Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: goldworldnet who wrote (227473)	11/9/2007 1:52:51 PM
From: goldworldnet	Respond to of 793888

IRAN - Human Trafficking (Tier 3 - Most Severe) Iran is a source, transit, and destination country for women trafficked for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation and involuntary servitude. Iranian women are trafficked internally for the purpose of forced prostitution and forced marriages to settle debts. Children are trafficked internally and from Afghanistan for the purpose of forced marriages, commercial sexual exploitation, and involuntary servitude as beggars or laborers. According to nongovernmental sources, Iranian women and girls are also trafficked to Pakistan, Turkey, Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom for commercial sexual exploitation. Media sources reported that 54 Iranian females between the ages of 16 and 25 are sold into commercial sexual exploitation in Pakistan every day. The Government of Iran does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so. Credible reports indicate that Iranian authorities commonly punish victims of trafficking with beatings, imprisonment, and execution. Lack of access to Iran by U.S. government officials prohibits the collection of full data on the country’s human trafficking problem and the government’s efforts to curb it. Nonetheless, sources report that the Iranian government fails to meet the minimum standards for protection of victims of trafficking by prosecuting and, in some cases, executing victims for morality-based offenses as a direct result of being trafficked. The government should take steps to prevent the punishment of trafficking victims, and should articulate a plan of action to punish traffickers and prevent trafficking in persons. Prosecution Iran did not make significant progress in prosecuting and punishing trafficking crimes over the reporting period. The government prohibits all forms of trafficking in persons through its 2004 Law on Combating Human Trafficking. Penalties assigned under this law are generally severe, often involving death sentences for convicted traffickers. During the reporting period, however, the government did not report any prosecutions or convictions for trafficking crimes. Iran similarly did not provide any evidence of law enforcement efforts taken against government officials believed to facilitate trafficking. The government should take steps to significantly increase investigations and prosecutions of trafficking crimes, and to achieve convictions and meaningful sentences in the trafficking prosecutions it initiates. Protection The Government of Iran did not improve its protection of trafficking victims this year. The government reportedly punishes victims for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being trafficked; for instance, victims reportedly are arrested and punished for violations of morality standards such as adultery, defined as sexual relations outside of marriage. Although it is unclear how many victims are subjected to punishment for acts committed as a result of their trafficking experience, there were reports that child victims of sex trafficking have been executed for their purported crime of prostitution or adultery. Moreover, the government does not offer trafficking victims legal alternatives to removal to countries in which they may face hardship or retribution. Similarly, the government does not encourage victims to assist law enforcement authorities in investigations and prosecutions of trafficking cases. The government runs 28 “health houses” set up by the state-operated Welfare Association to provide assistance to unmarried girls who have run away from their homes and who are at risk of being trafficked. However, girls reportedly are abused in these shelters, even by shelter staff and other government officials. The Government of Iran should take immediate and significant steps to prevent the punishment of trafficking victims and should improve the protection services available to victims. Prevention During the year, Iran did not report any advances in its trafficking prevention measures. Iran should improve its efforts to prevent trafficking in persons by significantly improving border security with Pakistan and other neighboring countries to which Iranian women and children are trafficked. Authorities should also improve efforts to monitor travel of Iranian women and girls to Middle Eastern countries where they are commonly trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation. Finally, the government should institute a public awareness campaign to warn women and children of the dangers of trafficking. Iran has not ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol. state.gov * * *

To: goldworldnet who wrote (227473)	11/9/2007 2:16:00 PM
From: unclewest	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793888

We lost another one. While reading the article below think about this announcement. uw The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Capt. Benjamin D. Tiffner, 31, of West Virginia, died Nov. 7 in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds suffered when he was struck by an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), Fort Campbell, Ky. Published on Friday, November 09, 2007 Green Beret Club honors 'brothers' By Kevin Maurer Staff writer James Sawyer, president of the Kandahar Chapter of the Special Forces Association, leads a ceremony at the Green Beret Club on Fort Bragg honoring 61 Green Berets who have fallen since the Gulf War. The Kandahar Chapter of the Special Forces Association usually meets online since its members are spread out in firebases across Afghanistan. “I usually have to send out an e-mail,” said Master Sgt. James Sawyer, the chapter’s president. On Thursday, members of the chapter met at the Green Beret Club on Fort Bragg to remember their fallen brothers. Sawyer read the names of 61 Special Forces soldiers killed during operations as far back as the Gulf War and Haiti, as well as in Iraq and Afghanistan. The names are engraved on a plaque that hangs on a wall of the Green Beret Club. The chapter, formally named Chapter 100 the Staff Sgt. Paul Sweeney Memorial Chapter, was started in 2003 by 30 soldiers from the 3rd Special Forces Group in Kandahar, Afghanistan. Sweeney was killed in October 2003 during an ambush near Musa, Qalax. He was assigned to the 3rd Special Forces Group. The Special Forces Association’s national headquarters is based in Fayetteville. The association is a social and charitable group composed of retired and active Green Berets. It has chapters all throughout the world, but the Kandahar chapter is the first to open in a combat zone since Vietnam. Since its creation, the 5th Special Forces Group has opened a chapter in Iraq. Unlike other chapters, the majority of the members in the Kandahar chapter are active-duty soldiers in the 3rd and 7th Special Forces Groups. “It is made up of most of the guys that are fighting in Afghanistan,” Sawyer said. The plaque in the Green Beret Club is tucked in the back of the club near the pool tables. Sawyer said the names of the fallen soldiers, like the plaque, have been tucked into the history and legend of Special Forces. “I know a lot of them,” he said. “These are my brothers.”