Bernie Sanders confronts defense contractor fraud y
Sen. Bernie Sanders on the Senate floor Wednesday urged lawmakers to make the Pentagon fight against defense contractor fraud as they debated the National Defense Authorization Act.
“This country has a record breaking deficit and a $15 trillion national debt,” he said. “What many people do not know is that one of the reasons our deficit is as high as it is, is because there is a significant amount of fraud from defense contractors who sell their products to the Department of Defense.”
The Pentagon paid more than $1.1 trillion during the past decade to 37 contractors that had defrauded the Department of Defense, according to a report released in October. Another $255 million went to 54 defense contractors convicted of hard-core criminal fraud in the same period.
“I think the American people are very clear that when we pay a dollar for a product that goes to our military, we want to get a dollar’s worth of value,” Sanders continued. “That we do not want to see the taxpayers of this country or the Department of Defense ripped off by fraudulent contractors.”
Sanders has proposed an amendment to the annual defense bill that would require the Pentagon to step up its efforts to fight fraud and submit annual reports.
“What this amendment does is tell the DOD, ‘get your act together,’” he said.
Wednesday
Ontario environmental commissioner criticizes lack of Great Lakes funding
NEWS: Ontario environmental commissioner criticizes lack of Great Lakes funding
Ontario’s Environmental Commissioner Gord Miller released his annual report today.
The Canadian Press says, “The report takes the province and federal government to task for allowing negotiations to clean up the Great Lakes drag on to the point where they ‘threaten to paralyze’ any more progress. ‘We’ve walked away, we’ve waned. Our commitment has been well short of their contribution, $2.2 billion on the American side,’ said Miller. ‘It’s very embarrassing for us because we’re not putting up anywhere near that kind of money.’ Miller also said it was no accident that the Ontario government is doing so little on the environment, calling it the goal of those who oppose environmental protections.”
In mid-September, during the last election, the Toronto Star reported that the provincial Liberals announced a $52 million plan to clean up the Great Lakes. In the June 2010 federal budget, the Harper government allocated $8 million a year to Environment Canada to “implement its action plan to protect the Great Lakes.” In Budget 2011, they announced an “additional $5 million over two years to improve near shore water and ecosystem health, and better address the presence of phosphorous in the Great Lakes.”
Lake Ontario Waterkeeper highlights these key excerpts from the Environment Commissioner’s report:
- “Chronic underfunding has been a key weakness of the Canada-Ontario Agreement Respecting the Great Lakes Basin Ecosystem, with the dollars committed disproportionate to the scale of the challenges.” (p. 8 ) The ECO notes that Ontario gives $10-million per year towards a $3.5 billion restoration project while the U.S. has committed $2.2-billion over five year.
Ontario’s Environmental Commissioner Gord Miller released his annual report today.
The Canadian Press says, “The report takes the province and federal government to task for allowing negotiations to clean up the Great Lakes drag on to the point where they ‘threaten to paralyze’ any more progress. ‘We’ve walked away, we’ve waned. Our commitment has been well short of their contribution, $2.2 billion on the American side,’ said Miller. ‘It’s very embarrassing for us because we’re not putting up anywhere near that kind of money.’ Miller also said it was no accident that the Ontario government is doing so little on the environment, calling it the goal of those who oppose environmental protections.”
In mid-September, during the last election, the Toronto Star reported that the provincial Liberals announced a $52 million plan to clean up the Great Lakes. In the June 2010 federal budget, the Harper government allocated $8 million a year to Environment Canada to “implement its action plan to protect the Great Lakes.” In Budget 2011, they announced an “additional $5 million over two years to improve near shore water and ecosystem health, and better address the presence of phosphorous in the Great Lakes.”
Lake Ontario Waterkeeper highlights these key excerpts from the Environment Commissioner’s report:
- “Chronic underfunding has been a key weakness of the Canada-Ontario Agreement Respecting the Great Lakes Basin Ecosystem, with the dollars committed disproportionate to the scale of the challenges.” (p. 8 ) The ECO notes that Ontario gives $10-million per year towards a $3.5 billion restoration project while the U.S. has committed $2.2-billion over five year.
US agents in Canada under new border deal is ‘worrisome’
NEWS: Trew says US agents in Canada under new border deal is ‘worrisome’
The Toronto Star reports, “Armed U.S. police officers will for the first time be allowed to operate in Canada along with the RCMP as part of far-reaching changes in Canadian-American border operations to be unveiled next week by Prime Minister Stephen Harper and President Barack Obama.”
“In contrast to the silence from Canadian negotiators, some U.S. officials have been open about what the new reality at the border will look like in the years ahead. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder revealed last fall that the deal will authorize Canada and the U.S. to designate officers who can take part in police investigations on both sides of the border. …The model for the joint policing program is the Shiprider project, a three-year-old plan under which the RCMP and U.S. Coast Guard join forces and ride in each others’ vessels when patrolling boundary waters. …(Shiprider) requires a Canadian officer to be in charge when the team of mixed U.S. and Canadian police are operating in Canada, and vice-versa on the American side.”
