Judge slaps down U.N. on sex crimes reporting

The United Nations’ suspension of a top human rights official who passed evidence to French authorities of rape and sexual abuse of starving children in the Central African Republic by French and African troops  last year was unlawful,  a U.N. judge has ruled.
The judge also rejected U.N. concerns that “the interest of the Organization” required that the official, Anders Kompass, be suspended “to avoid any interference with the investigation” of his actions, and ordered that the April 17 suspension be lifted until the allegations against Kompass were  fully investigated.
The judicial order from a body known as the United Nations Dispute Tribunal—part of an internal justice system for a world organization that has diplomatic immunity from everyone else’s law-- amounted to an egg-on-the-face moment for U.N. Secretary General Ki-moon, who personally  took note of the suspension last week and gave it implicit blessing by declaring that Kompass’ actions—without referring to him by name-- had been “a serious breach of protocol” which “requires redaction of any information that could endanger victims, witnesses and investigators.”
Ban also explicitly declared that “Our preliminary assessment is that such conduct does not constitute whistleblowing”—a designation that would have given Kompass limited protection for his information handover.
Despite the alleged seriousness of his offense, it took the U.N. a full month to order up an investigation of Kompass’ conduct and declare his suspension after  Kompass refused to resign in March 2015 at the request of the High Commissioner for Human Rights himself, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein of Jordan, for his alleged violation of U.N. investigation protocol
Kompass,  a top official of the U.N.’s Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights in Geneva, had never made any secret of his actions, and indeed told his bosses about handing over the information to the French shortly after he did so in December last year.
Under the U.N.’s cumbersome rules, a  confidential investigation of the sexual crimes that took place nearly a year ago would have required further internal vetting –including the removal of the names of child victims and witnesses of the alleged sex crimes--before it would have gone to the French for action.
That process would have involved further delays in action  against the wrongdoers, and potentially further crimes against vulnerable children.
The French not only began their own investigation but sent a formal letter of thanks to Kompass last July, assuring him that a military inquiry had begun “without delay”  due to his actions.
CLICK HERE FOR THE FRENCH LETTER
The fact that the French officials responsible for the military force in Central African Republic (subsequently replaced by a formal U.N. peacekeeping force) were more grateful than the U.N. to get speedy notification of alleged crimes by its troops is only one of several ironies surrounding the Kompass case.
It is also seen by many critics as a rebuff of the U.N.’s own procedures for dealing with sex crimes by U.N. peacekeepers, which according to a long-suppressed internal report are  under-reported, under-investigated and subject to little consequential follow-up, despite Ban claims of “zero tolerance.”
Ban has yet to implement a number of reforms suggested as long ago as 2005 in a special report on sexual exploitation and abuse in U.N. peacekeeping operations—whose author was none other than the current High Commissioner for Human Rights, Prince Zeid, the man who unsuccessfully demanded Kompass resignation.
The same kind of bureaucratic lethargy was noted by U.N. Dispute Tribunal Judge Thomas Laker in his 18-page rejection of the suspension, which largely turned on the fact that the U.N. official who declared Kompass’ suspension did not have the authority to do so.
Lakers pooh-poohed ostensible U.N. concerns that without being suspended from work,  Kompass might have destroyed evidence or otherwise interfered with internal investigators, noting that “he could easily have done so” in the month after he was requested to resign. The decision to suspend Kompass, he ruled, “defeats its purpose.”
CLICK HERE FOR THE JUDGEMENT          
Laker’s ruling was hailed by supporters who also feel his actions, despite Secretary General Ban’s “preliminary assessment,” also deserve protected whistleblower status—which in their view is under increasing hostile pressure at the U.N.
“We’re hoping the UN recognizes it has overreached and abandons efforts to retaliate against Anders Kompass  and other whistleblowers,” observed Bea Edwards, executive director of the Government Accountability Project, a Washington-based whistleblower protection organization.
Edwards noted  that nine U.N. whistleblowers in April sent an open letter to Ban, warning that current U.N. policies “afford little to no measure of real or meaningful protection for whistleblowers. ”
The group noted that “most of us have been forced to leave the UN to save our livelihoods, our health and our reputations” and urged specific reforms, including  “immediately end the practice of subjecting known U.N. whistleblowers to lengthy internal appeals processes for contesting the loss of their job or other adverse employment decisions.”
CLICK HERE FOR THE WHISTLEBLOWER LETTER
A similar concern for protecting those, like Kompass, who have gone public to prevent additional wrongdoing is included in a declaration published on May 4 by a group of four  international rapporteurs and special representatives on freedom of expression.
They  declared that “individuals who expose wrongdoing, serious maladministration, a breach of human rights, humanitarian law violations or other threats to the overall public interest,”  should be protected against “legal, administrative or employment-related sanction, even if they have otherwise acted in breach of a binding rule or contract, as long as at the time of the disclosure they had reasonable grounds to believe that the information disclosed was substantially true and exposed wrongdoing or the other threats noted above.”
One of the authors of that “Joint Declaration on Freedom of Expression and responses to conflict situations” was the U.N.’s own Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression, David Kaye.
The Joint Declaration was posted, among other places, on the website of the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights—the same office where Anders Kompass now works again, and where he continues to be investigated.

