Civil Rights, Gaza, genocide, Human Rights, U.S. Militarism, Violations of U.S. and International Law, War Resister, Whistleblowers
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Freedom For Julian Assange!
After serving 1901 days in solitary confinement in a tiny cell in the infamous Belmarsh prison in London, journalist and publisher Julian Assange is free at last.
Julian gained his freedom pursuit to a plea bargain with the government of the United States which had sought to extradite him and try him under the 1917 Espionage Act. He faced a certain conviction in a hostile Virginia court and 175 years in prison on 17 counts of conspiracy to commit espionage for receiving and publishing information damaging to the United States government.
Julian Assange was forced to plead guilty to one count of espionage in return for the time he has served in prison. Prior to that he was confined for seven years in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, where he had sought and received political asylum.
The alleged crime he was accused of committing was the receipt and publication in 2010 of the so-called Iraq and Afghanistan war logs which document American government guilt in torture and murder including the 11 civilians and two Reuters journalists.
Julian Assange was sentenced to time served by an American federal court judge on an island in the Pacific Ocean 2000 miles from Australia. Julian Assange will now be living as a free man in Australia with his wife and two children.
Until Julian Assange Is Pardoned Press Freedom Remains At Risk – article by co-host attorney Stephen Rohde
Guest – Randy Credico, a steadfast supporter of Julian Assange. Mr. Credico. hosted the program “ Countdown to Freedom” in support of Julian for many years. He had visited him in Belmarsh prison.
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War Crimes, Dictators and the ICC
The International Criminal Court (ICC) along with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) were set up in 1998 in order to help prevent wars and crimes against humanity with the profound understanding that without a system of international law. a future World War III might eliminate humanity.
The United States of America, under Bill Clinton, was one of seven countries that voted against the Rome statute which set up the International Criminal Court. Clinton did eventually sign the statute but George Bush “unsigned“ it and the United States has had a testy relationship with the court. Indeed under Trump, the US imposed sanctions on the court and its prosecutor.
Last month Imran Khan, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, issued arrest warrants for Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Galant, the Israeli Minister of Defense for war crimes and crimes against humanity. The ICC also issued arrest warrants for three top leaders of Hamas.
Guest – Attorney Reed Brody, was a friend, colleague, and mentee of our late cohost Michael Ratner. Reed Brody is the author of the recently published book To Catch a Dictator: The Pursuit and Trial of Hissene Habre. He has worked for many years with Human Rights Watch. Reed Brody has helped pursue the dictators Augusto Pinochet of Chile and Jean-Claude “ Baby Doc” Duvalier of Haiti. He has uncovered atrocities by US backed Contras in Nicaragua, led United Nations missions in El Salvador and the Congo, and exposed Bush administration torture.
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Civil Liberties, genocide, Human Rights, Targeting Muslims, U.S. Militarism, Violations of U.S. and International Law, War Resister
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A Brief History of Kill Lists, From Langley to Lavender
Two artificial intelligence systems are being used by Israel and the United States to compile kill lists of Palestinians in Gaza. They are called Lavender and Where’s Daddy. This has led to the indiscriminate slaughter of whole families and has killed mostly women and children. The CIA and the US military have always tried to use the latest data processing technology to identify and kill their enemies. The history of American government assassinations goes back to collaborating with ex-Nazi intelligent officers after World War II.
Guest – Medea Benjamin, is co-founder of the international antiwar organization CODEPINK. She is the author of several books, including, with Nicholas J.S. Davies, War in Ukraine: Making Sense of a Senseless Conflict. She has been an advocate for social justice for more than 40 years. Described as “one of America’s most committed — and most effective — fighters for human rights” by New York Newsday, and “one of the high profile leaders of the peace movement” by the Los Angeles Times, she was one of 1,000 exemplary women from 140 countries nominated to receive the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of the millions of women who do the essential work of peace worldwide.
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A Trend In Abolishing Capital Punishment
A growing number of states have abolished capital punishment in recent years. However, the death penalty remains on the books in 27 states, although the number of executions in American is at an all-time low. It is well documented that the death penalty is riddled with fatal flaws. Literally, the flaws are denying defendants a fair trial and are killing innocent people. An average of 4 wrongly convicted death-row prisoners have been exonerated each year since 1973.
