A British man is among tens of thousands of people imprisoned without charge in Iraq, according to an Amnesty International report.  The human rights group said 30,000 detainees were being held without trial in Iraq, and criticised the Iraqis and the US for violating prisoners’ rights.  Ramze Shihab Ahmed, 68, a dual UK-Iraqi national, has been detained in Iraq since December 2009.  His wife claims he has been tortured in prisons in Baghdad. Rabiha al-Qassab said her husband had suffered electric shocks to his genitals and suffocation by plastic bag, and called on the government to increase its efforts to secure his release or push for a fair trial.

“What my husband has suffered at the hands of his interrogators is inhumane and sickening.  “I’m desperately worried about him. He already had health problems before all this,” she said.  “I’d like to see the UK government stepping up efforts to get Ramzi released or at least given a fair trial if there’s anything that could reasonably be held against him.  “The Iraqi authorities should either try or release him – not go through this disgusting charade of torture and false confessions.” Mr Ahmed was arrested after travelling to Iraq in an attempt to free his detained son Omar.  His whereabouts were unknown until March when he was able to make a short phone call to his wife in London.  Amnesty said the use of torture to extract confessions in Iraq was routine – and the confessions were frequently used as evidence in court.

The group also claimed several detainees had died while in prison, apparently as the result of torture or ill-treatment. Malcolm Smart, Amnesty International’s Middle East and north Africa director, said the Iraqi authorities had “signally failed to take effective action to stop torture and punish the perpetrators, despite overwhelming evidence to its use”.  “They have a duty to investigate, to hold perpetrators accountable and bring them to justice, and to provide reparations to the victims.

“The Iraqi authorities’ failure to take such concrete steps sends a message that such violations are tolerated and can be repeated,” he said. Amnesty is appealing to Foreign Secretary William Hague asking him to increase pressure upon the Iraqi authorities to intervene in Mr Ahmed’s case. The Foreign Office said they were granted access to Mr Ahmed in April. He is now being visited regularly.  A Foreign Office spokesman said: “We are very concerned by Mr Ahmed’s allegations of mistreatment, and raised them with the Iraqi authorities at a senior level as soon as we were aware of them.  “We have repeatedly made clear to the Iraqi authorities how seriously we take such allegations, and have requested that they be investigated.

“We expect the Iraqi government to follow through on its commitment to investigate these allegations.”  Amnesty said that couple escaped from Iraq several years ago. Mr Ahmed was part of a failed 1992 plot to oust Saddam Hussain.  About 10,000 of the 30,000 detainees being held without trial in Iraq had been recently transferred from US custody, following the end of US combat operations in the country. The US handed over control of the last remaining military-run detention facility to the Iraqi authorities in July.  Amnesty said it did so without proper assurances that prisoners’ rights would be respected.

The PCSOs were not involved in the arrest. After five hours in a police cell, Bonomo said she was told to sign an £80 fixed penalty fine for a public order offence. She plans to contest the penalty, which stipulated she caused “harassment, alarm and distress” in public. Bonomo returned the next day to interview builders who had witnessed her arrest. Footage of the interviews appears to corroborate her account. “I was disgusted,” one said. “They were terribly out of order. There was one officer who was spiteful to you.” The Met confirmed that a woman was stopped and searched under section 44 of the Terrorism Act. Any complaint made to police would be fully investigated.

Links:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/dec/15/italian-student-police-arrest-filming
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/11/contents/enacted
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/11/section/44/enacted – SECTION 44
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7nkXIfSY5Y

“Now today, I want to talk about how we will get there, three major steps that will begin immediately. One, we will repeal all of the intrusive and unnecessary laws that inhibit your freedom. Two, we will reform our politics so that it is open, transparent and decent. And three, we will radically redistribute power away from the centre into your communities, your homes, your hands. Big sweeping change: not incremental, not bit by bit.

Our democracy has suffered at the hands of encroaching centralisation and secrecy for decades. Take citizens’ rights: eroded by the quiet proliferation of laws that increase surveillance, quash dissent, limit freedom. Take executive authority: consistently increased by successive administrations to the point that we now have a muted Parliament and government enjoys almost untrammelled control over precisely the people who are meant to keep it in check. Take the welfare state: one of modern society’s greatest liberators but now so different to that envisaged by Beveridge because it has been distorted by excessive centralisation and micromanagement.” – Nick Clegg, Deputy Prime Ministers Speech and Q+A – 19/05/2010

Mike Leigh cancels Israel trip over loyalty oath

Letter Sent by Mike Leigh

At a time when the citizens of Europe need to tighten their belts, the European Union wants to increase its spending. The EU budget for 2010 amounts to 141 billion Euros. Many European politicians and senior EU officials consider this a “paltry sum”. They want to boost the EU budget by introducing indirect European taxes, such as a higher contribution from national VAT, a tax on CO2 emissions and charges on banking and electronic communications. If Brussels itself gets its own tax-rising powers, there will be no way back. Once the tax is introduced, the tariff will go up gradually. The bureaucracy decides what the taxpayer pays. For the taxpayer himself, it’s checkmate.

