From ron at resist.ca  Sun Jan  5 11:31:07 2003
From: ron at resist.ca (ron)
Date: Sun, 5 Jan 2003 11:31:07 -0800 (PST)
Subject: [news] 29K Zapatistas break silence
Message-ID: <Pine.LNX.4.44.0301051130090.11232-100000@murray>


---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sun,  5 Jan 2003 05:52:28 -0500 (EST)
From: "Montyneill at aol.com" <Montyneill at aol.com>
Reply-To: "a-infos-en at ainfos.ca" <a-infos-en at ainfos.ca>
To: "aut-op-sy at lists.village.virginia.edu"
    <aut-op-sy at lists.village.virginia.edu>
Subject: (en) 29K Zapatistas break silence

 ________________________________________________
      A - I N F O S  N E W S  S E R V I C E
            http://www.ainfos.ca/
        http://ainfos.ca/index24.html
 ________________________________________________

Originally Published in Spanish by La Jornada
Mexico City, Thursday, January 2, 2003
 NINTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ZAPATISTA UPRISING
 The EZLN Commanders Break Silence and Take San Cristobal

More than 20,000 Indigenous ask president Vicente Fox where is peace?
?  - Warn Peace Commissioner that they will impede his entry into
controlled territory
 BY: Hermann Bellinghausen, Correspondent
 San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, January 1, 2003.
 In the most numerous concentration up to now of Zapatista Army of
National Liberation (EZLN) support bases, more than 20,000 indigenous
campesinos literally took the city of San Cristobal this evening. Coming
from all regions of the state, some 20,000 machetes in the hands of
tzotzils, tzeltals, chols, tojolabals and zoques rang like bells through
Avenida Insurgentes during the more than three hours that it took to
fill the central plaza of this city in a column that seemed unending

The demonstration concluded with a concentration presided over by the
commanders of the Zapatista movement. Commanders Esther, David, Tacho,
Fidelia, Omar, Mister and Bruce Lee directed themselves to the multitude
with seven speeches which, if any doubt remained, completely broke the
EZLN???s almost two years of silence.

Through them, the EZLN???s Indigenous Revolutionary Clandestine Committee
repeatedly backed up subcomandante Marcos. ???We say to you that when
subcomandante Marcos says he supports the people's political struggle,
all the Zapatista men, women and children say it,??? expressed Comandante
Mister.

Commander Esther directed ???a few words??? to Mr. Vicente Fox: ???I just say
to you that the people are disenchanted with the your deceipt.???

After mentioning the threats of eviction in the Montes Azules, wrapped
in the same white flowered shawl which she showed to the world from the
Congress of the Union almost two years ago, the commander asked: ???Where
is the peace? Isn???t it important to you that the spirit of those that
made you president is spoiled????

A few days before, the indigenous were saying "They are going to have to
widen the streets of the city of San Cristobal so that we can fit.???
Tonight we see that it was no boast: the Zapatistas overflowed the
streets and did not fit in the plaza of the cathedral. According to
experts, it holds 18,000 people. Today it was not sufficient. Thousands
of natives had to stay in the adjoining streets during the whole
concentration.

The demonstration, more valiant than most, concluded around midnight
with thousands of lighted ocote torches, illuminating the air red with
their flames. And they again sounded the machetes, woodcutting axes,
hoes and other work tools.

Thousands of indigenous people coming from Los Altos began to congregate
since morning on the outskirts of this city, but the march started at
six in the evening, when the last contingents arrived from the
Aguascalientes of La Realidad, which took 15 hours by road.

The chants, which were adding themselves all day to the banners and
signs, were chorused nonstop this evening by the Zapatista support
bases. ???The three powers of the government are racist. Fox just like
Zedillo. The PAN is like the PRI.??? Another time they chorused: ???No to
the terrorism of Bush and Bin Laden??? and they proclaimed their support
for the political struggle of the Basque people.

They emphasized greetings and admiration for the ???rebels of Argentina,???
and they proclaimed the ???globalization of rebelliousness and dignity.???
They also supported the struggle of Salvador Atenco (without the San),
asking: "don???t stop struggling, because the Zapatistas want freedom,??? as
well as the disobedient Italians. In Italy, thousands of them were
joined together this evening to follow directly the Zapatista
concentration in San Cristobal.

Shouting vivas to subcomandante Marcos, the CCRI, the autonomoous
municipios and the EZLN insurgents, the demonstrators sent a clear
message which commanders David and Omar would make explicit around
midnight: "We came to tell you that we are here and we continue alive.
We have not surrendered. We are not disunited nor fighting. Why would we
have to fight among ourselves if we still have those who fight us.???

Calling time and again to the ???bad government??? of Vicente Fox, the
Zapatistas from about 40 autonomous municipios expressed strong
criticisms of the political parties, which because of their respective
interests refused to approve the Cocopa law, ???because it is not
convenient for them that there be peace in Chiapas.???

