wealthy british style. sometimes. margetts weiner scandal. find out what's really happening to the global economy in cars report on r g. the week's top stories here on our t.v. and western initiatives the military initiatives in north africa backfire at home the french president already losing public trust of what's described as his colonial ambitions france is also suffering from the influx of immigrants from the troubled region and is considering suspending the border free travel agreed. it is a one year since a deadly explosion at a drilling platform in the gulf of mexico killed eleven and caused

a major oil spill on the unmeasurable blow to the environment coastal residents exposed to more toxic chemical say they've been left to deal with the severe health problems all on their. own christians around the world are united in easter celebrations because this year the event falls on the same day for all of them in russia thousands flocked to a service of the country's main author dr cathedral with both the president and prime minister among the bush press. now here on r.t. we discussed the plight of a u.s. soldier at the center of the wiki leaks scandal and stay with us. on april nineteenth the pentagon announced it would be moving private first class bradley manning from a military facility at quantico virginia to fort leavenworth kansas private manning is suspected of sharing secret documents with the whistle blowing web site wiki

leaks and since the time he has been in custody nearly a year now he has been held mostly in solitary confinement that's no contact no communication no daylight for twenty three hours a day and then himself has said in addition he has been forced at times to sleep naked criticisms against his treatment have been mounting and many say they simply want to know more and hear it from manning himself i'm joined now by one mendez he's the un special rapporteur on torture cruel inhumane and degrading treatment or punishment one thank you so much for being with me today thank you for your protection and when you recently asked to have an unmonitored meeting with private manning what were you told when i asked to see breivik manning as far back as january and we've been in negotiations or conversations with the united states government since then in march i was told that i could see him if manning asked to

see me but that it would be in a situation of. the visit could be monitored and i. told the u.s. government that i cannot accept those terms because under the rules. we operate under the human rights council of united nations we're supposed to be able to meet with the people we want to meet in without witnesses nevertheless a told through his lawyer told private manning that if you still wanted to see me he was he should ask for me and i'll try and come and see. in the meantime i insisted with the u.s. government that i want to see him without being monitored and now that there's been an announcement of his transfer to fort leavenworth. and the announcement also seems to indicate some change in his regimen that he's subjected to i am hoping

that it will be possible to see him in conditions that i can accept. i'm wondering if you think that there's a connection at all between a sort of increased criticism this increased media attention and the decision to move private manning i mean the pentagon says no but these facilities certainly are much different he would intentionally be able to meet with other prisoners to have contacts to see television events or read books do you think that there is a connection well as you said the pentagon is saying that this is a routine change after one year of incarceration. as far as i'm concerned i want to see what the new. conditions are but i'm also interested in what the conditions that he's leaving have been in detail because i have some references to it but i want to hear from him exactly what it is and i'm also asking the united states government for more information about things like the precise regimen that he was

subjected to and the one he will be subjected to when he gets to fort leavenworth but also. by who is also already who ordered it for what reason for what purpose all of those things are very in important to me in order to make a judgment as to whether. the treatment constitutes cruel inhuman and degrading treatment or even worse could be could even constitute torture and some have even called it what's been going on are for this last year with bradley manning they've called it you know the and hey be a scorpion do you agree with that. well i. haven't inquired as to whether he has a right to the writ of habeas corpus because my. my remit is limited to the conditions of detention not whether he should be detained or not. maybe another special rapporteur or working group in you know nations would be interested in. obviously human rights. norms include

a fair trial it's. but in my case limited by my mandate and that is you know whether his conditions of detention are too cruel inhuman or degrading treatment and it makes total sense to me at least that you would need to see him and you would need to see him unmonitored but we did see a letter that he wrote that was published that sort of detailed some of the treatment some of his daily activities that included those twenty three hours during the day he was asked every five minutes are you ok so he couldn't just sleep he had to sit there and answer also this business about him you know having to sleep naked if all of this is true what would that mean for your job and your decision well obviously i'm interested in this matter because any time a geisha is made about solitary confinement it raises a flag if you will. under the convention against torture to which the united states is a signatory as you know so i have to find out but evidently. different

