Daily Archives: May 2, 2004

5 posts

In Falluja, Finding a Place for the Dead

April 27, 2004 | New York Times by CHRISTINE HAUSER FALLUJA, Iraq — The paint on the gravestones is as red as blood. And on some of them, it has not yet dried. “A young brother and sister are buried here,” said one of the gravediggers, who gave only his first name, Hamza, as he pointed to two crudely cut blocks propped up on a dirt mound.

Haiti: Turning back the clock

[ Driver’s delegation to Haiti documented nighttime raids conducted by U.S. forces, violence against Aristide supporters in Haiti, and more: “Later that day, we found out that his name was read out on the radio, which is like being marked for death.” Click here for more on Haiti. –BL ] 28 April 2004 | Sojourners by Tom F. Driver I want to send you some news about the Haiti I have been visiting since March 23, when I came down with the first non-governmental delegation that’s gone there since the United States forcibly removed President Aristide on Feb. 29. The delegation […]

U.S. Aid Much Lower Than Most Americans Believe

[ Although many in the U.S. suppose that the U.S. gives more than its share of development aid, this is a woefully inaccurate belief. The United States gives little development assistance for its size, ties much of it to the purchase of U.S. goods and services, and allocates it to countries generally richer or more corrupt than recipients of development assistance from other donors. — Center for Global Development –BL ] Index Ranks Richest Nations’ Aid Contributions 27 April 2004 | NetAid.org New York — In the second annual Commitment to Development Index (CDI), released yesterday by the Center for […]

Officer Suggests Iraq Jail Abuse Was Encouraged

[ A new Seymour Hersh article in the New Yorker suggests that “military police at the prison were urged by Army military officers and C.I.A. agents to ‘set physical and mental conditions for favorable interrogation of witnesses.’” General Karpinski, who was in charge of the prison, says she did not visit Cellblock 1A, in keeping with the wishes of military intelligence officers who, she said, worried that unnecessary visits might interfere with their interrogations of Iraqis. She acknowledged that she “probably should have been more aggressive” about visiting the interrogation cellblock, especially after military intelligence officers at the prison went […]

Coca-Cola Silences Challenge to Its Role in Rights Violations

[ Labor rights activist Ray Rogers at the April shareholder meeting: [Union leader] Acedro Guild was assassinated, murdered in one of your bottling plants in Colombia. The next day those same paramilitary security forces [purportedly contracted by Coke to bust the union] went into the plant, rounded up the workers. Coca-Cola managers in the plant had prepared resignation forms. Those workers were told that if they did not resign by 4:00 p.m. That day, they, too, would be murdered like their union officer, Acedro Hill. They all resigned in mass, and the wages in that plant went from $380 a […]