The Star Online: World Updates
The Star Online: World Updates |
- Canadian businessman goes on trial in Cuba for corruption
- Obama shifts U.S. from 'perpetual war-footing,' limits drone strikes
- Repatriating detainees to Yemen key to closing Guantanamo
| Canadian businessman goes on trial in Cuba for corruption Posted: 23 May 2013 06:33 PM PDT HAVANA (Reuters) - A Cuban court on Thursday wrapped up the first day of testimony in the graft trial of a Canadian businessman whose prosecution is part of a corruption crackdown that has shaken the country's foreign business community.
The trial of Sarkis Yacoubian, originally from Armenia and the owner of import firm Tri-Star Caribbean, was expected to end on Friday. An associate of Yacoubian, Lebanese citizen Krikor Bayassalian, is a co-defendant. Canada's ambassador to Cuba, Matthew Levin, attended the trial but did not speak to reporters. Journalists were not allowed in the courtroom to cover the proceedings. The corruption trials of at least three other Canadian and British executives, all of them arrested shortly after Yacoubian was taken into custody in July 2011, are expected to follow. The arrests were unprecedented for Cuba, where foreign businessmen suspected of corruption are usually deported. They are seen as a measure of President Raul Castro's determination to end a practice he views as a threat to Cuba's socialist system. They sent shockwaves through the country's small foreign business sector where the companies involved were among the most visible players. Cuba's state-run media, however, has not yet reported the Yacoubian trial, nor mentioned the arrests and crackdown on foreign trade. After his arrest, Yacoubian confessed to bribery and implicated other foreign firms. Within months, dozens of Cuban officials and state purchasers were behind bars. "I tried to explain to them (investigators) systematically how things could be done," Yacoubian told the Toronto Star last week in his only interview from jail. "I gave them drawings, designs. I gave them names, people, how they do it, why, when, where, what." Yacoubian was expected to plead guilty to bribery, tax evasion and other crimes and could face up to 12 years behind bars, the newspaper said. Bayassalian faces the same charges. HIGH-LEVEL GRAFT In September 2011, two months after Tri-Star Caribbean was shuttered, Canada-based Tokmakjian Group, one of the most important Western trading firms in Cuba, was closed and its 73-year-old head, Cy Tokmakjian, also originally from Armenia and a Canadian citizen, was taken into custody. Yacoubian had worked for Tokmakjian before founding Tri-Star to compete with his former employer in what became a bitter rivalry for Cuba's automobile, motorized and heavy equipment market. In October 2011, police also closed the Havana offices of the British investment and trading firm Coral Capital Group Ltd and arrested chief executive Amado Fakhre, a Lebanese-born British citizen. Two months later police raided the offices of the powerful military-run Tecnotex trading company, taking its Cuban chief executive Fernando Noy away in handcuffs. Coral Capital's chief operating officer, Stephen Purvis, was arrested in March 2012. Purvis is a British citizen. Other foreigners and Cubans who worked for the companies remain free but cannot leave the island because they are considered witnesses in the cases. Cuban officials and lawyers for the defendants could not be reached for comment. Soon after taking over for his ailing brother Fidel, in 2008, President Castro established the comptroller general's office and gave it a seat on the ruling Council of State, even as he began implementing market-oriented economic reforms. That step marked the start of the anti-corruption campaign that uncovered high-level graft in key sectors ranging from the cigar, nickel and communications industries to food processing and civil aviation. The foreign trade business, which manages billions of dollars in purchases annually and is controlled by a handful of state firms, is perhaps the most vulnerable to corruption, foreign and Cuban businessmen say. There is no open bidding in Cuba's international trade operations and state purchasers who handle multimillion-dollar contracts earn just $50 to $100 per month. "You have people who do not make enough money to care for their families handling huge contracts. What do you expect?" a local administrator said on condition of anonymity. Copyright © 2013 Reuters | ||
| Obama shifts U.S. from 'perpetual war-footing,' limits drone strikes Posted: 23 May 2013 06:19 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Thursday shifted the United States away from a "boundless global war on terror," restricting deadly drone strikes abroad and signalling that America's long struggle against al Qaeda will one day end.
