Sunday, December 27, 2009

US to Review Security Procedures After Detroit Airline Incident

Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS

Holiday travelers wait in a long line at the Detroit Metropolitan Airport. The U.S. government tightened airline security as it searches for answers to how a 23-year-old Nigerian man eluded extensive systems intended to prevent attacks like his botched Christmas Day effort to blow up a Northwest flight from overseas.

The Obama administration is reviewing U.S. terror monitoring procedures after a Nigerian man attempted to blow up an airliner as it approached the city of Detroit. Administration officials say the suspect's name had been entered into a U.S. security database, but had not been added to a "no-fly" list.

ASSOCIATED PRESS
In this undated photo provided by the Web site saharareporters.com and verified by an Associated Press reporter present at the subject's arraignment, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab is shown



In the wake of Friday's foiled terror plot, President Obama has requested two reviews of U.S. security procedures. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs spoke on ABC's "This Week" program. "First, on our watch-listing procedures: did the [U.S.] government do everything it could have with the information it had, understanding that these procedures are several years old? Did we do what we need to with that information? Second, obviously we have to review our detection capabilities. The president has asked the Department of Homeland Security to answer the very real question about how somebody with something as dangerous as PETN [plastic explosive] could have gotten onto a plane in Amsterdam," he said.

U.S. authorities have charged the suspect, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, with transporting and attempting to detonate explosives aboard an airliner . The suspect flew from from Amsterdam to the United States, and is believed to have hidden plastic explosives inside his clothing.

Passenger and witness Melinda Dennis said, "Right when we were about to land, there was some commotion in the back, and from what we could tell there was a gentleman who had some sort of device on him that caused him to catch on fire. They put out the fire, brought him up front where they stripped him down to make sure he had nothing else."

The suspect suffered burns and has received medical attention in Michigan, where he is being held.

U.S. officials confirm they had advance knowledge of the suspect. But Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said that knowledge did not rise to the level of banning him from flying or entering the United States. "There are different types of databases, and there was simply throughout the law enforcement community never information that would put this individual on a 'no-fly' list," she said.

Napolitano also appeared on ABC. She says the suspect's possible ties to terrorist groups are under investigation, but that there is no indication that Friday's bombing attempt was part of a larger plot.

According to Nigerian officials, the suspect's father had discussed concerns about his son's radical religious views with U.S. authorities in Nigeria before the attack.

U.S. Congressional leaders have promised probes of the incident. If convicted, the suspect could face 20 years in prison as well as a fine.

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Bhopal Gas Victims Still Await Justice 25 Years Later

India is marking the 25th anniversary of the leak at the Union Carbide pesticide plant in the city of Bhopal. The victims have generally been left in a legal haze since the ill-fated night (Dec. 2, 1984) when a toxic-gas cloud spread across the central Indian city.



Children put candles on the ground during a candle light vigil on eve of 25th anniversary disaster, in Bhopal, 2 Dec 2009
Photo: AP

Children put candles on the ground during a candle light vigil on eve of 25th anniversary disaster, in Bhopal, 2 Dec 2009


ndia is marking the 25th anniversary of the leak at the Union Carbide pesticide plant in the city of Bhopal. The victims have generally been left in a legal haze since the ill-fated night (Dec. 2, 1984) when a toxic-gas cloud spread across the central Indian city.

Victims of the gas leak, accompanied by family members and supporters, took to the streets of Bhopal to demand long-delayed justice.

They want accountability for the deaths of thousands of people and the ill effects suffered by - in the Indian government's estimate - a half million individuals.

There have been numerous civil and criminal cases, filed in India and the United States.

Warren Anderson, 88, who was then chairman of Union Carbide, faces manslaughter charges in India. The United States, five years ago, rejected India's request to extradite him.

A nearly one-half-billion dollar settlement was paid by Union Carbide to the Indian government in 1989. Disabled survivors say what eventually trickled down to them, amounting to an average of a few cents a day since the tragedy, is woefully inadequate to pay medical bills and replace lost income.

India's prime minister, Manmohan Singh, commented in a statement that the victims "can never really be fully compensated."
Mobile protest truck in New Delhi marking 25th anniversary of Bhopal gas leak
VOA S. Herman
Mobile protest truck in New Delhi marking 25th anniversary of Bhopal gas leak.

The parent company of the Indian subsidiary was bought by Dow Chemical of the United States in 1999. Dow maintains all legal liabilities were settled with that one-time payment.

New York-based lawyer Rajan Sharma, who represents Bhopal plaintiffs in a groundwater contamination case, filed in 1999, disputes Dow's stance.

"The U.S. Court of Appeals has rejected that argument at least four times," Sharma said. "There is absolutely no doubt the present-day litigation that concerns environmental pollution stemming from the Bhopal plant is completely outside the scope of the 1989 settlement."

Sharma, speaking to VOA from Bhopal, says he hopes American judges will rule the plant's original owner is legally responsible, no matter how much time has passed.

"We are cautiously hopeful that the American courts will see that Union Carbide is playing a game here whereby it will not submit to the jurisdiction of India's courts. It will not allow India to apply its own laws to address this problem. The American courts will see that if they do not address this Union Carbide will essentially to have been allowed or permitted to escape liability altogether."

Dow declined VOA's requests for an interview.

Anti-Dow Chemical petition signed by Delhi college students.
VOA S. Herman
Anti-Dow Chemical petition signed by Delhi college students.

Union Carbide claimed a disgruntled employee sabotaged the plant, causing the leak of tons of toxic gases. Activists contend a faulty plant design or neglect was to blame.

Union Carbide documents no one has bothered to remove remain at the neglected site inside buildings with broken doors and smashed windows. Lawyers and activists say the files, could be pertinent to the lingering legal cases.

Telegrams and other papers obtained by VOA from the site discuss leaks and other problems at the facility prior to the December 1984 disaster. The full picture is slowly vanishing, however. Security guards on the site say they use the remaining documents to light fires on chilly nights.