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THE MICHIGAN CHRONICLE Global Village Vice President Biden visits Kenya NAIROBI — Vice President
Joe Biden flew into Nairobi on Monday amid unprecedented security and quiet despair in the corridors of power over what is seen as failure by the Obama administration “to be helpful” in finding a solution in Somalia.
The vice president was in
the country for two days as part of a three-nation visit, which included attending the opening ceremony of the Fifa World Cup in South Africa on Friday.
He is the third top-ranking
US official to visit Kenya since the election of Barack Obama, whose father was Kenyan.
Mr. Biden was expected to
deliver a special message from Mr Obama on reforms and the constitution review.
Mr. Obama used an inter-
view with the Kenya Broad- casting Corporation to say some supportive things about Kenya, but also to put across what he believed should be fixed for Kenya to realise its potential: corruption, tribal- ism, and human freedoms.
But top Office of the Presi-
dent officials, speaking on the customary condition of ano- nymity, appeared exasperated by what they termed Washing- ton’s “lack of political appe- tite” to help deal with an issue they see as equally dangerous to Kenya’s stability and future: Somalia.
The officials said they
would like to see the Obama administration take “Somalia as a threat to regional and in- ternational peace” and to use it’s leverage in the Security Council to get the United Na- tions to be more engaged in fixing the lawless country.
Without a government for
nearly 20 years, Somalia is overrun by clan and Islamist militias, some of them allied to al Qaeda, and have been used to launch attacks against US interests in the region.
On Sunday, the US Secret
Service and Federal Bureau of Investigations were deployed and armored limousines flown
in for Mr. Biden’s use. The US vice president was
expected to meet President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga, National Assem- bly Speaker Kenneth Marende, and members of the Parlia- mentary Caucus on Reforms together with the chairman of the Parliamentary Select Com- mittee on reforms.
On Sunday, a member of
the Parliamentary Caucus on Reforms, Olago Aluoch, said his group was scheduled to meet Mr. Biden on Tuesday and the constitution was top on the agenda of the meeting.
“The most likely message
that Mr. Biden is hearing from President Obama is just to re- iterate the issues of reforms and constitution review and how they are important to Ken- yans,” said Prof. Amukowa Anangwe, a political scientist.
During the interview in
Washington with KBC, Presi- dent Obama spoke of his wish to see a more prosperous Kenya. He urged Kenyans to “seize the moment” offered by the referendum to put the post-election violence behind them.
The US President sent the
strongest indication yet that he wanted to see Kenya’s con- stitution review process come to a successful conclusion and announced plans to visit the country before his term ends.
But he clarified that the US
was not pushing for the Yes vote at the referendum, slated for August 4.
President Obama said the
decision to vote yes or no at the referendum was up to Ke- nyans themselves.
Other top-ranking US offi-
cials who have visited Kenya include Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Johnnie Carson.
The Republic of Kenya is a
country in East African bor- dered by Ethiopia on the north, Somalia on the northeast, Tan- zania on the south, Uganda and Lake Victoria on the west
and Sudan on the northwest. Nairobi is the captal city. The country has a population of nearly 38 million.
Bush era recalled
During his visit in 2008,
Carson said the Obama admin- istration would adhere to the same policies that were pur- sued during the Bush era.
Carson, a former US ambas-
sador to Kenya, Uganda and Zimbabwe, said Washington’s Africa policy had traditionally reflected consensus among Republicans and Democrats and Mr. Obama wanted to continue that bipartisan ap- proach.
During the visit, Carson
said the US government feared for the stability of Kenya’s co- alition and asked President Kibaki and Mr. Odinga to move to implement the National Accord.
And during Mrs. Clinton’s
visit last year, the US govern- ment repeated the message and also called for the total overhaul of the criminal jus- tice system and the removal of four key public officials in what they viewed as the first crucial step to reform the in- stitutions they head.
Parliamentary Public Ac-
counts Committee chairman Boni Khalwale, who attended one of the closed-door meet- ings with Mrs. Clinton, said she was concerned about lack of reforms to help end impu- nity and promised to name, shame, and ban violence and corruption suspects from vis- iting the US.
Mrs. Clinton, in her speech-
es and interviews published by the State Department, said a local tribunal was preferable but that The Hague option was inevitable if Kenyans did not move fast.
US ambassador Michael
Ranneberger has on several occasions warned that the US Government would take tough action to pressure Kenya on the reform agenda.
Mr. Ranneberger was sum-
moned by Foreign Affairs minister Moses Wetang’ula for talks over letters that the American Government had sent to 15 Kenyans.
On the Somalia issue, Nai-
robi would like Washington to add Mogadishu to its list of priorities in the region and to stop paying lip service to the risk that the “reservoir of terrorism” that Somalia has become presents.
Officials here now see al-
Shabaab, the most powerful Islamic Somali militant group, as an immediate security threat, not because of its ca- pacity on the battlefront, but because of it’s influence on moderate Muslim populations throughout the Eastern coast of Africa.
Officials are watching with
puzzled anxiety the efforts of world powers, the European Union, the US, the United Kingdom and others, ineffec- tually try to deal with piracy, which is slowly squeezing re- gional economies.
Some 150 warships from
navies across the world are pa- trolling the seas off Somalia. However, piracy has increased despite their presence.
World powers are not deal- ing with the problem and are
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‘‘JUSTICE FOR JANICE: A CALL TO ACTION’’
Dear Friends, Family, and Supporters: This letter seeks to bring to light the
abuse of judicial authority that exists within the Wayne County Probate Court system. Furthermore, it intends to help reverse the current trend of blatant disregard for the constitutional rights of those seeking justice within that court system. My family and I are making an appeal to
the U.S. Federal Government, and we need your help.
