An article was yesterday published on GlobalResearch about who was behind the 1994 genocide.
Impunity in Afghanistan and Iraq
Foreign countries with military in Afghanistan and Iraq have in practice long had impunity for many of the crimes they have comitted there. Sadly, this seems to have become a permanent condition. In June, Iraq gave US troops immunity from prosecution there. The reason stated for this is ISIS, an organization there are many doubts about. Iraqi government forces are also reported to have impunity. Last month, Afghanistan’s new President Ashraf Ghani accepted a deal to keep US occupation troops in the country and grant them impunity.
Right Livelihood Award to Edward Snowden
Whistleblower Edward Snowden has been honoured with the Right Livelihood Award 2014, for revealing the extent of illegal government mass surveillance. His statement can be found on The Courage Foundation’s web site Free Snowden. We congratulate him and this year’s other winners: Alan Rusbridger, Asma Jahangir, Basil Fernando and Bill McKibben.
We must remember that the USA has not been alone in the crimes revealed by Snowden, nor in stopping the plane of Bolivian President Evo Morales to search for Snowden.
One who seems not so happy about Snowden is Sweden’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carl Bildt, who is reported to have stopped the Right Livelihood Foundation from using the department’s premises. That is perhaps not so surprising, because Carl Bildt appears to have been working closely with the USA for a long time, even co-chaired a lobby group for the Iraq war and was a board member of Booz Allen Hamilton Holdings.
Fueling civil wars
To fuel civil wars in foreign countries is a type of activity, which some governments are obviously keen on. This is affecting millions of innocent people, who often become refugees, as a consequence. Two examples are Libya and Syria. Professor Ola Tunander has in his book The geopolitics of the Libyan war – Humanitarian intervention or colonial warfare? (in Swedish) reported that some western countries were from the beginning involved in creating the war to achieve regime change. More western countries later got involved in the Libyan war, including Norway and Sweden. In Syria, perhaps the strangest twist is that the USA is now reported to be fighting on all sides of the war. In both Libya and Syria, the result of the involvement of foreign countries in the civil wars is that the situation is much worse than before.
How much longer can we stand that our governments are playing criminal games with other nations, and almost always get away with it?
More speak out about NSA crimes
Don’t miss The Guardian’s or Deutsche Welle’s recent articles about NSA whistleblower William Binney, who first blew the whistle on NSA’s mass surveillance, long before Edward Snowden.
Until the 30 September, it is also possible to watch a TV documentary in three parts about NSA on the web site of Swedish Television (link to part one).
Victim of assassination attempt wakes up
An imam, known to be critical against the Uzbek regime, was in 2012 shot in an assassination attempt in Strömsund, Sweden. He survived, but has been in a coma until now.
A short time after the attack, suspicion was directed against the Uzbek intelligence service. According to his son, the family is still receiving threats.
One person believed to be located outside Sweden is arrested in absentia on suspicion of attempted murder. In Sweden, two people were indicted for helping to track down the imam. They were acquitted, however, because it was not proven that they had known about the murder plans. The police investigation may now be taken up again.
– We’ve never heard the imam, so if his health improves so much that we can hear him it would be of tremendously valuable, says the local chief of police Göran Bergström, according to Swedish Radio.
Read more, or listen, on the web site of Swedish Radio (in Swedish)
Delayed justice in Cambodia
Last week, it was reported that former leaders in Cambodia have been sentenced for crimes against humanity. See, for example, The Economist’s blog.
Australia bans reporting of corruption case
Read the full press release from WikiLeaks. It does make you wonder, what is really behind this? Note also that, as Sydney Morning Herald writes:
“anyone who tweets a link to the Wikileaks report, posts it on Facebook, or shares it in any way online could also face charges”
Luckily, this web site is not based in Australia or any other country where that type of gag order can be issued. Australia does not seem to deserve their currently high rating on the World Press Freedom Index.
NSA aids Saudi Arabia
The USA is known for having supported many dictatorships around the world, and still continue to do so. One example is that The Intercept has revealed how NSA aids Saudi Arabia. Earlier this year, Saudi Arabia also passed a shocking terrorism law. The world has very small chances to do anything regarding the horrible human rights situation in Saudi Arabia. Dictators know that if they team up with the USA, they are safe (at least as long as the USA does not change their mind).
Operation Northwood
Alternative news sites have published information about a planned covert operation, including shooting down civilian aircraft, which was not carried out in 1962. Read the article by NewsVoice in Swedish or English (online translation). In other incidents, civilian airliners have actually been shot down.