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3 Ukrainian atrocities lacking ‘transparent’ investigation

RT | October 10, 2014

Ukraine has been flooded with violence this year – snipers in Kiev, the Odessa massacre, the discovery of mass graves in E. Ukraine are just the tip of the iceberg. However, almost no proper investigation has been carried out so far – even of these cases.

The Ukrainian crisis that broke out almost a year ago resulted in a military conflict – which, in its turn, resulted in horrible crimes.

But current efforts to examine even the three most prominent cases seem to be not enough, RT’s Maria Finoshina found out.

On September 23, three unmarked graves with at least nine bodies were discovered, near the Eastern Ukraine city of Donetsk. The finding of self-defense forces was later confirmed by the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM).

Chief medical examiner Konstantin Gerasimenko told RT that “All of them [the victims] had multiple gunshots and their hands bound.”

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov called on the international organizations to give a “clear, unbiased and responsible response.” It was followed by Washington’s words of support for a “full and thorough” investigation destined “to get to the bottom of the facts.”

However, little progress has been achieved in the investigation of the killings by the OSCE, whose monitors are currently working on the scene, as well as by the monitoring mission of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights who promised to take part in the investigation of the matter.

Spokesperson for EU Foreign Affairs and Security Policy told RT via e-mail that “As underlined by the OSCE SMM and as far as we’re aware there has been no forensic analysis of the bodies so far.”

The answer of the Human Rights Watch organization is hard to call positive, as well. “At this moment we don’t have any factual information about the progress of these investigations, so it’s better not to comment.”

Another tragedy happened on May 2 in the southern city of Odessa, where nearly 40 people died in flames that burst out in a building where anti-Maidan protesters tried to take refuge. The international community was quick to condemn the massacre, though closing its eyes to the part Right Sector radicals played in setting the fire.

RT has recently contacted the EU Council, but all the spokesperson for EU Foreign Affairs and Security Policy had to say five months after the violence was the “investigation must be swift and transparent, free of political influence, clarifying the facts and looking at the role of all parties involved, protesters as well as law enforcement services.”

As a matter of fact, the Ukrainian authorities carried out an investigation, but the resulting report called it “impossible” to arrive at an objective conclusion about the causes of the deaths “due to the lack of state-of-the-art equipment”.

The probe was slammed by the local media as “fabricated” and “lacking evidence”.

Svetlana Fabrikant, a member of the Ukrainian parliament and secretary of the parliamentary commission probing into the massacre in Odessa on May 2, even withdrew her signature from the published version, calling it “different” from what she had signed. Reportedly, the redacted final version did not contain witnesses’ accounts about the involvement of about 500 radicals who have been allegedly transferred to Odessa with the help of the region’s governor, Vladimir Nemirovsky. Also, it lacked information implicating the involvement of Andrey Parubiy, then-secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, in organizing the massacre.

In February, over a hundred people were killed on Maidan by sniper fire.

There have been complaints from human rights advocates that the investigation is going on slowly, and some important evidence has been destroyed.

The preliminary investigation blamed ousted president Viktor Yanukovich and the Berkut special division, who denied any connection to the snipers.

In a leaked tape that emerged in March Estonia’s Foreign Minister told EU’s Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton about the bloody events that “It is really disturbing that the new coalition, they don’t want to investigate what exactly happened.” He added that there was “A stronger and stronger understanding that behind the snipers it was not Yanukovich, but it was somebody from the new coalition”.

A number of Berkut special unit members have been arrested on charges of Maidan killings, and they are currently facing trial.

There has been no international investigation into either of those crimes.

READ MORE:

Odessa slaughter: How vicious mob burnt anti-govt activists alive (GRAPHIC IMAGES)

‘Taped hands, gun wounds’: RT witnesses exhumation of mass graves in E. Ukraine

October 10, 2014 Posted by | Deception, False Flag Terrorism | , , , , , | Leave a comment

Ukraine will need extra funding to stay afloat – IMF head

RT | October 10, 2014

The Ukrainian economy, weakened by war, needs additional funding from sources beyond the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to stay afloat, the fund’s head Christine Lagarde has said.

