US: Clarify Position on Targeted Killings | Human Rights Watch

US: Clarify Position on Targeted Killings | Human Rights Watch

Ruling on Targeted Cleric Highlights Need to Explain Legal Basis for Lethal Attacks

December 7, 2010

(New York) - The US government should immediately clarify its legal rationale for targeted killings, Human Rights Watch said in a letter today to President Barack Obama.

A federal court judge's dismissal of a lawsuit on December 7, 2010, challenging the US government's targeted killing program abroad underscores the urgent need for the Obama administration to publicly explain its policy, Human Rights Watch said. Judge John Bates of the US district court in Washington, DC dismissed the lawsuit on procedural grounds but did not address the merits of the case.

"President Obama should answer the fundamental questions of how his administration determines whether a person may be targeted," said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch. "Such operations may be lawful under certain circumstances, but absent clear boundaries, they will inevitably violate international law and set a dangerous precedent for abusive regimes around the globe."

The lawsuit, brought by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Constitutional Rights, challenged the US government's decision to authorize the targeted killing of American cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who is believed to be hiding in Yemen. The US government says al-Awlaki is linked to the Yemen-based al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula but has not brought formal charges against him. The lawsuit also sought to have the government disclose the legal standard it uses to place US citizens on alleged government "kill lists."

The Obama administration dramatically expanded the use of targeted killings outside of traditional battlefields following the attacks of September 11, 2001. Many of these killings are conducted by the Central Intelligence Agency through the use of Unmanned Combat Aircraft Systems (drones). The US government asserts that it has authority under international law to use lethal force outside of clearly defined war zones because it is engaged in a global armed conflict with al Qaeda and associated forces.

Human Rights Watch recognizes that the US government has a responsibility to respond to national security threats. The deliberate use of lethal force can be legal in operations involving a combatant on a genuine battlefield, or in a law enforcement action in which the threat to life is imminent and there is no reasonable alternative.

"US government claims that the entire world is a battleground in which the laws of war are applicable undermine the protections of international law," Roth said. "This discredited notion invites the application of lethal force by other countries in situations where the US would strongly object to its use."

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Japan must end the scourge of parental child abduction | The Japan Times Online

Japan must end the scourge of parental child abduction | The Japan Times Online

To the government of Japan:

Parental child abduction to Japan has become an epidemic that has received its share of dramatic media coverage this year, and even though many countries have long been pressuring Japan to address this issue, the demands for a solution have recently become more frequent, and noticeably more urgent.

Over the years, ambassadors from Spain, the United Kingdom, Italy, France, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United States have all repeatedly called upon Japan to resolve the problem of parental child abduction, but progress has been sorely lacking, resulting in the buildup of international pressure that has finally exploded onto Japan's newspapers and into policy discussions at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

In October, envoys of 11 nations plus the European Union (comprised of 27 countries) told Justice Minister Minoru Yanagida that they believe children should grow up while keeping in touch with both their parents, and that Japan should sign the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, which provides rules and procedures for the return of abducted children. Japan is "considering the matter."

For years, the Japanese government refused to acknowledge that parental child abduction was even a problem, but this issue has finally become too big to ignore. In September, Virginia Rep. Jim Moran warned Japan that Congress "is watching and expecting action." Now the Japanese authorities are, at long last, talking about child abduction to the media and to foreign governments, although they are unfortunately doing so in a highly guarded and disingenuous manner, often with the complicity of the Japanese press, who use "quotes" when discussing "abduction" in order to minimize the "issue."

One of Japan's favorite myths, proffered to justify parental kidnapping, is that joint custody is strictly an undesirable "Western value," and therefore Japan should not have to capitulate by adopting such a peculiar foreign practice. However, since Japan's Asian neighbors — Taiwan, South Korea and China — as well as other non-Western countries, such as Nigeria and countless others, recognize joint custody and also routinely enforce U.S. and other valid custody orders for joint-parenting time, this "Western value" assertion falls flat on its face.

Furthermore, loving one's children and wanting to spend time with them is most certainly not just a "Western" value.

It can be very frustrating to navigate around the Japanese facade (tatemae) of ridiculous parental child abduction excuses, but with the U.S. Congress recently condemning Japan for its complicity in the child abduction problem (by a landslide vote of 416 to 1), and with President Barack Obama's visit to Japan approaching, it seemed timely to provide a few insights.

• Excuse #1: It is Japanese culture for the father to forget about his children after a divorce.

It is presumptuous and embarrassing for the Japanese government to argue that it is "Japanese culture" to care so little about one's own flesh and blood — that Japanese fathers want to have nothing to do with their kids after the breakup of a marriage. Japanese parents, fathers included, love their children immensely, and samurai warriors used to literally fight wars over the safety of their eldest sons.

