Take Action Now! – Muslims Under Attack in Sabarmati Jail

bismi-lLahi-rRahmani-rRahiem
In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful

=== News Update ===

Subject: IMPORTANT:Take Action Now! – Muslims Under Attack in Sabarmati Jail From: Kashif Kashmiri <kashif1878@gmail.com>

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“One who defends the honour of his brother, Allah keeps the fire of hell away from his face on the Day of Judgment.”
(Tirmidhi)

Action Alert : Muslims Under Attack in Sabarmati Jail

Date : 1st April 2009

Source : Helptheprisoners.org

Background

Horrific violations are taking place at Sabarmati Jail, Ahmedabad in India against Muslim prisoners, with many of them being physically and mentally abused on a daily basis by jail officials. 22 individuals whom have been charged under terrorism legislation have all reported suffering from torture.

One inmate, Sajid Mansuri, was beaten severely in a cowardly attack when he was praying the asr (mid afternoon ) prayer whilst in the position of Sujud. He suffered injuries to the head, broken fingers as well as both legs being fractured. After the attack, he was virtually unable to move.

It has also been reported that these injuries are not an isolated case, but instead have been meted out to others. In addition, some prisoners after being beaten have been urinated on by the Jail staff, as well as being denied food and medical treatment.

To cover their tracks, the prison authorities have claimed that they were attacked first, though as the wife of Sajid Mansuri later stated “Even the rotis [chapattis] are checked by the jail staff before taking them inside; how could the inmates procure weapons?”

CIA waterboarded al-Qaida suspects 266 times

bismi-lLahi-rRahmani-rRahiem
In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful

=== News Update ===

Torture technique outlawed by Obama was used extensively on 9/11 plotter Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and alleged terror commander Abu Zubaydah

Matthew Weaver and agencies

guardian.co.uk, Monday 20 April 2009 11.45 BST

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged 9/11 mastermind. Photograph: AP

The CIA waterboarded two al-Qaida terror suspects a total of 266 times, according to a report that suggests the use of the torture technique was much more extensive than previously thought.

The documents showed waterboarding was used 183 times on Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who admitted planning the 9/11 attacks, the New York Times reported today.

The US Justice Department memos released last Thursday showed that waterboarding, which the US now admits is torture, was used 83 times on the alleged al-Qaida senior commander Abu Zubaydah, the paper said. A former CIA officer claimed in 2007 that Zubaydah was subjected to the simulated drowning technique for only 35 seconds.

The numbers were removed from most of the memos over the weekend. But bloggers, including Marcy Wheeler from empytwheel, discovered that the figure had not been blanked out from one of the memos.

Torture memos reveal brutality of US imperialism

bismi-lLahi-rRahmani-rRahiem
In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful

=== News Update ===

By Tom Eley

18 April 2009

On Thursday, the US Justice Department released four legal memos crafted during the Bush administration that authorized agents of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to commit specific acts of torture against prisoners swept up in the “war on terror.” The Obama administration faced a Thursday deadline to release the memos after a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

The release of the legal opinions, written by lawyers in the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel in 2002 and 2005, adds to an overwhelming body of evidence that proves the Bush administration carried out a large-scale and systematic torture operation in flagrant violation of domestic and international law. The public record already included accounts from victims, a recently leaked International Committee of the Red Cross report documenting various instances of torture, and numerous media accounts that include quotes from interrogators and Bush administration officials endorsing torture.

More revelations from Bush torture memos

bismi-lLahi-rRahmani-rRahiem
In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful

=== News Update ===

Tom Eley

April 20, 2009 The Bush administration memos released last Thursday by the US Justice Department demonstrate that Washington carried out a studied and systematic torture operation for years. The documents, written by lawyers in the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) to a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) counsel, make clear that the CIA was carrying out torture prior to, and during the time the memos were written in 2002 and 2005. They also show that Bush administration officials were well aware that the methods discussed could be construed as torture. They therefore sought to develop an ex post facto and pseudo-legal rationale for specific acts of torture, in defiance of US and international laws.