In a major policy speech, Obama narrowed the scope of the U.S. targeted-killing campaign against al Qaeda and its allies and took new steps toward closing the Guantanamo Bay military prison - controversial elements of the U.S. counterterrorism fight that have drawn condemnation at home and abroad. "Our nation is still threatened by terrorists," Obama said at Washington's National Defense University. "We must recognize however, that the threat has shifted and evolved from the one that came to our shores on 9/11." After launching costly wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the United States is tiring of conflict. While combating terrorism is still a high priority for the White House, polls show by large margins that Americans' main concerns are the economy and healthcare. Faced with criticism about civilian casualties in attacks by unmanned aerial vehicles, Obama said the United States would only use those drone strikes when a threat was "continuing and imminent," a nuanced change from the previous policy of launching strikes against a significant threat. Under new presidential guidance signed by Obama on Wednesday, the Defense Department will also take the lead in launching lethal drones, as opposed to the current practice of the CIA taking charge. That would subject drone operations to more scrutiny from Congress and might lead to the Pentagon taking over drone operations in Yemen, but not in Pakistan, where the CIA is likely to continue to run the program. With al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden killed in a U.S. raid in 2011, a number of the group's top members taken out in drone strikes, and the U.S. military role in Afghanistan winding down, Obama made clear it was time for a policy shift. "Beyond Afghanistan, we must define our effort not as a boundless รข€˜global war on terror' - but rather as a series of persistent, targeted efforts to dismantle specific networks of violent extremists that threaten America," Obama said. Now in his second term and with no need to worry about re-election, Obama appears intent on confronting human rights and civil liberties challenges that threaten to stain his legacy. Those include the Guantanamo prison at the U.S. Naval Base in Cuba, where more than 100 prisoners are on hunger strike and dozens are being force-fed to keep them alive. Obama said he would lift a moratorium on sending Yemeni detainees home, appoint a State Department coordinator and work with Congress to break a deadlock over the camp where most prisoners have been held for more than a decade without trial. Human rights groups mostly welcomed Obama's assertion that America could not remain on "a perpetual war-time footing," but some activists said he was not going far enough. "Our systematic effort to dismantle terrorist organizations must continue. But this war, like all wars, must end. That's what history advises. That's what our democracy demands," Obama said. Republican opponents accused him of giving in to terrorism. "The president's speech today will be viewed by terrorists as a victory. Rather than continuing successful counterterrorism activities, we are changing course with no clear operational benefit," Senator Saxby Chambliss from Georgia said. Although the number of drone strikes has dropped in the past year after peaking in the middle of Obama's first term, the use of remote-controlled aircraft to attack extremists - and the civilian casualties that have sometimes resulted - has increased tensions with countries such as Pakistan and drawn criticism from rights activists. The New America Foundation's widely cited drone attack database shows there have been 355 drone strikes in Pakistan's tribal regions since 2004 and more than 60 in Yemen since 2009. Pilotless aircraft are increasingly playing a role in the armoury of the United States and other countries. The U.S. Navy made aviation history on May 14 by launching an unmanned stealth jet off an aircraft carrier for the first time, with an eye on possible rivals like China and Iran. Obama suggested the possibility of creating a secret court to oversee counterterrorism drone strikes, but he left it to Congress to decide on that. UNTYING GUANTANAMO KNOT Renewing his long-standing vow to close the Guantanamo prison, Obama called it "a symbol around the world for an America that flouts the rule of law." Obama has been frustrated by his inability to make good on his 2008 campaign pledge to shut the prison, which was opened