people mean different things by the word solitary confinement and i need to know every detail how many how many times was the how long. he was asked to get rid of his underwear for what reason. you have to understand you know whether there's been any kind of rationale for the treaty but suffice to say for now that i am very interested in getting to the bottom of this and making my own judgment as of now i can only say that i'm interested i cannot disclose the content of my conversations with the united states government except to confirm that i'm interested you know bradley manning has brought the subject of solitary confinement to light but from what i understand there are more than twenty five thousand people in this country alone being held in solitary confinement right now a lot of people when they think about solitary confinement they think you know all

these prisoners are danger are a danger to other prisoners and that's why they're held in solid. but so many times and maybe even more often than not that's not the case and it just seems to be a form of punishment for whatever reason can you speak to this about solitary confinement in general as it relates to torture or treatment the definition of torture and of cruel inhuman and degrading treatment. starts from the premise that somebody is suffering so there's pain and suffering of certain so very and that is not incidental to illegitimate punishment. if it raises to a certain thing severity then it becomes cruel human under grading treatment in your field goes on beyond that's a very it can constitute torture so first we have to understand what kind of harm. a person. solitary confinement. is suffering. it's

it's easy to see. you know. no one can go through that experience without suffering some kind of psychological or mental harm now then you have to still find out whether there's any justification for it. i am familiar of course with the numbers in fact. i understand that the numbers are even higher than that of people who for disciplinary reasons are kept in solitary confinement in jails in the united states and quite frankly elsewhere as well so i am very interested so it's very confinement i want to know under what conditions it can become cruel inhuman and degrading treatment or torture and for that i need to know a lot more about what we mean by what kind of palliative measures are taken you know for example it's not the same to be in solitary confinement and not have any access to radio or t.v. or newspapers or writing material to let sort of to send letters home. but. you

know you have to put it all together and then make a judgment as to whether even under those circumstances with some of those palliatives it still is unreasonable and therefore cruel it is hard because we have these words cruel inhuman and those almost need to be defined so much more specifically i guess that's your job is it is my job and unfortunately has to be defined in both objective and subjective criteria because it's not the same to hold somebody in solitary confinement for one day and to put him or her there for months it's not the same to put you know a relatively healthy young male twenty five years old for three days or put someone in those situations for three days who is infirm or sick or prone to depression so you have to see all of those conditions before you make

a judgment whether some kind of so very threshold has been crossed you know i know you're fairly new to this job but i'm wondering what impact kuantan i'm ok and the treatment that we are learning about prisoners there what impact that has on your job well i mean what i'm also very interesting one time or my predecessor had asked to visit one phantom or the bush administration after some time allowed him but on conditions that he could not accept and so when i became the special rapporteur and towards last november i renewed my request to the no to the obama administration but i wanted to visit one tunnel and i'm hoping that when they answer they haven't answered yet but when they do answer they give me conditions that i can accept. we are negotiating that so i can't say what's going to happen but. i think.

if i understand correctly conditions in front of will have changed. they have changed enough or not is a different question but they're not what they were in two thousand and four when manfred nowak asked for permission to visit and so i'm hoping the. obama administration will have. a more constructive. response to my request do you trust the obama administration. as a special rapporteur i have jurisdiction over one hundred ninety countries i don't trust or distrust any government i just deal with them in the same way and and and yes i. poured from the premise depart from the premise that all governments have to live up to their obligations under international law just one more question for you i know that i am in the past you have called for the united states to investigate and prosecute torture committed under the former president george w. bush and a lot of people seem to say you know it's in the past and let's not reopen old

wounds because we'll get in the way of you know national unity it war our maybe make our reputation abroad much worse based on what comes out of that where how do you respond to that well the torture dimension international law more generally makes it an obligation of the state to investigate and prosecute every single act of torture in that case in that sense torture is different torture is a special case of human rights for ations even a single episode of torture phyllis's the obligation of the state to investigate prosecute and punish obviously punish if there's merit to punish but so i have repeatedly called not only the united states government but every other government to live up to that obligation. i don't think. these are crimes that can be swept under the rug and pretend that they didn't happen and if that's.

for people who think that that will enhance the reputation of the united states abroad. that's exactly the opposite of what will happen if the united states insists on all other countries to live up to their human rights of league ations and one of them is to investigate torture so i think this has to happen here as well bringing it to light won't give the notion that perhaps something's not really all right i want to thank you so much for joining me one mendez the un special rapporteur on cruel inhumane and degrading treatment or punishment thank you very much a pleasure to be here. living in a country that can understand that there's more violence in the streets of this country than there are in the streets of baghdad. just the racial. bias of. history.

