Stephen Lendman

Several previous articles discussed his right to return, accessed through these links here, here and here.

Since forcibly exiled on February 29, 2004, Washington and Haiti denied his right to return, though affirmed in Haiti's Constitution and international law.

Supporters of ex-president Aristide of Haiti
hold signs bearing his nickname "Titid" that
read "We are waiting for you," in Kreyol.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states:

Article 9: "No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile."
Article 13(2): "Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country."

The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) states:

Article 12(2)(4): "Everyone shall be free to leave any country, including his own....No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of the right to enter his own country."

The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination states:

Article 5(d)(ii): Civil rights for everyone include "(t)he right to leave any country, including one's own, and to return to one's country."

The General Assembly's Declaration on the Human Rights of Individuals Who are Not Nationals of the Country in Which They Live states:

Article 5(2): They have "(t)he right to leave the country."
Article 10 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child affords the same right of return to children.

So does Article 8 of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of the Their Families (ICPMMW). Everyone has the right to go home.

International law provides clear affirmation, including freedom of movement as a fundamental human right. Hegemons like America, however, ignore it, forcing vassal states like Haiti to concur - at least up to now, so at issue has anything changed?

More »

Tom Eley
WSWS

Since demonstrations and strikes erupted against the Mubarak regime on January 25, the Egyptian military has arrested, tortured and “disappeared” thousands, according to reports from the Guardian newspaper and human rights organizations.

The revelations explode the claim advanced by the Obama administration that Egypt’s army is a neutral arbiter in the crisis and can lead a “transition” to human rights and democracy. They also give the lie to the claim that the military can be relied upon to protect the population from the hated state security forces, an argument advanced by both Mohammed ElBaradei and the Muslim Brotherhood. The military has, in fact, assumed the brutal role of the police and security forces, which have, at least in part, dissolved in the face of the revolution.

According to Human Rights Watch, at least 302 Egyptians have been killed in the protests, the vast majority of these at the hands of the security forces, pro-government thugs and the military. Heba Morayef, a researcher for Human Rights Watch in Cairo who participated in the count, said that the ultimate number will likely be far higher.

The number of the disappeared—those arrested by the military with no record or official acknowledgement of their fate—runs into the hundreds, possibly thousands, Hossam Bahgat, director of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights in Cairo, told the Guardian. Their “crimes” include carrying political leaflets, attending demonstrations, “or even the way they look,” the newspaper reports.

More »

Stephen Lendman

Despite Palestinian Authority (PA) officials banning anti-Mubarak demonstrations, hundreds rallied in support. On February 5, Jerusalem Post writer Khaled Abu Toameh headlined, "100s demonstrate in Ramallah in support of Egyptians," saying:

Marching in Ramallah with Egyptian flags, they publicly supported them "(f)or the first time since the beginning of the(ir( uprising...." Another Ramallah demonstration followed as well as a Bethlehem one.

Toameh's February 2 article was in stark contrast headlined, "PA launches pro-Mubarak demonstration in Ramallah," denouncing Mohamed ElBaradei as a "CIA agent.

On February 4, the Popular Committees Against the Israeli Occupation issued a press release saying:

"The Egyptian Arab nation....We salute this great Arab nation, our brothers. This is the salute of freedom from the people of Palestine who have been fighting for decades for freedom and independence, and to retain the honor of Arabs." [...] "The Palestinians are watching what is happening across the Arab world in general and Egypt in particular with great pride....We hope that the rebelling Arab people make it their priority to demand from any government or leadership to come to sever their ties with the Israeli occupation and abandon the Egyptian - Israeli peace treaty....We call on all free nations in the world, especially Europe and the US, to get out in massive demonstrations on 2/11/11 to confirm the right of peoples to live in freedom and dignity - a day of anger" for justice, the "beginning of the Global Intifada."

On February 3, Haaretz writer Amira Hass headlined, "Why isn't the PA supporting the Egypt uprising?" saying:

Instead, it "banned demonstrations in solidarity with the rebelling peoples. Palestinian television has virtually ignored the events in Egypt." Demonstrators at Cairo's Ramallah consulate were monitored by plainclothes security forces. [...] "What is the (PA) afraid of....?" It has close ties with Mubarak like Israel, and "when a regime is insufficiently democratic, it fears that popular demonstrations might spin out of control."

On February 7, Hass headlined, "Palestinian security suppressing West Bank fervor over Egypt protests," saying:

PA security forces suppressed a Ramallah demonstration. Adnan Dmeiri, PA security forces spokesman, said "demonstrations could lead to chaos. The priority for Palestinians was to empower popular resistance against the occupation and to work for independence."

In fact, Abbas/Fayyad security forces work cooperatively with Israel against it, enforcing occupation harshness. They've been well trained and financed to do it. A previous article explained, accessed through this link.

More »

John Cole
Balloon Juice

More fallout from the Anonymous hacking of the show fail parade that is HB Gary:

ThinkProgress has learned that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the big business trade association representing ExxonMobil, AIG, and other major international corporations, is working with set of “private security” companies and lobbying firms to undermine their political opponents, including ThinkProgress, with a surreptitious sabotage campaign.

According to e-mails obtained by ThinkProgress, the Chamber hired the lobbying firm Hunton and Williams to spearhead this effort. Hunton And Williams’ attorney Richard Wyatt, who once represented Food Lion in its infamous lawsuit against ABC News, was hired by the Chamber in October of last year. To assist the Chamber, Wyatt and his associates, John Woods and Bob Quackenboss, hired a set of private security firms — HB Gary Federal, Palantir, and Berico Technologies (collectively called Team Themis) — to develop tactics for damaging progressive groups and labor unions, in particular ThinkProgress, the labor coalition called Change to Win, the SEIU, US Chamber Watch, and StopTheChamber.com.

According to one document prepared by Team Themis, the campaign included an entrapment project.

More »

Ali Ismail
WSWS

"The double-killing in Lahore has only exacerbated anti-US sentiment in the country, as it has provided a further illustration of the impunity with which the US operates in Pakistan, violating its sovereignty, and with utter indifference to the destruction it leaves in its wake."

Pakistan’s government is facing escalating US pressure to release Raymond Davis, the American national responsible for gunning down two Pakistani youths in a Lahore market on January 26.

Obama administration officials and US Congressional leaders have suggested that US aid to Pakistan could be curtailed, a March visit of Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari to Washington canceled, and US-Pakistan relations downgraded, if Davis is not immediately allowed to leave Pakistan and all charges against him dropped.

Last weekend, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton refused to meet with Pakistan’s Foreign Minister, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, at the Munich security conference. In a definite signal as to the US’s priorities and a calculated affront to Pakistan’s embattled civilian government, she did meet, however, with General Ashfaq Kayani. The head of the Pakistani Army, Kayani is a Pentagon favourite.

On Monday, the US Ambassador to Pakistan, Cameron Munter, met with President Zardari to reiterate Washington’s demand that Davis be released on the grounds of “diplomatic immunity.” The next day, US State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley denied a press report that Washington has suspended all “high-level contacts” with Islamabad, saying “We continue to talk to the Pakistan government to stress the importance of resolving this issue.”

The Davis affair has created yet another crisis for the deeply unpopular Pakistan Peoples’ Party-led coalition government, which in addition to a raft of economic problems faces mounting popular opposition because of its collusion in the crimes of US imperialism in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

More »