Anunnaki secret history on earth

Colombian court rules against extraditing warlord to U.S.

The Colombian Supreme Court has ruled against extraditing drug lord and rightist militia chief Daniel Rendon Herrera to the United States.

In Wednesday's ruling, the court said Rendon should stand trial in Colombia for charges of crimes against humanity – both those currently pending and others that may be brought in the future.

The U.S. embassy in Bogota had filed a request for the extradition of Herrera, alias “Don Mario,” on July 21, 2009, on terrorism and drug trafficking charges.

U.S. federal prosecutors accuse him of providing material support to a terrorist organization – the now-defunct AUC militia federation – and of conspiring to import, manufacture, possess and distribute cocaine in the United States.

Don Mario, captured in April of last year, was a member of the Elmer Cardenas Bloc of the AUC, which was dismantled in mid-2006 after more than 31,000 paramilitary fighters handed in their weapons.

More than 3,000 homicides and other crimes, including forced displacement and disappearance, have been attributed to the Elmer Cardenas Bloc and specifically to Don Mario and brother Freddy Rendon Herrera, who are being held in maximum-security prisons.

Both are cooperating with prosecutors from a special unit of the Attorney General's Office created to investigate and prosecute demobilized AUC fighters.

Don Mario must first appear before Colombian judicial authorities and make reparations to victims of his paramilitary activity, the Supreme Court said.

If he were to be extradited to the United States, “that would undermine the Colombian government's obligations in the fight against impunity for crimes against humanity,” the high court said.

It “would also gravely damage the rights of the victims and Colombian society, who would not have the chance to know the truth and obtain reparations for the crimes committed” by the AUC.

Rendon went underground after the AUC demobilized between the end of 2003 and mid-2006 as part of the peace process with President Alvaro Uribe's administration.

He seized control of the smuggling routes and markets of other drug warlords, including Salvatore Mancuso, Diego Fernando Murillo Bejarano and Ramiro Vanoy Murillo, all of whom were extradited by the Colombian government to the United States on May 13, 2008, to face drug and money-laundering charges.

Uribe said at the time they were extradited after violating the terms of the peace accords they had signed with his government.

The AUC encompassed most of the rightist rural security organizations created in the 1980s to fight leftist guerrillas.

Over the years, however, those groups turned into drug-running death squads.

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Interfaith dialogue ends with vow to uphold human rights, diversity

Reiterating their commitment to protect and promote human rights and freedom of expression, member-states including those with bleak human rights records concluded Thursday the special ministerial meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) on interfaith dialogues.

The two-day conference ended with ministers and representatives of 118 member-states adopting the Manila Declaration and Program of Action. The document states that inter-faith and inter-cultural dialogue is a “productive tool to promote economic and social development, peace and security, and human rights and the rule of law."

Under the declaration, NAM states agree to ensure that people fully enjoy the right to freedom of expression while preventing abuses and incitement to religious hatred “as provided for in the international human rights instruments to which states are parties."

Member-states reiterated the need for international cooperation in building inter-faith and inter-cultural dialogue at the national and regional levels towards conflict prevention and nuclear disarmament.

They likewise emphasized the need to promote respect for the diversity of religions, beliefs, cultures and societies, and for prophets, religious symbols and personalities.

They also noted the value of spiritual practices as an aid to promoting peace and resolving conflict.

Dismal human rights records

Human rights situations in NAM states, however, have not been very encouraging in the past years.

The non-aligned movement counts among its 118 member-states the junta-ruled Myanmar, North Korea, Iran and even the Philippines, where rampant human rights violations have been scored by international rights watchdogs, including United Nations bodies.

Of special concern is Myanmar's passage of a law that would ban opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi from participating in the national elections expected to be held this year. Suu Kyi has been in and out of detention for a total of 14 years since she was elected Prime Minister in the country's 1990 elections.

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Human rights being trampled in Australia, says former WA premier Geoff Gallop

Basic human rights are being trampled on by "authoritarian" governments in Australia in the absence of a federal bill of rights, former West Australian premier Geoff Gallop says.

Mr Gallop, in a speech to a Human Rights Arts and Film Festival forum in Perth today, said recent state laws - including confiscation of assets and unexplained wealth legislation - had "crossed the line" on people's rights.

Australia was the only democratic country without a bill or charter of human rights, leaving its citizens at the mercy of bureaucracies, Mr Gallop said.

"What's missing in Australia, compared to a lot of other countries, is a consciousness that human rights are important," he said.

"There are very few human rights enshrined in law in Australia - we're very light on human rights."

Mr Gallop said recent legislation in Australia, including WA's tough anti-hoon laws that have led to the impounding cars belonging to innocent parties, and asset-freezing laws that undermine the presumption of innocence, had gone "too far".

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"Some of those laws come very close, if not cross the line, on human rights and we need to expose that so we have a proper debate," he said.

"I think a charter of rights is designed to put a spotlight on those things, which is exactly what we need."

Mr Gallop said state governments had been put under pressure in recent times to get tough on crime, but had to be careful not to go too far.

"All governments are under pressure sometimes to push the executive power in the interests of the public," he said.

"(But) I think governments get too authoritarian.

"I really think, having been in government, you do need to have people question what you're doing, examining what you're doing - you need second opinions on things.

Mr Gallop told the forum at the University of WA that Australia still had "significant pockets of racism", "crude and nasty" populism and nationalism.

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Pig farts spark Australia gas scare

AFP - A flatulent pig sparked a gas emergency in southern Australia when a farmer mistook its odours for a leaking pipe, according to officials.

Fifteen firefighters and two trucks were called to a property at Axedale in central Victoria state after reports of a gas leak, the Country Fire Service said.

"When we got there, as we drove up the driveway, there was this huge sow, about a 120-odd kilo (265-pound) sow, and it was very obvious where the gas was coming from," said fire captain Peter Harkins.

"We could not only smell it, but we heard it and it was quite funny."

Harkins said the pig's owner was "a little bit embarrassed to say the least," and it took fire crews a little while to compose themselves.

"It was fairly obvious what it was. I think we dealt with it fairly professionally and had a bit of a giggle when we got back to the station," he told public broadcaster ABC.

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