Liberation News
In this mailing:
Wyoming Reports 106% Of Registered Voters Voting On November 2nd!
Republic of Belarus: draft resolution: "Situation of Democracy and
Human Rights in the United States of America" in the Third Committee
of the 59th Session of the United Nations General Assembly
Government Accountability Office to Conduct Investigation of 2004
Election Irregularities
Wyoming Reports 106% Of Registered Voters Voting On November 2nd!
The corporate media dutifully covers the tracks of the government
ignoring electoral fraud and pretending there was a surge of "family
values" voters against Gay marriage etc.
Yet no amount of rightward backward thinking could bring out 106% of
registered voters. Yet this is what is reported on Wyoming's
official election website that tells us that 232, 396 people were
registered to vote in the state, yet 245,789 actually voted.
Check it out: http://soswy.state.wy.us/election/profile.htm
Also see: Bush Regime Maintains Power Through Electoral Fraud
http://santacruz.indymedia.org/feature/display/12684/index.php
**********************
PRESS RELEASE
Permanent Mission of the Belarus to the United Nations
136 East 67th Street, 4th Floor, New York,
NY 10021
November 4, 2004
Introduction by the Republic of Belarus of a draft resolution
"Situation of Democracy and Human Rights in the United States of
America"
in the Third Committee of the 59th Session of the United Nations
General Assembly
On 2 November 2004 in the Third Committee of the 59th Session of the
United Nations General Assembly the Republic of Belarus introduced a
draft resolution "Situation of Democracy and Human Rights in the
United States of America". The draft resolution shows that any
country in the world can become an object of legitimate concern in
the sphere of human rights.
The document brings up as matters of primary concern the numerous
cases of violations of human rights committed in the United States
of America, namely in the sphere of electoral procedures, civil
liberties, political and other rights.
The draft resolution suggests that the United States take the
necessary steps in accordance with its constitutional process and
with the provision of the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights as well as with respect to the recommendations made
by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, and grant the
residents of Washington D.C. an effective remedy, which includes
adopting the legislative or other measures necessary to guarantee to
them the effective right to participate, directly or through freely
chosen representatives and in general conditions of equality, in
their national legislature.
The draft resolution proposes that the UN General Assembly urge the
Government of the United States to become a party to all core
international human rights instruments, thus allowing the
international community to monitor the situation of human rights in
the USA in full; to bring the electoral process and legislative
framework into line with international standards; to end immediately
the practice of incommunicado and secret detentions and ensure that
conditions of detention conform to international standards for the
treatment of prisoners and take into account the needs of members of
particularly vulnerable groups; and to bring the actions of its
police and security forces into conformity with its obligations
under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights as
well as other relevant international standards.
The text of the draft resolution "Situation of Democracy and Human
Rights in the United States of America" is attached.
Item 105 (c)
Republic of Belarus: draft resolution
Situation of Democracy and Human Rights in the United
States of America
The General Assembly,
Guided by the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United
Nations, the provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, the International Covenants on Human Rights and other
applicable human rights instruments,
Reaffirming that all States have an obligation to promote and
protect human rights and fundamental freedoms and to fulfil the
international obligations they have freely undertaken,
Mindful that the United States is a party to the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention against
Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment, the International Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Racial Discrimination,
Recalling that each State party to the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights undertakes to respect and ensure to all
individuals within its territory and subject to its jurisdiction the
rights recognized in the Covenant, without distinction of any kind,
such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other
opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status,
Reaffirming that improving security and the fight against terrorism
should be conducted in full respect of human rights and democratic
principles,
Bearing in mind the European Parliament Resolution on Guantanamo of
28 October 2004, B6-0114/2004;
Noting that the United States is a member of the Organization of
America States (OAS) and is obliged to observe the human rights
standards under the OAS Charter, and aware that OAS Inter-American
Commission on Human Rights on December 23, 2003, decided that the
denial of equal participation by the residents of Washington D.C. in
their own national legislature by duly elected representatives
constituted violations of provisions of the American Declaration of
the Rights and Duties of Man,
Noting the Needs Assessment Mission Report on the United States of
America Presidential Elections of the Organization on Security and
Cooperation in Europe (ODIHR.GAL/74/04),
1. Expresses deep concern and dismay:
(a) At reports from credible sources on systematic violations of
fundamental rights and freedoms in the United States including
alarming attacks on press freedom and tight control over news media;
arbitrary, incommunicado and secret detentions and arrests,
continued and expanding intolerance, xenophobia and discrimination;
(b) That the United States election system does not comply with the
US obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights to provide every citizen with the right and
opportunity to vote and to be elected at genuine periodic elections
which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by
secret ballot, guaranteeing the free _expression of the will of the
electors;
(c) That despite the report by the US Commission on Civil Rights on
the 2000 Presidential Election which concluded that in Florida there
were election policies and practices in place that prevented some of
Florida's residents, particularly African Americans, Latinos and
Haitians with language assistance needs, and persons with
disabilities, from voting and from having their votes counted, such
