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Federal court rejects claims that thimerosal vaccines caused children's autism
Three special masters sitting in the US Federal Court of Claims Friday rejected three compensation actions brought in a coordinated omnibus proceeding by families of autistic children who had argued that their children's autism was induced by vaccines containing mercury-laden thimerosol. The families had sought compensation under the no-fault National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. Special Master Patricia Campbell-Smith wrote that her petitioners had not "presented a scientifically sound theory", citing evidence that it was "biologically implausible." In February special masters in the same court rejected arguments made in three other test cases against the US Department of Health and Human Services by families alleging that their children's autism was caused by a combination of common childhood vaccines.
Thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative, has been at the center of several health debates. In 2005, HHS officials said that state laws prohibiting thimerosal could impede efforts to fight an avian flu pandemic should an outbreak occur. Most doctors believe thimerosal is safe, saying it does not affect the body in the same manner as mercury found in pollutants, but several groups claim that use of the preservative can be linked to neurological diseases including autism. Creation of mercury-free vaccines requires packaging individual doses, which is expected to pose a major problem if large batches of the vaccine need to be rushed in the event of an avian flu pandemic. Doctors partially attribute recent outbreaks of measles and other infectious diseases in the US to an increasing reluctance among parents to expose children to vaccines.
UN Myanmar expert says some government rights violations may be war crimes
UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar Tomás Ojea Quintana released a report Friday castigating the government of Myanmar for long-standing human rights abuses and said some of those might qualify as war crimes prosecutable by the International Criminal Court in The Hague. Quintana observed:there is a pattern of gross and systematic violation of human rights which has been in place for many years and still continues. The human rights that are part of this pattern are broad ranging and include the rights to life, to liberty, to personal integrity, to freedom of expression, assembly and religion, to judicial remedy and due process of law, to nationality, to protection of civilians and internally displaced communities and to prohibition against discrimination, among others.
Given the gross and systematic nature of human rights violations in Myanmar over a period of many years, and the lack of accountability, there is an indication that those human rights violations are the result of a State policy that involves authorities in the executive, military and judiciary at all levels. According to consistent reports, the possibility exists that some of these human rights violations may entail categories of crimes against humanity or war crimes under the terms of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.Myanmar is expected to hold elections in October. Myanmar has a long history of human rights abuses. The UN released a report Thursday stating that the elections expected in October will not meet international standards of fairness. Earlier this week, the military junta enacted five laws to govern the upcoming election and has been publicly announcing them one-at-a-time in state-run newspapers. One of the most notable ramifications of the new laws is that Suu Kyi will be prevented from participating in the election unless she is released from prison. The new law would also prevent Suu Kyi from remaining as the head of the NLD if the party wishes to participate in the election.
Taiwan justice minister resigns over death penalty dispute
Taiwanese Justice Minister Wang Ching-feng resigned Thursday in defense of her position against the death penalty. Though Taiwan has not executed a criminal since 2005, Wang said she would not sign the execution warrants of any of the 44 prisoners still on death row. Her resignation was sparked by possible criticism of her position by the office of Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou, a member of her own Kuomintang party. Three-fourths of Taiwanese citizens favor the death penalty. Taiwanese Premier Wu Den-yih has already appointed a replacement.
In February, UN Under-Secretary-General Sergei Ordzhonikidze praised the increase in the number of countries that have suspended or abolished the death penalty. Speaking at the 4th World Congress Against the Death Penalty in Geneva, Ordzhonikidze expressed hope that countries that have not abolished the death penalty would adopt the 2007 UN Resolution 62/149, placing a moratorium on the use of capital punishment.
Ginsburg backs end to judicial elections
US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg endorsed a ban on the election of judges at the state and local level on Thursday while speaking at a conference for the National Association of Women Judges. Ginsburg said she supported her former colleague, retired Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, in her campaign to urge state legislatures to move towards merit-based judicial appointments instead of direct judicial elections. Both women take issue with the fundraising aspect of judicial elections and the campaign promises that are made in order to secure funds. According to the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System (IAALS) there are 33 states that select judges through direct elections. Ginsburg noted in her speech that she dissented from a 2002 decision which stated that no limits could be put on the issues and topics discussed by judicial candidates. She claims that the First Amendment allows "sensible limits" to be put on candidates to ensure the impartiality the distinguishes a judicial office from a political office.
The O'Connor Judicial Selection Initiative (OJSI) came in response to a June 2009 decision by the US Supreme Court that West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals Justice Brent Benjamin violated the due process rights of a civil plaintiff when he did not recuse himself from a case where the defendant was one of his major campaign contributors. The OJSI is urging legislatures to adopt a system similar to one O'Connor helped to introduce in Arizona, where a state commission made up mostly of non-lawyers pick judges, governors appoint judges selected by the commissions, and voters decide in future elections whether the judges stay in office. Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Seamus McCaffery has called the appointment system elitist and says that elections make him accountable to the citizens of Pennsylvania, rather than the governor or a commission.
