NEW in National Geographic Channel

NEW in National Geographic Channel
-- Case File: Latif Yahia --

 

 Link to National Geographic Channel
 New websites: Unlucky Bastard Latif Yahia ( Feature Documentary )

Amnesty International seeks George W. Bush's arrest.

Same shit different ass, they both have Damaged the World.

The human rights group Amnesty International called on Canadian authorities Wednesday to arrest former President George W. Bush when he attends an economic summit in the province of British Columbia next week.
The group accused Bush of “responsibility for crimes under international law including torture.”Amnesty International asked that Canada either prosecute or extradite Bush for violations that they allege took place during the CIA’s secret detention program between 2002 and 2009. The organization wrote a 1,000 page memorandum addressed to Canadian authorities to make the case for human rights violations by the 43rd president.“Canada is required by its international obligations to arrest and prosecute former President Bush given his responsibility for crimes under international law including torture,” Susan Lee, Americas Director at Amnesty International, said in a statement. The Canadian government responded to the request with critical words for Amnesty International. “I cannot comment on individual cases… that said, Amnesty International cherry picks cases to publicize based on ideology. This kind of stunt helps explain why so many respected human rights advocates have abandoned Amnesty International,” Canadian Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Jason Kenney told POLITICO, noting that Amnesty International had never sought a court order to bar Cuban dictator Fidel Castro or Tongolese dicator Gnassingbé Eyadema from Canada. “Perhaps this helps to explain why Salman Rushie has said that ‘it looks very much as if Amnesty’s leadership is suffering from a kind of moral bankruptcy,’ and why Christopher Hitchens has written about the organization’s ‘degeneration and politicization,’” Kenney added. Bush cancelled a visit to Switzerland in February after facing similar public calls for his arrest by the other human rights groups. Amnesty International said that Canada was obligated to arrest Bush under its commitments to the UN Convention Against Torture. The human rights organization objected to the Bush administration’s “enhanced interrogation techniques” and violations they characterized as “cruel, inhuman and degrating treatment and enforced disappearances.” “A failure by Canada to take action during his visit would violate the UN Convention against Torture and demonstrate contempt for fundamental human rights,” said Lee.

The Devil's Double Book.

My dear friends, I promised you a new edition of The Devil's Double, here is the new cover of the book, it will be out before Christmas 2011, I promise and at a reasonable price, unlike the idiots on Amazon. I'm donating my royalties to the Iraqi Orphans, America does the damage and it's up to us to try and fix the country, I urge my American friends to tell the administration to stop supporting Dictators and "liberating" us from the Dictators that they support and have installed in our countries.
Best regards to all.
Latif Yahia

http://www.facebook.com/TheDevilsDoubleBook

The Bigger they are…..

By: Latif Yahia

It may take decades or even a lifetime to build an empire, but it seems relatively easy to tear one down. Or at least that appears to be the case with Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. ranked number 13 on Forbes most powerful people in the world list, it looks as the days go by that more and more high ranking politicians and policemen will be dragged into Murdoch’s phone hacking scandal, both in the UK and America, there are now calls to see if any of the victims of 9/11’s phones were hacked. Are we surprised?

Rupert Murdoch??

Not really, to do business on the scale that Rupert Murdoch was doing it, there had to be people “on the take”, but do not be fooled into believing that he was handing them the brown envelopes personally, well, maybe a few, but the rest were passed on from those who were sanctioned to do so or saw it as a way of doing their job to the fullness of their ability. Yes Murdoch is corrupt, but he would not be the first or the last to use money to his advantage.

There are several ways of attaining information, it can be given freely, it can be bought or it can be stolen. Thankfully we have not yet come across the fourth, torture, but that’s not to say that any newspaper, magazine etc. has not used information that came from a torture subject, known or unknown.

At the moment the world may be vilifying Murdoch but he is not alone and not the first of his kind, if he ran a country we would call him a Dictator but because he runs a company we call him (until very recently) a Success.

He very possibly never wrote a Manifesto like Saddam or stood and gave a rousing speech to his workers about the strength of the country (News corp. operates on three continents) but with so many assets he has as many workers as a medium sized country and they all want to keep their leader happy, sorry, I mean keep their jobs.

Like all good dictators he has passed the crown onto his son and heir, the next natural successor, after all he didn’t work this hard for it to go to some elected fool! And his devoted workers all know what is expected of them, which is why all of his newspapers, magazines and TV stations take the same line, not necessarily because he told them to, but because they know what pleases him and again they want to keep their jobs and prove how good they are. That reminds me of someone else I once knew.

