From ldxar1 at tesco.net Sat Aug 4 16:37:37 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Sun, 5 Aug 2007 00:37:37 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] UK: Campsfield immigrants protest Message-ID: <006601c7d6f0$726d0170$0202a8c0@andy1> > Thursday, 2 August 2007, 00:34 AM > > > :: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE :: > > > HOME OFFICE REPS ROASTED BY ANGRY, WELL-INFORMED CAMPSFIELD DETAINEES. > > > FOLLOWING TUESDAY NIGHT'S LARGE, DISCIPLINED > YARD-PROTEST and Wednesday morning's hunger > strike, two Home Office representatives were > called to Campsfield on Wednesday afternoon to > hear the detainees' grievances. The pair, > including the Assistant Director of Escorting > Services at the Borders and Immigration Authority > (Philip Schoelenberger?) were confronted by an > angry, articulate, multi-national delegation of > 22 detainees in a meeting that lasted 2 and a > half hours. > > The stunned Home Office representatives promised > to respond to the detainees' grievances within 48 > hours, on the understanding that further > demonstrations would be put on hold until 3:30pm > on Friday. > > Here is a summary of the detainees' demands: > > > 1. THE DETAINEES DEMAND TEMPORARY ADMISSION. > According to the Government's own rules the > majority of them are being held illegally because > they cannot be deported, nor is their detention a > "last resort" measure. The Home Office is also in > breach of the European Convention on Human Rights > Article 5 (the right to liberty) and Article 8 > (the right to family life - around half of those > detained at Campsfield have families, yet are > detained for no compelling reason, often for > months, causing great and predictable hardship). > > Many detainees' families and friends have offered > substantial sureties; there is no conceivable > reason why they would (or could) abscond; even so > they are refused bail. > > > 2. SOME DETAINEES HAVE ACCEPTED "VOLUNTARY" > repatriation. Even so, the Home Office persists > in detaining them - for over 3 months in many > cases. These people have surely suffered enough > and should be allowed to return immediately. > > > 3. THERE IS COMPLETE LOSS OF CONFIDENCE in the > Immigration Court at Newport, South Wales, where > all Campsfield bail applications are now heard > and all but 5% are dismissed. Judges there are > said to have a contemptuous attitude and use > racist language toward detainees. The > exceptionally high refusal rates can only be > explained, it is felt, by entrenched racism. > > Families must make long, expensive journeys to > get to Newport (?150 return from London; those > making longer journeys may have to stay > overnight) only to see their loved one > re-detained. > > It is felt that the decision to move Campsfield > bail hearings to Newport was malicious > retaliation for the widely-publicised protests in > March this year. > > The detainees want future bail hearings to be > held, as they were previously, at either London > or Birmingham Immigration Courts. > > > 4. THEY DEMAND AN END to the squalid and > overcrowded conditions. Frequently men are held 3 > to a room and sometimes up to 7 in a room. The > inadequate toilets and showers have become > health-hazards. In these conditions infections > spread rapidly - the more so as healthcare > provision is also completely inadequate. > Paracetamol is prescribed for almost any > condition, and sometimes not even that is > available. > > :: ENDS :: > > For more information, contact 01865 726804 or 01865 558145 > > The detainees also sent a fax, on Tuesday, to the > European Court of Human Rights, Liberty, Justice, > Campsfield's MP Evan Harris, and the Secretary of > State. This can be forwarded on request. > > Bob Hughes -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ldxar1 at tesco.net Wed Aug 8 00:06:42 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Wed, 8 Aug 2007 08:06:42 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] EAST TIMOR: Insurgent youths clash with Aussie goons Message-ID: <012d01c7d98b$1d40b550$0202a8c0@andy1> http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22203973-2703,00.html Diggers use tear gas on E Timor rioters AUSTRALIAN troops fired tear gas at gangs in East Timor today after violence greeted Xanana Gusmao's appointment as prime minister. In the country's second city Baucau, armed UN riot police were battling mobs of pro-Fretilin youths who had set fire to several government buildings, police sources said yesterday. The situation across East Timor remained volatile last night, they said. Armoured personnel carriers loaded with heavily armed Australian troops patrolled trouble spots across the city including a Fretilin controlled refugee camp near Dili airport. UN police road blocks were thrown up around the city centre checking for illegal weapons. Foreign Minister Alexander Downer yesterday welcomed the appointment of a Gusmao-led government and appealed for East Timorese protestors to raise their concerns through parliament and not the streets. "The streets - rock throwing, shooting rifles and pistols - is not a way to deal with political