“Stuart Trew, trade campaigner with the Ottawa-based Council of Canadians, said further integration of Canada and U.S. police operations is worrisome at a time when Canadians are still waiting for the establishment of controls recommended (by the Arar Commission) on information-sharing by Canadian police and intelligence agencies. ‘The mechanism for holding the U.S. agents accountable is vague,’ he said of the joint policing project included in the border deal. ‘It’s difficult to know how you would file a complaint, for example, against a U.S. agent and whether there is any accountability in that respect.’”
“Besides security, the agreement expected to be announced in Washington on Dec. 7 will cover a wide range of measures on border infrastructure, harmonized product standards, intelligence-gathering and commercial transport.”
“In contrast to the silence from Canadian negotiators, some U.S. officials have been open about what the new reality at the border will look like in the years ahead. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder revealed last fall that the deal will authorize Canada and the U.S. to designate officers who can take part in police investigations on both sides of the border. …The model for the joint policing program is the Shiprider project, a three-year-old plan under which the RCMP and U.S. Coast Guard join forces and ride in each others’ vessels when patrolling boundary waters. …(Shiprider) requires a Canadian officer to be in charge when the team of mixed U.S. and Canadian police are operating in Canada, and vice-versa on the American side.”
“Stuart Trew, trade campaigner with the Ottawa-based Council of Canadians, said further integration of Canada and U.S. police operations is worrisome at a time when Canadians are still waiting for the establishment of controls recommended (by the Arar Commission) on information-sharing by Canadian police and intelligence agencies. ‘The mechanism for holding the U.S. agents accountable is vague,’ he said of the joint policing project included in the border deal. ‘It’s difficult to know how you would file a complaint, for example, against a U.S. agent and whether there is any accountability in that respect.’”
“Besides security, the agreement expected to be announced in Washington on Dec. 7 will cover a wide range of measures on border infrastructure, harmonized product standards, intelligence-gathering and commercial transport.”
Thursday
Medicinal tree used in chemotherapy drug faces extinction
Medicinal tree used in chemotherapy drug faces extinction |
species of Himalayan yew tree that is used to produce Taxol, a chemotherapy drug to treat cancer, is being pushed to the brink of extinction by over-harvesting for medicinal use and collection for fuel, scientists warned on Thursday.
The medicinal tree, Taxus contorta, found in Afghanistan, India and Nepal, has seen its conservation status change from "vulnerable" to "endangered" on the IUCN's annual "red list" of threatened species.
Taxol was discovered by a US National Cancer Institute programme in the late 1960s, isolated in the bark of the Pacific yew tree, Taxus brevifolia. All 11 species of yew have since been found to contain Taxol. "The harvesting of the bark kills the trees, but it is possible to extract Taxol from clippings, so harvesting, if properly controlled, can be less detrimental to the plants," said Craig Hilton-Taylor, IUCN red list unit manager.
"Harvest and trade should be carefully controlled to ensure it is sustainable, but plants should also be grown in cultivation to reduce the impact of harvesting on wild populations," he added.
The red list is currently the most detailed and authoritative survey of the planet's species, drawn from the work of thousands of scientists around the globe. For the first time, more than 61,900 species have been reviewed. The latest list categorises 801 species as extinct, 64 as extinct in the wild, and 9,568 as critically endangered or endangered. A further 10,002 species are vulnerable, with the main threats being overuse, pollution, habitat loss and degradation.
species of Himalayan yew tree that is used to produce Taxol, a chemotherapy drug to treat cancer, is being pushed to the brink of extinction by over-harvesting for medicinal use and collection for fuel, scientists warned on Thursday.
The medicinal tree, Taxus contorta, found in Afghanistan, India and Nepal, has seen its conservation status change from "vulnerable" to "endangered" on the IUCN's annual "red list" of threatened species.
Taxol was discovered by a US National Cancer Institute programme in the late 1960s, isolated in the bark of the Pacific yew tree, Taxus brevifolia. All 11 species of yew have since been found to contain Taxol. "The harvesting of the bark kills the trees, but it is possible to extract Taxol from clippings, so harvesting, if properly controlled, can be less detrimental to the plants," said Craig Hilton-Taylor, IUCN red list unit manager.
"Harvest and trade should be carefully controlled to ensure it is sustainable, but plants should also be grown in cultivation to reduce the impact of harvesting on wild populations," he added.
The red list is currently the most detailed and authoritative survey of the planet's species, drawn from the work of thousands of scientists around the globe. For the first time, more than 61,900 species have been reviewed. The latest list categorises 801 species as extinct, 64 as extinct in the wild, and 9,568 as critically endangered or endangered. A further 10,002 species are vulnerable, with the main threats being overuse, pollution, habitat loss and degradation.
World headed for irreversible climate change in five years, IEA warns
World headed for irreversible climate change in five years, IEA warns
The world is likely to build so many fossil-fuelled power stations, energy-guzzling factories and inefficient buildings in the next five years that it will become impossible to hold global warming to safe levels, and the last chance of combating dangerous climate change will be "lost for ever", according to the most thorough analysis yet of world energy infrastructure.
Anything built from now on that produces carbon will do so for decades, and this "lock-in" effect will be the single factor most likely to produce irreversible climate change, the world's foremost authority on energy economics has found. If this is not rapidly changed within the next five years, the results are likely to be disastrous.
"The door is closing," Fatih Birol, chief economist at the International Energy Agency, said. "I am very worried – if we don't change direction now on how we use energy, we will end up beyond what scientists tell us is the minimum [for safety]. The door will be closed forever."