The real indigenous cultural problem here is that it is a feature of Japanese culture not to openly complain about clearly unjust or irrational rules, regardless of their dire consequences. The Japanese even have a popular word for this forbearance principle: gaman.

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Hatewatch | Southern Poverty Law Center » Racist E-mails Lead to Resignation of a Florida Police Chief

Hatewatch | Southern Poverty Law Center » Racist E-mails Lead to Resignation of a Florida Police Chief

An embattled South Florida police chief – already serving a 30-day unpaid suspension for using city computers to share racist, tasteless Internet jokes with his command staff, including one E-mail suggesting President Obama should have been shot by his own honor guard – resigned Tuesday.

A city investigation determined that Wilton Manors Police Chief Richard E. Perez distributed 86 messages with “inappropriate content” using the city’s E-mail system during a four-month period this spring and summer. According to a South Florida Times [1] report published on its website today, Perez was given a resign-or-be-fired ultimatum from City Manager Joseph Gallegos after an internal probe detected that Perez also violated the city’s leave policy.

Perez’s resignation comes in the wake of reporting by veteran South Florida Times reporter Elgin Jones. Jones’ investigative work uncovering racist and offensive E-mails sent by city officials has been causing a stir in Wilton Manors, which abuts Fort Lauderdale, for more than two years. The weekly publication is the region’s most influential African-American community newspaper.

One E-mail from Perez’ account, sent on May 27 to his second in command, Capt. Dorris “Dee” Seibert, contained a short audio file in which a man with a pronounced African-American dialect delivers a cheerful greeting. “Good mornin’ ma’am! And iddn’t it a lovely morning?” to which a white-sounding woman replies, “Up yours, nigger!”

Another, sent by Perez on July 21 – entitled, “Urban schools are finally starting to teach practical math that these kids can use in real-world situations!” – abounded with racial stereotypes demeaning blacks and Hispanics: “Lajames has an AK-47 with a 200-round clip. He usually missed 6 of every 10 shots and he uses 13 rounds per drive-by shootin. How many mofos can Lajames ice on a drive-by before he gotta reload? … Leroy has 2 ounces of cocaine. If he sells an 8 ball to Antonio for $320 and 2 grams to Juan for $85 per gram, what be the street value of the rest of his shit? … Dwayne pimps 3 ho’s. If the price is $85 per trick, how many tricks per day must each ho turn to support Dwayne’s $800 per day Crack habit?” Six other “test questions” were included.

Obama was a frequent target of the jokes and insults traded among Perez and his subordinates. One E-mail to Perez from Sgt. Peter Bigelsen read, “I sat, as did millions of other Americans, and watched as the government under went a peaceful transition of power a year ago. At first, I felt a swell of pride and patriotism while Barack Obama took his oath of office. However, all that pride quickly vanished as I later watched 21 Marines, in full dress uniform with rifles, fire a 21-gun salute to the President. It was then that I realized how far America’s military had deteriorated. Every damn one of them missed the bastard.”

Another e-mail Perez forward to his command staff on July 23 said, “A little boy said to his mother, ‘Mommy, how come I’m black and you’re white.’ His mother replied, ‘Don’t even go there, Barack! From what I can remember about that party, you’re lucky you don’t bark!’”

All of the available samples of Perez’s E-mails had a singular political slant – against liberals in general and Obama specifically. They ranged from the mildly funny – “Q: What was the most positive result of the ‘Cash for Clunkers’ program? A: It took 95% of the Obama bumper stickers off the road.” (E-mail of April 21; joke attributed to David Letterman) – to mean-spirited: An E-mail with the subject line, “Stupid is as stupid does,” contained a photograph purportedly showing Barack and Michelle Obama at a White House ceremony saluting with their left hands over their hearts. (Stupid, in that case, might better apply to anyone who believed the doctored photograph was genuine: Snopes.com and other urban-legend sites busted the hoax by turning up the unaltered original photo, and others taken at the same time, showing the Obamas saluting correctly.)

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Intellectuals held in China crackdown after Liu Xiaobo gets Nobel peace prize | World news | The Guardian

Image via WikipediaIntellectuals held in China crackdown after Liu Xiaobo gets Nobel peace prize | World news | The Guardian

Reaction 'predictable and stupid' says head of writers group as fears grow for laureate's missing wife

Jonathan Watts

Pro-democracy protesters calling for the release of Liu Xiaobo carry his picture as they march to China's liaison office in Hong Kong today. Photograph: Kin Cheung/AP

More than 30 Chinese intellectuals have been detained, warned or placed under house arrest in a crackdown to stifle celebration of the Nobel peace prize being awarded to the imprisoned democracy advocate Liu Xiaobo.

Among those facing restrictions are the laureate's wife Liu Xia who visited her husband in Jinzhou prison earlier today.

