From: NY Transfer News <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
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Date: Sat, 28 Jul 2001 01:58:12 -0400 (EDT)
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: [CubaNews] NY Transfer's RHC News Update-27 July 2001
Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit
Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 27 July 2001
.
*INTERNATIONAL CRITICISM OF REPRESSION AT G8 SUMMIT ON THE RISE
*HONDURAN ARRESTED IN US ON CHARGES OF TORTURE SAYS WASHINGTON BETRAYED HIM
*AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL ENDORSES REPARATIONS FOR VICTIMS OF SLAVERY
*PERU WILL NORMALIZE RELATIONS WITH VENEZUELA, SAYS TOLEDO
.
*INTERNATIONAL CRITICISM OF REPRESSION AT G8 SUMMIT ON THE RISE
Paris, Vienna, Berlin, Rome, July 27 (RHC)--Criticism of Italy's repression
of anti-globalization activists continues on the rise in Italy and
throughout the international community. The Friday edition of the Italian
news daily "La Repubblica" published testimony from a police inspector
speaking of the screams he heard in the principle detention center near
Genoa where arrested protesters were confined. The local news daily "La
Stampa" quotes an Italian police officer saying "it was war, I beat people,
too". A delegation of Germany's Green Party just returned from a visit to
Italy, where they interviewed the German activists in jail. The German
legislators stated that they were horrified by the stories of abuse and
violations of the human dignity of their arrested compatriots - adding that
since they are separated from one another their stories could not be
confabulations.
They said that Italy has clearly and premeditatedly violated European norms
regarding the treatment of prisoners. The British news dailies "The
Independent" and "The Daily Telegraph" have highlighted the police brutality
in Genoa, insisting that London is obligated to officially protest the
brutality. In Brussels, Green Party members of the European Parliament are
demanding that Italy's excessive use of force be placed on the agenda during
its plenary session next September, while Amnesty International is demanding
the setting of an independent investigative commission.
The International Federation of Journalists, along with other European
organizations, have condemned the brutality unleashed against news
correspondents covering the G-8 gathering in Genoa. In recent days,
thousands of people in Paris, Berlin, Brussels and Athens have demonstrated
in front of Italy's embassies.
*HONDURAN ARRESTED IN US ON CHARGES OF TORTURE SAYS WASHINGTON BETRAYED HIM
Miami, July 27 (RHC)--A former member of the Honduran military arrested in
the United States on charges of torture has asserted that Washington has
betrayed him. In statements published today by "The Miami Herald", former
Honduran army lieutenant Nelson de Jesus Vallejo retracted a previous
confession of having tortured leftist guerrillas and political opponents
when his country served as Washington's contra base against the Nicaraguan
revolution.
He admitted, however, that he participated in the illegal mining of
Nicaraguan ports under the command of former US Lieutenant Colonel Oliver
North. Revelations of the operation sparked a political upheaval in the US
Congress, which banned further aid to the contras. But the ban would lead to
the Iran-Contra scandal, in which North was accused of diverting funds
received for weapons sales to Iran to illegally finance the contras.
Vallejo's arrest last month reportedly brought to 28 the number of
foreigners arrested in US territory accused of torture, forced
disappearances and assassinations. Several have been deported. The arrests
began last year when the US's Immigration and Naturalization Service changed
its policy, in an apparent effort to clean up Washington's image as a safe
haven for human rights violators.
Vallejo, who entered the United States in 1991, is one of numerous members
of the Honduran military who received US visas for having collaborated with
the CIA and the Pentagon during the contra war.
*AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL ENDORSES REPARATIONS FOR VICTIMS OF SLAVERY
London, July 27 (RHC)--Amnesty International has joined voices with numerous
non-governmental organizations supporting reparations for the victims of
slavery and racial discrimination. In a report entitled "Racism and the
Application of Justice" -- leading up to the International Conference on
Racism in Durban, South Africa -- the London-based human rights organization
said today's governments cannot avoid responsibility for violations
committed by past governments.
But while supporting the reparations clamour, Amnesty International said
that the most efficient form of compensation for historic errors is to
eliminate the contemporary manifestations of racial discrimination. The
organization took as an example the racism in the application of justice in
the United States, noting that while whites and blacks are murder victims in
almost identical percentages, more than 80 percent of executions carried out
in the U.S. since 1977 were related to the murders of white citizens.
The issue of reparations is threatening to abort the Durban conference, with
countries like the United States, Great Britain and Portugal, among others,
strongly opposed to compensating the nations and peoples who suffered
slavery.
*PERU TO NORMALIZE RELATIONS WITH VENEZUELA, SAYS TOLEDO
Lima, July 27 (RHC)--Peruvian President-elect Alejandro Toledo has affirmed
that relations between his country and Venezuela will be normalized once he
officially assumes office on Saturday. Relations between the two countries
soured last month in a dispute over the capture in the Venezuelan capital,
Caracas, of then-fugitive former Peruvian national intelligence chief
Vladimiro Montesinos.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez accused Peruvian authorities of mounting a
search and capture operation inside Venezuelan territory without informing
Venezuelan authorities, while Peruvian authorities suggested that Montesinos
had obtained government protection. Both countries withdrew their respective
ambassadors.
In response to Toledo's announcement, Venezuela's foreign ministry said
Chavez will travel to Peru for the presidential inauguration. In other news,
Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque has also travelled to Peru at the
head of the Cuban delegation that will be present during tomorrow's
ceremony.
(c) 2001 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. All rights reserved.
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