In what was the harshest of the speeches, Commander Tacho called PAN
Senator Diego Fernandez de Cevallos an ???advocate of criminals,??? and
accused him of opposing peace in Chiapas ???because he wants to be
president, even before 2006,??? in place of Vicente Fox, ???and to convert
the country into a big plantation.????  About PRI Senator Manuel Bartlett,
Tacho said that he was opposed to the Cocopa law and to peace to make
the U.S. authorities happy, which are investigating him for drug
trafficking.

In relation to the PRD, he said that this party supported the so-called
Bartlett-Fernandez de Cevallos-Ortega Law only in the Senate ???in
exchange for the governorship of Michoacan,??? and pointed out that ???if
only one senator that had said no to the language,??? the law would have
had to be discussed again.???

Esther, directing herself to the peace commissioner, Luis H. Alvarez,
told him: ???you were able to choose between being like Camacho or like
Rabasa, and you chose being like Rabasa,??? and she announced that the
EZLN communities no longer will permit him passage through their con-
trolled territories, because he gives out money in the communities??? to
divide them, and he says that the Zapatistas are ???divided??? and ???other
lies.???

In its severe balancing of "how things are in the world," the general
command of the EZLN did not fail to denounce TV Azteca's operation
against CNI, Channel 40, recognizing that the Channel 40's commenta-
tors were not always objective in relation to the Zapatistas, Commander
Tacho expressed, nevertheless, the Zapatistas' backup of the workers of
the attacked TV station. "We cannot see how the work of reporting is
impeded and remain quiet."

Commander Fidelia directed a moving message to the "exploited, scorned
and violated" women, and Commander Mister vindicated the indigenous
right to know the world situation, "to have opinions and to decide."?  He
accused the "racist" government for blaming them of not understanding
the world and not having the right to speak, for example, about the
struggle of the Basque people.

Before the "globalization of death" that the powerful impose, Mister
proclaimed the right of everyone to "globalize freedom."

To the Zapatistas, he said, "we are not afraid to speak of the political
struggle of the Basque people," and he expressed special backup for the
self-determination of Venezuela and to the "rebel people of Argentina."

The city of San Cristobal received the Zapatista takeover in silence,
with doors and windows closed, and its residents heard, barely showing
themselves, the ringing of the machetes and the thousands of voices
saying that they will not surrender.?  As Commander Bruce Lee said: "We
do not have to ask the government for permission to be free," and
defending the universal human right of defiance, he closed: "We don't
have to ask for anyone's permission."

This evening's Zapatista demonstration is, also, the affirmation of
belonging to the world and the most profound citizen force of the modern
Mexican indigenous peoples.?  They know that they are capable of teaching
Mexico and the world, and not only of learning.

Upon filling the San Cristobal Plaza this evening, a voice at the
microphone was asking: "Companeros, let's see if those who are more
forward can advance."?  It is a good expression as a metaphor of what
just happened this evening, which just ended in flames and smoke in the
plaza, and an echo of voices and work tools (or like those of the
campesino and indigenous struggle).?  The civil indigenous Zapatista is
mature fruit.?  The racism of the powerful ones no longer can detain
them.?  "This struggle is just beginning,"?  David said, in tzotzil and
castellano, in the last speech of the Zapatista commanders.

And the night was inundated with torches.?  "Let's make a big light so
that the people may see that we maintain the rebelliousness (defiance),"
said David concluding. * mat





From pat_wobbly at hotmail.com  Tue Jan  7 21:03:11 2003
From: pat_wobbly at hotmail.com (Pat S)
Date: Tue, 07 Jan 2003 21:03:11 -0800
Subject: [news] Army unveils survaillence truck
Message-ID: <F60r6kBJYVXtoz2JoRv00020879@hotmail.com>

I think this relates to the proposed security conference...

Army unveils 'SmarTruck II'
http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/01/07/army.truck.reut/index.html

DETROIT, Michigan (Reuters) -- It looks like a contraption that should be 
entered in a monster truck rally -- menacing black with reinforced silver 
bumpers, big tires and floodlights mounted on top of the cab.

But it can track down and zap the enemy in so many ways.

At the Detroit auto show, the U.S. Army Tuesday unveiled a hulky, prototype 
"SmarTruck II" -- designed since the September 11, 2001 attacks with 
President Bush's War on Terrorism definitely in mind.

It will not be rumbling through the desert toward Baghdad any time soon, but 
the military is trying to create an all-purpose vehicle that could make a 
statement if it suddenly appeared over the sand dune.

"Once this vehicle comes on the scene, we want everyone to know that we mean 
business," Germaine Fuller, the director of the project that created it, 
told Reuters at a news conference featuring a marching color guard and a 
military band playing patriotic songs such as "God Bless America."

