DHS Considers Collecting DNA From Kids; DEA and US Marshals Already Do

NY Twitter Decision Fails to Recognize Content and Location Data Require a Warrant

TPP: Internet Freedom Activists Protest Secret Trade Agreement Being Negotiated This Week

Global Network Initiative Gets an Inside Look at Tech Firms’ Human Rights Practices

Know Your Rights!

https://www.eff.org/

BREAKING: HISTORIC JUDGMENT. Bush & Associates Found Guilty of Torture

A solid case for the prosecution of Bush, Blair, Rumsfeld, Cheney, their legal counsel and others, for war crimes, crimes against the peace, torture, and crimes against humanity has been established at the Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Tribunal with a guilty verdict on day 5 of the third major session of the Tribunal.

The Tribunal recommends to the War Crimes Commission to give the widest international publicity to this conviction and grant of reparations, as these are universal crimes for which there is a responsibility upon nations to institute prosecutions if any of these Accused persons may enter their jurisdictions. Global Research Director Michel Chossudovsky is a member of the KL War Crimes Commission and was present throughout the Tribunal hearings.

KUALA LUMPUR, 11 May 2012 (mathaba)

The five-panel tribunal unanimously delivered a guilty verdict against former United States President George W. Bush and his associates at the Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Tribunal hearing that had started on Monday, May 7th.

On the charge of Crime of Torture and War Crimes, the tribunal finds the accused persons former U.S. President George W. Bush and his associates namely Richard Cheney, former U.S. Vice President, Donald Rumsfeld, former Defence Secretary, Alberto Gonzales, then Counsel to President Bush, David Addington, then General Counsel to the Vice-President, William Haynes II, then General Counsel to Secretary of Defence, Jay Bybee, then Assistant Attorney General, and John Choon Yoo, former Deputy Assistant Attorney-General guilty as charged and convicted as war criminals for Torture and Cruel, Inhumane and Degrading Treatment of the Complainant War Crime Victims.

Earlier in the week, the tribunal heard the testimonies of three witnesses namely Abbas Abid, Moazzam Begg and Jameelah Hameedi. They related the horrific tortures they had faced during their incarceration. The tribunal also heard two other Statutory Declarations of Iraqi citizen Ali Shalal and Rhuhel Ahmed, a British citizen.

Testimony showed that Abbas Abid, a 48-year-old chief engineer in the Science and Technology Ministry had his fingernails removed by pliers. Ali Shalal was attached with bare electrical wires and electrocuted and hung from the wall. Moazzam Begg was beaten and put in solitary confinement. Jameelah was almost nude and humiliated, used as a human shield whilst being transported by helicopter. All these witnesses have residual injuries till today.

These witnesses were taken prisoners and held in prisons in Afghanistan (Bagram), in Iraq (Abu Gharib, Baghdad International Airport) and two of them namely Moazzam Begg and Rhuhel Ahmed were transported to Guantanamo Bay.

In a submission that lasted a day, the prosecution showed in an in depth submission how the decision-makers at the highest level President Bush, Vice-President Cheney, Secretary of Defence Rumsfeld, aided and abetted by the lawyers and the other commanders and CIA officials – all acted in concert. Torture was systematically applied and became an accepted norm.

According to the prosecution, the testimony of all the witnesses shows a sustained perpetration of brutal, barbaric, cruel and dehumanizing course of conduct against them. These acts of crimes were applied cumulatively to inflict the worst possible pain and suffering.

After hearing the defence of the Amicus Curiae and the subsequent rebuttal the prosecution, the tribunal ruled unanimously that there was a prima facie case made out by the prosecution.

After hours of deliberation, the tribunal, in the verdict that was read out by the president of the tribunal Tan Sri Dato Lamin bin Haji Mohd Yunus Lamin, found that the prosecution had established beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused persons, former President George Bush and his co-conspirators engaged in a web of instructions, memos, directives, legal advice and action that established a common plan and purpose, joint enterprise and/or conspiracy to commit the crimes of Torture and War Crimes, including and not limited to a common plan and purpose to commit the following crimes in relation to the “War on Terror” and the wars launched by the U.S. and others in Afghanistan and Iraq:

(a) Torture; (b) Creating, authorizing and implementing a regime of Cruel, Inhumane, and Degrading Treatment; (c) Violating Customary International Law; (d) Violating the Convention Against Torture 1984; (e) Violating the Geneva Convention III and IV 1949; (f) Violating the Common Article 3 of the Geneva Convention of 1949. (g) Violating the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the United Nations Charter.

