It was 1982, the height of the civil war in El Salvador. Four Dutch TV journalists had linked up with leftist rebels near the town of El Paraiso, which has an army base on its outskirts. Planning to spend several days behind rebel lines, the newsmen hoisted rucksacks onto their backs and, carrying their recording gear, walked single-file down a narrow dirt trail. They had only minutes to live. Lying in wait, Salvadoran soldiers armed with assault rifles and machine guns were ready to spring an ambush. “They were sitting ducks. The military waited for them and basically executed them,” said Thomas Buergenthal, an American who was part of the three-member United Nations Truth Commission for El Salvador, set up as part of a U.N.-brokered peace agreement in 1992. In 1993, the commission’s report on wartime human rights violations concluded that the ambush was set up to kill the journalists and was ordered by Col. Mario Reyes Mena, a brigade commander. Calls are now … [Read more...] about New push for justice after 4 Dutch journalists slain in 1982
Hague linking machine
Justice sought for 1982 slaying of 4 Dutch journalists
Andrew Selsky Associated Press Published 4:20 PM EDT Mar 25, 2019 It was 1982, the height of the civil war in El Salvador. Four Dutch TV journalists had linked up with leftist rebels near the town of El Paraiso, which has an army base on its outskirts. Planning to spend several days behind rebel lines, the newsmen hoisted rucksacks onto their backs and, carrying their recording gear, walked single-file down a narrow dirt trail. They had only minutes to live. Lying in wait, Salvadoran soldiers armed with assault rifles and machine guns were ready to spring an ambush. “They were sitting ducks. The military waited for them and basically executed them,” said Thomas Buergenthal, an American who was part of the three-member United Nations Truth Commission for El Salvador, set up as part of a U.N.-brokered peace agreement in 1992. In 1993, the commission’s report on wartime human rights violations concluded that the ambush was set up to kill the journalists and was … [Read more...] about Justice sought for 1982 slaying of 4 Dutch journalists
Justice demanded for 4 Dutch journalists killed in El Salvador
In this March 11, 1982 photo, from left, Jan Cornelius Kuiper, director, Koos Koster, producer, Johannes Willemsen, cameraman, and Hans ter Laan, soundman walk north of the capital, San Salvador, days before they were killed in El Salvador. Calls are mounting for Col. Mario Reyes Mena, a former Salvadoran army colonel, to be brought to justice for the killings. (AP Photo)In this March 18, 1982 photo, television cameramen photograph blood-soaked, bullet-ridden clothes believed to belong to four Dutch journalists killed in a wooded area near this village in the province of Chalatenango, in El Salvador. Jan Kuiper, Koos Koster, Hans ter Laag and Joop Willemsen were killed in 1982 while on assignment for IKON, a Dutch public TV broadcaster. (AP Photo/P.W. Hamilton)In this Jan. 30, 2019 photo, Gert Kuiper, brother of Jan Kuiper, one of the four journalists killed in El Salvador in 1982, talks about the murder case during an interview in The Hague, Netherlands. “I need to find … [Read more...] about Justice demanded for 4 Dutch journalists killed in El Salvador
No, Mr. Putin, the bungled spying won’t blow over
Leonid Bershidsky, Bloomberg Published 8:44 am PDT, Friday, October 5, 2018 The latest failures of Russia's military intelligence service, commonly known as the GRU, expose a major flaw in President Vladimir Putin's habitual way of dealing with public fiascos: He mistakenly believes the uproar will blow over. The Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte, and his British counterpart, Theresa May, said Thursday that the GRU had tried to hack the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in the Hague, which was testing the substance used to poison ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in the U.K. in March. The Russian agents allegedly were caught trying to disrupt the OPCW computer network using equipment hidden in a car trunk. They also are said to have been caught with diplomatic passports. The Netherlands expelled them. This follows a similar scandal in Switzerland, where two Russian agents allegedly tried to hack the Spiez Laboratory, a chemicals testing facility … [Read more...] about No, Mr. Putin, the bungled spying won’t blow over
World View: China Threatens Multiple Western Nations Militarily over South China Sea
This morning’s key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com China threatens multiple Western nations militarily over South China Sea China’s claims to the South China Sea are amazingly vacuous China threatens multiple Western nations militarily over South China Sea Two weeks ago, the HMS Albion, a British Royal Navy flagship amphibious assault ship, was traveling through the South China Sea, en route from Tokyo to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) in Vietnam. On August 31, the ship exercised its “freedom of navigation” rights as it passed near the Paracel Islands. Courts have ruled the Paracel Islands to be in international waters, but China has used military force to annex them, in clear violation of international law. China immediately launched a military challenge in the form of a frigate and two helicopters, although both sides remained calm. However, the Albion’s freedom of navigation operation continues to trigger hysterical, irrational threats by the … [Read more...] about World View: China Threatens Multiple Western Nations Militarily over South China Sea