disagreements and we would urge the East Timorese to respect the constitutional processes of the country and its institutions," Mr Downer told Sky TV. East Timor Defence Force soldiers were also assisting with security enforcement in the capital, a UN spokeswoman said yesterday. "They're (gangs of youths) throwing rocks at everyone. The situation is volatile. "We're seeing quite a bit of rock throwing around the IDP (Internally Displaced Persons) camps and other parts of the city," she said. Violence flared one day after President Jose Ramos Horta's decision to appoint a Gusmao-led CNRT coalition, a decision Fretilin branded as unconstitutional. Pro-Fretilin gangs torched houses in eastern Bacau and Dili including the country's main tax and customs office at Dili port. Crack Portuguese riot police had secured the facility yesterday morning. Other police had established static security outside government buildings. There were also reports of rock throwing near Dili airport this morning soon after the arrival of an Air North flight from Darwin. "The Aussie cops are out in all their gear clearing burning tyres off the (main airport) road. "I've seen four APC's (armoured personnel carriers) loaded with Australian troops heading west from the heliport. "There's broken glass strewn all over the road near the Leader store (on the airport road). The Customs building is totalled - it's still smouldering and there are GNR (Portugese riot police) standing outside at the port entrance," said an Australian businessman on a drive around the capital yesterday. Asking to be called by his first name "Bruce" he spoke by mobile phone to The Australian as he drove around the worst hit parts of the capital. Tension had been building for the past week with Fretilin warning President Horta not to proceed and appoint a Gusmao-led government because it would be against the constitution. But on Monday, President Horta moved to end a five-week political stalemate by appointing the former president and guerilla leader prime minister to lead a coalition of parties. Fretilin, under former Prime Minister Dr Mari Alkatiri won 21 seats in the June parliamentary elections, short of the 51 required to rule in their own right. Its main rival, the CNRT Party led by Mr Gusmao, won 18 seats but secured support from minor parties that boosted its total to 37 seats in the 65-seat legislature. Head of the UN in East Timor, Atul Khare, has welcomed the formation of the new government and warned Fretilin supporters against acts of violence. "A criminal act in the name of a political cause is still a criminal act, and will be dealt with firmly," he said. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ldxar1 at tesco.net Wed Aug 8 00:08:17 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Wed, 8 Aug 2007 08:08:17 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] US: Oklahoma prison uprising over overcrowding Message-ID: <012e01c7d98b$1d66daf0$0202a8c0@andy1> http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?articleID=070806_1__NEWKI20557 Inmates riot at Kay County jail By Staff and Wire Reports 8/6/2007 1:11 PM Last Modified: 8/6/2007 1:12 PM NEWKIRK -- Inmates at the overcrowded Kay County jail caused an estimated $50,000 in damage during a riot that left one jailer hospitalized with smoke inhalation, officials said. About two dozen inmates were involved in the riot that erupted Saturday night during the evening meal, said Kay County Sheriff Everette VanHoesen. "The problem is that we're horribly overcrowded," VanHoesen said. "We've got four guys in two-man cells, and everybody is just on edge." There were 136 inmates in the 108-bed jail Saturday when the violence erupted. VanHoesen said inmates in one of the jail's eight pods for male prisoners were upset they weren't fed first. "I have only two jailers on duty for about 140 inmates," VanHoesen said. "By the time we all got here, they were going pretty good." One jailer passed out and was hospitalized overnight after being overcome by smoke from a fire started by the inmates, VanHoesen said. Several cell doors also were destroyed during the riot. Law enforcement officers from several nearby agencies and the Oklahoma Highway Patrol responded to the disturbance and helped get the situation under control. "Once we got superior numbers, we were able to go in, get them down on the floor and in handcuffs and get control of them," VanHoesen said. Deputies transported about two dozen inmates to jails in Ponca City and neighboring Osage and Grant counties. "Everything's pretty quiet back there now," VanHoesen said Monday. A similar incident occurred June 26 in the Pittsburg County Jail in McAlester, where inmates rioted and caused damage estimated at $8,000 to $10,000. Overcrowding also was blamed as the cause of that riot. A total of 105 inmates were staying in the 65-inmate capacity jail at the time. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: ?SIT=NewsStory_336x280 Type: application/octet-stream Size: 43 bytes Desc: not available URL: From ldxar1 at tesco.net Wed Aug 8 00:09:38 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Wed, 8 Aug 2007 08:09:38 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] IRAQ: Prison uprising near Mosul Message-ID: <012f01c7d98b$1d91bb80$0202a8c0@andy1> http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2007/08/ap_IraqPrisonRiot070804/ Inmate killed in northern Iraq prison riot Posted : Saturday Aug 4, 2007 17:59:22 EDT BAGHDAD - A prison riot erupted in northern Iraq, but the situation was brought under control on Saturday, the U.S. military said. One prisoner was killed while trying to escape. The melee broke out late Thursday after American troops had surrounded the Badoosh prison complex outside Mosul, 225 miles northwest of Baghdad, as Iraqi guards prepared to move inmates into the isolation unit before they were to be transferred. Iraqi guards killed one inmate who was trying to escape from the prison yard and wounded two others inside the prison, the U.S. military said in a statement. The riot involved nearly 65 inmates and was brought under control by 1 a.m. Saturday, according to a statement. "Conditions have returned to normal at the prison and all prisoners are accounted for and secured," it said. "Internal damages to the cell-block area are still being assessed." The U.S. military said American troops did not fire any rounds during the disturbance and no U.S. or Iraqi troops were wounded. The Badoosh prison is known for a poor security record. Gunmen stormed the complex in March and freed about 150 inmates, although most were recaptured afterward. The Islamic State of Iraq, an al-Qaida in Iraq front group, claimed responsibility for that attack. Last December, a nephew of Saddam Hussein serving a life sentence for financing insurgents escaped from the same prison with the help of a police officer, authorities said. Ayman Sabawi remains at large. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ldxar1 at tesco.net Wed Aug 8 00:15:18 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Wed, 8 Aug 2007 08:15:18 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] NIGERIA: Uprising at Jigawa college over purge Message-ID: <013f01c7d98b$e0005c30$0202a8c0@andy1> http://www.independentngonline.com/?c=44&a=31277 Jigawa College Students' Riot Injures Nine By Abubakar Sharada, Reporter, Dutse July 25th, 2007 5 Stars - Excellent4 Stars - Good3 Stars - Average2 Stars - Fair1 Stars - Poor E-MAIL IT PRINT IT PDF VERSION Pre-NCE students of Jigawa State College of Education, Gumel, went on rampage on Monday and destroyed property worth several thousands of naira. At least nine students were seriously injured in the pandemonium that followed the riot. The students were protesting alleged plan by the school authorities to withdraw those with deficiencies in core subjects of English Language and Mathematics. A 200 level student of the Art and Social Sciences Department, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the riot broke out at 9a.m. He said the aggrieved students set the NYSC store ablaze and smashed windows and doors. He added that the Pre-NCE students were informed last Thursday that anybody with a deficiency in the two subjects should register for the West African Examination Council (WAEC) or National Examination Council (NECO). The students were also asked to pay another registration fee of N3,000 before they would be allowed to continue with their studies. http://allafrica.com/stories/200708010082.html Nigeria: Jigawa Coe Students Riot Over Admission Policy Email This Page Print This Page This Day (Lagos) 31 July 2007 Posted to the web 1 August 2007 Taiwo Olawale Dutse Pre National Certificate of Education (NCE) Students of the Jigawa State College of Education went on rampage last week, burning and destroying school properties worth millions of naira to protest the school's new policy on English and Mathematics deficiencies in WAEC and NECO SSCE examinations. Trouble started when the school authorities directed all students with deficiencies in English and Mathematics to withdraw from the school, retake the subjects and return to re-register for the courses in the school. One of the affected students who spoke to THISDAY on condition of anonymity said the double registration aspect of the policy was what angered most of the students. "By asking us to withdraw and return only after passing, the authorities are trying to make us pay twice for a single academic year. We have paid for the session already. If we withdraw to go and write English and Mathematics, it means we are going to start registration afresh when we return. This is unfair", he explained. The student further explained that the practice was strange as, according to him, students with deficiencies were always allowed to continue with their studies in other institutions once they have already been admitted. He said, "Such students are only allowed to graduate when they pass the prerequisite examinations and present evidence of such success. We don't know why the school authorities want to make our cases different." THISDAY learnt that the affected students had continued to attend lectures even after the school had directed that they stopped. It was in an attempt to enforce the directive that things got out of hand