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Leading
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US report on Human Rights in BD
Draws flak from Government
Staff Correspondent
Following the US State
Department Human Rights Report 2007, Bangladesh government
on Thursday in its reaction said attention has been drawn
to the US State Department Report on situation of human
rights all over the world, said a Foreign Ministry
statement.
The statement said like previous years, this year’s report
contains a section on Bangladesh. The Report made several
observations regarding various alleged human rights
violation and other developments with regard to the
imposition of the State of Emergency.
It is understood that during the State of Emergency, some
fundamental rights remain suspended. However, the
government is extremely careful in enforcing such
provisions so that the fundamental rights are not
infringed. In fact, the report acknowledges these aspects.
It also acknowledges various reform initiatives taken by
the caretaker government such as separation of the
Judiciary from the executive, revision of the Police Act
with adherence to human rights principles and standards,
several major steps to improve the prison conditions.
The government is, however, disappointed at the report’s
lack of balance as evidenced in its failure to mention the
significant reform measures taken by the Caretaker
Government for consolidating and sustaining democracy.
Home Adviser M A Matin on Thursday dismissed the US
Department of State’s report that the Caretaker Government
arrested former premiers Awami League (AL) chief Sheikh
Hasina and BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia after repeated
efforts of the government failed to force the two into
exile. He told newsmen after an advisory council meeting
on law and order at the Secretariat yesterday.
He said the Government is examining the US Department of
State’s report of "Human Rights Practices 2007" on
Bangladesh. The US Department of State on Wednesday in its
report reveals that human rights record worsened in
Bangladesh as the state of emergency continued to be in
effect with elections remaining postponed. Asked whether
the Government would protest the report of the US
Department of State as it has tainted the image of the
country, the Home Adviser said, "We are examining the
report and we will see it". On the report, he noted many
people will talk many things but "we have to justify
everything from our own perspective".
The meeting on law and order discussed the report of the
US Department of State, a home ministry official said,
adding the Adviser asked the law enforcing agencies to
examine the report. The meeting lauded members of Rapid
Action Battalion (RAB) for their dexterity in arresting
extremists and recovering grenades, he added. It also
expressed concern as 22 people have been killed in March,
the home ministry official said adding the effort is on to
arrest those who are involved in the killings. He said the
law enforcers have been asked to avoid custodial deaths.
On the incident of 21 August, the meeting expressed
satisfaction over the progress of the investigation of the
carnage. On the killing of Kibria, former AL leader, the
official said the Government has written a letter to the
Interpol seeking its assistance in the killing as per
demand of the family of the slain leader. Home Secretary,
IGP, IG (Prison), DG of RAB and DG of BDR, among others,
were present at the meeting.
EC asks govt to relax emergency
Staff Correspondent
The Election Commission has
asked the government to relax state of emergency since,
they say, elections cannot be held with hands and feet
tied.
"We’ve already said that elections can’t be held with
hands and legs tied if relaxed condition is not there. We
can’t hold even municipality elections if this kind
situation continues," Election Commissioner Brig Gen (retd)
M Sakhawat Hussain told journalists Thursday after the EC
held an hour-long meeting with Bangladesh Kalyan Party (BKP).
Before finalising the draft of electoral rules, Election
Commission would examine the opinions and recommendations
given by the political parties that were not invited
earlier. "The political parties which were not earlier
invited, have been asked to send their written opinion on
electoral reform between March 15 and March 20. On the
other hand, the draft has been sent to some political
parties which were not called to the dialogue. On the
basis of all political parties opinion, Election
Commission will finalise the electoral rules by this
month" after a meeting with Bangladesh Kallyan Party,
Election Commissioner Brig (rtd) Shawhwat Hossain, told
reporters at the Election Commission Secretariat on
Thursday.
About announcement of schedule for local government
election, he said after gazette notification of City
Corporation and Paurasabha Election Ordinance, the EC will
announce election schedule for holding election to those.
On the other hand, draft of new law for registration of
the political parties is on the process, an official of
the Election Commission told The Bangladesh Today
yesterday. "Right now, the EC is not registering any
political party because the registration rules have not
been finalised yet. So, the political parties will have to
be registered under the fresh rules when those will come
into being."
According to sources, some 160 political parties including
Bangladesh Awami League and Bangladesh Nationalist Party
don’t have registration with the Election Commission
Secretariat. Without registration these political parties
are enjoying the facilities given by the EC. The EC is yet
to put pressure on those political parties for
registration, EC sources added. During the BNP-Jamaat
regime some 32 parties including Bikalpa Dhaka Bangladesh
had applied for registration. Of the applicants Jatiya
Party (Ershad), Jatiya Party (Manju), Bangladesh Jatiya
Party (N-F), Bangladesh Islami Front (Jalil), Bangladesh
Khelafat Andolon, Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Awami League
were granted registration by the EC. The political parties
which failed to submit essential papers and documents were
disqualified.
A high up in the EC said, "In fact no party has
registration. When the new registration law will be
finalized, the political parties will have to be
registered under it. No political parties will be allowed
to contest the coming general election without having
registration as per the new electoral rules. A political
party will be able to get registered if and when it
fulfills the conditions laid down in the registration
law." Coming out of meeting with EC, Bangladesh Kallyan
Party’s Chairman Maj Gen (rtd) Syed Mohammad Ibrahim BP
said during the meeting he demanded of the EC to hold
general election by December as per the roadmap and local
government election before it or at the same time. The
election should not be deferred on any excuse, he
observed.
Mystery
shrouds treatment of Hasina
Sahidul Islam Rana
Mystery shrouds the
treatment of the detained Awami League President Sheikh
Hasina - who has been undergoing treatment in capital’s
Square Hospital since Tuesday – as her personal physicians
were not allowed to see Hasina at all.
Besides, both Jail and Hospital authorities passed up the
newsmen, waiting at the hospital premises, since morning
although earlier two separate press briefings were
scheduled.
No doctors of the newly formed seven member team of the
Square Hospital led by Prof Sanwar Hossain, Director
Medical Services and Consultant Surgery, not available for
their comments.
A doctor preferring anonymity told The Bangladesh Today,
"The Jail authorities imposed a restriction on disclosing
anything about ailing Hasina’s health condition. As per
the prescriptions of her private physicians, some medical
tests including blood, urine and other gynecological tests
are being conducted."
About the health condition of Hasina, DIG Prisons Major
Shamsul Haider Siddique told this correspondent, "Sheikh
Hasina’s private physicians only advised to send her
abroad without completing any tests. As per their
prescriptions, the tests are going on. An eye specialist
saw her yesterday and an ultra-sonogram will be completed
today (Friday)."
"I met the AL President from 12pm to 1:30 pm yesterday and
she is quite well. Her tests are being carried out in
phases. After getting all tests’ reports, the Jail
authorities will form a medical board to take the final
decision," Major Siddiue, who left the Square Hospital
silently yesterday afternoon, told this correspondent over
phone in the evening.
"No medical board was formed regarding the treatment of
the former premier, only some physicians are now
supervising the heath condition. The media personnel will
be informed formally, if any medical board is formed," he
added.
Meanwhile, replying to a query of the newsmen, Home
Adviser M A Matin said,
"We cannot take any final decision according to suggestion
of the doctors of a certain political party as we have
some rules and regulations which must be followed. The
Government is sympathetic enough about the ailing detained
two leaders. And the necessary step would be taken as soon
as it is required," he added. About medical board, the
Adviser said, "Sheikh Hasina has been given 20 to 22
medical tests and let her carry out those check-ups first.
If the doctors express their inability about her proper
treatment, a medical board would be formed."
Britain
introduces toughest immigration system in 45 years
UNB, Dhaka
The British government introduces the toughest immigration
processes in 45 years with a point-based system to ensure
only the best can work in the UK, licenses for businesses
who want to employ overseas workers and on-the-spot fines
for those to be found hiring illegal workers.
