Det danske Fredsakademi
Kronologi over fredssagen og international politik 7. Mars 2005 / Time Line March 7, 2005
Version 3.503/07/2005
Turning Our Backs on the Marshall Islands Again
by Bernice Powell Jackson
Witness For Justice #0206
Monday, March 7, 2005 -- Last March 1, I was in the Marshall
Islands, tiny atolls in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, where we
commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Bravo test. On March 1,
1954, the United States dropped a 15-megaton hydrogen bomb 1,000
times more powerful than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. It was one
of 67 nuclear weapons tests conducted in the Marshall Islands by
the U.S. between 1946 and 1958. But while many of the islanders had
been evacuated in previous tests, on March 1 the people of four
tiny atolls were not. In fact, they were not evacuated until for
four days after the massive explosion whose radioactive cloud
spread over an area about the size of New Jersey.
While this story is horrible in and of itself, documents
declassified during the Clinton administration appear to point to
the decision by the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) to make the
Marshall Islanders into human guinea pigs. It appears that there
was an AEC project, named Project 4.1, whose purpose was to study
the effects of radioactive fallout on human beings. Despite its
public statements otherwise, it seems that the AEC decided three
days after the Bravo test to make the Marshall Islanders into
research subjects. It is unclear whether the Marshallese actually
received medical treatments for the exposure to high levels of
radiation or whether they just received tracers which helped
researchers know how human beings were responding, but we do know
that they have suffered extraordinarily high levels of cancer,
particularly of the thyroid. Moreover, the second and third
generations also have high levels of cancer and immune system
diseases. Women and girls who were originally exposed during the
Bravo tests also experienced high levels of stillbirths,
miscarriages and deformities in their babies. "The only thing I
could think of was Nazi Germany," said then U. S. Energy Secretary
Hazel O'Leary upon first learning about these experiments when some
documents were declassified.
With the release of these documents in 1993, the survivors from the
Bravo test petitioned the U.S. government for additional
compensation to help pay for the health care and clean-up needs.
Under a compact signed by the governments of the U.S. and the
Marshall Islands in 1983, the U.S. agreed to pay $150 million into
a trust fund. Some additional funds were awarded to specific groups
of survivors. But while the commission managing the trust fund has
awarded over $1 billion in damage claims, less than one percent of
that money could be paid and there are thousands of claims still
pending.
Shortly after the beginning of this year, however, the Bush
administration rejected the petition for changed circumstances,
telling the U.S. Congress that it should not award further
compensation to the Marshall Islands. The irony, of course, is that
the U.S. is telling other governments that they must take full
responsibility for their actions, when we refuse to take
responsibility for ours. To make whole the people of the Marshall
Islands to treat their illnesses and clean up their islands would
take only a few days of the funds we are spending in Iraq and
Afghanistan.
This year the survivors of Enewetak, Rongelap, Utrik and Bikini
islands sponsored their own commemoration of the Bravo test by
inviting survivors of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor meltdown to
share their experiences. They found that government cover-ups and
misinformation were common to both experiences.
More than half a century after one of our nation's most shameful
actions, we must tell the truth, admit our guilt and pay fully for
our actions. Only if we make amends to the people of the Marshall
Islands can we move forward into the future with integrity and
truth.
03/07/2005
UN: 25 Million Civilians Displaced by War are
Unprotected
By Lisa Schlein
Geneva
http://www.voanews.com/english/2005-03-06-voa16.cfm
Sudanese displaced women carry firewood at Abu Shouk camp, in north
Darfur, Sudan The United Nations says about 25 million civilians
internally displaced by war and violence remain largely unprotected
and unassisted because they are not recognized under international
law. The United Nations identifies Sudan, Uganda, Burundi, Somalia,
Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, and Colombia as having the
worst crises in the world.
The United Nations estimates more than13 million people are
internally displaced by war and persecution in Africa. That is more
than half the total number of people displaced worldwide and more
than the world's 10 million registered refugees.
