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[IAP NEWS] Amnesty International urges investigation of Ariel Sharon (fwd)
by !Dr. Joe Baptista 08 Oct '01

08 Oct '01

http://www.web.amnesty.org/web/news.nsf/WebAll/A13E3C3399DC3A3A80256AD90057… TEXT: Assalamu'alaikum AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL Latest Press Release Amnesty International urges investigation of Ariel Sharon Publish date: 03/10/2001 A court in Brussels will today (3 October 2001) begin to consider arguments about whether Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon may be investigated in Belgium for alleged war crimes committed in Lebanon in 1982 while he was Israel's Minister of Defence. "Amnesty International welcomes actions taken in accordance with international law to combat impunity," said the organization. "We support the judicial investigation into Ariel Sharon's responsibility with regard to the Sabra and Shatila massacre." The complaint against Sharon was first lodged with the Belgian Public Prosecutor's Office in June 2001. Ariel Sharon was Minister of Defence, with overall responsibility for the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF), at the time of the 1982 massacre of Palestinians in Sabra and Shatila refugee camps on the outskirts of Beirut. The IDF allowed the Lebanese Phalange militia to enter the camps where the killing of hundreds, mostly Palestinian refugees, continued for at least 30 hours. The complainants, a group of 23 Lebanese and Palestinians, had filed the case under Belgian legislation enacted in 1993 and 1999 which allows Belgian courts to prosecute foreigners for certain offences committed abroad, including genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. However, the resulting investigation was suspended by the investigating magistrate in early September 2001 until doubts about the legal validity of the procedure were resolved. Amnesty International calls on states to ensure prompt, thorough and independent investigations wherever allegations of crimes under international law are made. If such an investigation shows there is enough evidence for a prosecution, then, in accordance with international law which allows the national courts of any state to try people accused of such crimes, regardless of the nationality of the alleged perpetrators or victims and regardless of where the crimes were committed, Amnesty International calls on states to bring the accused to trial or extradite them to another country for trial, provided certain safeguards are met. No one may be extradited to a country which cannot assure that any trial on such charges meets international standards for fairness and does not result in the imposition of the death penalty or other cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment. The lawyer representing Israel argued that Belgium lacks the legal authority to try Ariel Sharon on charges relating to the 1982 massacre. Among her arguments the lawyer stated that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has immunity as a head of government; the case had already been considered in Israel by the Kahan Commission of Inquiry, which was a judicial commission; the 1993 law cannot be used retroactively; and the case has no connection with Belgium. A Brussels public prosecutor rejected the defence arguments and said that the case should go ahead. The court hearing due to start on 3 October will rule on the legality of the proceedings against Ariel Sharon in Belgium, not on the content of the case against him. Amnesty International has welcomed Belgium's universal jurisdiction laws and the 27 August 2001 statements attributed to Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt voicing support for the legislation and suggesting that it be extended to the entire European Union. The first case involving the exercise of universal jurisdiction to come to trial in Belgium resulted in the conviction in June 2001 of four Rwandan nationals for war crimes committed in 1994. Amnesty International welcomed this judgement as a significant step forward in the use of universal jurisdiction, an essential tool in the struggle against impunity. A number of criminal complaints have been lodged with the Belgian courts against leaders and prominent members of past and present governments. In addition to Ariel Sharon, these have included: former Chilean President General Augusto Pinochet; former Speaker of Parliament and President of the Islamic Republic of Iran Hojjatoleslam Ali Akbar Rafsanjani; former Moroccan Minister of Interior Driss Basri; former Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Yerodia Ndombasi and several other government ministers of the Democratic Republic of the Congo; President Paul Kagame of Rwanda; former President Hissene Habre of Chad; and President Saddam Hussein of Iraq. Background The principle of universal jurisdiction permits the national courts of any state to try people accused of crimes under international law, including war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide as well as torture, extrajudicial executions and "disappearances," regardless of the nationality of the alleged perpetrators or victims and regardless of where the crimes were committed. In 1983 the official Israeli Commission of Inquiry into the Events at the Refugee Camps in Beirut concluded that Minister of Defence Ariel Sharon had "disregarded the danger of acts of vengeance and bloodshed by Phalangists... failed to take this danger into account when he decided to have the Phalangists enter the camps...[and had not ordered] appropriate measures for preventing or reducing the danger of massacre as a condition for the Phalangists' entry into the camps." The commission recommended that "the Minister of Defence draw the appropriate personal conclusions arising out of the defects revealed with regard to the manner in which he discharged the duties of his office." Ariel Sharon resigned from his position as Minister of Defence following publication of the Commission's report in 1983. In February 2001 Ariel Sharon was elected Prime Minister of Israel; he took office in March. **************************************** For more information please call Amnesty International's press office in London, UK, on +44 20 7413 5566 Amnesty International, 1 Easton St., London WC1X 0DW web : http://www.amnesty.org -- Joe Baptista http://www.dot-god.com/

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Restrictions on ownership of surplus gear - now nearly law...
by Dave Emery 08 Oct '01

08 Oct '01

----- Forwarded message from Bob Wilder <bwild(a)earthlink.net> -----

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None
by mailer-daemon＠jinet.com 08 Oct '01

08 Oct '01

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Another precious moment from shrub...
by measl＠mfn.org 08 Oct '01

