Associated Press 1 I \r/^
“• 1NEWS UIGEST
Differences arise at U.N. anniversary
UNITED NATIONS—In the larg
est gathering of world leaders in his
tory, kings, presidents and premiers
marked the 50th anniversary of the
United Nations on Sunday by demand
ing the organization change so it can
fulfill the dreams of its founders.
But differ
ences that long
have divided
the world’s
only truly glo
bal organiza
tion surfaced
as 200 heads of
state, prime
ministers, foreign ministers and rep
resentatives of international groups
began three days of speeches.
Cuban President Fidel Castro, whc
shed his trademark fatigues for a busi
ness suit, talked of the gap betweer
rich and poor and domination of the
United Nations by powerful countries
“How long shall we wait for the
democratization of the United Na
tions?” Castro asked, to enthusiastic
applause, mostly from leaders of de
vcloping nations.
Zambian President Frederick
Chiluba said the Security Council
should not serve as a sanctuary where
the five permanent members become
“high priests to the rest of the globe.”
Even permanent members were not
entirely pleased. Russian President
Boris Yeltsin complained that the Se
curity Council and his own country
have been bypassed in recent U.S.-led
initiatives to end the war in Bosnia.
The U.N. charter ratified 50 years
ago Tuesday espoused ideals of fos
tering peace and security throughout
the world and economic progress for
all peoples.
The anniversary is taking place as
the United Nations faces its greatest
financial crisis, brought on by demands
for peacekeeping operations in the
former Yugoslavia, Somalia, Angola
and elsewhere, as well as the failure of
member states to pay their dues.
Members owe the United Nations
$3 billion. The biggest debtor is the
United States, $ 1.3 billion in arrears.
President Clinton, who spoke nine
minutes beyond the five-minute limit
allotted each speaker, said he was
determined to meet the United States’
financial obligations to the United
Nations.
But he added: “The U.N. must be
able to show that the money received
supports savingand enrichingpeople’s
lives, not bureaucratic overhead.”
As the gathering progresses, the
leaders will hold scores of one-on-one
meetings on issues ranging from the
war in Bosnia to U.S.-China relations
and peace in the Middle East.
Outside the U.N. complex, city
police and federal agents mounted one
of New York’s biggest-ever security
operations, wrapping a thick defen
sive blanket around the dignitaries.
Streets were closed, anti-sniper teams
were deployed on rooftops and police
boats patrolled the nearby East River.
Thousands of protesters rallied on
a plaza behind blue police barricades,
including anti-Castro demonstrators
who marched on Cuba’s U.N. mis
sion, Tamils who came by bus from
Canada to show support for ethnic
brethren in their separatist war with
Sri Lanka’s government and support
ers of the Mohajir underclass in Prime
Minister Benazir Bhutto’s Pakistan.
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Clinton targets smugglers I
UNITED NATIONS — Presi
dent Clinton urged world leaders
Sunday to join a crackdown against
international drug smugglers, an
nouncing the United States will
freeze assets of Colombia’s biggest
cocaine cartel and punish countries
that tolerate money laundering.
“We must win this battle to
gether,” the president declared in a
speech opening a three-day celebra
tion of the 50th anniversary of the
United Nations.
Clinton signed an executive or
der targeting the four leaders of
Colombia’sCali cartel and43 asso
ciates. The order also blacklists 33
businesses, including Colombia’s
biggest drugstore chain, holding
companies, import-export firms,
pharmaceutical companies, auto
mobile dealerships and various
stores.
The order freezes any assets they
have in the United States, bars them
from any business with Americans
and cuts them off from the U.S.
financial system. The Cali ring is
believed behind 80 percent of the
cocaine smuggled to the United
States and 15 percent of the heroin.
Officials said Clinton’s order would
have a major impact, although they
declined to offer a precise estimate.
Clinton also put nations sus
pected of money laundering on no
tice that the United States may im
pose sanctions on them if they per
sist in helping criminals. He said
criminal enterprises are moving
“vast sums of ill-gotten gains
through the international financial
system with absolute impunity.
“We must not allow them to wash
the blood off profits from the sale
of drugs, from terror or organized
crimes,” the president said.
California inmate lawsuits
cost $25 million in taxes
SACRAMENTO, Calif. —
Lawrence Bittaker’s cookie was bro
ken. Richard Burton’s stomach hurt
after eating chili. Kevin Howard
thought his thoughts were broadcast
on prison loudspeakers.
These woes may seem trivial or
bizarre, but not to these prison in
mates. So they did what hundreds of
convicts do each year: sue the state.
Lawsuits filed by California prison
inmates cost taxpayers more than S25
million in the past year, according to
an Associated Press analysis of state,
federal and county budgets.
While not all such lawsuits are
frivolous, advocates of restrictions on
the lawsuits say the caseload is taking
a toll on courts, prisons, the attorney
general’s office and taxpayers.
For example, 51 lawyers with the
attorney general’s office do nothing
but defend the state against prisoner
claims. The amount the office spends
on prisoner lawsuits has risen tenfold
in the past decade.
“It’s the single largest chunk of
cases coming into the system,” said
David A. Sellers, a spokesman for the
Administrative Office of the U.S.
Courts.
A total of 53,312 inmate lawsuits
were filed nationwide in federal courts
in 1994, according to Sellers’ office
— about twice as many as a decade
ago.
-- “Some real needs get lost in the
flood,” said Joan Cavanagh, who over
sees a team of state lawyers in Sacra
mento that works exclusively on pris
oner litigation. “Everybody is tied up
with diarrhea, electric brain waves,
soggy sandwiches and everything
else.”
California Attorney General Dan
Lungren is backing legislation to de
ter prisoners from filing frivolous law
“Some real needs get
lost. ... Everybody is tied
up with diarrhea,
electric brain waves,
soggy sandwiches and
everything else. ”
JOAN CAVANAGH
oversees prisoner litigation
lawyers
suits. Two such bills are moving
through Congress, and there are other
proposals to require inmates to ex
haust administrative appeals before
filing lawsuits.
“For too long, taxpayer money has
been wasted on defending the state
against inmates who are not afraid to
abuse the judicial system,” he said.
However, Edward Koren, a pris
oner rights lawyer with the American
Civil Liberties Union in Washington,
cautioned that the government risks
throwing out the baby with the bath
water.
“Yes, it does cost money to do
these types of things,” he said. “... But
the state has to separate out those that
have some constitutional merit to
them.”
However, studies show that 2 per
cent of prisoner lawsuits reach settle
ment; and 1 percent go to trial.
“When 99 plus percent of those are
determined by the court to be invalid
it suggests that the problems are mini
mal at best. ...” Lungren said. “It’s
obvious we’re spending tens of mil
lions of dollars on frivolous prisoner
lawsuits.”
NefcJraskan
Editor J. Christopher Hain Night News Editors Julie Sobczyk
472-1766 Matt Waite
Managing Editor Rainbow Rowell Doug Peters
Assoc. Nev .'s Editors DeDra Janssen Chad Lorenz
Brian Sharp Art Director Mike Stover
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