GTMO prisoners to be relocated to the Baltic: Russia Today

News

 February 2, 2009, 19:58

Gitmo prisoners might see the cold sea

It looks like Gitmo prisoners will be faced with a climate change as some of them will probably have to move from the warm tropical island of Cuba in the Caribbean to a much colder place on the shores of the Baltic Sea.

Yes, Barack Obama has ordered the prison in Guantanamo Bay to be closed by the end of 2009, but prisoners are definitely not going home or anyway near it.

Authorities in the small Baltic state of Latvia, as well as in EU and NATO countries, are considering a proposal made by the U.S. to host prisoners with unidentified status, a “correctional” facility in Europe where certain Guantanamo prisoners will be transferred, reports the DELFI news agency.

Earlier this year, Latvia’s neighbour, Estonia, had volunteered to welcome the same facility in its country.

Currently, there are about 60 prisoners out of 250 in Guantanamo accused of terrorism but whose guilt has never been proven.

At a meeting of the heads of foreign ministries of the EU, it was decided that European Commission would draw up principles to deal with prisoners of this kind.

It must be noted that a large number of ex-Guantanamo prisoners who were released beginning in 2002 were soon observed as they were involved in new terrorist activities.

Nothing has been decided so far, since Latvia is not sure whether it has the necessary juridical background as well as technical capabilities to deal with such a prison on its territory.

Latvia is a relatively new EU member and has already suffered one of the most among European countries due to the world economic crisis, which has resulted in mass protest demonstrations throughout the country. That is why there is little wonder that Latvian authorities, being in great need for money to fill gaps in the budget, are ready to accept money from any sources available.

Maybe operating a foreign prison with a dingy reputation is not a good idea for a European country, but the current situation, with no foreseeable financial assistance in the near future, has created different rules amidst a new European reality.

International Solidarity Movement eyewitness to Israel firing on medics, fear for safety

Features

AFP Photo

February 3, 2009, 9:19

Aid workers risk life and limb in Gaza

Humanitarian workers and rights activists in Gaza are helping locals put their lives back together after the three-week-long Israeli offensive. Many aid workers were in the region during the fighting and came under fire along with residents.

One such Aid worker is 31-year old Eva Barnett from Canada.

“The way the war in Gaza was being portrayed in much of the media was not the real picture,” Barnett said, an activist with the International Solidarity movement. ”It was a heartless attack on the people of Gaza, it was not about Hamas.”
Barnett came to Gaza both to help the Palestinian people and to tell the world about her experiences there.

She met one Palestinian farmer to find out more about how his helper was killed.
 
“You come to this area; it’s 700 metres from the border and people who worked on their land were shot at,” she said. “When we come here we realized we may be shot at.”
 
In the evening, Barnett writes her blog and contributes to several websites. She relates what she learnt and experienced during the day.

The world began to appreciate the risks activists face in Gaza five years ago when American Rachel Corrie was killed by an Israeli bulldozer.  

Corrie turned herself into a human shield to stop the Israeli army demolishing a Palestinian house.

Israel says her death was an accident, something Human Rights Watch disputes.

“People are being killed around us. Medics are being killed working on the same shifts as us, working from the same hospitals as us,” said Ewa Jasiewic, another activist from the International Solidarity movement. “And it can’t put you off.”

Ewa has been in Gaza for five weeks. She helps to co-ordinate ships bringing humanitarian aid from Cyprus.

For both women, being in Gaza during the war and reporting for RT was something they felt they had to do.

Still, it seems likely that the ink on the reports documenting this round of fighting will hardly be dry before the next round of fighting breaks out.