"We’re now introducing processes based on an
Australian-style Points Based System, which are clear and
objective. These processes are backed up with technology
such as biometrics - the taking of fingerprints and
digital photographs… We now know who we want to come to
Britain and who we don’t," acting British High
Commissioner Duncan Norman Thursday told a seminar on UK
Visa at Lake Shore Hotel. Norman said the British
government has also introduced a licensing system for
employers who want to recruit from overseas and bring
skilled workers into the UK.
"No company will be granted a sponsor’s licence without
being approved in advance by the Border and Immigration
Agency," he said, adding that employers bringing in
skilled workers under Tier 2 of the scheme which takes
effect this autumn can now start applying for that licence.
The British envoy said the government is also taking steps
to target rogue employers through new legislation in the
Employment Bill. The Bill proposes tough new penalties for
businesses not paying workers the minimum wage and
agencies, which exploit workers and undercut legitimate
business.
He said this year would also see the establishment of a
new UK Border Agency to ensure the UK has one of the
toughest borders in the world.
Norman said further measures include the introduction of a
new system to count people in and out of the UK and ID
cards to strengthen the UK border and help keep out those
who do not have the right to be here.
Head of Visa Services Jonathan Verney, Director, UK Trade
and Investment Kevin Ringham, Entry Clearance Officer
Hasina Rahman and other officials of the Visa Department
of the High Commission spoke at the seminar and made
presentation of how unscrupulous visa seekers and
recruiting agents resort to fraudulent practices in
getting UK visas.
Norman said the relationship with Bangladesh is very
important to Britain. People travel between the two
countries to do business, to visit relatives or to utilise
their skills in a new country. And Migrants benefit
Britain economically, contributing an estimated £6bn to
UK’s national output, as well as socially and culturally.
He said, "It’s right that we have a system which is fair
but firm, accessible but controlled."
Head of Immigration Jonathan Verney said the point-based
scheme is designed to attract the most talented with the
skills the UK needs to remain a global leader in the
fields of finance, business and technological innovation.
Confusion
Reigns Supreme in BNP
No need for Delwar to run the party: Hannan Shah &
Goyeshwar
Taib Ahmed
Brig (retd) ASM Hannan Shah and Goyeshwar Chandro Roy on
Thursday said, there is no need of the party Secretary
General, Khandoker Delwar Hossain, to run the party as
he is now staying abroad. BNP Chairperson’s adviser
Hannan Shah and joint Secretary General Goyeshwar Roy
said this while talking to newsmen after holding a
meeting behind closed doors with some of the other party
joint Secretary Generals. Joint Secretary Generals
Selima Rahman and Prof MA Mannan and Organizing
Secretary Mohammad Shahjahan attended the
meeting.
"The party activities should not be stopped in absence
of Delwar Hossain as we will have to resolve some key
political issues pending before us and that’s why we
talked to all the members of the national standing
committee of BNP to take the next course of action,"
Hannan Shah said, adding, "We have discussed today how
the party’s organizational framework can be
strengthened. We have also discussed about the
programmes to be taken to mark the National and
Independence Day on March 26. We will take the final
decision in the next meeting, which will be held in
presence of standing committee members."
Asked whether or not Khandoker Delwar Hossain is
informed about his meeting and his activities, Hannan
Shah categorically replied, "There is no need of
informing him (Delwar Hossain). He will run the party
once he comes back from abroad. But reality is that the
party should be run. We cannot let the party activities
be stopped." In reply to another question about Delwar’s
will to run the party from abroad as it was informed by
Rizvi Ahmed, Goyeswhar Roy, sitting next to Hannan Shah,
said, "he neither gave us his telephone number nor
phoned us. The party activities should not be allowed to
stop on the plea of his absence." Hannan Shah nodded his
head to approve Goyeshwar’s statement.
On the much-touted unity process, Hanna Shah said, "It
is an ongoing process and I am hopeful of reuniting the
party soon." Responding to a query as to why they are so
desperate to take the reformist back into the party
while they are still talking against Begum Zia and
against the party Constitution, Hannan Shah replied, "As
we are the mainstream and as we are broadminded." Asked
whether he communicated with the party Secretary General
after Delwar left the country, Hannan said, "I could
not." Referring to Rizvi Ahmed’s statement that Delwar
knows nothing about his unity move, he said, "he made
such a statement as he (Rizvi) knows nothing about Begum
Zia’s message." Hannan Shah demanded of the government
to set Begum Zia and other detained political leaders
free before the
March 26.
Corruption
Hasina’s wealth statement
No legal bar in resuming inquiry: ACC
UNB, Dhaka
The Anti-Corruption Commission Thursday said now there is
no legal bar in resuming inquiry into Sheikh Hasina’s
wealth statement as the Appellate Division overturned the
High Court verdict that had declared the notice seeking
her wealth statement illegal.
"Legally, there is no bar (in resuming inquiry into
Hasina’s wealth statement)," ACC director general (admin)
Col Hanif Iqbal, also Commission’s spokesperson, told a
regular briefing replying to a query about the verdict.
ACC deputy director Shabbir Hasan, the inquiry officer of
Hasina’s wealth statement, told UNB that he would resume
inquiry only when he gets a written order from the
Commission.
About the verdict, Hanif said the Commission is always
respectful of court decisions and had the verdict gone
other way the ACC would have accepted it.
The Commission stopped inquiry into Sheikh Hasina’s wealth
statement amidst the legal wrangling over its notice. On
July 17, Hasina, along with her arch rival another former
Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, was issued notice by the ACC
directing her to submit her wealth statement. She received
the notice on July 19 through jail authorities.
Obaidul Kader, Dipu Chy to be chargesheeted
UNB, Dhaka
The Anti-Corruption Commission is going to submit charge
sheets soon in three bribery cases filed against detained
Awami League joint general secretary Obaidul Kader.
The Commission will also submit charge sheet against AL
leader Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya’s son Dipu
Chowdhury in a case filed against him for not submitting
his wealth statement in due time. ACC director general
(admin) Col Hanif Iqbal told reporters at the Commission’s
regular briefing that the ACC Thursday approved the
submission of four charge sheets against two individuals.
The Commission filed the three cases (Case 89, 90 and 91)
on September 30, 2007 with Paltan police station against
Obaidul Kader for allegedly taking bribe of Tk 38 lakh, 47
lakh and 57 lakh respectively.
Back Page
Garments face good
prospects ahead
Staff Correspondent
LGRD Adviser Anwarul Iqbal
on Thursday said the garment sector of the country has now
become an over 4 billion-dollar-foreign-exchange-earner,
enjoying the status of one of the largest garment and
T-shirt exporter to the EU and also largest apparel
exporter to the USA.
"With WTO already installed and MFA being phased out from
2005, the manufacturers and exporters of RMG in Bangladesh
are competing to a greater context in the global apparel
market" he said while addressing a day long seminar on
"New Vision and Development of National Institute of
Textile Training, Research and Design (NITTRAD) held at a
city hotel, said a press release issued to the press
yesterday.
He said now the country has a very liberal investment
climate. For instance, it takes just three days for a
foreign investment registration and there is no
discrimination between foreign and local private
investors. Hundred per cent foreign investment as well as
joint ventures with local partners are allowed," he added.
Considering the problems faced by the textile sector he
said "Whatever might be the problems ahead of us, trends
of our progress in this sector show that, a new generation
of entrepreneurs has emerged and I profoundly believe that
the present rate o development in the overall textile
sector in the country will continue and the country will
cross US dollar 5 billion before 2010 in exporting RMG".
