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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 9, 1997)
Justice denies memo to Congress WASHINGTON (AP) — Holding fast in a confrontation with Congress, the Justice Department refused Monday to surrender FBI Director Louis Freeh’s subpoenaed memo, which urged that an indepen dent prosecutor investigate campaign fund raising. Rep. Dan Burton, R-Ind., criti cized the decision on the eve of today’s scheduled testimony by Attorney General Janet Reno and Freeh to the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee. Freeh is at odds with Reno’s announcement last week not to seek an independent counsel to look into telephone fund raising by President Clinton and Vice President A1 Gore. But Reno and Freeh agree that the FBI director’s memo should not be turned over to Congress. They say turning it over would compromise their ongoing criminal investigation. “I am especially troubled that the attorney general is refusing to respond to a legitimate oversight request after we made clear that we would accept a version of the memo from which any grand jury materials were removed,” said Burton, the com mittee’s chairman. “It’s Director Freeh’s reasons for recommending an independent coun sel that we want to review, not grand jury testimony,” said Burton. According to a news release by the House panel, committee chief counsel Richard Bennett’s negotia tions with the FBI to obtain the memo had been proceeding in a positive manner until Justice Department lawyers refused to approve an arrangement blacking out references in the document to grand jury activi ty But FBI officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, gave a differ ent account. They said the FBI object ed to turning over grand jury evi dence and investigative strategies detailed in the memo, and they only considered turning over the bare bones conclusion that Freeh was rec ommending an outside prosecutor because that advice had leaked any way. Justice officials said, however, that release of even that sentence of advice would violate the principle of keeping internal executive branch recommendations private, which could ultimately undermine Reno’s ability to get candid advice from aides. Officials have said that Freeh argued for an outside investigation of a broad range of allegations as part of a possible conspiracy and that top Justice Department officials had the appearance of a conflict of interest in pursuing such a case against fellow executives of the Clinton administra tion. Reno has argued that the indepen dent counsel law requires her to find credible evidence that a specific fed eral felony may have been committed by covered officials and does not allow her to refer “a big blob” of alle gations to an independent counsel. She has said the continuing Justice task force investigation can investi gate possible conspiracies so long as they are conspiracies to violate a spe cific law. U It is (FBI) Director Freeh s reasons for recommending an independent counsel that we want to review,...” Dan Burton U.S. representative Israeli army ignored petitions, group says JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s army systematically ignored .complaints against its soldiers by Palestinians.during : the Palestinian uprising from 1989 to 1994, an Israeli human rights group said Monday. The complaints generally met with bureaucratic stalling, unrea sonable delays, and “grossly incompetent investigations,” said Dalia Kerstein, director of the group Hamoked. “This was not a coincidental string of errors by military authorities but a policy fully endorsed by the military justice system,” Kerstein said. The army spokesman’s office dismissed Kerstein’s claims as “nonsensical and baseless,” say ing the defense establishment dealt with many Palestinian com plaints during the uprising against Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.. Some 1,200 Palestinians are seeking hundreds of millions of -< JHamoked-i«sued an 85-page * pepoft^xahiining 441 Palestinian complaints, saying just 22 sol diers have been brought to trial. Twenty-two of the complaints involved the deaths of Palestinians. Those resulted in the trials of two soldiers, both of whom were acquitted, Hamoked said. Legislation is pending that would prevent Palestinians from applying for compensation for injuries suffered during the uprising - called the intefadeh - by defining all army actions in the West Bank and Gaza during that time as acts of war. “It’s time for the military to start being accountable. The inte fadeh is over, the peace accords have been signed, but nothing has changed,” Kerstein said. Editor: Paula Lavigne Questions? Comments? Ask for the Managing Editor: Julie Sobczyk aDorooriate section editor at 1402) 472-2588 Associate News Editor: Rebecca Stone aPProP"aie ° Mn0f at #7Z*SM Assistant News Editor: Jeff Randall ore-malldn@unlinfo.unl.edu. Assignment Editor: Chad Lorenz Opinion Editor: Matthew Waite Asst Online Editor: Amy Pemberton Sports Editor: Mike Kluck General Manager: DanShatdl A&E Editor: Jim Goodwin Publications Board Melissa Myles Copy Desk Chiefs: Nancy Zywiec Chairwoman: (402)476-2446 I * Design Chief: Joshua Gfflrn Advertising Manager: Nick Partsch, Art Director: Aaron Steckelberg (402) 472-2S89 Online Editor: Gregg Steams Assistant Ad Manager: Daniel Lam Fax number: (402) 472-1761 World Wide Web: www.urt.edu/DailyNeb The Daily Nebraskan (USPS 1444)80) is published by the UNL Publications Board, Nebraska Union 34,1400 R St, Lincoln, NE 685884)448, Monday through Friday duming the academic year; weekly during the summer sessions.The public has access to the Publications Board. Readers are encouraged to submit story ideas and comments to the Daily Nebraskan by calling (402)472-2588. Subscriptions are $55 for one year. Postmaster Send address changes to the Daily