Rights

You have rights no matter where you go
MEXICO CITY — Mexican police in Guadalajara arrested and reportedly mistreated a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent Wednesday, reports here and in Washington said Thursday.
The agent was Victor Cortez Jr., among about 30 from the DEA working in Mexico under an agreement with the Mexican government.
The case was disclosed as Mexican PresidentMiguel de la Madrid was concluding a two-day official visit to Washington. He appeared at the National Press Club meeting on Thursday.
Attorney General Edwin Meese met Thursday in Washington with his Mexican counterpart, Sergio Garcia Ramirez, to discuss plans to set up joint anti-drug measures along the U.S.-Mexican border. At a press conference, Meese said that Garcia ''pledged full cooperation'' ininvestigating the Cortez case.
In a statement, the DEA in Washington said that Cortez, ''along with a citizen of Mexico,'' were detained Wednesday night, interrogated, ''allegedly mistreated'' and released.
Officials in the agency would not elaborate on the kind of mistreatment that the two reportedly suffered. Sources said that during six hours of captivity, Cortez was subjected to slapping,electric shocks from a cattle prod and suffocation by water forced up his nostrils through straws.
In Mexico City, government officials confirmed that Cortez was arrested by Jalisco state judicial police in Guadalajara. Those officials denied that he had been abused.
Sources said that Cortez was freed after DEA colleagues questioned his whereabouts with the federal attorney general's office inMexico City.
The Mexican citizen taken under custody with Cortez has not been identified.

We are all equal before the law
The sentencing of former President Moshe Katsav for rape marked a sad day for Israel, his successor Shimon Peres said Tuesday, but proved that the judicial system did not make allowances for rank and political status. 
Katsav was found guilty in December of rape and othersexual offenses against three women, and was handed a seven-year jail sentence earlier Tuesday by judges at Tel Aviv District Court.
"This is a sad day, but we are all equal before the law," said Peres, who was defeated by Katsav in a 2000 presidential vote, but went on to succeed him after Katsav ended his presidency early over the rape allegations.
He stressed that Katsav's sentencing does notundermine the presidential institution. "There is no presidential institution; there is a president who is chosen by the Knesset. There is a man who carries out his duties as president in the right way or the wrong way."
When asked if Katsav's statue will be removed from its place at the President's Residence, he said that the process to do so has yet to be completed, but noted that on a personalnote, "I do not think it's right to rewrite history."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also said Tuesday that the sentencing marked a sad day for Israel, but the state should be proud of its system of justice.
"This is an extraordinary day in the State of Israel," Netanyahu said. "This is a day of sadness and shame, but it is also a day of deep appreciation and pride for the Israeli justicesystem."
"The court issued a sharp and unequivocal ruling on a simple principle, that of equality before the law," Netanyahu stressed. "nobody is above the law, not even a former president, all are subject to the law."
"The second aspect that the court ruled on today is equality between men and women. Every woman has the right to her body, the right to respect and freedom, and nobody has the rightto take these from her."
Opposition leader Tzipi Livni said Tuesday that a day in which a president of the State of Israel goes to jail for rape "is not a day of joy." Adding, "I have great hope today that Israel is undergoing change – there is now practical content to the sentence equality before the law."

Your human rights are protected by law

1. Victoria
1.1  Child with Autism Gains...