If the world is to stay below 2C of warming, which scientists regard as the limit of safety, then emissions must be held to no more than 450 parts per million (ppm) of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere; the level is currently around 390ppm. But the world's existing infrastructure is already producing 80% of that "carbon budget", according to the IEA's analysis, published on Wednesday. This gives an ever-narrowing gap in which to reform the global economy on to a low-carbon footing.
If current trends continue, and we go on building high-carbon energy generation, then by 2015 at least 90% of the available "carbon budget" will be swallowed up by our energy and industrial infrastructure. By 2017, there will be no room for manoeuvre at all – the whole of the carbon budget will be spoken for, according to the IEA's calculations.
The world is likely to build so many fossil-fuelled power stations, energy-guzzling factories and inefficient buildings in the next five years that it will become impossible to hold global warming to safe levels, and the last chance of combating dangerous climate change will be "lost for ever", according to the most thorough analysis yet of world energy infrastructure.
Anything built from now on that produces carbon will do so for decades, and this "lock-in" effect will be the single factor most likely to produce irreversible climate change, the world's foremost authority on energy economics has found. If this is not rapidly changed within the next five years, the results are likely to be disastrous.
"The door is closing," Fatih Birol, chief economist at the International Energy Agency, said. "I am very worried – if we don't change direction now on how we use energy, we will end up beyond what scientists tell us is the minimum [for safety]. The door will be closed forever."
If the world is to stay below 2C of warming, which scientists regard as the limit of safety, then emissions must be held to no more than 450 parts per million (ppm) of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere; the level is currently around 390ppm. But the world's existing infrastructure is already producing 80% of that "carbon budget", according to the IEA's analysis, published on Wednesday. This gives an ever-narrowing gap in which to reform the global economy on to a low-carbon footing.
If current trends continue, and we go on building high-carbon energy generation, then by 2015 at least 90% of the available "carbon budget" will be swallowed up by our energy and industrial infrastructure. By 2017, there will be no room for manoeuvre at all – the whole of the carbon budget will be spoken for, according to the IEA's calculations.
Wednesday
Not a good neighbor: fracking industry admits to waging war on communities
Not a good neighbor: fracking industry admits to waging war on communities | EARTHblog
For a long time, the hydraulic fracturing-enabled drilling industry has been fighting a war to be accepted in communities around the country.
They've been losing the war.
That is, the more they've operated, the more they've polluted, and the worse name they've received. Thanks to the good work of community groups, Josh Fox, DeSmogBlog, ProPublica, the New York Times, and many, many others, the word has gotten out that you allow the drilling industry into your community at the peril of your drinking water, clean air, and the very fabric of your community.
So industry was (and still is) faced with a choice: Start acting as a good neighbor really would and behave responsibly by -- keeping the community fully informed, proactively, about what you're doing; seeking to comply, not evade environmental laws that do (and should) apply to gas drilling and production, etc., OR Double down on fighting the war
With the Media & Stakeholder Relations Hydraulic Fracturing 2011 Initiative, held 10/31 & 11/1 in Houston, the fracking industry chose the latter.
We know this because Earthworks sent our Texas/Gulf Regional Organizer Sharon Wilson to the conference as a paid attendee, openly and honestly, to listen to what they had to say.
What she learned: the fracking industry regards the fight to get access to communities as a real war, not a figurative one. And they are acting accordingly. As reported in today's CNBC story, Oil Executive: Military-Style 'Psy Ops' Experience Applied, industry PR heads recommend employing the tactics of the U.S. Army Counterinsurgency Manual. They also recommend (and do) employ ex-military "psy-ops" personnel on the ground within communities. In other words, the fracking industry is using tactics developed to wage war on our nation's enemies on the communities they want to drill.
As Sharon put it, "they view this as an occupation." And occupiers, all protestations to the contrary, are not neighbors. Not even bad ones. They are adversaries.
UPDATE: A reminder that communities have been experiencing these tactics on the ground for years. The only thing new here is that they've admitted it publicly. For example, earlier this year This American Life did an excellent piece on Pennsylvania's experience with fracking -- including "divide and conquer" tactics at the community level.
For a long time, the hydraulic fracturing-enabled drilling industry has been fighting a war to be accepted in communities around the country.
They've been losing the war.
That is, the more they've operated, the more they've polluted, and the worse name they've received. Thanks to the good work of community groups, Josh Fox, DeSmogBlog, ProPublica, the New York Times, and many, many others, the word has gotten out that you allow the drilling industry into your community at the peril of your drinking water, clean air, and the very fabric of your community.
So industry was (and still is) faced with a choice: Start acting as a good neighbor really would and behave responsibly by -- keeping the community fully informed, proactively, about what you're doing; seeking to comply, not evade environmental laws that do (and should) apply to gas drilling and production, etc., OR Double down on fighting the war
With the Media & Stakeholder Relations Hydraulic Fracturing 2011 Initiative, held 10/31 & 11/1 in Houston, the fracking industry chose the latter.
We know this because Earthworks sent our Texas/Gulf Regional Organizer Sharon Wilson to the conference as a paid attendee, openly and honestly, to listen to what they had to say.
