GovBlog: UC Berkeley » Foreign Governments

United States Congressional Serial Set Now Available through LexisNexis Congressional

Jesse Silva — Tue, 05 May 2009 17:38:56 +0000

UC Berkeley has recently acquired full-text access to the United States Congressional Serial Set (1789-1969) through LexisNexis Congressional. The Serial Set contains the legislative history of United States, and also includes many historic agency annual reports, House and Senate Reports, and many other official government documents (for a more complete summary of what is contained in the Serial Set, click here). Prior to this acquisition, citations to the Serial Set found in LexisNexis Congressional had to be searched in the Readex United States Congressional Serial Set database. With this purchase, you can now search LexisNexis Congressional for all your congressional research needs. Off-campus access to LexisNexis Congressional is restricted to current UCB student, faculty and staff, though anyone in the Library may access the database.

National Security Archive Posts Declassified Evidence Used in Fujimori Trial

Susana Hinojosa — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 20:39:42 +0000

The National Security Archive recently posted key declassified U.S. documents that were submitted as evidence in the former President Fujimori’s trial which began on December 10, 2007, in Peru. Fujimori was Peru’s president from 1990 to 2000 when he was forced to resign. The declassified records contain intelligence gathered by U.S. officials on the secret creation of “assassination teams” that were part of Fujimori’s counterterrorism operations. Six of the 21 declassified U.S. records are provided on the NSA website. These were originally obtained through the Freedome of Information Act (FOIA).

New Database: LexisNexis Statistical Datasets

Jesse Silva — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 18:25:29 +0000

The Library has just subscribed to LexisNexis Statistical Datasets. The database provides fast and easy one-stop shopping to more than 5.3 billion (and growing) data points from licensed and public domain datasets. Sources of data include local, state and international governments and organizations. Datasets allows you to customize the data by selecting subjects, variable(s) of interest, and the ability to view your data in side-by-side tables, charts and even maps. Datasets also provides quick graphs and chats for statistics in the news, and when you download or print, you are given citation information from where the data originated. Anyone may access LexisNexis Statistical Datasets from the public computers in the Library, however, off-campus access to is restricted to current UCB faculty, staff and students through the proxy server or VPN.

Databank on Indigenous Legislation

Susana Hinojosa — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 22:33:29 +0000

The Inter-American Development Bank offers on its website various links to ’statistics and tools’ and one such tool is the Databank on Indigenous Legislation. The databank has three sections which in different ways make available legal texts, legislation at various levels and also case law. The National Legislation by Country section contains legal rules, text from constitutions, laws and case law. The section, National Legislation by Theme offers 20 themes such as cultural diversity, territories, health, environment, and indigenous women and within the themes lists legal rules in constitutions, laws and legislation. The third section, International Legislation includes the text of international conventions such as the American Convention on Human Rights, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, also includes international case law by country, and Inter-American Court of Justice rulings.

Reports on Pre-War Intelligence Released from the U.S. Senate

Jesse Silva — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 23:12:16 +0000

The United States Senate’s Select Committee on Intelligence has just released 2 reports on pre-war intelligence activities. You can find the reports on the committee’s webpage. The reports are titled:

Report on Whether Public Statements Regarding Iraq by U.S. Government officials were Substantiated by Intelligence Information

Report on Intelligence Activities Relating to Iraq Conducted by the Policy Counterterrorism Evaluation Group and the Office of Special Plans Within the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense Policy.

Among other things, the reports found that officials misrepresented secret intelligence to make the case to invade Iraq. At this point in time, UC Berkeley has not received these reports from the Government Printing Office.

Foreign Policy Association

Susana Hinojosa — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 18:17:44 +0000

The Foreign Policy Association (FPA) “is a non-profit organization dedicated to inspiring the American public to learn more about the world. Founded in 1918, FPA provides independent publications, programs and forums to increase public awareness of, and foster popular participation in, matters relating to those policy issues.” Supporting the focus on key current policy issues, the FPA website features blogs that discuss international events and also daily postings from foreign policy experts. Sections such as Explore by Region (with map) and Explore by Issue are very useful. Currently the Explore by Issue section includes: Iraq, European Union, Diplomacy, Russia. Defense & Security, Latin America, China Trade, Philanthropy and more. The Latin America listings include Spring Updates (post-Fidel Cuba), Recommended Readings, and a Latin America Blog. A key item on the FPA site is the video content which features clips from the FPA’s Great Decisions television series and also lectures by prominent scholars.

Reports of UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions

Susana Hinojosa — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 22:35:50 +0000

As part of its mandate by the UN Commission on Human Rights, the Special Rapporteur examines situations of extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions and submits an annual report of findings together with conclusions and recommendations to the Commission. Special attention is to be given to children and women and to allegations concerning violations of the right to life that result against participants in demonstrations or public manifestations. Special attention is also paid to situations were the victims are individuals carrying out peaceful activities in defense of human rights and basic freedoms. The Special Rapporteur website currently lists numerous statements and reports, such as: the crackdown in Myanmar, an interim report on Darfur, executions in Nigeria, police violence in Bangladesh, and more.

UN Special Rapporteur Mission to Brazil - Nov. 2007

Susana Hinojosa — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 20:43:49 +0000

The Philip Alston, Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, has issued a statement following the end of his visit to Brazil on November 14, 2007.Â The visit included meetings with a wide range of Brazilian officials, heads of military policy,Â visits to a prison in Sao Paulo, a police station in Rio de Janeiro, a settlement in Pernambuco and more. Meetings with key human rights individuals included the UN Country Team, and the Human Rights Commission of the Rio de Janeiro Legislative Assembly. The visit took place within the context of widespread concern about criminal violence in Brazil.Â The statement includes some data in its ‘key concerns’ section, such as: 45,000-50,000 homicides committed per year; in Pernambuco it is estimated that 70% of all homicides are committed by death squads. Preliminary conclusions and recommendations are contained in the statement.

Right to Memory and the Truth - Brazil and Human Rights

Susana Hinojosa — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 21:18:53 +0000

The Brazilian government released in late August 2007 an official report, The Right to Memory and the Truth, detailing atrocities dating from 1964 during Brazil’s two decade dictatorship. The 500 page book, Direito a Memoria e a Verdade: Comissao Especial Sobre Mortos e Desaparecidos Politicos ,Â published after 11 years of researchÂ outlines the torture, rape and disappearance of nearly 500 activists. The book publication date also coincided with Brazil’s 1979 amnesty law which pardoned both activists and members of the military. Few print copies were published, but the UC Berkeley Library was able to purchase one of the print copies which should be received soon.

Pakistan: Significant Recent Events

Susana Hinojosa — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 18:46:43 +0000

Â The report, Pakistan: Significant Recent Events, March 26- June 21, 2007, provides a chronology of major recent events. Starting soon after President Musharraf suspended the chief justice (March 9th), the listing chronicles the challenges facing Pakistan’s relationships with the U.S. and neighboring countries: Afghanistan, India, Iran, and China.

Source: Secrecy News