8 theSun | FRIDAY FEBRUARY 27 2009

news without borders

Rights groups laud US admission on rights record

WASHINGTON: The United States
took a step towards restoring its
credibility as a champion of global
human rights by admitting in an
official report issued on Wednesday
that its own rights record was not
unblemished, rights activists said.
In what rights activists thought
was a first, the State Department
said in the introduction of its annual
report on human rights around the
world that the United States was
“mindful of domestic and interna-
tional scrutiny” of its rights record
and would not shy away from criti-
cism about its practices.
And while the report did not
openly admit that the United States
had let its human rights record slip, it
did allude to allegations that suspects
who had been scooped up in the
war on terror had been subjected to
torture and other cruel treatment.
“I’m not aware that there has
been criticism of US policy in past
State Department reports. So the
fact that this is in there is very posi-
tive,” said James Ross, a senior legal
advisor at Human Rights Watch.
In earlier reports, there was “of-
ten a disconnect” between what the
report said and the US government
did, he said.
“For example, we would criticise
what we call water-boarding and the
use of water torture by other govern-
ments ... while, at the same time, the
US government was committing such
practices,” he said.
Human Rights First (HRF) praised
the report for following through on
steps already taken by the adminis-
tration of President Barack Obama
“to remedy the United States’ own
human rights violations, particularly
regarding torture and detention.”
The report pointed out that
Obama signed executive orders on
his first full day in office to close the
US-run prison at Guantanamo Bay,
Cuba and review policies on deten-
tion and interrogation put in place
during the presidency of George W.
Bush.
It also cited Obama as saying that
the United States rejects “as false
the choice between our safety and
our ideals” – signalling another break
with the Bush policies for dealing
with suspected terrorists. – AFP