According to recent research, jurors are three times more likely to recommend a death sentence for a black defendant than for a white defendant in a similar case. The death penalty does not serve as a deterrent. A study by the Death Penalty Information Center found that the South has consistently had by far the highest murder rate, yet the South accounts for more than 80% of all executions. The Northeast, which has fewer than 0.5% of all executions, has consistently had the lowest murder rate.
Guest – Mike Farrell is the President of Death Penalty Focus, an organization on whose Board I’ve served for many years. Known to millions as “B.J. Hunnicutt” on television’s historic show “M*A*S*H,” he is also a writer, director and producer. A human rights activist for over 35 years, Mike has taken part in scores of aid missions and human rights delegations to countries all over the world. Mike has visited prisons and been personally involved in numerous death penalty cases across the U.S. for over three decades.
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CIA Sponsored Terror, Civil Liberties, Targeting Muslims, U.S. Militarism, Violations of U.S. and International Law, War Resister
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Defense for Children International – Palestine v. Biden
There are defendants in a lawsuit brought in the northern district of California called Defense for Children International– Palestine v. Biden. The plaintiffs are represented by the Center for Constitutional Rights and attorney Marc Vander Hout. We’re going to talk about this lawsuit against President Biden, Secretary of State Blinken, and Secretary of Defense Austin. This lawsuit follows a January 2024 historic hearing that included testimony from some Palestinian plaintiffs and witnesses to the scale of destruction in Gaza and its impact on their families and communities.
Last week, a federal trial court in northern California found that Israel’s assault and siege of the Palestinian people in Gaza, possibly constituted genocide and implored the Biden administration to explain its “unflagging support“ for Israel. Notwithstanding these findings, the court denied the Center for Constitutional Rights‘ preliminary injunction motion and granted the government’s motion to dismiss the case on the grounds that it lacked jurisdiction over the administration of foreign relations.
The CCR appealed the decision. The appeal was argued on June 10, 2024.
Guest – Attorney Katherine Gallagher is a Senior Staff Attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights . Her areas of legal expertise include matters of torture, war crimes and militarism. Among her many major cases is the case titled, Situation of Afghanistan at the International Criminal Court; and the case titled, Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests-v-Vatican. Prior to her work at the CCR, she worked at the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.
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A Century Of Repression: The Espionage Act And Freedom Of The Press
These are dire times for freedom of speech around the world. According to a recently-released report, more than half of the world’s population now lives in countries that are in a state of “crisis” regarding freedom of speech. This is occurring during a year that has been marred by attacks on investigative journalism all over the world, which we have especially seen in elections in Mexico and India, as well as in the United States.
Against this backdrop, the United States is only adding gasoline to a media-freedom fire by pursuing an ongoing prosecution and attempting to extradite WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange under a 100-year-old US law called the Espionage Act of 1917. This prosecution threatens to set a dangerous precedent for journalists everywhere during these perilous times.
Guest – Carey Shenkman, is a constitutional lawyer and serves on a panel of experts at Columbia University’s Global Freedom of Expression Program. He is co-author, along with Ralph Engelman, of A Century Of Repression: The Espionage Act And Freedom Of The Press. Carey has recently been appointed Legal and Policy Advisor to the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression. [Source for 50% figure – Global Expression Report, published by the London-based free speech organization ARTICLE 19] https://www.globalexpressionreport.org/
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CIA Sponsored Terror, Civil Liberties, Extraordinary Rendition, Human Rights, Targeting Muslims, U.S. Militarism, Violations of U.S. and International Law, War Resister
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I Am Gitmo
It’s been 22 years since the United States opened its prison at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba. Specifically, it was four months after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center. And that was when we started seeing images of men and boys arriving there, bound and hooded, in orange jumpsuits, confined indefinitely without charges, legal process or trials…. And it was not long after that we began hearing reports that the US government was using torture, and even that prisoners were dying there – again, without even being charged with any crime let alone tried by any court.
The US justified its tactics as necessary to win the “War on Terror.” But UN Experts and human rights advocates globally have called for the US to close the facility due to its “unrelenting human rights violations.”
