Monday, March 19, 2012

Links for today: my top news stories for today

Since part of the point of this blog is to free up my friend's facebook newsfeeds from my incessant posting, but some of my friends have admitted they principally get their news from my facebook feed, I'm going to occasionally use this blog to collect links I find interesting., interspersed with a little commentary. Here are today's:

  • A gunman shot at children attending a Jewish school in Toulouse, France, killing three children and one teacher, and injuring at least one other teenager. It follows similar shootings of North Africans in the same region. It's unclear if they are linked. The BBC says if so, then it's likely a serial killer who has changed their pattern. I can't help but wonder if this isn't an anti-immigration spree similar to that which Norway faced with Anders Behring Breivik.
I'm glad the news media isn't (currently) rushing to judgment on the motive for the shootings, but I can't help but suspect this is a bit of French nationalism run amok. In the four years that I've been in Europe, I've felt a distinct increase in anti-immigration sentiment within the news media. Compared to my first stints in Europe - in 1998 and 2003 - the increase is even more dramatic. Anti-immigrant sentiments used to be passed to me in veiled references, usually with the speaker beginning with "some people in this country" or "it's not unreasonable for people here to feel..." without ever owning their own racism or anti-immigrant position unless I bluntly asked them how they felt. Now, politicians like Nikolas Sarkozy freely talk about the need to ensure France stays French, expelling Roma, promising to get tough on immigrants, and threatening to pull out of the EU visa-free zone if other European states don't get tough on illegal immigration. The Daily Mail makes ridiculous - and often untrue - proclamations about immigration in the UK, and the UK Home Secretary once wrongfully claimed that the immigration courts were so bad that a man wasn't allowed to be repatriated because he owned a cat (the court noted the existence of the cat in a recitation of the facts, but not in a "wow, this judgment hinges on his adoption of a cat" conversation).


