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The New Print Edition of CounterPunch, Only for Our Newsletter Subscribers! How Cops Extort Confessions;
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The New Print Edition of CounterPunch, Only for Our Newsletter Subscribers!
How Cops Extort Confessions;
How the U.S. “Justice System” Really WorksNinety-two per cent of felony convictions in the U.S. are obtained by plea bargains or confessions. Without them the “justice system” would grind to a halt. In an important piece in our latest newsletter, available only to subscribers, Emily Horowitz shows how totally innocent people will “confess” under police pressure, even without physical torture. Horowitz outlines the powerful case for banning confessions altogether. Also in this new edition Marcus Rediker, co-author of the legendary The Many Headed Hydra, writes of popular heroism and resistance in the favelas of Medellin, Colombia. Alexander Cockburn reports on how America’s oldest bank, patronized by the global elites, washed billions smuggled out of Russia, and how the Russians might win their money back, shaking the world’s banking system if they do so. Serge Halimi describes the real battle for the soul of Europe. Get your copy today by subscribing online or calling 1-800-840-3683 Contributions to CounterPunch are tax-deductible. Click here to make a donation. If you find our site useful please: Subscribe Now! CounterPunch books and gear make great presents.
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Today's Stories August 22, 2008 Laura Carlsen Peter Morici August 21, 2008 Allan J. Lichtman Dave Lindorff Loserville: How Obama Blew It Ralph Nader Joanne Mariner Wajahat Ali Ron Jacobs Rostam Purzal Anthony Papa Website of the Day August 20, 2008 Michael Neumann Ray McGovern Eric Walberg Fidaa Abed Daniel Haack Mike Whitney Website of the Day August 19, 2008 Paul Craig Roberts Deepak Tripathi Marwan Bishara Saul Landau William S. Lind Martha Rosenberg James Brittain Pratyush Chandra David Macaray Website of the Day August 18, 2008 Tariq Ali Gary Leupp Uri Avnery John Ross Farooq Sulehria Luis Rodriguez Manuel Garcia, Jr. Noah Baker Merrill Charles Thomson Website of the Day August 16 / 17, 2008 Alexander Cockburn Jeffrey St. Clair Deepak Tripathi Conn Hallinan Mike Whitney Robert Fantina Ray McGovern Nicole Colson Fatima Bhutto Jean-Luis Rocca David Michael Green Ramzi Kysia Dave Lindorff Lisa Martinovic Richard Rhames Don Santina Rannie Amiri Ramzy Baroud John Stanton Howard Lisnoff Ron Jacobs Seth Sandronsky Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend
August 15, 2008 Steve Niva David Remington Michael Winship Paul Craig Roberts Farzana Versey Harvey Wasserman Felice Pace Julian Critchley Website of the Day August 14, 2008 Saul Landau / Conn Hallinan Mike Whitney Reza Fiyouzat Ralph Nader Christopher Brauchli The Cheerleader in China Jack Bradigan Spula Patrick Irelan John Walsh Dan Bacher Website of the Day
August 13, 2008 Paul Craig Roberts David Remington Brian Cloughley Glen Ford Brendan Cooney Dave Lindorff Tom Lewis Stan Cox Alan Farago Martha Rosenberg Website of the Day August 12, 2008 Uri Avnery Anthony DiMaggio Bill Christison Eric Walberg Kate Connolly Diane Farsetta Peter Morici Thom Rutledge Lee Patton Niranjan Ramakrishnan Website of the Day August 11, 2008 Ishmael Reed Paul Craig Roberts Gary Leupp Douglas Kammen William Willers Greg Moses Jeff Leys Cynthia McKinney Alan Farago Website of the Day August 9 / 10, 2008 Alexander Cockburn Jeffrey St. Clair Bruce Jackson Kevin Young Chris Floyd Joshua Frank Robert Fantina Brendan Cooney Mark Almond Lois Gibbs Rev. William Alberts Kathy Kelly John Ross David Michael Green Bill Moyers / Ron Jacobs Richard Rhames David Yearsley Lee Sustar Brenda Norrell Ben Terrall Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend August 8, 2008 Patrick Cockburn Manuel Garcia, Jr. M. Shahid Alam Andy Worthington Lawrence J. Korb David Model Alan Farago Diop Olugbala Firmin DeBrabander Website of the Day August 7, 2008 Dr. Trudy Bond William Blum Paul Craig Roberts Ralph Nader Robert Weitzel Jacob G. Hornberger Binoy Kampmark David Macaray Howard Lisnoff Website of the Day August 6, 2008 Marc Herold Greg Moses Sheldon Rampton Kevin Young Michael Estrada Robert Weissman Dr. Susan Block Cindy Sheehan Ace Hoffman Website of the Day August 5, 2008 Paul Craig Roberts