The Tribunal finds that the prosecution has established beyond a reasonable doubt that the Accused persons are individually and jointly liable for all crimes committed in pursuit of their common plan and purpose under principles established by Article 6 of the Charter of the International Military Tribunal (the Nuremberg Charter), which states, inter alia, “Leaders, organizers, instigators and accomplices participating in the formulation or execution of a common plan or conspiracy to commit war crimes are responsible for all acts performed by any person in execution of such plan.”

The Principles of the Nuremberg Charter and the Nuremberg Decision have been adopted as customary international law by the United Nations. The government of the United States is subject to customary international law and to the Principles of the Nuremburg Charter and the Nuremburg Decision.

The Tribunal finds that the prosecution has proven beyond reasonable doubt that the accused lawyers, gave ‘advice’ that “the Geneva Conventions did not apply (to suspected al Qaeda and Taliban detainees); that there was no torture occurring within the meaning of the Torture Convention, and that enhanced interrogations techniques, (constituting cruel, inhumane, and degrading treatment,) were permissible.”

The prosecution has also established beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused lawyers “knew full well their advice was being sought to be acted upon, and in fact was acted upon, and such advice paved the way for violations of international law, the Geneva Conventions and the Torture Convention.”

continued…

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=30816

Bracing for Demographic Winter: The ”Overpopulation Crisis”

A new round of calls for punishing austerity and depopulation strategies have sprung up in the wake of a Royal Society report ringing the alarm on the so-called overpopulation crisis. The report, entitled ”People and the Planet” was published on April 26th and followed up by a flurry of articles by the usual suspects dutifully parroting the society’s dire warnings about the future of humanity in a crowding world. Paul Ehrlich was even trotted out to chastise the Society for not going far enough in their report, instead intimating that 5 billion people would have to disappear from the face of the earth for the population to be at a ”sustainable” level.

continued…

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=30694

‘Al-Qaeda bomber was a British spy’

British intelligence played a central role in the undercover operation involving a supposed new underwear bomb threat from an al-Qaeda off-shoot in Yemen.

The government this week announced it had foiled an attempt to blow up an airliner with an improved version of the underwear bomb used in the failed attempt to destroy a Detroit-bound plane on Christmas Day 2009.

Subsequently, media reports published official leaks revealing the would-be bomber was actually a CIA informant with ties to Saudi intelligence.

Now it is revealed that the undercover informant was a British citizen, possibly of Saudi origin, working in cooperation with Britain’s two top spy agencies, MI5 and MI6. British authorities put heavy pressure on the Obama administration not to disclose Britain’s role.

U.S. officials initially tried to take credit for foiling the so-called terrorist attack, only to be rather embarrassed once the CIA involvement was made public.

However, Washington is still trying to use the incident to raise the fears of Americans to support a more ubiquitous national security state.

It has also been reported that the undercover agent who foiled an al Qaida plot to blow up an airliner with an underwear bomb is a British national.

UK intelligence were said to have been ”heavily involved” in recruiting the spy who infiltrated a terror group in Yemen in a rare coup for Western agencies.

Quoting sources briefed by Saudi counter-terrorism officials, US television networks said the individual grew up in Europe where he was apparently radicalized.

He was subsequently ”turned” and recruited by Saudi agents last year, they said.

The reports were neither being confirmed nor denied in the UK.

Al Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula is believed to have been planning the spectacular attack with a nearly-undetectable device around the anniversary of the death of Osama bin Laden. But the individual chosen to carry out the attack was an informant who handed over the bomb.

