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CNN Live Saturday

Protests Underway at Camp Pendleton in Support of Troops Under Investigation; First Tropical Storm of Season Could Strike Cuba; Trafficking of Women for Prostitution Rampant in Germany

Aired June 10, 2006 - 17:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: -- for many people, in the Middle East when they look at an incident like this it doesn't matter what the military comes out and says about the circumstances, there are going to be vast populations of people overseas who are going to think that those detainees were murdered.
MAJ. GEN. DON SHEPPERD, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Absolutely, no question in my mind, Carol. The fact that we are in Iraq viewed as occupiers by the Iraqi people and by surrounding nations is tough. The Middle East is not going to think well of us, even after we leave from Iraq. This is going to take a long time to turn this view around and the success, or lack of it in Iraq is going to be very important to the view of the world and particularly the Middle East on the United States. This is a tough situation Carol.

LIN: Don Shepperd, thank you so much.

We're going to go to Havana live when we come back. We've got a tropical depression heading to the United States.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: Accusations and now investigations and a whole lot of finger-pointing. All triggered by claims U.S. military personnel committed atrocities in Iraq. Well, today, a demonstration outside Camp Pendleton in support of the troops in question. CNN's Kareen Wynter is there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

Support our troops.

KAREEN WYNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A small army of supporters rallied outside the gates of Camp Pendleton where seven marines and a navy corpsmen are being held in solitary confinement. The men face possible charges that could include murder for the death of an Iraqi civilian in Hamandiyah, Iraq in early April.

CHRISTINE BRUCE, PROTEST ORGANIZER: There has been no charges filed, and in my opinion, they are innocent until proven guilty and I'm here to show my support for them and to ask that the shackles be taking off. They're being treated worse than prisoners in Guantanamo.

WYNTER: Supporters spoke out on what they call unfair treatment inside the military prison. The eight troops being investigated have to wear handcuffs and leg cuffs whenever they leave their cells. They are also allowed only one hour each day outside.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think you're innocent until proven guilty, and, um, we got to give our guys -- start giving them a little bit more benefit of the doubt, you know. They're in a bad situation.

WYNTER: In addition to the eight servicemen being incarcerated, several other marines at Camp Pendleton are also being investigated for a separate incident, possible misconduct in the city of Haditha, last November.

(END OF VIDEOTAPE)

WYNTER: The military released a statement justifying why the eight servicemen here are being detained. They say, given the evidence gathered from the preliminary investigation, that they decided to use a maximum, maximum level of restraints in that the troops who are being held here, Carol, are in no way being treated inhumanely. Carol?

LIN: Kareen, thank you so much.

We are keeping also a close watch on our first tropical depression of the season and it could turn into a tropical storm and hit the United States. So let's get the latest from CNN's Morgan Neill live in Havana, Cuba. Morgan, this is a rainmaker.

MORGAN NEILL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Cuba's forecast center says heavy rains will continue to batter Western Cuba well into Sunday. The storm has many people here thinking about what could lie ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NEILL: This was Havana just seven months ago, when hurricane Wilma hit. Waves crashing over the seawall, sweeping into the city, flooding thousands of homes. The forecast this year? Storms and lots of them. Jose Rubiera, director of the Cuban Forecast Center is predicting 15 named storms. Nine of which could become hurricanes. Despite waters deep enough to completely submerge homes and wash away cars, Wilma didn't kill anyone in Cuba. The island made intense preparations. Before the hurricane season begins, response teams fan out across the country. They clear drainways, hone evacuation plans, and practice emergency medical treatment. So when a big storm hits, there's very little panic, as Reynaldo says. His building, just blocks from the ocean, was inundated during Wilma.

REINALDO ALVAREZ, RESIDENT: I don't think people are afraid anymore he says. To a certain degree they've gotten used to it. When something's on its way, they come, they tell you and you just start to move your things to higher ground.

NEILL: And that's undoubtedly part of Cuba's success in confronting the storms. Careful preparation and a willingness to help out one's neighbors. But there's also something else at work. Response teams in other countries spend valuable time trying to coax unwilling residents out of their homes. Here, that's not the case. The Lieutenant Colonel Domingo Carretero of Cuba's Civil Defense says - LT. COL. DOMINGO CARRETERO, CUBAN CIVIL DEFENSE: Of course we try to convince the citizens to evacuate if it's necessary. But if we can't, we have to evacuate them. Because, into the end, you've got to save their lives. Whether they agree or not.