In 2009, President Obama took steps to close Guantanamo… but in 2018, Trump signed an executive order to keep it open. President Biden then came in, signaling he’d close it, but the subject has been largely ignored ever since. Today, thirty prisoners remain. Where To Watch I Am Gitmo In Theaters
Guest – Philippe Diaz, a filmmaker is shining a spotlight on the humanity of the men and boys who have lived – and some who have died – in Guantanamo. His latest film, the award-winning I Am Gitmo, is a story about a Muslim schoolteacher in Afghanistan who was accused of being involved in the September 11th attacks and imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay prison without charges or hope of being released. Philippe is not only the writer and director of I Am Gitmo, but he is also the founder of Cinema Libre Studio. CLS is a boutique film company created in 2003 with a consortium of partners to provide an alternative structure for intelligent, independent films to get developed, financed, produced and distributed.
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22 Years of Guantánamo Bay Detention Center
The notorious detention center at Guantanamo Bay is high among the most shameful steps taken during George W. Bush’s War on Terror. It remains a symbol of lawlessness and human rights abuses. In a recent letter, 17 US Senators, argued that the detention facility continues to harm U.S. national security by serving as a propaganda tool for America’s enemies and hinder counterterrorism efforts and cooperation with allies.
January 11 2024 marked the 22nd anniversary of Guantánamo’s opening. It has cost the United States $540 million each year. That’s almost a total of $12 billion and counting. There are now still 30 men remaining in detention at Guantánamo—more than half of whom have not been charged with any crime and have been approved by US national security leadership for transfer out of Guantánamo. Some of these men have been approved for transfer for years, and at least one has been approved for transfer for more than a decade, yet these 16 men have continued to languish in indefinite detention. None of the innocent detainees has ever been compensated for their wrongful detention. Sadly, Guantanamo is but one example of the forms of torture which the United States engages in and supports.
Guest – Rev. Ron Stief, an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ, who is the Executive Director of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT), an interfaith organization of more than 325 religious organizations committed to ending U.S.-sponsored torture. Rev. Stief sits on the Steering Committee of Shoulder to Shoulder / Standing with American Muslims Upholding American Values, co-leads the national advocacy strategy of the Washington DC Interreligious Staff Community, and is a member of the Federal Anti-Solitary Task Force which works to end solitary confinement in federal prisons, jails and immigrant detention.
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Civil Liberties, Gaza, genocide, Human Rights, Targeting Muslims, U.S. Militarism, Violations of U.S. and International Law, War Resister
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Counter Protest Tactics Attempt To Plague University Anti-Genocide Encampments
As the Israel-Gaza War rages on, protests have spread throughout American campuses as students oppose Israeli’s military onslaught and the tragic humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Student have demanded a ceasefire, an end to US military support for Israel and that universities divest from Israel. In response, University officials have suspended and expelled students, banned pro-Palestinian student groups, called in the police and sent mixed messages on students’ right to free speech. At UCLA, a group of counterprotesters launched a violent attack on pro-Palestinian protesters.
Guest – Salam Al-Marayati, president and co-founder of the Muslim Public Affairs Council, where he oversees MPAC’s groundbreaking civic engagement, public policy, and advocacy work. Salam Al-Marayati is an expert on Islam in the West, Muslim reform movements, human rights, democracy, national security, and Middle East politics. He has spoken at the White House and on Capitol Hill and has represented the U.S. at international human rights and religious freedom conferences. He is very active in interfaith dialogue, which is where I first met him in the wake of 9/11 in my capacity as a leader of Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace.
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NYU Encampment and Arrests
In early May, New York Police Department officers demolished pro-Palestinian encampments, and arrested 56 student protesters, at New York University and the New School. Officials at both universities enlisted the police their assistance in tearing down the tents.
The NYU encampment was at the John A. Paulson Center on Bleecker Street. Professors there released a statement condemning the decision to call in the municipal police, calling it “another shameful moment in NYU history” that had put students at risk. NYU’s Palestine Solidarity Coalition posted on social media: “We have seen seven months of targeting pro-Palestinian speech on this campus, and thus cannot agree with the admin’s claims of acting in good faith.”
Supporting student protesters at several NYC campuses has been Mumia Abu-Jamal, who has called in to address them from Mahanoy state prison in Pennsylvania. Mumia has told students that they are on the right side of history by electing “not to be silent and to speak out.”