US officials said the would-be bomber was supposed to board a plane to the US and detonate the device inside the country. The CIA became aware of the plot last month.

http://www.voltairenet.org/Al-Qaeda-bomber-was-a-British-spy

’Pentagon policy is to encircle Russia with ballistic missile offense’

GMO News From Around The World

CBAN’s last update was to announce the end of the GM pig! (www.cban.ca/enviropig) It has been a few weeks without the CBAN e-news so here is a dense edition as a lot has happened in Canada and around the world!

CANADA

Calgary-based company SemBioSys which was trying to produce insulin, a human heart drug, and growth hormone for shrimp feed, in genetically engineered safflowers is going out of business. SemBioSys was supported by many grants from the University of Calgary.

CBAN clarifies why the GM pig called ”Enviropig” was unncessary:

CBAN presented to the UN Rapporteur on the Right to Food this week. You can view CBAN’s remarks here: The United Nations has never sent their Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food to a wealthy nation before. Usually, Olivier de Schutter, the Special Rapporteur, visits developing countries. But Mr. De Schutter touches down in Canada, where he will investigate our food system. He will visit Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg, Edmonton and the Island Lakes Region from May 6-16th. The Special Rapporteur’s meetings will include civil society groups concerned with the right to food across Canada, as well as with Aboriginal peoples who are particularly affected by the issue. He will be investigating issues of access to food for marginalized groups – in a press release, he said, ”Challenges remain to ensure that food is adequate, accessible and affordable for marginalized groups, be they poor urban populations or Aboriginal peoples”.

CBAN has written an update on Golden Rice (GM Vitamin A rice) is posted as a letter to the editor of the Ontario Farmer, from CBAN :

UNITED STATES

A California initiative to require labeling of foods containing genetically modified ingredients appeared headed for the ballot in November after organizers said they had gathered nearly 1 million signatures in favor of the measure.

A provision that would have required the labeling of GM foods sold in the state of Connecticut has been removed from the state’s draft Genetically Engineered Foods bill, this opinion piece reports. Connecticut Representative Richard Roy, co-chair of the Environment Committee and the original sponsor of the bill, said, “The labeling provision was eliminated from the bill due to fears that it opened the state up to a lawsuit. The attorneys for the leadership and Governor’s office felt that the Constitutional Rights of Monsanto gave them the power to successfully sue the state. Their main duty was to protect the welfare of the state.”

Dow Chemical company could win regulatory approval in the U.S. for corn that is genetically engineered to be resistant to the pesticide 2,4-D. This product is a response to the problem of weeds that have become resistant to glyphosate (Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide) due to the use of GM Roundup Ready crops. Herbicide tolerant weeds are making the use of Monsanto’s Roundup useless for weed control. The US Department of Agriculture has received over 365,000 public comments opposing approval of 2,4-D-resistant, genetically engineered corn and 152 Farm, Fisheries, Public Health, Consumer, and Environmental Groups sent Secretary Vilsack a joint letter on the potential threats to human health. Opposition is also coming from conventional vegetable farmers who are concerned that pesticide drift of 2,4-D will damage their crops. They have formed the Save Our Crops Coalition http://saveourcrops.org/

GM Mosquito release in Florida is on hold indefinitely. http://www.keysnet.com/2012/05/05/444881/expect-mosquito-control-out-in.html

NEW ZEALAND

Nearly 400 genetically engineered pine trees were destroyed during the April 7 weekend break-in at a one-hectare plantation in New Zealand run by the crown research institute called Scion. Scion had planted 375 genetically engineered radiata pines last year to test herbicide resistance and study reproductive development and says they will re-plant.

Genetically modified crop trials have failed to take off in New Zealand for reasons other than the strict legal barriers blamed by developers, the Sustainability Council says. The research group said it had been convenient for developers to condemn the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act for their lack of GM trial success. However, the think tank found that the drop in the number of GM field trials was mainly due to other factors, such as loss of funding and technical difficulties. Sustainability Council executive director Simon Terry said state-funded research and development programmes had once promised to bring GM fruit, vegetables, pasture grasses and livestock to New Zealand fields and tables. Since the 1980s, tens of millions of dollars of public science funding had gone into developing GM organisms. ”Yet despite promises of major economic returns and imminent or certain commercialisation, not a single GM crop variety has reached the market or is likely to do so within the next decade,” he said.

