ooops!  How do I get Oil stains off a suit?"  Now we can add the caption:
"Enron gave $574,550 to George W. Bush 'I did not have business relations
with that man, Kenneth Lay!' (Of course we could put Bush in a blue dress
just to enhance the imagery) Click on the link and sign the petition...
Cheers!
  ------------------------------------------------------------------------

Support our Campaign for a Special Prosecutor for Enrongate!
Democrats.com has launched a major campaign for a Special Prosecutor for

Enrongate. We need your support!

http://democrats.com/enron


--

__________________________________________________________________________

"Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you
 give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in
judgment." - Gandalf

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From: "Ivo Skoric" <ivo@reporters.net>
Date: Thu, 17 Jan 2002 13:28:16 -0500
Subject: Re: HRW: Anti-Terror Campaign Cloaking Human Rights Abuse

This seems to be true. The US was the victim of terror attacks. So 
it passed harsh anti-terror laws. But then other countries, mostly 
those already known for human rights abuses, although they were 
not targeted by terrorists, under the disguise of joining American 
anti-terror campaign, passed even harsher regulations and, without 
hesitation (that usually caracterizes US implementation of 
restrictive rules), moved to practice them. The most benign 
example came to me from my friend who spent his Christmas 
vaccation in Croatia. He told me that by far the most thorough, 
privacy-invading and flight-delaying checks he had to undergo, were 
not at the US or German airports, but at Croatian ones. Can you 
imagine the field day Serbian police must have with the anti-terror 
campaign? - they can behave as they always wanted and now with 
the US stamp of approval!
ivo

date sent:      	Wed, 16 Jan 2002 11:34:27 -0500
send reply to:  	International Justice Watch Discussion List
             	<JUSTWATCH-L@LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU>
from:           	Andras Riedlmayer <riedlmay@FAS.HARVARD.EDU>
subject:        	HRW: Anti-Terror Campaign Cloaking Human Rights Abuse
to:             	JUSTWATCH-L@LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU

from: "Human Rights Watch" <hrwatchnyc@igc.org>
date: Wednesday, January 16, 2002 7:26 PM

Anti-Terror Campaign Cloaking Human Rights Abuse
New Global Survey Finds Crackdown on Civil Liberties

(Washington, January 16, 2002) -- The anti-terror campaign led by the
United States is inspiring opportunistic attacks on civil liberties
around the world, Human Rights Watch warned in its annual global survey
released today (available online at: http://hrw.org/wr2k2/).

At the same time, the campaign offers a chance to focus attention
on the denial of human rights and democracy in the Middle East and
Central Asia, where authoritarian governments have left millions of people
with a choice between extremist politics and no politics.  Many of these
authoritarian governments cling to power without challenge from Western
governments.

The 670-page Human Rights Watch World Report 2002 includes summaries
of human rights events in 2001 in 66 countries, as well as analyses of
U.S. and European foreign policy, refugee issues, international justice,
corporate social responsibility, and the weapons trade.

Some countries, such as Russia, Uzbekistan, and Egypt, are using the
war on terror to justify abusive military campaigns or crackdowns on
domestic political opponents. In the United States and Western Europe,
measures designed to combat terrorism are threatening long-held human
rights principles.

"Terrorists believe that anything goes in the name of their cause,"
said Kenneth Roth, Executive Director of Human Rights Watch. "The fight
against terror must not buy into that logic. Human rights principles
must not be compromised in the name of any cause."

The anti-terrorism campaign will not succeed if it is conducted merely
as a struggle against a particularly ruthless set of criminals, Roth
said. To defeat the fundamental amorality of terrorism requires a firm
grounding in international human rights.

"The fight against terror must reaffirm the principle that no civilian
should ever be deliberately killed or abused," said Roth.  "But for
too many countries, the anti-terror mantra has provided a new reason
to ignore human rights."

On Afghanistan, Roth said that the demise of the Taliban regime created
an opportunity for positive change. But he urged that the international
community devote real resources to bringing perpetrators to justice for
past crimes.  Establishing the rule of law will be essential for ending
the cycle of atrocities in Afghanistan.

Roth said that Human Rights Watch had not yet conducted an on-the-ground
investigation of civilian deaths in the U.S. bombing campaign in
Afghanistan, but that serious questions had been raised by reports of
civilian casualties.