Dennis McNamara, a Senior U.N. official who coordinates emergency
relief for the displaced, says the plight of internally displaced
people is largely ignored by the international community.
"Most of them live in miserable conditions with quite inadequate
basic humanitarian support," he said. "Many of them receive no
international support or national support at all. And, most of
them, as I have said, are liable to abuse and have protection
problems."
Mr. McNamara refers to them as the de facto new refugees of Africa.
He says the world's 25 million displaced people are caught in the
cracks of international humanitarian law. Since they have not
crossed an international border, he notes they are not considered
to be refugees. So, he says they are not entitled to the
protections and assistance given refugees under international
law.
The UN Official warns that development and peace building are not
possible in an unstable environment, where hundreds of thousands of
people have been made homeless.
"Unless you stabilize the returning millions to South Sudan or the
returning hundreds of thousands in Liberia or the hopeful returning
1.5 million in northern Uganda or the one-half million in Somalia,
all of whom should be going back as the peace process moves
forward," he added. "Unless you deal with them and stabilize them,
not just in humanitarian relief terms, but in livelihood and basic
services terms, you have a problem in taking the peace building
process forward."
Echoing this warning is the top U.N. humanitarian official, Jan
Egeland. He says the world is committing an historic mistake by
failing to support the peace deal in southern Sudan.
He says in order to save the fragile peace agreement between the
north and south, the international community has to help an
estimated 4.5 million refugees and displaced people to return to
homes in Sudan.
03/07/2005
Privatised War: The South African Connection
by Andy Clarno and Salim Vally
http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=15&ItemID=7376
A startling fact has emerged from the battlefields of Iraq,
providing powerful evidence that the conduct of war has been
radically transformed over the last 15 years. In the 1991 Gulf War,
1 in every 100 soldiers deployed by the US-led coalition were
mercenaries hired by private military companies. Today in Iraq,
more than 1 in 5 coalition soldiers are mercenaries. Since the
mid-1990s, the private military sector has been the fastest growing
industry in the world. With the US as its biggest client, the
industry was worth $100-200 billion per year even before the
invasion of Iraq.
There are currently 130,000 US soldiers, 9000 British, and 15,000
other coalition soldiers operating in Iraq. With estimates of more
than 30,000 private 'security experts,' mercenaries now compose the
second largest military force in the country. The vast oil
resources and uncontainable resistance have made the country a
magnet for mercenaries. War profiteers such as Bechtel and
Halliburton hire private armies to protect their assets, paying
mercenaries up to $1000 a day for special assignments quelling
uprisings in Iraqi cities.
The number of South Africans in Iraq is estimated to range from
5000 to 10 000. According to a recent United Nations report, South
Africa is among the top three suppliers of personnel for private
military companies operating in Iraq next to the US and the UK. At
least 10 South African based companies have been sending people to
Iraq. Most of those recruited operate as drivers and bodyguards,
protecting supply routes and valuable resources. Yet several
hundred South Africans are alleged to have fought alongside the
Americans and the British in Fallujah and other hotspots. Members
of special police units, such as the South African Police Services'
Elite Task Force, who protect senior state officials like President
Mbeki, have sought early retirement to join private military
companies in Iraq.
The most heavily recruited South Africans are those with
backgrounds in the elite apartheid-era special forces. Many members
of Apartheid-era security groups such as the Civil Cooperation
Bureau (CCB), the 32 Buffalo Battalion, the Parachute Brigade,
Reaction Unit 9, the Reconnaissance Commandos, Koevoet, and
Vlakplaas - many of whom received amnesty from the Truth and
Reconciliation Commission - are now in Iraq. This fact emerged last
January when a bomb in Baghdad killed Francois Strydom and maimed
Deon Gouws.
Strydom and Gouws were recruited by Erinys International to provide
bodyguard services to a US general. In the 1980s, Strydom worked
for Koevoet, a brutal wing of the South African military whose
members were reportedly paid bounties for the bodies of SWAPO
activists in Namibia. A former member of Vlakplaas, Gouws, admitted
to the TRC that he petrol-bombed the homes of 40-60 anti-apartheid
activists, assassinated KwaNdebele homeland Cabinet minister and
ANC activist Piet Ntuli, firebombed the home of the late
Fabian Ribiero, and murdered nine activists...