Last year at the Detroit show, the U.S. Army showcased its first attempt at 
a high-tech truck, which the military brass now acknowledges was 
eye-catching with a pop-up pepper spray dispenser and surveillance cameras, 
but hardly ready for the real world.

"It was more a James Bond vehicle, more 'gee whiz' but not designed for a 
specific mission," Army General N. Ross Thompson III, chief of the command 
that designed the truck, told Reuters.

Presto change-o

SmarTruckII is equipped with all the latest hi-tech bells and whistles too. 
This time, however, the designers have tried to create a military vehicle 
that can be changed in an hour or so to fight a new enemy with new weapons 
in a post-September 11 world.

Built on the modified platform of a Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck with a 
350 horsepower, V-8 engine, the watchword of the SmarTruckII is flexibility.

Designers created what they call "nodules," based on a stainless steel box 
that sits on what would normally be the bed of the truck. The boxes are 
swapped on and off the truck depending on the mission.

The idea is for the vehicle to be useful in conventional combat, or be 
transformed quickly to detect chemical and biological weapons, or even help 
in recovery from a disaster.

Fuller said the boxes can be changed in about an hour, depending on the 
situation.

For example, out of the top of one of boxes on the prototype vehicle popped 
SPIKE, which the military described as a "fire and forget" small missile and 
launcher system that can fire two missiles simultaneously.

Others boxes housed equipment useful in communications or surveillance.

Big Brother hovering

In another twist, the vehicle can house an unmanned drone-like small 
aircraft that can hover over a nearby area and send live video back to the 
vehicle.

In the cab of the truck are housed a 3-D mapping system and a communications 
system that Fuller described as "hacker in a box." It includes a computer 
program linked with surveillance equipment to monitor what people in the 
area around the vehicle are saying in e-mail. SmarTruckII could just sit and 
listen, send bogus e-mails to confuse an enemy, or, if it is not amused, 
kill the enemy communications system altogether.

The prototype vehicle cost between $500,000 and $1 million, Fuller said, 
although she said it is tough to estimate precisely because it involved 
partnerships with several firms.

The military said it has no plans to produce the truck any time soon, 
although Bran Ferren, a designer of SmarTruckII, said that if an order came 
through it could be put in production in a year.

"SmarTruckII"
? Modified platform of Chevrolet Silverado pickup
? V-8 engine, 350 horsepower
? Instead of truck bed, stainless steel interchangeable boxes that can 
contain anything from small missile and launcher system or communication and 
surveillance systems.
? Vehicle could also carry unmanned drone-like aircraft.
? Cab houses 3-D mapping system and communication system dubbed 'hacker in a 
box' that could monitor e-mail in area, send e-mail or destroy enemy 
communication system.
? Prototype cost: Between $500,000 and $1 million.

Source: Reuters



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From ron at resist.ca  Fri Jan 10 18:40:36 2003
From: ron at resist.ca (ron)
Date: Fri, 10 Jan 2003 18:40:36 -0800 (PST)
Subject: [news] Whitby Trial Wraps Up - OCAP Member Jailed
Message-ID: <Pine.LNX.4.44.0301101839580.22878-100000@murray>


--- OCAP <ocap at tao.ca> wrote:

Eighteen months after OCAP members evicted then-Tory Finance Minister Jim
Flaherty from his constituency office, the authorities and the Province of
Ontario have little to show for their efforts to curb resistance and the
fight for justice in this Province.

In Whitby this week, the two final defendants were sentenced. Gian Mura,
convicted on two counts, has been made to serve 21 days in prison at the
Provincial Jail in Penetanguishene. With no criminal record and years of
living in poverty, Gian is the sole defendant to serve time as a part of
his sentence. However, like the entire group of defendants, Gian did spend
time in jail immediately following arrest and will be released on January
20th, to live on probation for a year.

Sean Lee Popham, who already spent 37 days in jail and 60 days under house
arrest following the demonstration in July 2001, was convicted on two
counts and sentenced to 18 months of probation.

Shawn Brant, convicted on a single count, was sentenced to 21 days in jail
and 2 years of probation - but did not have to spend more time in custody
than the days in prison following his arrest.

The conviction of a handful of people is what remains of the 19 arrested
and jailed following the demonstration at Flaherty's office in Whitby,
undertaken to strike back against the effects of slashed social spending,
conditions on First Nations reserves, and above all, because of the
responsibility of Flaherty's government in the systematic evictions of
tenants across Ontario.