Let the European Union focus on its core tasks, such as the internal market, the euro zone or a common policy on environment, transportation, immigration and energy independence. But there is no need for a huge subsidy system, financed through an EU tax. The EU is already unable to spend the full budget of the European Social Fund, the European Regional Development Fund and the Cohesion Fund, due to lack of convincing projects. Therefore the EU budget should be no more than 1 per cent of European Gross National Income (GNI).  Main elements: No introduction of direct EU taxes or increase in national VAT contributions to the EU ! Restrict the EU budget to no more than 1 percent of European GNP, so more efficient use of the existing means.

 Click here to sign »» 

EU considers levying taxes directly

The European Commission wants EU member states to consider allowing it to levy direct taxes – a move that could ease the burden on national budgets.  The EU’s Budget Commissioner, Janusz Lewandowski, said he would present some options next month for direct EU taxes.  Taxes on aviation, financial transactions and CO2 emission permits are all possibilities, he told the daily Financial Times Deutschland.  However, the UK promptly rejected the idea.  Historically, national governments levy taxes in the EU. “I’m hearing from a number of capitals, including important ones like Berlin, that they would like to lower their contributions [to the EU],” Mr Lewandowski said.  The 27 EU member states pay a fixed contribution to the EU budget, based on their gross domestic product and a percentage of their sales tax (VAT).  This year Germany’s transfer to the EU budget – the largest contribution – is about 21bn euros (£17.5bn).  Pressure on budgets  “Many countries want to be unburdened. In this way, the door has been opened to think about revenues that are not claimed by finance ministers,” the commissioner said.

Traditionally taxes are seen as a prerogative of nation states and any move by the commission to levy taxes directly is likely to be opposed by Eurosceptics wary of Brussels’s powers.  A British treasury minister, Lord Sassoon, said the British government “is opposed to direct taxes financing the EU budget. The UK believes that taxation is a matter for member states to determine at a national level and would have a veto over any plans for such taxes.” France and Germany are pushing for a financial transaction tax in the EU, but the UK argues that any such tax must apply globally and be co-ordinated by the International Monetary Fund.  However, all three countries are introducing separate bank levies, which will not affect smaller banks and building societies. The UK levy is expected to raise more than £8bn over four years.  The EU’s budget for this year is 122.9bn euros (£110bn) – nearly half of which is allocated to agriculture and natural resources. It is 6% bigger than the 2009 budget.

The Gaza aid convoy, with 40 survivors from the Mavi Marmara massacre, has been delayed departing Latakia, Syria for Gaza. Last minute complications over entry requirements by the Egyptian authorities are responsible for the postponement. Convoy organisers are confident these problems will be quickly resolved and the convoy will be on its way tomorrow morning (Monday). Due to futher complications, the convoy is still stranded in Latakia.  More info when it comes through……. – (18th October 2010)

Iran will assume the presidency of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) for the first time in 36 years. The country’s oil minister was elected as Opec president at a one-day meeting of the group, which is made up of 12 oil producing states. Iran, which takes over from Ecuador, is Opec’s second-largest oil producer and holds about 10% of world oil reserves.  At the meeting in Vienna, Opec also agreed to keep its oil production target unchanged at about 24.8 million barrels a day. US light crude ended Thursday trading down 32 cents to $82.69.  Brent crude finished 11 cents lower at $84.53.  Iran will assume the presidency of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) for the first time in 36 years. The country’s oil minister was elected as Opec president at a one-day meeting of the group, which is made up of 12 oil producing states.  Masoud Mir-Kazemi will hold the presidency from 1 January 2011. Iran, which takes over from Ecuador, is Opec’s second-largest oil producer and holds about 10% of world oil reserves.  At the meeting in Vienna, Opec also agreed to keep its oil production target unchanged at about 24.8 million barrels a day.  US light crude ended Thursday trading down 32 cents to $82.69.  Brent crude finished 11 cents lower at $84.53.