Human Rights Watch does not generally take a position on whether
particular wars should be fought, but does urge strict respect for
international humanitarian law in the conduct of any war. Human Rights
Watch urged the U.S. military to be more forthcoming about civilian
casualties in Afghanistan.

Roth also said that new restrictions on civil liberties in the United
States, such as the proposed military commissions, could compromise the
U.S. government's ability to criticize human rights violations in other
countries.

"Imagine the U.S. condemning military tribunals set up by a tin-pot
tyrant to get rid of his political enemies," said Roth. "That kind of
criticism can have real sting. But now it will ring with hypocrisy --
if the Pentagon does not narrow President Bush's order on military
commissions with appropriate guidelines."  Anti-terror legislation
in many Western European countries would have a similar effect on
their abilities to provide international leadership on human rights,
Roth said.

"The fight against terror isn't just a matter of security," said Roth.
"It's a matter of values."

The willingness of most Western governments to tolerate abuses by
friendly governments in the Middle East and North Africa has tended
to undermine the growth of a human rights culture there, Roth noted.
The problems include the West's failure to rein in Israeli abuses
against  Palestinians, and its apparent disregard for grave civilian
suffering caused by sanctions against Iraq.

"In societies where basic freedoms flourish, citizens can press their
government to respond to grievances," said Roth. "But in Saudi Arabia
and other countries where Osama bin Laden strikes a chord of resentment,
governments prohibit political debate.  As the option of peaceful
political change is closed off, the voices of non-violent dissent
are frequently upstaged by advocates of violent opposition."

Human Rights Watch is an international monitoring organization based
in New York. It accepts no financial support from any government.
==================================================================

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From: "Ivo Skoric" <ivo@reporters.net>
Date: Thu, 17 Jan 2002 13:28:30 -0500
Subject: Re: J Prlic and ICTY

Yes, Mike, perhaps did not know this part of Prlic's resume - but it 
indeed makes perfect sense. 

Former Yugoslavia in 1980s gave birth to this specific kind of 
commie-yuppies. They came in all ethnic variations and their only 
common factor was their insatiable ambition for power. 

They function well in all ideologies, since they do not pledge 
allegiance to any particular set of values, as long as it keeps them 
floating on the top. Once they were ardent communists - often the 
first to be promoted and the youngest in their class. The most 
promising ones, they were also the first to jump the boat, 
becoming convincingly eloquent representatives of the awakening 
'national beings' within the ethnic variety of former Yugoslavia. And 
now, often, they are the champions of Western democratic values, 
the darlings of Soros and similar foundations and the first choices 
for high ranking positions in service of international overlords like 
Petritsch is. 

There is a street term for this class of men, involving a certain color 
and the part of our face that we use to breath and smell things.

ivo

date sent:      	Wed, 16 Jan 2002 06:28:16 +0100
send reply to:  	International Justice Watch Discussion List
             	<JUSTWATCH-L@LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU>
from:           	Zarko Modric <zarko.modric@ZG.HINET.HR>
subject:        	Re: J Prlic and ICTY
to:             	JUSTWATCH-L@LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU

At 20:59 15.01.2002 -0500, Mike wrote:

>Prlic is the perfect example of the hypocrisy of Petritsch's Bosnia:  the
>prime minister of Herceg-Bosna, corrupt to his core. A perfect choice to be a
>Petritsch moderate.

         Yes, of course.But Mike forgets that before he become the
"democrat" and was responsible for opening the horrible detention camps for
Moslems in Dretelj, Rodoc and other places, Prlic was a model communist, in
fact the "youngest member of the communist government of
Bosnia-Herzegovina". Just like his boss Tudjman who was the model
communist, or rather the communist hardliner and lived in Belgrade among
Serbs, witnessing (and participating in) the mass murder of Croats,
including his own friend Hebrang, and then suddenly turned "democrat" and
"Croat nationalist" when it suited him. Both Prlic and Tudjman and so many
other "patriots" like them plundered millions from the impoverished
citizens. Tudjman died, but his family still owns billions he embezzled
during past ten years. Prlic is a small fish.
                                                                 Zarko

Ivo Skoric
1773 Lexington Ave
New York NY 10029
212.369.9197
ivo@balkansnet.org
http://balkansnet.org

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From: "Ivo Skoric" <ivo@reporters.net>
Date: Thu, 17 Jan 2002 13:30:39 -0500
Subject: (Fwd) Goldstone very worried about camps in Cuba

Richard Goldstone questions US decision to detain Al Qaeda 
members at Guantanamo Bay. He also disputes the newly created 
term of 'unlawful combatants'.

ivo

------- Forwarded Message Follows -------

Domovina Net

frankti@xs4all.nl

Frank Tiggelaar 

Thu, 17 Jan 2002 13:00:43 +0100

Direct =
Action >> Goldstone very worried about camps in Cuba

direct_action@yahoogroups.com

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Once more an expert on international criminal law branded the USA as a
rogue state in the field of international law and international courts.

