Newspaper Page Text
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December 7, 1995 AUGUSTA FOCUS
HUMAN RIGHTS
Ad defends Nigeria’s execution of writer
NEW YORK
(AP) — Newspaper advertise
ments Wednesday defending Ni
geria’s execution of human-rights
activist Ken Saro-Wiwa are in
accurate, an Amnesty Interna
tional official said.
A two-page spread in The New
York Times said Saro-Wiwa seized
control of an Ogoni group in Nige
ria and turned it toward violence.
His supporters said Saro-Wiwa,
a playwright and Ogoni rights
activist, was executed for urging
the Nigerian government toshare
Former mayor, commission chair threatened
for supporting black mayoral candidate
B FBI looking into
threatening letters
and calls received by
white Savannah
politicians who
supported successful
black candidate.
SAVANNAH, Ga.
(AP) — Former Mayor John
Rousakis and the chairman of
the Chatham County Commis
sion received anonymous
death threats for backing the
Superintendent search still stalled
From page one
ate Superintendent Willie
Maczyk would have the seat.
Trustee Y.N. Myers, who is
black, is cautious. “Well, I'm hop
ing we might be able to compro
mise on something,” he said. “I
cannot say what that might be.”
He said that the other Board
members “seldom” call him out
side of the meetings.
When asked if front-runners
Washington and Smith were still
in the race, he said he hadn’t
heard otherwise, and wouldn’t
say whether he would vote for
someone other than Dr. Wash
ington. “I've been thinking seri
ously, but I don’t know just yet.”
When asked if he might vote for
Linda Stelly, hereplied, “I'm look
ing at all options.”
Trustee Adna Stein, who is
black, was surprised when he
read an Augusta Chronicle arti
cleon Dec. 6 that said comromise
isintheair and Linda Stelly may
win the seat. “I'm not in on the
(compromise) discussion,” he
said. “I haven’t seen anything
yet that would make me change
my vote. I feel we presented the
E-mail racism online
From page one
Circulation of the racist mes
sage generated heated responses
among Internet newsgroup read
ers across the country. Some who
responded added similarremarks,
but most criticized it, sometimes
also in offensive terms.
Other universities have also
taken heat recently for messag
es that have been posted on the
Internet.
Just last month four freshmen
at Cornell University were criti
cized for sending several people
Ben Allen wins
From page one
many elections in a short time.
Tuesday’s election was Richmond
County’s fifth call for voters to
the polls this year.
Theday after hisloss, Mr. Ford,
who skipped the Consolidation
Task Force meeting because he
was “beat and drained,” and over
slept, expressed his disappoint
ment.
“Quite naturally I didn’t gointo
it expecting I'd lose, but what
really amazed me was the low
more of the wealth produced by oil
taken from the minority Ogonis’
land and demanding greater
rights for his people.
The ad disputed claims that
Saro-Wiwa's trial was unfair,
saying it was open to the public,
attended by observers from hu
man rights and environmental
groups and broadcast on nation
al television.
“The suggestion that the trial
was on national television and
was free and open to the public,
and was monitored by Amnesty
first black mayor of this coastal
Georgia city.
Rousakis and commission
Chairman Joe Mahany, who are
white, had backed Democrat
Floyd Adams Jr. over Republi
can incumbent Susan Weiner in
the Nov. 28 runoff election.
Adams won by a margin of 256
votes. Weiner has filed a request
for a recount.
Rousakis received a letter in
the mail about two days before
the election and a note several
days after the runoff, he said
Wednesday. Both pieces were
typed and unsigned, he said.
“l haven't seen anything yet that would
make me change my vote. | feel we pre
sented the best-qualified person when we
presented Hattie Washington.”
— Adna Stein, school board trustee
best-qualified person when we
presented Hattie Washington.”
He did say that all four candi
dates are still in the running.
When asked when there would
be another vote on the matter, he
wasn’t abletogive a date. “That’s
going to be up to the president,”
he said, agreeing that the soon
est would probably be sometime
in January or February.
Trustee Jeff Annis, who is
white, feels unsure which candi
dates are still hanging on. “The
only one I have any knowledge
about ... isthat Stelly’s still avail
able.” And that is second-hand
information, he said.
There is “no way” that either
Smith or Washington could win
six of the votes, he said, but some
people are willing to vote for
Stelly.
As were they in September.
