Radio Havana Cuba-27 July 2001 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 27 July 2001 . *INTERNATIONAL CRITICISM OF REPRESSION AT G8 SUMMIT ON THE RISE *HONDURAN ARRESTED IN US ON CHARGES OF TORTURE SAYS WASHINGTON BETRAYED HIM *AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL ENDORSES REPARATIONS FOR VICTIMS OF SLAVERY *PERU WILL NORMALIZE RELATIONS WITH VENEZUELA, SAYS TOLEDO . *INTERNATIONAL CRITICISM OF REPRESSION AT G8 SUMMIT ON THE RISE Paris, Vienna, Berlin, Rome, July 27 (RHC)--Criticism of Italy's repression of anti-globalization activists continues on the rise in Italy and throughout the international community. The Friday edition of the Italian news daily "La Repubblica" published testimony from a police inspector speaking of the screams he heard in the principle detention center near Genoa where arrested protesters were confined. The local news daily "La Stampa" quotes an Italian police officer saying "it was war, I beat people, too". A delegation of Germany's Green Party just returned from a visit to Italy, where they interviewed the German activists in jail. The German legislators stated that they were horrified by the stories of abuse and violations of the human dignity of their arrested compatriots - adding that since they are separated from one another their stories could not be confabulations. They said that Italy has clearly and premeditatedly violated European norms regarding the treatment of prisoners. The British news dailies "The Independent" and "The Daily Telegraph" have highlighted the police brutality in Genoa, insisting that London is obligated to officially protest the brutality. In Brussels, Green Party members of the European Parliament are demanding that Italy's excessive use of force be placed on the agenda during its plenary session next September, while Amnesty International is demanding the setting of an independent investigative commission. The International Federation of Journalists, along with other European organizations, have condemned the brutality unleashed against news correspondents covering the G-8 gathering in Genoa. In recent days, thousands of people in Paris, Berlin, Brussels and Athens have demonstrated in front of Italy's embassies. *HONDURAN ARRESTED IN US ON CHARGES OF TORTURE SAYS WASHINGTON BETRAYED HIM Miami, July 27 (RHC)--A former member of the Honduran military arrested in the United States on charges of torture has asserted that Washington has betrayed him. In statements published today by "The Miami Herald", former Honduran army lieutenant Nelson de Jesus Vallejo retracted a previous confession of having tortured leftist guerrillas and political opponents when his country served as Washington's contra base against the Nicaraguan revolution. He admitted, however, that he participated in the illegal mining of Nicaraguan ports under the command of former US Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North. Revelations of the operation sparked a political upheaval in the US Congress, which banned further aid to the contras. But the ban would lead to the Iran-Contra scandal, in which North was accused of diverting funds received for weapons sales to Iran to illegally finance the contras. Vallejo's arrest last month reportedly brought to 28 the number of foreigners arrested in US territory accused of torture, forced disappearances and assassinations. Several have been deported. The arrests began last year when the US's Immigration and Naturalization Service changed its policy, in an apparent effort to clean up Washington's image as a safe haven for human rights violators. Vallejo, who entered the United States in 1991, is one of numerous members of the Honduran military who received US visas for having collaborated with the CIA and the Pentagon during the contra war. *AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL ENDORSES REPARATIONS FOR VICTIMS OF SLAVERY London, July 27 (RHC)--Amnesty International has joined voices with numerous non-governmental organizations supporting reparations for the victims of slavery and racial discrimination. In a report entitled "Racism and the Application of Justice" -- leading up to the International Conference on Racism in Durban, South Africa -- the London-based human rights organization said today's governments cannot avoid responsibility for violations committed by past governments. But while supporting the reparations clamour, Amnesty International said that the most efficient form of compensation for historic errors is to eliminate the contemporary manifestations of racial discrimination. The organization took as an example the racism in the application of justice in the United States, noting that while whites and blacks are murder victims in almost identical percentages, more than 80 percent of executions carried out in the U.S. since 1977 were related to the murders of white citizens. The issue of reparations is threatening to abort the Durban conference, with countries like the United States, Great Britain and Portugal, among others, strongly opposed to compensating the nations and peoples who suffered slavery. *PERU TO NORMALIZE RELATIONS WITH VENEZUELA, SAYS TOLEDO Lima, July 27 (RHC)--Peruvian President-elect Alejandro Toledo has affirmed that relations between his country and Venezuela will be normalized once he officially assumes office on Saturday. Relations between the two countries soured last month in a dispute over the capture in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, of then-fugitive former Peruvian national intelligence chief Vladimiro Montesinos. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez accused Peruvian authorities of mounting a search and capture operation inside Venezuelan territory without informing Venezuelan authorities, while Peruvian authorities suggested that Montesinos had obtained government protection. Both countries withdrew their respective ambassadors. In response to Toledo's announcement, Venezuela's foreign ministry said Chavez will travel to Peru for the presidential inauguration. In other news, Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque has also travelled to Peru at the head of the Cuban delegation that will be present during tomorrow's ceremony. (c) 2001 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. 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