Accused Receives No Prison in Plea Deal

New York Times January 24, 2012. Anger in Iraq over plea deal in Haditha Deaths.

From the New York Times:

"The Marine, Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich, 31, pleaded guilty on Monday in a military court in California to dereliction of duty, telling the judge that he regretted ordering his men to “shoot first, ask questions later,” according to news agency reports.

Although the reduced charge carried a maximum sentence of three months in jail, which the military judge said he would have imposed, The Associated Press reported that as part of the plea deal, prosecutors had agreed that Sergeant Wuterich would receive no jail time. He had faced up to 152 years in prison if convicted on the charges of manslaughter and assault on which he stood accused.

The military judge who pronounced the sentence, Lt. Col. David Jones, reduced Sergeant Wuterich’s rank to private.

Mr. Salman vowed not to let the matter rest. “That soldier would be sent to prison for more than three months if he had thrown trash on the streets in America,” he said, adding: “We won’t be silent. We will resume the case through all international courts, and we will appeal the American resolution. Injustice has won this round, but there are many more rounds left.”

Traveling, Return January 30, 2012

East Haven, Conn., Police Officers Accused of Mistreating Latinos

"On Tuesday, the Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested Sgt. John Miller and three of his officers — David Cari, Dennis Spaulding and Jason Zullo — on charges of conspiracy, false arrest, excessive force and obstruction of justice over what the indictment described as years of mistreatment of individuals, especially Hispanics, and efforts to cover it up.   Following on the heels of a scathing Justice Department report in December that found the East Haven police had engaged in widespread “biased policing, unconstitutional searches and seizures, and the use of excessive force,” the indictment portrayed a harrowing picture of arbitrary justice for Hispanic residents. " NYTimes.com January 25, 2012.

More about Paul Dix and Nicaragua Photo Testimony

Check out the video on You Tube. Also, Bozeman Daily Chronicle, January 7, 2012. "The 1980s gave rise to the CIA-backed Contras who opposed the Sandinista government in a conflict which killed over 30,000 Nicaraguans. “Public buildings and transport were sabotaged, public officials were assassinated, and civilians were raped, kidnapped, tortured, maimed and murdered,” states the introduction to “Nicaragua.” Dix took thousands of photographs of the country’s inhabitants during five years of conflict. “I was very impressed, not only by the images seen and trying to capture the truth, but by the words I was hearing from the rural people,” he said.* * * * *

This book can be purchased through the website: http://nicaraguaphototestimony.org To purchase this amazing phototestimony, Click here. About the Nicaragua: Surviving the Legacy of U.S. Policy Project.

"In the 1980s, popular movements in Central America attempted to democratize their societies and to direct a larger portion of each country's resources, in the form of food, housing, health care, and education, toward the well-being of the poor majority; at the same time the U.S. government, under the banner of peace, freedom, and democracy, sponsored wars that blocked local efforts for change. Two decades later, the poor of Central America continue to experience the effects of these wars and to struggle for basic subsistence with little hope that their children will have schools, health care, or even adequate nutrition. Many U.S. citizens still do not recognize the role the U.S. government played in stopping these movements towards democracy.

From early 1985 through mid 1990, Paul Dix used his camera to document the effects of the U.S.-funded Contra War on the poor of Nicaragua. In 2002, from the thousands he had photographed, Paul selected approximately 100 Nicaraguans for follow-up. He and Pam Fitzpatrick had amazing luck when they returned to Nicaragua on four separate trips for a total of seventeen months, and located nearly all of these individuals. They were able to share the earlier photos with family members, take new photographs and record testimonies.

Paul and Pam shared this material in colleges across the U.S. for two academic years and have put their material into book form. Their bilingual book includes photos and testimonies from approximately thirty of the nearly one hundred Nicaraguans they re-contacted."

Efraín Ríos Montt, Guatemala Ex-Dictator, to Appear in Court

NYTimes.com January 22, 2012. A Guatemalan judge has ordered a former military dictator, Efraín Ríos Montt, to appear in court on Thursday, the first step in a process that could lead to his being tried on genocide charges and to a reopening of the darkest chapter in Guatemala’s brutal 36-year civil war.       

The Inquisition: A Model For Modern Interrogators

NPR January 23, 2012. "The individuals who participated in the first Inquisition 800 years ago kept detailed records of their activities. Vast archival collections at the Vatican, in France and in Spain contain accounts of torture victims' cries, descriptions of funeral pyres and even meticulous financial records about the price of torture equipment."[There are] expense accounts [for things] like how much did the rope cost to tie the hands of the person you burnt at the stake," says writer Cullen Murphy. "The people who were doing interrogations were meticulous."Murphy's new book God's Jury: The Inquisition and the Making of the Modern World traces the history of the Inquisitions — there were several — and draws parallels between some of the interrogation techniques used in previous centuries with the ones used today."

More on Blind Mules & Details

CNN.com January 23, 2012. "How the scam worksDrug cartels were well aware of the SENTRI pass system and concocted a plan to take advantage of it. Jesus Chavez and Carlos Alberto Gomez, both Mexican citizens living in Texas, were recently accused in a 20-page criminal complaint of doing just that.Jesus Chavez was arrested for allegedly targeting innocent drivers to ferry drugs into Mexico.According to the complaint, Chavez and Gomez allegedly paid lookouts to monitor SENTRI pass drivers -- noting the time of day, as well as the make, model and color of their cars -- as they drove over the bridge.Read the full indictmentThe lookouts targeted students and professionals who typically have consistent routines."

MegaUpload Founder Denied Bail At Extradition Hearing

"The drama and fallout from yesterday’s raids against the infrastructure of MegaUpload and its management team continued this morning when founder Kim Dotcom appeared in a New Zealand court.Dotcom, a 37-year-old German citizen with joint New Zealand and Hong Kong residency, appeared alongside three other MegaUpload employees – site co-founder Mathias Ortmann, 40, chief marketing officer Finn Batato, 38, and programmer and networking expert Bram van der Kolk, 29.The hearing in an Auckland district court heard how local police had been working with US authorities since 2011 culminating in raids yesterday on ten private and business locations. Among them was Kim’s residence, Dotcom Mansion, and what happened there resembles something from a movie." TorrentFreak January 23, 2012

Israel Accused of Mistreatment of Detention of Juveniles

The Guardian January 23, 2012

"Between 500 and 700 Palestinian children are arrested by Israeli soldiers each year, mostly accused of throwing stones. Since 2008, Defence for Children International (DCI) has collected sworn testimonies from 426 minors detained in Israel's military justice system.Their statements show a pattern of night-time arrests, hands bound with plastic ties, blindfolding, physical and verbal abuse, and threats. About 9% of all those giving affidavits say they were kept in solitary confinement, although there has been a marked increase to 22% in the past six months."

Undocumented Youth Speak Out

Latino USA  "January 20, 2012. Today, stories of coming out. These are the stories of living undocumented in America. We have voices from across the country, and from different walks of life. They are American in every way, but with one exception: papers. Some are high profile like actor and playwright Carlo Alban, or Pulitzer prize winning journalist Jose Antonio Vargas. Others are promising students with dreams of becoming doctors and lawyers wanting to live with dignity and contribute to society."   Editor's Note: Latino USA is a weekly program of NPR hosted by our favorite Maria Hinojosa.