Mr. Annis does seem sure that
there will be no decision until the
an e-mail message called, “75
reasons why women (bitches)
should not have freedom of
speech.” The message suggested
women be silenced so they
couldn’t cry rape or refuse sex.
And at Virginia Polytechnic In
stitute and State University a stu
dent was punished for posting a
note on the World Wide Web page
of a gay organization that sug
gested gay men be castrated and
killed. .
The California Institute of Tech
nology expelled a graduate stu
dent for harassing his former girl
friend through e-mail.
turnout,” he said.
Not ruling out a second run for
the seat next November after the
remainder of the two-year term
expires, Mr. Ford said he will
continue to be active in the com
munity.
Despite being out of an elected
office, Mr. Ford said he doesn’t
regret resigning from hiscity seat
to try his hand on the state level.
“I'll be back. Sometimes you
have to take two steps back to
move forward,” he said.
Augusta Focus was unable to
reach Mr. Allen.
World News
International, Greenpeace and
others is an out-and-out lie,” said
Gerald LeMelle, a top executive at
Amnesty International.
Saro-Wiwa and eight other ac
tivists were hanged Nov. 10.
Saro-Wiwa was convicted of in
citing a crowd at a rally to kill
four Ogoni leaders.
The executions were condemned
by the British Commonwealth, the
United States and other govern
ments, and led to limited sanc
tions by the European Union.
The ad includes a supporting
“They were very ugly, very rac
ist, very obscene,” he said.
“They’re in the police officials’
hands.”
Savannah police forwarded
Rousakis’ letters to the FBI, said
Mark Keller, a police spokesman.
Sending threats through the
mail is a federal offense, he said.
Mahany, who received one let
ter, did not immediately return a
telephone call seeking comment.
Rousakis, who lost to Weiner
in 1991 after five terms as the
port city’s mayor, said Wednes
day this is not the first time he
new year, though he doesn’t like
the idea. “There is no doubt in
my mind,” he said, “that we need
to decide by January to elect one
of these candidates or to start
from scratch. ... The greatest
Christmas present to the com
munity would be to give them
Stelly.”
Trustee Barbara Padgett, who
is white, and who originally vot
ed for Smith, is not budging. “I
think it’s a disservice to the chil
dren of Richmond County to com
promise.” Yet, according to
school board records, she did give
Edward Warnick a “yes” vote
during the attempt in Septem
ber to compromise.
President Ken Echols, who is
white, feels that the “gridlock”
associated with Smith and Wash
ington, “logically leaves two
choices,” and Dr. Stelly is his. He
is still optimistic, and feels that
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letter from Desmond Orage, son
of one of the four slain Ogoni
leaders. It listed an address in
the United States for The Kobani,
Badey and Orage Memorial
Foundation.
The ad was similar to one that
appeared Wednesday in the Brit
ish newspaper The Independent
that was placed by the Nigerian
embassy in England. But Orage
said from his office in Los Ange
les that
he has no connection to the Nige
rian government.
has received threats in the
mail.
“In 21 years as mayor you're
bound to get a few of those,” he
said. “This one was particular
ly ugly though.”
City council members who
are Democrats have said ten
sion between blacks and whites
may increase because of
Weiner’s reluctance to concede
defeat and hints by her attor
ney that results were tainted
by voter fraud.
Neither Adams nor Weiner
could be reached for comment.
the board will be “ready to de
cide in January.”
Vice President Andrew
Jefferson, who is black, and who
said publicly the school board
was making “progress,” said that
they would be doing some “seri
ous talking” over the holidays.
Hesaid arecent forum the board
held with the local Parent Teach
er Association and the advisory
committee was, for him, a “wake
up call.”
“Even though the system is
running smoother than it has
everrun, that’snot good enough.”
He said he will do all he can to
get the board to make a decision
but, when asked if that included
changing his own vote, he de
clined to comment. “Hopefully,”
he said, “the ten of us will see
things the same.”
In September there was a five
five racial split in which candi
dates Hattie Washington (black)
and William Smith (white) tied.
When the board voted on the
remaining candidates, Linda
Stelly (black) received three
votes, all white; Edward Warnick
(white) received five votes, all
white. The board has not at
tempted another vote.
Savannah mayor
From page one
course on city history. “There’s a
sense of civility here.”
But peel back that layer and
Savannahrevealsits quirky,scan
dalous side. As Berendt’s book il
lustrates, Savannah is an odd
mix of cotillions and drag shows,
blue bloods and funky art stu
dents. While the city is tolerant
of its natives’ foibles, nothing is
begrudged more in Savannah
than outsiders.
