Code of Ethics Drafted for Booze Business

Canada — Quebec’s booze business is the latest industry to draft a professional code of ethics.

Educ’alcool, a promoter of moderate drinking primarily funded by the Societe des alcools du Quebec, is asking alcoholic beverage manufacturers, retailers, distributors and agents to adopt the principles and values in the new charter it created over the past two years.

The code covers packaging, commercial communications, marketing, communication targets and promotional practices. For example, it will be forbidden under the code to:

1    associate alcohol with violent or asocial behaviour, illicit drugs, sexual performance/attraction or popularity;

2    imply that the product improves physical or intellectual capacities or has health benefits;

3    encourage drinking games or excessive drinking; or

4    make alcohol particularly attractive to people under 18 or show images of people who look younger than 25.

The code will also ban all discounts and excessive promotions.

In case of a code violation, the offender will be asked to remedy the situation in the manner and time frame specified by the ethics council. If the offender complies, there will be no public reprimand. Non-compliance and repeat offenders, however, will be subject to public reprimands similar to decisions by the Quebec Press Council. (Source: www.canada.com)

Two Trials for Canada Pig Farmer

Canada — A pig farmer accused of being the country’s worst serial killer will initially be tried on six counts of murder, prosecutors have said.

A judge had ordered that the case against Robert Pickton be split because a single hearing involving all 26 murder charges would be too long. Mr Pickton, accused of murdering women over three decades, denies the charges.

The trial is set to begin on 8 January 2007, after hundreds of potential jurors are screened in December. Mr Pickton was arrested in 2002 when dozens of police swept onto his farm in the suburbs of Vancouver.

He was initially charged with 27 killings but one was dropped by the court. A court ban prevents journalists from reporting any of the evidence until a jury has been chosen. 
(Source: www.bbc.co.uk)

Commission Moves to End Discriminatory Detention

Brussels — EU citizens suspected of petty crimes in another Member State would be allowed to return to their home countries to avoid overcrowding prisons, according to a Commission proposal.

Non-resident EU citizens are more likely to be held in custody, even for less-serious crimes, for fear that they could escape.

To counter this form of discrimination, the Commission, on 29 August 2006, adopted a proposal that would allow non-resident EU citizens suspected of minor crimes to return to their country of origin, where alternative supervisory measures, such as reporting to the police or travel prohibition, could be applied to them.

‘By means of this proposal, the Commission aims to strengthen the right to liberty and the presumption of innocence,’ said Commission Vice-President Franco Frattini, responsible for security and justice. It would also make room for more serious criminals in Europe’s overcrowded prisons and save money on detention costs. (Source: www.euroactiv.com)

Argentina´s Dictatorship to Stand Trial

Argentina — The horrific events under a military dictatorship – murders, kidnappings, torture, rapes, the abduction and sale of infants – had gone unpunished for nearly 30 years. But last year, Argentina’s Supreme Court overturned a pair of amnesty laws, and now the trials of military and police officials accused of human rights violations are finally under way.

It is estimated that human rights offenders will be on trial in various parts of the country for the next three to five years.

To speed up the process to spare witnesses the trauma of having to testify again and to hold elderly torturers accountable before they die, many human rights groups say they want ‘megacases’ for multiple defendants. These include some of the most notorious detention centres, like the Naval Mechanics School in Buenos Aires, or mass killings, like the so-called Fátima massacre in which 30 people were summarily executed in 1976.

‘Everything that was stalled for 19 years because the justice system could not act is active again, and that is good,’ said Ms de Carlotto, of the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo. ‘But they need to hurry. We are elderly women who have waited a long time for justice, and we can’t afford to wait much longer.’ (Source: www.latinamericanpost.com)