Following the action in July 2001, the authorities were condemning the
'terrorist' actions of OCAP members, and calling of months of jail time to
punish the unconpromising anger and action taken by OCAP. And while it is
glaringly obvious that several defendants were targeted by the prosecution
- Shawn for being a citizen of the Mohawk Nation, Gian for his lack of
'respectable' credentials - there is no question that the prosecution, the
Durham Regional Police, and the Provincial government did not come out on
top in this latest attempt to quash resistance against the lack of rent
control, the decimation of decent affordable housing, the power accorded
to wealthy landlords under the so-called Tenant 'Protection' Act- the
ruthless rule in Ontario that attempts to keep poor and working people
silent and struggling to survive.


To send letters of support and solidarity to Gian, please send your mail
to the following:

Gian Mura
Central North C. C.
1501 Fuller Ave
Penetanguishene, ON
L9M 2H4





From ron at resist.ca  Fri Jan 10 21:42:24 2003
From: ron at resist.ca (ron)
Date: Fri, 10 Jan 2003 21:42:24 -0800 (PST)
Subject: [news] Aboriginal activists celebrate Sun Peaks victory
Message-ID: <Pine.LNX.4.44.0301102141570.23266-100000@murray>


PRESS RELEASE

 ABORIGINAL ACTIVISTS IN THE INTERIOR OF BC CELEBRATE VICTORY
 SECWEPEMC ELDERS FOUND NOT GUILTY
 ST AT IMC DEFENDER RELEASED FROM JAIL

 (Kamloops, January 10th, 2003) Aboriginal activists leave the Kamloops
court house jubilant: Honorable Madam Justice Lynn Smith found elders Irene
Billy and Charlie Willard along with Segwses and George Manuel Jr., not
guilty of contempt of court for refusing to leave their land at Skwelkwelk
welt. Also present was Lawrence Pascal of the neighboring St at imc
Nation who was released from the Kamloops Detention Centre where he had
been held for 2 months for defending his ancestors land against the
construction of Cayoosh Creek Ski Resort. An appeal in his case has been
granted.

 The Secwepemc people, accompanied by leaders and members of fellow
Interior Aboriginal nations, are proud of and inspired by the example given
by their elders Irene Billy and Charlie Willard and Segwses and George
Manuel Jr., on July 23rd, 2001 refused to obey a court injunction sought by
Sun Peaks to tear down the Skwelkwek welt Protection Centre. International
law considers the forceful removal of indigenous peoples from their
traditional territories genocide. Honorable Madam Justice Lynn Smith found
that the Crown had failed to prove the criminal intention of the Secwepemc
defenders beyond a reasonable doubt. In paragraph 73 of her judgment she
rules: The Crown having failed to prove that the defendants breached the
order, I find that these proceedings should be dismissed.

 Irene Billy, Elder, stated, as she left the court:  I always knew we were
right, this is our land, we have the right to be here and Sun Peaks and the
province cannot remove us from it. We love this land and we will continue
to protect it. 
 This case sets an important precedent for other cases of Aboriginal people
defending their lands around Skwelkwek welt and Sutikalh.

 Chief Manuel of the Neskonlith Band stressed:  I am delighted with the
court decision, our people are not criminals, they rightfully defend their
land and the courts are coming to realize that. It is the government and
the companies who refuse to deal with our land rights and human rights in a
meaningful way. 

 FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
 Janice Billy: (250) 318 4290
 To speak to Lawrence Pascal: (250) 319 2084 (Chief Arthur Manuel)



From pat_wobbly at hotmail.com  Fri Jan 10 19:58:12 2003
From: pat_wobbly at hotmail.com (Pat S)
Date: Fri, 10 Jan 2003 19:58:12 -0800
Subject: [news] The Power of Labour: Anti-War Train Drivers Refuse to Move Arms Freight
Message-ID: <F34t9Cz93MgPPf3L9BG00001285@hotmail.com>

http://www.ccmep.org/2003_articles/Iraq/010903_anti_war.htm

Story is at:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,870967,00.html

----------

Anti-War Train Drivers Refuse to Move Arms Freight

by Kevin Maguire

The Guardian

January 9, 2003


Train drivers yesterday refused to move a freight train carrying ammunition 
believed to be destined for British forces being deployed in the Gulf.

Railway managers cancelled the Ministry of Defense service after the 
crewmen, described as "conscientious objectors" by a supporter, said they 
opposed Tony Blair's threat to attack Iraq.

The anti-war revolt is the first such industrial action by workers for 
decades.


The two Motherwell-based drivers declined to operate the train between the 
Glasgow area and the Glen Douglas base on Scotland's west coast, Europe's 
largest NATO weapons store.

English Welsh and Scottish Railway (EWS), which transports munitions for the 
MoD as well as commercial goods, yesterday attempted to persuade the drivers 
to move the disputed load by tomorrow.

Leaders of the Aslef rail union were pressed at a meeting with EWS 
executives to ask the drivers to relent. But the officials of a union 
opposed to any attack on Iraq are unlikely to comply.

The two drivers are understood to be the only pair at the Motherwell freight 
depot trained on the route of the West Highland Line.

