European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 22, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 4 the stars and Stripe rights report Washington apr China and Nicaragua were sharply criticized wednesday by the state department in an annual human rights report to Congress that also documented beheading and amputations in saudi Arabia and logging in Iran in the israeli occupied West Bank and Gaza strip the report said the human rights situation is Quot a source of deep  palestinian arabs arc in the 27th month of an uprising against israeli control. From student detentions in Liberia to disappearances in Al Salvador the 1.641-Page report catalogued Man s inhumanity to Man in virtually every conceivable Way. In Burma men forced to walk ahead of army troops in mine infested Fields Are blown up. The report said. In Iran prisoners arc flogged and suspended from the ceiling according to eyewitnesses and human rights groups. Pro democracy demonstrators were gunned Down in Beijing s Tiana men Square in june and Independent observers were cited As challenging the official toll of 20 executions As unrealistically Low. At the White House press scr claim Marlin Fitzwa tar said that despite the criticism of China s human rights record the administration stands by its policies of wanning relations again with Beijing. Quot we think our policy is right on Quot Fitzwater said. Quot the state department report represents the president s views on that Issue. By the same Token the president s actions he believes Are appropriate toward improving relations with China and trying to change a no smoking Light to be lit for Good on most . Flights by the w Ashington Post Washington a starting sunday Quot no smoking Quot signs will be lighted permanently on All airliners flying Between cities in the 48 Continental i tinted states. Smokers then May Light up Only on non Stop flights of More than Sis hours to Alaska or Hawaii on charter flights if the chartering group w wishes and on lights to International destinations. Some airlines however. Are stretching the ban to include flights to Mexico the Caribbean and Canada. Canada also bans smoking on its airlines. The net result of approximately in too daily c a Domestic airline flights Only 24 to 28 per Day would allow smoking. The smoking ban is the culmination of a bruising Battle Between anti smoking forces and the tobacco lobby last year when the permanent smoking ban was attached to a transportation appropriations Bill As a Compromise Between the Senate a which wanted a total ban a and the House which voted Only to continue the current ban on smoking on flights of two hours or less. The tobacco Institute tuesday indicated it will Bow to political realities and make no attempt to reverse the prohibitions while turning its attention to new proposals to ban or further control smoking on am Trak mass transit systems and other forms of transportation. Flight attendants have been in the forefront of the Campaign for a smoking ban and Juliette d. Lenoir National vice president of the association of flight attendants said tuesday that the 90,000 . Airline Cabin Crew members Quot in five Days will finally have a Chance to live a longer and healthier  thursday. February 22,1990blasts China the situation there and we Sec no inconsistency Between those  the chinese foreign ministry said wednesday that it had no new comment on the report. Two weeks ago. However the ministry said the upcoming report was Quot based on rumours Quot and would seriously harm bilateral relations. The report also found areas or improvement most conspicuously in the soviet Union. Quot authorities have adopted a More forthcoming approach to foreign criticism of their human rights record a the report said. And yet. Though the top leadership no longer Fosters anti semitism and appears embarrassed by it. Quot there has been a Sharp increase in popular expressions of anti semitic attitudes Quot the report said. Quot jews have been increasingly concerned Over the danger of  rep. Gus Yatron draw a chairman of the House human rights subcommittee complimented the state department for a report that Quot pulls no punches in assessing dismal human rights records of such dictatorial regimes As China and  Yatron challenged the Bush administration to match the rhetoric with Quot a policy which places americans commitment to human rights and democratic institutions above offending ruthless regimes which the administration is currently seeking to Curry  his statement reflected congressional criticism of president Bush for imposing Only limited sanctions against China after the Tiana men Square crackdown in which hundreds and possibly thousands were killed. The report found a dramatic deterioration in the Nicaragua human rights climate in China in 1989. Apart from the Beijing massacre the army killed scores of tibetans in March in Lhasa and reports of torture of persons accused of a counterrevolutionary crimes Quot Are persistent. A conditions in chinese prisons Are invariably harsh and frequently degrading. A Congress was told. Iraq s human rights record was described As  with effective opposition to government policy stifled and intelligence services engaged in extensive surveillance. A the freedoms of speech and press and of Assembly and association Are virtually non existent Quot the report said. A other important human rights problems include continuing disappearances and arbitrary detentions Lack of fair trials widespread interference with privacy excessive use of Force against kurdish civilians and an almost total Lack of worker  in Jordan where martial Law Nas been in effect since 1967, intelligence and Security agencies have Broad surveillance Powers and certificates of Good conduct Are needed Lor All Public jobs and for Many in the private sector the report said. In saudi Arabia capital punishment was meted out for a wide variety of crimes. Beheading was the usual method of execution and in some cases it was followed by Public crucifixion. In the first 10 months of 1989, at least 13 thieves had their hands severed including 11 non saudis the report said. Nicaragua s sandinista government which faces National elections on sunday was sharply criticized for maintaining Quot an extensive and repressive internal Security apparatus Quot that includes surveillance and infiltration of the political opposition. State probing Coors a handling of polluted Springs Golden Colo. Apr eight years after Adolph Coors co. Discovered waste solvents in two Springs beneath its brewery. Public disclosure of the problem has led to a state and Federal review. Quot we have no evidence to indicate there is a Public health  or. Tom Vernon executive director of the Colorado health department said tuesday. But officials said state and Federal agencies would investigate How Coors dealt with the problem and whether environmental Laws were being met. Quot i m confident that there were no lev Els of these chemicals in the  Coors brew ing co. President Peter Coors said. The brewery which markets its Beer As being made of pure Rocky Mountain Spring water said it discovered in 1982 that the waste solvents had leaked from a corroded sewer pipe into the ground and reached two of Coors 40 Springs. Coors said the company immediately began pumping water from the Springs to reduce the contamination level and removed the polluted Springs from its water collection system. Coors also rebuilt sewer lines and hired contractors to remove solvent traces from the soil. An Anonymous tipster told the state health department about the problem in june 1988. But to seas not disclosed publicly until a recent report by . Theodore Halaby. A Denver lawyer hired by Coors to conduct an Independent investigation after the television report said the chemicals a including cancer causing the trichloroethylene a found in the ground water never exceeded limits suggested by the National Academy of sciences. There were no applicable Federal or state standards for the substances at the time he said. Halaby said Coors should have notified the health department when it Learned of the problem. Vernon said the health department has asked Coors to Supply documentation of its efforts to Correct the solvent leak. He said the . Food and drug administration would be consulted about Coors claim that no Beer was made with the contaminated water. Quot we commend Coors for taking the initiative in beginning this investigation Quot said Vernon. Creepy crawly coca Cruncher the agriculture department is researching development of the Malum Bia Caterpillar to help in the fight against illicit drug imports. The Caterpillar loves to chomp on coca Plant leaves from which cocaine is produced. And swarms released in the peruvian and bolivian Jungles would devour the sturdy plants. But aside from ecological question Marks there Are vital political considerations and the Bush administration says that the insects would never be dispatched w without invitations from Host countries