you're the. street look at. the week's headlines when i see the western military initiatives in north africa but far at home with the french president already losing public trust to what's described as his colonial ambitions france is also suffering from the influx of immigrants from a troubled region and is considering suspending the border free travel agreement. it's one year since a deadly explosion of a drilling platform in the gulf of mexico that killed eleven and caused a major oil spill of the delta and measurable blow to the environment coastal residents exposed to toxic chemical and say they've been left to deal with severe health problems all on their. own and christians around the world are united in.

easter celebrations this year the event falls on the same day for all of them in russia thousands flock to a service of the countries of maine all thoughts cathedral with both the president and prime minister among the bushes. right now as a dive headfirst into the world of sports with two farmer who's joining me now. things are a bit predictable in europe with the man united and barcelona topping the leagues in england and spain but there have been quite a few surprises in the russian premier league cup and that's where the new season's only just a few weeks old but cabana the only surviving used at least the phrase of the year today because they topped the league at the moment to skull failed to win against just a few moments ago which meant they failed to go we've got all the details coming.

hello there thanks for watching the sport and these are the headlines. now have a chance to talk to the russian premier league the tears scar can only draw with lowly taunts. while gold for luke donald rides his luck to stay on course for world's number one ranking. and reaching a milestone down enjoys the five hundred when it's his career to make the final of the barcelona ripens. let's go straight to the russian premier league where tears scar missed the chance to reclaim top spot there a surprise one one draw again tom chance i mean if they stay second behind leaders to advance to do dumb by giving to scar the league before going to need golf like the equalizer and plays first goal for tom to the reports and see that result means all sides and he could totally tonight if they really get solved bottom side spot moscow will look to lift themselves off the foot of the table when they host got that analogy i'm going to be not one for three games are in action at the moment

against a car and it's nearly mail with a quarter of a now it's gone. by yesterday new voice the band took the lead after one will win a bowl give that is that cooley with the goal eighteen minutes from time a great start to the season ticket band's manager and former chelsea player damn trusty he described the match as their toughest test so far. elsewhere locking might see third after their four one win over f.c. krasnodar prior to this match the railway man had only school once in the last three games but with all my skin help them improve that tally got the first early on before senior made it to email from the sport there were more there was more of the same the second half a powerful shot from you cannot make it three before reaching the. i.q. of a made the most of all defending there was a consolation prize and through here but for one last hope is finished

while ruefully is feeling pressure hysteric side of four from bottom after their one nil defeat to rostov big game settled by a penalty after keep it didn't i chop stan could it change their blacking ak with the spot kick. in while in england munched united just need seven more points from four matches to clinch a record nineteen league title their one zero win against everton giving them a six point lead over chelsea have a hand as vital strike stamford bridge. got his first goal for chelsea in their three meals win over west ham who bought and failed to leapfrog manch to city to fourth spot after drawing two to west brom liverpool from burning their five nil match your greek is helping himself to a hat trick of aston villa and stoke shared the spoils so too did new castle in blackpool who stayed just above the relegation zone back in a day or we're going to lost a stone read a move to still there after they drew with full. poll today asked who could also go

within six points of united with bolton the gun is beaten in sixteen games but perhaps a more telling fact is that they've only won three of their last nine which has seen them slip the third in the table although when would keep them just the bag in the title race is awesome things still have to pay united at the emirates. elsewhere barcelona's lino messi has become the first player to score fifty goals in a spanish season his landmark strike along with a goal from gavia play faster to neil win over off the siena and an eight point lead in the league nearest rivals reanimate great big bill and see a six three gonzalo one with a hat trick in that one while both go back a fifth after their two one win over real sociedad. state of basketball now him have won the all russian v t p united league final against. how the tormenting is than brought together the best side from scandinavia and eastern europe n.t. were in the final a sixty six points to sixty four question meir launch our top scoring for them and

eighteen points in five ring bands and that helped decide over determine who were appointed ahead the start of the last period to sky. on gordon both scoring fifteen points but that was not enough. i was sure as it was a difficult match c.s.k. proved to be a strong concerned with very strong players but today we were very good in the defense and moved a lot and because their team plays a much older we were forced and were running more. well this year saw the start of the p.b.s. professional basketball league in russia one of the main differences from its predecessor the simply being the amount of international athletes plying their trade here from crosser i've caught up with three of them. for american tragedy langton is no stranger to titles and here are just a few from his six year tenure at moscow says scott five time champion of russia to