Don’t think that Rupert Murdoch is the exception to the rule, he is the rule.

Take Tony O’Reilly for example, once maligned by the likes of Conrad Black (who has also fallen off his pedestal) and Murdoch, he has an uncomfortable monopoly on the Irish media as he has a large stake in all but two of the National papers, a fact that rarely sees him criticized but famously helped him to swing the general election in 1997 from the prevailing party (Fianna Gael) to the opposition with the headline “ Payback time” and why? Because O’Reilly had personally demanded reform of the libel laws, a ban on below cost selling by British newspapers and exclusive MMDS licenses (a wireless cable TV system) and his demands were rejected. Tony O’Reilly in Ireland??

The government report of the meeting with his representatives said they were told “We will mount a full frontal assault on you, as a government, in the elections”, O’Reilly’s representatives’ version of the same meeting simply says “We said that they would lose INP (Independent Newspaper Group, now International News and Media) as friends and would mean any future administration would have a large bill to pay”.

Fianna Fail the opposing party who had a more sympathetic ear to O’Reilly won that election and stayed in power for another 12 years.

Sir Anthony (Tony) O’Reilly, has stakes in newspapers on three continents, not to mention the controversial oil and gas deals with Exxon for the licenses to blocks in the Porcupine Basin some 200Km of the West Coast of Ireland, which have now been portioned off to Chrysaor to develop, but still leaving his company Providence Resources formerly Atlantic Resources with a 30% share in whatever gets pumped out.

O’Reilly campaigned between 1987 and 1992 to have the tax rate, royalties and licensing with regard to oil and gas exploration and production lowered, although they were already substantially lower than those prevalent across much of the world.

Mike Cunningham former director of Statoil Exploration Ireland has said “No other country in the world has given such favorable terms as Ireland”, it is projected that if any of the blocks are produced, that the Irish State may receive as little or less than 7% of the estimated 20 Billion that the blocks are potentially worth.

But why share when you are of the belief that it is a “simplistic public notion that Irish oil and minerals belonged to the Irish people at large.”

Sir Anthony, as he has insisted that he is called, is known for his support of Irish Charities, Opera and the Arts and has acquired an art collection that he is obviously very proud of, since he has had a catalogue printed at a reported cost of 125,000 euros for 500 copies one of which has been reportedly sent to the Queen of England another to the President of Ireland.

Sir Anthony did indeed consult the Irish Government before accepting his Knighthood / Knight Bachelor in 2001 for “services to Northern Ireland’, as an Irishman cannot constitutionally accept any award or title bestowed upon him by a foreign country without getting their consent, but after 1997, who is going to say NO to Tony?

As one of Ireland’s six Billionaires, (although his status may have fallen over the years) he is in the majority of the five that do not pay tax to Ireland. Having said that there are wonderful comments made in the Irish press about him, how “ if you cut him, his blood runs green”. Tony is now in his 70’s and has done as all Emperor’s/dictator’s do, handed everything over to his son Gavin.

If you want to control a country or should I say countries, then you must have control of the media. We may elect our politicians but it is the media men who control what is and is not said about them, they are the puppet-masters. We only see and hear what they want us to, or at least that was the case.

With the birth of the internet the game changed, people like Murdoch, O’Reilly and Berlusconi were slow to recognize the power that the internet has, the fact that less and less people are buying newspapers and more and more are not only getting their news from the internet but from the blogosphere, where articles like this are unhindered by the journalistic need to please. Here, on the internet we are free enough to write without editor-ship, I don’t know how many times I have been interviewed by journalists who at the time of the interview are understanding of my position and clear on my views only to read the story in the paper or magazine and find that I have been “Screwed royally” because their Editor didn’t like the first draft or it didn’t fall in line with their “paper’s policy” meaning their owner’s policy.

Will there be a “phone hacking scandal” in Ireland? Maybe, but probably not, not because there was, or is no corruption in the system, but because if they were to openly investigate it would mean a revolution “French Style” because 80% of all the police and politicians would have to go.

When one man has enough power to have his newspaper, even a local one, write against the Shell to Sea campaign in County Mayo, Ireland, as opined by a columnist

“Shell has been scandalously remiss in not employing someone to bump off a few of these fellows” as “The rule of law has to be enforced, by apparently harsh measures if need be.”

This also tracks back to Tony’s own interests in Oil and Gas exploration.

If you are interested in Shell to Sea they have a website and are organizing a large protest on Friday 29^th July 2011 as Shell are starting to build their on land phase.

www.shelltosea.com

Credit where it’s due.