>From De Telegraaf (Holland's largest selling, conservative, newspaper)

Jan 17th, 2002

http://www.telegraaf.nl/nieuwslink/teksten/nws.goldstone.cuba.internationaal.html

Translation below

Frank

Goldstone zeer bezorgd over kampen op Cuba

DEN HAAG - Richard Goldstone, in de jaren 90 de eerste hoofdaanklager
van het Joegoslavi=EB-Tribunaal, is "zeer bezorgd over de manier waarop de
VS vermeende Taliban- en al-Qaeda-gevangenen vasthouden op hun basis in
Cuba.

Goldstone, een van de meest geachte deskundigen voor internationaal
strafrecht wereldwijd, denkt dat Washington voor zijn eigen behoefte een
"nieuwe juridische categorie heeft gecre=EBerd toen het de gedetineerden
"unlawful combattants (niet-wettige strijders) is gaan noemen terwijl
hen tegelijkertijd de status van krijgsgevangenen (POW's) wordt ontzegd.

"Als zij geen POW's zijn, zijn zij gewone criminelen en zouden dan in de
VS zelf berecht moeten worden", aldus Goldstone donderdag op de
BBC-radio. In de VS zelf zouden de verdachten bepaalde rechten hebben
die zij in Cuba niet hebben.

De gevangenen uit tal van landen, die de VS vanuit Afghanistan hebben
overgevlogen, worden op de Amerikaanse basis op Cuba vastgehouden om te
worden ondervraagd en eventueel te worden berecht wegens betrokkenheid
bij terrorisme.

De Amerikaanse president Bush heeft daarvoor speciale militaire
tribunalen opgezet voor buitenlanders. Goldstone, die nu rechter is aan
het constutioneel hof van zijn geboorteland Zuid-Afrika, weet van "geen
rechtvaardiging in het internationaal recht voor dusdanig gedrag".

Volgens Goldstone zouden andere landen een klacht tegen het Amerikaanse
optreden kunnen indienen bij het Internationaal Gerechtshof in Den Haag,
het hoogste juridische orgaan van de Verenigde Naties. Hij is echter
sceptisch of de gang naar het Vredespaleis iets oplevert. De supermacht
heeft immers in het verleden aangetoond dat "zij niet bereid is
uitspraken te accepteren die haar niet bevallen". Goldstone verwacht
meer effect van internationale kritiek.

_____

Goldstone very worried about camps in Cuba

The Hague - Richard Goldstone, the first Chief Prosecutor of the
Yugoslavia tribunal in the 1990's, is "very worried about the way the US
detain alledged Taliban and al-Qaeda prisoners on their basis in Cuba."

Goldstone, one of the world's most esteemed experts on international
criminal law, is of the opinion that Washington created, for its own
purposes, a "new criminal category by calling the detainees 'unlawful
combattants' while at the same time denying them the status of
'prisoners of war'."

"If they are not POW's, then they are ordinary criminals who should face
trial in the US proper," said Goldstone on BBC Radio on Thursday. In the
US the detainees would have certain rights which they do not have in
Cuba.

The prisoners the US flew in from Afghanistan originate from quite a
number of countries; they are being held on Cuba for interrogation and
probably face trial on charges of involvement in terrorism.

US president Bush set up special military tribunals for these
foreigners. Goldstone, who now is a judge in the Constitutional Court of
his home country South Africa, knows of "no justification in
international law for such behaviour."

According to Goldstone other countries could file a complaint against
this American behaviour before the International Court of Justice in The
Hague, the UN's highest legal body. He is, however, sceptical about the
results of such a procedure because the super-power has shown in the
past that "it is not prepared to accept rulings which aren't to its
liking." Goldstone expects more results of international criticism.

___

Frank

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