AFRICA

Zambia’s ruling party has reiterated opposition to the introduction of GM crops. Patriotic Front Secretary General Wynter Kabimba says the Government views GMOs as a foreign solution that only benefit multinational corporations. In 2002 Zambia rejected food aid that included GM corn. http://www.greens.org/s-r/32/32-06.html

Zimbabwe will not allow GM seeds into the country since they pose a risk to national food security, a Cabinet minister has said. Agriculture Mechanisation and Irrigation Development Minister Joseph Made said local scientists develop seeds that are suitable for the country’s soils and not harmful to the health of the people. ”Our scientists have over the years developed seeds that are in balance with our climate and soil. These GMOs will bring various conditions and complications to the environment and people’s health,” he said. http://allafrica.com/stories/201202280259.html

ASIA

Nepal’s Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives announced that Monsanto will not be allowed to carry out a pilot GM corn project in Nepal.

India’s National Biodiversity Authority, the country’s biodiversity-preservation watchdog, has decided to prosecute Monsanto for allegedly using (genetically engineering) Indian brinjal (eggplant) varieties without permission, in violation of India’s biodiversity law.

BRAZIL

A court in Brazil’s southern‐most state of Rio Grande do Sul issued a preliminary injunction on April 4 that suspends Monsanto’s collection of royalties on genetically modified soybean seeds. Judge Giovanni Conti further ruled that Monsanto would have to reimburse farmers for license fees that have been paid on GM soybean seeds since 2003/04. The ruling was in response to a class action lawsuit filed in 2009 by the farmers associations of Passo Fundo, Santiago, and Sertão. The farmers associations did not question Monsanto’s ability to charge a royalty on its patented GM seeds, but they objected to restrictions on the practice of saving and replanting seeds gathered from the patented GM plants. Judge Conti ruled that the practice violates the Brazilian Cultivars Act.

SCIENCE

A new study has found that GM insecticide resistant (Bt) corn can be harmful to the overall health of soil ecosystems. Genetically modified corn has been linked to a decrease in a subterranean fungus that forms a symbiotic bond with plant roots, allowing them to draw in more nutrients and water from the surrounding soil in exchange for carbon. Researchers at Portland State University conducted a study to examine the effects of corn genetically engineered with the bacteria-derived insecticidal toxin, Bacillus thuringiensis, or Bt, on growth of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF). AMF is important for the overall health and fertility of soil ecosystems, and was found to form less bonds with the roots of Bt corn than with non-Bt corn.Researchers at Portland State University in the U.S. have found in a greenhouse study that helpful and ubiquitous subterranean fungi called arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) form fewer bonds with the roots of Bt corn than with non-Bt corn. Their research has been published in the American Journal of Botany. The microscopic fungus AMF forms a symbiotic bond with plant roots, allowing them to draw in more nutrients and water from the surrounding soil in exchange for carbon. But, the researchers found, such bonds were less likely to be formed with Bt corn, which are genetically modified (GM) to produce a Bt toxin that repels insects. ”Because these fungi rely on a plant host for nutrition and reproduction, they may be sensitive to genetic changes within a plant, such as insect-resistant Bt corn,” Tanya Cheeke, a PhD student in biology at Portland State, told the American Journal of Botany. The research was part of Cheeke’s dissertation research, which she conducted in collaboration with colleagues. ”What makes our study unique is that we evaluated AMF colonization in 14 different lines of Bt and non-Bt corn under consistent experimental conditions in a greenhouse using locally collected agricultural field soil as the AMF inoculum,” Cheeke said. She noted that plants grown in the same soil where Bt corn had been grown previously did not experience a reduction in bonds with AMF. According to Cheeke, 88 percent of corn planted in the U.S. in 2011 was Bt.

Lucy Sharratt, Coordinator
Canadian Biotechnology Action Network (CBAN)
Collaborative Campaigning for Food Sovereignty and Environmental Justice
Suite 206, 180 Metcalfe Street
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K2P 1P5
Phone: 613 241 2267 ext. 25
Fax: 613 241 2506
coordinator@cban.ca
http://www.cban.ca