(END OF VIDEOTAPE)

NEILL: And, Carol, there are some limited evacuations under way here in Havana province. But, the forecast center here is warning that the biggest danger people face here are from rising waters. And is worth noting, that there has not been a tropical storm warning issued. Carol?

LIN: Alright Morgan, thank you very much for the latest, live, via broadband from Cuba.

Now tomorrow tonight at 6:00 p.m. eastern, "CNN PRESENTS, Sudden Fury, In Katrina's Deadly Wake." Brace yourself for nature at its worst as we hear some amazing survival stories right here on CNN.

Now still ahead, the seedier side of the World Cup. Some people are worried about the trafficking of women in Germany.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: The World Cup is sometimes described as the world's biggest party. But not far from all the fun and games is another side of the tournament that's not so glamorous. CNN's Anan Naidoo reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANAN NAIDOO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: An unrivaled spectacle. The biggest sporting event in the world. The World Cup has attracted hundreds of thousands of fans to Germany. But along with those fans will be thousands more people, mainly women and children, who will be there not for soccer but to work as prostitutes. According to the U.S. State Department and the European Parliament, many of these women and children have been forcibly trafficked across borders. Prostitution is legal in Germany, during the World Cup demand for sex workers is expected to triple.

A megabrothel has been opened in Berlin and busloads of women have been shipped across borders mainly from Eastern Europe to work in mobile bordellos going from match to match. Sex workers at the World Cup are just a small portion of the estimated 600,000 to 800,000 people who are bought and sold across national borders each year. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice calls it a sordid trade in human beings.

CONDOLEEZZA RICE, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: The harsh reality of human trafficking stuns even the hardest of hearts. Stories of the sexual exploitation of young girls, stories of men and women toiling as slave labor in sweatshops, stories of children forced to kill as rebel soldiers.

NAIDOO: In its annual report on human trafficking, the U.S. State Department lists a dozen nations that it says do not adequately address trafficking problems. The report says many women and children are lured to these nations with false promises of work and other benefits. Germany is not among the nations mentioned, but the State Department says the sheer size of the World Cup and its potential for human trafficking remains a concern. For their part, the Germans say they're doing their utmost to combat exploitation during the month long event. Anan Naidoo, CNN, Atlanta.

(END OF VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: Yeah, but what does that mean? So let's talk to Dorchen Leidholt, she is the co-executive director of the Coalition Against Trafficking of Women. Dorchen, so you heard the CNN report there, Anan Naidoo reporting that Germany's going to do what it can. Who are these prostitutes who are imported in?

DORCHEN LEIDHOLT, CO-EXECUTIVE DIR., CATW: Carol, they are primarily impoverished women and girls from the poorest countries in the world. From Eastern Europe, Africa, Asia, Latin America, and they are not sex workers. They are sex slaves.

LIN: How do you know this to be true, that they're not there willingly trying to make money in a country where prostitution is legal?

LEIDHOLT: It's very, very clear that there are huge organized crime and small organized crime organizations that are bringing women and girls across the borders to make a lot of money. Not for the women and girls, but for the organized crime institutions. And there's been a tremendous amount of research that's been conducted into this area. In fact, we have a new convention to address this problem. Unfortunately, instead of addressing the problem, Germany has rolled out the red carpet to soccer fans who are sex tourists, creating megabrothels, creating drive-in sex huts. Countries like the United States, France, and Sweden have denounced this response, and we're calling upon Germany and FIFA to take strong steps to discourage the demand for sexual exploitation.

LIN: FIFA, essentially the international soccer association that helps put on the World Cup I mean it has something like 3 million soccer fans, most of them men under the age of 40 coming. What incentive does it have to do anything?

LEIDHOLT: Well, FIFA could do the right thing.

LIN: Which is?

LEIDHOLT: And the right thing would be to call upon its fans not to subject women and girls to commercial sexual exploitation in Germany. They are there to watch soccer games, not to, um, be complicit in the sexual slavery of very, very vulnerable women and girls.

LIN: There are men watching this segment right now who are laughing, right? They're laughing.

LEIDHOLT: Actually, a lot of men are taking this seriously.