and the students went on rampage. In the ensuing fracas, the rampaging students burnt down the NYSC store and the Pre NCE blocks. Even when the school authorities invited the Police to restore order, there was initial resistance. At least 15 people, including some policemen were injured before normalcy was restored. Relevant Links West Africa Education Nigeria When contacted, the Provost of the college, Alhaji Adamu Y. Ibrahim confirmed the incident. He however explained that the new policy was in accordance with the requirements of JAMB and the students were briefed accordingly. He noted that the final decision on what to do with the affected students had not been taken as the academic board had not met to discuss it. He wondered why the students took laws into their hands over a matter that was not yet concluded, adding noting that the school management had constituted an eleven man panel to investigate the disturbances. He said the panel has two weeks to report its findings to enable the school file appropriate reports to the state government. Coming at a period when the new administration in the state is trying to re-invigorate the education sector, the riots have thrown up a different problem that may need the immediate attention of the state government. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: advert.gif Type: image/gif Size: 1769 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... 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Name: curse10_2_ffffff_e8e8ff_e8e8ff.gif Type: image/gif Size: 104 bytes Desc: not available URL: From ldxar1 at tesco.net Wed Aug 8 00:05:37 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Wed, 8 Aug 2007 08:05:37 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] US: near uprising after cops murder teen Message-ID: <012c01c7d98b$1d1a8fb0$0202a8c0@andy1> http://www.infoshop.org/inews/article.php?story=20070807112635189 Chicago: Near Riot After Cops Kill Teenager Tuesday, August 07 2007 @ 11:26 AM PDT Contributed by: Patrokolos Views: 190 Chicago Police on Monday evening shot and killed a teen on the West Side who police say pointed a gun at an officer. Chicago: Near Riot After Cops Kill Teenager Chicago Sun Times Chicago Police on Monday evening shot and killed a teen on the West Side who police say pointed a gun at an officer. "The officer could clearly see a gun in his hand, tells him to drop the gun, and he points the gun at the officer," police spokesman Pat Camden said of the moments before the shooting in North Lawndale at 1141 S. Mozart. The fatal shooting triggered a near-riot by neighborhood residents disputing the police version of the incident, which brought several hundred officers to the scene from police districts citywide. Ericka Hale, 18, one of a crowd of hundreds who later marched to the Harrison and Kedzie police station for a protest and prayer vigil, had a different version of the shooting. "The boy was running away from them [police]. By the time he got to the garbage can, the police shot him," Hale said. Relatives identified the teen as Aaron Harrison, 18. The Office of Professional Standards is investigating the shooting. According to police, the incident occurred about 8 p.m., when Special Operations Section officers on patrol saw a group of young men standing in front of a grocery store. "One of the individuals was holding his waist and kind of acting unusual," Camden said. "When the officers got out of the car to attempt to talk to him, he took off running." Police say one officer chased the teen into an alley, where the officer allegedly shot him in the left shoulder in self-defense. Camden said police recovered a 9mm semiautomatic pistol. However, witnesses said the teen never pointed a gun at police. Witnesses said Harrison and five friends were in front of the store when police pulled up, and they ran. Jason Hunley, 25, said police followed Harrison a block away, and one allegedly fired shots as Harrison ran. This is the second time in a week a man has died at the hands of police. Gefrey Johnson, 42, died after police shot him with a Taser on Saturday. As a crowd of hundreds gathered afterward and swelled, Lashunna Carter, 16, the teen's girlfriend, was hysterical, repeating: "The police just shot him! They just shot him!" Some in the crowd said Harrison wasn't involved with gangs or drugs but belonged to a hip-hop dance group. "He was just a hip-hop kid. He wasn't doing anything wrong," said Brenda Blackman, 48. The crowd grew increasingly volatile, as more police were summoned to line a four-block area. Bottles were thrown at police, and police confirmed a newspaper photographer's cameras were broken by police, but reported no arrests. At the station, the crowd chanted: "No justice, no peace! No racist police!" Police cordoned them away from the building, and reporters observed some officers physically pushing some marchers. http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/500032,CST-NWS-copshoot07.article -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: inews_breakingnews.gif Type: image/gif Size: 5587 bytes Desc: not available URL: From ldxar1 at tesco.net Wed Aug 8 00:28:13 