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because of the flood tide, we were all short-tacking up the city front to stay in the countercurrent along shore -- and Expeditious took it WAYYY inshore, thank goodness for depth sounders so they don't run aground!
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Incriminating Evidence Of Israeli War Crimes In Gaza .
By Stephen Lendman .
25 March, 2009 .
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Countercurrents.org .
Throughout its history, Israel has willfully and repeatedly committed crimes of war and against humanity, always with impunity. Yet under customary legal standards and norms (including Geneva, Hague, the UN Charter, S.C. and G.A. resolutions), it's lawless, a serial abuser, a threat to the region and humanity, mostly as an oppressive occupier. Attacking Gaza is the latest episode in its six-decade reign of terror satisfying the definition of genocide against defenseless Palestinian civilians. This article covers more evidence from some disturbing but unsurprising newly published information. .
On March 19, in the first of a series of articles, Haaretz headlined: "IDF killed civilians in Gaza under loose rules of engagement." Military correspondent Amos Harel revealed Israeli soldier and pilot ("dirty secret") testimonies of being ordered to kill unarmed civilians and destroy their property -accounts at variance with official claims that only military targets were attacked and that "Israeli troops observed a high level of moral behavior during the operation." Defense Minister Ehud Barak calls the IDF "the most moral army in the world." .
"Moral" examples included an infantry squad leader recounting the shooting of a mother and her two children: "There was a house with a family inside....We put them in a room. Later we left the house and another platoon entered it, and a few days after that there was an order to release the family....The platoon commander let the family go and told them to go to the right. One mother and her two children didn't understand and went to the left," after which a rooftop sniper "shot them straight away....I don't think he felt too bad about it, because after all, as far as he was concerned, he (followed orders, and, besides, Palestinian lives are) less important" than our own soldiers. .
Other incidents included: .
--a squad leader telling of a company commander ordering an elderly Palestinian woman to be shot and killed; .
--soldiers saying "we should kill everyone (in the center of Gaza); everyone there is a terrorist;" .
--soldiers writing "death to the Arabs on walls" and spitting on family pictures; .
--a squad leader saying: "At the beginning, the directive was to enter a house with an armored vehicle, break the door down, (and) start shooting inside -I call it murder -to .
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The remaining 5 cases are .under examination.. Of these 19, in 5 cases, the MOD has declined sanction and either stated that the allegations were .motivated by vested interest to malign the image of the security forces., or .under pressure from terrorists and sympathizers., or .to put the army on defensive. or other similar formulations. .
In all of the 24 cases, while occasional references are made to inconsistency of the evidence, there is no detailed explanation for the denial of sanction. Finally, an affidavit submitted by the MOD before the High Court on 5 June 2009 lists 35 cases received for the grant of sanction from the Government of Jammu and Kashmir at that point, and crucially, indicates only one case where court-martial proceedings had taken place [Annexure 4]. While the MOD has shared some information on sanctions, the MHA merely transferred the request for information to the various agencies under its control, such as the Central Reserve Police Force [CRPF], Border Security Force [BSF] etc. The agencies that responded refused to share information by stating they were exempted under the RTI Act, 2005 [Annexures 5-8]. The fact that this exemption did not apply to allegations of human rights violations or corruption was apparently considered irrelevant by them. The only exception was the Indo-Tibetan Border Police [ITBP] which responded on 21 September 2012 and stated that the Government of Jammu and Kashmir had never sent it any case for sanction relating to ITBP personnel [Annexure 9]. The issue of sanctions, and its effect on the human rights of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, is possibly best summed up by a recent, 23 February 2012, response of the Jammu and Kashmir Home Department to another RTI application on the number of cases in which sanction were granted by the Indian Government [Annexure 10]. The answer: none. .
Court-Martials .
Similar to the contentious issue of sanctions is that of court-martials. A common defence to the charges of impunity, particularly where the armed forces are concerned, is that of a strong and vigilant internal court-martial process. But, the actual facts belie this claim. Between December 2011 and January 2012, the IPTK filed various RTIs to the MHA and MOD, seeking information on the court-martials conducted in Jammu and Kashmir from 1990 till the present time. The MOD did provide information but only in relation to the RR. By and large, even in the case of court-martials, the information provided again illustrates patterns and forms of impunity. Of particular significance is the absolute lack of accountability and transparency in relation to the armed forces engendered by their absolute refusal to share information. For example, information provided by communication dated 28 March 2012 was deficient but also telling: between 2001 and 2009, the period for which information was provided, only four officers [against numerous allegations] were subject to a court-martial process [Annexure 11]. Further, only two of these cases dealt with potential human rights violations. Major Rehman Hussain was dismissed from service for the charge of rape, and Major V.K.Rawat was found not guilty in a case of killing17. The agencies of the MHA refused to share information by stating they were exempted from the RTI Act [Annexures 14-18]. .
