RECENT SHOWS
Thursday, July 02, 2009
- Headlines
- “Fordlandia: The Rise and Fall of Henry Ford’s Forgotten Jungle City”
- John Pilger Calls UK National Health Service a Treasure, Blasts US Lawmakers for Being “in Bed with Powerful Interests” and Neglecting “Their Own People’s Basic Human Rights”
- Nobel Peace Laureate Mairead Maguire Speaks from Israeli Jail Cell After Arrest on Boat Delivering Humanitarian Aid to Gaza
- Up in Smoke: How the Tobacco Industry Shaped the New Smoking Bill
- Zelaya Vows to Return to Honduras Despite Threats of Arrest by Coup Leaders
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
- Headlines
- “Change to Win is Dead”–Juan Gonzalez on Labor Movement Struggle
- Generals Who Led Honduras Military Coup Trained at the School of the Americas
- How Can We Have Sovereignty When We Don’t Have Electricity or Water to Bathe? Iraqi Reporter on US Troop Pullback
- Military Using “Brutal” Force Against Anti-Coup Protests in Honduras
- What’s Behind the Honduras Coup? Tracing Zelaya’s Trajectory
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
BLOG
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Coup in Honduras: See full Democracy Now! coverage
Check out all of our coverage of the first coup d’etat in Central America in more than a quarter-century.
Filed under News
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“Undo the Coup”
The first coup d’etat in Central America in more than a quarter-century occurred last Sunday in Honduras. It was led by a graduate of the U.S. Army’s School of the Americas, a military facility that has trained some of Latin America’s worst torturers, murderers and human rights abusers.
Filed under Weekly Column
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“Free Speech vs. Surveillance in the Digital Age”
Tools of mass communication that were once the province of governments and corporations now fit in your pocket. As these technologies have developed, so too has the ability to monitor, filter, censor and block them.
Filed under Weekly Column
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EPA Declares Public Health Emergency in Libby, Montana
The Environmental Protection Agency has declared a public health emergency in the town of Libby, Montana, where hundreds of people have died from asbestos contamination. It is the first time such a declaration has been made by the EPA. For decades, W.R. Grace and Co. mined asbestos-contaminated vermiculite in Libby.
See extended Democracy Now! coverageFiled under DN Archives
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“Congre$$, Heal Thyself”
As the Obama administration pushes for a vote on health-care reform before Congress recesses in August, has health-industry money too thoroughly polluted the process for anything good to come of it?
Filed under Weekly Column
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“The Free Market’s Marked Men: From the Niger Delta to the Amazon”
Ken Saro-Wiwa and Alberto Pizango never met, but they are united by a passion for the preservation of their people and their land, and by the fervor with which they were targeted by their respective governments.
Filed under Weekly Column
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“Dr. George Tiller Didn’t Have to Die”
Dr. Tiller was assassinated while in church in Wichita, Kan., on Sunday, targeted for legally performing abortions. His death might have been prevented simply through enforcement of existing laws.
Filed under Weekly Column
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“Chevron, Shell and the True Cost of Oil”
Profits are higher than ever at oil companies Chevron and Shell. Yet across the globe, from the Ecuadorian jungle, to the Niger Delta in Nigeria, to the courtrooms and streets of New York and San Ramon, Calif., people are fighting back against the world’s oil giants.
Filed under Weekly Column
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More Blog Posts »
Podcasting & Torrents
EXCLUSIVE…Blackwater Sued Again For Sept. 9th Attack, Five Iraqis Dead, Ten Wounded
The Center for Constitutional Rights is filing another lawsuit today against the private military firm Blackwater—this time for a shooting in Baghdad on September 9th that left five people dead and ten injured. The lawsuit is being filed on behalf of the family members of one those killed in the shooting. We speak with attorney Susan Burke. [includes rush transcript]
Guest:
Susan Burke, part of the legal team that filed separate suits against Blackwater on behalf of the families of Iraqi victims in shootings in Baghdad on September 9th and September 16th.
Rush Transcript
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Related Democracy Now! Stories
AMY GOODMAN: We begin today’s program with a Democracy Now! TV broadcast exclusive. Another lawsuit is being filed against the private military firm Blackwater, this time for a shooting in Baghdad on September 9 that left five people dead and ten injured. The lawsuit is being filed on behalf of the family members of one of those killed in the shooting.
Susan Burke is with us today. She’s an attorney who is working with the Center for Constitutional Rights on its suit against Blackwater. In October, she helped file a separate lawsuit brought by the families of three Iraqis killed in the infamous Nisoor Square shooting on September 16. Susan Burke joins us today in our firehouse studio. Welcome to Democracy Now!
SUSAN BURKE: Thank you for having me.
AMY GOODMAN: Explain this latest suit.
SUSAN BURKE: This is a lawsuit on behalf of the family of Ali Albazzaz. This gentleman was a rug merchant, and he was gunned down for absolutely no reason, leaving behind a twenty-day-old baby daughter and family. It is again another instance in which Blackwater shooters, you know, shot first, asked questions later.
AMY GOODMAN: Explain exactly what you understand transpired on September 9.
SUSAN BURKE: What happened is that Blackwater was driving through an area and began to engage in fire. This particular gentleman was inside his rug store. He had just put his fifteen-year-old younger brother in the cab to go home. Hearing the shooting outside, he walked outside, concerned about his younger brother, because he heard the shots. So he walks out of the rug store and gets shot and killed.
AMY GOODMAN: And how did you learn about this?
SUSAN BURKE: We learned about this from the family members. What happened is, as you know, we have—we represent a fair number of Iraqis in a separate suit, so we do have offices over in Baghdad. We were approached by the family of this victim to try to bring some form of accountability to Blackwater.
AMY GOODMAN: What has Blackwater responded, or have they?
SUSAN BURKE: We are just filing this today, so this is the breaking news. They do not yet know it. They’ll receive the papers today.
AMY GOODMAN: And what is understood in the community there about what happened?
SUSAN BURKE: Well, sadly, the Iraqis, you know, they suffer from this a lot. Although the Nisoor Square shooting received a lot of press attention, the reality is that this has been an ongoing tragedy for the Iraqis. The Blackwater shooters have no regard for human life, and they use an excessive amount of force repeatedly. We have discovered information in our investigation that Blackwater has a substantial problem with uncontrolled drug use, steroid use. And that just adds to this terrible sense of, you know, slaughter.
AMY GOODMAN: What proof do you have of the drug use, of the steroid use?
SUSAN BURKE: We have interviewed people that have firsthand knowledge.
AMY GOODMAN: And how do you know, in the September 9 shooting, revealing today for the first time this lawsuit—it’s being filed today, right?
SUSAN BURKE: It’s being filed today in federal court.
AMY GOODMAN: —that it was Blackwater operatives who did it?
SUSAN BURKE: We were able to confirm that by the descriptions of the vehicles, as well as by some media reporting.
AMY GOODMAN: We’re talking to Susan Burke. She has filed a lawsuit today—is filing a lawsuit again against Blackwater for an attack that happened a week before the infamous Nisoor Square attack on September 16.
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