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THIS WEEK'S PROGRAM

• Federal Courts Challenge
  President's Authority to Hold
  Terror Suspects Without Due Process
  For story text and audio, Click here!

• Costa Rica Walks Out of Talks
  for Central American Free Trade Agreement,
  Signaling Growing Opposition to Pact
  For story text and audio, Click here!

• Rev. Billy Takes his Gospel
  of 'Stop Shopping' to Stores that
  Sell Products Produced by Sweatshop Labor
  For story text and audio, Click here!

• Underreported News Summary
  from Around the World
  For full summary and audio, Click here!

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Contrary to international law, the Bush administration has held some 660 prisoners captured in Afghanistan, several who are juveniles, at the U.S. Navy's prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba without charge for up to 24 months. In June 2002, Attorney General John Ashcroft announced the arrest of Jose Padilla, a U.S. citizen, whom the government alleged was working with the al Qaeda terrorist network to explode a radioactive dirty bomb in an American city. Designating Mr. Padilla an enemy combatant, the White House has held him in a South Carolina Navy brig without charge while denying him access to an attorney.

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Since the Bush administration invoked executive powers denying due process to individuals suspected of engaging in terrorist activities, civil liberties activists have worked to overturn these policies in the courts. On Dec. 18, two federal appeals courts reviewing separate cases challenged the president's authority. The court in New York declared that the administration does not have the power to hold U.S. citizens indefinitely merely by branding them an enemy combatant. The appellate court in San Francisco ruled that holding prisoners of war without access to U.S legal protections was unconstitutional and a violation of international law.

Between The Lines' Scott Harris spoke with Ken Hurwitz, staff attorney with the Lawyers Committee on Human Rights, who assesses these recent federal court decisions and what's at stake in an expected review of the cases by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Contact the Lawyers Committee on Human Rights by calling (212) 845-5200 or visit their website at www.lchr.org

Related links:

• "Jose Padilla--A Constitutional Challenge for Us All," by Brigid O'Neil, Dec. 19, 2003 by CommonDreams.org
• "Rights, Liberties Groups Hail Court Defeats For Bush Anti-Terror Efforts," OneWorld.net, Dec. 19, 2003
• "Setback For Ashcroft's Radical Agenda," WorkingForChange.com, Dec. 19, 2003
• "Bush, With Stealth, Signs PATRIOT ACT Expansion Into Law," San Antonio Current, Dec. 24, 2003

Costa Rica Walks Out of Talks
for Central American Free Trade Agreement,
Signaling Growing Opposition to Pact

Interview with Karen Hansen-Kuhn,
coordinator of the Alliance for Responsible Trade,
conducted by Melinda Tuhus

Last week, the United States and four Central American nations -- Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua -- signed the Central American Free Trade Agreement, or CAFTA. Costa Rica, Washington's biggest trading partner in the region, walked out of the talks, citing fundamental disagreements over the treaty's control of parts of its public sector.

Negotiations were secret, but statements from the U.S. trade representative indicate that CAFTA is based on the North American Free Trade Agreement, the still pending Free Trade Area of the Americas treaty and the recent Chile-U.S. free trade pact. All of these accords drastically limit the ability of governments to implement national development policies. CAFTA must be ratified by the governments of all five countries before it takes effect, and opponents in the U.S. and in Central America are mounting an intense battle to defeat it.

Between The Lines' Melinda Tuhus spoke with Karen Hansen-Kuhn, coordinator of the Alliance for Responsible Trade, who explains why a hemispheric coalition of trade unionists, farmers, and social justice activists are working to block ratification of the corporate-inspired Central American Free Trade Agreement while promoting its own proposals for just and sustainable development.

For more information, call (202) 898-1566, or visit the group's website at www.art-us.org

Related links:

• "Critics: CAFTA Trade Pact Will Cost US Jobs and Hurt Already Impoverished Central American Countries," by Emad Mekay, by Inter Press Service, Dec. 18, 2003

Rev. Billy Takes his Gospel
of 'Stop Shopping' to Stores that
Sell Products Produced by Sweatshop Labor

Interview with the Rev. Billy,
Church of Stop Shopping,
conducted by Scott Harris

You may have seen the Rev. Billy at a Starbucks coffee shop, at a Gap or Disney store. There, he and his followers engage in a kind of political theater where they preach the gospel of "stop shopping." The "reverend," dressed like a southern preacher of the Billy Graham school, shouts out urgent sermons to unsuspecting patrons about the evils of purchasing products produced by sweatshop labor. Accompanied by a choir attired in flowing robes, a growing flock of Rev. Billy's supporters will distribute flyers describing the plight of workers toiling in oppressive factories or agricultural fields for what amounts to slave wages.

After the initial shock of a Rev. Billy "invasion" has worn off, angry store managers will often call the police, who haul the good reverend off to the police station where he's charged with disturbing the peace or another misdemeanor. Rev. Billy, also known as Bill Talen, is an actor who has engaged in this distinctive brand of street theater for the past five years. When not in New York, the reverend visits Nike, Gap and Starbucks stores in other major U.S. cities, and more recently in Europe.

Bill Talen's book, "What Should I Do If Rev. Billy is in My Store?" takes its title from an internal memo distributed by Starbucks to its store managers in New York City. Between The Lines' Scott Harris spoke with the Rev. Billy about his anti-sweatshop, pro-community gospel at the peak of the Christmas shopping frenzy. He was reached in San Francisco just after an earthquake struck and following the government's decision to raise the terrorist threat status from elevated to high, all while officials continue to encourage citizens to keep on shopping.