sign your league champion plus the commission's most valuable player in two thousand and eight and two time champion of the newly created united v t v league but basketball wars are not the only discovery he's made in russia as lang's and is now married to a local girl and they already have a son to put it simply moscow has become his second home i was a little more intrigued by the culture here i was going to be here but people by the history are so much a part of the right it was a good hour. for them to try to go to a little bit more easy i'm stalking people learn the language a little bit more. for me it's been a great stress arousal lopez has been at the moscow regions heem key since two thousand and nine shortly after his native spain one million pixels are at the two thousand and eight summer games in beijing just a year later he helped his country prove its dominance of the euro basket becoming the latest champions so rolls incredible international record plus his three year

n.b.a. stints at the utah jazz brought invaluable experience to his current side before you know it's it was more like says there was a point i. would put a show on and on like now you know i feel like these this league is like. intense you know every dance team you know they have great players australia's little neville is probably one of the most exotic imports to the russian professional basketball league though he has already tried his luck in the united states and returns in melbourne this move to russia meant he wants to make his way back to the highest level of the game his current side triumph from the moscow region are not having the best of seasons at the moment but it's still a work in progress as never is brought up to speed with the european style of the game. you know one of the russia. was a stray you know different. system

. here in russia as well putin rose in europe. you know. coaches me running around all the time you know russian basketball went through a massive overhaul of last season and is just starting to climb out of the slump however the professional league remains actually active to foreign talents as rates continue to flock to russia from all over the world a reminder calls for authority most call. well let's catch up with what has been happening in the n.b.a. playoffs but oklahoma have taken a commanding three nil lead in their series against denver hanging on to beat them ninety seven ninety four elsewhere memphis and she went up in the series against san antonio after a home win on the portland trail blazers have tied their series of seats for the dallas mavericks from impressive comeback brandon roy top story with twenty four points for portland and leading the winning basket. you know still just doesn't

feel real yet you know it's just. a game in the comeback and you know with everything i've been through this season it is all kind of came to that moment you know right down the core when guys just grabbed me and just you know cheer me on it was it was it was real special gulf is set to have a new world number one england's lee westwood is in line to take top spot from german martin calm after winning in the knees in masses today but luke donald could end up at the summit himself if he wins in south carolina englishman riding his luck to take a one shot lead into the final round of the heritage i don't know what is third in the world at the moment in his penultimate round didn't get off to the best of starts his ball touching bouncing out of bounds on just the second hole a double bogey here seeing him briefly lose the lead but he was back to par by the time he reached the ten i really found his form finishing on a one under par seventy his first round of the tone but he still

a shot ahead of defending champion jim fury. the american missing a putt for par on the last hole to play his chances of topping the lead of pool. meanwhile tennis number one rafael nadal has reached a landmark in his career the twenty four year old claiming his five hundred when i beating it and the leap to make the final of the past alone are open and our second youngest player to reach that milestone be on board did it when he was just twenty three and was also a straight forward victory six three six two the final score against thirty an adult thirty third win in a row on clay and it's very familiar the man who in the next place than you david for there met in the final the monte carlo masters last week if you remember which nadar won so for that i will be looking for revenge is looking good for the two against nicklaus on my growth in the semifinal taking the first set six three and the second six four but he's still very much the underdog for today's match against

. the women's world number one caroline wozniacki is on course to her fourth title of the season reaching the final of the that got grand prix for the straight sets win again signees get a chance here but the dane had to show a fighting spirit and sporting in the world to go three one lead in the first set before wozniacki came back to win it seven five and then found her rhythm in the second to take that six three even though she needed four match points to wrap up the win the deciding one a real epic this is it and she will thank you you will get in the final. and last the polish formula one driver rob it could be it has left hospital eleven weeks after suffering severe injuries after crashing a rally car in italy was badly hurt while taking part in a race last february and had to have extensive surgery to save his right hand he also needed operations on the shoulder leg and elbow

a santa coroner hospital in northern italy says his condition is good though. and when i begin a new phase of rehabilitation give it a hard driven for the run a formula one saying but after the accident was recognized by german fried nick heidfeld. they wish him well that is the sport the moment kate will be here for the rest of the day keep you updated and the next couple of. hungry for the full story we've got it for. the biggest issues get the human voice face to face with the news makers on r t.

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