What she learned: the fracking industry regards the fight to get access to communities as a real war, not a figurative one. And they are acting accordingly. As reported in today's CNBC story, Oil Executive: Military-Style 'Psy Ops' Experience Applied, industry PR heads recommend employing the tactics of the U.S. Army Counterinsurgency Manual. They also recommend (and do) employ ex-military "psy-ops" personnel on the ground within communities. In other words, the fracking industry is using tactics developed to wage war on our nation's enemies on the communities they want to drill.
As Sharon put it, "they view this as an occupation." And occupiers, all protestations to the contrary, are not neighbors. Not even bad ones. They are adversaries.
UPDATE: A reminder that communities have been experiencing these tactics on the ground for years. The only thing new here is that they've admitted it publicly. For example, earlier this year This American Life did an excellent piece on Pennsylvania's experience with fracking -- including "divide and conquer" tactics at the community level.
'Yes We Can, Stop The Pipeline'
'Yes We Can, Stop The Pipeline'
(actually REPORTED by the Republican-leaning AP)
Thousands of protesters opposing a controversial oil pipeline project rallied around the White House on Sunday. Canadian company TransCanada is seeking permission to build the 1,600-mile Keystone XL pipeline from Alberta to the Gulf Coast in Texas. Environmental groups say that extracting oil from the sands would generate huge greenhouse gas emissions, and that any accident on the route could be disastrous.
Protesters shouted "yes we can, stop the pipeline," the AP reports, and some carried an inflatable oil pipeline.
(actually REPORTED by the Republican-leaning AP)
Thousands of protesters opposing a controversial oil pipeline project rallied around the White House on Sunday. Canadian company TransCanada is seeking permission to build the 1,600-mile Keystone XL pipeline from Alberta to the Gulf Coast in Texas. Environmental groups say that extracting oil from the sands would generate huge greenhouse gas emissions, and that any accident on the route could be disastrous.
Protesters shouted "yes we can, stop the pipeline," the AP reports, and some carried an inflatable oil pipeline.
Monday
Iran called to account on LGBT repression at UN | Care2 Causes
Iran called to account on LGBT repression at UN
For the first time, Iran has been called to account for its repression of LGBT people at the United Nations.
In the Concluding Observations [PDF] on November 3 from its 3rd periodic review of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the United Nations Human Rights Committee (UNHRC) has made clear that the government’s conduct amounts to a violation of the international laws that it has agreed to uphold.
“As a state that prides itself in tradition and morality, Iran must now take immediate action to ensure its definitions of tradition and morality are in accordance with the fundamental principles of international human rights law,” UNHRC said.
“For years, Iranian authorities have committed atrocities against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, incited violence by others, and refused to admit that LGBT Iranians exist,” said Hossein Alizadeh, Regional Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa at the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC).
The UNHRC meets three times a year for four week sessions to consider the five-yearly reports submitted by 162 UN member states on their compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, (ICCPR).
The Committee has asked the Iranian government to widely circulate their Concluding Observations to the Iranian judiciary, government and civil society. After consulting with civil society, the government must submit a progress report about the implementation of the recommendations included in the Committee’s Concluding Observations. The Committee has specifically asked the Iranian government to include detailed information on the enjoyment of Covenant rights by members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community in its next periodic review.
The Committee urged the government of Iran to repeal or amend legislation that “could result in the discrimination, prosecution and punishment of people because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.” There is a range of discriminatory laws in Iran, among them laws criminalizing homosexual sex and punishing it with death.
The number of executions of gay people in Iran is opaque because trials on moral charges are usually held on camera, so it is difficult to determine, Human Rights Watch said in a report last December, what proportion of those charged and executed for same-sex conduct are LGBT and in what proportion the alleged offense was consensual. The Iranian government maintains that “most of these individuals have been charged for forcible sodomy or rape.” However, in just one report, by Doug Ireland in December 2009, twelve men were facing execution for sodomy and a joint appeal had been made for them by the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC), the Iranian Queer Organization (IRQO), and COC of the Netherlands. Iranian media reported the execution of three men for sodomy in September.
The Human Rights Committee said, however, that:
“Even one person incarcerated [on account of freely and mutually agreed sexual activities or sexual orientation] constitutes a violation of fundamental rights to privacy and non-discrimination.”
The questioning of whether LGBT people actually are executed — or even persecuted at all — has led those judging Iranian LGBTs seeking refuge in Western countries to argue that it is possible to ‘live discreetly’ there without suffering consequences.
IGLHRC and the Iranian Queer Organization (IRQO) submitted a joint Shadow Report to the UNHRC entitled Human Rights Violations on the Basis of Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, and Homosexuality in the Islamic Republic of Iran and testified before the Committee.
In September, Saghi Ghahraman of IRQO wrote:
Right after the revolution, execution of Gay and Transsexuals began, by the ruling clergies, illegally; it was legalized in 1995 – two decades after the revolution – when Shari’a law, Islam’s Code of Conduct, legally replaced Iran’s penal code.
Article 110 – executions based on sodomy; Article 130 – executions based on lesbianism; Article 220 – granting fathers the right to kill their children, recognizing fathers as blood-owners of their own children, turned State and Society, equally, into executioners of gays, lesbians, bi, and transsexual population, and also the heterosexuals; clergies have used sodomy laws against those prisoners who couldn’t be executed or persecuted otherwise.