An EWS spokesman declined to confirm the train had been halted, although he 
insisted no drivers had refused to take out the trains.

"We don't discuss commercial issues," he said.

"The point about the two drivers is untrue and we don't discuss issues about 
meetings we have."

Yet his claim was flatly contradicted by a well-placed rail industry source 
who supplied the Guardian with the train's reference number.

The MoD later said it had been informed by EWS that mechanical problems, 
caused by the cold winter weather, had resulted in the train's cancellation.

One solution under discussion yesterday between the MoD and EWS was to 
transport the shipment by road to avoid what rail managers hoped would be an 
isolated confrontation.

Dockers went on strike rather than load British-made arms on to ships 
destined for Chile after the assassination of leftwing leader Salvador 
Allende in 1973.

In 1920 stevedores on London's East India Docks refused to move guns on to 
the Jolly George, a ship chartered to take weapons to anti-Bolsheviks after 
the Russian revolution.

Trade unions supporting workers who refuse to handle weapons could risk 
legal action and possible fines for contempt of court.

Lindsey German, convener of the Stop the War Coalition, said: "We fully 
support the action that has been taken to impede an unjust and aggressive 
war. We hope that other people around the country will be able to do 
likewise."

The anti-war group is organizing a second national demonstration in central 
London on Saturday February 15. Organizers claimed more than 400,000 people 
attended a protest in September.


----------



http://www.ccmep.org is the website of the Colorado Campaign for Middle East 
Peace. I do artwork for the organization.

yours for the OBU,

richard myers

rtmyers at h2net.net






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From resist at resist.ca  Thu Jan 23 10:26:48 2003
From: resist at resist.ca (resist at resist.ca)
Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2003 10:26:48 -0800
Subject: [news] Activists Still in Jail Following Anti-Deportation Action,
	Support Needed for Kobra and Hassan
Message-ID: <20030123182648.GB18678@resist.ca>

Activists Still in Jail Following Anti-Deportation Action, Support Needed
For Kobra and Hassan
by megan at resist.ca

(with thanks to the Anti-Poverty Commitee and the Fire This Time Movement 
for information used in this article) 

An anti-deportation action on Tuesday, January 21st has won an appeal 
hearing for two Iranian refugees who barely escaped deportation, but has 
also landed two local activists in prison pending the payment of bail. 

Kobra Natghi and her 21-year old son, Hassan Esmat are before an 
Immigration Canada appeal board today, pleading their case for status as 
political refugees from Iran. Whether or not Immigration Canada gives them 
a fair hearing remains to be seen - but it is clear that up until this 
point, the Canadian government has been less than fair to this family - 
leading to the action on Tuesday which managed to temporarily halt the 
deportation. 

On Friday, January 17th, Kobra and Hassan were called into an Immigration 
Canada office in Vancouver BC for what they thought was a routine 
interview. At this "interview" they were arrested and taken to jail. A 
deportation was scheduled for Tuesday, and the pair were denied the right 
to see a lawyer or make any phone calls to get assistance, and were both 
denied prescription medications for three days (Hassan is epileptic, and 
without medication is at higher risk of having seizures). 

On the day of the scheduled deportation, federal officers loaded Kobra and 
Hassan onto the plane in handcuffs. In the process, Hassan suffered an 
epileptic seizure which caused the police to over-react and put him into a 
headlock, strangling him and further aggravating the situation. His 
mother, Kobra, reacted to the situation and demanded that the police let 
her son go. At this point the pilot decided that Kobra and Hassan's 
agitated presence put other passengers in danger so had them removed from 
the plane. 

While this scene was taking place, a demonstration against the deportation 
was getting underway inside the airport. Demonstrators preparing to 
distribute literature about the situation, sudenly spotted Kobra being 
lead through the airport lobby by airport officials and sprang into 
action. Protesters surrounded Kobra and the officials chanting, "Stop the 
Deportation!" 

In the confusion, Kobra escaped, ran from the airport and disappeared. She 
remained at large while the police searched for her throughout the city. 
Kobra contacted her lawyer in the evening and he convinced her to turn 
herself in to the police. She now has contact with her lawyer who is 
appealing her deportation. Her son, Hassan was moved back from the airport 
to Vancouver detention. Both of them appeared at an immigration hearing on 
Wednesday, January 22nd but no decision was made. 

Several activists were arrested at the scene, and three activists from the 
Anti-Poverty Committee have been charged with Assault and Assisting an 
Escape. Other activists who were arrested, were questioned and let go at 
the airport. Two of the three arrested remain in jail pending bail payment 
(one is being held at $1500 bail and another at $1000). APC member Calvin 
was released from jail late Wednesday afternoon. 