However, she tweeted today that she visited her husband and found he was told on Saturday that he had won the award. Liu Xia told reporters her husband cried and dedicated his prize to the "dead spirits of Tiananmen".

"The reaction of the authorities is predictable and stupid. They have tried to block the flow of information on the internet, detain people and cut telephone communications," said Zhang Yu, the Stockholm-based head of the Writers in Prison Committee of the freedom of expression group, Independent Chinese PEN Centre (ICPC). "I'm sure they have planned for this."

The Norwegian Nobel peace prize committee announced on Friday that this year's winner will be Liu, a former literature professor who co-drafted the Charter 08 campaign for increased political liberties in China.

US president Barack Obama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and former Czech president Vaclav Havel were among a host of world leaders who commended the decision, but the Chinese government has responded with fury.

The foreign ministry summoned the Norwegian ambassador for a dressing down and declared the decision a "blasphemy" and insult to the Chinese people.

Censors cut foreign broadcasts of the announcement and police have been mobilised to choke any sign of domestic support for Liu.

About 20 of those affected were at a celebration party in Beijing on Friday night that was broken up by police. Three participants are now under eight days administrative detention for "disturbing social order". The others are under house arrest or heightened surveillance.

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Obama ask China to free Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu-HindustanTimes

US President Barack Obama has applauded Nobel Committee's decision to honour jailed Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo with the 2010 Peace Prize and asked Beijing to release the "courageous" human rights activist as soon as possible.

"By granting the prize to Liu, the Nobel Committee has chosen someone who has been an eloquent and courageous spokesman for the advance of universal values through peaceful and non-violent means, including his support for democracy, human rights and the rule of law," Obama said in a statement last night.

"This award reminds us that political reform has not kept pace, and that the basic human rights of every man, woman and child must be respected. We call on the Chinese government to release Liu as soon as possible," Obama said.

Welcoming the Nobel Committee's decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize to Liu, Obama, who was the recipient of the coveted prize in 2009, said: "Last year, I noted that so many others who have received the award had sacrificed so much more than I. That list now includes Mr Liu, who has sacrificed his freedom for his beliefs."

"As I said last year in Oslo, even as we respect the unique culture and traditions of different countries, America will always be a voice for those aspirations that are universal to all human beings," the US President said.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also welcomed the decision of the Nobel Committee to award the Nobel Peace Prize to Liu.

Throughout its history, the Peace Prize has often been used to recognise the heroism of those who have, through persistent and peaceful efforts, sought to build a world that is more fair and free, she said in a statement.

"Mr Liu has been a consistent advocate for fundamental freedoms and human rights for his fellow citizens and for peaceful political reform.

"Mr Liu's work, including his role in the drafting of Charter '08 (which called for greater freedom and an end to the Communist Party's political dominance), and his receipt of this honour highlight the fact that while China has made tremendous economic progress in the last three decades, political reform has lagged behind," Clinton said.

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China Pressured on Dissidents to Currency as Global Role Mounts - Bloomberg

China Pressured on Dissidents to Currency as Global Role Mounts - Bloomberg

China was subjected to an onslaught of international criticism on policies ranging from human rights to currency reform as it was pressed this week to live up to its burgeoning superpower status and show greater social and financial responsibility.

The awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to political prisoner Liu Xiaobo was the most high-profile rebuke as President Barack Obama yesterday acknowledged the Chinese dissident’s plight by demanding his immediate release. Meantime, finance chiefs from Canada to Europe urged the country to allow faster gains in the yuan. It also drew U.S. barbs for its record on global warming.

The criticisms were rejected by Chinese leaders intent on making their own way in the world as they oversee their nation’s transformation from Communist isolation to the globe’s second largest economy and biggest consumer for automobiles and copper. The result may be even greater tension and remonstrations as next month’s Group of 20 summit in Seoul.

“The bottom line is China is growing up faster than it wants to,” said Charles Freeman, a fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington and a former U.S. trade official with responsibility for China. “The rest of the world wants to treat it as a significant power, but China doesn’t want that and prefers to focus on its domestic development.”

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Lawyers seek injunction to halt military gay rule

Lawyers seek injunction to halt military gay rule

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) — Lawyers for a Republican gay rights organization say they will ask a federal judge in California to impose an injunction to halt the military's "Don't ask, don't tell" policy nationwide.

The lawyers for the Log Cabin Republicans are expected to make the request during their closing arguments in a Riverside courtroom.

The case is considered the policy's biggest constitutional test in recent years.

It has put the Obama administration in the awkward position of defending a policy President Obama wants repealed.

Government attorneys have said throughout the two-week trial the matter should be decided by Congress, not a federal judge.

The government presented only the policy's legislative history as its defense.

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