03/07/2005
L-3 Communications' MPRI Subsidiary Awarded $400 Million
Contract by the U.S. Department of Justice;
Contract to Support the International Criminal Investigative
Training Assistance Program
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)----L-3 Communications announced today
that its MPRI subsidiary, which is part of the company's Government
Services Group, was awarded a six year Indefinite
Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (ID/IQ) contract valued at up to $400
million by the U.S. Department of Justice. The contract calls for
MPRI to support the International Criminal Investigative Training
Assistance Program (ICITAP) for law enforcement advisors and
trainers around the world. ICITAP currently has teams in 35
countries.
Working through four regional offices, MPRI is responsible for
furnishing law enforcement advisors and trainers and associated
administrative, logistics, facilities and command and control
support. All program activities are consistent with the applicable
U.S. Department of Justice policies, regulations, procedures,
business practices and protocols that define the ICITAP operational
environment.
"I am delighted that MPRI was selected to perform this vital
mission for the Justice Department. This contract gives L-3 a
worldwide presence in support of international law enforcement and
security training," said Frank C. Lanza, chairman and chief
executive officer of L-3 Communications. "L-3 is pleased to have
the opportunity to contribute to international and regional
stability around the world by providing essential police training
as part of this important initiative."
Headquartered in Arlington, VA, MPRI provides professional
services, products and integrated solutions to the challenges of
national security, security sector reform and private sector
enhancements both within the United States and abroad. Incorporated
in 1987, MPRI has more than 3,000 employees worldwide who provide
comprehensive and integrated programs that address training,
education, leader development, organizational design and
implementation, simulations, democracy transition, and emergency
management across a broad spectrum of functional areas.
Headquartered in New York City, L-3 Communications is a leading
provider of Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR)
systems, secure communications systems, aircraft modernization,
training and government services and is a merchant supplier of a
broad array of high technology products. Its customers include the
Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, selected
U.S. Government intelligence agencies and aerospace prime
contractors.
03/07/2005
Defense Department Aims for Clean Audits by 2008
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, March 7, 2005 - The Pentagon's inspector general has
let contracts that will help the department track its money, IG
officials said.
Getting a clean audit on the Defense Department will be difficult,
said David F. Vincent, program manager for the inspector general's
Defense Financial Auditing Service. "Over the years, there were
more than 2,000 (information technology) systems that in part feed
the accounting information across the department," Vincent said.
"This makes it extraordinarily difficult" to deliver an
"unqualified opinion." An unqualified opinion is the same as a
clean audit - meaning that the books meet normal accounting
standards.
The contract allows the DoD IG to hire auditors to check the books
of 63 auditable entities in DoD. The IG may contract for as many as
1,500 auditors. The move puts DoD on the road for a 2008
unqualified opinion for the entire department, Vincent said.
DoD entities have been working toward this for years. The Chief
Financial Officers Act of 1990 first called for a clean audit. Six
defense agencies have finished a clean audit. They are The Defense
Finance and Accounting Service, the Defense Contract Audit Agency,
the Defense Commissary Agency, the DoD Office of the Inspector
General, the Military Retirement Fund and the Defense Threat
Reduction Agency.
The very size of the department has made compliance difficult,
Vincent said. The next closest private firm to the size of DoD is
Wal-Mart, and that has only a third of the employees of the
department.
If the Defense Commissary Agency stood alone, it would be the fifth
or sixth largest supermarket chain in the United States, "and
that's just a small portion of the DoD," Vincent said.
DoD has millions of financial transactions each month. "Think of an
accounting transaction in these terms," he said. "We have about 3.5
million employees. All these people are paid twice a month. Every
time someone is paid that creates an accounting transaction. In
this case it's 26 times a years times 3.5 million people. It gives
you some idea - just through the volume - how complicated this can
become."
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