Caught on Video: Taliban Execute 16 Pakistanis –By Salman Moosad | NYT

WARNING: The video above is extremely violent and/or graphic. You must be 18+ years old to view it.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Taliban insurgents have released a video showing them killing 16 Pakistani men who were captured in a raid last month in a restive northwestern province, a spokesman for the Pakistani military said Monday, July 18th.

The graphic video shows the 16 men, most of whom appear to be police officers, standing in a line with their hands tied behind their backs. Four insurgents stand in front, holding assault rifles, with their faces covered by scarves.

One insurgent makes a brief speech in Pashto, the language spoken in the country’s northwest, accusing the men of killing six children in the Swat district.

“These are the enemies of Islam who originated from Pakistan,” he says, according to a translation of the statement posted by the Long War Journal, a Web site that specializes in reports on militancy. The speaker in the video describes the 16 men as “murtards,” or those who have abandoned Islam.

“They are the Pakistani police, soldiers and their supporters who recently lined up six kids in Swat and shot them execution-style,” the insurgent says. “These Pakistanis are now our captives, and we will avenge the death of the children by doing the same to them.”

A quick burst of gunfire follows. The men fall to the ground, and some can be heard moaning. Then an insurgent approaches them one by one and fires rounds at each man who still appears to be alive.

Another person, holding a video camera, films the execution and walks up and down capturing images of the victims. The video runs 5 minutes, 36 seconds in all.

No Taliban group had yet publicly claimed responsibility for the video, which was first shown on the LiveLeak video-sharing Web site.

Excerpt, read:  Video From Taliban Shows Killing of 16 Pakistanis –By Salman Moosad | NYT

 

How Sanitation Can Save The World | Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (Videos)

Approximately 2.6 billion people around the world live without access to basic sanitation facilities – including toilets. Rose George, author of “The Big Necessity,” traveled to Mozambique to learn how one village is tackling the problem.

 

Four out of 10 people worldwide don’t have a safe way to poop. Find out why we need a toilet revolution. We need new ideas to help reduce disease and find new ways to turn crap into valuable stuff, like fuel, fertilizer, and fresh water.

 

 

United Nations Expands Listing Criteria to Protect Children in Armed Conflict Zones

New York City- On July 12, The United Nations Security Council unanimously passed Resolution 1998 (2011), recognizing schools and hospitals as safe havens for children, called for all parties to conflict that attack such facilities to be held accountable and that they be added to the list published annually by the United Nations of those who commit grave violations against children.

The list, contained in the Secretary-General’s annual report on children and armed conflict, already names those parties which commit violations such as the recruitment of child soldiers, killing or maiming of children, and rape or other forms of sexual violence against children.

Office of the Special Representatives of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict | United Nations

 

Dying for Human Rights: The Prison Hunger Strike at Pelican Bay –By Bruce Reilly | SF BayView

Demonstrators in San Francisco on July 1 (Photo: Associated Press).

In picturesque Crescent City, California, a coastal town six hours north of San Francisco, roughly one in five “residents” are prisoners. Several cell blocks of these isolated men began their hunger strike on Friday, July 1. After decades of living in some of the most deplorably inhuman conditions in America, they have organized themselves to say “Enough!” Pelican Bay State Prison is in many ways the prototypical American prison, illustrating the historical gap betweem “haves” vs. “have nots,” and is quixotically surrounded by the peaceful beauty of Klamath National Forest, Jedediah Smith Redwoods, Tolawa Dunes, Lake Earl and Pelican Bay.

A petition of solidarity directed towards Gov. Jerry Brown, the head of the California Department of Corrections and the prison warden has gained nearly 4,000 signatures without a single piece of mainstream media. The petition lists their core demands, including a letter sent by these men to the prison administration.

A website has been set up as a base of community support for the hunger strike. With 2.4 million people in American cages, every prison administration will certainly be on full alert to crush solidarity efforts elsewhere, with the First and Eighth Amendments being of little obstacle in these mini-fiefdoms run by wardens in every jurisdiction. This action comes seven months after Georgia prisoners organized a massive work stoppage. The need for “order” and control will likely override any violations of human rights … for now.

The famous Russian writer Fyodor Dostoyevsky once stated, “If you want to understand the humanity of a society, go to its prisons.” His book, “House of Death,” is not as celebrated as “Crime and Punishment,” but it is his true account of life in the gulags, where he got seven years worth of 19th century Tsarist “humanity.”

Have we progressed in the Western world? Have the Age of Enlightenment and liberal values created a more humane and civil approach to the problems of violence, poverty, mental illness and addiction? It is easy to argue we have not. The American penal system is as barbaric as any in the history of governments who choose to build such warehouses of mass cages.

This hunger strike cannot be taken out of context, as prisons have always been a place for self-advocacy. Throughout the 20th century, names like Attica, San Quentin, Pontiac and Lucasville – where a recent hunger strike won concessions – are known for prisoners fighting back against overcrowding, lack of food, absence of medical treatment, lack of education and guard brutality, among other issues.

This is another chapter in the American encyclopedia of anti-oppression, to be added with Watts, L.A., Stonewall, Cincinnati, and Harper’s Ferry. Nat Turner’s Rebellion may have seemed “savage” to some, who can’t grasp the full nature of slavery; but keep in mind that John Brown’s uprising was just a few months before the Civil War resulted in the deaths of millions.

And so what can we glean by the latest chapter? For that, the uninitiated must learn about the conditions inside prisons.

Excerpt, read: Dying for Human Rights: Prisoners Begin Hunger Strike –By Bruce Reilly | SF BayView

Related: California Prison Strike Ends | Huffington Post (July 21, 2011)

 

The Agronomist | Documentary

The Agronomist is a profile of Haitian radio journalist and human rights activist, Jean Leopold Dominique. It includes: historical footage of Haiti’s vivid and tumultuous past; interviews with Dominique, himself and with Michele Montas–his heroic wife, life-long love, and extraordinary partner; and incorporates footage shot before Dominique’s assassination on April 3, 2000.