2 - The Michigan Daily --- Friday, February 17, 2006 NATION/WORLD Annan: Close Gitmo prisons NEWS IN BRIEF ,., " 0 White House rejects call to close camp by U.N. panel, claims detainees are treated humanely UNITED NATIONS (AP) - Secretary-General Kofi Annan said yesterday that the United States should close the prison at Guantanamo Bay for terror suspects as soon as possible, backing a key conclu- sion of a U.N.-appointed independent panel. White House spokesman Scott McClellan rejected the call to shut the camp, saying the military treats all detainees humanely and "these are dangerous ter- rorists that we're talking about." The panel's report, released yesterday in Geneva, said the United States must close the detention facility "without further delay" because it is effectively a torture camp where prisoners have no access to justice. Arinan told reporters he didn't necessarily agree with everything in the report, but he did support its opposition to people being held "in perpetuity" with- out being charged and prosecuted in a public court. This is "something that is common under every legal system," he said. "I think sooner or later there will be a need to close the Guantanamo (camp), and I think it will be up to the government to decide, and hopefully to do it as soon as is possible," the secretary-gen- eral told reporters. The 54-page report summarizing an investiga- tion by five U.N. experts, accused the United States of practices that "amount to torture" and demanded detainees be allowed a fair trial or be freed. The panel, which had sought access to Guantanamo Bay since 2002, refused a U.S. visit the camp in Novem- ber after being told they could not interview detainees. Annan said the report by a U.N.-appointed independent panel was not a U.N. report but one by individual experts. "So we should see it in that light," he said. U.N. spokesman Ste- phane Dujarric said the report will be presented to the U.N. Commission offer for three experts to "Whenever th secret place ofc there is also a risk that peo subjected to t U.N. Sec he said. The United States should allow "a full and inde- pendent investigation" at Guantanamo and also give the United Nations access to other detention centers, including secret ones, in Iraq, Afghanistan and else- where, Nowak said by telephone from his office in Vienna, Austria. iere is a "We want to have all informa- detention, tion about secret places of detention because whenever there is a secret i higher place of detention, there is also a higher risk that people are subject- ple are ed to torture," he said. The United States is holding torture. about 490 men at the military detention center. They are accused - Kofi Annan of links to Afghanistan's ousted Taliban regime or to al-Qaida, but retary General only a handful have been charged. The U.N. investigators said pho- tographic evidence - corroborated by testimony of former prisoners - showed detainees shackled, chained and hooded. Prisoners were beaten, stripped and shaved if they resisted, they said. The report's findings were based on interviews with former detainees, public documents, media reports, lawyers and questions answered by the U.S. government, which detailed the number of prison- ers held but did not give their names or the status of charges against them. of Human Rights, which appointed the panel, when it convenes on March 13 in Geneva. Manfred Nowak, the U.N. investigator for torture who was one of the panel's experts, told The Asso- ciated Press in Geneva that the detainees at Guan- tanamo "should be released or brought before an independent court." "That should not be done in Guantanamo Bay, but before ordinary U.S. courts, or courts in their coun- tries of origin or perhaps an international tribunal," Haiti chooses new lea er Country's new president must now turn expectations to reality PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) - Singing, dancing and waving branches ripped from roadside trees, jubilant Haitians poured into the streets yes- terday after a vote marred by fraud charges and massive protests ended in victory for the favored presidential can- didate of the impoverished majority. "Now we have hope," said Dabual Jean, a 24-year-old who earns about $2 a day selling fruit on the street in the capital, Port-au-Prince. "The country is upside down. With Preval, hopefully we'll get on the right path. Rene Preval, an agronomist and for- mer president, made no public appear- ances yesterday, in keeping with his virtual silence as a days-long, roller- coaster vote count roiled the poorest country in theWestern Hemisphere. "We have won. We thank God and the population," Preval told the Hai- tian Press Agency in his only public statement. "We will now fight for Parliament." He remained shuttered inside his sister's house in the capital hours after electoral and government offi- cials announced his victory, which was cemented early yesterday after election officials divided ballots that were left blank among all candidates in proportion to the votes they'd received., Preval has tried to dampen expec- tations in his few public statements, saying his government would not be able to immediately fix Haiti's problems, which range from massive unemployment to near-total rural deforestation. Thousands