It is mentionable that in order to establish a modern well
equipped testing laboratory to provide research activities
for quality improvement of textile products and to arrange
different training programmes for skill development of
personnel engaged in the textile industries and in textile
academic institutions the Government has under taken a
project titled " Research and training for quality
improvement of Textile products and infrastructural
development to overcome the situation of MFA phase-out."
Secretary, Ministry of Textiles and Jute Md. Abdur Rashid
Sarker presided over the openning session. Officials of
Different Ministries, Representatives from EU, UNIDO, BQSP
and representatives of BTMA, BGMEA, BKMEA, BIFT attended
the seminar.
DCC to lease out City Bus Terminals
Staff Correspondent
The Dhaka City Corporation (DCC)
authorities have decided to lease out the three city bus
terminals to private companies from the next month.
Sources in the DCC said, the bus terminals will be leased
out to the private companies in accordance with the World
Bank prescription. The three city bus terminals are
Sayedabad, Gabtoli and Mohakhali. The amount of DCC's
revenue income from the city bus terminals will increase
to a large extent through handing over the
responsibilities of toll collection in the city bus
terminals to private sector. After leasing out the three
city bus terminals to the private entrepreneurs, the DCC
will earn an amount of Taka 9, 83, 50, 441 as revenue
annually, sources said.
All process of leasing out the terminals have already been
completed. The three terminals have gone to the three
highest bidders. These bidders are M/S Newas Trading, M/S
Habib Brothers and M/S Selvo Trading. Under the terms of
the lease, M/S Newas Trading will collect tolls at the
Sayedabad bus terminal and give the DCC Taka 4,43,61,470
in return annually. M/S Habib Brothers have leased the
Gabtoli bus terminal in exchange for Taka 4.03 crore and
the Mohakhali bus terminal has been leased out to the M/S
Selvo Trading in return for Taka 1,36,92,000 per year.
It may be pointed out that disorderly conduct by transport
workers and porters and the presence of unauthorized
vendors, depredations of pickpockets, snatchers and
beggars in the bus terminals create a suffocating
atmosphere everyday leading to harassment and suffering of
the passengers. The bus terminals handle arrival and
departure of about 4,000 buses carrying six lakh
passengers. Some 1,200 vehicles leave Sayedabad, 1,200
vehicles leave Gabtoli, 500 vehicles leave Mohakhali, 600
vehicles leave Gulistan and 500 vehicles leave Fulbaria
bus terminal everyday.
The DCC, as the regulatory body of these bus terminals, is
under obligation to keep the terminals free from unwanted
vendors, beggars and snatchers but these elements always
crowd the already crowded bus terminals and prowl the
places for robbing the passengers of their belongings. On
the other hand, they charge many times more than the price
fixed by the authorities. If the passengers refuse to pay,
they are harassed and even beaten up by thugs. Vendors
selling different items are yet another source of
irritation for the passengers. They move from one bus to
another and sell their goods. But all these are happening
under the very nose of the member of law enforcing
agencies and the DCC which are taking no action to improve
the situation.
House rent increasing alarmingly
Ainul Haque Royal
Residential
house owners in the city charge excess rent from their
tenants violating the Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) rules
and regulations, sources said. Owners of the houses are
charging Tk 6000 (excluding electricity and gas bill) for
one room while the DCC fixed Tk 4533 for a two-room flat.
Besides, the owners are charging Tk 5000 for one room in a
semi-building although the DCC fixed Tk 4150 for a
two-room flat in a semi-building. An anarchic situation is
prevailing in and around the capital as house owners are
imposing additional house rent on tenants defying the DCC
rules. A section of unscrupulous DCC officials in
association with the house owners are exploiting the fixed
and low income tenants who are the worst suffers, sources
said.
Around one crore and 50 lakh people are now living in the
capital and of them around 70 per cent people, who came
from different parts of the country in search of
livelihood, stay in the rented house. Alongside the price
hike of essentials, many people in the capital are under
serious pressure to leave the city and go back to their
villages due to intolerable house rent.
Sources said there is not a bit of rules and regulations
in the city's Mirpur, Pallabi, Mohammadpur, Dhanmondi,
Farmgate, Malibagh, Maghbazar, Shahjahanpur, Rampura and
Badda areas as the owners of these areas have refixed
rents twice in a month. While talking to this
correspondent Sarfuddin Khan Jilani, chief revenue officer
of the DCC said the Dhaka City has been split into ten
revenue zones on 16 July, 2007. The high officials of the
revenue zones are yet to launch any drives even after
getting huge number of allegations against the house
owners who are charging unfair house rents. The house
owners not only charge additional house rent but also they
don't pay their revenues regularly. The officials also
blamed some officials who in collusion with the house
owners take bribe ignoring the terms and conditions of the
DCC. The DCC sources said most of the house owners are
industrialists, businessmen, politicians who have link
with government high ups for which they don't follow the
DCC rules.
While talking to this correspondent, Sirajul Islam, a
school teacher of Mohammadpur area said 70 percent of my
salary is to spent on house rent. "I can't maintain my
family with the rest of money", he regretted. A few
garment workers of Farmgate area told this correspondent
that it is impossible to stay in the city due to house
rent hike in the capital. The house rent, bus fare and
price of essentials are increasing day by day but the
wages remain static over the years, they lamented.
Individuals in Rajabazar expressed their grief while
talking to this correspondent saying "it is very tough to
manage a house for bachelor and unemployed person. With
huge amount of rent, some owners allow the bachelor
tenants but they put some terms and conditions. If we fail
to meet their terms and conditions, they compell us to
leave the house without any notification."
Huge number of people from different parts of the country
are migrating into the capital daily but there is no
initiative from the government to arrange accommodation
for those people. Around 300 non-government organisations
are constructing some commercial building for
accommodating people but those are beyond the means of the
common people.
Crime Watch
Student stabbed to death
UNB, Narsingdi
A college student was stabbed to death by miscreants at
Chandanbari village in Monohordi upazila on Wednesday
night.
The dead was identified as Al Amin, 22, 2nd year honours
student of Bengali Department of Narsingdi Government
College and also son of Moslehuddin.
Family sources said Al Amin received a phone call on his
mobile phone at about 9:00 pm and went out of the house.
But he didn't return home the whole night.
After a hectic search, family members found the body of Al
Amin that bore stab injury marks on a fallow land nearby
his house on Thursday morning. On information, police
rushed to the spot and sent the body to hospital morgue
for autopsy.
Police suspected that the assailants killed him following
a previous enmity.
Thief arrested, stolen goods recovered
A Correspondent, Chapainawabganj
A special squad of Chapainawabganj Sadar thana caught an
inter-district thief, Abdul Hai, 40, from Salbagan under
Sopura Thana of Rajshahi district on Wednesday night.
Sources said acting on secret information a special squad
led by S.I Ashraf Ali Chowdhury conduct a drives and
arrested a thief of inter-district thieves gang named
Abdul Hai (40), son of late Sogir Uddin of SalBagan
village under Sopura thana of Rajshahi district on
Wednesday night. The squad recovered also a television, a
table watch, cloths, bicycle, a lot of electric and
telephone cods worth about Tk. 1.5 lacks.
According to FIR, Abdul Hai and his associates were stolen
that goods from BDR staff Jalal Uddin's rented house at
Milki Baganpara village under Chapainawabganj town on last
March 9. A case was filed with Sadar thana.
Convict held
A Correspondent, Jhalakati
Jhalakati thana police yesterday arrested a convict AL
Amin Khan, 25, at Amerabad village in Nalchiti upazilla,
sources said.
The arrestee is the son of Karamat Ali Khan of krishnakati
villege near the sadar.
Al Amin was sentenced to fourteen months of Rigorous
Imprisonment (RI) and was also fined Tk 2000 by the
Magistrates court on May 25, 2007 in a dowry protection
case filed by his wife.