The IMF’s December estimate of the cash needed has turned out to be insufficient following the continued conflict in the country.

“Additional funding will have to come” after the IMF reviews the current bailout strategy, Lagarde said at a Bretton Woods Committee event on the sidelines of the annual IMF and World Bank meetings of finance ministers and central bankers.

“To assume that the additional funding will have to come from the IMF, I think is rather far-fetched,” she said. “If the economy has to be restored and stability maintained, money will have to come from multiple sources.”

Initially it was planned that $30 billion in aid, of which the IMF pledged to allocate $17 billion, would be enough to restore the economy. The April bailout was predicated on the expectation that the conflict in eastern Ukraine would end in the early autumn.

The IMF’s review updated last month, showed that the country’s financing needs could rise by $19 billion if the civil war continues.

Despite the World Bank’s forecast that country will likely be in a deep recession until at least 2016, the IMF projects the economy expanding next year.

October 10, 2014 Posted by | Economics | , | 1 Comment

NSA Says Secrets It Leaked To The Press Are Too Secret To Be Disclosed Publicly

By Tim Cushing | Techdirt | October 10, 2014

Steven Aftergood of FAS Secrecy News went searching for an answer to an almost-unanswerable conundrum. And he got the most non-answer-like answer imaginable.

As we all know, there are two kinds of leaks: the one the government approves of, utilizing anonymous officials, and everything else. Aftergood wanted to know more about these authorized leaks, in which classified information is handed over to journalists, etc. in response to queries, usually with several stipulations attached. It happens so often there’s even a provision in the Intelligence Authorization Act, which gives the NSA and others the funds and permission to keep doing what they’re doing.

In the Intelligence Authorization Act for FY 2013 (sec. 504), Congress directed that “In the event of an authorized disclosure of national intelligence” to the media, the government official responsible for authorizing the disclosure shall notify Congress in a timely fashion whenever the intelligence disclosed is classified (or declassified for the purpose of the disclosure).

The purpose of that requirement was to ensure that the congressional intelligence committees are made aware of authorized disclosures to the press “so that, among other things, these authorized disclosures may be distinguished from unauthorized ‘leaks’,” according to the Senate report on the FY2013 intelligence bill.

There’s a report out there that details all of the authorized disclosures of classified information to press members who are decidedly not cleared to receive classified documents. This authorized release of classified document generates it own oxymoron.

The notion of an authorized disclosure of classified information is close to being a contradiction in terms. If something is classified, how can its disclosure be authorized (without declassification)? And if something is disclosed by an official who is authorized to do so, how can it still be classified? And yet, it seems that there is such a thing.

Knowing that a.) this happens and b.) a report is generated when it occurs, Aftergood requested a copy of these authorized disclosure reports. The answer he received defies logic in only the way a secretive bureaucracy can. [pdf]

“The document responsive to your request has been reviewed by this Agency as required by the FOIA and has been found to be currently and properly classified in accordance with Executive Order 13526,” according to an October 2 letter signed by retiring NSA FOIA chief Pamela N. Phillips. “The document is classified because its disclosure could reasonably be expected to cause exceptionally grave damage to the national security.”

The stuff we already disclosed is too dangerous to disclose. … Full article

October 10, 2014 Posted by | Deception, Mainstream Media, Warmongering | | Leave a comment

South African trade unions call for expulsion of Israeli Medical Association

MEMO | October 10, 2014

South Africa’s largest trade union federation, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), has joined with health sector unions to demand the expulsion of the Israeli Medical Association (IMA) from the World Medical Association (WMA).

COSATU, along with NEHAWU (National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union), DENOSA (Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa), as well as the SA Medical Association (SAMA), issued the joint call earlier this week. Organisers will protest outside the WMA today, Friday 10 October, supported by campaign groups like BDS South Africa.

In issuing the call for expulsion, COSATU claimed that the IMA “has never denounced or seriously confronted the Israeli government on its shameless use of torture”, and has “shown blatant disregard for the ethical issue of medical neutrality.”

