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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 5, 1988)
Wednesday, October 5, 1988/The Battalion/Page 9 Amnesty International blasts nations with cruelty charges LONDON (AP) — Amnesty In- the 159 U.N. member states. But it ternational on Wednesday accused a said it was encouraged by the emer- record 135 nations of human rights gence of more than 1,000 human abuses ranging from the jailing of rights groups in recent years and the draft evaders in Western Europe to proliferation of laws to protect pris- the massacre of unarmed civilians in oners’ rights. Iraq and Sudan. “In at least half the countries of The international human rights the world, people are locked away group said the list of offenders in its for speaking their minds, often after annual survey was the longest it has trials that are no more than a sham,’’ published since its establishment in the 278-page report said. 1961. “In at least a third of the world’s Amnesty, which won the Nobel nations, men, women and even chil- Peace Prize in 1977, recorded abuses dren are tortured. In scores of coun last year in more than 80 percent of tries, governments pursue their Government plant covers m WASHINGTON (AP) — Serious mishaps over 28 years at a govern ment plant in South Carolina that produces materials for nuclear weapons were kept secret for na tional security reasons and not re ported to Washington, federal offi cials said Tuesday. But the situation is changing, in part due to pressure from Congress, they said. One senior Energy Department official has compared the attitude to ward safety at the Savannah River facility near Aiken, S.C., to that which led to the explosion of the shuttle Challenger on Jan. 28, 1986. “There has always been a mind set, a culture, that we are doing work that is important for national secu rity and perhaps that may override any obligation toward public ac- countablility,” Will Callicott, a spokesman for the Department of Energy, said Tuesday. Since taking office in 1985, said Callicott, Energy Secretary John Herrington has called attention to the area of environmental safety and health for the first time placing these issues in the hands of an assistant secretary. E.I. du Pont Nemours & Co. runs the Savannah River facility under contract for the energy department. The plant, which has five reactors, produces plutonium and tritium, which are used in making nuclear weapons. According to a 1985 memoran dum, 30 “reactor incidents of the greatest significance” occurred there and were not disclBsed to the public. One of the most serious was the melting in November 1970 of a rod used to start an atomic chain reac tion, causing radioactive contami nation of an adjacent room. It took 900 people three months to clean up the contamination, according to the memo, which does not specify ■snaps whether radioactivity escaped from the facility. Energy Department officials said on Friday that they had not been in formed of the incidents, but on Monday senior department spokes man C. Anson Franklin said those statements were incorrect and that the incidents had been reported to the department’s regional office in Aiken. He said that the information ap parently had not been relayed to headquarters from the regional of fice. The reactors at Savannah River were closed after the most recent in cident, in August, and had been scheduled to reopen on Tuesday. But Energy Department officials as sured members of Congress last week that production would not re sume until safety was assured, possi bly after 30 to 45 days. “If they restart those things with out having briefed us and without having convinced us they have solved the safety and health issues, they will be in serious trouble in the Congress,” Rep. Mike Synar, D- Okla., said. Synar, chairman of the Energy, Environment and Natural Resources subcommittee of the Government Affairs Committee, held hearings on the Savannah River facility last Fri day. He reacted angrily Tuesday to as sertions that national security con siderations ever justified keeping mishaps secret at Savannah River. “Just because they claim it is na tional security doesn’t make it na tional security,” he said. “I didn’t know that the health and safety of the workers and the surrounding cit izens was a national security issue.” Synar challenged assertions that Herrington had improved the En ergy Department’s system. goals by kidnapping and murdering their own citizens.” It added: “More than ever before in world history, governments are exposed to the glare of international