by his predecessor, President George W. Bush, to hold men rounded up on suspicion of involvement with al Qaeda and the Taliban after the September 11 attacks. Obama's latest Guantanamo proposals will likely meet much of the same resistance his earlier ones did from Republicans and some Democrats. But two Senate Republicans, John McCain and Lindsey Graham, said they could support closing Guantanamo and moving some of its functions to the United States if Obama presented a workable plan. Obama suggested a suitable site could be found on the U.S. mainland to hold military tribunals. McCain and Graham have suggested that trials could be held at Charleston Naval Yard in South Carolina. A supermax prison in Illinois has also been proposed in the past for housing Guantanamo inmates. Among those tuning into the speech were some prisoners at Guantanamo, who rely on television broadcasts and newspapers for hints about their fate. "Detainees follow all coverage of Guantanamo closely, including today's speech, and the post-speech commentary, analysis and editorials," said Navy Captain Robert Durand, a spokesman for the Guantanamo detention operation. "There is interest and discussion, but no discernible reaction," he said. Durand did not specify how many detainees had watched the speech. He said about two dozen had unrestricted access to television in communal settings and many others held in single cells were allowed to watch live TV during certain hours, including programming in Arabic, Farsi, English, Russian, Spanish and other languages. A hunger strike by 103 of the 166 detainees - 32 of whom have lost so much weight that they are being force-fed - has put pressure on Obama to take action. "There is no justification beyond politics for Congress to prevent us from closing a facility that should never have been opened," Obama said. The president was interrupted for more than a minute by a heckler from the Code Pink anti-war group, who berated him for not closing the prison. While he cannot shut Guantanamo on his own, Obama announced steps aimed at getting some prisoners out. He lifted a moratorium on detainee transfers to Yemen out of respect for that country's reforming government. Yemenis make up the largest group of prisoners. He also called on Congress to lift restrictions on the transfer of terrorism suspects from Guantanamo and directed the Defense Department to identify a site in the United States to hold military tribunals for Guantanamo detainees. Lawmakers from both major parties have opposed bringing them to the U.S. mainland. Zeke Johnson, director of Amnesty International USA's Security with Human Rights Campaign, called Obama's wide-ranging 50-minute address a "momentous speech." "Now it's time for him to take immediate action and get the job done," he said. But he made clear that differences remained with Obama's policies. "What's needed on drones is not a 'kill court,' but rejection of the radical redefinition of 'imminence' used to expand who can be killed, as well as independent investigations of alleged extrajudicial executions and remedy for victims." Obama's administration acknowledged on Wednesday that since 2009, four Americans had been killed in drone strikes in Yemen and Pakistan, including militant cleric Anwar al-Awlaki. Obama defended those operations, saying that when a U.S. citizen goes abroad to wage war against the United States, his citizenship should not be a shield. Further underscoring Obama's hopes for changing the U.S. military posture toward terrorism, Obama also called on Congress to revise the authorization of the use of force it passed in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, a provision that many critics see as overly broad and subject to presidential abuse. (Additional reporting by Steve Holland, Jeff Mason, Mark Felsenthal, Susan Cornwell, Patricia Zengerle and Tabassum Zakaria in Washington and Jane Sutton in Miami; Editing by Alistair Bell and Jim Loney)
Factbox - Obama outlines steps toward closing Guantanamo prison Guantanamo prisoners tune in for Obama's speech on their fate Copyright © 2013 Reuters | ||
| Repatriating detainees to Yemen key to closing Guantanamo Posted: 23 May 2013 04:47 PM PDT WASHINGTON/MIAMI (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's pledge on Thursday to lift a ban on transfers of detainees to Yemen from the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, addresses one of the core obstacles to clearing out the detention camp.