Shari’a law is not only responsible for killing of LGBT members of society in Iran, it is also the basis of generations of LGBT’s lack of parenting, education, carrier, housing, and overall security and safety.
The fact that no LGBT Iranian dares to introduce themselves as L, G, B or T by their own voice, face, name is because of the fear-mongering articles of Shari’s sodomy law.
Living as a Queer woman over 50 years, a Queer poet over 20 years, directing a LGBT advocacy organization over five years, I have been witness to the horror the community in Iran goes through, everyday, not only by way of murders and executions but in everyday life of Not Living a simple, decent, dignified life human beings deserve in the realm in the Age of Democracy and Human Rights. And I am not talking only about those of our children who are disadvantaged and deprived, but also about gay professors, TS engineers, lesbian and gay specialist medical doctors, gay and lesbian poets, writers, artists, journalists and more, of highly accomplished status, all working inside Iran, who are victims in the hand of a hostile set of laws, and are most vulnerable.
I would like to offer the government of Iran to give account and explanation for violations of LGBT human rights. Or, to replace the primitive penal code of Shari’a law with constitutions based on 21st century human rights. Or if either is not doable, I would like to suggest that Mr. Ahmadinejad, the head of state of Iran, in his trips to the UN, travel to the USA on the back of a camel. After all, we, the LGBT of Iran shouldn’t be only ones treated with the mind-set of the dark-ages of 1400 years back in history.
For the first time, Iran has been called to account for its repression of LGBT people at the United Nations.
In the Concluding Observations [PDF] on November 3 from its 3rd periodic review of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the United Nations Human Rights Committee (UNHRC) has made clear that the government’s conduct amounts to a violation of the international laws that it has agreed to uphold.
“As a state that prides itself in tradition and morality, Iran must now take immediate action to ensure its definitions of tradition and morality are in accordance with the fundamental principles of international human rights law,” UNHRC said.
“For years, Iranian authorities have committed atrocities against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, incited violence by others, and refused to admit that LGBT Iranians exist,” said Hossein Alizadeh, Regional Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa at the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC).
The UNHRC meets three times a year for four week sessions to consider the five-yearly reports submitted by 162 UN member states on their compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, (ICCPR).
The Committee has asked the Iranian government to widely circulate their Concluding Observations to the Iranian judiciary, government and civil society. After consulting with civil society, the government must submit a progress report about the implementation of the recommendations included in the Committee’s Concluding Observations. The Committee has specifically asked the Iranian government to include detailed information on the enjoyment of Covenant rights by members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community in its next periodic review.
The Committee urged the government of Iran to repeal or amend legislation that “could result in the discrimination, prosecution and punishment of people because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.” There is a range of discriminatory laws in Iran, among them laws criminalizing homosexual sex and punishing it with death.
The number of executions of gay people in Iran is opaque because trials on moral charges are usually held on camera, so it is difficult to determine, Human Rights Watch said in a report last December, what proportion of those charged and executed for same-sex conduct are LGBT and in what proportion the alleged offense was consensual. The Iranian government maintains that “most of these individuals have been charged for forcible sodomy or rape.” However, in just one report, by Doug Ireland in December 2009, twelve men were facing execution for sodomy and a joint appeal had been made for them by the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC), the Iranian Queer Organization (IRQO), and COC of the Netherlands. Iranian media reported the execution of three men for sodomy in September.
The Human Rights Committee said, however, that:
“Even one person incarcerated [on account of freely and mutually agreed sexual activities or sexual orientation] constitutes a violation of fundamental rights to privacy and non-discrimination.”
The questioning of whether LGBT people actually are executed — or even persecuted at all — has led those judging Iranian LGBTs seeking refuge in Western countries to argue that it is possible to ‘live discreetly’ there without suffering consequences.
IGLHRC and the Iranian Queer Organization (IRQO) submitted a joint Shadow Report to the UNHRC entitled Human Rights Violations on the Basis of Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, and Homosexuality in the Islamic Republic of Iran and testified before the Committee.
In September, Saghi Ghahraman of IRQO wrote:
Right after the revolution, execution of Gay and Transsexuals began, by the ruling clergies, illegally; it was legalized in 1995 – two decades after the revolution – when Shari’a law, Islam’s Code of Conduct, legally replaced Iran’s penal code.
Article 110 – executions based on sodomy; Article 130 – executions based on lesbianism; Article 220 – granting fathers the right to kill their children, recognizing fathers as blood-owners of their own children, turned State and Society, equally, into executioners of gays, lesbians, bi, and transsexual population, and also the heterosexuals; clergies have used sodomy laws against those prisoners who couldn’t be executed or persecuted otherwise.
Shari’a law is not only responsible for killing of LGBT members of society in Iran, it is also the basis of generations of LGBT’s lack of parenting, education, carrier, housing, and overall security and safety.
The fact that no LGBT Iranian dares to introduce themselves as L, G, B or T by their own voice, face, name is because of the fear-mongering articles of Shari’s sodomy law.
