US court allows South Africa apartheid cases [Israeli Next?]
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- Written by Al Jazeera Al Jazeera
- Published: 10 April 2009 10 April 2009
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US court allows apartheid cases
General Motors is one of the companies set to face legal action [EPA]
A US court has ruled that victims of South Africa's apartheid-era government can sue General Motors, IBM and other corporations accused of complicity in human rights abuses.
A federal judge in New York ruled on Wednesday that joint actions against the corporations under a US law allowing rights claims from abroad should be addressed in a US court.
Car-makers Ford and Daimler and defence firm Rheinmetall are the other companies set to face legal action from South African plaintiffs.
However, Judge Shira Scheindlin also dismissed claims against banks UBS and Barclays but allowed the plaintiffs the opportunity to refile their case against electronics firm Fujitsu.
Michael Hausfeld, one of the lawyers representing the South African plaintiffs, said the verdict was "a major advancement in international law".
Torture claims
The lawsuits argue that the car-makers knew their vehicles were being used by South African forces to violently suppress protests.
"That level of wilful blindness in the face of crimes in violation of the law of nations cannot defeat an otherwise clear showing of knowledge that the assistance IBM provided would directly and substantially support apartheid"
Shira Scheindlin,
US judge
They also claim that IBM and Fujitsu knew their computers were being used by South Africa's white minority government to help strip black citizens of their rights.
Apartheid ended in 1994 when South Africa held its first free elections, bringing Nelson Mandela and the African National Congress to power.
The judge disagreed with arguments made by the companies that it was not their responsibility to tell clients how to use their products.
"That level of wilful blindness in the face of crimes in violation of the law of nations cannot defeat an otherwise clear showing of knowledge that the assistance IBM provided would directly and substantially support apartheid," she said.
Scheindlen allowed lawsuits against IBM for "aiding and abetting arbitrary denationalisation and apartheid".
She said that the plaintiffs could pursue claims against Daimler, GM and Ford "for aiding and abetting torture... extrajudicial killing, and apartheid".
And against Rheinmetall, the German parent company of Swiss-based arms manufacturer Oerlikon, for "aiding and abetting extrajudicial killing and apartheid".
Khulumani, a South African organisation that helps apartheid victims and is one of the plaintiffs in the court action, hailed the court decision.
"We are convinced that this lawsuit, should it be successful, will go a long way in satisfying members' material needs; and that will go a long way in contributing to social reconciliation," said Marjorie Jobson, a Khulumani director.
CIA shuts down its secret prisons
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- Written by BBC News BBC News
- Published: 09 April 2009 09 April 2009
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The US has stopped running its global network of secret prisons, CIA director Leon Panetta has announced.
"CIA no longer operates detention facilities or black sites," Mr Panetta said in a letter to staff. Remaining sites would be decommissioned, he said.
The "black sites" were used to detain terrorism suspects, some of whom were subjected to interrogation methods described by many as torture.
President Obama vowed to shut down the facilities shortly after taking office.
The Bush administration allowed the CIA to operate secret prisons on the territory of allied countries in Eastern Europe, Asia and Africa, according to media reports.
During his first week as president, Mr Obama ordered the closure of the black sites, as well as the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, as part of an overhaul of US detainee policy.
Key issue
In his letter, Mr Panetta also stressed that the CIA no longer employed controversial "harsh interrogation techniques", like "waterboarding", or simulated drowning, which have been widely condemned.
"CIA officers do not tolerate, and will continue to promptly report, any inappropriate behaviour or allegations of abuse," he said.
He also announced that the CIA was no longer allowing outside "contractors" to carry out interrogations.
But the CIA retains the power to detain suspects "on a short-term transitory basis".
The BBC's Kevin Connolly says Mr Panetta's statement has an impressive ring, but the CIA's secret prisons may never have been elaborate affairs in themselves and decommissioning may be straightforward.
The key issue for the Obama administration, our correspondent adds, will be its policy towards suspects who fall into its hands, not the buildings in which they are held.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/in_depth/7993087.stm
Published: 2009/04/09 21:10:25 GMT
© BBC MMIX
Obama team readying for confrontation with Netanyahu
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- Written by Aluf Benn Aluf Benn
- Published: 08 April 2009 08 April 2009
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In an unprecedented move, the Obama administration is readying for a possible confrontation with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by briefing Democratic congressmen on the peace process and the positions of the new government in Israel regarding a two-state solution.
The Obama administration is expecting a clash with Netanyahu over his refusal to support the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel.
In recent weeks, American officials have briefed senior Democratic congressmen and prepared the ground for the possibility of disagreements with Israel over the peace process, according to information recently received. The administration's efforts are focused on President Barack Obama's Democratic Party, which now holds a majority in both the Senate and the House of Representatives.
The preemptive briefing is meant to foil the possibility that Netanyahu may try to bypass the administration by rallying support in Congress.
Read more: Obama team readying for confrontation with Netanyahu
Motorola to sell Israeli unit making bomb fuses, denies connection to protests
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- Written by Associated Press Associated Press
- Published: 07 April 2009 07 April 2009
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NEW YORK (AP) — Motorola Inc. is selling an Israel-based unit that makes bomb fuses.
Motorola reached a deal last week to sell its Government Electronics Department, which has less than 50 employees, to Aeronautics Ltd., an Israeli company. Motorola did not disclose the price.
Activists in the U.S. have protested Motorola's sales of fuses and communications equipment to the Israeli military. Motorola spokesman Rusty Brashear said the sale of the unit was not triggered by the protests.
"We're selling it primarily because it doesn't fit in our portfolio," Brashear said. "We've been getting out of all our military units, except for communications."
The sale is expected to close in late May or early June.
More US congressmen visit aid projects, ruins in Gaza
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- Written by BEN HUBBARD, AP BEN HUBBARD, AP
- Published: 07 April 2009 07 April 2009
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Reps. Bob Inglis and Stephen F. Lynch pointedly avoided contact with the Hamas militant group, which rules Gaza and which the United States, European Union and Israel consider a terrorist organization.
Lynch, a Democrat from Massachusetts, said the world must find a way to address a "legitimate humanitarian crisis" in Gaza.
"We need to act with some urgency here. There is a humanitarian crisis going on and we can't dawdle," Lynch told the Associated Press.
Israel launched the three-week offensive in December with the aim of ending rocket fire on southern Israel by Hamas militants. Palestinian human rights groups say more than 1,400 people were killed, including more than 900 civilians. Thousands of buildings and much of Gaza's infrastructure were destroyed or damaged.
Israel says the death toll was lower, and most of those killed were Hamas militants.
Lynch said he and Inglis, a Republican from South Carolina, visited a project run by Catholic Relief Services in a heavily damaged neighborhood and a tent camp where displaced Gazans have been living since the war ended on Jan. 18. They also visited the grounds of the American International School of Gaza, a U.S.-style school the Israeli army flattened during the offensive, saying militants launched rockets from its grounds.
Lynch said the destruction in Gaza was worse than he expected.
Since Hamas violently seized the territory from forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in June 2007, Israel and Egypt have maintained tight border control. Restrictions on cement and other building materials — which Israel says could benefit Hamas — have greatly hampered the reconstruction effort.
"It is problematic having the checkpoints closed," Lynch said.
He said aid could be brought into Gaza through the U.N. and other organizations, and that safeguards could be put in place to make sure resources were used properly. But the U.S. will not work with Hamas until it changed its policy toward Israel and rejected violence, he said.
Tuesday's visit followed a similar tour earlier this year by Sen. John Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat, and two Democratic congressmen, Keith Ellison of Minnesota and Brian Baird of Washington.
Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.