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... GLPBAL NEWS ... NEWS HIGHER LEUKAEMIA RATES AMONG THOSE LIVING NEAR TV TOWERS ture. Under civil asset forfeiture, every- thing you own can be literally taken away even if you are never indicted, tried or con- victed of a crime. Suspicion of offences, which, if proven in court, might result in a US$200 fine or probation, is being used to justify seizure of tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of property. How extensive are seizures in America today? In April 1990, The Washington Post reported that the US Marshals Service alone had an inventory of over US$1.4 bil- lion in seized assets, including over 30,000 cars, boats, homes and businesses. Federal and state agencies seizing property now include the FBI, the DEA, the US Marshals Service, the Coast Guard, the IRS, local police, the highway patrol, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the FDA and the Bureau of Land Management. Asset forfeiture is a growth industry. Scizures increased from US$27 million in 1986 to over US$644 million in 1991. In 1993, seizures exceeded US$2 billion. Under civil seizure, property, not an indi- vidual, is charged with an offence. Even if you are a totally innocent owner, the gov- ernment can stil] confiscate your guilty you have no presumption of innocence, no right to an attorney, and no protection from double jeopardy. To get a trial, you have to post a non- refundable ‘bond’ of 10 per cent of the value of your property. You have to pay attomey fees—ranging from $5,000 to over $100,000—out of your own pocket. Money you pay your attorney is also sub- ject to seizure (either before or after the trial) if the government alleges that those funds are tainted. Every week, over 5,000 Americans are losing their cars, homes, bank accounts and businesses. Only three in 100 confiscation victims ever get a trial. (Source: A-albionic Research, 17 July 1995) According to a report just released, chil- dren living in three Sydney districts close to television towers have a 60 per cent higher rate of childhood leukaemia than children in adjacent areas. Dr Bruce Hocking, a consultant in occu- pational medicine and former Chief Medical Officer for Telecom Australia (now renamed Telstra), analysed data from the NSW Cancer Registry on cancer inci- dences between 1972 and 1990 and found 100 cases of childhood leukemia and just under 40 deaths. Dr Hocking presented his findings at the Royal Australasian College of Physicians’ Annual Scientific Meeting in Canberra. In 1987, a similar study identified higher rates of cancer among those living near tadio and TV broadcast towers in Honolulu, Hawaii. However, this finding was never followed up. Dr Bruce Anderson and Alden Henderson of the Hawaii Department of Health had found higher rates of cancer and leukaemia in census tracts with broadcast towers. An RF/MW survey by the Environmental) Protection Agency had earlier shown that the city of Honolulu had the highest radia- tion levels of any US urban area. Dr William Morton of the University of Oregon's Health Sciences Center in Portland had found parallel trends in his study of cancer and broadcast radiation in Portland. (Sources: The Australian, 10 May 1996; Microwave News, Nov/Dec 1995) WAS CIA MURDER BEHIND BREAK WITH LIBYA? Britain broke diplomatic relations with Libya in 1984 after a British policewoman, Yvonne Fletcher, was shot and killed out- side the Libyan Embassy in London during an anti-Qaddafi demonstration. The British Government and media immediately con- cluded that the shots had come from the Libyan Embassy. Now a documentary, shown on Britain's Channel 4, says it could have been US intelligence services that killed Fletcher in order to get Britain to join Washington's campaign against Libya. The program went to air on British TV on 10th April. The Libyan Foreign Ministry quickly sent an official letter to Britain, asking the government to consider _ re-establishing diplomatic relations. (Source: Workers World Service, Workers World, 55 W. 17th St, NY, NY 10011, USA; via e-mail: ww @ wwpublish.com) property. If government agents seize your property under civil asset forfeiture, you can forget about being innocent until proven guilty, due process of law, the right to an attorney or even the right to a trial. All of those rights only exist if you are charged with a criminal offence—that is, an offence which could result in your imprisonment. If you (or your property) are accused of a civil offence (an offence which could not result in your imprison- ment), the Supreme Court has ruled that THE LOOTING OF AMERICA In 1989, police stopped 49-year-old Ethel Hylton at Houston's Hobby Airport and told her she was under arrest because a drug-sniffing dog had scratched at her lug- gage. Agents searched her bags and strip- searched her, but they found no drugs. They did find $39,110 in cash—money she had received from an insurance settlement, and her life savings accumulated through over 20 years of work as a hotel housc- keeper and hospital janitor. Ethel Hylton completely documented where she had got the money and was never charged with a crime. But the police kept her money any- way. Nearly seven years later, she is still trying to get her money back. Ethel Hylton is just one of a large and growing list of Americans—now number- ing in the hundreds of thousands—who have been victimised by civil asset forfei- CABLE Ra&DIO OY ERY (hs | Be Te a) PS Ald) ia S) Ss NY (oe! ime A O% A @ DS 2 =~ “J Ree ~