Living as a Queer woman over 50 years, a Queer poet over 20 years, directing a LGBT advocacy organization over five years, I have been witness to the horror the community in Iran goes through, everyday, not only by way of murders and executions but in everyday life of Not Living a simple, decent, dignified life human beings deserve in the realm in the Age of Democracy and Human Rights. And I am not talking only about those of our children who are disadvantaged and deprived, but also about gay professors, TS engineers, lesbian and gay specialist medical doctors, gay and lesbian poets, writers, artists, journalists and more, of highly accomplished status, all working inside Iran, who are victims in the hand of a hostile set of laws, and are most vulnerable.
I would like to offer the government of Iran to give account and explanation for violations of LGBT human rights. Or, to replace the primitive penal code of Shari’a law with constitutions based on 21st century human rights. Or if either is not doable, I would like to suggest that Mr. Ahmadinejad, the head of state of Iran, in his trips to the UN, travel to the USA on the back of a camel. After all, we, the LGBT of Iran shouldn’t be only ones treated with the mind-set of the dark-ages of 1400 years back in history.
Iran called to account on LGBT repression at UN
Iran called to account on LGBT repression at UN
For the first time, Iran has been called to account for its repression of LGBT people at the United Nations.
In the Concluding Observations [PDF] on November 3 from its 3rd periodic review of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the United Nations Human Rights Committee (UNHRC) has made clear that the government’s conduct amounts to a violation of the international laws that it has agreed to uphold.
“As a state that prides itself in tradition and morality, Iran must now take immediate action to ensure its definitions of tradition and morality are in accordance with the fundamental principles of international human rights law,” UNHRC said.
“For years, Iranian authorities have committed atrocities against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, incited violence by others, and refused to admit that LGBT Iranians exist,” said Hossein Alizadeh, Regional Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa at the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC).
The UNHRC meets three times a year for four week sessions to consider the five-yearly reports submitted by 162 UN member states on their compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, (ICCPR).
The Committee has asked the Iranian government to widely circulate their Concluding Observations to the Iranian judiciary, government and civil society. After consulting with civil society, the government must submit a progress report about the implementation of the recommendations included in the Committee’s Concluding Observations. The Committee has specifically asked the Iranian government to include detailed information on the enjoyment of Covenant rights by members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community in its next periodic review.
The Committee urged the government of Iran to repeal or amend legislation that “could result in the discrimination, prosecution and punishment of people because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.” There is a range of discriminatory laws in Iran, among them laws criminalizing homosexual sex and punishing it with death.
The number of executions of gay people in Iran is opaque because trials on moral charges are usually held on camera, so it is difficult to determine, Human Rights Watch said in a report last December, what proportion of those charged and executed for same-sex conduct are LGBT and in what proportion the alleged offense was consensual. The Iranian government maintains that “most of these individuals have been charged for forcible sodomy or rape.” However, in just one report, by Doug Ireland in December 2009, twelve men were facing execution for sodomy and a joint appeal had been made for them by the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC), the Iranian Queer Organization (IRQO), and COC of the Netherlands. Iranian media reported the execution of three men for sodomy in September.
The Human Rights Committee said, however, that:
“Even one person incarcerated [on account of freely and mutually agreed sexual activities or sexual orientation] constitutes a violation of fundamental rights to privacy and non-discrimination.”
For the first time, Iran has been called to account for its repression of LGBT people at the United Nations.
In the Concluding Observations [PDF] on November 3 from its 3rd periodic review of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the United Nations Human Rights Committee (UNHRC) has made clear that the government’s conduct amounts to a violation of the international laws that it has agreed to uphold.
“As a state that prides itself in tradition and morality, Iran must now take immediate action to ensure its definitions of tradition and morality are in accordance with the fundamental principles of international human rights law,” UNHRC said.
“For years, Iranian authorities have committed atrocities against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, incited violence by others, and refused to admit that LGBT Iranians exist,” said Hossein Alizadeh, Regional Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa at the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC).
The UNHRC meets three times a year for four week sessions to consider the five-yearly reports submitted by 162 UN member states on their compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, (ICCPR).
The Committee has asked the Iranian government to widely circulate their Concluding Observations to the Iranian judiciary, government and civil society. After consulting with civil society, the government must submit a progress report about the implementation of the recommendations included in the Committee’s Concluding Observations. The Committee has specifically asked the Iranian government to include detailed information on the enjoyment of Covenant rights by members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community in its next periodic review.
The Committee urged the government of Iran to repeal or amend legislation that “could result in the discrimination, prosecution and punishment of people because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.” There is a range of discriminatory laws in Iran, among them laws criminalizing homosexual sex and punishing it with death.
The number of executions of gay people in Iran is opaque because trials on moral charges are usually held on camera, so it is difficult to determine, Human Rights Watch said in a report last December, what proportion of those charged and executed for same-sex conduct are LGBT and in what proportion the alleged offense was consensual. The Iranian government maintains that “most of these individuals have been charged for forcible sodomy or rape.” However, in just one report, by Doug Ireland in December 2009, twelve men were facing execution for sodomy and a joint appeal had been made for them by the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC), the Iranian Queer Organization (IRQO), and COC of the Netherlands. Iranian media reported the execution of three men for sodomy in September.
The Human Rights Committee said, however, that:
“Even one person incarcerated [on account of freely and mutually agreed sexual activities or sexual orientation] constitutes a violation of fundamental rights to privacy and non-discrimination.”
