Showing posts with label UN. Show all posts
Showing posts with label UN. Show all posts

Saturday, May 22, 2010

US lifts sanctions on Russian firms



TUNDRA TABLOIDS


Groups previously accused of giving illicit assistance to Iran, Syria.


WASHINGTON — The Obama administration on Friday removed sanctions against three Russian organizations the US had previously accused of assisting Iran's effort to develop nuclear weapons.

Penalties against a fourth Russian entity previously accused of illicit arms sales to Syria were also lifted.

The timing of the decisions, published in Friday's Federal Register but not otherwise announced by the State Department, suggested the possibility of a link to US efforts to win Russian support for a new UN Security Council resolution expanding sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program.

The State Department on Friday did not immediately respond to questions about lifting the sanctions.

Two of the entities — Dmitri Mendeleyev University of Chemical Technology and the Moscow Aviation Institute — had been sanctioned in January 1999 under a 1994 executive order authorizing such action. The order was aimed at organizations determined to have contributed to a foreign country's development or production of weapons of mass destruction or missiles capable of launching such weapons.
When the administration of former US president Bill Clinton announced those sanctions, then-Energy Secretary Bill Richardson said the two institutions "directly support Iranian efforts to develop nuclear weapons."

At the time, the Russian government denied such support for Iran.

More here.

Friday, January 29, 2010

Goldstone report: Israel and Palestinians respond to UN

BBC NEWS.com

Page last updated at 23:04 GMT, Friday, 29 January 2010

Israel and West Bank Palestinians have responded to the UN's Goldstone report which accused both of them of war crimes during Israel's Gaza operation.

The Israeli defence minister said there was no army as "responsible... moral and accurate...even under impossible conditions," as Israel.

The Palestinian ambassador to the UN said a high-level commission had been set up to investigate war crime claims.

The UN secretary general is to report early next month on any further steps.

The UN General Assembly has demanded that both Israel and Hamas launch independent investigations into their conduct during the 22-day Israeli operation which began in December 2008.

When Secretary General Ban Ki-moon make his own recommendations for further action in early February, he is not expected to advocate a process leading to international criminal trials, as proposed by South African judge Richard Goldstone.

A former international war crimes prosecutor, Mr Goldstone investigated the offensive, and said crimes had been committed on both sides.

He accused Israel of deliberately targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure during the conflict, in which human rights groups say about 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis died

An Israeli official said the submission to the UN was not intended to respond in detail to the allegations and incidents outlined in the report, but to explain why the Israeli justice system was "reliable" and "independent".

"The Goldstone report is distorted, falsified and not balanced," said Defence Minister Ehud Barak.

Fighters and commanders on Israeli operations should know that "the state of Israel stands behind you also on the day after," he added.

Israel has been widely criticised by human rights groups for using heavy firepower and causing hundreds of civilian casualties.

It says it was targeting the Islamic movement Hamas, which controls Gaza, in response to continued rocket fire at Israeli towns.

Israel blames Hamas for firing from residential areas and putting civilians at risk, and says its own interpretation of international law is in line with other Western countries such as the US and UK.

Arrest fears

Pressure has been growing within Israel to mount some form of independent inquiry.

In December, a UK court issued an arrest warrant for alleged war crimes for former Foreign Minister and current opposition leader Tzipi Livni.

Pro-Palestinian campaigners in the UK have tried several times to have Israeli officials arrested under the principle of universal jurisdiction.

This allows domestic courts in countries around the world to try war crimes suspects, even if the crime took place outside the country and the suspect is not a citizen.

A key factor in the issuing of warrants is whether the country in question has carried out an independent inquiry.

130 investigations

A senior Israeli government official told the BBC there is now consensus within the cabinet, except for Mr Barak, that some kind of investigative body independent from the military should be established.

One compromise option may be a panel of judicial figures to review the conclusions of internal military investigations, the official said.

The Israeli military has opened about 130 investigations into specific incidents, of which about 30 are criminal investigations.

At least 48 have been closed with no wrongdoing found. One has resulted in the prosecution of a soldier for stealing a Palestinian's credit card.

According to the foreign ministry, as of November, 26 of the investigations, 10 of them criminal, are among the 36 incidents the Goldstone report details.

Human rights groups such as the Israeli organisation B'tselem have been involved in helping arrange for Gazans to give testimony in the criminal probes.

They believe criminal investigations include:

  • Six incidents where civilians carrying white flags were allegedly shot
  • Six cases of alleged use of human shields
  • Two alleged uses of flechette shells filled with small darts
  • The case of the Samouni family, where witnesses say more than 20 people were killed in an attack on house Israeli troops had told them to gather in.

West Bank commission

Meanwhile, Palestinian ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour told journalists that his government had this week set up a high-level commission to investigate the charges of war crimes.

Mr Mansour submitted its programme of action to Mr Ban.

He said this was the response of the West Bank Palestinian Authority.

