Latest news with #abuses


CBS News
2 days ago
- Politics
- CBS News
Billboards slam Diaz-Balart over Alligator Alcatraz; Congressman calls campaign a "radical left" move
A nonprofit group is accusing U.S. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart of staying silent on alleged abuses at the Alligator Alcatraz immigration detention center. The group has launched a wave of billboards across Miami-Dade that the congressman says are part of a politically motivated campaign by "the radical left." "When you have groups from the left tied to the Democratic party doing billboards against a Republican, it should be no surprise," Diaz-Balart told CBS News Miami. He said the billboards, one of which appears near the Palmetto Expressway and the entrance to Hialeah, are part of a political strategy. "I think it is a little ironic that it's basically a campaign poster, gets coverage without saying who paid for it," Diaz-Balart added. The criticism centers on allegations that Diaz-Balart has remained silent about reported irregularities at the facility and the number of people being detained and deported without criminal records. "The elections (midterm) are more than a year away," said Chris Wills, spokesperson for the nonprofit group Keep Them Honest, which is responsible for the billboards. Wills said the organization is not backing any candidate and described it as a nonpartisan effort to hold elected officials accountable. "So, Keep Them Honest is a nonprofit, not party organization. We are here to hold the elected officials who were entrusted with the vote of this community," Wills said. "Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart—why is he the one up on this board? Because he's the Republican in Congress who has served the most here in Miami-Dade County. And he has been the most silent one." The group said there are six billboards in total and that monthly costs vary by location. "I would say it's a couple thousand dollars (a month)," said Wills. When asked about funding sources, Wills said, "I'll tell you those checks are coming from people across the political spectrum, including people like me who are former Republicans." Keep Them Honest alleges that detainees at Alligator Alcatraz, located in Diaz-Balart's District 26, are being held without due process or access to legal representation, particularly migrants from Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela and Haiti. "I saw the conditions inside, there's a lot of false information… look, it's a detention center. You and I would not want to spend a day at a detention center, but the conditions inside are typical of a detention center," Diaz-Balart said.


LBCI
7 days ago
- Politics
- LBCI
France strongly condemns 'abuses targeting civilians' in Syria: Ministry
France on Wednesday called for an end to "abuses targeting civilians" in Syria's Sweida, after a war monitor accused government forces of summary executions and other abuses. "The abuses targeting civilians, which we strongly condemn, must stop," the foreign ministry said, calling for an "immediate cessation of clashes" and urging all sides to respect a ceasefire announced on Tuesday. AFP


LBCI
7 days ago
- Politics
- LBCI
Syria promises to punish those who committed abuses in Sweida
The Syrian presidency vowed to punish those who committed violations against Druze-majority Sweida's residents, as government forces were accused of summary executions and other abuses by right groups, witnesses, and local factions. In a statement, the presidency said they "strongly condemn these heinous acts and affirm our full commitment to investigating all related incidents and punishing all those proven to be involved."


CTV News
03-06-2025
- Health
- CTV News
Swedish inquiry finds abuse and fraud in international adoptions dating back decades
Anna Singer, a Swedish expert leading the country's investigation into its international adoption practices, speaks during an interview in Seoul, South Korea, March 21, 2023. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, file) STOCKHOLM — STOCKHOLM (AP) — A Swedish commission recommended Monday that international adoptions be stopped after an investigation found a series of abuses and fraud dating back decades. Sweden is the latest country to examine its international adoption policies after allegations of unethical practices, particularly in South Korea. The commission was formed in 2021 following a report by Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter detailing Sweden's problematic international adoption system. Monday's recommendations were sent to Minister of Social Services Camilla Waltersson Grönvall, who said her department would review the report. 'The assignment was to investigate whether there had been irregularities that the Swedish actors knew about, could have done and actually did,' Anna Singer, a legal expert and the head of the commission, told a news conference. 'And actors include everyone who has had anything to do with international adoption activities. 'It includes the government, the supervisory authority, organization, municipalities and courts. The conclusion is that there have been irregularities in the international adoptions to Sweden.' The commission called on the government to formally apologize to adoptees and their families. Investigators found confirmed cases of child trafficking in every decade from the 1970s to the 2000s, including from Sri Lanka, Colombia, Poland and China. Singer said that a public apology, beside being important for those who are personally affected, can help raise awareness about the violations because there is a tendency to downplay the existence and significance of the abuses. An Associated Press investigation, in collaboration with Frontline (PBS), last year reported dubious child-gathering practices and fraudulent paperwork involving South Korea's foreign adoption program, which peaked in the 1970s and '80s amid huge Western demands for babies. The AP and Frontline spoke with more than 80 adoptees in the U.S., Australia and Europe and examined thousands of pages of documents to reveal evidence of kidnapped or missing children ending up abroad, fabricated child origins, babies switched with one another and parents told their newborns were gravely sick or dead, only to discover decades later they had been sent to new parents overseas. The findings are challenging the international adoption industry, which was built on the model created in South Korea. In March, South Korea's truth commission concluded that the government bears responsibility for facilitating a foreign adoption program rife with fraud and abuse, driven by efforts to reduce welfare costs and enabled by private agencies that often manipulated children's backgrounds and origins. The Netherlands last year announced it would no longer allow its citizens to adopt from abroad. Denmark's only international adoption agency said it was shutting down, and Switzerland apologized for failing to prevent illegal adoptions. France released a scathing assessment of its own culpability. South Korea has sent around 200,000 children to the West for adoptions in the past six decades, with more than half of them placed in the U.S. Along with France and Denmark, Sweden has been a major European destination of South Korean children, adopting nearly 10,000 of them since the 1960s.