by Helen Thomas
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Tuesday, July 29, 2003

WASHINGTON – President Bush has a huge credibility gap stemming from
his exaggerated rhetoric that led the United States to attack Iraq.

The Bush hype recalls the Lyndon B. Johnson era when LBJ’s misleading
statements and deceptions led us deeper into the disastrous Vietnam War.

Johnson later acknowledged that public mistrust had doomed his chances
for re-election in 1968. Trust and truth still go a long way with the
American people when it comes to war and peace. (more…)

By Gustavo Capdevila

GENEVA, Jul 30 (IPS) - The oil companies that were shipping fuel aboard the
tanker ‘Prestige’, which sank last November off the northwest Spanish coast,
are responsible for the consequences of the disaster, including those that
involve the local population’s human rights.

But this principle of corporate responsibility does not appear in the text
drafted by a United Nations working group on monitoring the conduct of
transnationals, says attorney Alejandro Teitelbaum, representative of the
American Association of Jurists (AAJ) in Geneva. (more…)

By Stephen Leahy

BROOKLIN, Canada, Jul 29 (IPS) - The free flow of news on the Internet is at risk unless governments that attend December’s global information summit commit to supporting free expression, and to not restricting information online, warns an umbrella group of journalists’ organisations.

“News on the Internet is easily blocked and it’s often done by countries,” says Marilyn Greene of the World Press Freedom Committee (WPFC). China, Pakistan, Malaysia and Vietnam are just a few of the many nations that block news sites, shut down Internet cafes and arrest citizens for disseminating legitimate news, she told IPS. (more…)

European Union

Brussels, 28 July 2003

Regional development - guide on the use of the Structural Funds in the electronic communications sector

Following a wide-ranging consultation of all interested parties - in particular regional and local authorities - and the Committee for the Development and Conversion of the Regions, which brings together representatives from the Member States, the Commission today published its guidelines on the conditions and procedures governing the implementation of the Structural Funds in the electronic communications sector. The primary objective of these guidelines is to give greater legal certainty to economic operators, particularly in the regions, when drawing up and implementing investment projects in the electronic communications sector (mobile telephony, high-speed Internet access, etc.). (more…)

By Peyman Pejman

AMMAN, Jul 28 (IPS) - Three months after the end of major hostilities in Iraq,
human rights remain a controversial issue in a country alien to the concept for at
least the past three decades.

The exact number of people being detained by the coalition forces is not
known, but official estimates place it around 2,000 to 3,000. Some are being
detained in southern Iraq, but most are holed up at a temporary facility set up at
Baghdad International Airport. (more…)

By Katrin Dauenhauer

WASHINGTON, Jul 25 (IPS) - A growing number of U.S. citizens perceive Islam as a religion that encourages violence, according to a new study on religion and politics conducted by the Pew Research Centre and the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life.

The 52-page survey “Religion and Politics: Contention and Consensus” released on Thursday shows that there has been an important shift in public perceptions of Islam. Some 44 percent of the people interviewed agreed with the statement that Islam encourages violence – almost twice as many as last year, when only 25 percent held this opinion. (more…)

By Katrin Dauenhauer

WASHINGTON, Jul (IPS) Taking a clear stand against anti-privacy provisions in the Patriot Act, the U.S. House of Representatives in an overwhelmingly bipartisan effort last night agreed to an amendment that would bar federal law enforcement from carrying out secret “sneak and peek” searches without notifying the target of the warrant.

The Otter Amendment, added to the Commerce, Justice and State Departments funding bill and named after Rep. C.L. “Butch” Otter, an Idaho Republican, passed by an extraordinary margin of 309 to 118, with 113 Republicans voting in favour. (more…)

By Stephen Leahy

BROOKLIN, Canada, Jul 24 (IPS) - The George W. Bush administration announced a new 10-year plan Thursday to study the “uncertainty” around global climate change – instead of taking action to fix it, scientists and environmentalists say.

“The Bush administration is using the scientific uncertainty around climate change to delay taking concrete actions in reducing its greenhouse gas emissions,” Steven Guilbeault, a political advisor for Greenpeace International, told IPS.