Jeff Halper Patrick Cockburn Nancy Welch Peter Morici Sousan Hammad Eamon Martin Shepherd Bliss Tim Matson Website of the Day August 4, 2008 Uri Avnery Saul Landau David W. Remington Rev. Jesse Jackson Dave Lindorff Peter Morici Joanne Mariner Ramzy Baroud Christian Wright Website of the Day August 2 / 3, 2008 Alexander Cockburn Jeffrey St. Clair Patrick Cockburn Winslow T. Wheeler James Abourezk Andy Worthington Brian Cloughley Robert Fantina Benjamin Dangl Marlene Martin David Yearsley Fatemeh Keshavarz David Michael Green Obama as Dukakis Harvey Wasserman Jason Hribal Phyllis Pollack Laray Polk Ron Jacobs David Macaray David Rosen Dan Bacher Joe Allen Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend August 1, 2008 Jonathan Cook Nikolas Kozloff Rannie Amiri Peter Morici Christopher Brauchli M. K. Bhadrakumar Patrick Cockburn James J. Brittain Dan Bacher Website of the Day
July 31, 2008 Michael Hudson Carl Finamore Mike Whitney Joshua Frank Andy Worthington Ralph Nader Bill Moyers / Robert Weissman Dave Lindorff Website of the Day July 30, 2008 Brian M. Downing Chuck Spinney William S. Lind David Ker Thomson Karl Grossman Mike Whitney Martha Rosenberg James Murren Dave Lindorff Ron Jacobs Website of the Day July 29, 2008 Jeffrey St. Clair John Ross Peter Morici Alison Weir Gary Leupp David Macaray Brenda Norrell Marjorie Cohn Eric Ruder Website of the Day July 28, 2008 Dr. Bryant Welch Kathy Kelly Mike Whitney Peter Morici Christopher Brauchli Clifton Ross Stephen Lendman Website of the Day
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August 22, 2008 Brazilian Supreme Court Case Pits Exploitation of the Amazon Against the Rights of Indigenous TribesThe Battle for the AmazonBy CHARLES MOSTOLLER On August 27th, the Brazilian Supreme Court will decide a case that could have far reaching effects on the Amazon and the thousands of indigenous people who live there. The case questions the legality of a process that created an Indigenous Territory in northern Brazil, and threatens to reverse decades of progress on indigenous and social rights throughout the country. In 2005, after more than two decades of struggle for recognition, five indigenous groups in Brazil's northern Roraima state won the rights to their ancestral lands. Their efforts culminated in the creation of a new Indigenous Territory, Raposa Serra do Sol, covering a large swath of the Amazon Rainforest on the border with Guyana. In a decree signed by Brazilian President Luiz Ignacio Lula da Silva, over 18 thousand indigenous Makuxi, Wapixana, Ingariko, Taukepang, and Patamona peoples were given 1.7 million hectares and non-indigenous peoples were compensated and forced to leave the area. Although this may have brought to end the long struggle to have their territorial rights recognized, the indigenous peoples of Raposa have faced fierce opposition from entrenched economic interests in Roraima. In particular, group of seven wealthy rice farmers has refused to leave the region, throwing the reserve into chaos. These large-scale farmers--known as fazendeiros in Portuguese--have rejected compensation and relocation, despite having arrived in the area less than 15 years ago. A recent spate of violence against the indigenous peoples in the Raposa Territory has further increased tensions. In April, an indigenous leader was attacked when a bomb was thrown at his house. In May, ten Macuxi--including six children--were attacked and shot by armed men working for rice farmer and local mayor Paulo Cesar Quartiero. Quartiero was detained by police and later released, despite the discovery of a large weapons cache on his property. Earlier, in April, the Supreme Court had suspended an operation by the federal police to remove the remaining seven illegal occupants of the reserve, because the farmers set up blockades and destroyed bridges in order to fight their eviction. "Even with all the destruction carried out by the rice growers, the Supreme Court decided in their favor," Macuxi chief Dionito Jose de Sousa told the AP in April. "This is really a local conflict. It's about use of water, about the farms getting bigger and bigger. Now the indigenous people are saying "enough, this has been recognized as our land," she said by phone from London. With the support of the Roraima state government, the farmers and state Governor José de Anchieta have appealed to Brazil's Supreme Court to