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Politics : Actual left/right wing discussion -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: mph who wrote (2415)	10/6/2006 1:27:27 PM
From: Lane3	Respond to of 10087

Ethics rules vary. Feds may have to clear their speeches in advance or, if not, can get into trouble if they don't reflect well on their agencies. You don't get to stand in front of a room where you are representing your agency and pop off, that's for sure.

To: mph who wrote (2415)	10/9/2006 11:20:31 AM
From: one_less	Respond to of 10087

Once again we are faced with the torture question. Maybe it will be easier to discuss if we look at the situation in Russia. ========================= Murdered Reporter Was Writing Torture Story By HENRY MEYER Oleg Orlov, of Russia's main human rights group, Memorial, said that he was certain Politkovskaya, whose reporting put her on a collision course with the authorities but won her numerous international awards, was killed on the orders of those responsible for abuses in Chechnya. "For me it's clear that directly or indirectly this was done by people who have carried out state terror, the terror that we see in the North Caucasus," Orlov told The Associated Press. Politkovskaya, one of the few Russian journalists writing about widespread human rights abuses in Chechnya, had been a persistent critics of Kadyrov, the region's Moscow-backed prime minister. Politkovskaya also angered other powerful people - including the Russian military - with her investigative reporting and human rights advocacy. Novaya Gazeta said on its Web site it believed her murder was either revenge by Kadyrov or an attempt to discredit him. In a recent radio interview, Politkovskaya said she was a witness in a criminal case against Kadyrov concerning his alleged involvement in the kidnapping of two civilians - an ethnic Russian and a Chechen - who were tortured and killed. On Sunday, dozens of well-wishers came to lay flowers outside the entrance to Politkovskaya's apartment block in downtown Moscow and placed flowers and candles outside the newspaper's offices. Hundreds meanwhile rallied in Moscow's Pushkin Square on Sunday to protest her murder as well as the Russian crackdown on Georgians since a spy row erupted last week. Underneath a photograph of Politkovskaya, one poster read: "The Kremlin has killed freedom of speech." Her killing underlined the increasingly dangerous environment for journalists working in Russia. It brings to at least 13 the number of journalists killed in contract-style killings in the past six years, according to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists. Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev condemned Politkovskaya's killing as "a blow to the entire, democratic, independent press," Interfax said. In Washington, U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the United States was "shocked and profoundly saddened" by her death, praising her "shining a light on human rights abuses and other atrocities of the war in Chechnya" and the plight of Chechen refugees. The European Union and the Council of Europe, a leading human rights watchdog whose executive body currently is led by Russia, called for a convincing investigation. Politkovskaya had been under repeated threat. In 2004, she fell seriously ill with symptoms of food poisoning after drinking tea on a flight from Moscow to southern Russia during the school hostage crisis in Beslan. Her colleagues suspected it was an attempt on her life. Politkovskaya began reporting on Chechnya in 1999 during Russia's second military campaign there, concentrating less on military engagements than on the human side of the war. Russia has largely brought the rebellious southern territory under control, but it remains locked in conflict with a hardcore of separatist rebels, and allegations of kidnappings, torture and murder of civilians blamed on Russian forces and their Chechen allies persist. Politkovskaya is survived by two adult children.