The South African trade unions also accused the IMA of having “stood silently in the face of…the killing, harassment and wounding of Palestinian health professionals on duty; and the destruction of the Palestinian health systems.” They note that “direct appeals to the IMA [over many years] have been unavailing.”

COSATU was one of the first trade unions in the world to endorse the Palestinian-led, international boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign. Citing the struggle against South African apartheid, COSTAU is urging the expulsion of the IMA from the WMA, until the Israeli body “unequivocally condemns, distances and actively counter’s Israel’s torture, occupation and apartheid policies.”

October 10, 2014 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Illegal Occupation, Solidarity and Activism, Subjugation - Torture, War Crimes | , | 2 Comments

Less than half of Britons, French, Germans support EU’s involvement in Ukraine – poll

RT | October 10, 2014

Only a minority of British, French and German citizens think that the EU should be involved in the settlement of the Ukrainian crisis, while most agreed that crimes against humanity should be investigated first, a new Rossiya Segodnya/ICM poll has found.

Less than a half – 46 percent – of respondents from the three member states support EU involvement in the ongoing crisis in Ukraine, said the ICM poll commissioned by Russia’s Rossiya Segodnya, the state news agency reported Thursday. Altogether, 44 percent of respondents said they support non-involvement.

A majority of Germans – 58 percent – are against EU participation in the crisis, while 35 percent of French citizens are against it. In the United Kingdom, 40 percent are against the idea.

A majority of the British respondents – 54 percent – backed their government’s participation, with 48 percent of French citizens and 36 percent of Germans supporting involvement.

The poll suggests that it is mainly young people between the ages of 18 and 34 that support their government’s participation in the Ukrainian conflict. In Britain, the idea appeals to 62 percent of young respondents, while in France and Germany to 55 percent.

Seniors are most aware of the tragic events and hostilities that took place in Ukraine, the poll shows. In the UK, almost all respondents over 65 are keeping up with events in Ukraine, while 85 percent of young people from 25-34 who participated in the poll were unaware of developments there. In France, the figures for the same age groups are 93 percent and 67 percent, respectively.

The poll also revealed that a larger number of men from all three countries support direct involvement, while women are in the minority.

Most of the respondents said that the “EU should play its role in the regulation of the situation in Ukraine” mainly by “supplying humanitarian aid and a peacekeeping mission,” Rossiya Segodnya reported. Seventy-six percent of those questioned in France, Germany and UK are in favor of the aid, while 51 percent support the peacekeeping mission.

A few respondents backed the idea of financial aid in the form of loans to the Kiev authorities, while only 13 percent back the idea of sending military supplies to Ukraine, with Britain the most enthusiastic.

The EU should be involved in conducting investigations into war crimes during the Ukrainian conflict, most of those polled said. Seventy-six percent of Britons, 68 percent of the France and 54 percent of Germans backed the EU getting involved.

Those who supported the idea said that their governments should primarily look into crimes against humanity, with the UK almost unanimous on the issue.

People were sensitive on the issue of the abduction and murder of journalists, which was rated the second most outrageous crime in the conflict. A total of 79 percent of respondents said that the Malaysia Airlines MH17 crash should be investigated.

The Ukrainian crisis began last year with the so-called Maidan protests in central Kiev, which was followed by a coup in February and a bloody war in eastern Ukraine from April onward. Since the military conflict began, more than 3,500 people have been killed and almost 8,200 injured, according to UN figures.

October 10, 2014 Posted by | Militarism | , , , , | Leave a comment

US planes worth $500mn sold for scrap in Afghanistan – for just $32,000

RT | October 10, 2014

A US watchdog is asking why 16 planes bought for the Afghan Air Force, costing almost $500 million, were turned into scrap metal valued at just $32,000. The government wants to know why hundreds of millions of taxpayers’ money were wasted on the project.

The military transport planes had been sitting at Kabul International Airport for years, before they were sent for scrap. John Sopko, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), wants to know why the money was wasted. According to Reuters, he had asked Air Force Secretary Deborah James to keep a record of all decisions concerning the destruction of the 16 C-27J planes.