08 Oct '01

Pasted from CNN: "More than two weeks ago, I gave Taliban leaders a series of clear and specific demands: Close terrorist training camps, hand over leaders of the Al Qaeda network and return all foreign nationals, including American citizens unjustly detained in our country," Bush said. Detained in OUR country??? Jesus this guy is an idiot.. -- Yours, J.A. Terranson sysadmin(a)mfn.org If Governments really want us to behave like civilized human beings, they should give serious consideration towards setting a better example: Ruling by force, rather than consensus; the unrestrained application of unjust laws (which the victim-populations were never allowed input on in the first place); the State policy of justice only for the rich and elected; the intentional abuse and occassionally destruction of entire populations merely to distract an already apathetic and numb electorate... This type of demogoguery must surely wipe out the fascist United States as surely as it wiped out the fascist Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. The views expressed here are mine, and NOT those of my employers, associates, or others. Besides, if it *were* the opinion of all of those people, I doubt there would be a problem to bitch about in the first place... --------------------------------------------------------------------

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RE: "HNC Developing New Air Security Software"
by Paul E. Robichaux 08 Oct '01

08 Oct '01

HNC made their nut selling neural networks to a variety of friendly neighborhood TLAs and credit-card issuers. I suspect that their "new" software is just a neural network trained with surveillance and ticketing data. Hardly new. -----Original Message----- From: James B. DiGriz [mailto:jbdigriz@dragonsweb.org] Sent: Friday, October 05, 2001 4:11 PM To: cypherpunks(a)einstein.ssz.com Subject: "HNC Developing New Air Security Software" Xeni Jardin wrote: > The Reuters story follows, and the HNC corporate press release > announcing the project is here: > > <http://www.hnc.com/hnc/PressReleases/index.cfm?PressID=112&attributes > .f > useaction=ShowRelease> > > press release excerpt: > > <<By detecting and scoring anomalous patterns in millions of > reservation records and other related data, the predictive software > could identify suspicious transactions. Flagged information can be > immediately investigated by experts to increase security and travel > efficiency.... With the ability to instantly analyze all available > structured data and unstructured data, airlines could proactively take > critical action related to passenger safety. > > "By using high-end risk analytics and decisioning engines, we can help > airlines, airports and law enforcement agencies identify patterns that > warrant further investigation - without intrusive security measures," > explained John Mutch, chief executive officer of HNC. "Much of HNC's > technology research has been funded over the years by defense and > intelligence organizations. We're delighted to put this technology to > use to increase traveler safety." > > HNC's Critical Action software, which uses anonymous mathematical > algorithms that cannot be reverse engineered, identifies patterns in > data that would not be noticed using any other method. HNC's > technology can scan structured and unstructured data, detect patterns, > categorize, prioritize and automatically route information to relevant > security agency personnel.>> > > --XJ > I'm dubious about the "anonymous mathematical algorithms that cannot be reverse engineered" part, and I'm skeptical about the "we're gonna cork up the mind of God and bottle it for those worthy/rich enough to afford it" aspect. Sounds like snake oil to me. Data mining, pattern-recognition, AI, ubiquitous surveillance, etc. are just tools. The biggest danger, beyond flawed premises in the code, such as, for instance, ignoring second-order and higher observer loop effects, or beyond willful misuse, is GIGO. The central issues are still political, anyway. None of this matters if I'm not bothering you and you come fuck with me, in other words. And, hey, two can play the same game. Thank you, Mr. Felsenstein, et al. Choate, feel free to forward to psychohistory. jbdigirz

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http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/trade.center/community.html
by measl＠mfn.org 08 Oct '01

08 Oct '01

" It's typical of this professing Christian, god-loving country to begin the killing on a Sunday. And Bush offering up the sons and daughters of a free republic 'they may have to give up their lives' to protect the monarchs and future profits of big oil. " -- Clint Hartley -- Yours, J.A. Terranson sysadmin(a)mfn.org If Governments really want us to behave like civilized human beings, they should give serious consideration towards setting a better example: Ruling by force, rather than consensus; the unrestrained application of unjust laws (which the victim-populations were never allowed input on in the first place); the State policy of justice only for the rich and elected; the intentional abuse and occassionally destruction of entire populations merely to distract an already apathetic and numb electorate... This type of demogoguery must surely wipe out the fascist United States as surely as it wiped out the fascist Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. The views expressed here are mine, and NOT those of my employers, associates, or others. Besides, if it *were* the opinion of all of those people, I doubt there would be a problem to bitch about in the first place... --------------------------------------------------------------------

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ATTENTION: LOOKING FOR EMAIL PROCESSOR WHO WANTS TO WORK AT HOME
by solmazfletcher＠n2mail.com 08 Oct '01

08 Oct '01

Work from home,using your computer.Either full time or part time hours, your choice. No up-front money required. Full online training is provided. All you need is a computer with Internet and email access and a desire to make a change.Contact solmazfletcher(a)yahoo.com with Show me in subject.

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tony blairs body language
by mattd 07 Oct '01

07 Oct '01

Is Tony Blair lying when he touches his nose? yes,and when he opens his mouth too and all.Funny thing is he believes in them.

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Tony Blair's body language
by James L. Dean 07 Oct '01

07 Oct '01

Is Tony Blair lying when he touches his nose?

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KABUL BOOM BOOM
by Anonymous 07 Oct '01

07 Oct '01

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