The correspondent also adds: A pipe gun, bomb, huge goods
and eight sharp weapons were recovered by the police in a
drive from a house of a gang leader of dacoits, Mosharaf
Hossain, at Parmahal village in sadar upazilla. But the
police failed to arrest the person.
Husband kills wife for dowry
A Correspondent, Comilla
A young woman was strangulated to death allegedly by her
husband at Golapnagar village in Debidwer upazila on
Wednesday night.
The victim was identified as Nazma Akhter, 18, wife of
Safiqul Islam, 22, of the upazila.
Police and local said Safiqul Islam married Nazma Akhter
three years ago. After their marriage Safiq used to
torture Nazma for brining dowry money from her poor
father. On the fateful night, he again pressed her to
bring the money from her father which she refused. Hearing
this, he become furious and started beating her
mercilessly.
Later at one stage he strangled her and fled from the
house. Being informed, Nazma`s father and the police
recovered the body on Thursday morning and sent it to
Comilla Medical College Hospital morgue for autopsy.
Police was able to arrest the killer husband Safiqul Islam
on Thursday (Today) arrested and sent him to the court.
Huge cash, gold recovered
A Correspondent, Rajshahi
The Rapid Action Battalion and Puthia thana police of
Rajshahi jointly recovered a huge amount of money and gold
at Bharat Maria village under Puthia upazila in Rajshahi
on Thursday early in the morning.
They also arrested a person in this connection.
The arrested was identified as Aroj Mollah, 55,
father-in-law of Joynal Sheikh, an executive official of
fake NGO Probhati Grameen Unnayan Shangastha.
According to the concerned sources that based on a secrete
information, an team of RAB of and Puthia thana police
jointly launched a drive at Aroj Mollah's residence at
Bharatmaria village under Shilmaria union.
The law enforcing members searched into his room and
recovered Tk 21 lakh 93 thousands and 580 in cash, a gold
chain, and three pairs of rings.
Locals alleged that the official of the NGO cheated with
the general people.
A case was filed against the person with Puthia police
station.
Police produced Aroj before the court on Thursday and the
court send him to jail.
Dacoits netted, arms seized
BSS, Narayanganj
Police arrested three dacoits and seized several arms and
ammunitions from their possession near Mahmudpur bus stand
on Dhaka-Narayanganj road under Fatullah
Police Station in the small hours of today.
The dacoits were identified as Din Islam, 40, Kabir Hossen,
35, and Babul, 40. The seized arms and ammunitions include
one foreign made revolver with three bullets, two gun
bullets and two sharp knives.
Police said they on a tip-off had raided an abandoned
house near Mahmudpur bus stand at 3 am and arrested the
trio while the dacoits were preparing for a dacoity in a
nearby garments factory.
A case was filed with Fatullah Police Station in this
connection.
Arms, bullet recovered
BSS, Chuadanga
One shutter gun and one round of rifle bullet were
recovered by police from under the Ananda Dhum bridge of
Alamdanga upazila of the district yesterday,police said.
Acting on a secret information police rushed to the spot
and recovered the arms and the bullet which were kept in a
bag there.
42 arrested
BSS, Rangpur
Police in separate drives arrested 42 people from
different places in all eight upazilas of the district
during the past 24 hours till this noon, police sources
said.
The arrested persons include absconding warrantees,
convicts, accused in different cases, drug- peddlers and
traffickers, criminals, antisocial elements, thieves,
anti-
social elements and suspected criminals.
Police also seized huge quantities of smuggled ganja,
fermented wine and phensidyl, stolen goods and other
illegal things during the raids.
Kotwali police arrested 10 persons, Gangachara two,
Taraganj two Badarganj one, Mithapukur four, Pirganj six,
Pirgacha three, Kawnia three and DB police arrested 11
persons including five women during the period.
The arrested persons were sent to jail hajat when police
produced them before the concerned Rangpur courts today,
the sources said.
Murderer busted
BSS, Narail
Police arrested a convict of seven cases including a
murder at Kalna ferry-ghat under Lohagora upazila here on
Tuesday.
Police said the arrested person was identified as Rasel,
30, of Pachuria village of Mallikpur union of the
district.
Robbers loot valuables
UNB, Jhalakati
Dacoits looted cash and valuables worth Tk 2 lakh from a
house at Hodua village in Nolchhiti upazila Tuesday night.
Police said the gang numbering 10/12 entered the house of
Abdul Hye at dead of night and took away cash, gold
ornaments and other valuables after tying up the inmates
at gunpoint.
The robbers later fled away along with the booty. A case
was filed.
Fertilisr seized, one arrested
UNB, Sherpur
Police, in separate drives, arrested a man and also seized
15 sacks of urea fertilizer in Nakla and Sribordi upazilas
on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Police said five sacks of urea were seized at Langorpara
in Sribordi upazila on Wednesday when those were being
shifted from the upazila by a rickshaw. None was arrested
in this connection.
In another drive, police arrested Shafir Ali along with 10
sacks of urea when he was carrying those to Fulpur in
Mymensingh from Nakla upazila on Tuesday night.
Separate cases were filed.
Editorial
Alarming unemployment
The
country's unemployment scenario is very alarming as 15
million, of the total workforce estimated at 70 million,
remain unemployed posing a threat to the economy and causing a
national concern. This unfortunate situation has resulted from
the lack of adequate employment opportunities at home and the
country's failure to avail itself of the opportunity for
securing their jobs abroad as most of them are unskilled. In
the present day world, manpower is considered everywhere as
precious national assets, but it is appalling that we are
unable to utilise our human resources properly.
It is not difficult to understand that these huge jobless
people are passing days in dire hardship and contributing to
social instability. They are considered as a burden not on
themselves and their families alone, but also on the nation
which is deprived of their services. However, the jobless
people themselves are not exclusively responsible for this
dismal situation, because adequate employment opportunities
are not there for them to be engaged in works.
Instead of being expanded, the employment opportunities have,
rather, shrunk in the country in recent years due to political
uncertainty, economic slowdown and fall in both foreign and
domestic investments. New industries are not being set up as
investors are reluctant to make further investments before the
political climate and security situation improves and economic
crisis ends. Besides, many agricultural labourers also have
been rendered jobless in the wake of repeated floods and
natural calamity like Sidr.
Unemployment situation would have eased to some extent had it
been possible to send more manpower abroad with jobs. But that
has not been possible for different reasons including lack of
adequate initiatives by Bangladeshi missions abroad and
unfavourable labour policy of several manpower importing
countries. Specially, in Saudi Arabia and Malaysia, the
Bangladeshi workers are facing a tough situation.
Against the backdrop of skyrocketing prices of essentials, the
massive unemployment is causing dreadful economic hardship
among the people while even the employed ones too are finding
it very difficult to cope with the situation. In the words of
Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen ' Poverty means not scarcity of
essentials, but lack of capacity to purchase those'. This lack
of purchasing power of the people, specially those who are
jobless, constitutes the gravest part of the economic crisis
the nation is plunged in.
Under these circumstances, the prime need of hour is to take
necessary measures for large scale employment generation
through revitalising the industrial sector by promoting local
and foreign investments. Alongside, no stone should be left
unturned to boost manpower exports to foreign countries.
Meanwhile, the government may encourage the banks to advance
loans to jobless people for starting business activities to
ensure their self -employment.
BRTA and Our Transportation Problems
In a recent press
conference Sunil Kanti Bosh, Chairman of The Bangladesh Road
Transport Authority (BRTA), said that if the organization gets
autonomy it will be able to provide better services to the
people. The questions come to the mind that how can he be so
sure about that? The issues and problems which make BRTA
inefficient and monolithic can be dealt with if he and his
three hundred men want to. Autonomy can not be the answer. As
far as it was informed at the conference, the problems that
BRTA faces are of two folds: firstly, internal problems like
want of proper guidelines, skilled and efficient manpower
shortage, departmental corruption and irregularities in
processing the necessary documents mainly the Blue Books and
Driving License, and finally, external problems like,
execution of the existing laws, its monitoring and bringing
awareness to the general public.