In the trickle-down way I find political sentiment works, I am now regularly subjected to taxi drivers and people in coffee shops telling me about how Britain isn't British anymore, Europe isn't European anymore, and all the immigrants should go back to their own country. Except me, of course, because Americans aren't really immigrants, not in the true sense of that word. Plus, I'm such a nice girl, and I'm here studying and contributing to society and all (at least that's what they say until I tell them I'm studying human rights law).
In this climate, it would not be fully surprising to find some French find Sarkozy's position to suggest that anti-immigration sentiment is not only acceptable, but may be patriotic (it definitely gave him an election cycle boost in the polls). It would not be surprising to me to find out that this shooter was on an anti-non-French-French spree to kill all the people "invading" his country who aren't "really really French."
I am not attributing these shootings - if they are even based in anti-immigrant or racist sentiment - to Sarkozy. Even if the shootings were done in the name of French nationalism, responsibility rests solely with the shooter. But, I fear that this may not be the last shooting if European politicians don't pull back on the rhetoric. The fringe element that already feels "under attack" by immigrants may find solace in public statements by politicians and use that as "permission" to undertake actions they may otherwise not feel empowered to commit.
  • Fighting in Syria is continuing, as is Russia and China's resistance to any UN intervention. This time the fighting is centred in Damascus, in a "wealthy and well-protected" area of the city. The explanation? “Nobody knows what exactly was going on,” [a local businesswoman] said. “Some say a very important person wanted to defect, but the funniest and most ridiculous version I heard was that a little girl got kidnapped, and the security came to rescue her.” Obviously, there's a discrepancy in how many people were killed, with the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights in London saying 18 members of the Syrian military were killed, while Syria claimed only one was killed in a fight against "terrorists." Every time I read Assad's response to the killings, I'm reminded of how detrimental George W. Bush's "war on terrorism" is in the international community. Tamils in Sri Lanka? All terrorists. Fighters in Syria and Libya? Terrorists. Opposition party in Thailand? Yup, terrorists. Human rights activists and reporters worldwide? Definitely terrorists. Sure, all these countries would still be calling all these opposition workers terrorists, but they wouldn't then be able to point to the US's decade long "war on terror" as proof of their "right" to combat the "terrorists" so strongly. They might even, though unlikely, admit they're subject to Geneva Convention Common Article 3 or Additional Protocol II (though I'm unsure if any of these states are party to APII). But, I digress. Back to Syria. The area at the heart of the fighting yesterday (though there is fighting going on throughout the country, it just flared up in this area yesterday, apparently) is close to significant security installations and the homes of prominent leaders. The fighting is just one indication that Assad's strategy of stopping "protestors from getting into the city" has failed.
  • And speaking of the Arab Spring... We should learn the fate of six Zimbabweans who were arrested for watching video of Arab Spring protests later today. Apparently Mugabe doesn't like people watching video that could be instructional in how to peacefully topple an oppressive regime that has been ruling for decades. I can't imagine why.... By the way, am I the only one who loves that CNN threw in a little note about Mugabe's call for elections at the end? As if he's calling for free and fair ones. Cute, CNN.
  • I'm highlighting this article on the impact of drone attacks on the US-Pakistan relationship particularly for my flatmate, Rob, as he'll write an essay on the legality of drones in the next few weeks. I'm anticipating many a dinner discussing this issue.
  • Most of my friends know that I'm not a conspiracy theorist and generally believe that in the modern age, you can't do a large-scale conspiracies. You can't keep 3,000 US Navy sailors quiet about not really burying Osama bin Laden at sea. You can't keep the entire US national security infrastructure quiet about secretly planning 9-11. You can't get all the GOP officials in Hawaii to agree to cover for Obama being secretly born in Kenya. Seriously, in the age of Wikileaks, how can one believe that all these things are being planned without anything coming to light? JFK being killed by multiple shooters? Maybe. Twitter, facebook, and the entire internets hadn't been created yet. 9/11? No. So, I'm filing the Taliban's conspiracy that there was more than one US soldier involved in the horrific killings of Afghans in the same folder I file every thought I hear on the US planning 9/11, that bin Laden wasn't really buried at sea (or was killed years in advance), and Obama being secretly born in Kenya. I have a military family member and I know how quickly rumours, gossip, and reports spread in the military. If it was more than one shooter, someone from the US military in Afghanistan likely would've spoken up, at least to a family member. After all, it was American personnel who took and exposed the pictures of the abuse at Abu Ghraib. It was American personnel who came forward to tell the real story of how Saddam Hussein was captured. It has been American military lawyers who have led the way in revealing and challenging the legality of treatment at Guantanamo Bay. Does the US have a few asshats in the military? Yes, every organisation has a few. But does everyone fall into that category? No, and generally there will be one or two people brave enough to come forward and tell the truth. A mass conspiracy can't go one for very long. I am sorry to see that the Taliban has decided not to continue "understanding" talks with the US as a result of the killing and the potential (likely?) transfer of suspected Taliban members to the Guantanamo Bay detention facility. I wasn't confident the talks would lead anywhere, but it's generally better to have ongoing negotiations than not.
  • On the topic of the Afghanistan killings, I'm a little disturbed by this profile by the NY Times that is trying to make sense of how Robert Bales came to be such a heartless killer. To undercut the "solid guy" reputation Bales apparently has amongst friends and family, the NYT relies on an assault against a woman (fair enough), a car accident that we have no real reason to doubt was caused by falling asleep at the wheel, and "and an accumulation of rejections and disappointments." During law school, as I applied for clerkships and jobs, I could have accumulated a large stack of rejections and disappointments. Would not be evidence of a "darker side" that could have foretold a killing spree. For starters, I don't know how to use a gun, but more importantly, rejection and disappointment isn't a justification for killing people and in most people it doesn't trigger this kind of murder. So while, yes, it's disturbing to me that "Bob" Bales grew up on a street I probably drove down or around while I was doing my J.D., the amount of attention he is receiving and the attempts to justify his "transformation" into a killer seems misplaced to me.