“It’s clear to everyone that this is a delaying action,” he said. (more…)

By Elisabeth Bumiller

New York Times

WASHINGTON - The official White House photograph of President Bush, splashed across the front pages of the nation’s newspapers last summer, showed him striding vigorously on a Camp David trail, just hours after he had been sedated for a colonoscopy. It was a flattering portrait of a fit chief executive, ready to take up the nation’s business once again.

And no wonder, say photojournalists: the president had selected and approved the photograph’s release to the news media. (more…)

By Katrin Dauenhauer

WASHINGTON, Jul 22 (IPS) - Population growth rates in developed and developing countries are becoming increasingly skewed, posing challenges to governments worldwide, according to the 2003 World Population Data Sheet released on Tuesday.

Published by the Washington-based Population Reference Bureau (PRB), the survey estimates a 193 percent population increase in Central Africa – the fastest-growing region in the first half of the 21st century – compared to a mere 6 percent gain in Northern Europe and a population decline in the rest of Europe. (more…)

Berkshire Eagle | Editorial

The Bush administration has never wanted an inquiry into the intelligence and law-enforcement failures that led up to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and it is doing its best to make sure we never get one. Even the tame commission of Washington insiders, led by men of the president’s own party, is now complaining that its work is being hampered by foot-dragging from the Pentagon and Justice Department in producing documents and witnesses, in an effort to run the clock out on it before it can complete its work.

The commission’s leaders have taken the extraordinary step of accusing the White House of witness “intimidation,” insisting that sensitive witnesses testify only in the presence of a “monitor” from their agency. The parallel to Saddam Hussein’s refusal to let Iraqi scientists talk to U.N. weapons inspectors without a similar monitor is too glaring to miss and begs the obvious question: What has Mr. Bush got to hide? (more…)

By Thalif Deen

UNITED NATIONS, Jul(IPS) - The United Nations is expressing fears that armed troops û notably in strife-torn countries such as Afghanistan and Iraq – are increasingly doubling as humanitarian aid workers, threatening private relief operations.

“This involvement in what traditionally has been seen as ‘humanitarian space’ raises significant issues in respect of principles, as well as policy and operational questions,” says U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan in a report released here. (more…)

Why Bush Cited It In Jan. Is Unclear

By Walter Pincus and Mike Allen
Washington Post Staff Writers

Sunday 13 July 2003

CIA Director George J. Tenet successfully intervened with White House officials to have a reference to Iraq seeking uranium from Niger removed from a presidential speech last October, three months before a less specific reference to the same intelligence appeared in the State of the Union address, according to senior administration officials.

Tenet argued personally to White House officials, including deputy national security adviser Stephen Hadley, that the allegation should not be used because it came from only a single source, according to one senior official. Another senior official with knowledge of the intelligence said the CIA had doubts about the accuracy of the documents underlying the allegation, which months later turned out to be forged. (more…)

Commentary by Jim Lobe

WASHINGTON, Jul (IPS) - Make no mistake: U.S. President George W. Bush is in very big trouble.

Whereas a week ago, people here were talking about the dread “V” word – for Vietnam – this week the dreaded “W” word – for Watergate – was back in vogue, even as the “V” word was still in use. Watergate plus Vietnam is about the worst combination for a sitting president that anyone could possibly imagine.

And the almost daily announcement on the news that another U.S. soldier was killed in an attack in Iraq, bringing to 32, 33, 34, the number of troops killed since Pres. Bush declared an end to major hostilities in the war recalls nothing so much as the daily reminders on the evening news 23 years ago that killed the presidency of Jimmy Carter: “Day 385 of the American hostage crisis in Iran". (more…)

By James Hall

MBABANE, Jul (IPS) - Africa’s editors are communicating more and more
through the Internet, forming members-only chat-rooms to exchange thoughts
on the issues that confront the continent, and to share solutions when these
appear.

Such an exchange is unprecedented and welcome, thanks to new Information
and Communications Technology (ICT). But the editors are worried that their
privileged access to ICT may distance them from the vast majority of
Africans who because of poverty are excluded from the “information
revolution.” (more…)

Analysis - By Stefania Bianchi

BRUSSELS, Jul (IPS) - European Union money for the reconstruction
process in Iraq should be managed by a donors’ trust fund that may not
be controlled by Britain and the U.S., according to Chris Patten, EU
commissioner for External Affairs.