Sopko also wants to know what will happen to another four transport planes currently stored at the US Air Force base in Ramstein, Germany.

“I am concerned that the officials responsible for planning and executing the scrapping of the planes may not have considered other possible alternatives in order to salvage taxpayer dollars,” Sopko said.

The 20 planes were bought from Alenia, which is part of the Italian aircraft company Fimmeccanica SpA. However, according to a SIGAR letter sent to US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, the program was ended in March 2013, “after sustained, serious performance, maintenance, and spare parts problems and the planes were grounded,” ABC reported.

By January 2013, according to Sopko’s office, the aircraft were not airworthy and had only flown a total of 234 of the 4,500 hours required in nine months from January through September 2012. Spoko’s office also said that a further $200 million was needed to buy spare parts.

The Defense Logistics Agency was responsible for destroying the planes and Sopko now wants to know if any of the parts of the planes were sold before they were sent for scrap metal.

Major Bradlee Avots, a Pentagon spokesman, said that the 16 aircraft at Kabul International Airport had been destroyed “to minimize impact on drawdown of US Forces in Afghanistan,” and added that more information would be released after a review. The US government is currently in the process of scaling down from its present military personnel in Afghanistan of around 26,000 to a force of just under 10,000, who will be staying in a mainly advisory role.

Avots also said that the US Department of Defense and the US Air Force were still deciding what to do with the four aircraft in Germany.

SIGAR has been investigating possible wasteful spending on warplanes since the end of 2013, following questions raised by military officials and non-profit organizations.

Sopko has said that he does not know if wasteful plane procurement was due to any criminal malice or was just mismanagement, but that the “scrap metal” incident in Afghanistan was not an isolated case.

In June, despite Afghanistan being a landlocked country, a US government watchdog found that the Pentagon spent more than $3 million obtaining eight patrol boats that were never used. Additionally, the cost of each boat turned out to be about $375,000 – far more than the $50,000 they usually sell for in the US.

During his investigation, Sopko said that records related to the purchase and cancelation of the patrol boats were severely lacking, and his questions to the military have not resulted in adequate answers.

“The military has been unable to provide records that would answer the most basic questions surrounding this $3 million purchase,” his office told the Washington Post in a statement in June.

October 10, 2014 Posted by | Corruption, Militarism | , , , , | Leave a comment

We must negotiate with ISIS “eventually”: father of slain US reporter

Al-Akhbar | October 10, 2014

The father of James Foley, the US reporter beheaded at the hands of Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants in August, said Friday he believed governments would have to negotiate with the extremists “eventually.”

John Foley told French radio: “Eventually, I think we are going to have to negotiate. This situation is not going to be solved by military intervention.”

He added that it costs nothing to talk to the militants who have rampaged through large parts of Iraq and Syria and whose brutal murder of several Western hostages, the first of which was the beheading of his son, has sent shock waves through the international community.

Foley’s parents were in France for an unveiling Thursday, on the sidelines of the Bayeux prize for war reporting, of a memorial to 113 journalists who have been killed in the past 18 months.

James Foley, who worked for US media group Global Post, Agence France Presse (AFP) and others, was kidnapped in northern Syria in November 2012 and a video of his murder was published in August.

“These people need to be understood,” said Foley’s mother Diane. “I think we need to talk with them, we need to study them.”

Foley’s parents said they believed the US government “was trying very hard to find a way to free our son.”

Diane had previously told US media she felt the family’s “efforts to get Jim freed were an annoyance” to Washington.

Despite their loss, the Foleys urged reporters to continue their work in war zones.

“One of the problems is if we allow these terrorists to prevent journalists from going into these areas,” said John.

(AFP)

October 10, 2014 Posted by | Militarism | | 1 Comment

Drop fabricated charges of hacking: China to US

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The BRICS Post | October 10, 2014

In yet another episode that threatens to undo efforts aimed at finding common ground to tackle hacking, the Chinese Foreign Ministry told the US to stop “fabricating stories” and “mudslinging” about alleged Chinese commercial spying. A Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) official has accused China of stealing secrets from US firms.

