To Catch a Dictator: The Pursuit and Trial of Hissene Habre; and Fairness and Accuracy In Election Coverage

To Catch a Dictator: The Pursuit and Trial of Hissene Habre

Human rights attorney Reed Brodys page turning book To Catch a Dictator: The Pursuit and Trial of Hissene Habre is being released in November 2022. Habre was the dictator of Chad, a landlocked country in central Africa from 1982 to 1990. He was deposed by a coup and exiled to nearby Senegal.

Attorney Reed Brody of Human Rights Watch led a coalition of human rights activists, lawyers, and victims which brought Habre to justice. The lead trial lawyer for the victims was African attorney Jacqueline Moudeina.

Habre was found guilty in a courtroom in Dakar, Senegal in May 2016 of rape, sexual slavery, torture, and the killing of over 40,000 citizens of Chad. He was the first former head of state to be convicted of crimes against humanity in the courts of another country.

We speak today with Reed Brody who worked for 18 years with Human Rights Watch alongside Hissene Habres victims.

Guest – Reed Brody has helped pursue dictators Augusto Pinochet of Chile, Jean Claude baby doc Duvalier of Haiti, and Yahya Jamaeh of Ghana. He also uncovered atrocities of US backed contras in Nicaragua, led UN missions in El Salvador, in the Congo, and exposed Bush ” administration torture.

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Fairness and Accuracy In Election Coverage

Virtually everyone agrees that the mainstream corporate media in the United States plays a major role in who wins elections. But on the right, a great many are convinced that what they characterize as the liberal media is not to be believed, thanks to Trump and his cries of the lying media, while on the left, most argue that since the mainstream media is corporate, it operates for the benefit of those candidates most likely to advance the interests of corporate America.

So today we examine the role played by the mainstream media in our elections. How truthful is its election reporting? What role does social media play in the electoral process? If, indeed, the mainstream media plays a role in our elections, is it, in fact, a decisive role? And if it is, how does it do that? Well, if you stay tuned, I truly believe you will be surprised by some of what you learn today. I say that because today weve got the perfect guest to help us examine this topic in all of its permutations. He is Norman Solomon, certainly one of Americas true champions of a free and honest press.

Guest – Norman Solomon is a longtime associate of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (F.A.I.R.), which has proved to be a powerful watchdog of the American media. Norman Solomon is the co-founder of the online activist organization RootsAction.org, and he is also the Executive Director of the Institute for Public Accuracy. He is, of course, the author of too many articles to recite here, as well as a number of books, including War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death; also, the book Made Love, Got War: Close Encounters with Americas Warfare State.

A Poem by Raymond Nat Turner About L.A. City Council

Hosted by Attorneys Michael Smith and Jim Lafferty

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