As transportation and communication are major sectors for the
country's socio-economic development and prosperity, it is
better to retain its control and management in the hands of
the government than providing it autonomy. When the larger
part of a system malfunctions, it is obvious that the smaller
parts will do the same. Things will start to fall apart if the
centre fails to hold all of it together. As the whole country
and it's system is in the process of reformation, BRTA being
one of the smaller parts of the general public service system
must also take the heat and act responsibly eliminating long
incubating problems.
Corruption at the BRTA is an open secret to the people who
regularly ask for its services. The Chairman of BRTA must
identify corruption, eliminate it, and establish such an
environment that no person can get the scope to offer any
illegal solutions to the customers.
There is no alternative to continuous drives against fake
license holders, unfit vehicles and persons who deviate from
the traffic rules. Side-by-side public awareness about rules
and laws must also be raised. A more responsible and concerned
people will maintain, preserve and work spontaneously reducing
problems and accidents we face at present. A man made chaos
must have a man made solution. It is time to think this matter
over and reconsider our strategies.
Analysis
Ahmedinejad's Visit to Iraq
and Sanctions
The international sanctions effort have so far
proved to be ineffective mainly due to lack luster cooperation
from Russia ,China and European countries which have deep
economic relations with Iran.
Ayaz Ahmed Pirzada
There
seems to be no end to standoff between the United States and
Iran over its nuclear program and the latest Security
Council's resolution would push them further apart from any
foreseeable rapprochement. The UN Security Council imposed new
sanctions on March 3 on Iran when the Iranian President
Ahmadinejad was on the second day of his visit to Iraq. The
Security Council's third resolution imposed sanctions on Iran
for its refusal to cease enriching uranium, an activity that
the West suspects Iran may be using to create fuel for a
nuclear weapon .The resolution also authorizes inspections of
cargo to and from Iran that is suspected of carrying
prohibited equipment, tightening the monitoring of Iranian
financial institutions and extends travel bans and asset
freezes against persons and companies involved in the nuclear
program. It adds 13 names to the existing list of 5
individuals and 12 companies subject to travel and asset
restrictions. It repeats a pledge from the six countries to
establish full relations and economic cooperation with Iran
should it agree to suspend enrichment-related and reprocessing
activities.
The IAEA has been engaged in parleys and even inspections of
some Iranian nuclear plants over the last several years but
its chief, Dr.Mohamed Elbaradei has been inconsistent about
his position on the Iranian nuclear issue. In March 2003 he
told the Security Council that after hundreds of inspections,
his teams had found "no evidence or plausible indication of
the revival of a nuclear weapons program .But in Vienna on
March 3 last he said that newly disclosed intelligence
reports, that Iran had secretly researched on how to make
nuclear weapons, were of "serious concern" and would be
pursued by his office.
Nine months before the latest resolution was adopted by the
Security Council, a new assessment by American intelligence
agencies released (on Dec 3,2007) concluded that Iran halted
its nuclear weapons program in 2003 and that the program
remained frozen, contradicting earlier judgment that Tehran
was working relentlessly toward building a nuclear bomb. The
assessment, a National Intelligence Estimate that represents
the consensus view of all 16 American spy agencies stated that
Tehran is likely to keep its options open with respect to
building a weapon, but that intelligence agencies "do not know
whether it currently intends to develop nuclear weapons." The
new estimate said that the enrichment program could still
provide Iran with enough raw materials to produce a nuclear
weapon sometime by the middle of next decade, a timetable
essentially unchanged from previous estimates. Commenting on
the NIE of last year the US media said that there is a lot of
good news in the latest intelligence assessment about Iran.
NYT editorial on Dec 5, 2007 said, Tehran, we are now told,
halted its secret nuclear weapons program in 2003, which means
that President Bush has absolutely no excuse for going to war
against Iran. We are also relieved that the intelligence
community is now willing to question its own assumptions and
challenge the White House's fevered rhetoric.
Iran says that the agency's findings vindicated its claim that
its nuclear program is solely for peaceful purposes, and it
has rejected all suggestions that it was studying how to make
nuclear weapons. Iran argues that its program is devoted
solely to producing fuel for nuclear reactors that generate
electricity. The United States and its European allies on the
Council contend that the real purpose is to make Iran an
atomic power, and they say they are determined to prevent that
from happening. In Baghdad on March 3 the Iranian President
Ahmadinejad summarily dismissed President Bush's warning to
Iran to ' stop exporting terror'. He said he has no time to
listen to warnings. When asked about Bush's warning
Ahmadinejad responded: "I didn't receive a message on this
matter. We don't have enough time to hear what the others
say." Meanwhile the Iranian foreign minister Manoucherhr
Mottki in a conference on Disarmament in Geneva called for ban
on all nuclear weapons through an international treaty and
underlined need for putting a ban on all nuclear weapons and
questioned the right of the five permanent members of the UN
Security Council to possess nuclear arms.
Iran's ambassador to IAEA, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, called the
intelligence data "forged and fabricated" and denounced the
new Resolution as "irresponsible" and "an arrow aiming at the
heart of" the atomic energy agency. Iran argues that its
program is devoted solely to producing fuel for nuclear
reactors that generate electricity. The United States and its
European allies on the Council contend that the real purpose
is to make Iran an atomic power, and they say they are
determined to prevent that from happening. US President George
W Bush has been saying that if Iran is allowed to proceed
ahead with its nuclear program then it could lead to "World
War III. He said, "We've got a leader in Iran who has
announced that he wants to destroy Israel. So I've told people
(world leaders) that, if you're interested in avoiding World
War III, it seems like you ought to be interested in
preventing them (Iran) from having the knowledge necessary to
make a nuclear weapon." President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on
reaching Tehran from visit to Iraq rejected any new talks with
the European Union over Iran's nuclear programme, saying
Tehran would in future only negotiate with the UN atomic
agency. Iran will not negotiate with anyone outside the agency
with regard to its nuclear issue…From now on, the nuclear
issue of Iran will be only in the International Atomic Energy
Agency (IAEA) and in the framework of mutual commitments and
nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) He said "From Iran's
point of view, the recent Security Council resolution is
utterly invalid and not important, since its decisions are not
legal." Iran's U.N. Ambassador Mohammad Khazee told the
council just before the vote that his government would not
comply with the "unlawful action" against its "peaceful
nuclear program." He said the Security Council was being
"downgraded to a mere tool of the national foreign policy of
just a few countries .Iran cannot and will not accept a
requirement which is legally defective and politically
coercive," Khazee said. According to latest report Iran is
ready to negotiate with Europe over the Islamic republic's
nuclear program if there were would be "meaningful and
effective" results, Iran's foreign minister, Manouchehr
Mottaki's said on March 9. His comments came just days after
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad appeared to rule out any nuclear
negotiations with Europe, saying the issue would only be
discussed with the U.N. atomic watchdog Agency. The Iranian
Ambassador in Islamabad Masha'allah Shakeri has said that his
country is serious and sincere in its full cooperation with
IAEA and has been resolutely cooperating in a proactive manner
for implementation of work plan concluded with the Agency in
August in 2007.These are encouraging indications for seeking a
solution of the contentious issue between the west and Iran.