In spite of the rift with the U.S. over the war in Iraq, the EU is
tentatively offering to help pay for the reconstruction of the country,
provided that the funds are administered independently. (more…)

Analysis by Jim Lobe

WASHINGTON, Jul (IPS) - Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld has become distinctly testy, while Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz seems almost to have disappeared from public view, and Vice Pres. Dick Cheney hasn’t been heard from in weeks.

Outgoing White House spokesman Ari Fleischer has been reduced to barnyard epithets when asked about how a reference to forged documents about alleged Iraqi purchases of African uranium made it into Pres. George W. Bush’s State of the Union address in January, while the headline in the ‘USA Today’ Monday says “CIA Director (George Tenet) Nudged Toward the Plank". (more…)

By William Rivers Pitt
t r u t h o u t | Perspective

Monday 14 July 2003

Things have reached a pretty pass indeed when you apologize for making a mistake, but nobody believes your apology. So it is today with CIA Director Tenet, and by proxy George W. Bush and his administration.

On Friday evening, CIA Director Tenet publicly jumped on the Niger evidence hand grenade, claiming the use in Bush’s State of the Union Address in January 2003 of data from known forgeries to support the Iraq war was completely his fault. He never told Bush’s people that the data was corrupted, and it was his fault those “sixteen words” regarding Iraqi attempts to procure uranium from Niger for a nuclear program made it into the text of the speech. (more…)

By Katrin Dauenhauer

WASHINGTON, Jul (IPS) - Many of the world’s biggest carbon dioxide polluters are not adequately reporting on the financial risks posed by climate change, according to a new study by a coalition of environmental, investor and advocacy groups.

Leading companies – including ChevronTexaco, ExxonMobil, General Electric, Southern Company and Xcel Energy – are failing to deal with global warming issues in key areas, such as inadequate board reviews and flimsy strategies to address risks and opportunities, says the 129-page study, titled “Corporate Governance and Climate Change: Making the Connection.”

The study was released Wednesday by the Boston-based Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies (CERES). (more…)

By Jim Lobe

WASHINGTON, Jul (IPS) û Washington’s announcement Friday that six of its foreign captives in the U.S. “war on terrorism” are eligible to be tried before military tribunals – where they could potentially be given the death penalty – appears likely to annoy some of its strongest allies, especially Britain.

The announcement came just as the administration of President George W. Bush has begun mending fences damaged by the U.S. war in Iraq in hopes that other countries will contribute peacekeepers to Washington’s troubled occupation. (more…)

By Katherine Stapp*

NEW YORK, Jul(IPS) - Nearly 11 million children do not live to see their fifth birthday each year due to a lethal combination of malnutrition and mostly preventable diseases, according to a new article in the Lancet journal – a catastrophe that experts say is needless.

“Every single day – 365 days a year – an attack against children occurs that is 10 times greater than the death toll from the World Trade Center,” said Jean-Pierre Habicht, a professor of epidemiology and nutritional sciences at the U.S.-based Cornell University.

“We know how to prevent these deaths – we have the biological knowledge and tools to stop this public health travesty – but we’re not yet doing it,” said Habicht, one of the child health researchers publishing a five-article “call to action” in the Lancet. (more…)

By Thomas R. Olmsted, M.D

I am an ex Naval line officer and a psychiatrist in private practice in New Orleans, a Christian and homeschool dad. It troubled me a great deal that we rushed off to war on the flimsiest of evidence. I considered various ways to provide a smoking gun of who and why Sept 11th happened. Astute observers noticed right away that there were no Arabic sounding names on any of the flight manifests of the planes that “crashed� on that day.

