MEK

UN Calls For Inquiry Into Deadly Clash At MEK Camp In Iraq

Eric Lach | April 18, 2011, 10:24AM

The United Nations is calling on the government of Iraq to open an independent investigation into a deadly clash earlier this month at Camp Ashraf, home to members of the Iranian dissident group Mujahedin-e Khalq, or MEK.

Read more »

PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)
Topics: Camp Ashraf, MEK, United Nations

Wikileaks

Bomb, Bomb Iran: The Top 5 Most Shocking Things About The Wikileaks

Megan Carpentier | November 29, 2010, 8:43AM

Yesterday, Wikileaks released a selection of more than 250,000 U.S. diplomatic cables dating from the mid-sixties to the present day -- widely presumed to have been provided to them by the currently-incarcerated Private Bradley Manning -- accessed through the military's SPIRNET system that was intended to reduce the bureaucratic "siloing" on information deemed partially responsible for the intelligence failures in a pre-9/11 world. Those cables were provided earlier under embargo to five international media outlets: the New York Times, The Guardian, El Pais, La Monde and Der Spiegel. For most readers, it made for a dizzying array of information: the cables themselves incorporated both banal gossip and important intelligence, and each media outlet attempted to give as much context to their release (and the reactions to their release) as to the nuggets of information found therein.

But for all the Administration's condemnations and the muted international response to date, there were five astonishing revelations uncovered by the 120 reporters given early access to the documents.

Read more »

PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)
Topics: Iran, Jordan, Julian Assange, LIbya, North Korea, State Department, US-Iran Relations, United Nations, Wikileaks

Gay Rights

International Gay Rights Group, Opposed By GOPers, Wins UN Status

Rachel Slajda | July 19, 2010, 2:07PM

The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission today won accreditation from the United Nations despite Republican efforts to defeat the group's application.

As we told you last week, Reps. Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Trent Franks (R-AZ) wrote a letter to the other countries who sit on the U.N.'s Economic and Social Council -- countries including anti-gay strongholds like Egypt and Saudi Arabia -- urging them to vote against the New York-based group's application.

Their effort failed, and the resolution passed 23 to 13, with 13 abstaining.

Read more »

PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (2)
Topics: Chris Smith, Gay Rights, International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, Trent Franks, United Nations

Same sex marriage

GOP Reps Urge Countries That Criminalize Homosexuality To Oppose LGBT Rights NGO

Rachel Slajda | July 14, 2010, 2:53PM

Two Republican congressmen are urging other countries -- including, potentially, some where homosexuality is a crime punishable by death -- to vote against an American-led effort in the U.N. to recognize a respected international gay rights group.

The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission has been trying since May 2007 to win accreditation from the United Nations, which would allow the NGO to have a voice at the international body. But the group's application for "consultative status" had been deferred by the status-granting NGO committee until early last month, when the committee voted to block its application.

Among the countries voting against the application: Egypt, Angola, Burundi, China, Pakistan, Qatar, Russia and Sudan. In all those countries but Russia and China, LGBT people can be jailed, fined, whipped or killed if they are caught by authorities.

Read more »

PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (3)
Topics: Gay Rights, International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, Republicans, Same sex marriage, United Nations

Textbooks

TX Textbooks Proposal: Students Must Discuss Gutting Social Security, Explain How U.N. Undermines U.S.

Justin Elliott | May 17, 2010, 9:00AM

With the long-running Texas history textbooks standards fight scheduled to end with a final vote by the State Board of Education Friday, arch-conservative board member Don McLeroy is proposing a new set of changes that read like a tea party manifesto.

The new amendment (.pdf), which is expected to get a vote on Thursday, would require high school history students to "discuss alternatives regarding long term entitlements such as Social Security and Medicare, given the decreasing worker to retiree ratio" and also "evaluate efforts by global organizations to undermine U. S. sovereignty."

Read more »

PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (7)
Topics: Don McLeroy, Medicare, Social Security, Texas, Texas Textbook Hearings, Textbooks, United Nations