of U.N. soldiers and police officers have been unable to quell rampant urban violence, including fatal attacks on peacekeepers and hundreds of kidnappings. Many here still resent the overthrow of former president Jean-Bertrand Aris- tide, Preval's former ally, and wonder whether Preval will be able to end the violence and overcome the suspicion and hatred dividing Haiti's tiny elite from its vast poor population. Still, Preval's victory sent hopes Bush ordered to release spy papers IJustice Department has 20 days to respond to Freedom of Information Act request . WASHINGTON (AP) - A federal judge ordered the Bush administra- tion yesterday to release documents about its warrantless surveillance program or spell out what it is with- holding, a setback to efforts to keep the program under wraps. At the same time, the Republican chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee said he had worked out an agreement with the White House to consider legislation and provide more information to Congress on the eavesdropping program. The panel's top Democrat, who has requested a full-scale investigation, immediately objected to what he called an abdi- cation of the committee's responsi- bilities. U.S. District Judge Henry Ken- nedy ruled that a private group, the Electronic Privacy Information Center, will suffer irreparable harm if the documents it has been seeking since December are not processed promptly under the Freedom of Information Act. He gave the Justice Department 20 days to respond to the group's request. "President Bush has invited mean- ingful debate about the wireless sur- veillance program," Kennedy said. "That can only occur if DOJ pro- cesses its FOIA requests in a timely fashion and releases the information sought." Justice Department spokeswoman Tasia Scolinos said the department has been "extremely forthcoming" with information and "will con- tinue to meet its obligations under FOIA." On Capitol Hill, lawmakers also have been seeking more information about Bush's program that allowed the National Security Agency to eavesdrop - without court warrants - on Americans whose internation- al calls and e-mails it believed might be linked to al-Qaida. After a two-hour closed-door ses- sion, Senate Intelligence Chairman Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) said the com- mittee adjourned without voting on whether to open an investigation. WASHINGTON White House requests huge amount U.S. military spending for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will rise to $115 billion for this year - and nearly $400 billion since the fighting started - under a new White House request submitted to Congress yesterday. A separate request for almost $20 billion in new hurricane relief funds would bring total spending in response to Katrina and Rita to more than $100 billion. The Bush administration submitted a $65.3 billion war request, and Pentagon officials said the money would be sufficient to conduct the two wars at least through Sept. 30. Congress had approved $50 billion more for the war effort in December. "These funds support U.S. Armed Forces and Coalition partners as we advance democracy, fight the terrorists and insurgents, and train and equip Iraqi security forces so that they can defend their sovereignty and freedom," President Bush said in a letter transmitting the request to Congress. The war in Iraq now costs about $5.9 billion a month, while Afghanistan opera- tions cost about $900 million per month, said Pentagon Comptroller Tina Jonas. That doesn't include the costs of replacing worn-out or destroyed equipment or training Iraqi and Afghan forces. BAGHDAD Iraq investigates alleged 'death squads' The Shiite-dominated Interior Ministry announced an investigation yesterday into claims of death squads in its ranks as police found a dozen more bodies, bringing the number of apparent victims of sectarian reprisal killings here to at least 30 this week. The probe was announced after U.S. military officials indicated there was evi- dence to support the allegation of death squads. The 12 men found yesterday had been bound and shot in the head execution-style. At least 27 other people were killed in violence across Iraq, including three trib- al sheiks slain in a drive-by shooting. Three supporters of anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr died in a mortar barrage, and gunmen killed two owners of a convenience store that sold beer. Islamic extremists often target shops selling alcohol or DVDs deemed pornographic. Sunni Arabs have been complaining for months that kidnappings and murder by Shiite-led commandos operated by the Interior Ministry are driving many Sunnis into the ranks of the insurgents. Shiites insist that they must retain control of Iraqi security forces in the next government. ALEXANDRIA, Virginia Insurance industry execs plead not guilty to fraud Four former top executives of insurance giants General Re and American Interna- tional Group pleaded not guilty to federal fraud and conspiracy charges yesterday and pledged $1 million in bond. Their trial was set for May. The Justice Department has accused the four of orchestrating an audacious fraud, putting together a sham reinsurance transaction that allowed AIG to falsely report some $500 million