Obama Reprieve For CIA Illegal: U.N. Rapporteur

bismi-lLahi-rRahmani-rRahiem
In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful

=== News Update ===

Obama Reprieve For CIA Illegal: U.N. Rapporteur

By Mark Heinrich; Editing by Robert Woodward

April 20, 2009 VIENNA (Reuters) “04/18/09 — – President Barack Obama’s decision not to prosecute CIA interrogators who used waterboarding on terrorism suspects amounts to a breach of international law, the U.N. rapporteur on torture said.

“The United States, like all other states that are part of the U.N. convention against torture, is committed to conducting criminal investigations of torture and to bringing all persons against whom there is sound evidence to court,” U.N. special rapporteur Manfred Nowak told the Austrian daily Der Standard.

Nowak did not think Obama would go as far as to seek an amnesty law for affected CIA personnel and therefore U.S. courts could still try torture suspects, he said on Saturday.

Obama has affirmed his unwillingness to prosecute under anti-torture laws CIA personnel who relied in good faith on Bush administration legal opinions issued after the September 11 attacks.

Obama said he had ended harrowing techniques used against detainees by Bush-era CIA personnel, but that U.S. intelligence agents still operated in a dangerous world and had to be confident they could perform their jobs.

Major scandal erupts involving Rep. Jane Harman, Alberto Gonzales and AIPAC

bismi-lLahi-rRahmani-rRahiem
In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful

=== News Update ===

Monday April 20, 2009 07:35 EDT

[updated below - Update II (Interview w/Jeff Stein)]

Other obligations prevent me from writing until later today — and I intend to focus on Rahm Emanuel’s war-crimes-protecting proclamation that Obama’s desire for immunity extends beyond CIA officers perpetrating torture to the “policy makers” who ordered it (watch today as the hardest-core Obama loyalists start explaining how the UN doesn’t matter, international treaties are irrelevant, and war criminals need not be held accountable) – but, until then, I wanted to highlight this extremely important and well-reported story from CQ‘s Jeff Stein, which involves allegations of major corruption and serious criminal activity on the part of Democratic Rep. Jane Harman.  Here’s one crucial prong of the story:

Rep. Jane Harman , the California Democrat with a longtime involvement in intelligence issues, was overheard on an NSA wiretap telling a suspected Israeli agent that she would lobby the Justice Department to reduce espionage-related charges against two officials of the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee, the most powerful pro-Israel organization in Washington.

Harman was recorded saying she would “waddle into” the AIPAC case “if you think it’ll make a difference,” according to two former senior national security officials familiar with the NSA transcript.

In exchange for Harman’s help, the sources said, the suspected Israeli agent pledged to help lobby Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., then-House minority leader, to appoint Harman chair of the Intelligence Committee after the 2006 elections, which the Democrats were heavily favored to win.

Seemingly wary of what she had just agreed to, according to an official who read the NSA transcript, Harman hung up after saying, “This conversation doesn’t exist.”

Wiretap Recorded Rep. Harman Promising to Intervene for AIPAC

bismi-lLahi-rRahmani-rRahiem
In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful

=== News Update ===

April 19, 2009 — 8:49 p.m.

Sources: Wiretap Recorded Rep. Harman Promising to Intervene for AIPAC

By Jeff Stein, CQ SpyTalk Columnist

Rep. Jane Harman , the California Democrat with a longtime involvement in intelligence issues, was overheard on an NSA wiretap telling a suspected Israeli agent that she would lobby the Justice Department reduce espionage-related charges against two officials of the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee, the most powerful pro-Israel organization in Washington.

Harman was recorded saying she would “waddle into” the AIPAC case “if you think it’ll make a difference,” according to two former senior national security officials familiar with the NSA transcript.