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Political Maneuvers .
The politics of opacity, obfuscation and misinformation evidenced in these responses is amplified when contradictory statements of various political actors and senior military personnel are examined. In 1996, Prime Minister of India H.D. Deve Gowda stated that 272 members of the armed forces had been punished for human rights violations between 1991 and 1996 in Jammu and Kashmir18. But, on 23 November 2005, Union Home Secretary V.K. Duggal stated that since January 1990, only 215 members of the armed forces had been punished for excesses in Jammu and Kashmir19. The former Chief of the Army Staff General N.C. Vij on 21 May 2004 stated that two thousand complaints of human rights violations were received during the last 14 years and that "Most of them were found incorrect. 35 armed forces personnel were punished which included eight officers. Some of them were dismissed from service and later on jailed." But, in a contradictory letter to the National Human Rights Commission [NHRC] dated 24 May 2004, he stated that 131 army personnel of various ranks were punished for human rights .
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violations. .
These references are only a sample of numerous contradictory statements ostensibly directed at trivializing the question of human rights violations and misdirecting the processes of justice21. But the role of the political establishment of the Indian State clearly goes further and even legitimizes human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir. For example, on 13 January 2001, the then Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, .
17 By communication dated 18 June 2012, further information on cases relating to the RR was provided and related to the time period between 1999 and 2011 [Annexure 12]. Once again, only seven officers were said to have been subject to the court-martial process. Only three of these cases dealt with potential human rights violations. Information on Major Rehman Hussain was a repetition. Information was provided on the conviction by court-martial of Captain Ravinder Singh Tewatia, but no mention is made of the fact that this judgment was overturned on appeal before the High Court. The Government of Jammu and Kashmir chose not to appeal this judgment. Finally, Major Arvid Rishi was found not guilty for murder. By communication dated 22 June 2012, further information was provided on a case of two RR personnel [in the context of information on sanction for prosecution under AFSPA related cases where court-martials were conducted], Naik [Corporal] Harbhajan Singh and Rifleman Gurtej, who were dismissed from service and punished by imprisonment for 10 years for the rape of a woman [Annexure 13, which includes: first, the 18 April 2012 communication from the Ministry of Defence whereby of 44 cases, sanction was declined in 35, and under consideration in nine, and that of the 35 cases in only one case was a court-martial carried out; second, the 22 June 2012 communication from the Ministry of Defence providing details of the court-martial carried out]. 18 Syed Junaid Hashmi, Official records in Jammu and Kashmir murky. on penalised. securitymen!, www.countercurrents.org/hashmi190111.htm, 19 January 2011. 19 Syed Junaid Hashmi, Official records in Jammu and Kashmir murky. on penalised. securitymen!, www.countercurrents.org/hashmi190111.htm, 19 January 2011. 20 Syed Junaid Hashmi, Official records in Jammu and Kashmir murky. on penalised. securitymen!, www.countercurrents.org/hashmi190111.htm 21 The contradictions continue with the MHA. In its Annual Report for the year 2007-08, while referring to the human rights issue, it states: "Since January, 1994 till December, 2007, out of 1,158 complaints of human rights excesses received against the personnel of the Army and Paramilitary Forces, 1,118 have been investigated, 1,085 of them found false, in 33 cases where the complaints were found genuine, penalties have been imposed on 62 personnel while in 6 cases compensation has been awarded" [Syed Junaid Hashmi, Official records in Jammu and Kashmir murky. on penalised. securitymen!, www.countercurrents.org/hashmi190111.htm]. Most recently, in a Ministry of External Affairs draft report to be submitted to the United Nations Human Rights Council, the following statistics were provided: .Since January, 1994 till December, 2010, out of 1,417 complaints of human rights excesses received against the personnel of Army and Central Para Military Forces, 1,388 have been investigated and 1,308 of them found false. In 80 cases where the complaints were found genuine, penalties have been imposed. [2nd Universal Periodic Review of India, Draft report, www.mea.gov.in/mystart.php?id=5212]. .
alleged Perpetrators 11 IPTK/APDP .
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8/8-We feel a heightened sense of urgency today as the dramatic Leo Sun harmoniously trines electric Uranus. Mischievous Mercury is also in the mix, suddenly bringing hidden tensions out into the open and upsetting the status quo. We don’t know what’s around the next corner and think that we can say nearly anything. However, a cosmic countercurrent brings regret if we speak without considering the consequences when Mercury squares karmic Saturn. #astrologerjoe