US plans death camp
The US has floated plans to turn Guantanamo Bay, Cuba into a death camp, with its own death row and execution chamber. Prisoners would be tried, convicted, and executed without leaving its boundaries, without a jury, and without right of appeal. The plans were revealed by Major-General Geoffrey Miller, who is in charge of 680 suspects from 43 countries held without charge for 18 months.

The move is seen as logical by the US, which has been attacked worldwide for breaching the Geneva Convention on prisoners of war since it established the camp at a naval base to hold alleged terrorists. But it has horrified human rights groups and lawyers representing detainees. They see it as the clearest indication America has no intention of falling in line with internationally recognized justice. The US has already said detainees would be tried by tribunals, without juries or appeals to a higher court. Detainees will be allowed only US lawyers. (The Courier Mail)

Unarmed man shot by NYC police
An unarmed immigrant from the African nation of Burkina Faso was shot and killed on May 22 by a plainclothes police officer guarding counterfeit merchandise down the hall. Ousmane Zango, 43, was shot four times after a chase through the hallway of a Chelsea storage facility where he repaired sculptures and drums to send money home to his family in Africa.

Police officers has just raided two rooms while investigating a compact disk counterfeiting operation. It is unclear why the officer began to chase Zango, who had no connection to the counterfeiting operation. The officer said Zango tried to take his gun and described pushing and shoving between them. The department’s internal affairs bureau is investigating.

The shooting brought back memories of the death of African immigrant Amadou Diallo, who was shot and killed by four white officers who said they mistook his wallet for a gun. The officers were cleared of murder and other charges in a state criminal trial in 2000, which inflamed racial tensions in New York.

The shooting also comes a week after police mistakenly raided the apartment of a 57-year-old Harlem woman who went into cardiac arrest and died after officers detonated a flash grenade and handcuffed her. A police informant had wrongly identified Alberta Spruill’s apartment as one used by a drug dealer. (AP)

Medical marijuana under fire
While the movement to legalize marijuana for medical purposes grows across the US, proposed legislation before the House of Representatives—a provision within the Office of National Drug Control Policy Reauthorization Act of 2003—would allow the drug czar to use almost $200 million to oppose medical marijuana initiatives and any candidates that support such initiatives. Another provision within the legislation allows the drug czar to divert $10 million annually to the Drug Enforcement Administration’s campaign against medical marijuana patients and their caregivers. Several states—including California, Colorado, Maine, and Nevada—have laws that effectively remove state-level criminal penalties for growing and/or possessing marijuana for medicinal purposes.

On May 12, the Supreme Court handed medical marijuana users a major defeat by ruling that a federal law classifying the drug as illegal has no exception for ill patients. The 8-0 decision was a major disappointment to many sufferers of AIDS, cancer, multiple sclerosis, and other illnesses who say the drug helps enormously in combating the devastating effects of their diseases. (AP, Infoshop.org)

US plan for ‘mini-nukes’ alarms critics
The Bush administration has won a big victory in its push to start research into a new generation of low-yield and bunker-busting nuclear weapons which critics say would increase the risk of global nuclear proliferation.

In a vote in the Senate on an amendment to next year’s $400 billion Pentagon budget bill, Republicans overcame Democratic efforts to prevent the repeal of a 10-year-old ban on research into these weapons. Republicans argued that unless the US beefed up its nuclear arsenal, it would be unable to protect its national security.

While Democrats call the move a declaration that America is about to launch a nuclear arms race in the world again, the Pentagon argues that it merely wants to carry out research, and claims that development is another matter entirely, requiring separate congressional authorization.

Democrats and arms control groups say that any authorization for mini-nukes would reek of hypocrisy and undermine whatever credibility the US retains in its drive to stop the spread of nuclear arms. They suspect that once again the State Department is being steamrollered by the Pentagon. (Independent UK)

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