September 27, 2002
Bush Sells Iraq War In Home State (2:00)
President Bush was in his home state yesterday selling his war on Iraq. KPFT’s Jackson Allers reports from Houston.
French Security Document: More Police Authority (5:00)
A hard line draft of a security document is causing and uproar in France. Once again the French Interior Minister, Nicola Sarkozy is making headlines, this time with a document outlining expanded police powers, and significantly reduced judicial powers — leaving judges with little authority over the police. This comes five months after center right president Jacques Chirac defeated the extreme right candidate Jean Marie Le Pen in the presidential elections. Nick Champeaux has this report from Paris.
NYPD wants to Legalize Political Surveillance (3:15)
In the wake of September 11th, the New York City police department is asking a federal court judge to relax the two-decades restrictions on political surveillance. Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said the restrictions-known as the Handshu guidelines- are the product of another era, with current challenges and threats that were never envisioned when the guidelines were written. The guidelines are the result of an agreement reached when 16 activists sued the NYPD, when it was discovered that NYPD infiltration of New York City’s Black Panther Party and had violated their civil rights with unlawful surveillance. The guidelines require the department to obtain approval from a three-member panel before investigating a person or a group’s political activity. But as Dred-Scott Keyes reports, critics of the New York City police department say the department is seeking to legalize what are already lax standards against spying on political activists.
Burma Summit Demands Democracy (3:26)
Following on a recent letter by the State Department urging the dismissal of a lawsuit brought by Indonesian villages against Exxon Mobil, the State Department reasoning that suing a US corporation could hamper its war on terrorism- A Los Angeles judge yesterday granted a request by UNOCAL to ask the state department to intervene in a lawsuit by Burmese villages who allege that the Burmese military, protecting a UNOCAL pipeline project, dragoon villages into slave labor. The ruling Burmese military junta is not relaxing its grip on power in the country. Leaders in Asia and Europe at an Asia-Europe meeting this week in Denmark, did not further the issue of democracy in Burma. But the international Burma summit held at the same time in Denmark presented demands for progress. Patrick Beckett reports from Copenhagen.
Colombian President Visits US (4:07)
Colombian President Alvaro Uribe arrived in the United States on Monday with a suitcase full of initiatives, including more military aid, credits, a bilateral agreement and the over-essential backing from the IMF. On the agenda for discussion with President Bush included the Free Trade Agreement of Americas, US immunity in the International Criminal Court and intellectual property rights. Yesterday, as President Bush dined with President Uribe to map out plans of bilateral policy for “Democratic Security,” Colombians converged at a conference in Bogotá and discussed their opinions about the US-Colombian relationship. Nicole Karsin reports.