Kobra and Hassan's deportation has been delayed, but it has not yet been 
stopped. Because of Kobra's escape from the clutches of immigration on 
Tuesday, they have been awarded another hearing and there is a chance for 
legal appeal - something that would not have happened without Tuesday's 
action at the airport. 

What You Can Do: 

For Kobra and Hassan: 
We must publicly demand that this deportation be stopped! Telephone Rob 
Johnson at Immigration Canada at 604-666-5946, and/or email the Minister 
of Immigration, Denis Coderre at minister at cic.gc.ca to demand they stop 
the deportation. 

For the arrested activists:
The APC needs to raise funding to bail out Justin and Randy. If you can 
contribute, please send a cheque to "Anti-Poverty Committee" and write 
"legal defence" on it and send to: 

Anti-Poverty Committee
42 Blood Alley Square
Vancouver, BC
V6B 1C7 

If you wish to bring your cheque down in person, the APC is located in 
Blood Alley, off of Carrall between Cordova and Water Streets (phone: 
604-682-2726) 



From pat_wobbly at hotmail.com  Mon Jan 20 16:18:38 2003
From: pat_wobbly at hotmail.com (Pat S)
Date: Mon, 20 Jan 2003 16:18:38 -0800
Subject: [news] Fwd: Winnipeg drive heating up
Message-ID: <F17ICouvXoubnNdvdNq0000ef97@hotmail.com>

The Winnipeg branch has been working to organize a drive at a local 
caffee/bakery, the main organizer there was fired last week, and along with 
firing a ULP we decided to hold a picket in front of the resteraund during 
sunday rush. It was a big success we stayed for three hours (its insanely 
cold here!) and handed out lots of flyers. And the local media came out (hey 
it was sunday moring!)
ANyway here is the story on the CBC (canadian broadcasting corporation for 
you heathen yanks) radio site. Which includes a link to iww.org.

http://winnipeg.cbc.ca/template/servlet/View?filename=mb_stellas20030120

Cheers
Heather


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From pat_wobbly at hotmail.com  Tue Jan 28 08:56:41 2003
From: pat_wobbly at hotmail.com (Pat S)
Date: Tue, 28 Jan 2003 08:56:41 -0800
Subject: [news] 
 Widely used police interrogation technique can result in false confession
Message-ID: <F96AXEnXZVDo0aU38FV0000376c@hotmail.com>

Widely used police interrogation technique can result in false confession: 
Disclosure
http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2003/01/27/interrogation030127

TORONTO - Interrogation tactics used by some Canadian police are being 
criticized after a report by CBC Television's investigative program, 
Disclosure, showed that Regina police and the RCMP led three suspects to 
falsely confess to a grisly murder.

Videotapes obtained by CBC Television document more than 15 hours of police 
interrogations in the Regina case. They show police using sophisticated, 
psychological interrogation techniques on three young men who eventually 
confess to raping and killing a 14-year-old Regina girl in a high-profile 
1996 case.

"I'm not even sure how to explain it because I'm not sure how it happened to 
me," says Joel Labadie, one of the three who falsely confessed.

"All I know is for hours on end I said 'No, I had nothing to do with it.' 
Next thing you know I'm sitting here going 'Sure, why not. I did it.' More 
or less it's like they kill your spirit or something," he said.

Labadie, Douglas Firemoon and a 17-year-old minor were all arrested for 
first-degree murder and spent nearly 4? months in jail for a murder they had 
nothing to do with.

In the end, DNA evidence convicted another man.

The issue of false confessions recently made international headlines in the 
Central Park Jogger case.

Five New York men were recently cleared of a brutal rape that they falsely 
confessed to in 1989.

"If you got the wrong person in the room, and you use those methods, it's 
going to be a punishing experience," says Richard Ofshe, a U.S. expert 
witness on false confessions.

"If you're innocent and you allow the process to go forward, you are going 
to go in for a ride the likes of which you never wanted to volunteer for," 
said Ofshe.

The process is the Reid model of interrogation.

The Regina videotapes, never before made public, show the officers using 
elements of this technique on the three young men. It's the gold standard in 
North America ? taught to members of major Canadian police forces and the 
RCMP at Canada's three largest police training colleges.

"My job when I am an interrogator, when we teach it, is to have that person 
now tell me that secret," says Neil Barker, he heads the Canadian Police 
College's interrogation training program.

"Reid is probably the best source to go to about persuading someone to get 
them to tell you that story."

However, the technique has been blamed for producing false confessions in 
Alberta and Manitoba, as well.

"I thought I could convince them that I was innocent, but you can't," says 
Edmonton resident Michael St. John. In 1998, he was accused of assaulting 
his own son. He faced nearly eight hours of interrogation.

"They had one set mind and one set mind only: you're guilty, you've done it, 
now confess," said St. John.

In 1992, a Brandon, Man., math teacher was accused of touching a student's 
breast. He, too, falsely confessed.