in reserves against losses and thereby mislead shareholders, Wall Street and regulators. The charges come as the government's investigation of the insurance industry widens. The alleged conspiracy, using phony contracts and a secret side deal, was designed to make it appear that AIG's loss reserves were growing so as to inflate the company's stock price in 2000 and 2001, prosecutors say. CESANA, Italy Russian athlete stripped of medal for doping Russian biathlon star Olga Pyleva was thrown out of the Turin Games and stripped of her silver medal yesterday for doping, the first athlete caught in the tightest drug net in Winter Olympics history. Pyleva was favored heading into yesterday's 7.5km sprint to win her second medal of the games. As athletes were walking up to the starting line, an announcer told the crowd that Pyleva was scratched because she had fallen ill. But it didn't take long for news of the real reason to spread. A urine sample Pyleva submitted after the 15km event on Monday tested positive for the stimulant carphedon, which she said was in an over-the-counter medication she'd taken. - Compiled from Daily wire reports CORRECTIONS Please report any error in the Daily to corrections@michigandaly.com. 420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1327 www.michigandaily.com AP PHOTO Haitian President-elect Rene Preval smiles during a news conference Tues- day in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Preval, a former president who Is hugely popu- lar among the poor, was declared the winner about 1:30 a.m. yesterday. DoNN M. FRESAR Editor in Chief fresard@michigandaily.com 647-3336 Sun.-Thurs. 5 p.m. - 2 a.m. JONATHAN DOBBERSTEIN Business Manager business@michigandaily.com 764-0558 Mon.-Fri. 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. soaring among the millions of Haitians struggling amid grinding poverty in vio- lent slums and isolated rural villages. "I'm so happy, because we have what we were looking for," said Elvia Pres- soir, 36, who clutched Preval campaign leaflets as she waited for him to appear outside the gate of his sister's house. "With Preval, we'll have security, jobs and life will get back to normal." Many Haitian expatriates were simi- larly jubilant. "I am so happy. Maybe now there will be some peace," said Fritz Antoine Fils, a fast-food restaurant worker in Miami's Little Haiti neighborhood. Preval has been vague on whether he would welcome back Aristide, who is in exile in South Africa. The former slum priest fled Haiti as the United States withdrew support for his government amid an armed rebellion and accusations that he was corrupt and had encouraged his supporters to attack his opponents. The Bush administration considers a possible return of Aristide - the only Haitian leader, other than Pre- val, to be popularly elected - to be a destabilizing factor, and has hinted that he should remain in exile. The two former presidents have drifted apart in recent years. "We think the Haitian government should be looking forward to their future, not to its past," State Depart- ment spokesman Sean McCormack said last week. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said yesterday the United States wants a stable Haiti and will offer help to its people. The United States, Rice said in remarks to Congress, "has a good record in trying to get Haiti out of the desperate circum- stances in which they live." 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' m m' vnwn raunt tAVitoYv Cheney's PR: How not to do damage control EDITORIAL STAFF Ashley Dinges Managing Editor dinges@michigandaily.com Karl Stampfl Managing News Editor stampfl@michigandaily.com NEWS EDITORS: Jeremy Davidson, Christina Hildreth, Anne Joling, Anne VanderMey Emily Beam Editorial Page Editor beam@michigandaily.com Christopher Zbrozek Editorial Page Editor zbrozek@michigandaily.com ASSOCIATE EDITORIAL PAGE EDITORS: Theresa Kennelly, Irnran Syed ASSISTANT EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR: David Russell Jack Herman Managing Sports Editor herman@michigandaily.com SENIOR SPORTS EDITORS: Scott Bell, Gabe Edelson, Matt Singer, Kevin Wright, Stephanie Wright SPORTS~ NIGHI-T EDITORS: H. 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Dowd Magazine Editor dowd@michigandaily.com ASSOCIATE MAGAZINE EDITOR: Chris Gaerig i z WASHINGTON (AP) - Dam- age-control experts in both political parties agree: The handling of Vice President Dick Cheney's hunting mis- hap has been a disaster, a case study in how not to handle bad news. At best, it has fed criticism of Cheney as aloof and isolated. At worst, critics sug- gest, it has shown a president unable to control his own vice president. "It's a self-created nightmare," said Lanny Davis, a former Clinton White House troubleshooter who now heads days of public silence on Cheney's part. Although White House aides had earlier conveyed concern about the slowness of Cheney's response, Presi- dent Bush said yesterday the vice president had handled the matter "just fine" and had given a "powerful expla- nation." In his interview, Cheney said the shoot- ing was his fault and "one of the worst days of my life," but he made no apologies about the delay in getting out the word. 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