A list of names on a piece of paper is not evidence, but an autopsy by a pathologist, is. I undertook by FOIA request, to obtain that autopsy list and you are invited to view it below. Guess what? Still no Arabs on the list. It is my opinion that the monsters who planned this crime made a mistake by not including Arabic names on the original list to make the ruse seem more believable. (more…)

By Gørill Husby and Guri Wiggen

OSLO, Jul(IPS) If the reality in Iraq is one thing and the
reporting of it remains another, it is because much of the media wants
it that way, say two leading journalists who have been reporting the
‘other’ side of the Iraq story.

The level of self-censorship in the media has risen not just during
the Iraq war but also since 9/11, says Robert Fisk from The Independent
newspaper published in Britain and John Pilger, Australian broadcaster
and film-maker. (more…)

By Béla Ladanyi

BUDAPEST, Jul (IPS) A long-term programme has been launched this week
to integrate the Roma minority into European Society.

Government leaders from central and east Europe, the European Commission
and the World Bank launched a programme in Budapest for closer integration of
Roma into European society through better education, healthcare, housing and
job opportunities.

A two-day conference on ‘Roma in an expanding Europe: Challenges for the
Future’ agreed to set up a Roma Education Fund and launch a series of other
steps through the Decade of Roma Inclusion to run from 2005 to 2015. (more…)

SUCCESS STORY
Posted: 26 Jun 2003

by Lester R. Brown

In 1991, a wind resource inventory taken by the US Department of Energy startled the world when it reported that the three most wind-rich states—North Dakota, Kansas, and Texas—had enough harnessable wind energy to satisfy national electricity needs. Now, reports Lester Brown, a new study by a team of engineers at Stanford says that the wind energy potential is actually substantially greater than that estimated in 1991.

Windfarm at Palm Springs, California
© Warren Getz/DOE/NREL

Advances in wind turbine design since 1991 allow turbines to operate at lower wind speeds, to harness more of the wind’s energy, and to harvest it at greater heights—dramatically expanding the harnessable wind resource. Add to this the recent bullish assessments of offshore wind potential, and the enormity of the wind resource becomes apparent. Wind power can meet not only all US electricity needs, but all US energy needs. (more…)

Dear colleagues,

We are proud to present our bilingual (English / French) database on human
rights accessible free of charge at www.hrni.org. On the website you will
find, classified by theme, full texts of judgments and decisions of the
European Court of Human Rights, of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights
and of the UN Human Rights Committee, as well as international and regional
conventions on human rights, reports of the United Nations or
non-governmental organizations, scholarly articles, bibliographic
references, and a portal of Internet sites on human rights and a list of
actors (NGOs, universities, international organizations) playing a role in
this field.
We would be grateful to you for making a link to our website www.hrni.org : (more…)

Table of Contents / July 2003 GGN:

1) Hope for Kids in Nairobi
2) Committed Phone Calls
3) Physicians for Human Rights

1) Hope for Kids in Nairobi

Two third of the inhabitants in Nairobi live in poor districts without infrastructure
and safety. Due to their social situation half of the children in Nairobi are not
able to attend primary schools but become or culprits or victims of violence and
crime. (more…)

John Bunzl, Director of the International Simultaneous Policy Organisation
(ISPO), comments on Naomi Klein’s article, Bush to NGOs: Watch Your Mouths,
appearing in the Global and Mail, June 20th 2003
(http://www.globeandmail.com).

Bush to NGOs: Watch your mouths
by Naomi Klein

The Bush administration has found its next target for pre-emptive war, but
it’s not Iran, Syria or North Korea – not yet, anyway.

Before launching any new foreign adventures, the Bush gang has some
homeland housekeeping to take care of: It is going to sweep up those pesky
non-governmental organizations that are helping to turn world opinion
against U.S. bombs and brands. (more…)

The nine firms that dominate the world
By Robert W. McChesney

Time Warner | Disney | Bertelsmann | Viacom | News Corporation | Sony | TCI | Universal | NBC

A specter now haunts the world: a global commercial media system dominated by a small number of super-powerful, mostly U.S.-based transnational media corporations. It is a system that works to advance the cause of the global market and promote commercial values, while denigrating journalism and culture not conducive to the immediate bottom line or long-run corporate interests. It is a disaster for anything but the most superficial notion of democracy–a democracy where, to paraphrase John Jay’s maxim, those who own the world ought to govern it. (more…)