The constant need to "understand" the makings of a killer is normal, and it makes for riveting made-for-TV movies, but I'm disturbed by the constant attention the media gives to figuring out what made someone kill 16 individuals. In many ways, this article reminds me of the immediate aftermath of the Chardon High School killing, when everyone assumed it related to bullying and then it turned out the killer had no reason for killing. He just did. I'm glad psychologists are attempting to determine signs and signals that we can use to identify people at risk of killing, but (a) those are at best hypothesis, not signs and signals that are proven to be present only in would-be or soon-to-be killers; and (b) let's leave it to the psychologists, not the media.
This case raises particular concerns for me as the attention on the killer is coming at the expense of discussing what the results of the killing spree were: who was killed, what was lost for a family or a community? I recognize that some of the consequences have been discussed, but those have tended to focus on what the killing means for the US mission in Afghanistan, rather than what does it mean to the families and communities affected. To my knowledge, NYT hasn't sent someone in to do profiles on the 16 victims killed in Afghanistan. Had they been innocent US citizens, we would know lots of details about how they lived their every day life, what their hopes and dreams were, and who their surviving relatives were. But, since the victims were Afghanis, I've seen little more than a death toll.
We don't know what was lost in that killing. What future leaders were killed? What future hopes? What is the toll of death in these communities? How are they coping and grieving? What processes for healing have begun there? How do *the victims* feel about his being sent to the US for trial? The victims should be the focus, because in humanizing them and in understanding what is lost when violence is let loose, we have a potential to reexamine what the real costs of war are. This wasn't a legitimate act of war, but it is a clear consequence of it, and we need to better recognize and understand those costs before we start bombing anywhere else. NYT - and other media outlets - could do a lot of good by focusing on the victims here rather than the perpetrator.
  • East Timor (Timor-Leste) will get a new President once the official vote counting is all done. With over 70% of votes counted, Jose Ramos Horta, is in third place and has bowed out. Ramos Horta won the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize (along with countryman Bishop Ximenes Belo) for his work in "hindering the oppression" of the East Timorese before they gained independence. He was then elected President after East Timor had its independence recognized and restored in 2002. Perhaps most heartening of the story? "Ramos Horta said he was not disappointed and that both men were capable of ensuring peace and stability for the tiny nation, which was his only real concern." If only other leaders could so gracefully accept democratic defeat...
  • Two British journalists were freed by Libya. Good news for their families, and the principle of free speech and journalistic protections, but it did remind me of a great piece that I read last week about the way in which foreign correspondents have become bigger than the stories they cover. We are unlikely to remember the names of the victims of the Iraq War, the Syrian resistance, or the Libyan conflict, but we are likely to be able to recall the names of reporters detained or killed in these conflicts. They become the story, rather than a conduit for us to learn. (If anyone knows where it was that I read this comment, please tell me so I can link it.)
  • Thinking of the reporters in Libya reminded me to check on the NGO workers subject to at travel ban in Egypt. 43 foreign and Egyptian NGO workers have been charged with violating Egyptian laws regarding the registration of NGOs. They're, of course, pro-democracy NGOs and Egypt did the thing that lots of non-pro-democracy countries do: they require registration from NGOs, don't necessarily decide anything on the application, allow the NGOs to operate all the same, and then they are able to kick the NGO workers out - or arrest them - as soon as they're disgruntled by the work being done. It's a similar pattern to what happens worldwide to human rights defenders, both foreign and domestic. I hadn't heard about their release, but apparently earlier this month the US government allowed funds given to the relevant NGOs to pay for the bail for the US citizens involved. Since the defendants are unlikely to return for trial, the US paid the Egyptian government $330,000 each for the 6 US workers who were otherwise unable to leave the country. Shockingly (see above regarding the use of 'shocking'), there were then protests outside the US Embassy in Cairo aimed at criticizing the US government for funding NGO. I'm sure all the protesters showed up on their own volition.
  • The Maoists in India's eastern region responsible for kidnapping two Italian tourists are either really smart or really lucky. It's the first kidnapping of westerners in the region, and as every human rights or humanitarian NGO worker in the world knows, if you're going to kidnap someone, kidnap the Italians. Their government, unlike the UK and US, is willing to negotiate and pay ransoms for the release of Italian citizens. If you're going to kidnap westerners for the first time in a bid to raise awareness and sympathy for your cause, it should probably be the people you can get money for. This way you get the publicity without the dirtiness of actually have to murder people. (This should not be interpreted as encouraging people to kidnap Italians. It is sarcasm. I have many Italian friends and would appreciate it if they all remained un-kidnapped.)
  • Last week, Alex de Waal detailed his position on what should actually be done about Joseph Kony. In short: he adopts the six point plan that International Crisis Group set out in January 2006. His scorecard for the international community on these objectives is fairly positive, with only one objective - capturing ICC indictees - ranked as a failure, despite repeated effort. His solution for Invisible Children? Continue what the international community has already been doing and stop advocating simplistic, paternalistic "solutions".
  • There's a problem with schools in England illegally excluding "problem" students, sometimes informally. I'm afraid if I just say "shocking" people might not read the sarcasm in there. I would be willing to bet that these exclusions disproportionately affect minorities, including, but not limited to, immigrants, racial and ethnic minorities, special needs children, and Irish Travellers or Roma. I'm apparently not the only one who suspects this, as Shadow Education Secretary Stephen Twigg says the same thing in this article. This is not a problem just for the UK - similar issues have arisen in every country I've lived in and in a number of countries I've studied. The only thing truly shocking to me about this report was that a head teacher was willing to admit, on the record, "We will get their parents in and ask them to keep their children at home for the rest of the academic year; otherwise it's permanent exclusion." Hmmm... gotta wonder if this investigation operated on the principles used in the South African Truth & Reconciliation Commission: if you're honest and provide a full account, we will give you immunity. Otherwise, his job should be in serious jeopardy now.
  • The UK inquiry into the news media's illegal wiretapping continues, with a retired police officer stating that the media could have hampered police investigations by putting a tail on the police and then picking up the witness and then attempting to lose police surveillance.