The Palestinian government in Gaza, led by the Islamist Hamas movement, came out with its own response earlier this week, but did not formally submit it.

It rejected charges of war crimes, saying its rockets were not targeting civilians.

That conclusion is disputed by the international Human Rights Watch organisation.

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Note: Please see http://www.thegoldstonereport.com/ Goldstone Report (I posted yesterday). BeeSting

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Saturday, January 2, 2010

Europe to Investigate the UN Over “Pandemic” Scam

In addition to the "global warming" rip-off, you can add another huge international racketeering operation -- the H1N1 "pandemic" of 2009

By Jim O'Neill Saturday, January 2, 2010

“UN report says pandemic may result in anarchy—‘could kill millions’—unless western world pays for antiviral drugs and vaccines!” —From “The Guardian” September 20, 2009


WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama has declared the swine flu outbreak a national emergency, giving his health chief the power to let hospitals move emergency rooms offsite to speed treatment and protect non-infected patients. — Associated Press—October 25, 2009


In addition to the “global warming” rip-off, you can add another huge international racketeering operation—the H1N1 “pandemic” of 2009.

Both of these ploys were designed to fleece the western nations of billions, possibly trillions, of dollars. In the case of the H1N1 scam, the western governments have already coughed up billions of dollars for vaccines to prevent a bogus “pandemic.” That means that we, the taxpayers, have been ripped-off yet again.

If class action lawsuits aren’t on the way, then they darn well should be.

The European nations have apparently not been paid off to the extent of the U.S. Congress, and have decided to look into things.

According to a report filed by F. William Engdahl, the Council of Europe Parliament has unanimously proposed to start an investigation this month into “the influence of the pharmaceutical companies on the global swine flu campaign.”

The purpose of the inquiry is to investigate collusion between the “Golden Triangle” of the UN’s WHO (World Health Organization), certain pharmaceutical companies, and academic scientists.

That scenario should sound familiar, as it’s similar to “global warming’s” collusion between the UN’s IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), “green energy” corporations, and academic scientists.

Both scams were intended to “redistribute the wealth” globally, while making the Global Elite, very, very rich. They get to wipe out the middle-class, destroy capitalism, install a UN-run global regime, and get exceedingly wealthy, all at the same time. It’s a win/win situation all around, for Progressives at least.

The resolution just passed by the Council of Europe Parliament includes the charge that, “In order to promote their patented drugs and vaccines…pharmaceutical companies influenced scientists and official agencies…to alarm governments worldwide and make them squander tight health resources for inefficient vaccine strategies and needlessly expose millions of healthy people to the risk of an unknown amount of side-effects of insufficiently tested vaccines.”

The motion was introduced by Dr. Wolfgang Wodarg, Chairman of the European Parliament Health Committee. He stated that millions of healthy people were unnecessarily “exposed to the risk of poorly tested vaccines,” for no other reason than the purported threat of a flu strain that is “vastly less harmful” then previous flu strains.

Dr. Wodarg’s talking about the Swine Flu, or H1N1, or “novel H1N1,” or “2009 H1N1,” or whatever they’re trying to pass it off as these days. You remember—the national emergency?

You ought to remember—after all, you helped to pay for the billions spent on vaccines. Big Pharma thanks you, and so do their stockholders. Speaking of which, do you think some of those stockholders just might be Global Elitists? Just asking.

Dr. Wodarg suggested that, “The Council of Europe and its member-states should ask for immediate investigations and consequences, on their national levels, as well as on the international level.” Consequences—hmmm, good suggestion.

Why isn’t the U.S. doing the same? Too many bribes, too many “donations” made to too many politicians, too many deals made with Big Pharma to get Obama-Care passed? That would be my guess.

Our renowned “people’s watchdog,” the Lame Stream Media, remains ever-vigilantly silent on the subject. Although I must admit that CBS did, almost, nearly look into malfeasance on the part of the CDC (Center for Disease Control) regarding the Swine Flu scam.

I guess, once again, it’s up to “we the people” to straighten things out. Anybody know some good class action lawsuit lawyers?

Laus Deo.

P.S. In case you missed them, you may want to read my articles “No Mandatory Swine Flu Vaccines!”
and “No Mandatory Swine Flu Vaccines II”

Jim O'Neill Most recent columns

Born in June of 1951 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Jim O’Neill proudly served in the U.S. Navy from 1970-1974 in both UDT-21 (Underwater Demolition Team) and SEAL Team Two. A member of MENSA, he worked as a commercial diver in the waters off Scotland, India, and the United States. In 1998 while attending the University of South Florida as a journalism student, O’Neill won “First Place” in the “Carol Burnett/University of Hawaii AEJMC Research in Journalism Ethics Award.” The annual contest was set up by Carol Burnett with the money she won from successfully suing the National Enquirer for libel.

Jim can be reached at: Letters@canadafreepress.com