publicity — the greatest weapon we have.” The report cited the United States, where 25 prisoners were put to death last year, for executing John Brogdon, a man diagnosed as mentally retarded, and Edward Earl Johnson, despite “substantial doubts” about his guilt. Amnesty op poses the death penalty. In China, more than 200 con victed criminals were put to death, but that represented “only a fraction of the total number of death sen tences and executions,” it said. The report said at least 760 politi cal prisoners were executed in 39 countries in 1987 but estimated the number probably was much higher because of secret executions. It said governments used a variety of methods to deflect criticism, in cluding death squads in Latin Amer ica. It said India, Britain and Israel set up inquiries into human rights abuses that were not made public or that amounted to a whitewash. Turkey, Czechoslovakia and East Germany closed channels of infor mation to hide violations, it said, and China, Haiti, Syria and South Africa clamped down on the reporting of abuses by denying prisoners access to lawyers or families. “Today, even one death can set off waves of anger and protest worldwide ... It doesn't always hap pen but it can,” Amnesty said, citing the death in January 1987 of South Korean student Park Chong-Chol. The death sparked widespread pro tests that resulted in the prosecu tions of eight police officers and the resignation of government min isters. On the other hand, communist North Korea didn’t even reply to Amnesty International’s questions about legal practices, the report said. Among other alleged abuses were reports that Sudanese forces mas sacred hundreds of unarmed Dinka tribespeople; the summary execu tion by Iraq of hundreds of unarmed Kurds; the disappearance of hun dreds of Peruvian farmers seized by government forces; and court-or dered executions in China, South Africa and Iran. The report alleged politically mo tivated killings by pro-government assassins in Brazil, El Salvador and the Philippines, and arbitrary ar rests, torture and killings in Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Uganda. In Western Europe, Spam was cited for allegedly torturing Basque separatist prisoners, Britain for fail ing to publish a police inquiry into the killings of six unarmed Irish Re publican Army guerrillas in 1982, and Franor jailing draft objectors. In Israel, the report said, a court permitted the secret service to use “a moderate measure ofhysical pres sure” in interrogating suspects. Group urges boycott of Nestle over formula WASHINGTON (AP) — The people who engineered a seven-year boycott against the Nestle company to fight the promotion of infant for mula in Third World nations called on Tuesday for a renewal of the pro test on an even larger scale. Douglas A. Johnson, chairman of Action for Corporate Accountabil ity, called for a resumption of the boycott at a news conference, argu ing that Nestle has failed to live up to the agreements it signed in 1984 that ended the original action. This time, Johnson said, the group is expanding the boycott to American Home Products, which it said is the second largest distributor of infant formula in developing na tions. While urging an across-the-board boycott of the two companies’ prod ucts, protest leaders are asking their followers to focus on two products from each company: Nestle’s Tast er’s Choice Instant Coffee and Car nation Coffee-mate Non-Diary Creamer, and American Home Products’ Anacin and Advil across- the-counter pain relievers. Action for Corporate Accounta bility accused both companies of vio lating at least the spirit — and by Johnson’s interpretation, also the letter — of the World Health Orga nization and UNICEF Code of Mar keting of Breast-milk Substitutes. The code — which Nestle agreed to as a condition of ending the ear lier protest — permits donations or sales of formula for distribution to infants needing breast milk substi tutes, and says the formula may not be used for sales promotion. Abortion activists continue protests ATLANTA (AP) — Police carried or dragged about 250 anti-abortion demonstrators away from three clinics Tuesday, making good on a threat of gloves-off treatment for a planned week of similar protests. Some of the sit-in protesters screamed or cried as they were hauled off and left in piles by jail bus doors to be carried aboard by other officers. Many supporters watching the arrests sobbed or prayed quietly. Others sang hymns or songs from the civil rights movement. Police asked the demonstrators if they would walk to the