  • Albemarle County, Virginia Sheriff J.E. “Chip” Harding Calls for an Innocence Commission and a Prosecutorial Misconduct Commission in Virginia. I remember well Joe Deter, Hamilton County (Ohio) Prosecutor (responsible for the county that houses Cincinnati) telling my law school that he understood that there was a "liberal" "fad" surrounding the proclamations of innocence, but he was confident that his office had never prosecuted an innocent person. Of course no one wants to believe they would ever be involved in making a mistake that cost an innocent person days, weeks, months or years of their life for something they didn't do. But ultimately we're human; the justice system is fallible; and we should always be looking for ways to ensure any mistakes we do accidentally make are corrected as quickly as possible. In response to statements like Deter's, Albemarle County, Harding notes “The Innocence Project is about justice ... It’s not just some liberal thing like a lot of people make it out to be.” Harding is calling for the establishment of two commissions in Virginia, one to investigate cases after conviction, and one that would investigate police and prosecutorial misconduct. I wish we had more Sheriffs like this in the US.
  • And finally, since pointing out the craziness of the GOP primary is currently one of my favourite past times: when you tell people who speak English that they need to speak English, and that they have no right to / shouldn't embrace their linguistic heritage, they are unlikely to vote for you. So Rick Santorum can chalk this up to another lesson learned on this year's campaign (right after, um, file the forms appropriately so you can appear on all the ballots). Also on the list of things to learn for him? Puerto Rico

2 comments:

  1. How long did it take you to just quickly throw together these links and the "little commentary" it is lightly interspersed with?!?
    Extremely informative and well-articulated, as usual. :)
    - Antje

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    1. Admittedly longer than I had time to be spending on it today (though that's not particularly indicative as I only had about 10 minutes of my day to spare and that was spent dgoing to the dry cleaner's!). But at least I got it all out early and now I'm less tempted to do it again. Thanks for commenting Antje - and for your support! Love you girl!

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