"You know that's hard, when you pick up the local paper, and there you are 
on the front page, an accused sexual molester," says former teacher Dwight 
Grant.

In both cases the men were cleared.

The judges in the cases had harsh words about the Reid technique. In 
Alberta, the judge called it a "huge psychological brainwashing exercise." 
And in Manitoba, a judge called the technique "repugnant to society's sense 
of decency," and urged police to stop using it.

In Britain, some of the tactics used in the Reid technique aren't allowed by 
the courts. However, three years ago, a Supreme Court of Canada decision in 
essence approved the technique here.

But critics argue that was a mistake. "I don't think it should be allowed in 
Canada," says Calgary criminal lawyer and former provincial court judge John 
James.

"The technique is designed to break the individual down psychologically so 
that he repeats back to them what they want to hear," he said.

Disclosure website:
http://cbc.ca/disclosure/archives/030128.html#confess

Movie - In the Name of the Father:
http://us.imdb.com/Title?0107207

_________________________________________________________________
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From resist at resist.ca  Fri Jan 31 12:55:03 2003
From: resist at resist.ca (resist admin)
Date: Fri, 31 Jan 2003 12:55:03 -0800 (PST)
Subject: [news] j21 airport arrestees in court feb.10
Message-ID: <Pine.LNX.4.44.0301311253450.13653-100000@resist.ca>



---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 30 Jan 2003 21:06:23 -0800
From: No One Is Illegal <noii_van at hotmail.com>


FEB. 10, 2003, at 9:30 am, at Richmond Court House at 6900 Minoru Blvd.
phone (604) 660-6900.

On Jan. 21, 2003, an Iranian woman and her son were being deported from
Canada to Iran. Kobra and her son fled Iran five years ago and had made
Canada thier home. Despite appeals and protests against deporting people to
Iran, where human rights are consistantly violated as a matter of Iranian
law. Iran is not a safe country:it is inhumane for Immigration Canada to
deport people to countries where they fear for thier safety and thier lives.
And all people should have the right to live where they choose, and not be
prevented by economic barriers.

On Jan. 21, three people were arrested at the Vancouver airport in
association with Kobra's escape. The three are charged with assaulting a
police officer and assisting in the escape of a person in lawful custody. It
is very important to demonstrate to the courts that these people have the
support of the wider community. The Canadian government has no buisness
persecuting and potentially imprisoning people for doing what Immigration
Canada should already be doing: protecting people's freedom of movement, and
protcting refugees' lives.

The court proceedings on the 10th will be brief, but it is vital to thier
case that the crown attorney and the judge see that the arrestees have a
broad base of support. Thank you very much. I hope you can attend. Please
keep in touch, as this case will continue and need on going support. lyn
Also, Kobra turned herself in later the night of the 21st. It has been
reported that Kobra and her son have arrived safely in Iran.


From resist at resist.ca  Fri Jan 31 12:59:03 2003
From: resist at resist.ca (resist admin)
Date: Fri, 31 Jan 2003 12:59:03 -0800 (PST)
Subject: [news] Vancouver City Council votes against war
Message-ID: <Pine.LNX.4.44.0301311258390.13653-100000@resist.ca>

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Fri, 31 Jan 2003 12:34:47 -0800
From: shniad at sfu.ca
To: shniad at sfu.ca
Subject: [pr-x] Vancouver City Council votes against war

Lawyers Against War, Vancouver, BC
Media Release
30 January 2003
Vancouver City Council votes unanimously to oppose
Canadian involvement in war against Iraq

Vancouver City Council voted unanimously today to oppose Canada's
involvement in any military action against Iraq unless that military action
is authorized by:
? a legally valid resolution of the UN Security Council, and
? Canadian laws
Vancouver thus became the first Canadian city to oppose war against Iraq.
In the United States  more than 50 cities including Seattle, San Francisco,
Chicago, Baltimore and Washington DC have passed similar resolutions.

"Nothing concerns any people more, including the people of Vancouver, than
the prospect of war," said Councillor Jim Green in response to the question
of whether municipal governments should be concerned about the federal
government engaging in war against Iraq.

"Vancouver City Council has voted to uphold international law -- cities
across Canada have a responsibility to follow suit," said Gail Davidson,
Lawyers Against the War

During a lengthy meeting council heard from speakers representing a wide
range of concerned Vancouver residents, including Gail Davidson - co-chair
of Lawyers against the War, David Morgan - National President of Veterans
against Nuclear Arms, Bill Saunders - President of the Vancouver and
District Labour Council, Connie Fogal - Defence of Canadian Liberty
Committee, Irene MacInnes of the Campaign to End Sanctions against the
People of Iraq, Dr. Edward H. Shaffer - economist, Betty Griffith -
Secretary of End the Arms Race, Reverend Bob Korth -  Chairman of the
Justice and Peace Committee of Christ Church Cathedral and others.