Muslims describe FBI offers to act as informants

bismi-lLahi-rRahmani-rRahiem
In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful

=== News Update ===

Monday, April 20, 2009

Several claim they have been asked to act as informants; agency denies targeting mosques

Gregg Krupa / The Detroit News

The FBI has come under fire from Muslim leaders in Metro Detroit who say the agency is threatening or coercing local residents into informing on people in their communities and mosques.

The prospective informants, their lawyers and community leaders said the federal agents identify themselves and tell them their immigration status could be blocked or revoked if they turn down FBI requests to report on activities of people who attend mosques.

“Cooperation will not be gained through the twisting of arms,” said Imad Hamad, regional director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. “We have worked extensively with the FBI and others in the past, and certainly we would provide any information of a national security concern. But the issue now is this: Will they treat us as partners, or suspects, or both? We want to know.”

Iraqi General Hails Arrest of “al-Qaeda Kids”

bismi-lLahi-rRahmani-rRahiem
In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful

=== News Update ===

Iraqi General Hails Arrest of “al-Qaeda Kids”
Four Children Under Age 14 Were Captured Near Kirkuk

Jason Ditz

April 20, 2009 In one of the most bizarre triumphs for the Iraqi security forces, General Abdelamir al-Zaidi revealed today that four children under the age of 14 were successfully captured by Iraqi special forces units in and around the northern city of Kirkuk. Dubbed the “Birds of Paradise,” the children are accused of being linked to al-Qaeda, recruiting children to “carry out suicide attacks and to aid the terrorist groups in detonating roadside bombs.” Gen. Zaidi declined to offer further information about the arrests, citing the secrecy of the operation and ongoing investigations. He said other “suspects” had been arrested, however.

Women, children among eight killed in new type of U.S.drone strike

bismi-lLahi-rRahmani-rRahiem
In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful

=== News Update ===

Monday, April 20, 2009

WANA: As many as eight people, including women and children were killed and several others injured in the suspected US drone attack on Gangi Khel area of Wana, headquarters of South Waziristan Agency on Sunday morning, locals said.

However, the political administration and other sources denied reports of any loss of lives in the attack, saying no causality happened in the attack but the attack “hit an explosive laden vehicle” [gasoline?] parked inside a house.

According to details, the suspected US drones kept flying over the area the whole night and caused panic in the area but on Sunday’s morning it fired two missiles at a house in Gangi Khel area, damaging two explosive laden vehicles parked in the house, however, no casualty was reported.

Brasscheck TV: The Truth about Facebook

bismi-lLahi-rRahmani-rRahiem
In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful

=== News Update ===

Facebook….

Over 200,000,000 people have Facebook entries.

Facebook claims over 100,000,000 access their accounts every day.

The CIA is one of the backers. So is the Department of Defense.

Voluntary government surveillance

When Alexander Solzhenitsyn was arrested by Stalin’s political police, his captors got lost.

Solzhenitsyn, a war hero (Stalin distrusted and hated war heroes), showed them how to read the map and get to where they were going.

That’s what millions of Americans are doing now.

Putting far more personal information that they should about themselves online for easy mining.

Corporate and government surveillance has never been easier.

Details:

http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/603.html

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-muslim voice-
______________________________________
BECAUSE YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO KNOW

“Mitos Kartini dan Rekayasa Sejarah”

bismi-lLahi-rRahmani-rRahiem
In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful

=== News Update ===

Tuesday, 21 April 2009 09:12

Mengapa setiap 21 April kita memperingati Hari Kartini? Apakah tidak ada wanita Indonesia lain yang lebih layak ditokohkan? Baca Catatan Akhir Pekan [CAP] Adian Husaini ke-269

Oleh: Adian Husaini

Ada yang menarik pada Jurnal Islamia (INSISTS-Republika) edisi 9 April 2009 lalu. Dari empat halaman jurnal berbentuk koran yang membahas tema utama tentang Kesetaraan Gender, ada tulisan sejarawan Persis Tiar Anwar Bahtiar tentang Kartini. Judulnya: “Mengapa Harus Kartini?”