On December 8, 2009, the Honorable
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David J. Szymanski, a Wayne County probate judge, remanded into custody Janice Stanton Hines, my wife and a resident of Houston, Texas. Since then she has been held on civil contempt of court charges. My wife’s unlawful detainment began only after she had attended a hearing with Judge Szymanski’s supervisor during which time she requested that Judge Szymanski be removed from her case due to his extreme, apparent bias. Enraged, the judge immediately placed her in custody and ordered an excessively high and unprecedented cash bond of $402,000. Bear in mind the following key facts
regarding the circumstances leading up to Janice’s incarceration: (1) She was not represented by legal counsel at the time and had specifically asked the judge that day for the opportunity to secure the benefit of counsel; (2) at the time she was unlawfully detained, she was gainfully employed in Houston; and (3) prior to that December 8 date, she had attended every required probate court hearing and had made every reasonable accommodation to comply with the instructions of that court. Also note that when jailed, Janice did not
have legal counsel. Her previous attorney had been dismissed due to a conflict of interest; the sudden removal of prior counsel – coupled with the fact that she resides in another state some 1,400 miles – did not allow sufficient opportunity to obtain new, competent representation. Judge Szymanski held and continues to hold
DAVE JOHNSON
my wife without due process of the law. After being held for six months, she has only been given the opportunity to present limited evidence in her defense. The judge has purposely and strategically accomplished this denial of her constitutional rights through the piecemeal scheduling of her trial. Over and over again, he has deliberately refused to schedule a continuous, consistent trial (evidentiary hearing) that would expedite her due process rights. The judge, in effect, is using his trial docket to
inflict cruel and unusual punishment and is thereby depriving Janice Hines and her family rights that have been granted under the U.S. Constitution. Section 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. constitution – which went into effect in 1868 to protect the rights of former slaves – specifically states, in part, that: “No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” My wife’s Eighth Amendment rights are also
e = D T E ®
being violated. This 221-year-old addition to the Constitution states “excessive bail shall not be required” and prohibits the infliction of “cruel and unusual punishment.” Clearly the excessive and unprecedented issuance of a cash bond in excess of $400,000 inflicts cruel and unusual punishment upon both my wife and our family. An example of how Judge Szymanski has
continuously used unethical tactics to deny my wife her Constitutional rights can be seen via the scheduling of his trial docket. He, for example, has thus far ordered the following trial schedule: February 5, (pretrial hearing), March 3-4 (The first day of which was consumed with bad-faith negotiations, and the second day was cancelled.), April 14 (the actual first day of the trial), April 21 (the trial was conduct for about four hours), May 3rd
( full day), and May 12 (less than a half-day from
2:00-4:15 p.m.). The trial resumed on June 2, and at that time the judge will set the next trial date. Thus far my wife has not been able to present her case.
HOW TO
content to try and attack the symptoms, Nairobi feels.
“Once there is an effective
government in Somalia, the problem of piracy is solved,” an official told the Daily Nation.
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JUNE 9-15, 2010 Page A-2
JANICE HINES and her MOTHER, M. LOUISE STANTON celebrating granddaughter’s wed- ding in Houston
At the heart of the matter is a dispute over
a sum of money that was gifted to my wife by her mother. A misguided sibling disagreed and filed suit. Her sibling is alleging that the money was not a gift and is needed for their mom’s expenses. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact her mother has a six-figure retirement income. Again, this is not a criminal matter; it is a
civil suit and no criminal charges are pending against my wife. Despite this critical point, Judge Szymanski has chosen to keep her in confinement solely for civil contempt. Our purpose is not to influence anyone one way or another regarding the merits of the underlying civil lawsuit. Our goal is to bring attention to the fact that my wife has been stripped of her constitutional right to due process and to shed light upon what appears to be a systemic condition of judicial abuse and misconduct in the Wayne County Probate Court system. I can only speculate as to why a probate
judge would only look at one side of an issue and not the other. Additionally, Judge Szymanski has appointed an Ad litem attorney (who doesn’t even have an office and works out of his home) to serve as the conservator over my mother-in-law’s estate – an estate that exceeds two million dollars. Another appointed attorney, who appears to makes her living from probate court assignments, has been assigned as my mother-in-law’s attorney. Through these types of questionable appointments, some probate courts have historically churned and drained the very financial accounts of the individuals that they were assigned to “protect.” This circumstance requires truth and justice.
To that end, the family, friends, and associates of Janice Stanton Hines are requesting a U.S. Department of Justice investigation of Judge David J. Szymanski and the entire Wayne County Probate Court system. We are calling on the U.S. Justice Department to intervene and bring an end to the abuse of constitutional rights. Therefore, my family and I are asking everyone
to write or email to the Justice Department and ask for its intervention. This is critical. They can be reached at t he following addresses: • Eric H. Holder, Jr.
Attorney General of the United States U.S. Department of Justice Washington, DC 20530-0001 Email Address:
AskDOJ@usdoj.gov.
• Barbara L. McQuade United States Attorney Eastern District of Michigan Suite 2001 211 West Fort Street
Detroit, Michigan 48226-3277 Phone: (313)226-9100
• Judy Preston
Special Litigation Section 950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, HB Washington, D.C. 20530 Phone: (202)514-6255 toll-free at (877) 218-5228
For further information they can also go to
www.justice4janice.com. Sincerely,
Keni Hines and Family
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