break up the Raposa Territory and free up large amount of the land. "The farmers want the indigenous land to be divided into islands. They don't want the indigenous land to be a continuous tract of land. But legal experts in Brazil maintain that there is no legal basis to annul the 2005 demarcation," said Vianna. * * * All of this comes at a time when President Silva has signed a decree to station troops permanently on all Indigenous Territories on the border. Top officials in the Brazilian Armed Forces have been talking about foreign meddling in the largely-indigenous border region. It appears the military brass feels threatened by the formation of Indigenous Territories, speaking constantly of risks to national sovereignty. "The military has an agenda," said Vianna, "to protect Brazilian sovereignty. It's been their main discourse since the dictatorship in the 60's and 70's. They are against the demarcation of continuous indigenous lands near the border because they want to control what happens, and they're afraid that what they call "foreign interests" will use the Indians to then exploit the Amazon." The military is using the conflict in Roraima to support these goals--suggesting the presence of drug traffickers and guerrilla groups in indigenous lands--and has called for the Supreme Court to annul Raposa Serra do Sol's boundries. "In relation to the accusations of money coming in from Venezuela and FARC rebels--I have no evidence for or against it," he said. "But it's fair to say that whenever there's some criticism or attack to be made against social movements in Brazil... the FARC are always dragged out, although very little evidence is ever provided to prove these allegations. So it seems once again that it's an attempt to criminalize social movements in Brazil and discredit their work in favor of the poor and the marginalized." Cahill says that the military--which has total access and freedom of movement in Indigenous Territories--does not have a good reputation among indigenous peoples. "Indigenous people across the Amazon have persistently complained to Amnesty and denounced violations committed by soldiers who work indigenous areas--sexual abuse, physical abuse, and intimidation," he said. "There seems to be a clear contradiction in the sense that indigenous areas are meant to limit the access into those areas to guarantee their safety and protection. Yet when the Army goes in there, time and time again we see that their rights are violated." However, the military is unrepentant and has been very clear that nobody's rights supercede those of the Brazilian Armed Forces. "We want to be clear on something fundamental -- Indian lands are Brazilian lands," said Defense Minister Nelson Jobim according to a May Reuters article. "There are no nations or Indian peoples, there are Brazilians who are Indians". But Cahill believes that the real causes for the current conflict over Raposa go deeper than the military's security concerns. He says that this case represents a key moment in the face-off between indigenous rights and the interests of big business in Brazil, and big agrobusiness in particular. "This is something we see not only in the Amazon, but across Brazil", he said. "The cultural, social and economic rights of indigneous peoples tend to come into conflict with the economic interests of big agro-industry. And big agro-industry has been the driving force of the recent economic boom that's occuring in Brazil, and we've seen that there's a lot of political and judicial support for their interests." "When the federal authorities comply with their obligations under the Constitution--and under international legislation--to identify and guarantee indigenous access to their ancestral lands," he added, "The challenges which come up tend to be around the economic interests of big agro-industry--in this case, the rice farmers. And time and again, the indigenous peoples are losing out because vested interests tend to side with those with economic power." "In this case, it's not that the military has allied itself with the farmers," said Vianna. "Rather, two separate interests have come together. This handful of farmers, they're extremely wealthy. It's not about them. It's about how Brazil will use the Amazon. Are they going to just leave it to the Indians, who won't develop it? Or does Brazil have a plan for developing the Amazon? This is