China chides US on rights record in report response
The Chinese government responded on Friday to the release of a US human rights report critical of China by issuing its own report criticizing the US human rights record. The report covered issues relating to crime, racial discrimination, and poverty, and accused the US of using its hegemonic power to continue "trampling" on the sovereignty of other countries while "posing as the world judge of human rights":For a long time, has placed itself above other countries, considered itself "world human rights police" and ignored its own serious human rights problems. It releases Country Reports on Human Rights Practices year after year to accuse other countries and takes human rights as a political instrument to interfere in other countries' internal affairs, defame other nations' image and seek its own strategic interests. This fully exposes its double standards on the human rights issue, and has inevitably drawn resolute opposition and strong denouncement from world people. At a time when the world is suffering a serious human rights disaster caused by the US subprime crisis-induced global financial crisis, the US government still ignores its own serious human rights problems but revels in accusing other countries. It is really a pity. While the US report is drawn largely from the work of rights groups and American diplomats, China's response mainly cited US media reports as evidence of its claims, along with data from non-governmental organizations and federal and state governments.
The annual dueling between the US and China on human rights has lasted over a decade. In 2008 the Department of State accused the Chinese government of denying its citizens basic human rights while also urging judicial reform and improved governmental transparency. Special mention was made of violence in Tibet.
Senate Judiciary Committee approves bill reducing cocaine sentencing disparities
The US Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday unanimously approved a bill to reduce sentencing disparities for powder and crack cocaine offenses. The Fair Sentencing Act, introduced by Senator Dick Durbin, is intended to bridge the gap between crack and powder cocaine sentencing by amending the Controlled Substances Act and the Controlled Substances Import and Export Act. The Act directs the US Sentencing Commission (USSC) to review its trafficking guidelines to reflect aggravating factors such as the use of a weapon or commission of violence. It would increase the amount of crack cocaine required for imposition of a mandatory trafficking prison term and eliminate the five year mandatory prison sentence for simple possession of crack.
Last July, the US House Judiciary Committee approved a similar bill that would eliminate the distinction between crack cocaine and powder cocaine under federal law. Crack cocaine sentencing policies have raised controversy by virtue of their disparate impact on African American offenders. Last June, US Attorney General Eric Holder urged sentencing reform for crack cocaine, calling for a review of disparities between sentencing guidelines for powder and crack. In April, other DOJ officials said Congress should eliminate the sentencing disparities between crimes committed involving crack and powder cocaine during a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Drugs. In April 2008, a study by the USSC reported that more than 3,000 prison inmates convicted of crack cocaine offenses have had their sentences reduced under an amendment to sentencing guidelines. In 2007, the USSC voted unanimously to give retroactive effect to an earlier sentencing guideline amendment that reduced crack cocaine penalties.
Sweden parliament approves Armenian genocide resolution
The Swedish Parliament on Thursday voted 131-130 to approve a resolution that recognizes the Ottoman Empire's killing of Armenians between 1915 and 1923 as genocide. Of the 349 assembly members, 88 were absent. The resolution was opposed by the ruling center-right coalition and supported by the opposition left. It passed when several members of the ruling party sided with the opposition. The Turkish government has condemned the resolution, recalling its ambassador to Sweden.
The vote comes only a week after the US House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs voted 23-22 to adopt a resolution labeling the killings as genocide. The US government has indicated that it will seek to block the resolution from being put before the full House of Representatives. A similar resolution was passed by the committee in 2007, but it never reached the House floor.
Ninth Circuit upholds Pledge of Allegiance in public schools
The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled Thursday that a teacher-led recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools does not violate the constitution. Sacramento atheist Michael Newdow had challenged the practice on behalf of several families, arguing that the phrase "under God" violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. In reversing a lower court decision that had ruled in Newdow's favor, the appeals court ruled 2-1:that the Pledge of Allegiance does not violate the Establishment Clause because Congress' ostensible and predominant purpose was to inspire patriotism and that the context of the Pledge - its wording as a whole, the preamble to the statute, and this nation's history—demonstrate that it is a predominantly patriotic exercise. For these reasons, the phrase "one Nation under God" does not turn this patriotic exercise into a religious activity.
Accordingly, we hold that California's statute requiring school districts to begin the school day with an "appropriate patriotic exercise" does not violate the Establishment Clause even though it permits teachers to lead students in recitationof the Pledge.In a separate case decided Thursday, the Ninth Circuit upheld the use of the phrase "In God We Trust" on currency. That challenge was also brought by Newdow.Newdow originally sued to have the phrase "under God" removed from the pledge in 2000. The Ninth Circuit ruled in Newdow's favor in 2002, but the Supreme Court dismissed his case in 2004 for lack of standing. Newdow also filed suit to ban the recitation of a prayer during the 2005 presidential inauguration, but that claim was rejected.