By:Latif Yahia

Take a deep breath, okay hold it just for just one second, now, let it go.
Just when you thought that all was dark and dismal in the world of Ireland a bright spark has emerged.
That spark being Mr. Alan Shatter, Minister for Justice, now as you all know, I have never been a fan of the former Ministers for Justice with the exception of the late Mr. Brian Lenihan R.I.P (to his family I send my heartfelt condolences, he will be greatly missed as one of the few real Irish politicians).
Anyone who has ever read anything that I have written about the former Ministers for Justice ESPECIALLY Michael McDowell, will know that I haven’t had a lot of time for any of them and the time that I did was weary-some at best.

Ministers for Justice Mr.Alan Shatter.

But then, I read the latest news from the Dept. of Justice and the new reforms that Minister Shatter put in place yesterday 16/06/2011 and the Sun came out, little lambs started to dance a merry jig on a typically Irish green field, and all was right with the world.
Now don’t get ahead of yourself, or me, for that matter, this does not mean that my four year wait for an answer to my third application for Irish citizenship will finally come to an end, but it does mean that all those who came after me will finally be treated equally to every other non-European who wishes to be a European National, and waiting times will be drastically reduced. As you all know I travel too much and when I talk about the Immigration/Naturalization system in Ireland and of course compare it with other European systems, I get stares of disbelief, and shocked “No? You can’t appeal the Minister’s decision?” “You’re waiting how long for an answer!” I do hope that within his reforms Minister Shatter finds time to repeal that particular time wasting piece of legislation. I believe that Minister Shatter understands that if Ireland is to survive the ongoing financial crisis that it needs people, Irish people are leaving in droves, as are the immigrant workers who helped the boom. If Ireland is to rebuild itself it needs people to stay, bring investment, work, live and spend their hard earned cash. That can only happen if there is a reason to stay, if Naturalization is comparable with getting six numbers on the lottery, well some may say they’ll take their investment and gamble their money somewhere that Naturalization isn’t a gamble. Quit pro quo.

Click here to read quotes from (Mr.Alan Shatter, Minister for Justice)

I also wish to express my admiration for Minister Shatter’s awareness of the fact that although his Dept. constantly referred to the fact that Naturalization was a highly prized gift that was only bestowed upon the best of the best that landed on Irish shores, the actual physical endowment of Citizenship was a rather unceremonious court appearance, where the Judge (already overloaded with REAL work) had someone repeat something, the cash was paid to the court clerk and voila! Irish Citizen! I have seen this in action but as you all know have not had the personal experience.
So Kudos to you Minister Shatter, keep up the good work.

For those readers who are unfamiliar with the workings of the Dept. of Justice under previous Ministers with the exception of Mr. Brian Lenihan R.I.P who did such a good job of catching criminals and seizing drugs/alcohol/cigarettes that he was given a new portfolio (kicked) after six months.
The real Dictator of the Dept. of Justice though was by far Michael McDowell, under his Ministry:

Hitler of Ireland Michael McDowell.

1.The right to appeal the Minister’s decision was revoked.
2.The only real way of “proving” that you were residing in Ireland was to be claiming social welfare.
3.The right of a Spouse of an Irish National to be naturalized after three years and one day was rescinded. (Contrary to European Law)
4.The right of the individual to take the Minister to court to expedite a decision was repealed.

The system in Ireland was set up in a way that made it very difficult not only to apply for naturalization/citizenship, but also to define what indeed was expected of the applicant.
In other European countries for example when you have fulfilled a certain length of residency you are contacted or you contact yourself, the relevant Dept. to apply for naturalization.
You are then provided with a list of statutory requirements and when they are completed you take yourself and your application along to the Dept. and speak to a person who then becomes your case worker, any questions you may have are directed to your case worker and your application will be processed and answered within a short time frame 6mth – 12mths.
That was not the case in Ireland, when you fulfilled the length of residency you downloaded the form from the inter-net or got your lawyer to. You filed in the form and sent it along with other documents listed on the form to the Dept. of Justice, you then received a letter from them stating that they had received it and were starting to process it but had not completely checked it. There was no point of contact, you were never given a name and the contact number was a hotline that was only open from 9am-12pm Tuesdays and Thursdays, getting through was like finding a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow and in general all questions that you asked regarding the status of you application were answered “it’s being processed” sometimes you may get a hope giving “it’s being sent for decision” or other words like “Soon, Shortly” or “In the near future” would be used to string you along, when in reality your file was sitting on someone’s desk covered in other files and dust because it was too complicated or they didn’t like the look of you in your photo or as in my case “Ugh, it’s him again!” Bottom of the pile filed under “not in this lifetime mate” I was told in 2008 that a decision would be made on my application in two weeks time! Still waiting.
When you went to the INIS website and looked up “Citizenship” you were promised that the average time for processing applications was 23 months with some more “straightforward cases” taking less time whereas more “complicated cases” could take longer than the average, but just because it was taking longer than the average was not an indication that your case was “complicated” it was just taking longer. Plus no-one could seem to answer the question “ what makes a case complicated?”

