ACTA Needs No Court Decision Before European Parliament Vote

By Jennifer Baker, IDG News. In a major victory for the campaign against the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), the European Parliament’s trade committee rejected by a vote of 21 to 5 a plan to send the proposed accord to the European Court of Justice (ECJ). This means that the European Parliament vote on ACTA will not be delayed 1 1/2 years and could happen as early as June 2012.

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Hypocrisy in Hollywood – from Pirate Against Edison to Lobbyist for ACTA-SOPA-PIPA

Provided by Paralegal.net | Commentary by Dady Chery, Haiti Chery. This enlightening info-graphic describes the little known history of Hollywood’s birth as a pirate and attaches some startling numbers to the movie industry’s greed. A brief discussion is included about copyright laws and how they have changed since the mid-1970’s.

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Haiti’s Secretaries of State Not Haitian, Including One Implicated In Dismissal of Mayors | Plusieurs secrétaires d’Etat ne sont pas Haïtiens, y compris celui accusé du licensement des maires

By staff (jep kft), AlterPresse | English translation by Dady Chery, Haiti Chery. Several secretaries in Michel Martelly’s cabinet have a foreign nationality. Secretary of State for the Interior Georges Racine was discovered to be a U.S. citizen; the Secretary of State for Culture and Heritage was discovered to be Spanish, and the Secretary of State for Higher Education was found to be Canadian. The citizenships of Michel Martelly himself and his latest PM designate Laurent Lamothe are also under investigation. (English | French)

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International Community Pushes for Permanent Electoral Council, New Haitian Elections

By Dady Chery, Haiti Chery. Representatives of Haiti and the international community participated in a one-hour meeting in the National Palace on Thursday, March 1 on the urgent need to establish a Permanent Electoral Council and schedule new elections, as prescribed by the Haitian Constitution. In another meeting between the representatives of Haiti and Venezuela on March 2-3, Venezuela announced $369 million of projects including a gift of financial and technical support for a National Identification system.

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Garzon Cleared of Remaining Charges By Spanish Supreme Court | El Supremo considera que Garzón erró, pero no prevaricó, y lo absuelve

By Joseph Yoldi and Julio M. Lazaro, El Pais | Translated from the Spanish by Dady Chery, Haiti Chery. By a vote of 6 to 1, Spain’s Supreme Court acquitted ex-Judge Baltasar Garzon of the charge of overstepping his jurisdiction while trying to open an investigation into Franco-era fascist crimes. The court held, however, that Garzon had misinterpreted the Spanish amnesty law as being like those of South America. Another case against Garzon, alleging his corruption was dismissed. The decision to disbar him remains in effect. (English | Spanish)

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Western Biologists Study Tuna Collapse as Their Countries’ Fleets Pillage World Coasts | Pesca de atún requiere sacrificios a corto plazo

Julio Godoy, IPS, Tierramérica | Enrique Gili, IPS | Commentary by Dady Chery, Haiti Chery. The world’s tuna populations, and particularly bluefin tuna, are being overfished to extinction. Despite numerous violations for overfishing, vessels fly flags of convenience, change their names, swap crews and continue to operate. (English | Spanish)

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How Somalia’s Fishermen Became ‘Pirates’

By Ishaan Tharoor, Time Magazine | Chebucto | Commentary by Dady Chery, Haiti Chery. Since 1991, Somalia’s 2,000-mile coastline, the longest in continental Africa, has been pillaged by foreign vessels. An estimated $300 million of seafood is stolen from Somalia each year by countries that include France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Pakistan, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Spain, and Taiwan.

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Poland Government: We Were Wrong, We Will Not Ratify ACTA

By Alice Trudelle, Warsaw Business Journal | By Staff, The Slovenia Times | Commentary by Dady Chery, Haiti Chery. “I was wrong,” said Polish Prime Minister, Donald Tusk, who announced that he wrote to his party not to back ACTA in the EU Parliament in its current form. A protest by Anonymous is underway.

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Magistrate Baltasar Garzon Sentenced to 11 Years of Disbarment by Partisan Spanish Court | Garzón dice adiós a la carrera judicial al ser condenado a 11 años de inhabilitación

By José Yoldi and Julio M. Lázaro, El Pais | Translated by Dady Chery, Haiti Chery | Wikipedia. As people protested outside the Criminal Chamber of the National Court in Spain, a group of partisan judges allied to Spain’s ruling conservative Partido Popular (PP) unanimously condemned Judge Baltasar Garzón to 11 years of disbarment for ordering the recording of conversations of the ringleaders of the corrupt Gürtel group connected to the PP.

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Act Up Against ACTA Saturday Feb 11th

By Staff, Access Now | YouTube | Haiti Chery. Protests against ACTA will take place worldwide on Saturday February 11, 2012. Over 1.75 million people have signed a petition against ACTA that is expected to get the endorsement of more than 2 million.

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Frederico Garcia Lorca, Three Poems: Ditty of First Desire, Debussy, Fare Well | Frederico Garcia Lorca, tres poemas: Cancioncilla del primer beso, Debussy, El balcón

By Frederico Garcia Lorca, Casa Poema, Kempis, Everything2 | Commentary by Dady Chery, Haiti Chery. Frederico García Lorca, one of the greatest poets and playwrights in the Spanish language, became Franco’s most famous victim at the start of the Spanish Civil War. Lorca’s remains might be in one of the unmarked graves that Judge Baltasar Garzon ordered exhumed as part of his probe into Spain’s fascist era. (English | Spanish)

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ACTA Not Yet International Law | French MEP Quits in Protest

By Olivia Solon, Wired | Kader Arif, European MP Socialists & Democrats of the EU, Translated from the French by Dady Chery for Haiti Chery. It is not over. ACTA will not become law if the European Parliament is prevented from making it so in June 2012. Translation of full statement from Kader Arif included. (English | French)

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The Garzon Trial: Petty Vengeance

By Robert Bosschart, Radio Netherlands. More than anything, Judge Baltasar Garzon is paying the price for seeking to uncover a vast corruption ring (the so-called Gurtel case) within a Conservative party that embezzled millions during its previous administration and has just returned to power.

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Argentina Invokes Universal Jurisdiction for Crimes Against Humanity | Argentina invoca la jurisdicción universal para crímenes contra la humanidad

By Marcela Valente, IPS, Periodistas En Español | Princeton Principles of Universal Jurisdiction, Univ. Minnesota Human Rights Library. A judge in Argentina has begun to investigate human rights crimes committed during Spain’s civil war and the dictatorship of General Francisco Franco (between 1936 and 1975). The case is invoking the principle of universal jurisdiction for crimes against humanity and has landed in Argentina because Spain’s justice system is not effectively taking action. (English | Spanish)

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