Visit the the Rev. Billy's website at www.revbilly.com. His book, "What Should I Do If Rev. Billy is in my Store?" is published by New Press.

Related links

• "Shop Till You Stop," by James Westcott, AlterNet, Dec. 7, 2003
• "Slamming Ad Culture," By Marion Wrenn, AlterNet, May 5, 2000
• Interview with the Rev. Billy, Between The Lines April 20, 2002 Special Report, Stop the War at Home and Abroad March in Washington, D.C.

This week's summary
of under-reported news

Compiled by Bob Nixon

• Over $30 billion of the recent $87 billion aid package for Iraq and Afghanistan went directly to private military companies. ("The Privatization of War," by Ian Traynor, The Guardian/UK, Dec. 10, 2003)
• World Bank and multinational lending institutions have cut off credit to Haiti for critical development projects, as part of what critics say is a Bush administration campaign to undermine the government of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. ("The Trials of Haiti," The Nation, October 2003)
• Legislators in six states have turned over parts of their prison and corrections budgets to an evangelical group, Prison Fellowship Ministries, founded by Charles Colson, who was special counsel to President Nixon during the Watergate scandal. ("Jails for Jesus," by Samantha M. Shapiro, Mother Jones, November/December 2003 and "How a Watergate crook became America's greatest Christian conservative," by David Plotz, Slate, March 10, 2000)
  

DOWNLOAD this week's half-hour program of Between The Lines by clicking on one of the links below. Needs Quicktime Player or your favorite MP3 player. Note: Make sure your browser is set for streaming or download depending on your connection speed. MP3 files available until Jan. 6, 2004

Note to our broadcast affiliates: We are now offering FTP access for faster, more reliable download of our broadcast quality files. Please call Anna Manzo at (203) 268-8446 ext. 2, to register for FTP logon access or send feedback to us at betweenthelines@snet.net.

• Consumer-quality MP3 for dialup or fast connection (Links to www.radio4all.net) download (6.6MB)

Credits:
Senior news editor: Bob Nixon
Program narration: Sasha Summer Cousineau
News reader: Elaine Osowski
Segment producer: Melinda Tuhus
Distribution: Anna Manzo, Harry Minot, Jeff Yates
Senior Web editor/producer: Anna Manzo
Web producer: Jeff Yates
Web editors: Hank Hoffman and Bill Cosentino
Executive producer: Scott Harris
Theme music: Mikata

Last Week's Program

Between The Lines Week Ending 12/26/03

Bush Re-Election Issues

"Leaks Probe Is Gaining Momentum," Washington Post, Dec. 26, 2003

"Was Willie Horton Gay? George W. As The Hate-Homosexuals Candidate," The Free Press, Dec. 24, 2003

"Now It's A Scandal: New Evidence of House GOP Bribe," Slate, Dec. 23, 2003

"Bigger Than Watergate: How To Rig An Election," Scoop New Zealand, July 8, 2003

"Families Sue U.S., Reject 9/11 'Bribe' Ignore Deadline for Compensation," Toronto Star, Dec. 23, 2003

"Partners in Crime: US Complicity in the War Crimes of Saddam Hussein," by CommonDreams.org, Dec. 23, 2003. Photo of Donald Rumsfeld, then special envoy to President Ronald Reagan, with Saddam Hussein, Dec. 20, 1983.

"'Staggering:' Medical Evacuations From Iraq Near 11,000," UPI, Dec. 19, 2003

American Empire/War Profiteering

"Risky Business In Iraq," The Nation, Jan. 5, 2004

"Not Neo-Con, Just Plain Greed," Toronto Globe & Mail, Dec. 20, 2003

"Postwar" Occupation of Iraq

"For Vietnam Vet Zinni, Another War On Shaky Ground," Washington Post, Dec. 23, 2003

"Arresting Children," Electronic Iraq, Dec. 18, 2003

"Secondary School Under Seige By U.S. Forces," Telectronic Iraq, Dec. 18, 2003

"Insurgents Or Protesters? 18 Killed In Clashes With U.S. Troops," The Independent UK, Dec. 17, 2003

"Hussein Defense Could Shame A Parade Of Americans," The New York Observer, Dec. 17, 2003

"Annals of National Security: Moving Target," Phoenix Arises in Iraq, by Seymour Hersh, The New Yorker, Dec. 15, 2003

"An Annotated Saddam Chronology," ZNet, Dec. 15, 2003

"Baghdad Burning: Girl Blog From Iraq"

"Juan Cole: Informed Comment"

Civil Liberties

"Protesters Cry Foul At Colorado Cops' Spy Tactics," Rocky Mountain News, Dec. 27, 2003

"Bush, With Stealth, Signs PATRIOT ACT Expansion Into Law," San Antonio Current, Dec. 24, 2003

"Justice Goes Offshore And Is Imprisoned," TomDispatch.com, Dec. 20, 2003

"Court Decision: Be Careful Whom You Get In A Car With" Christian Science Monitor, Dec. 19, 2003

"Jose Padilla--A Constitutional Challenge for Us All," CommonDreams.org, Dec. 19, 2003

"Judge: I Saw Police Commit Felonies During FTAA Protests," Miami Herald, Dec. 20, 2003

"Rights, Liberties Groups Hail Court Defeats For Bush Anti-Terror Efforts," OneWorld.net, Dec. 19, 2003

"Setback For Ashcroft's Radical Agenda," WorkingForChange.com, Dec. 19, 2003

Media And Activism

"Comcast Censors Medical Marijuana Group" Granite Staters For Medical Marijuana, Dec. 27, 2003

"Marines On Embedded Media" ZNet, Dec. 23, 2003