“I don’t know what race prob
lems you're talking about,” said
former Mayor John Rousakis, who
served 21 years before he was
ousted by Mrs. Weiner in 1991. “I
think we’ve done a hell of a job.”
While millions of tourists flock
each year to its cobblestone
riverfront and stately squares
dripping with Spanish moss, Sa
vannah’s black neighborhoods
suffer the same blight as many
inner cities: poverty and ram
shackle housing. And blacks are
typically missing from top corpo
rate boards and social clubs.
While Mrs. Weiner has asked
for a recount, the rest of the city is
warily ready to accept Adams as
their new leader.
“The black community is justifi
ably proud. The white community
is holding its breath,” said archi
tect Eric Johnson, a white Repub
lican state senator. “If Floyd im
Bosnia deployment
'From page one
| “I think everyone is nervous
- about the peace missionin Bosnia,”
Rep. McKinney said. “But after
. meeting with the leaders of the
opposing sides, I firmly believe
that they are ready to make this
'peace agreement work with
' NATO’s support and verification.”
' Ms. McKinney was the only
' Democratic member of the Inter
| national Relations Committee on
the tour.
“As leader of the free world,”
McKinney said, “the United
States of America will only con
tinue to deserve that title based
on whether or not we support
and verify this peace which is so
necessary to Europe’s continued
stability. When you go to
Sarajevo, you quickly learn that
ethnic cleansing is not just a
phrase, but a process of death on
a mass scale. Only when you go
to Sarajevo can the words ‘never
again’show their true meaning.”
While Lewis and McKinney
focused on the potential for peace,
the rest of the Georgia delega
tion focused on potential dan
gers awaiting U.S. troops, the
| length of the U.S. commitment,
}the cost to the taxpayers, and
necessity for U.S. intervention.
‘ Sen. Sam Nunn, who is chair
' man of the Senate Armed Servic
] es Committee, led the opposition
| to the Persian Gulf War, pressed
mediately reaches out and shows
that he’s pro-business, then there
will be a big sigh of relief.”
Voters said personality was as
big a factor as race. Mrs. Weiner,
a former actress and teacher from
Albany, N.Y., is referred to affec
tionately as “our Southern Yan
kee,” and unaffectionately as “our
Northern fluke.” :
She got off to a rocky start when
her husband, Al, called the former
mayor a pig. Later, when the City
Council blocked one of his wife’s
proposals, Weiner said the com
bined IQ of at least four council’
members “would not equal mine.”’
Adams, then one of four black
aldermen, called the remark rac
ist and demanded an apology.
During this last campaign, Mrs.
Weiner ran a radio commercial
that said the “small difference”’
between Adams and her was that
she is white and he is black. She"
denied injecting race into the con
test. ‘
Adams has pledged that his first
act upon taking office on Jan. 2.,
will be to create a human rela
tions commission “to bring this
city back together.”
“It’s not that she was a bad may- |
or, but her husband said terrible
things and you just didn’t know if '
you could trust her,” black wait
ress StephanieJacksonsaid. “And
anyway, it was time for a black
mayor.” j
administration officials to ex
plain how the U.S. can train and
arm the Bosnia government in
an effort to achieve a balance of
forces in the region, while acting
as peacekeepers.
“This question is too impor
tant to our exit strategy and to
the safety of U.S. forces on the
ground to leave open-ended,”
Sen. Nunn said. “We must seek
clarity on this.”
Georgia Republicans, for the
most part, continued to oppose
the use of ground troops in
Bosnia, but their criticism was
muted as Clinton made it clear
he intends to follow through on
his commitment of U.S. Troops
to the multinational peacekeep
ing force.
Republican Sen. Paul
Coverdell, who rarely misses a
chance to criticize Clinton, main
tained a low profile on the Bosnia
issue last week, while continu
ing to oppose the use of U.S.
ground troops.
Georgia lawmakers said their
mail and telephone calls ‘on
Bosnia after Clinton’s speech last
Monday were overwhelmingly
against the deplyment of U.S.
forces as peacekeepers.
But Rep Sanford Bishop, a
Columbus Democrat, said he
believes Americans eventually
will support the president’s plan
if they’re convinced that U.S.
troops will be deployed “as peace
keepers but not as targets.”