US House votes to impeach federal judge
The US House of Representatives voted Thursday to impeach federal judge Thomas Porteous of the US District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. The case will now proceed to the US Senate where a two-thirds majority is required to convict Porteous of committing high crimes and misdemeanors while in office, specifically perjury and accepting bribes from lawyers. The investigation of Porteous was opened by the US House Judiciary Committee in 2008. The committee unanimously approved a resolution creating a task force to conduct the inquiry, which was the first of a sitting federal judge in nearly 20 years.
After an investigation by a special committee, the Judicial Conference found "substantial evidence" that Porteous had signed false financial disclosure forms, falsified statements in a personal bankruptcy proceeding, made false representations to secure a bank loan, and violated criminal laws and ethical rules by soliciting and receiving "cash and other things of value" from lawyers in a bench trial over which he was presiding. Porteous's decision in that case, In re Liljeberg enters v. Lifemark Hospitals, was later partially reversed by the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, which last week publicly reprimanded Porteous. The US Constitution gives the House the power to impeach "all civil Officers of the United States" on suspicion of "high Crimes and Misdemeanors." Thirteen federal judges have been impeached, of which seven have been convicted.
US State Department releases 2009 annual rights reports
The US State Department (DOS) on Thursday released its 2009 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. Announcing the release, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that the US has recommitted "to continue the hard work of making human rights a human reality." In its introduction to the reports, which covered 194 countries, the DOS noted that human rights violations have continued throughout the world, noting several global trends:In 2009, governments across the globe continued to commit serious violations of human rights. As we survey the world, there still are an alarming number of reports of torture, extrajudicial killings, and other violations of universal human rights. Often these violations relating to the integrity of the person are in countries where conflicts are occurring. These violent attacks are a central concern wherever they take place.
In a significant number of countries, governments have imposed new and often draconian restrictions on NGOs. Since 2008, no fewer than 25 governments have imposed new restrictions on the ability of these organizations to register, to operate freely, or to receive foreign funding, adversely impacting freedom of association. In many countries, human rights defenders are singled out for particularly harsh treatment, and in the most egregious cases, they are imprisoned or even attacked or killed in reaction to their advocacy.These restrictions and repressive measures are part of a larger pattern of governmental efforts to control dissenting or critical voices. This pattern also extends to the media and to new forms of electronic communications through the Internet and other new technologies. Restrictions on freedom of expression, including on members of the media, are increasing and becoming more severe. In many cases, such restrictions are applied subtly by autocrats aiming to avoid attention from human rights groups and donor countries, such as through the threat of criminal penalties and administrative or economic obstacles, rather than through violence or imprisonment; the end result is still a chilling effect on freedom of expression.A third trend we observed is the continuing and escalating discrimination and persecution of members of vulnerable groups – often racial, religious, or ethnic minorities, but also women, members of indigenous communities, children, persons with disabilities, and other vulnerable groups that lack the political power in their societies to defend their own interests.In Africa, the DOS criticized continuing conflicts in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan. It also criticized Uganda for its treatment of homosexuals and Nigeria for extrajudicial killings.In East Asia and the Pacific, the DOS criticized China for its increased Internet censorship and Myanmar for attacks on ethnic minorities. The DOS also criticized North Korea for denying citizens freedoms of expression, assembly, and association, and Vietnam for suppressing dissent.In Europe and Eurasia, the DOS said that the situation in the North Caucasus region of Russia has worsened. The DOS also criticized Belarus for restrictions on civil liberties and Switzerland for passing a constitutional amendment banning the construction of minarets. The Department noted an increase in the killings of Roma people in Italy, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic.In the Near East and North Africa, the DOS criticized Egypt for failing to respect the freedom of association and the freedom of religion and Saudi Arabia for violence against women. The DOS also criticized Iran for human rights violations following the disputed presidential election last June, Israel for violations during last year's Operation Cast Lead, and Iraq for ongoing rights abuses.In South and Central Asia, the DOS said human rights had deteriorated in Afghanistan because of increased insurgent attacks. The Department said that civilian authorities had taken positive steps in Pakistan, but that significant challenges remain. The DOS criticized Sri Lanka for using excessive force before the end of the conflict with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) last May and Uzbekistan for restricting freedom of the press.In the Western Hemisphere, the DOS praised Colombia for an active independent media, but warned of intimidation by members of illegal armed groups. The DOS criticized Cuba for interfering with the right to privacy and Venezuela for attacking private media owners.The DOS issues its yearly reports on human rights practices to Congress under a legal mandate, and has filed similar reports for 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002 and previous years.
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