Sejarawan yang menamatkan magister bidang sejarah di Universitas Indonesia ini mempertanyakan: Mengapa Harus Kartini? Mengapa setiap 21 April bangsa Indonesia memperingati Hari Kartini? Apakah tidak ada wanita Indonesia lain yang lebih layak ditokohkan dan diteladani dibandingkan Kartini?

Menyongsong tanggal 21 April 2009 kali ini, sangatlah relevan untuk membaca dan merenungkan artikel yang ditulis oleh Tiar Anwar Bahtiar tersebut. Tentu saja, pertanyaan bernada gugatan seperti itu bukan pertama kali dilontarkan sejarawan. Pada tahun 1970-an, di saat kuat-kuatnya pemerintahan Orde Baru, guru besar Universitas Indonesia, Prof. Dr. Harsja W. Bachtiar pernah menggugat masalah ini. Ia mengkritik ‘pengkultusan’ R.A. Kartini sebagai pahlawan nasional Indonesia.

Dalam buku Satu Abad Kartini (1879-1979), (Jakarta: Pustaka Sinar Harapan, 1990, cetakan ke-4), Harsja W. Bahtiar menulis sebuah artikel berjudul “Kartini dan Peranan Wanita dalam Masyarakat Kita”. Tulisan ini bernada gugatan terhadap penokohan Kartini. “Kita mengambil alih Kartini sebagai lambang emansipasi wanita di Indonesia dari orang-orang Belanda. Kita tidak mencipta sendiri lambang budaya ini, meskipun kemudian kitalah yang mengembangkannya lebih lanjut,” tulis Harsja W. Bachtiar, yang menamatkan doktor sosiologinya di Harvard University.

Andai Kartini Khatam Mengaji…

bismi-lLahi-rRahmani-rRahiem
In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful

=== News Update ===

Written by topex

Friday, 06 February 2009 13:22

Andai Kartini Khatam Mengaji… Sejarah, penggal waktu yang telah ditinggalkan. Sejarah, hanyalah saksi bisu yang bergantung pada kacamata manusia untuk membacanya. Sejarah bisa berarti beda jika kacamata baca manusia juga berbeda. Adalah sebuah keharusan untuk membaca sejarah secara obyektif berdasarkan fakta. Demikian halnya dengan perjuangan Kartini. Benarkah Kartini menginginkan kaum wanita mengejar kesetaraan kedudukan dengan kaum laki-laki di semua bidang ? Obyektifitas adalah syarat utama untuk mengkaji sebuah sejarah. Tanpa ada semangat obyektifitas, sebuah peristiwa sejarah dapat dimaknai dan disalahgunakan sesuai dengan kepentingan pihak yang bersangkutan. Untuk mendukung sebuah pendapat atau mewujudkan sebuah tujuan, kisah sejarah bisa dipenggal, dihilangkan atau justru ditambahi penekanan pada bagian-bagian tertentu. Penyusunan sejarah seperti ini hanya akan mengantarkan masyarakat kepada sebuah kesimpulan yang salah, bukan kepada pelajaran sebenarnya yang ada dibalik kisah kehidupan sang tokoh. Demikian halnya dengan sejarah perjuangan R.A Kartini. Selama ini yang dipahami dan dicatat dari perjuangan Kartini adalah semangat emansipasi untuk menjadikan kaum wanita mempunyai hak yang sama dan sejajar dengan kaum laki-laki. Sehingga yang terlihat kemudian adalah wanita Indonesia yang tergopoh-gopoh untuk menempatkan diri pada posisi-posisi yang didominasi oleh kaum pria. Kata “emansipasi” telah bergeser kearah liberal, gender, feminisme dan ide-ide penentangan terhadap fitrah kaum wanita yang memang berbeda dengan lawan jenisnya.