Wednesday
Industry Sources Admit Keystone XL Key to Tar Sands Development | Tar Sands Action
Industry Sources Admit Keystone XL Key to Tar Sands Development | Tar Sands Action
“The signs are there: the Keystone XL oil sands pipeline has festered into an uncomfortable election issue for the U.S. president, Barack Obama.
The upshot for Canada: a decision on whether to grant a Presidential permit, promised by year end, could once again be delayed.
The reality is that anything short of a go-ahead in December for Keystone XL would plunge the oil sands sector into disarray until new solutions move forward. The worst-case scenario? Stranded oil sands — for years.
Keystone XL, with a capacity to carry up to 830,000 barrels a day from Alberta to Texas, was due for startup in early 2013. There is no backup on the same scale or timeline.”
“The signs are there: the Keystone XL oil sands pipeline has festered into an uncomfortable election issue for the U.S. president, Barack Obama.
The upshot for Canada: a decision on whether to grant a Presidential permit, promised by year end, could once again be delayed.
The reality is that anything short of a go-ahead in December for Keystone XL would plunge the oil sands sector into disarray until new solutions move forward. The worst-case scenario? Stranded oil sands — for years.
Keystone XL, with a capacity to carry up to 830,000 barrels a day from Alberta to Texas, was due for startup in early 2013. There is no backup on the same scale or timeline.”
Tar Sands Action - Obama finally speaks...
Tar Sands Action (WOW - a 'crack in the line'?? Certainly Harper will NOT pleased....)
Yesterday President Obama made his first comments about the Keystone XL pipeline. Take a minute to read what he told a Nebraska television station that asked him about the pipeline:
The State Department’s in charge of analyzing this, because there’s a pipeline coming in from Canada. They’ll be giving me a report over the next several months, and, you know, my general attitude is, what is best for the American people? What’s best for our economy both short term and long term? But also, what’s best for the health of the American people?
When pressed about how the potential for new jobs plays in to his decision, President Obama said:
"I think folks in Nebraska, like all across the country, aren’t going to say to themselves, “We’ll take a few thousand jobs if it means that our kids are potentially drinking water that would damage their health ..."
Getting the President to step up and own this decision is an important victory that would not be possible without your hard work. We've come a long way from a few dozen people sitting in on the hot August concrete outside the White House.
Of course, the fight continues: the President has said that this is his decision, which means we need to make sure he stands up to the pressure from big oil and rejects the pipeline. Now that we know the President is paying attention, it's important to speak loud and clear. We'll be taking that same message to him this Sunday when thousands of people join hands and surround the White House. (
In a reasonable world, the President's statements yesterday would mean the end of this pipeline. After all, he ran as a candidate with the hope to end the tyranny of oil, and if this is his decision, there should be no question about what he should do.
But big oil is already waging a huge misinformation and lobbying campaign to get this thing through, and the pressure will only get more intense in the coming weeks. We need to let the president know that he has the support he needs to reject the pipeline, and that there will be real consequences if he doesn't.
Yesterday President Obama made his first comments about the Keystone XL pipeline. Take a minute to read what he told a Nebraska television station that asked him about the pipeline:
The State Department’s in charge of analyzing this, because there’s a pipeline coming in from Canada. They’ll be giving me a report over the next several months, and, you know, my general attitude is, what is best for the American people? What’s best for our economy both short term and long term? But also, what’s best for the health of the American people?
When pressed about how the potential for new jobs plays in to his decision, President Obama said:
"I think folks in Nebraska, like all across the country, aren’t going to say to themselves, “We’ll take a few thousand jobs if it means that our kids are potentially drinking water that would damage their health ..."
Getting the President to step up and own this decision is an important victory that would not be possible without your hard work. We've come a long way from a few dozen people sitting in on the hot August concrete outside the White House.
Of course, the fight continues: the President has said that this is his decision, which means we need to make sure he stands up to the pressure from big oil and rejects the pipeline. Now that we know the President is paying attention, it's important to speak loud and clear. We'll be taking that same message to him this Sunday when thousands of people join hands and surround the White House. (
In a reasonable world, the President's statements yesterday would mean the end of this pipeline. After all, he ran as a candidate with the hope to end the tyranny of oil, and if this is his decision, there should be no question about what he should do.
But big oil is already waging a huge misinformation and lobbying campaign to get this thing through, and the pressure will only get more intense in the coming weeks. We need to let the president know that he has the support he needs to reject the pipeline, and that there will be real consequences if he doesn't.
Tuesday
Baird ‘not happy’ with UNESCO vote on Palestine
NEWS: Baird ‘not happy’ with UNESCO vote on Palestine
Agence France Presse reports, “Canada is ‘not happy’ with the vote to grant UNESCO membership to the Palestinians and will reconsider its participation in the UN cultural body, Foreign Minister John Baird said Monday. The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization on Monday adopted a resolution to admit Palestine, with 107 countries voting in favor, 14 including the United States and Canada voting against, and 52 abstaining. ‘We are not happy with UNESCO’s decision. We are working to determine what our response will be,’ Baird told reporters. ‘We are in the process of evaluating our future participation’ in UNESCO, he added…”
The stated purpose of UNESCO is to contribute to peace and security by promoting international collaboration through education, science, and culture in order to further universal respect for justice, the rule of law, and the human rights along with fundamental freedoms proclaimed in the United Nations Charter. Projects sponsored by UNESCO include literacy, technical, and teacher-training programmes; the promotion of independent media and freedom of the press; the preserving of world heritage sites; regional and cultural history projects; and to preserve human rights.