LIN: I'm not saying in general, I'm just saying that there are soccer fans you yourself have said they're not going there just to watch soccer. So what are you saying to that man who is saying, look, prostitution is legal, I'm going to go to this megabrothel that the country of Germany is sanctioning, you know come one, come all, and I'm going to have a good time. What do you say to that man?

LEIDHOLT: I'm going to say if that woman or girl who's body you purchased is a victim of sex trafficking and it's estimated that between 30 and 40,000 of those women and girls will be such victims, what you're doing is not sex. It's rape. And it's a form of slavery.

LIN: Dorchen Leidholt, let us hope that your voice is heard loud and clear, because FIFA, the soccer association, I believe is not doing anything. They have not taken a position on this.

LEIDHOLT: It hasn't done anything, Carol.

LIN: Dorchen thank you very much.

LEIDHOLT: Thank you.

LIN: Now, I'm going to be talking to a young blogger when I come back. Not just any blogger. It's an Iraqi blogger right here in the United States, about the death of Al Zarqawi, and what Iraqis really think.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: The big news this past week, the death of Abu Musab Al Zarqawi, one of the most ruthless terrorists, murderous men on the planet. And we heard from a lot of different people. We heard from a lot of different suits and talking heads about what this might mean and what would happen to the insurgency. But I really wanted to talk to an Iraqi, someone who knows someone who has family on the ground. So with me right now is Raed Jarrar, he is an Iraqi -- a young Iraqi national and a young Iraqi national with his own blog. He's been blogging about the war and about his experience right here in the United States. Great to have you Raed.

RAED JARRAR, IRAQI NATIONAL: Thank you for having me.

LIN: Tell me, what was your reaction when you heard that Zarqawi was killed?

JARRAR: I had the reaction of relief, and I think most of other Iraqis had the reaction of relief. But it's kind of different than the sense that you can find in the U.S. mainstream media on blogs where it's portrayed as a military victory.

LIN: Uh-huh. But really it's a drop in the bucket, right, for Iraqis? Just a drop in the bucket? I mean, this was a man that Americans see who personally cut off the heads of Americans. How do Iraqis see Zarqawi? JARRAR: Yeah, Iraqis see his death more as a political opportunity to change the current situation, to a better situation. So they don't really think that his murder will stop the daily attacks or even reduce them, because Al Qaeda as an organization is still there in Iraq, but they think that this attack happened in the right time. That it can be used as an opportunity to change the current situation, the political situation, especially the Iraqi reconciliation conference is coming within the next couple of weeks.

LIN: But what do you think of the Iraqis who actually tipped off the coalition to Zarqawi's location? What does that say?

JARRAR: I mean, this says that Zarqawi was marginalized and he was even more marginalized after the last elections, because all of the Iraqis took a part of the last elections and the Iraqis decided to take politics as a means in dealing with the situation there instead of taking attacks and explosions or just attacks and explosions as a way of dealing with them. So he was being marginalized even from the places that had very high rates of military attacks against the U.S. Army, because no one wanted to adopt him anymore.

LIN: So, really, are you saying what Iraqis are saying, is, eh, the U.S. really got a small fish. I mean good PR for the war on terror, but when it comes to their daily lives not much is going to change?

JARRAR: I mean he's not a small fish, he's a shark. But Iraq is full of sharks, this is the problem.

LIN: It is, indeed. So what do you make of the fact that it was Iraqi security forces, the police, who went in first to the bombing site and found the body?

JARRAR: I don't know whether this meant a lot, because the Iraqi security forces usually join the U.S. forces as a backup force, but they did not implement the attack. They were just there, you know, helping. But, I mean, whether Iraqis killed him by themselves or whether the U.S. Army did the attack, at the end of the road, Iraq got rid of one of the signs of the post-war Iraq or the Iraq under occupation. And people are very relieved, you know, that this sign was killed, and they are afraid that a new boogieman, a new monster will be created in his place. So they want to take this opportunity as fast as possible. Have reconciliation heal their wounds before a new Zarqawi is created.

LIN: So much work to be done. Raed Jarrar thank you so much.

JARRAR: Thank you.

LIN: Well tonight at 7:00 eastern, Wolf Blitzer hosts "Iraq, A Week at War." CNN's team of correspondents brings you an in-depth look at major events in the war on terror.

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