buses and dragged them there when they would not. Since summer, hundreds of anti-abortion pro testers in Atlanta have identified themselves upon arrest as Baby John Doe or Baby Jane Doe. Since authorities will not release people on bond without identification, those arrested have crowded jails. Three summer demonstrators re main jailed, one for more than 70 days. The stated aim of the protests Tuesday was to close the clinics for the day, although some women entered at least one clinic during the pro tests. The demonstrators did not enter the build- ings. The protests were organized by Operation Rescue, a New' York-based group that started demonstrating in Atlanta on July 19 during the Democratic National Convention and continued to do so through the summer, landing more than 750 people in jail. At two locations police used disposable plastic handcuffs on those arrested and in one case tackled a man who had been loaded into a van but tried to escape. Some were urged along by police putting thumbs under the ears and lifting. The demon strators offered no resistance, and most re mained limp while they were carried off. A few officers were in riot gear or on horse back. Operation Rescue, which has opened what it says is a permanent office in Atlanta, charged that excessive force was used. Gene Guerrero, executive director of the state chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, who watched the arrests, said, “I’ve been to a lot of demonstrations and I’ve seen a lot of police brutality. I haven’t seen that today.” Police officials announced last week that they would not use the relatively gentle arrest meth ods they used during the convention. Police tactics already had grown rougher dur ing the summer as a series of anti-abortion sit-ins taxed city and county resources, costing more than $500,000 in police overtime, jail expenses and court time. Late Tuesday, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Joel Fryer barred Operation Rescue from harassing or assaulting anyone going to or from any abortion clinic or from recruiting others to do so. 4.L Ar MSC TOWN HALL PRESENTS E R T AC TUESDAY OCTOBER 25. 1988 G. Rollie White Coliseum 8:00 P.M. Tickets are now on sale. Good seats still available! Tickets are available at the MSC Box Office & Dillards in the Post Oak Mall For more Information call 845-1234 - Tickets are $14.00 The Sixteenth Annual Student Book Collectors’ Contest Sponsored by Friends of the Sterling C. Evan Contest rules and entry forms are available in the Library. £ s & jick&Chifil Next to the Dixie Chicken The Durango Dog ^45 chili,cheese onions, mustard jalapenos,chips ' Blue Bell Ice Cream single scoop with purchase of any hot dog and this coupon 25£i A AGRICULTURE + CAREER EXPOSITION ©CTOBEIR §i §TO liradl FL©@[R GMIS© ©©tofedir 4ll(h) = Fir©® (ill© ©!!a>@irD FfeSsO ipm ° ^pmn] (T5BI1SS LsM®) @©tl®[b®(r lillh) = ©mr©@ir ©say ©sorra ■= 11H ^©sunni saousQ D sSipmni ■=■ 4poini [p®®5 S5dl@ Fl®©@pto[n) M .(HI5OH®on ©pm = ©porm A. Duda & SonsA/alley Onions Agri. Workers Mutual Auto Insurance Co. Alpha Gamma Rho Fraternity Amer. Institute of Real Estate Appraisers American Cyanamid American Society of Farm Mgrs. and Rural Appraisers Association of Texas Real Estate Economists Barefoot Grasas Lawn Service Burger King Cargill Inc. Chemlawn City of Dallas-Parks and Recreation Dept. Clarence Davids & Sons, Inc. Deere & Co. Down Chemical USA DuPont Ag. Products Environmental Care, Inc. Excel Corp. Farm Credit Bank of Texas Funk Seeds International Holly Farms of Texas lAM’S Dog Food Co. IBP, Inc. Who will push the limits? Imaginative, energized people, the kind who work for BNR (Bell-Northern Research). These are the professionals who will extend the boundaries of telecommunications and business communications technology the world over. Our research and development work has helped make Northern Telecom the world’s leading producer of fully digital telecommunica tions systems. 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BNR has locations throughout the U.S., Canada and the U.K. An equal opportunity employer. BNR« WHERE FINE MINDS MANAGE INNOVATION. LERE Program Kentucky Fried Chicken Corp. Kraft, Inc, Maintain, Inc. Monsanto Agricultural Merck MSD Ag. Vet NAMA North Haven Gardens, Inc. (Nortex Nursery) Northrup King Co. Pfizer San Joes Cattle Co. Servi-Tech, Inc. Society of Real Estate Appraisers Standard Meat Co. Synstex Animal Health Texas Ag. Extension Service Texas Parks and Wildlife Touch of Green, Inc. Texas Society of Prof. Land Mgrs. and Appraisers ¥ Uncle Bens, Inc. And Others