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For Immediate Release
March, 02 2015, 07:30am EDT
Contact:
Reprieve's London office can be contacted on: communications [at] reprieve.org.uk / +44 (0) 207 553 8140.,Reprieve US,, based in New York City, can be contacted on Katherine [dot] oshea [at] reprieve.org
UK Police Risking 'Miscarriage of Justice' In Thai Murder Case
LONDON
Questions have been raised over British police support for a Thai investigation into the murders of two young Britons, which could lead to death sentences for the accused.
British police have refused to allow two young Burmese migrant workers, charged with the murders of Hannah Witheridge and David Miller, to access information about themselves that was gathered during investigations into the crime. The information on defendants Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo, which they are entitled to under the Data Protection Act, has been shared with the Thai prosecution but not with the defence.
In correspondence with the police, legal charity Reprieve and law firm Leigh Day have outlined concerns that UK police assistance to the prosecution will reduce the chance of a fair trial and could lead to death sentences for the men, whose local defence team is significantly hampered by a lack of resources. The decision not to allow the men to see the information on them could, the letter says, lead to a miscarriage of justice; it could also put the police in contravention of UK policy against the provision of support for the death penalty overseas.
Accusations that the men were tortured by police into making forced 'confessions' were raised immediately after the Thai prosecution investigation - supported by British police - began. A forensics expert has also expressed doubt about the forensic evidence against the men.
The Burmese migrant community is routinely discriminated against in Thailand, and other Burmese workers on Koh Tao have described serious mistreatment by police, including scalding with boiling water and suffocation.
Maya Foa, head of the death penalty team at Reprieve, said: "Our sympathies are of course with the families at such a difficult time, and we understand their desire to see those responsible held to account. It is therefore essential to make sure that we see a fair trial - but this can only happen if there is a level playing field.
"That's why the one-sided assistance provided to the Thai prosecutors by the UK police is so worrying - especially when they are aware that two young men could face the death penalty following torture, and a deeply flawed trial. It is essential for all concerned that the UK is transparent about their role in the Thai investigations, and that they ensure that they do not do anything to jeopardise a fair trial where the death penalty could result."
Reprieve is a UK-based human rights organization that uses the law to enforce the human rights of prisoners, from death row to Guantanamo Bay.
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The "growing experimental use" of ChatGPT and similar tools in medical contexts should be halted until pressing concerns are addressed and "clear evidence of benefit" is demonstrated, said the United Nations health agency.
May 17, 2023
The ongoing failure to adequately regulate artificial intelligence-generated large language model tools is jeopardizing human well-being, the World Health Organization said Tuesday.
The WHO lamented that precautions typically taken with regard to any new technology are not being applied consistently when it comes to large language models (LLMs), which use AI to analyze data, create content, and answer questions—often incorrectly. Accordingly, the United Nations agency called for sufficient risk assessments to be conducted and corresponding safeguards implemented before LLMs become entrenched in healthcare.
The "meteoric public diffusion and growing experimental use" of LLMs—including ChatGPT, Bard, Bert, and other platforms that "imitate understanding, processing, and producing human communication"—in medical settings "is generating significant excitement around the potential to support people's health needs," the WHO noted. However, "it is imperative that the risks be examined carefully when using LLMs to improve access to health information, as a decision-support tool, or even to enhance diagnostic capacity in under-resourced settings to protect people's health and reduce inequity."
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Specific concerns identified by the WHO include:
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The WHO expressed its worries just days after an international group of doctors warned in the peer-reviewed journal BMJ Open Health that AI "could pose an existential threat to humanity" and demanded a moratorium on the development of such technology pending robust regulation.
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Fears of the negative implications of AI in healthcare and other arenas appear to be well-founded. As Common Dreams reported in March, progressives urged the Biden administration to intervene after an investigation showed that Medicare Advantage insurers' use of unregulated AI tools to determine when to end payments for patients' treatments has resulted in the premature termination of coverage for vulnerable seniors.
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House Democrats on Wednesday formally launched a longshot bid to raise the debt ceiling through a procedural maneuver known as a discharge petition, which would force a floor vote on a debt limit increase without the approval of Republican Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
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A discharge petition requires at least 218 signatures to force a floor vote, meaning a minimum of five House Republicans would need to join every Democrat in supporting the effort. In a letter to his caucus on Wednesday, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) wrote that it is "imperative that members make every effort to sign the discharge petition today."
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It's not yet clear what legislative language House Democrats intend to attach to the discharge petition.
\u201cNEW: Dems will gather signatures today on the \u201cdischarge petition,\u201d their backup plan to raise the debt ceiling. @RepBrendanBoyle will file the petition at 10am. \n\n@RepJeffries encourages Dems to sign it today. It needs 218 supporters, so at least 5 GOP would need to back it.\u201d— Kyle Stewart (@Kyle Stewart) 1684329222
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Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) said Tuesday that he could not "in good conscience support a debt ceiling proposal that pushes people into poverty."
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) echoed that position, calling the GOP's proposed work requirements "despicable" and saying she "cannot support a deal that is only about hurting people."
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"It's the first time in history that it's more likely than not that we will exceed 1.5°C," said a co-author of a new U.N. report.
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Naturally-occurring El Niño events have resulted in hotter global temperatures for thousands of years, but a United Nations agency warned Tuesday that the warming trend that scientists expect to form in the coming months will be intensified by heat-trapping greenhouse gas emissions—likely resulting in an average global temperature that's more than 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels for at least a year.
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A global average temperature that exceeds 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels would mean that the planet temporarily grows hotter than the limit specified by the Paris climate agreement.
The WMO report says there is a 66% chance that the annual average global temperature will exceed 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels for at least one year between 2023 and 2027.
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El Niño events occur roughly every five years, and the one that appears to be forming now is likely to make at least one of the next five years the warmest on record. The El Niño event that occurred in 2016 contributed to 2016, 2019, and 2020 being the hottest years on record so far.
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\u201cChance of temporarily exceeding 1.5\u00b0C global warming: \n\n\ud83d\udfe2 2015 \u2248 0% \n\n\ud83d\udfe1 2017-2021 \u2248 10%\n\n\ud83d\udfe0 2023-2027 \u2248 66%\n\nToday's @WMO report shows we must accelerate action this decade to avoid the worst impacts of #ClimateChange.\u201d— UN Climate Change (@UN Climate Change) 1684333323
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\u201cHeart-breakingly terrifying and predictable at the same time, but Big Oil just keeps on ignoring the science and drilling your future away. #ClimateEmergency \n\nhttps://t.co/glv9Y3Pyyc\u201d— Andy Rowell (@Andy Rowell) 1684320614
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