Dhaka mutineers surrender
DHAKA: Mutinous members of a para-
military unit in the Bangladesh capital
surrendered their weapons yesterday
as tanks surrounded their headquarters
after a second day of gunfire in a mutiny
that killed about 50 people.
Government officials and police said
the mutiny in Dhaka was under control
and urged members of the Bangladesh
Rifles (BDR) border guards who had
also mutinied elsewhere in the country
over pay and command issues to lay
down their arms.
Gunfire gradually subsided and
stopped in the capital after Prime Minis-
ter Sheikh Hasina warned of tough ac-
tion in a national broadcast, a day after
offering the mutineers an amnesty.
“All the rebel troops have surren-
dered with their arms and the process
has been completed,” Hasina’s media
spokesman Abul Kalam Azad said of the
BDR troops in the capital.
At least 20 government tanks and 15
armoured personnel carriers were in
position around the BDR headquarters
in Dhaka, where violence on Wednes-
day killed nearly 50 people.
Hundreds of BDR mutineers handed
over their weapons, including automatic
rifles, machine guns and grenades, to
police who locked the munitions inside
two armouries in the BDR complex.
“Police have locked the armouries
and handed me over the keys after the
troops completed the surrender,” Home
Minister Sahara Khatun told reporters
outside the BDR headquarters.
Hundreds of regular soldiers in battle
dress surrounded the BDR headquarters
as the surrender was completed. About
60 BDR troops who tried to flee
the compound were arrested,
police said.
They said about 200 BDR offic-
ers who had been held hostage by
the mutineers inside the complex
were released safely.
The turmoil underscores the
challenges faced by Hasina, who
took office only last month after
winning parliamentary elections
in December that returned
Bangladesh to democracy after
nearly two years of army-backed
emergency rule.
The mutiny began on Wednes-
day at the BDR’s headquarters.
Shooting there and in the imme-
diate vicinity accounted for the
known deaths so far. Among the
dead were eight army officers and
six civilians, police said.
Shooting incidents involving
BDR troops erupted in more than
a dozen other towns yesterday, lo-
cal police said, but Reuters report-
ers later said calm was gradually
returning.
Mobile phone services were ordered
cut by the government to stem rumours
and misinformation, one operator said,
making it difficult to find out what was
happening around the impoverished
South Asian nation. Coverage resumed
later yesterday.
Traditionally the BDR is led by army
officers. Some BDR troops want com-
manders drawn from their own ranks.
The main duty of BDR troops is guard-
ing the country’s borders, but they often
back up the army and police. – Reuters
Bodies of
members
of the BDR
lie on the
ground
briefs
in Dhaka
yesterday. Singapore tops in
innovation: Report
WASHINGTON: Singapore is the world leader
in terms of innovation and competitiveness,
while South Korea ranks fifth and Japan
ninth, according to a report released here on
Wednesday.
Other countries in the top 10 of the study
by the Information Technology and Innovation
Foundation (ITIF) were Sweden (2), Luxembourg
(3), Denmark (4), the United States (6), Finland
(7), Britain (8) and the North American Free
Trade Agreement (Nafta) region of Canada,
Mexico and the United States (10).
Other Asia-Pacific region countries in the
top 40 included Australia (19), China (33) and
India (40).
The 15 Western European countries in the Eu-
ropean Union, the EU-15, ranked 18th. The study
by the ITIF, a non-partisan think-tank based in
Washington, used 16 indicators in six key areas
to come up with the rankings: human capital,
innovation capacity, entrepreneurship, informa-
tion technology infrastructure, economic policy
factors and economic performance. – AFP
China fumes over relics
sold at Christie’s
PARIS: Mystery bidders paid millions of dol-
lars for a pair of ancient Chinese bronzes
at the record-smashing Yves Saint Laurent
art auction in Paris, sparking angry protests
from China yesterday. The precious Qing
dynasty fountainheads, looted from the im-
perial Summer Palace by British and French
troops in 1860, were snapped up for €15.7
million (RM75 million) each on Wednesday.
The sale came at the end of a three-day
auction of gems that graced the homes
of Saint Laurent and his partner Pierre
Berge that fetched a total of €373.5 mil-
lion (RM1.8 billion), making it the biggest
private art sale in history.
Beijing immediately lashed out at Chris-
EPAPIX
tie’s for selling the bronze rat and rabbit
heads, vowing to place tougher checks on
the auction house as it accused it of repeat-
edly selling smuggled Chinese relics. – AFP
Pirate attack on Chinese
vessel thwarted off Somalia
MANAMA: A Danish naval warship yesterday
thwarted an attack by armed pirates on a Chi-
nese vessel in the Gulf of Aden, the US Naval
Forces Central Command said.
In a statement, the Bahrain-based com-
mand said Danish support ship HDMS Absalon
had “successfully deterred an attempted pi-
rate attack on the Chinese M/V Yandanghai”.
“Absalon closed on the coordinates given
by the Chinese ship following their distress call
and spotted a skiff matching the description
given by the captain of the motor vessel.”
Several weapons, including a rocket-pro-
pelled grenade, four AK-47 assault rifles, two
grenades and a knife were found after a team
boarded the skiff.
The crew of the distressed ship had man-
aged to prevent the attackers from climbing on
board by using fire hoses against them. – AFP
Family sues New York
police over Taser incident
NEW YORK: The family of a mentally dis-
turbed man who died after being targeted
by a New York police Taser gun sued the
New York Police Department, New York
City and the officers involved on Wednes-
day for US$10 million (RM37 million).
“The lawsuit was filed this morning
to seek justice for civil rights violations
against Mr Morales when police shot
him and caused him to fall head first to
the sidewalk below,” said family lawyer
Seth Harris. Morales, 35, died in September
when he fell to the ground from a gate
shortly after being tasered. The emotion-
ally disturbed man was naked and waving
a florescent light at officers. A week later,
Lieutenant Michael Pigott, the commanding
officer who had ordered a subordinate to
use the Taser, committed suicide. – AFP