US War Crimes?

[the_future_modernes]

US ammunition blamed for Iraqi cancer hike - 12 Oct 09

Doctors in Iraq are recording a shocking rise in the number of cancer victims south of Baghdad. Sufferers in the province of Babil have risen by almost tenfold in just three years.

Locals blame depleted uranium from US military equipment used in the 2003 invasion. But the link has been difficult to prove, prompting them to demand an investigation.

In this part of Iraq 500 cases of cancer were diagnosed in 2004. That figure rose to almost 1,000 two years later.

In 2008, the number of cases increased sevenfold to 7,000 diagnoses. This year, there have so far been more than 9,000 new cases ... and the number is rising.

Al Jazeera's Mosab Jasim reports

Honduras Update

[the_future_modernes]

Fault Lines - 100 Days of Resistance - 15 Oct 09- Part 1

100 days since the coup detat that ousted Manuel Zelaya, Fault Lines travels to Honduras to look at polarisation and power in the Americas, and finds resistance and repression in the streets.

Fault Lines - 100 Days of Resistance - 15 Oct 09- Part 2

Honduras De Facto Regime Opens Fire in Poor Neighborhoods:Youth and Union Members Targeted by Coup Violence

The Honduran people have set an example for people throughout Latin America through three months of steady resistance to the coup in their country. But there are powerful groups within Honduras and abroad organizing to neutralize this unprecedented force and block the resistance from growing in strength and numbers. These groups above all seek to prevent the nation from carrying out a Constitutional Assembly to modify the outdated constitution. Along with the reinstatement of the elected President Manuel Zelaya, this demand is central to the popular movement against the coup as a necessary tool to bring the country and its people out of poverty.

In this Special Report, Tegucigalpa reporter Dick Emanuelsson and photographer Mirian Huezo Emanuelsson chronicle the terror and repression unleashed by the coup to maintain power. Despite promises to lift the executive decree that imposed a state of siege, the violence continues.

These are firsthand accounts from the victims of the strategy of force being employed by the coup. All were wounded by security forces since the return of Zelaya on Sept. 21. This strategy has only intensified, despite talk of an official dialogue, largely frustrated during the recent visit of the Organization of American States (OAS). Even as the OAS ministers and other dignitaries were meeting on Oct. 7 in Tegucigalpa to promote dialogue, the coup and armed forces again attacked peaceful demonstrators in the streets.MORE

via ontd-political

[the_future_modernes]

Massive Protests Against Puerto Rican Government Expected Today

There's some big goings-on in Puerto Rico today that don't seem to be getting much press coverage -- big as in hundreds of thousands of people marching against the government, and possibly being threatened with charges of terrorism as a result.
It starts with Puerto Rico's faltering economy -- a $3.2 billion deficit and an unemployment rate of 15 percent as of last month. That's higher than any U.S. state. More than 20,000 public employees have been laid off and the government announced last month nearly 17,000 additional layoffs of public employees. That includes teachers, social workers and health care workers, among others. The latest firings are effective Nov. 6.

So today, according to SEIU, "hundreds of thousands of Puerto Rican workers, faith leaders, students and citizens" are taking part today in a protest march against "massive cuts in essential public services." There could be severe consequences for doing so.

According to the local Daily Sun, the government of Gov. Luis Fortuno has threatened protesters with charges of terrorism.
MORE

The Prison Diaries

[the_future_modernes]

To start off, a couple of booksThe Real Cost of Prison Project Comics that have been thoroughly researched dealing with the War on Drugs, the cost of Prison Towns and how prison affects women and children.


The Incarcerated Woman: Rehabilative Programming in Women's Prisons (Paperback)

Resistance behind Bars: The Struggles of Incarcerated Women

Lets take a short look at how disabled prisoners are treated in prison in a couple of developed countries:

USA Disablement, Prison, and Historical Segregation

The story of disablement and the prison industrial complex must begin with a trail of telling numbers: a disproportionate number of persons incarcerated in U.S. prisons and jails are disabled. Though Census Bureau data suggest that disabled persons represent roughly one-fifth of the total population, prevalence of disability among prisoners is startlingly higher, for reasons we will examine later. While no reliable cross- disability demographics have been compiled nationwide, numerous studies now enable us to make educated estimates regarding the incidence of various disability categories among incarcerated persons. Hearing loss, for example, is estimated to occur in 30 percent of the prison population, while estimates of the prevalence of mental retardation among prisoners range from 3 to 9.5 percent.

Rates of learning disability are spectacularly high among prisoners; in studies conducted among incarcerated juveniles, learning disabilities have been estimated to occur in up to 55 percent of youth nationwide; in one single-state study, 70 percent of youth qualified for special education. As for mental disabilities, in California anywhere from one-sixth to one-fourth of prisoners are believed to have diagnosable “serious mental disorders.” Most stunning of all is a four-state study which examined juveniles imprisoned for capital offenses; virtually 100 percent of those studied were multiply disabled (neurological impairment, psychiatric illness, cognitive deficits), having suffered serious central nervous system injuries resulting from extreme physical and sexual abuse since early childhood.1

Why are so many prisoners in the United States disabled?MORE

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