practices continue to occur during the current presidential
election;
(d) That some election techniques including verification
requirements disproportionately disenfranchise the pore, the
elderly, minorities, and immigrants;
(e) That despite promising to improve election system after the 2000
Presidential election the United States has failed to reform its
election system which remains fundamentally flawed and could most
likely disenfranchise some eligible voters and allow to manipulate
the results of elections;
(f) That despite the fact that like other OSCE governments, the US
has freely taken on a politically binding commitment to ensure that
the election is free and fair, in some respect the US is not meeting
its commitments by prohibiting OSCE independent international and
domestic observers from monitoring presidential election 2004,
(g) That the United States continues to violate international
standards in its use of the death penalty of people who were under
18 years of age at the time of the crime and for persons who were
mentally ill;
(h) That the US legislative measures to enhance security, including
adoption and implementation of the Patriot Act, have led to
limitation and abuse of vital civil rights and freedoms of the US
nationals;
(i) About information on a situation of deprivation of rights of
undisclosed number of persons detained as a result of military
operations launched in Afghanistan and being held at present in
detention camps located in the area of the United States naval base
in Guantanamo, including minors, as well as about the forced
disappearances of some detainees;
(j) At the continued reports of ill-treatment, tortures, deaths in
custody and excessive use of force by police and prison officers,
including the use of isolation, dogs, sensory and sleep deprivation,
death threats and other forms of torture, or cruel inhuman or
degrading treatment as interrogation techniques;
2. Urges the Government of the United States:
(a) To put an end to the violations of human rights mentioned above;
(b) To become a party to all core international human rights
instruments, thus allowing the international community to monitor
the situation of human rights in the USA in full;
(c) To fully cooperate with special procedures of the Commission on
Human Rights to ensure that all necessary measures are taken to
investigate fully and impartially all cases of arbitrary detention,
forced disappearance, summary execution and torture and that
perpetrators are brought to justice before an independent tribunal
and, if found guilty, punished in a manner consistent with the
international human rights obligations of the United States;
(d) To bring the electoral process and legislative framework into
line with international standards;
(e) To take the necessary steps in accordance with its
constitutional process and with the provision of the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights as well as with respect to
the recommendations made by the Inter-American Commission on Human
Rights, and grant the residents of Washington D.C. an effective
remedy, which includes adopting the legislative or other measures
necessary to guarantee to them the effective right to participate,
directly or through freely chosen representatives and in general
conditions of equality, in their national legislature;
(f) To abolish entirely the death penalty for persons who were under
the age of 18 at the time the crime was committed and for persons
who were mentally ill;
(g) To end immediately the practice of incommunicado and secret
detentions and ensure that conditions of detention conform to
international standards for the treatment of prisoners and take into
account the needs of members of particularly vulnerable groups;
(h) To implement a zero-tolerance-policy on tortures by
investigating all allegations of torture and holding perpetrators of
torture accountable to promote a culture in which torture is
regarded as unacceptable, criminal behavior;
(i) To invite all relevant human rights monitoring mechanisms,
especially the UN Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel,
inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, the Special Rapporteur
on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, the Working Group
on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances and the Working Group on
Arbitrary Detention to visit all places of detention, and grant them
unlimited access to all detention centers;
(j) To take urgent measures to put national security legislative
acts in compliance with the US obligations under relevant
international instruments;
(k) To bring the actions of its police and security forces into
conformity with its obligations under the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights as well as other relevant international
standards;
4. Insists that the Government of the United States cooperate fully
with and extend invitation to all the mechanisms of the Commission
of Human Rights, including the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention,
Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, Special
Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading
treatment or punishment, the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial,
summary or arbitrary executions;
5. Decides to consider this question at its sixtieth session, under
the same agenda item.
************
Government Accountability Office to Conduct Investigation of 2004
Election Irregularities
(Washington, DC) Reps. John Conyers, Jr., Jerrold Nadler, Robert
Wexler, Robert Scott, and Rush Holt announced today that, in
response to their November 5 and 8 letters to the Government
Accountability Office (GAO), the GAO has decided to move forward
with an investigation of election irregularities in the 2004
election. The five Members issued the following statement:
"We are pleased that the GAO has reviewed the concerns
expressed in our letters and has found them of sufficient merit to
warrant further investigation. On its own authority, the GAO will
examine the security and accuracy of voting technologies,
distribution and allocation of voting machines, and counting of
provisional ballots. We are hopeful that GAO's non-partisan and
expert analysis will get to the bottom of the flaws uncovered in the
2004 election. As part of this inquiry, we will provide copies of
specific incident reports received in our offices, including more
than 57,000 such complaints provided to the House Judiciary
Committee.
"The core principle of any democracy is the consent of the
governed. All Americans, no matter how they voted, need to have
confidence that when they cast their ballot, their voice is heard."
The Members listed above were joined in requesting the non-partisan
GAO investigation by Reps. Melvin Watt, John Olver, Bob Filner,
Gregory Meeks, Barbara Lee, Tammy Baldwin, Louise Slaughter and
George Miller.