Flashpoints June 26: film 'Massacre in Masar'; AI's McAntee; go ANSWER June 28/9

KPFA Flashpoints News Radio

Wednesday, June 26, 2002 - Start Audio
-00:00 Dennis Bernstein: introduction: US complicit in Afghanistan war crimes against captured Taliban prisoners?; Nationwide protests June 28 and in DC June 29 against FBI abuses.
-00:40 now with Robert Knight and the Knight Report.. Robert: SF federal court rules in favor of freedom from religion.. Pledge of Allegance's phrase "under God" ruled unconstitutional.. written in 1892 by a Socialist.. why the phrase 'with liberty and equality for all' was changed to 'with liberty and *justice* for all'.. Bush may challenge the results of another election next January, the Palestinian election.. says: 'consequences if the Palestinian voters re-elect Arafat'.. Bush makes more threats.. a Belgian appeals court throws out war crimes charges against Sharon.. lawyers promise to appeal.. El Salvador generals charged with war crimes.
-6:25 Dennis: Amnesty International calling for an investigation into the massacre of Taliban prisoners.. now w independent British filmmaker, Jamie Duran, an award-winning documentary filmmaker who has been producing films for the past 22 years. He spent seven years working for the BBC before establishing his own independent television company. He has spent much of the last eight months working in Afghanistan on film projects.. Jamie: 1000's of Taliban prisoners.. sealed in trucks.. and transferred to a US controlled prison.. mass grave..Jamie's latest film, Massacre in Mazar (Guardian) (rense.com) (wsws.org).. now with Jamie: neck breaking at the hands of American soldiers.. 8,000 surrendered.. 3,500 left, where are the rest?.. sealed into containers without air, when the prisoners cried out for air, the Northern Alliance soldiers fired into the containers.. "blood from three containers".. one eyewitness talks of a US officer directing the containers away from satellite observance.. many of the dead were.. taken out to the desert.. the ones still alive lined up and machine gunned.. one of the drivers said, 30 to 40 American soldiers accompanied the containers into the desert.. about the prisoners transported into the prison.. in the film, an eyewitness says he saw an American soldier break the neck of a prisoner, and pour acid on others.. done fairly openly to frighten the other prisoners.. Dennis: you have shown the film to the German Parliment, why?.. Jamie: the greatest evidence lies in those mass graves.. no one who is innocent should have anything to fear from.. a proper exhumation of those bodies.. now w human rights attorney, Andrew McEntee, former chair of Amnesty International.. Andrew: from a lawyer's point of view plenty of evidence of violations of international law.. implications of US involvement.. US military should conduct its own investigation.. torture.. about the containers.. the prison under control of the US forces.. up to 7,500 unaccounted for.. many died in the containers.. at least a failure to act to prevent war crimes.. letting perpetrators hide the evidence.. the first five containers had some dead and some alive.. amounting to war crimes.. Physicians for Human Rights and the UN have seen the mass graves, but not dug them up.. unless there is an investigation, hard to see how this will go away.. we do need the truth to come out.. 3,000 bodies in Afghanistan should be treated the same as 3,000 bodies from 9/11.. Amnesty International has documented mass graves from atrocities committed by the Taliban (HRW).. what makes this different, the witnesses making confessions implicating Americans.. Jamie: PHR when they went out with the UN.. Andrew: the UN took some DNA samples for testing.. US prosecutors.. the values which the west is said to fight for, the rule of law.. US Military Law.. in 1955 the US signed onto the Geneva Convention.. the US Army field manual discusses the penalties for war crimes.. about My Lai, Charlie Company, Lt Calley.. I don't think there should be any expectation.. that 3,000 people are irrelevant.. Dennis: you are concerned what could happen to your witnesses, are they in hiding?.. Jamie: they are being *protected* by the fact that I haven't identified them.. one has gone into hiding.. Dennis: do you have any evidence that "a skirmish in the prison escalated into a gun battle".. Jamie: at Jala-I-Qanghi Prison.. after the battle, not one wounded person, but hundreds of dead.. every single one of them was dead, no wounded.. an extremely unusual situation.. Dennis: how did the German Parliment react?.. Jamie: I thought Afghanistan very much off the agenda.. but standing room only.. I have been absolutely astonished by the strength of response.. about showing the film to the US Congress.. Andrew: about the US opposition to the International Criminal Court.. American investigators (such as in the case of My Lai) should be doing their own investigations.. they have an obligation to do it..
-38:15 Dennis: on June 28 a march and rally in a number of cities against FBI abuses.. now w attorney Mara Van Haden Hilliard: we've been working since 9/11 for folks being attacked by Bush and company.. Arab Muslim South Asian community.. repressive tactics.. people picked up and questioned by the FBI.. 1,200 people disappeared in the US prison system.. even now still the government will not say who is in custody.. law as a political weapon.. the Patriot Act.. survellance.. George Bush has the power to say any American citizen an 'enemy combatant' is an an 'enemy of the state' and put them in jail for the rest of their lives.. about Jose Padilla.. no check no balance.. Bush can take any citizen of the US and put them away forever.. now w ^^^^: the government can now check your library card record and arrest you for reading certain books.. we have to put a stop to this before it goes any further.. the ANSWER Coalition.. calls for demonstrations June 28 and June 29.. we have to call for a halt.. Dennis: talk about Israeli as an example of how to use torture.. I was in the West Bank a month ago.. 8,000 men rounded up, held under deplorable conditions.. 1300 selected and military tribunals.. a five minute procedure.. sentenced to 3 or 6 month detention, renewable forever.. Dennis: the US military rehearsing for counterinsurgendy actions like in Israel.. Mara: the Bush administration.. probable cause no longer required.. tearing down our civil liberties.. with no control.. IF WE DON'T SPEAK OUT NOW, WHEN WILL IT HAPPEN?.. THE ONLY TIME GOVERNMENT HAS BEEN BEATEN BACK.. IS WHEN PEOPLE SPEAK OUT.. about attorney Lynn Stewart.. the more people come out, and the more fearlessly they come out.. the power of people coming out together.. ^^^^: Mara hits the nail on the head.. the government suffered a big setback when 100,000 people marched in Washington.. trying to intimidate people again.. if we retreat we give them the victory they are trying to achieve, ie the intimidation of American.. critical for people to publicly speak out.. most important that people come out June 28 in SF 5PM Powell and Market.. and in DC, June 29.. the FBI, Bush, Ashcroft trying to create this atmospere of fear.. the best antidote to come out publicly and take a stand.. more info: www.InternationalAnswer.org 415-821-6545 .. outstanding speakers in SF: ILWU, Labor Council.. DC protest info: Parthership for Civil Justice.. or call 202-332-5757
-55:45 Mary Bishop: wrapup
-56:26 End today's show. today's review by john lionheart