Vegas suburb under fire for reportedly looking at stripping ‘integrity’ from ‘core values’

Amid financial woes and political upheaval, one of America's fastest-growing cities is scrambling to defend itself following a report that "integrity" is being stripped from its employees' official list of core values.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal first reported that North Las Vegas is looking to edit down its lengthy list of "core values," and that values like "integrity" and "respect" and "leadership" might be on the chopping block.
But North Las Vegas city spokesman Mitch Fox ripped what he described as "terrible reporting."
Fox acknowledged an 11-member employee committee is looking to streamline the city's "core values" because "no one knew what they were."
But Fox stressed that nothing has been decided, and, "No decision will be made for two months."
"We want to hear from the 1,200 employees," he said. (He noted the Las Vegas Review-Journal toned down its online headline -- "City of North Las Vegas wants to dump 'integrity' from core values" -- to "NLV debates core values" in its print edition.)
For all its growth in the past four decades, North Las Vegas remains the poor cousin in the Las Vegas valley. The suburb's population soared 89.9 percent to 216,961 from 2000-2010, but per-capita incomes remain at the region's low end. The average population increase nationally was 9.7 percent during the period.
The city's workforce has expanded, too, along with union influence, from cops to janitors.
Former Mayor Shari Buck, speaking with Watchdog.org, backed the "core values" in their original form. "When we set those core values, we wanted the public to know that those areas were important to us as their elected representatives and staff," Buck said.

Asylum is 'secret password' for immigrants looking to enter US, say critics

Critics say there's a secret password that allows immigrants access into the U.S., and one that can be uttered in a short phone interview in a process they say exposes border security to widespread fraud.
The word: Asylum.
“Almost anyone at all can call themselves an asylum seeker and get in. It’s a global joke," said Kenneth Palinkas, president of the National Citizenship and Immigration Services Council. “It’s not border security if anyone can recite the magic words and get waved right on in.”
Under current policy, aliens caught crossing the border illegally can claim asylum, and with it receive authorization to work in the United States. Once a work permit is conferred , then comes a social security card and a variety of taxpayer funded benefits such as are Supplemental Security Income, SNAP/Food Stamps, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, and Medicaid. Some of which even legal, permanent residents do not receive.

“Asylum is the trump card of immigration.”
- Jan Ting, Temple University law professor

It’s a tactic most often used by 19 to 21 year-olds, according to a recent Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) report to Congress.Examples of terrorists who applied for asylum include Sheik Omar Abdul Rahman, the blind sheik behind the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, and Ramzi Yousef, another of the '93 plotters and the nephew of Khalid Sheik Mohammed.
The House Judiciary Committee last year uncovered an internal Department of Homeland Security report demonstrating at least 70 percent of asylum cases contained proven or possible fraud. Despite this, more than 90 percent of cases in which applicants claimed a "credible fear" in their nation of origin were approved. And yet, even when the asylum officer denies the case, the alien may still be awarded benefits by appealing to a judge using a “credible fear” defense and in the meantime roam freely across the country.
“Unfortunately our generous asylum polices have become subject to ever increasing levels of abuse largely due to the Obama Administration’s pattern of rubber stamping “credible fear” claims and asylum cases,” said Bob Goodlatte, R.-Va., chairman of the House Committee on the Judiciary. “Instead of detaining asylum seekers while the government determines whether their cases are legitimate, the Obama administration simply releases them into the United States.”
According to the Committee, credible fear claims have increased 586 percent -- an unprecedented surge.
“It’s the second bite out of the apple,” said Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies. "You just have to be on the docket to derive the benefits. But before 2009, there wasn’t an incentive. People don’t come here to sit in detention, they come here for the work permits.”
The Center for Immigration Studies found that the number of work permits given to asylum seekers has tripled since 2008.Vaughan points to the December 2009 policy directive issued by former ICE Director John Morton, which provided that any arriving alien found to have a credible fear who could establish identity, not be a flight risk or a danger to the community should be released, as the driving force.She said the law requires all aliens seeking asylum to remain detained while their case is pending.
“Once they’re here, it’s not a priority for immigration. They’re in the wind,” said Vaughan.
Immigration dockets remain hefty. According to the Executive Office for Immigration Review, as of Dec. 31, 2014, there were 415,060 non-detained cases before the court with hearing dates stretching out into 2017.
The House Judiciary Committee recently released a bill addressing some of the issues regarding asylum and while that legislation beefs up the standard for credible fear, Vaughn said it was a “missed opportunity” and does not go after the incentives. The bill does, however, attempt to forestall the administration’s plans to use $50 million in taxpayer dollars for lawyers for unaccompanied alien minors in removal proceedings, a practice already prohibited by law.
The misapplication of “credible fear” and lack of detention are not only breaches of law according to Jan Ting, a law professor at Temple University. Ting said the expanding definition of “who is legal” puts the entire system in jeopardy.
“Asylum is the trump card of immigration,” said Ting. “Credible fear was an informal procedure intended to keep people out, what’s its doing now is letting people in. People have learned the right words and phrases whether true or not.”
According to Ting, poverty and violence are not grounds for asylum and officials are watering down and misapplying the basic threshold.
“A natural disaster or flood of bullets flying around your neighborhood doesn’t meet the standard,” said Ting. “If the government wanted to deter illegal immigration, they would alter the cost-benefit analysis. Instead, they are looking for ways to help them stay.”
Ting said the situation is a legal and economic “formula for permanent dysfunction” and a core reason for the lack of jobs for Americans and stagnates wages.
“It isn’t border security if all you need is a story,” said Ting.