The international sanctions effort have so far proved to be
ineffective mainly due to lack luster cooperation from Russia
,China and European countries which have deep economic
relations with Iran. Russia continues to cooperate with Iran
and it has completed shipment of nuclear fuel to Iran for a
power plant being constructed in the southern Iranian town of
Bushehr. Even in the United States the public opinion is
divided about Iran and there are not many leaders in America
who would support Iranian position on its nuclear program but
at the same time there are also not many who would call for
any military action against the Islamic Republic . Former US
President Jimmy Carter has been calling for talks with Iranian
leaders to resolve differences over its nuclear programme,
saying "any military attack on Iran would be a horrible
mistake and a tragedy." David Albright President.Institute for
Science and International Security said on April 11,2007 that
Iranian nuclear claims are exaggerated. He said,although Iran
is making some progress toward developing a uranium-enrichment
but it has achieved "a lot less than what it's trying to get
people to believe it's accomplished." .
Practically compliance with the UN resolutions would be a
difficult agenda because in today's global village, economic
and trade ties are above any other considerations Saddam
Hussein defied all sanctions and got the money flowing in to
Iraq through the medium of infamous 'oil for food programme'
,bulk of which was used on the military. The UN atomic
watchdog decided on March 4 last that no additional action was
needed against Iran on top of the UN Security Council's
decision to tighten sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
The three resolutions have so far failed to yield results the
USA is expecting-asking Iran to give up enriching of uranium
and the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel as a condition for
any direct contacts for future relationship .Iran it seems is
not open to nuclear program and the west is asking for
implementation of UN resolutions hence the stand off between
Iran and the west would continue to create uncertainty and
tension is the region and indeed the whole world.
(Ayaz Ahmed Pirzada is a Columnist/Analyst and a former
Pakistani Diplomat. E-mail: ayazapirzada@hotmail.com)
Warfare
and healthcare
Gaining healthcare for all will require overcoming the
priorities of the warfare state. That's the genuine logic
behind the new "Healthcare NOT Warfare" campaign.
Norman Solomon
It's
kind of logical. In a pathological way. A country that devotes
a vast array of resources to killing capabilities will
steadily undermine its potential for healing. For social
justice. For healthcare as a human right.
Martin Luther King Jr. described the horrific trendline four
decades ago: "A nation that continues year after year to spend
more money on military defence than on programmes of social
uplift is approaching spiritual death."
If a society keeps approaching spiritual death, it's apt to
arrive. Here's an indicator: nearly one in six Americans has
no health insurance, and tens of millions of others are badly
under-insured. Here's another: the United States, the world's
preeminent warfare state, now spends about $2 billion per day
on military pursuits.
Gaining healthcare for all will require overcoming the
priorities of the warfare state. That's the genuine logic
behind the new "Healthcare NOT Warfare" campaign. http://pdamerica.org/articles/news/2008-03-05-12-05-43-news.php
I remember the ferocious media debate over the proper
government role in healthcare - 43 years ago. As the spring of
1965 got under way, the bombast was splattering across front
pages and flying through airwaves. Many commentators warned
that a proposal for a vast new programme would bring
"socialism" and destroy the sanctity of the free-enterprise
system. The new federal programme was called Medicare.
These days, when speaking on campuses, I bring up current
proposals for a "single payer" system - in effect, Medicare
for Americans of all ages. Most students seem to think it's a
good idea. But once in a while, someone vocally objects that
such an arrangement would be "socialism". The objection takes
me back to the media uproar of early 1965.
Today, we're left with the unfulfilled potential of Medicare
for all. It could make healthcare real as a human right. And
it could spare our society a massive amount of money now going
to administrative costs and corporate gouging. At last count,
annual insurance-industry profits reached $57.5 billion in
2006.
On Capitol Hill, lobbyists for the corporate profiteers are
determined to block H.R. 676, the bill to create a universal
single-payer system to implement healthcare as a human right.
In the current presidential campaign, none of the major
candidates can be heard raising the possibility of ejecting
the gargantuan insurance industry from the nation's healthcare
system. Instead, there's plenty of nattering about whether
"mandates" are a good idea. Hillary Clinton even has the
audacity (not of hope but of duplicity) to equate proposed
healthcare "mandates" with the must-pay-in requirements that
sustain Social Security and Medicare.
For Clinton's analogy to make sense, we'd have to accept the
idea that requiring everyone to pay taxes to the government
for a common-good programme is akin to requiring everyone to
pay premiums to private insurance companies for personal
medical coverage.
A recent New York Times story was authoritative as it plied
the conventional media wisdom. The lead sentence declared that
an "immediate challenge that will confront the next
administration" is the matter of "how to tame the soaring
costs of Medicare and Medicaid". And the news article
pointedly noted that current federal spending for those
health-related programmes adds up to $627 billion.
I've been waiting for a New York Times news story to declare
that an immediate challenge for the next administration will
be the matter of how to tame the soaring costs of the
Pentagon. After all, the government's annual military spending
- when you factor in the supplemental bills for warfare in
Afghanistan and Iraq - is well above the $627 billion for
Medicare and Medicaid that can cause such alarm in the upper
reaches of the nation's media establishment.
Assessing the current presidential race, the Times reported:
"The Democrats do not say, in any detail, how they would slow
the growth of Medicare and Medicaid or what they think about
the main policy options: rationing care, raising taxes,
cutting payments to providers or requiring beneficiaries to
pay more."
There are other "policy options" - including drastic cuts in
the Pentagon budget. And healthcare for all.
The writer, the author of "War Made Easy", is on the advisory
board of Progressive Democrats of America. He contributed this
article to The Jordan Times.
Source: www.jordantimes.com
Comment
Kosovo Implications
Last
month, Kosovo declared independence from Serbia. Around the
world there are other entities that have declared themselves
independent and, to all intents and purposes, are - at least
in terms of being free of their former controllers: The
Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Nagorno Karabakh,
Abkhazia and Somaliland being the most prominent. There are
other "de facto" independent entities where there is a strong
political will to declare independence: Serbian Bosnia,
Taiwan, Iraqi Kurdistan among others.
Most people would initially say that the reason why Kosovo is
independent is because its people have chosen to be so; a link
is made between independence and the will of the people. But
then why do they regard Kosovo as independent but not places
such as Somaliland or Abkhazia?
In fact, the ultimate determining factor in a country's
independence is not popular will but recognition by at least
one major power. Kosovo is seen as independent because enough
major powers, in this case the US and most European countries
(with a few notable exceptions) have recognized it. Somaliland
and Nagorno Karabakh are not, because no major power
recognizes them as independent. And because of that, no one
else does either. Their "independence" goes as far as the
border. That is not enough. Real independence means being
accepted in the family of nations, having a voice on the world
stage and citizens of the country being able to move and trade
freely with the rest of the world.
The fact that Russia, China and most countries, including all
Arab or Muslim states other than Turkey, Afghanistan and
Senegal, have not recognized Kosovo is of no consequence. What
matters is that enough countries have.
In fact, nonrecognition by Muslim states is not due to any
lack of goodwill but because Kosovo's declaration of
independence could have momentous international consequences.
Likewise, Russia's opposition is about much more than its
alliance with Serbia.
The reason why it and so many others have refused to recognize
Kosovo is because of fears where it will lead. If Kosovo can
separate and be independent simply because that is the will of
its people, then what about Chechnya, Taiwan, Tibet, the
Basque region, Mindanao or Kashmir? The implications of Kosovo
are not lost on any country with secessionist headaches.
Nor are they lost on Turkish Cypriots who have also recognized
Kosovo; if the US and others can recognize it simply because
independence is the democratic will of the Kosovars, why not
recognize Northern Cyprus? Abkhazia is already using what has
happened with Kosovo to demand recognition from Russia.
It is no surprise that so many countries have not recognized
Kosovo and have no intention of doing so. It opens a Pandora's
box. Not for nothing is Bosnia now terrified that its Serbian
province will follow the Kosovar lead.
The principle of national sovereignty, the basis of
international relations since 1945, has been sorely tried in
recent year but it has survived. Common sense says that
recognizing a state such as Kosovo which wants to break away
and be free is the right thing. But the fact is that doing so
without endorsement from the UN, the only body that can
legitimize such a move, drives a coach and horses though
international law. Who knows where it will end up?