Guest – Xavier Fitzsimmons-Cruz, Xavier recently earned his master’s degree at NYU; this fall he will begin working toward his PhD in history at the City University of New York.
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Civil Liberties, Civil Rights, Criminalizing Dissent, genocide, Human Rights, Right To Dissent, Targeting Muslims, U.S. Militarism, Violations of U.S. and International Law, War Resister
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The More Effective Of Two Evils
The extensive growing repression and censorship in our country is manifest daily. Already some 3000 students have been arrested and many of their encampments on college campuses have been violently closed down. The leading newspaper, the New York Times, has instructed reporters not to use the words “genocide” or “ethnic cleansing.” Journalist Chris Hedges has been removed from The Real News Network for interviewing, Dennis Kucinich, the independent candidate for Congress in Ohio and for not supporting the presidential candidacy of Joe Biden.
The necessity for independent political action, independent of both the Republican and the Democratic parties, is the lesson many social activists are drawing. The journalist, Glen Ford, of the Black Agenda Report , coined the phrase “the more effective of two evils” in describing the Democratic Party.
The Democrats are trying to beat people into their camp by haranguing about how horrible Trump is. That’s true. But look at how effective Biden has been in supporting the Israeli genocide. It has only been the independent action of the courageous students that may succeed in tempering the onslaught. It has already had some effect. Activist are now focusing on the fact that it was the Democratic Party on a national and local scale that coordinated attacks on the Palestine solidarity encampments. Just as they did under Obama in closing down Occupy.
The Democrats prevented Bernie Sanders from getting the nomination. Had he not supported the Democrats and became an independent our movement would’ve been much more effective than his lobbing Biden. He has been reduced to the edge of relevance. Significant social change comes from organizing people independently. The rise of the CIO, the civil rights movement and the movement to end the war in Vietnam are illustrations of this truth.
In appreciating the role of the Democratic Party, social activists are increasingly concluding that independent, political action now will help us against Trump should he get elected. Conversely herding people in to supporting the Democratic Party will disarm us.
Guest – Chris Hedges, the journalist and author discusses the collapsing media landscape, what happened to him at The Real News Network and how we preserve journalism. He spent two decades as a foreign correspondent serving as the Middle East Bureau Chief and Balkan Bureau Chief for The New York Times where he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize. He is the author of 14 books including War is a Force That Gives us Meaning, Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt, which he co-wrote with the cartoonist Joe Sacco, and The Death of the Liberal Class.
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Early Detection: Catching Cancer When Its Curable
The “war on cancer“ declared by President Richard Nixon over 50 years ago has been a failure. Mortality rates for victims of cancer have not decreased, except for the successful campaign against smoking.
Attorney Michael Ratner, when he was the President of the Center for Constitutional Rights, helped found Law And Disorder radio 20 years ago. We lost him to cancer eight years ago.
Michael’s younger brother Bruce Ratner has co-authored the book Early Detection: Catching Cancer When It’s Curable. It Is dedicated to the memory of Michael Ratner. Bruce and Michael shared similar values. Over the years, cancer rates have pretty much remained the same. Very high. Particularly affected are poor people, rural people, and people of color.
Most money spent on fighting cancer by big pharmaceutical companies goes into researching and developing medicines for late-stage cancers. These medicines have proven to only prolong life for several months. So, what is the answer to truly combating cancer? Early detection. And it must be quite early on.
Funds currently misdirected could be used in this effort. Prostate, breast, colo-rectal, and lung cancers can be detected early. But too often they are not. Even when they are, many people don’t follow up with treatment. A blood test has been developed to identify 50 different cancers. But what’s missing is a massive program of education and organization to catch cancer in its early stages.
Guest – Bruce Ratner studied science at Harvard, graduated from Columbia law school and then taught at NYU Law School. New York City Mayor John Lindsay appointed Bruce to be the Commissioner of Consumer Affairs. Bruce went on to develop real estate in Manhattan and Brooklyn and brought the first professional athletic team, the Brooklyn Nets, to Brooklyn, where he developed the Barclay Center. He also sits on the boards of Weil Cornell Hospital in Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital. He has initiated the Michael D. Ratner Center for Early Detection of Cancer.
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