British Prime Minister David Cameron on track for narrow majority, exit poll suggests

David Cameron was all but certain of remaining Britain's Prime Minister early Friday after a revised exit poll predicted his Conservative party would secure a narrow majority in Britain's 650-member House of Commons.
Shortly after 6 a.m. Friday London time, a revised poll released by the BBC projected the Conservative, or Tory party to win 325 seats in the next Parliament. The opposition Labour Party slumped to a projected 232 seats, while the Scottish National Party, which advocates Scottish independence from the United Kingdom won a projected 56 seats, 50 more than it garnered at the last election in 2010.
The projected 325 seats are one short of an absolute majority. However, in practice Cameron can form a government with that number of Conservative Members of Parliament since the roster of 650 includes the non-partisan Speaker of the House, as well as a handful of Irish nationalist MPs who do not sit in the House of Commons on principle.
Cameron stopped short of declaring full victory when he spoke Friday morning at his constituency in Oxfordshire, northwest of London after being easily re-elected.
"This is clearly a very strong night for the Conservative Party," Cameron said.
The Prime Minister also vowed to counter the rise of Scottish nationalism with more powers for Scotland and Wales, saying "I want my party, and I hope a government that I would like to lead, to reclaim a mantle that we should never have lost -- the mantle of one nation, one United Kingdom."
The rise of the SNP was in many ways the main story of the evening, as an election once billed as the tightest in decades turned into a rout for Labour with the help of a seismic shift in its longtime bulwark north of the border. If the revised exit poll numbers held, the SNP would have gained 50 seats in Parliament over its performance at the prior election in 2010. Of those 50 seats, 40 would have come at the expense of Labour members, including some of the party's senior politicians.
"What we're seeing tonight is Scotland voting to put its trust in the SNP to make Scotland's voice heard, a clear voice for an end to austerity, better public services and more progressive politics at Westminster," party leader Nicola Sturgeon told the BBC.
"The Scottish lion has roared this morning across the country," said former SNP leader Alex Salmond, who was elected in the seat of Gordon.
Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy insisted he would not resign despite losing his seat but Labour leader Ed Miliband's grip seemed more tenuous, as the party failed to make predicted gains against the Conservatives across the rest of Britain.
"This has clearly been a very disappointing and difficult night for the Labour Party," said Miliband. "In Scotland we have seen a surge of nationalism overcome our party."
Cameron's coalition partner, the Liberal Democrat party, also faced an electoral disaster, predicted to lose most of its seats as punishment for supporting a Conservative agenda since 2010.
"It is now painfully clear that this has been a cruel and punishing night for the Liberal Democrats," said leader Nick Clegg, who held onto his own seat. He said he would discuss his future with colleagues later Friday.
An initial exit poll released as voting ended and counting began at 10 p.m. Thursday projected that the Conservatives would get 316 seats -- up from 302 and far more than had been predicted -- and Labour 239, down from 256. It said the Liberal Democrats would shrink from 56 seats to 10, while the Scottish nationalists would grow from six to 58. The anti-immigration, anti-Europe UK Independence Party was projected to win two seats.
Based on interviews with 22,000 voters, the poll differed strongly from opinion polls conducted during the monthlong election campaign, which had put the Conservatives and Labour neck-and-neck.
The chief exit pollster, John Curtice of Strathclyde University, said it looked as if Conservative and Labour gains had canceled each other out across England and Wales, and that Labour had lost much of its support in Scotland to the SNP.
Each of the 650 constituencies are counted by hand and the results follow a familiar ritual. Candidates -- each wearing a bright rosette in the color of their party -- line up onstage like boxers as a returning officer reads out the results.
But if the form was familiar, the results were often shocking.
Among the early Scottish National Party winners was 20-year-old student Mhairi Black, who became Britain's youngest lawmaker since the 17th century by defeating Douglas Alexander, Labour's 47-year-old foreign policy spokesman and one of its most senior figures. Black is the youngest lawmaker since 13-year-old Christopher Monck entered Parliament in 1667.
The UK Independence Party ran third in opinion polls, but by early Friday had won only one seat because its support isn't concentrated in specific areas. Leader Nigel Farage said he would resign if he does not win the seat of Thanet South -- an outcome that looked a distinct possibility.
Britain's economy -- recovering after years of turmoil that followed the 2008 financial crisis -- was at the core of many voters' concerns. The results suggest that many heeded Cameron's entreaties to back the Conservatives as the party of financial stability. Public questions at television debates made plain that many voters distrusted politicians' promises to safeguard the economy, protect the National Health Service from severe cutbacks and control the number of immigrants from eastern Europe.
In Whitechapel, one of London's poorest communities, voters struggling in the wake of the worst recession since the 1930s wanted a change in leadership.
"The first priority is the economy, the second one is creating more jobs, and the third is living expenses -- they're going higher and higher," said Shariq ul-Islam, a 24-year-old student.
But just a few minutes away in the City of London, the traditional financial district where many bankers earn enormous salaries, Christopher Gardner, a 34-year-old finance industry official, put his trust in the Conservatives.
"There are some issues that have been caused by austerity previously," he said. "They're the only people that I'm confident will resolve that."

