University of Arizona using lasers on migrants, US spy dollars are a threat to human rights
By Brenda Norrell
TUCSON -- In Tucson, a community known for its human rights organizations setting global standards, the University of Arizona has been co-opted by dollars to become spy central.
The university is very proud of its new millions to spy on people, by way of the Internet, and develop "technologies," including lasers on migrants' arteries.
Under the guise of the war on terror, human rights activists, especially peace activists, have been targeted throughout the United States and the world by unbridled US spy technology and US government lawlessness.
Are the students who promote human rights safe writing on their Internet computers at the university? Many do not feel they are. Are peaceful protesters safe gathering and legally voicing their concerns? Many do not feel they are safe with millions of spy dollars pouring into the university.
The university and Homeland Security are promoting Dr. Hsinchun Chen, in charge of Internet spying worldwide and based at the university. He is on the lookout for "suspicious" behavior.
"Dr. Chen is the founder of the Knowledge Computing Corporation, a university spin-off company and a market leader in law enforcement and intelligence information sharing and data mining," according to a statement to publicize Dr. Chen's efforts.
The latest news is that the university is using lasers on migrants.
Jay Nunamaker, director of UA's Center for Management of Information in the Eller College of Management, said the university is using the laser doppler vibrometer on migrants.
"Nunamaker said the goal is to make the laser beam that is aimed at the suspect's carotid artery invisible and have it be accurate up to 100 yards," according to the Tucson Citizen. The lasers are an experiment to determine truth telling and lies.
Is it safe? Not everyone believes this laser is safe. But apparently the university feels it is OK to experiment on migrants with these lasers.
Homeland Security said, "The Center for Border Security and Immigration, led by the University of Arizona in Tucson and the University of Texas at El Paso, will develop technologies, tools and advanced methods to balance immigration and commerce with effective border security, as well as assess threats and vulnerabilities, improve surveillance and screening, analyze immigration trends, and enhance policy and law enforcement efforts."
The university is receiving $16 million from Homeland Security.
Because of the fear of an economic collapse in the US, university researchers are scrambling after the dollars.
The university announced a new center on campus, Center of Excellence, with Homeland Security agents present. Other centers include the Center for Maritime, Island and Port Security led by the University of Hawaii, the Center for Risk and Economic Analysis of Terrorism Events led by the University of Southern California and the National Center for Foreign Animal and Zoonotic Disease Defense led by Texas A&M.
The University of Arizona, focused on Internet spying, is collaborating with Arizona State University, New Mexico State University, New Mexico Tech, San Diego State University, the University of Texas-Pan American, the University of Minnesota, the University of Washington, West Virginia University, the University of Southern California and the University of Albany.
The assault on human rights at the University of Arizona follows the construction of telescopes on sacred Mount Graham and the university's total disregard for Apache and other Native Americans who have struggled for years to halt the desecration.
Meanwhile, Homeland Security dollars are also funding US intelligence training in Israel, according to Security Solutions International.
The security industry around the world, including intelligence, security guards and private prisons, became one of the most profitable industries in the world following 9/11.
The Homeland Security funded Israeli training follows the news that the same security corporations responsible for building the Apartheid Wall in Palestine, including Israel's Elbit Systems, were subcontracted for security work on the US Apartheid Wall on the US/Mexico border.
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, of the Organization of American States, named the US Border Wall and Guantanamo as international human rights concerns, in a statement released last week. The Commission pointed out how the US has targeted Indigenous Peoples and the poor in discriminatory actions in construction of the border wall and urged the closure of Guantanamo detention facility, long known as a place of US torture, secret renditions and other violations of the Geneva Conventions.
1 comment:
Do people feel safe to express themselves, to exercise even their most basic assumed freedoms in this "thing" called America? The answer is clearly no, and sadly with good reasons when the "greatest national security threat", according to the U.S. government, is Vegan teens and those "violent" Quaker houses.
Core political dissent IS the enemy of this and any fascist nation, and no laws are to be allowed to get in the way with the efficiency of the state in persecuting it's new ever expanding definition of "terrorism", or what should properly be called the "fear war".
Every time someone chooses to give voice and speak truth to power, this is a brave and commendable act. Do not let these fascists ever silence you through fear alone, for that is their goal, this is why they try to spy on everything sent everywhere and need to create new enemies out of ordinary activities to justify their budgets.
As for Universities selling themselves or their students out to do or otherwise co-opted for fascist research, this is sadly not at all new. Sometimes it happens covertly, through CIA backed NGO's like USAID or the Ford Foundation, and sometimes openly like this. Are these students safe in a university that works on illegal spying? Of course not, and I agree they are likely subject to more intense surveillance, as they are a perfect "test case" demographic for the police state to develop it's latest illegal spying tactics.
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