May, 16 2016, 03:15pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
AIUSA media office,Email:,media@aiusa.org,Phone: 202-544-0200 x302
President Obama Must Call Viet Nam to Release over 80 Prisoners of Conscience
When President Obama travels to Viet Nam this month, he must call for the immediate and unconditional release of over 80 prisoners of conscience imprisoned for their peaceful political activities, urged Amnesty International in advance of the visit.
"While president Obama aggressively promotes trade with Viet Nam, he must also give equal weight to the suffering of Vietnamese people by raising human rights issues. Especially concerning the release of over 80 prisoners of conscience," said T. Kumar, advocacy director for Asia for Amnesty International USA.
When President Obama travels to Viet Nam this month, he must call for the immediate and unconditional release of over 80 prisoners of conscience imprisoned for their peaceful political activities, urged Amnesty International in advance of the visit.
"While president Obama aggressively promotes trade with Viet Nam, he must also give equal weight to the suffering of Vietnamese people by raising human rights issues. Especially concerning the release of over 80 prisoners of conscience," said T. Kumar, advocacy director for Asia for Amnesty International USA.
"The United States must stress that the oppression of free expression and the jailing of prisoners of conscience in Viet Nam should stop. Failure to do so will send a wrong message that the U.S. does not care about these prisoners, and could encourage Vietnamese authorities to continue their crackdown on peaceful dissent."
Among the prisoners of conscience in Viet Nam is Tran Thi Thuy, a land rights activist who was imprisoned in 2010 for eight years after being charged with "activities aimed at overthrowing" the state. She has been suffering from a tumor on her uterus since 2015, and cannot walk without assistance. Amnesty International is calling for her release and for medical care to be provided to all who remain detained.
Amnesty International is a global movement of millions of people demanding human rights for all people - no matter who they are or where they are. We are the world's largest grassroots human rights organization.
(212) 807-8400LATEST NEWS
'Class War' Erupts at Hearing as Union Leader and GOP Senator Exchange Verbal Blows
"Don't let them distract you," said Teamsters president Sean O'Brien. "Unions create jobs, make work safer, and put more money in workers' pockets."
Mar 08, 2023
Sparks flew at a congressional hearing Wednesday when International Brotherhood of Teamsters president Sean O'Brien told Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma—a multimillionaire whose family previously owned five non-union plumbing companies—that "we hold greedy CEOs like yourself accountable."
The exchange happened during a hearing convened by Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont—chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions—titled "Defending the Right of Workers to Organize Unions Free from Illegal Corporate Union-Busting."
Watch:
\u201cIncredible exchanges between @TeamsterSOB and Republican Senator, former(?) non-union construction company owner, Markwayne Mullin, at the Senate HELP Committee\u201d— People for Bernie (@People for Bernie) 1678291887
Asked by O'Brien how much he made from his plumbing business, Mullin claimed, "I kept my salary down at about 50,000 a year because I invested every penny into it."
But in 2013, then-Rep. Mullin reportedly pocketed more than $600,000 from the companies in violation of House ethics rules and federal laws limiting how much outside income members of Congress are allowed to receive.
Although Mullin transferred ownership of the companies to his family, he continued to serve as a board member and chief advertiser while raking in hundreds of thousands of dollars.
As O'Brien pointed out on social media, Mullin saw his reported net worth surge from between $7.3 million to $29.9 million at the end of 2020 to between $31.6 million and $75.6 million after he sold his family's plumbing companies in late 2021.
\u201cFor the record, @SenMullin saw his reported assets balloon from a range of $7.3 million to $29.9 million at the end of 2020 to a range of $31.6 million to $75.6 million.\n\nhttps://t.co/65oRCTOen9\u201d— Sean O'Brien (@Sean O'Brien) 1678291996
"Don't let them distract you," O'Brien tweeted. "Unions create jobs, make work safer, and put more money in workers' pockets. Most importantly, everything we do is to improve the lives of our members. I wonder if some others can say the same about their constituents?"