Poor Bill Cartoon

Md. governor lifts state of emergency for Baltimore

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan says he has rescinded a state of emergency for Baltimore and all National Guard and state police have been pulled out.
Hogan made the announcement Wednesday, more than a week after 2,000 National Guardsmen were called into the city when protesters overwhelmed police by throwing bricks and bottles at them.
Stores were looted, cars and businesses were burned and nearly 100 officers were injured during the riot April 27.
The Guard and state police helped local officers enforce a city-wide curfew for a week.
Hogan lifted the state of emergency as the mayor called on the Justice Department to investigate whether city police use excessive force and discriminatory practices.
Hogan says that request was "probably a step in the right direction."

Texas Tea Party takes on red light cameras, and $18-an-hour 'supporters'

The fight over traffic cameras in one Texas city has both sides seeing red - and hired protesters making $18 an hour.
Voters in Arlington, Texas, will head to the polls Saturday to decide whether red light cameras should stay or go, after a charter amendment was placed on the ballot that, if passed, would ban them. Tea Party leader Kelly Canon and another woman, Faith Bussey, spearheaded a petition drive last year to eliminate the cameras, claiming they are money-making machines that do little to deter drivers from running red lights.
Meanwhile, city officials, police officers and the camera company, American Traffic Solutions (ATS), argue the cameras are essential live-saving tools required at traffic spots.While the debate over red light cameras is an old one that spans several states, the situation in Arlington has taken a unusual twist.
A political action committee called, "Save Lives, Save the Cameras," hired a Cleveland, Ohio-based marketing firm to pay people $18 an hour to act as protesters against the amendment, according to Canon and others, including Arlington City Councilman Robert Rivera.
While the firm, Extreme Marketing and Promotions, declined to comment on their involvement, FoxNews.com obtained emails and archived Facebook posts from a firm employee, recruiting "sign holders" and "brand ambassadors" to get "a certain message across with holding signs, during the voting process."
The advertisement calls for candidates who are "outgoing and have high energy" and requires they wear khakis and a "solid nice white top."
"The marketing firm is trying to create an illusion of local support for the cameras," said Canon, who is vice president of the Arlington Tea Party. "You basically have a camera company trying to save their monetary hide. They are creating fake groups that they hide behind."
"This is a corporate money making enterprise trying to influence a campaign," added Rivera, who said he advocates more effective ways to ensure safety at intersections.
Canon, who said she received her first citation in January 2014 after making a right turn on red, claims the fines from the cameras do nothing to stop people from running red lights.
"We don't see it as a safety measure," said Canon. "The cameras can't prove who is driving and the cameras can’t stop an accident from happening."