Of the 86 detainees who have been cleared for transfer or release, 56 are from Yemen, where al Qaeda has a dangerous presence. There are 80 more prisoners who are not cleared and an unknown number of those are Yemeni as well. Most of the Yemeni prisoners were captured more than a decade ago. Previously, they were a smaller percentage of the detainees, which included higher numbers of Afghans and Saudis. But as the United States worked out agreements with other countries to transfer detainees to their homelands, it remained reluctant to do so with Yemen because of security concerns. Repatriation of Yemeni prisoners was halted in 2010 after a man trained by militants in Yemen attempted to blow up a U.S.-bound plane in 2009 with a bomb concealed in his underwear. The Obama administration so far has been sceptical that Yemen is stable enough to receive the transfers. Officials fear the consequences of a repatriated Yemeni eventually attacking the United States or its interests. Yemen is home to an al Qaeda wing that was once described by Washington as the movement's most dangerous branch. Impoverished and turbulent, Yemen is located next door to the world's top oil exporter, Saudi Arabia, and major crude shipment routes. Militants allied to al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula took advantage of Arab Spring chaos in Yemen in 2011 to seize control of some towns in the country's south. They were pushed from those towns last year but continue to fight government forces. Recent developments, however, appear to have triggered reconsideration in Washington. Yemen's new president, Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, has made tackling militants a top priority. Supporters of shutting down Guantanamo said they were encouraged by Obama's pledge on transfers to Yemen but noted that he included heavy caveats during his wide-ranging speech on Thursday on how the United States will narrow its global war on terror. When renewing his pledge to close Guantanamo, Obama said, "I am lifting the moratorium on detainee transfers to Yemen, so we can review them on a case by case basis. To the greatest extent possible, we will transfer detainees who have been cleared to go to other countries." Wells Dixon, a senior attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights, a New York organization that has represented a number of Guantanamo prisoners, said he was not encouraged by Obama's statements. "While I welcome his lifting the ban on transfers to Yemen, and his renewed commitment to closing the prison, I am deeply troubled by his comment that cleared detainees will be released only 'to the extent possible,'" Dixon said. "What does that mean? Are men going to be released and reunited with their families or not? If men are not released soon, especially to Yemen, the crisis at Guantanamo will worsen and men will die. They cannot be let down again; it's cruel and inhumane," he said. Retired Rear Admiral Don Guter, who served as the judge advocate general and was the Navy's top judge on September 11, 2001, praised the move to lift the ban on Yemeni transfers. "That's really created paralysis on that issue so removing that moratorium is a great step," Guter said. Mohammed Albasha, a spokesman for the Yemeni Embassy in Washington, said in a statement that the Yemeni government will work with the United States to ensure the safe return of detainees and work toward their rehabilitation. TIMING OF TRANSFERS Calls on Obama to close the Guantanamo Bay camp have risen as a hunger strike at the U.S. naval base in Cuba lingers. Prisoners are in the fourth month of their strike to protest the failure to resolve their fate after 11 years of detention. More than 100 people have joined the protest and 32 have lost so much weight that they are being force-fed. Transferring prisoners to Yemen was one of several steps Obama announced to move toward closing the prison. Other moves included designating a site in the United States for military commissions, and including a new senior envoy at the State Department and Defense Department to oversee transfers. Lifting the ban does not mean transfers to Yemen will immediately take place. Current law requires the Defense Department to certify for each transferred prisoner that the destination country is not a state sponsor of terrorism and would take action to make sure the individual would not threaten the United States. Unless those provisions are removed or expire, they would have to be followed. No prisoners have been certified yet so it is not known how long the process takes. Obama called on Congress to lift those and other restrictions that it placed on prisoner transfers starting in 2011. If it were so inclined, Congress could do this in the coming months as it works on defence legislation. The restrictions have had bipartisan support in the past. The youngest of all the remaining Guantanamo prisoners is a Yemeni named Hassan Mohammed ali bin Attash, who is 26 or 27 and is an alleged al Qaeda member accused by the United States of being part of Osama bin Laden's security detail. He is not among those cleared for release or transfer; the United States wants to continue holding him indefinitely. Some Republican reaction to Obama's speech showed it may be difficult for Obama to secure congressional support for lifting the restrictions on transfers. "What's changed in Yemen?" asked Republican Senator Kelly Ayotte, who wants Guantanamo to stay open. "I think this issue of transferring to Yemen is very troubling, given the history we have with Yemen and terrorist activity there." (Additional reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Karey Van Hall and Bill Trott) Copyright © 2013 Reuters |
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