Sanders, for his part, declared at the conclusion of Wednesday's hearing that "there's a class war going on whether we want to recognize it or not."
"People on top have the money, they have the power," said Sanders. "They're spending hundreds of millions of dollars to try to prevent ordinary workers from coming together to fight for dignity."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Omar Unveils Bill to Block US Security Aid to Human Rights Abusers
"I will never apologize for speaking out on behalf of children hiding under their bed somewhere like I was, waiting for the bullets to stop. I am proud to introduce the Stop Arming Human Rights Abusers Act."
Mar 08, 2023
Citing her experience as a Somali war refugee, Congresswoman Ilhan Omar on Wednesday unveiled the Stop Arming Human Rights Abusers Act, which "imposes universal human rights and humanitarian conditions on security cooperation with the United States."
"I am a survivor of civil war, and I understand personally how it terrorizes children around the world," the Minnesota Democrat said. "I also know the moral authority the United States carries on human rights and international law. We have an opportunity to live up to these values, to ensure that no child lives through violent conflict like I did, and to mean what we say when it comes to championing human rights worldwide."
"That is why I cannot remain silent in the face of children being bombed in buses in Yemen," she explained, referencing the U.S.-backed assault led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. "That is why I cannot remain silent as the poorest countries in the world face climate devastation—even though they are the least able to afford it and are the least responsible for its causes."
"We have an opportunity... to ensure that no child lives through violent conflict like I did, and to mean what we say when it comes to championing human rights worldwide."
"And that is why I will never apologize for speaking out on behalf of children hiding under their bed somewhere like I was, waiting for the bullets to stop," Omar added. "I am proud to introduce the Stop Arming Human Rights Abusers Act to ensure that there are consequences to human rights abuses regardless of who commits them. America has led the world in standing up for human rights before. It's time for us to seize the mantle of leadership again."
The legislation would establish a bipartisan, independent commission—modeled after the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom—that would determine when other countries cross "red lines" in terms of human rights and international law. Nations that commit these violations would be barred from receiving any U.S. security aid, from arms sales to exchanges with U.S. law enforcement.
Such sanctions would only be lifted if the violations ceased and the country took steps to ensure they are not committed in the future. The bill specifically mentions criminal prosecutions of perpetrators; reparations to victims; structural, legal, and institutional reforms; and truth-telling mechanisms.
Although the proposal has no clear path forward in the Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives, countries that could be impacted by the bill, if passed, include Saudi Arabia and Israel. The latter is currently facing global criticism, including from American Jews, for violence against Palestinians in illegally occupied territory.
The legislation is part of Omar's "Pathway to Peace" and comes about a month after the House GOP, led by Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), voted to remove her from the chamber's Committee on Foreign Affairs. She declared at the time that "I didn't come to Congress to be silent... My leadership and voice will not diminish if I am not on this committee for one term."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Norfolk Southern's 'Safety Plan' Includes Automation That Could Further Endanger Workers
"You can't just replace the manpower with a machine when it's not always as effective," said one railroad worker.
Mar 08, 2023
With railroad operator Norfolk Southern involved in numerous significant train derailments and other accidents in recent weeks, the company on Monday unveiled a "six-point safety plan" that officials claimed would "immediately enhance the safety of its operations."
But critics including rail workers were quick to point out that one aspect of the plan could worsen the growing problem of reduced railroad crews, which they say has contributed to dangerous conditions on railroads.
The plan calls for a number of improvements to Norfolk Southern's systems to detect overheated wheel bearings, which the National Transportation Safety Board said in a preliminary report appeared to be the cause of the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio on February 3.
In addition, Norfolk Southern said it aims to accelerate its "digital train inspection program" by partnering with Georgia Tech Research Institute to develop new safety inspection technology the company claims could "identify defects and needed repairs much more effectively than traditional human inspection."