On my first application I waited 5years for an answer and only got that by taking Minister McDowell to court to expedite his decision, I got an answer “NO”, by that time McDowell had made his changes so my only recourse was to re-apply. My next application took 2years for a decision, again I was refused because I had called McDowell “McFool” on National radio’s Gerry Ryan Show R.I.P and yet again my only recourse was to re-apply, this application is “still being processed” that application was lodged in 2007, it is now half way through 2011 by anyone’s Math that’s 4 years. So in total I have spent 5 + 2 + 4 =11 years of my life trying to be Irish.

So who does get Irish Citizenship then? Well up until quite recently it was people who couldn’t speak English, who claim social Welfare, who screw the system. The only educated people were Doctors and mostly they were only given citizenship because the Dept. was forced to due to that lack of Doctors in the Health system (that’s another days work).
I do understand that there are people who truly need to be cared for by the State but when you are foreign yourself and you hear the stories of other foreigners it can really make your blood boil at the lengths that are taken to glean every last cent that there is to be had from the State and the reasons why.

In particular I have a problem with some Iraqis that have arrived in Ireland, some recent Irish Citizens have posted their pictures on Facebook holding their spanking new Irish Passports with subtitles that say “Job: Screwing Irish Women and Fraud” in Arabic of course because he can’t speak English, where’s the gratitude I say and hang on, according to the INIS website aren’t you supposed to be of “good character” to achieve Citizenship?

Another Iraq I know of was a nobody before the invasion of Iraq in 2003, when suddenly after joining the Mehidi Militia he rose through the ranks of the Iraqi police to become a General, he lives in Ireland and every two months goes back to Iraq to take care of business and brings the money back with him. His business? Well he has admitted to killing seven Iraqi civilians himself and I have it on a recording. I provided his details to the relevant authorities in Ireland along with his photograph inside Ireland and in his official capacity in Iraq, plus his address and what did they do? They granted him refugee status.

I could go on, and on, and on.

Unfortunately it is the Irish who are and will suffer, maybe not this generation but certainly the next.

Before the Invasion of Kuwait in 1990, even though we had had an eight year war with Iran, Iraq had everything. No-one had felt the effects of war so much, yes, we knew that it was happening and we saw the young soldiers return from the front but life had always continued as normal, everything you wanted and needed was there for you, including Night Clubs, Bars and Restaurants.

Saddam may have been considered a dictator and despot, but he made sure that the people of iraq were provided for, he kept crime at a minimum, the streets were clean and the system worked.
Since the 'Liberation' of Iraq by America in 2003, this has changed completely, those who were once our enemies and the sworn enemies of America according to Mr. Bush's 'Axis of Evil' are now the masters of Iraq. Iran is now in control of Iraq, we have been invaded by Mullahs, only the ones in Iraq come wearing suits.
The effect is the same though, before 2003 two million people a year would visit Mecca, now in Iraq we have 18 million pilgrims to Iraq, whose only desire is to slap themselves and cry for Hussein (cousin of the Prophet Mohammed PBUH) in an effort to absolve themselves of the sins of their forefathers, the murder of Hussein and his family in Karbala.
Iraq was built on blood, throughout it's history it has been won and lost, blood feeding it's soil. Maybe it is for this reason that only someone with a strong fist can truly control it.

Iraq Before The 1990 War Part 1

Iraq Before The 1990 War Part 2

UN Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection

the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression

Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression

Joint Statement On Wikileaks

December 21, 2010 – In light of ongoing developments related to the release of diplomatic cables by the organization Wikileaks, and the publication of information contained in those cables by mainstream news organizations, the United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression see fit to recall a number of international legal principles. The rapporteurs call upon States and other relevant actors to keep these principles in mind when responding to the aforementioned developments.