Israel went into Hebron today.. now an interview with Neta Golan in Balata Camp, in the home of a suicide bomber's family, due to be bulldozed by Israel.. Neta: the Israelis talking of sending the family to Gaza.. earlier today the electricity cut.. they came in and shot a little bit and left.. now they are outside the camp.. the city under curfew for a week now.. the University supposed to have final exams.. basically people are imprisoned in their homes.. only allowed out for an hour a day.. otherwise they get shot at.. ambulance.. body of a young man in the street.. no one allowed to come near the body for forty minutes.. a Kalashnikov rifle placed next to the body.. people are frightened.. hopefully on Friday we will break curfew and march in protest.. the drinking water contaminated.. diarrhea at epidemic levels.. ambulances stopped and searched.. a very difficut situation.. Dennis: yesterday Bush made a speech, if if if provisional state.. the feeling on the ground?.. Neta: a lot of resentment.. no other state has the right to tell another.. people here suffering a lot from the Isreali army.. no mention of that.. Dennis: a proposal from a US Jewish attorney that the families of suicide bombers should be killed.. Neta: my cousin was killed in a suicide bombing.. it's wrong, it's a criminal act.. but think, the bomber's cousin was killed four days before he exploded.. and another cousin in a wheelchair due to Israel violence.. the use of collective punishment is.. pushing the Pals to more and more desperate acts.. the only thing that will bring security to Israel is a Palestinian state.. US/Israeli policy only making things worse.. an hour ago, a tank and APC pulled up to our house.. we decided to stay in the house.. about another house destroyed with people inside.. we don't know that we will get a warning.. these people are innocent.. the logic of punishing them further, after they have lost an 18-year old boy, who killed himself.. Neta: I can't support such retribution..

    This is the year that squatters evict landlords,
    gazing like admirals from the rail
    of the roofdeck
    or levitating hands in praise
    of steam in the shower;
    this is the year
    that shawled refugees deport judges
    who stare at the floor
    and their swollen feet
    as files are stamped
    with their destination.

-56:15 End today's show. today's review by john lionheart