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Showing posts from February 9, 2007

Ethiopia is accused of 'torturing and illegally jailing opponents of regime'

Ethiopia is accused of 'torturing and illegally jailing opponents of regime' By Steve Bloomfield in Addis Ababa Published: 09 February 2007 Ethiopia is conducting a systematic campaign of intimidation, detention and torture against political opponents of its increasingly autocratic government, human rights groups have alleged. Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, a celebrated ally of the US administration in its "war on terror" and previously invited to sit on Tony Blair's Africa Commission, has become increasingly blatant in his suppression of opposition. At least 40 opposition supporters in the country have been held in prison since December where torture has become commonplace, according to evidence from Amnesty International. None of the detainees being held in Addis Ababa's Maikelawi prison have been allowed to see family members or lawyers and released suspects say prison guards routinely torture inmates. The opposition Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD) al

The Rape of Iraq

"The Christian right has lured tens of millions of Americans, who rightly feel abandoned and betrayed by the political system, from the reality-based world to one of magic -- to fantastic visions of angels and miracles, to a childlike belief that God has a plan for them and Jesus will guide and protect them. This mythological worldview, one that has no use for science or dispassionate, honest intellectual inquiry, one that promises that the loss of jobs and health insurance does not matter, as long as you are right with Jesus, offers a lying world of consistency that addresses the emotional yearnings of desperate followers at the expense of reality. It creates a world where facts become interchangeable with opinions, where lies become true -- the very essence of the totalitarian state. It includes a dark license to kill, to obliterate all those who do not conform to this vision, from Muslims in the Middle East to those at home who refuse to submit to the movement. And it convenien