1. The right to access information held by public authorities is a fundamental human right subject to a strict regime of exceptions. The right to access to information protects the right of every person to access public information and to know what governments are doing on their behalf. It is a right that has received particular attention from the international community, given its importance to the consolidation, functioning and preservation of democratic regimes. Without the protection of this right, it is impossible for citizens to know the truth, demand accountability and fully exercise their right to political participation. National authorities should take active steps to ensure the principle of maximum transparency, address the culture of secrecy that still prevails in many countries and increase the amount of information subject to routine disclosure.

2. At the same time, the right of access to information should be subject to a narrowly tailored system of exceptions to protect overriding public and private interests such as national security and the rights and security of other persons. Secrecy laws should define national security precisely and indicate clearly the criteria which should be used in determining whether or not information can be declared secret. Exceptions to access to information on national security or other grounds should apply only where there is a risk of substantial harm to the protected interest and where that harm is greater than the overall public interest in having access to the information. In accordance with international standards, information regarding human rights violations should not be considered secret or classified.

3. Public authorities and their staff bear sole responsibility for protecting the confidentiality of legitimately classified information under their control. Other individuals, including journalists, media workers and civil society representatives, who receive and disseminate classified information because they believe it is in the public interest, should not be subject to liability unless they committed fraud or another crime to obtain the information. In addition, government "whistleblowers" releasing information on violations of the law, on wrongdoing by public bodies, on a serious threat to health, safety or the environment, or on a breach of human rights or humanitarian law should be protected against legal, administrative or employment-related sanctions if they act in good faith. Any attempt to impose subsequent liability on those who disseminate classified information should be grounded in previously established laws enforced by impartial and independent legal systems with full respect for due process guarantees, including the right to appeal.

4. Direct or indirect government interference in or pressure exerted upon any expression or information transmitted through any means of oral, written, artistic, visual or electronic communication must be prohibited by law when it is aimed at influencing content. Such illegitimate interference includes politically motivated legal cases brought against journalists and independent media, and blocking of websites and web domains on political grounds. Calls by public officials for illegitimate retributive action are not acceptable.

5. Filtering systems which are not end-user controlled – whether imposed by a government or commercial service provider – are a form of prior censorship and cannot be justified. Corporations that provide Internet services should make an effort to ensure that they respect the rights of their clients to use the Internet without arbitrary interference.

6. Self-regulatory mechanisms for journalists have played an important role in fostering greater awareness about how to report on and address difficult and controversial subjects. Special journalistic responsibility is called for when reporting information from confidential sources that may affect valuable interests such as fundamental rights or the security of other persons. Ethical codes for journalists should therefore provide for an evaluation of the public interest in obtaining such information. Such codes can also provide useful guidance for new forms of communication and for new media organizations, which should likewise voluntarily adopt ethical best practices to ensure that the information made available is accurate, fairly presented and does not cause substantial harm to legally protected interests such as human rights.

Catalina Botero Marino
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression

Frank LaRue
UN Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression

This House hates Human Rights (Cambridge Union)

Debate:

the Title of the debate was (This House hates Human Rights) The debate took place in Cambridge Union Society, in UK 25/Nov/2010.

PROPOSITION:

1-Andy Hayman : was the highest ranking officer responsible for counter-terrorism in the UK whilst at London's Metropolitan Police, and was directly responsible for the investigation into the 7 July London bombings.

2-Peter Hitchens : writes for The Mail on Sunday. A former resident correspondent in Moscow and Washington, he appears frequently on radio and television, debating typically left-wing opponents on a variety of topics.

3-Charles Drummond : is a history PhD student at Trinity College. A graduate of Harvard University, Drummond was a liaison to national security fellows at the Kennedy School of Government and an intern at the American Bar Association, where he worked on issues of human rights law.

OPPOSITION:

1-Philip Murray : is currently studying for a PhD in public law at Corpus Christi College, where he also teaches constitutional law. His research covers a broad range of constitutional issues, including human rights law.

2-Isabella Sanky :

3-Dr. Latif Yahia : PhD International Law an Iraqi-born author, blogger and former military officer in the Iran-Iraq War. Dr Yahia was also forcibly recruited to be the body double of Saddam Hussein's elder son Uday Hussein.

Part 1 Andy Hayman.

Part 2 Philip Murray.

Part 3 Charles Drummond.

Part 4 Isabella Sanky.

Part 5 Peter Hitchens.

Part 6 Dr. Latif Yahia.

IRELAND TO THE EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS

I AM LOOKING FOR A EUROPEAN LAWYER (not Irish) WHO HAS THE BALLS TO TAKE THE STATE OF IRELAND TO THE EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS ON MY BEHALF! If you feel that you have what it takes then please contact me.
Best regards.
Latif Yahia