“Chinese laws forbid hacking or any other behavior harmful to cyber security, and it is an undoubted fact that the Chinese government resolutely cracks down on crimes,” China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said on Thursday in Beijing at a daily news briefing.

During a TV appearance on CBS, FBI director James Comey said earlier this week that China topped the list of countries seeking to steal secrets from US firms, costing American businesses billions of dollars every year.

“I liken them a bit to a drunk burglar. They’re kicking in the front door, knocking over the vase, while they’re walking out with your television set. They’re just prolific,” Comey said.

China hit back with charges of mass surveillance of private citizens and businesses by the US.

“Again, we urge the U.S. side to drop its wrongful fabrication of stories and deliberate mudslinging toward China, as well as stop its large-scale, systematic cyber attacks on other countries,” said the Chinese spokesman.

The US side’s attempt to divert attention by accusing others will not succeed, Hong added, referring to revelations by former US National Security Agency whistle-blower Edward Snowden about US cyber-spying that included hacking into computers in China since 2009.

Sino-US ties have long been dogged by accusations of cyber espionage.

In May this year, a senior Chinese military officer labelled the United States the world’s biggest cyber-thief a week after a grand jury in Washington indicted five Chinese officers on charges of hacking into American companies to steal trade secrets.

“In terms of both military and political intelligence and trade secrets, the United States is the world’s No.1 cyber thief and its spying force should be indicted,” Sun Jianguo, deputy chief of General Staff of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, said.

“From Wikileaks to the Snowden incident, the U.S. hypocrisy and double standards on the issue of network security have long been obvious,” the Chinese Defence Ministry said in a statement, lashing out at the US indictment.

The US is the biggest attacker of China’s cyberspace, with US servers taking control of 1.18 million Chinese host computers between March 19 and May 18, according to the China Internet information office.

TBP and Agencies

October 10, 2014 Posted by | Deception | , | Leave a comment

Cuba Denounces US for Manipulation of Terrorism Claims

teleSUR | October 9, 2014

Cuba has been on the U.S. State Department’s list of countries that according to Washington supports terrorism since 1982, despite lack of evidence that the Caribbean country has been supplying arms or other support to extremists.

In a statement before the United Nations, Cuba denounced the United States for its use of the term “terrorism” saying they manipulate the term for political purposes.

​Tanieris Dieguez, the third secretary of the permanent mission of Cuba, Wednesday said that it was absurd that Cuba remains on the U.S. list of countries that support terrorism, referring to the report published April 30 by the State Department naming Cuba a “State Sponsor of Terrorism.” Dieguez statements were published Wednesday by the Cuban news agency Prensa Latina.

The list was created by the State Department in 1979, and is meant to apply to countries that it considers as having “repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism,” according to their website. It includes providing administrative and arms exports, as well as other foreign assistance to terrorist bodies. The penalties for the countries on the list are strong sanctions.

Cuba has been on the list since March 1, 1982. The other countries on the list are Iran, Sudan and Syria.

In a forum of the Sixth Committee of the General Assembly – the primary U.N. forum for considering legal questions – Dieguez said Washington keeps Cuba on the list to justify the harsh economic, commercial and financial sanctions imposed on the island, despite the lack of evidence that the government is aiding extremist organizations.

The main focus of the assembly was the elimination of international terrorism, where Dieguez rejected “the manipulation of such a sensitive issue.”

The Cuban diplomat also reminded the U.N. that Cuba has been hosting Colombia’s current peace negotiations since 2012, showing support for the peace process. She also reaffirmed Cuba’s backing the adoption of a general convention on terrorism, and a UN sponsored world conference on the topic to attempt to find coordinated global solutions to the problem.

Cuban citizens had hoped that the U.S. would not keep the island on the “State Sponsor of Terrorim” list this year – a decision that is evaluated and made yearly – because it “fails to meet the statutory criteria for being removed,” say U.S. officials.

October 10, 2014 Posted by | Deception, Economics | , , | 1 Comment