UNESCO also funds the International Hydrological Programme, a scientific programme that focuses on the use and availability of water.
Baird’s comments imply Canada may withdraw its annual $12 million contribution to UNESCO. The United States has already announced it will withdraw a $60 million contribution to UNESCO as a result of the vote to grant UNESCO membership to Palestine.
The Gaza Strip is one of the territorial units forming the Palestinian territories. At our annual general meeting in Montreal on October 23, the Council of Canadians passed a resolution resolving that the Council of Canadians: support the Canadian Boat to Gaza to end the illegal blockade of Gaza; call on the Government of Canada, the United Nations and the international community to do everything in their power to ensure the safe passage of the Canadian Boat to Gaza and the safety of all those aboard; call for an end to the blockade of Gaza, in accordance with international law.
Agence France Presse reports, “Canada is ‘not happy’ with the vote to grant UNESCO membership to the Palestinians and will reconsider its participation in the UN cultural body, Foreign Minister John Baird said Monday. The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization on Monday adopted a resolution to admit Palestine, with 107 countries voting in favor, 14 including the United States and Canada voting against, and 52 abstaining. ‘We are not happy with UNESCO’s decision. We are working to determine what our response will be,’ Baird told reporters. ‘We are in the process of evaluating our future participation’ in UNESCO, he added…”
The stated purpose of UNESCO is to contribute to peace and security by promoting international collaboration through education, science, and culture in order to further universal respect for justice, the rule of law, and the human rights along with fundamental freedoms proclaimed in the United Nations Charter. Projects sponsored by UNESCO include literacy, technical, and teacher-training programmes; the promotion of independent media and freedom of the press; the preserving of world heritage sites; regional and cultural history projects; and to preserve human rights.
UNESCO also funds the International Hydrological Programme, a scientific programme that focuses on the use and availability of water.
Baird’s comments imply Canada may withdraw its annual $12 million contribution to UNESCO. The United States has already announced it will withdraw a $60 million contribution to UNESCO as a result of the vote to grant UNESCO membership to Palestine.
The Gaza Strip is one of the territorial units forming the Palestinian territories. At our annual general meeting in Montreal on October 23, the Council of Canadians passed a resolution resolving that the Council of Canadians: support the Canadian Boat to Gaza to end the illegal blockade of Gaza; call on the Government of Canada, the United Nations and the international community to do everything in their power to ensure the safe passage of the Canadian Boat to Gaza and the safety of all those aboard; call for an end to the blockade of Gaza, in accordance with international law.
WIN! Niagra-on-the-Lake calls for moratorium on treating fracking wastewater in the Great Lakes Basin
WIN! Niagra-on-the-Lake calls for moratorium on treating fracking wastewater in the Great Lakes Basin
WIN! Niagra-on-the-Lake calls for moratorium on treating fracking wastewater in the Great Lakes Basin
By Brent Patterson, Monday, October 31st, 2011
Last week, the Council of Canadians issued an action alert asking for your support on a motion to be heard at Niagara-on-the-Lake town council this evening. The motion called for a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing and the treatment of fracking wastewater within the Great Lakes Basin. It was sparked by concern about the Niagara Falls (New York) Water Board’s move to explore treating fracking wastewater in Niagara Falls’ wastewater treatment system.
Late this evening we received word from Councillor Jamie King - who introduced the motion - that the motion was just passed unanimously by council!
Niagara-on-the-Lake is a town located in southern Ontario where the Niagara River meets Lake Ontario. It has a population of about 15,000 people. Niagara Falls, where it has been proposed that a specialized wastewater facility could treat fracking wastewater, is also situated on the Niagara River, which drains Lake Erie into Lake Ontario.
Our thanks go to Councillor King and all councillors, and to everyone who called the mayor and their city councillor to ask them to support this motion.
This motion will be brought to the attention of the Niagara Falls Water Board, which meets next on November 17.
The action alert that was widely distributed starting on October 28 can be read here
WIN! Niagra-on-the-Lake calls for moratorium on treating fracking wastewater in the Great Lakes Basin
By Brent Patterson, Monday, October 31st, 2011
Last week, the Council of Canadians issued an action alert asking for your support on a motion to be heard at Niagara-on-the-Lake town council this evening. The motion called for a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing and the treatment of fracking wastewater within the Great Lakes Basin. It was sparked by concern about the Niagara Falls (New York) Water Board’s move to explore treating fracking wastewater in Niagara Falls’ wastewater treatment system.
Late this evening we received word from Councillor Jamie King - who introduced the motion - that the motion was just passed unanimously by council!
Niagara-on-the-Lake is a town located in southern Ontario where the Niagara River meets Lake Ontario. It has a population of about 15,000 people. Niagara Falls, where it has been proposed that a specialized wastewater facility could treat fracking wastewater, is also situated on the Niagara River, which drains Lake Erie into Lake Ontario.
Our thanks go to Councillor King and all councillors, and to everyone who called the mayor and their city councillor to ask them to support this motion.
This motion will be brought to the attention of the Niagara Falls Water Board, which meets next on November 17.
The action alert that was widely distributed starting on October 28 can be read here
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