The technology would use "machine vision and algorithms powered by artificial intelligence," the plan reads—offering what journalist Sam Sacks said is likely a thinly veiled proposal for "further reductions" in the company's workforce.
\u201cNorfolk Southern put forward a safety plan that likely includes further reductions in its workforce.\u201d— Sam Sacks (@Sam Sacks) 1678116938
As Common Dreams reported last month, the national inter-union organization Railroad Workers United (RWU) has called for comprehensive legislation and robust action from regulators to keep rail workers and communities safe, warning that rail companies including Norfolk Southern have been lobbying for years for federal approval to reduce train crews and loosen safety protocols.
Rather than rail companies developing safety plans themselves, federal action is needed to guarantee "proper and adequate maintenance and inspection of rail cars and locomotives, track, signals, and other infrastructure, RWU co-chair Gabe Christenson said in a statement Monday.
Rail workers have "predicted stuff like" an increased reliance on automation, railroad worker and RWU steering committee member Matt Weaver told Common Dreams on Tuesday, as "the Precision Scheduled Railroading [PSR] business model" used by rail companies "calls for doing more with less."
Under PSR, rail companies attempt to maximize profits by running trains on strict schedules and cutting back on equipment and staff. Railroad unions have said the system and the resulting lax safety protocols are an underlying cause of recent train accidents including the East Palestine derailment, another derailment that took place in Michigan less than two weeks later, and a collision between a Norfolk Southern train and a dump truck on Tuesday in Ohio, in which conductor Louis Shuster was killed.
Weaver noted that RWU and his own union, the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes Division (BMWED), aren't opposed to the use of automation in inspections entirely.
"We used to have 12-man gangs that put all the ties in by hand and everything, and now we have lots of machines which do help us live longer and not have our backs or our hips, knees, shoulders [get injured]," he told Common Dreams. "But you can't just replace the manpower with a machine when it's not always as effective. Eyes on the rails and the tracks can catch some things the machines do not."
"We've accepted those as additional help," he added. "Not as a replacement."
Last year, as railroad companies including Norfolk Southern demanded that the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) allow them to continue pilot programs testing automated safety inspections, BMWED noted that according to FRA data, the causes of 48 train accidents that took place between 2016 and 2021 could only be detected through visual inspections while just 14 could be detected through "enhanced track geometry inspection" done by machines.
"Over 50% of the accidents that happened from 2016 to 2021 do not even have the ability to be found by the technology that they're looking to use," Roy Morrison, director of safety for the union, toldFreight Waves last May.
In recent days rail unions have denounced an attempt by Norfolk Southern to use workers' demands for paid sick leave against them—offering BMWED members four days of sick leave in exchange for the union's support for its automated inspection program.
"Norfolk Southern's proposal was ultimately for the union to be complicit in Norfolk Southern's effort to reduce legally required minimum track safety standards through supporting their experimental track inspection program without a sensible fail-safe or safety precautions to help ensure trains would not derail," wrote Jonathon Long, general chairman of the American Rail System Federation of the BMWED, in a letter to Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine. "In other words, Norfolk Southern's proposal was to use your community's safety as their bargaining chip to further pursue their record profits under their cost-cutting business model."
Weaver argued that strong comprehensive railroad safety legislation is needed to compel railroad companies to keep workers and communities safe. RWU has expressed support for some aspects of the bipartisan Railway Safety Act of 2023, introduced last week, but warned that loopholes will allow companies to "avoid the scope of the law without violating the law" and ultimately use the legislation to reduce staff.
"That's kind of their ultimate goal," Weaver told Common Dreams. "And you can't trust a capitalist industry, a for-profit industry to self-regulate. We have to have government intervention. So it's time for the regulators to regulate and the public servants to serve the public."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular
SUPPORT OUR WORK.
We are independent, non-profit, advertising-free and 100%
reader supported.
reader supported.