Nebraskan, Nebraska Union 34,1400 R SI, Lincoln NE 685884)448. Periodical jiostage paid at Lincoln, NE. ALL MATERIAL COPYRIGHT 1997 THE DAILY NEBRASKAN Officer recants account of Biko’s trip to prison PUKT ELIZABETH, South Africa (AP) — Anti-apartheid leader Steve Biko was naked and laboring for breath when he reached prison after riding 660 miles in the back of a Land Rover, but the police officer who delivered him said Biko was only feigning sickness. Two decades after Biko’s death, the same officer, former police Brig. Gen. Daniel Siebert, told Truth and Reconciliation Commission on Monday he lied when he brought Biko to a Pretoria prison. Siebert drove Biko from Port Elizabeth to Pretoria in 1977, days after police severely beat him and withheld medical attention. Authorities at the Pretoria prison wanted to know why Biko was in such bad shape. “I told the men ... he was making as if he was sick” and was on a hunger strike, Siebert, then a police captain, told the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. A short time later, the 30-year-old black leader was dead. His death pro voked international outrage and mobilized the anti-apartheid struggle ■ at home. Siebert, without naming names, said he had simply been following orders. “I did what I was told,” he said. Siebert, 51, is one of five former police officers seeking amnesty in Biko’s death. The men say they never intended to seriously injure or kill Biko, but acknowl edge the interrogation went wrong. In September, the amnesty commit tee heard how police butted Biko’s head into a wall and then chained him to a gate crucifixion style for 24 hours while interrogating him in Port Elizabeth. Under the leadership of retired Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the Truth Commission has approved amnesty in about a third of the cases it has acted on. More than 5,000 appli cations are pending. To receive amnesty, applicants must make lull confessions and prove political motivation. George Bizos, a lawyer represent ing Biko’s family in opposing amnesty, said he would show die offi cers continue to lie and that their actions were not politically motivated. Bizos also challenged Siebert’s claim that Biko was transported naked to prevent him from hanging himself. “You were prepared right to the end to insult his humanity by handing him over in a completely naked condi tion,” Bizos said. “He was hardly able to move. How did you expect him to lift himself up and commit suicide in his miserable condition?” Ailing pope helps usher in Roman Christmas season ROME (AP) — He walked slqwlypdWn’t kneel and his vo»e was weak", but Pope John Paufll kept his traditional pre-Christmas appointment with Romans on Monday. More than 15,000 people crowd ed the Spanish Steps and the square below, joining John Paul in honor ing the Virgin Mary on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. On this day, Romans traditional ly place flowers around a column supporting a large statue of Mary on . the square. The pope sent a large basket of pink roses. sill ifo?^i$tea9S2Jdtt^palg&fcfltfit and prayed at the foot of the statue, but this year he read while standing. The 77-year-old pope has had diffi culty walking and bending down since undergoing surgery for a bro ken leg in 1994. The feast day, a national holiday in Italy and several other European countries, marks the Catholic teach ing that Mary was free from origi nal sin from die moment of her own conception. The holiday also ushers in Rome’s Christmas season. ■ 7 ./ ■ U.S. irked at drugs, poll says I ■ A recent survey hints that Americans are more concerned with family values than social issues. WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans overwhelmingly think drugs are the most serious prob lem facing children today, with crime and the breakdown of home life trailing behind, a survey indi cates. The poll, released Monday] suggests those who focus on fam ily values are winning the ]|>3tyle for public opinion over those who say it is more important to improve the social condition of children, said die study's director, Robert Blendon, a professor at Harvard University. “The family values side has really caught on in the American mind,” he said. “All the issues that relate to kids in poverty have not caught on in the last decade.” ; A similar survey conducted 11 years ago also found drugs to be the top concern.' K. But while the breakdown of home life was a close second in 1*50, wim 40 percent mentioning it, just 22 percent see it as a seri ous problem today, according to the survey, which was sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and conducted by Ihe Harvard School of Public Health and the University of MarylShJdt While 28 percent of Americans were concerned about child and sexual abuse in 1986, fewer than 2 percent of people mentioned it this year. By contrast, this year’s survey showed 24 percent of Americans concerned with crime, which did n’t register in 1986. Blendon suggested that gener al concerns about crime may have replaced concern about a particu lar crime - child sex abuse, which got considerable attention a decade ago. But he argued that the shift is unwarranted given that crime rates are falling. “People really are anxious aoout mings mat snouid oe gomg down the list,” he said. He said that given the ch$qc^ to name any problem facing chil dren, few Americans ment^o^d child poverty or health care and wondered if support for a new, $24 billion children’s health insur ance program wiU die at the state level. ty education, which 17 percent of ‘ people named as a top concern, up from 9 percent 11 years ago. “In a country where one in « five kids live in poverty, that’s not resonating at all with people we If surveyed,” he said. The telephone survey, con ducted in September and October, has a margin of error of plus or j minus 3 percentage points.