Source: www.arabnews.com
Viewpoints
Through the eyes of
Prophet Muhammad
Muslims can only defend the honor of the
Prophet when they themselves are upholding the lofty ideals
and virtues that he brought.
Aftab Ahmad Malik
Bristol,
UK - Muslims in the West are increasingly finding themselves
in a dilemma. While some are still searching for an identity
and a sense of belonging, almost all are confronted at one
time or another with the growing mass of competing trends that
claim to represent "true" and "authentic" Islam.
As we approach the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad celebrated
this year on 21 March, coinciding with the 12th day of the
Islamic calendar month of Rabi al-Awwal, it's an interesting
time to consider this paradigm. Is there any better way for
Muslims to comprehend world events than through the prism of
Prophetic character?
The celebration of this event has left its imprint on the
lives of many Muslims. The Prophet's birthday is celebrated
throughout most of the Muslim world as a national holiday. It
is an occasion when poetry is sung in the honor of the Prophet
Muhammad and stories of his life are retold.
The Prophet was described by God as a "mercy for all of
mankind," and the mawlid, the celebration of the Prophet's
birthday, reminds Muslims of the life and character that they
are instructed to follow and emulate. This occasion inspires
Muslims to pause, take stock of their own lives and reflect
upon the standard that the Prophet Muhammad established
through his example.
Muslims gain a new way of looking at the world through the
Prophet's life story. For example, the Prophet was mocked in
his own city of Mecca when he did not retaliate after being
subjected to insults, persecution and physical abuse. While
many Arabs of that time saw this as being weak, the Prophet
Muhammad came to break the cycles of violence, not to
perpetuate them.
This isn't to say that Muslims should not seek to redress
wrongs. However, the Qur'an instructs Muslims to control their
anger (Qur'an 3:134) and not to become so engulfed with rage
that it prevents them from dealing with justice.
When Islamic scholarship had reached its zenith, Muslim
scholars had identified four virtues shared by the whole of
mankind: prudence, courage, temperance and justice. Al-Ghazali,
or "Algazel" as he is known in the West, author of one of the
most widely read texts, The Revival of the Religious Sciences,
argued that for these virtues to be effective they had to be
in harmony, otherwise the virtues would quickly degenerate
into vices. Today, these virtues are out of balance. Muslims
must demand justice both from within and outside, but not
without balancing their actions with the virtues of temperance
and prudence.
Wanton rage is not from our tradition, and until the etiquette
that Islam demands from its believers is observed, we are only
going to see more destruction, supposedly either in the name
of Islam, or in defending the honor of the Prophet Muhammad.
Muslims can only defend the honor of the Prophet when they
themselves are upholding the lofty ideals and virtues that he
brought. God did not just ennoble the Muslims; He ennobled the
whole of mankind. The Prophet Muhammad imbued this Qur'anic
ideal with a message: show compassion for all people, for the
one who does not, would not be shown compassion by God.
The Prophet's birthday is an invaluable opportunity for
Muslims young and old to partake in a celebration of joy and
mercy; a celebration that recounts the compassion of the
Prophet Muhammad and invigorates dampened spirits. It serves
as a reminder that whatever trials and tribulations one faces,
the Prophet of God faced greater trials and tribulations, yet
he never once allowed anger or hatred to determine his
actions. Rather, he insisted: "love for humanity what you love
for yourself."
(Aftab Ahmad Malik is a visiting fellow at the Centre for the
Study of Ethnicity and Culture at the University of
Birmingham. Source: Common Ground News Service, 11 March
2008.Copyright permission is granted for publication.)
Unforgivable behaviour, inadmissible evidence
We can never retake the moral high ground when we claim the
right to do unto others that which we would vehemently condemn
if done to us.
Morris Davis
TWENTY-Seven
years ago, in the final days of the Iran hostage crisis,
the CIA's Teheran station chief, Tom Ahern, faced his
principal interrogator for the last time.
The interrogator said the abuse Ahern had suffered was
inconsistent with his own personal values and with the
values of Islam and, as if to wipe the slate clean, he
offered Ahern a chance to abuse him just as he had abused
the hostages. Ahern looked the interrogator in the eyes
and said, 'We don't do stuff like that.'
Today, Tom Ahern might have to say: 'We don't do stuff
like that very often.' Or, 'We generally don't do stuff
like that.'
That is a shame. Virtues requiring caveats are not
virtues. Saying a man is honest is a compliment. Saying a
man is 'generally' honest or honest 'quite often' means he
lies. The mistreatment of detainees, like honesty, is all
or nothing: We either do stuff like that or we do not. It
is in our national interest to restore our reputation for
the latter.
Some accounts of detainee abuse in the war on terrorism
are overblown, but others are not. After humiliating
prisoners at Abu Ghraib by forcing them to strip naked and
lie in a pile like a stack of firewood or simulating the
drowning of detainees to persuade them to talk, we can no
longer say we 'don't do stuff like that'. The disclosure
last month of a manual for Canadian diplomats listing the
United States as a country where prisoners might face
torture, referring specifically to Guantànamo Bay, Cuba,
was an embarrassment on both sides of the border.
During the Gulf War in 1991, the Iraqi armed forces
surrendered by the tens of thousands because they believed
Americans would treat them humanely. Our troops reached
the outskirts of Baghdad in 100 hours and suffered fewer
than 150 combat-related fatalities in large part because
of these mass surrenders.
Would it have been different if the perception of us as
purveyors of torture and humiliation existed back then?
Would tens of thousands of Iraqis have put down their
weapons if they believed they were going to be humiliated,
abused or tortured, or would they have fought? Had they
chosen to fight, the war would have lasted longer and cost
more and casualties would have skyrocketed. Our reputation
in 1991 as the good guys paid dividends and supported our
national interests.
We can start by renouncing cruel, inhuman and degrading
treatment of detainees and unreservedly committing to
uphold the Detainee Treatment Act, which passed Congress
in 2005 but was diluted by a presidential signing
statement. We must also reaffirm our adherence to the UN
Convention Against Torture, which the Senate ratified in
1990.
Just as important, we need to come to grips with the
practice known as waterboarding, the simulated drowning of
a person to persuade him to talk. There was some progress
recently: The CIA's director, General Michael Hayden, told
Congress that the practice may be illegal under current
law; the director of national intelligence, Michael
McConnell, told a reporter, 'Whether it's torture by
anybody else's definition, for me it would be torture';
Attorney General Michael Mukasey, after being asked if
waterboarding would be torture if done to him, said that
'I would feel that it was'; and Congress passed a law
forbidding the CIA to use waterboarding and other harsh
techniques.
That a few others in positions of power still find it so
difficult to admit the obvious about waterboarding is
astounding. We can never retake the moral high ground when
we claim the right to do unto others that which we would
vehemently condemn if done to us.
My policy as the chief prosecutor for the military
commissions at Guantànamo was that evidence derived
through waterboarding was off limits. That should still be
our policy. To do otherwise is not only an affront to
American justice, it will potentially put prosecutors at
risk for using illegally obtained evidence.
Unfortunately, I was overruled on the question, and I
resigned my position to call attention to the issue -
efforts that were hampered by my being placed under a gag
rule and ordered not to testify at a senate hearing.
At a senate hearing in December, the legal adviser for the
military commissions, Brigadier General Thomas Hartmann,
refused to rule out using evidence obtained by
waterboarding. Afterward, Senator Lindsey Graham, who is
also a lawyer in the Air Force Reserves, said that no
military judge would allow the introduction of such
evidence. I hope Graham is right about military judges,
and it is unfortunate that any might be put in a position
where he has to make such a decision.