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Kelly Canon, above, vice president of the Arlington Tea Party, spearheaded a petition drive along with friend Faith Bussey to ban red light cameras from the city.

During the midterm elections last year, Canon and Bussey set up their petition drive outside voting precincts and collected 11,405 signatures -- well over the 9,300 needed to get their charter amendment on the ballot.Canon said her initiative was given momentum by activists successful in banning the red light cameras in other Texas cities, like Conroe, Dayton, Houston, Baytown, League City and College Station. She and Bussey are now part of a PAC, "Citizens For a Better Arlington," that formed late last year.

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Email on right provided instructions to those willing to protest in favor of red light cameras, say Tea Party activists.

Under the traffic camera system in Texas, drivers who run a red light are fined $75 for the initial infraction and then a $25 late fee if the money is not paid within 30 days.
"On the copy of the late notice it says, 'If you don’t pay it, we will turn it over to a collection agency,'" claimed Canon. "But we came to find out -- by looking at state law -- that a credit agency cannot touch your credit report for the failure of your payment for a civil penalty."
The address for the "Save Lives, Same the Cameras" PAC is a UPS storefront in north Arlington. Canon and others said the PAC missed the deadline to report its finances, making it difficult to confirm who is funding it.
ATS spokesman Charles Territo said in an e-mail the company supports the efforts of "Save Lives, Save the Cameras," but directed questions about the campaign and its activities to the PAC itself.
Jody Weiderman, spokesman for Save Lives, Save the Cameras, told FoxNews.com, "All too often in these debates those who get tickets for red-light running act like they are the victims. The real victims of red-light running are the families and loved ones of those injured or killed in red-light running related collisions.
"The fact of the matter is that there have been zero fatalities at any of the intersections with cameras in Arlington since red-light safety cameras have been deployed."
Police officers in Arlington say they are opposed to the removal of the red light cameras.
The cameras have reduced accidents up to 75 percent at some intersections and revenue from the cameras heavily funds the city's DWI unit, according to ABC affiliate WFAA.
If the cameras were removed, "It would be a huge impact on the Arlington police department," Arlington Police Sgt. Becki Brandenburg told the station. "We would no longer have a DWI unit."
"I think we'll have an increase in DWI's, DWI accidents, and DWI fatalities," said Brandenburg, who is president of the Arlington Police Association.
ATS states on its website that, "A crash caused by a driver who runs a red light is more likely to result in serious injury or death."

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Voters in Arlington are seen signing the anti-camera petition started by Canon and Bussey.

The site also posts testimonials from law enforcement officials around the country touting the effectiveness of red light cameras.
"When asked if we still need this program, the majority of people still said yes. And I notice when I am on the road that, even at the intersections where there are no cameras, more people are approaching those intersections more cautiously," the site quotes a Florida sheriff as saying.
Still, Canon claims the system is flawed and designed to rake in as much revenue as possible.
"I’m very confident this amendment is going to pass," she said.

Aide to California AG, 2 others accused of running 'masonic' police force

An aide to California Attorney General Kamala Harris has been arrested along with two others for allegedly operating an illegitimate "police department" that traces its origins to the Knights Templar.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department announced that the three suspects were taken into custody last week on suspicion of impersonating police officers through their roles in the so-called Masonic Fraternal Police Department.
Among them is Brandon Kiel, 36, who has worked as deputy director of community affairs at the California Department of Justice -- which is led by Harris, also a Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate. Kiel was arrested on suspicion of misusing his government ID.
A spokeswoman at the department told FoxNews.com on Wednesday that Kiel is now on administrative leave.
"We cannot comment on the ongoing personnel matter or criminal investigation," the spokeswoman said in an email.
The Masonic Fraternal Police Department, while not a recognized law enforcement arm, maintains it has existed for 3,000 years and claims jurisdiction in 33 states and Mexico.
The Los Angeles Times reported that suspicions about the group's presence in California were aroused when local police chiefs got a letter in January announcing its new leadership. A man claiming to be Kiel reportedly called law enforcement agencies to schedule meetings.
According to the Times, investigators found badges, weapons and other law enforcement materials when they searched two sites. Also arrested were Tonette Hayes, 56, and David Henry, 46.
The group's website claims it is linked to the ancient Knights Templar.
The site says: "When asked what is the difference between The Masonic Fraternal Police Department and other Police Departments the answer is simple for us. We were here first!" It claims to be part of a special jurisdiction located with Santa Clarita, Calif. -- while stressing they are not part of the "sovereign citizens" movement.