a discourse of economic development." "That's why the farmers are using economic arguments," Vianna added. "They are saying 'what we do is good for the state and national economy'. They call themselves the 'Nationalist Resistance'. They consider themselves those who represent the nation, against the Indians who are supported by 'foreign interests'. They never say who these 'interests' are. But by conflating the local conflict into this language of nationalism and development--of developing the nation--they were able to get closer to the military's cause." * * * Rogerio Duarte do Pateo--a Sao Paulo based member of Makunaima Grita--signaled that the consequences of the court's ruling could extend far beyond Raposa's borders. "A decision against Raposa would create the legal precedents to revoke all indigenous titles to land in Brazil," he said. "Any other territory could be contested, like the Yanomami, Kayapó, etcetera." Both Pateo and Cahill believe that a decision against Raposa would not only go against the Brazilian Constitution, but it could put at risk the gains made over the last 30 years in terms of indigenous rights, throughout Brazil. "What is on the line here is Article 231 of the Brazilian Constitution and the indigenous rights that are layed out in that article," Pateo said. "It's not that the court decision will directly affect the Constitution, but the arguments that are being used go against Article 231--it seems that the justice system is going to favor the big landowners--and this will open up the way to revise Article 231." "The 1988 Constitution allows indigenous people the process to set out and identify their ancestral lands," said Cahill. "There's a real fear that this will set back cases across the country of indigenous peoples who continue to fight for the rights to their land. And who, through this process, continue to seek the provision of their basic human rights and cultural rights." According to a statement signed by 85 Brazilian NGO's in support of Raposa Serra do Sol, the Constitution "defined the rights of indigenous peoples over their lands and established that these rights enjoy over-riding precedence over any subsequent rights granted to non-indigenous holders". However, Brazil's indigenous peoples are still fighting for these rights--and those outlined in the recently-adopted UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples--to be upheld and put into practice. "The demarcation process doesn't give indigenous people the full rights to their land, but allows the land to be held by the Federal government in custody for them," Cahill said. "Indigenous peoples are considered minors under Brazilian law and thus do not have the right to hold the land for themselves and decide on the land for themselves," he said. "[It is] an issue which has been hotly contested and which many believe limit the rights of indigenous peoples to their full citizenship and full rights under international law." * * * Whatever the Supreme Court decides on August 27th, the case represents a key moment in the decades long struggle for indigenous rights in Brazil. "It would seriously undermine the whole system of Indian reserves in Brazil if the courts were to bow to pressure from influential landowners and politicians, particularly given the violence the Indians have been subjected to," said Miriam Ross, from Survival International. According to Pateo, a ruling against the Raposa territory would not only undermine the recent successes in relation to indigenous rights, but would "mark the future of development in Brazil in relation to the Amazon”, giving a clear signal to logging, hydroelectric, and agricultural companies that the Amazon is fair game. "Will we continue a predatory model of exploitation that doesn't respect the law?," he asked. "Or will Brazil be transformed--definitively--into a country that develops itself sustainably, and respects human rights?" * * * To help the peoples of Raposa Serra do Sol maintain their current territory, please sign this petition, which will be sent to the Supreme Court Justices a week before the ruling is expected. http://www.petitiononline.com/rss408/petition.html Watch video of the May attack on Macuxi Indians in Raposa Serra do Sol http://www.survival-international.org/news/3389 Charles Mostoller can be reached at: cmosto@gmail.com
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