Regrettably, at a Pentagon news briefing announcing that
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the 9/11
attacks, and five others had been charged and faced the
death penalty, Hartmann again declined to rule out the use
of evidence acquired through waterboarding. Military
justice has a proud history; this was not one of its finer
moments.
That is not to say those subjected to waterboarding get a
free pass. If the prosecution can build a persuasive case
without using the coerced 'confession,' then whether a
defendant endured waterboarding is immaterial in
determining guilt or innocence.
There are some bad men at Guantànamo Bay and a few deserve
death, but only after trials we can truthfully call full,
fair and open. In that service, we must declare that
evidence obtained by waterboarding be banned in every
American system of justice. We must restore our reputation
as the good guys who refuse to stoop to the level of our
adversaries. We are Americans, and we should be able to
state with conviction, 'We don't do stuff like that.
Source:www.khaleejtimes.com
US polls: uncertainty reigns
While the Republicans exult in the orderly
conclusion of their party's nomination process, the Democrats
are in a state of virtual disarray.
THE contrast could
not have been more glaring. On March 5, Senator John McCain,
the nominee of the Republican Party, visited the White House
fresh from his victory over his last remaining opponent,
conservative Mike Huckabee, to receive the formal endorsement
of President Bush. The party all united behind him is now
excitedly waiting to face the Democratic nominee in November's
presidential election.
While the Republicans exult in the orderly conclusion of their
party's nomination process, the Democrats are in a state of
virtual disarray. The momentum of Barack Obama who had
accumulated a string of victories in eleven states was
stalled, at least temporarily, when he lost in the crucial
states of Texas and Ohio to Hillary Clinton. Before that, it
looked as he would knock her out of the race by decisively
defeating her in one or both of the states.
Primaries are the process by which the two main parties elect
their candidates for the presidential election. In order to
win the Democratic party's nomination, at least 2,025 pledged
delegates are needed. These are awarded to each candidate
according to a complex formula based on the number of votes
received in each state. Neither candidate has reached this
magic number thus far. Despite his recent losses, Obama has
stayed ahead of Hillary Clinton by more than one hundred
delegates. But the process may have reached a stalemate. It
has been estimated that even if either candidate wins 60 per
cent of the votes in the remaining states, the resulting
delegate count will still not be sufficient to give either a
clear victory.
With neither candidate receiving the critical number of
delegates, Democratic party leaders are worried that the two
rivals may damage each other in the ongoing internecine fight
to such a degree that Senator McCain, a seasoned politician,
may win the presidential election on Nov 4. Also, an unsettled
election may be decided by 'super delegates', a group of
Democratic party officials such as state governors, senators
and congressmen and former presidents, with dubious
legitimacy.
An analysis of the support which Democratic nominees are
receiving from their constituencies is very interesting. Obama
has been in the US Senate for one term and was virtually
unknown until he joined the presidential race over a year ago.
He has generated a sense of youthful excitement, an aura of
innocent idealism, powerfully fuelled by a yearning for change
not seen since the days when John F. Kennedy inspired America
in the early sixties. He is a powerful and eloquent speaker
who draws support from the young, college graduates and
affluent segments of the electorate, and overwhelming loyalty
from African-Americans who recognise that he embodies their
best hope for electing the first black president. Besides, his
early exposure to a galaxy of cultures - including the Islamic
world - will, he claims, give him a unique advantage in
dealing with world leaders.
Although Obama has received support from across the racial
spectrum, his strengths in some cases have also become his
vulnerabilities. His middle name, Hussein, has incited the
derision of right-wing conservatives who accuse him of being a
closet Muslim, a product of an Indonesian madressah cast in
the Pakistani mould, and an Al Qaeda sympathiser who took his
oath of office as a senator on a copy of the Quran in place of
the Bible.
Some supporters of Israel have accused him of insufficient
dedication to the security interests of that country. Senator
Obama has repeatedly denied all these allegations, affirming
that he is a practising Christian. The rumours, however,
continue to grow on the Internet and are kept alive by
conservative talk-show hosts. So far they have had no
discernable impact.
Unlike Obama, Senator Hillary Clinton is an experienced,
battle-hardened politician who commands support of a
formidable political machine and of her husband, the former
President Clinton, one of the shrewdest politicians in the
country. She is supported by a large number of women, a
majority of Latino voters and older, less affluent white
voters. Recently, in the face of a string of defeats, she has
sharpened her attacks on Obama, arguing that he is too
inexperienced to take on the presidency. Her initial support
for the Iraq war, a major US policy blunder, has become less
of an issue since the weak state of the economy recently
supplanted the war as the number one concern of the American
public.
Senator Obama has held back from responding in kind to attacks
from Hillary Clinton or McCain, the Republican opponent. His
political advisers are unsure how to react to them. If he
adopts the same strident tone as his rivals, then his
reputation as someone who is a unifier, a proponent of change,
who stays above the fray, will be tarnished. Doing nothing
will generate a sense of weakness. Ultimately, a solution to
the impasse may emerge that is already being talked about -
the so-called Dream Team that would have both of them aboard,
one as the potential president, the other vice-president.
However, the next question would then be who of the two should
head the team as the presidential nominee.
Source: www.dawn.com
International
US forces in
Afghanistan kill 4 Pakistani civilians: Army
AFP, Miranshah
Two Pakistani women
and two children were killed by artillery shells fired by
US-led coalition forces in neighbouring Afghanistan, the
Pakistani army said Thursday.
An army spokesman said the shells destroyed the victims'
house in the troubled Pakistan tribal region of North
Waziristan, an alleged haven for Al-Qaeda and Taliban
militants.
"The coalition forces were firing at a group of militants
when five shells landed in Pakistan, destroying a house
and killing two women and two children," chief military
spokesman Athar Abbas told AFP.
"We have lodged a very strong protest with the coalition
forces across the border," he said.
Local officials said the house in the town of Lwara Mundi,
a hotbed of militancy on the frontier where there have
been frequent clashes between security forces and
militants, belonged to a local tribesman.
NATO-led forces in Afghanistan said on Wednesday they had
killed two women and two children in southern Afghanistan,
which borders Pakistan, but it was unclear if they were
describing the same incident.
The border between the two countries has been wracked by
fighting since US-led forces invaded Afghanistan in late
2001 to oust the hardline Taliban regime following the
September 11 attacks on the United States.
Meanwhile, a suicide bomber targeting foreigners blew
himself up on a road near the Afghan capital's airport on
Thursday, city criminal police chief General Alishah
Paktiawal.
"Foreigners were the targets but I do not have any
information on casualties," Paktiawal told AFPâ. A
spokeswoman for the International Security Assistance
Force (ISAF) said she could not confirm the explosion and
an "investigation is underway."
Meanwhile, bomb blasts struck two NATO convoys in
Afghanistan Wednesday, wounding four foreign soldiers,
while five civilians were killed in separate
extremist-linked unrest, officials said.
In an attack claimed by Taliban insurgents, a suicide car
bomb struck a Canadian armoured vehicle driving through
the southern city of Kandahar, the Canadian military said.
An Afghan man was killed, his body badly burned by the
blast, which also set a house alight, and at least one
civilian was wounded, witnesses and officials said.
A Canadian soldier with NATO's International Security
Assistance Force was also injured, said ISAF spokesman
Captain Mark Gough.
"It was a suicide car bomb attack against a Canadian
convoy.... One military vehicle was damaged," said another
ISAF spokesman, Captain Fraser Clark.
The Taliban, an Islamic militant group that was in
government in Afghanistan between 1996 and 2001, confirmed
it was behind the blast-similar to scores of others
carried out by the insurgents.
A roadside bomb, another favoured Taliban weapon,
meanwhile struck a vehicle containing Romanian troops also
serving with the ISAF, wounding three of them, the
Romanian defence ministry said in Bucharest.
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