Contact re interview or full text of resolution:
Gail Davidson, Lawyers Against War  Tel: 604 738-0338
David Morgan, Veterans Against Nuclear Arms  Tel: 604 985-7147i



From van-announce-bounces at lists.resist.ca  Fri Jan 31 13:15:55 2003
From: van-announce-bounces at lists.resist.ca (van-announce-bounces at lists.resist.ca)
Date: Fri, 31 Jan 2003 13:15:55 -0800
Subject: [news] Forward of moderated message
Message-ID: <mailman.1.1044047755.15443.van-announce@lists.resist.ca>

An embedded message was scrubbed...
From: latinsol <latinsol at shaw.ca>
Subject: Prison for US solidarity activists
Date: Thu, 30 Jan 2003 23:12:43 -0800
Size: 18465
URL: <http://lists.resist.ca/pipermail/news/attachments/20030131/8d0bd56c/attachment.mht>

From resist at resist.ca  Fri Jan 31 17:00:35 2003
From: resist at resist.ca (resist admin)
Date: Fri, 31 Jan 2003 17:00:35 -0800 (PST)
Subject: [news] US is misquoting my Iraq report, says Blix
Message-ID: <Pine.LNX.4.44.0301311658500.24049-100000@resist.ca>



---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sat, 1 Feb 2003 00:30:18 -0000
From: Macdonald Stainsby <mstainsby at dojo.tao.ca>
To: project-x at lists.resist.ca
Subject: [pr-x] US is misquoting my Iraq report, says Blix

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/01/31/1043804520548.html

Sydney Morning Herald (Australia)
February 1, 2003

US is misquoting my Iraq report, says Blix
By Judith Miller and Julia Preston in New York


Days after delivering a broadly negative report on
Iraq's cooperation with international inspectors, Hans
Blix challenged several of the Bush Administration's
assertions about Iraqi cheating and the notion that
time was running out for disarming Iraq through
peaceful means.

In an interview on Wednesday, Dr Blix, the United
Nations chief weapons inspector, seemed determined to
dispel any impression that his report was intended to
support the United States' campaign to build world
support for a war to disarm Saddam Hussein.

"Whatever we say will be used by some," Dr Blix said,
adding that he had strived to be "as factual and
conscientious" as possible. "I did not tailor my
report to the political wishes or hopes in Baghdad or
Washington or any other place."

Dr Blix took issue with what he said were US Secretary
of State Colin Powell's claims that the inspectors had
found that Iraqi officials were hiding and moving
illicit materials within and outside of Iraq to
prevent their discovery. He said that the inspectors
had reported no such incidents.

Similarly, he said, he had not seen convincing
evidence that Iraq was sending weapons scientists to
other countries to prevent them from being
interviewed.


Nor had he any reason to believe, as President George
Bush charged in his State of the Union speech, that
Iraqi agents were posing as scientists, or that his
inspection agency had been penetrated by Iraqi agents
and that sensitive information might have been leaked
to Baghdad.

Finally, he said, he had seen no persuasive
indications of Iraqi ties to al-Qaeda. "There are
other states where there appear to be stronger links,"
such as Afghanistan, Dr Blix said. "It's bad enough
that Iraq may have weapons of mass destruction."

Russia has also denied any knowledge of links between
Iraq and al-Qaeda extremists. The Russian Foreign
Minister, Igor Ivanov, said on Thursday that "so far,
neither Russia nor any other country has information
about Iraq's ties with al-Qaeda".

"If we receive such information we will analyse it,"
he said. "Statements made so far are not backed by
concrete documents and concrete facts."

Meanwhile the founder of a militant Islamist group in
northern Iraq has denied US reports that his
organisation was the secret link between Baghdad and
al-Qaeda.

Mullah Krekar, a refugee in Norway, said Saddam was
his foe, and the Kurdish Islamist said he had no
contact with al-Qaeda.

He said that he could prove that his Ansar al-Islam
(Supporters of Islam) organisation, which controls a
sliver of land in northern Iraq, had "no contact with
al-Qaeda, with Osama [bin Laden], with Saddam Hussein,
with Iran or Iraq".

Ansar's role is at the heart of the US's latest
attempt to demonstrate a connection between al-Qaeda
and Iraq.

The New York Times, agencies



-- 
Macdonald Stainsby,
External Relations Co-ordinator,
Douglas Students Union.
**
In the contradiction lies the hope. --Bertholt Brecht.
***
"`Order rules in Berlin.' You stupid lackeys! Your
`order' is built on sand. Tomorrow the revolution will rear
ahead once more and announce to your horror amid the brass
of trumpets: `I was, I am, I always will be!'"

-Rosa Luxemburg, 1918.


Project-X list:
initiated for the (re)building of the Left.