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Wed, 8 Aug 2007 08:28:13 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] SOUTH AFRICA: Township rebellion over services in Mamelodi Message-ID: <016301c7d98d$ae889030$0202a8c0@andy1> http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&art_id=vn20070726030107336C716070&click_id=13&test=1 Poor service delivery sparks riot Graeme Hosken July 26 2007 at 06:59AM Several residents complained that their bills ran millions of rands into arrears, even though they had settled them. Both protesting groups also voiced their anger over the allocation of RDP houses to people from outside the township. Screaming and hurling abuse at police and council workers, the protesters said they were furious over the council's empty promises. "Every week there's a new excuse why we cannot be given the houses promised to us 11 years ago," said Mamelodi East residents' protest leader Rabasotho Masupha. They were now demanding the RDP houses they were promised, he said. "We are sick and tired of excuses and of watching our houses being given to 'foreigners' and to people from outside Mamelodi. We want our houses and we want them now. We will come back day after day and sit in council offices until we get our homes," he said. Sanco representatives Andrew Ramashala and Bomba Baloyi said residents were upset over the council's faulty billing system. "There are scores of residents who have paid their bills and settled their debts, yet the council keeps on insisting that they are in arrears." Ramashala said council workers had disconnected the electricity and water supplies of dozens of homes, despite people providing proof that they had paid their bills. "We are sick and tired of what is happening and want the council to sort out the billing system. It is ridiculous that residents are punished because of the council's mistakes." It was impossible to rack up a bill of R6,1-million in a space of months, he said. "If that bill is correct, why are we not getting R6,1-million worth of service delivery?" Police tried for three hours to negotiate with the leaders of the demonstrators. When this failed, they told protesters to disperse within 10 minutes. The protesters refused to leave, and heavily armed police charged residents occupying council offices, throwing stun-grenades and firing rubber bullets. Police repeatedly opened fire on stone-throwing demonstrators who tried to storm back into the offices. Police spokesperson Inspector Paul Ramaloko said three people were arrested and charged with public violence. "A police car was damaged, but there was no damage to council property." A high police presence would be maintained until calm had been restored, he said. a.. Police use pepper spray to disperse protesters inside the municipal building. Hundreds of Mamelodi residents, protesting over rate hikes and poor service delivery, clashed with police after storming a municipal office on Wednesday. The running battles began when police - using pepper spray, firing rubber bullets and throwing stun-grenades - forced nearly 300 residents, who had taken control of "Mini-Munitoria", to abandon their stronghold. Protesters of Mamelodi East's Phase 1 and 4 informal settlements stormed the municipal offices opposite Solomon Mahlangu Square. They took control of the housing section after "hijacking" a rates hike protest by Mamelodi West residents. Mamelodi West residents, under the banner of the SA Civic Organisation (Sanco), were picketing outside the offices over irregularities in the council's billing system, when their protest was taken over. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: bypic_650.gif Type: image/gif Size: 1837 bytes Desc: not available URL: From ldxar1 at tesco.net Wed Aug 8 00:29:26 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Wed, 8 Aug 2007 08:29:26 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] DR CONGO: As protests continue, pigs attack journalist Message-ID: <016c01c7d98d$d9c1a070$0202a8c0@andy1> http://allafrica.com/stories/200707260942.html Congo-Kinshasa: Journalist Attacked During Opposition Demonstration Email This Page Print This Page Visit The Publisher's Site Journaliste En Danger (Kinshasa) PRESS RELEASE 25 July 2007 Posted to the web 26 July 2007 JED is indignant and scandalised by the 23 July 2007 assault on Roland Tsapi, a journalist with the privately-owned daily "Le Messager" published in Doula, Cameroon's economic capital, by riot police who had come to quell a peaceful opposition demonstration. JED notes that in central Africa, it is increasingly common during the repression of unauthorised demonstrations or those organised by the political opposition for security forces to violate press freedom with impunity, using violence even against the journalists covering such demonstrations. According to information obtained by JED from local correspondents, the attack on Tsapi took place in the yard of the district authority for basic education in Bonamoussadi, a neighbourhood in Doula, where the journalist was covering a peaceful march by Cameroon's opposition political parties and motorcycle taxi drivers, who were denouncing the fraud that marred the 22 July 2007 legislative and municipal elections. The journalist was speaking with police officers on duty at the site of the demonstration when they suddenly pushed him towards riot police officers called in as reinforcements to contain the demonstrators. The officers immediately seized Tsapi, whose position as a journalist was well-known, and violently beat him with kicks and blows from truncheons and rifle butts across his entire body. Admitted to the emergency department at the city's medical centre, Tsapi is suffering from several bruises on his head according to doctors, who have prescribed a month of rest for the journalist. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: s_trans.gif Type: image/gif Size: 61 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: curnw10_2_ffffff_e8e8ff_e8e8ff.gif Type: image/gif Size: 104 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... 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Name: curse10_2_ffffff_e8e8ff_e8e8ff.gif Type: image/gif Size: 104 bytes Desc: not available URL: From ldxar1 at tesco.net Wed Aug 8 00:31:13 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Wed, 8 Aug 2007 08:31:13 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] SOLOMONS/AUSTRALIA: Occupation forces accused of murdering protesters Message-ID: <017401c7d98e$19567b70$0202a8c0@andy1> Claims AFP officer broke rules in riot http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22134361-29277,00.html By Jane Bunce July 25, 2007 08:33pm Article from: AAP Font size: + - Send this article: Print Email AUSTRALIAN Federal Police (AFP) have probed claims a senior officer instructed staff deployed to the Solomon Islands to aim for rioters' necks with non-lethal weapons, breaching the rules of engagement. World Vision made the allegations in a submission to a Senate commission's inquiry into Australia's involvement in peacekeeping operations. The aid group also raised allegations the AFP broke the rules over the weapons it used during the Honiara riots in April. It said it was concerned standards were dropping as the organisation came under pressure to expand its international deployment group to 1200 over two years. Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade chair senator Marise Payne today told the AFP that the committee took the allegations raised in the submission "very seriously". AFP International Deployment Group (IDG) acting national manager Commander Mark A Walters today did not say whether the claims had been substantiated. "I can say that those issues have been fully investigated but I can provide responses to those (in writing)," he told the committee. In its submission, dated March 20, World Vision said AFP "use of force orders" prohibit shooting above the shoulders except in the most extreme circumstances, such as the threat of death or serious injury and when there is no other option. People fleeing were unlikely to be posing an immediate threat, so shooting them in the back with bean bag rounds was not acceptable, the submission said. Serving AFP officers witnessed an IDG team leader giving "inappropriate, and possibly illegal information" during a presentation to ADF and New Zealand police force members in the Solomon Islands. "The team leader concerned ... reportedly informed participants that, from his experience in mine security in PNG, a person's neck was a good place to aim with a 12 gauge bean bag round, since this could render the person unconscious, and that shooting people in the back as they were fleeing was also acceptable," World Vision policy and programs director Paul Ronalds said. World Vision said it was also concerned the training was given by someone who was not an AFP operational safety trainer and therefore not certified to deliver it. AFP officers had also expressed concerns that some weapons used during the riots in Honiara on April 18 last year had not been approved, including 12 gauge bean bag rounds, CS Gas and possibly Stinger grenades containing rubber balls. The rules were amended retrospectively the next day to allow the munitions, it said. AFP Operations Response Group manager Commander Steve Lancaster told the inquiry that the use of lethal force was not common in Australia's current peacekeeping operations. The use of deadly weapons in the Solomons was "limited". In East Timor it was "quite rare" and weapons had always been fired as warnings and not towards anyone. Commander Walters, meanwhile, said the IDG was on track to meet its recruiting targets and the quality of applicants had been of "a good standard". The group - which will take about one third of the AFP's resources - was necessary because failed states required a long-term "generational" commitment to rebuild, he said. He said missions expected over the next few years would likely take the group to its full operating capacity of 750 AFP officers being deployed at once. Currently about 400 officers are on duty overseas. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ldxar1 at tesco.net Wed Aug 8 00:32:25 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Wed, 8 Aug 2007 08:32:25 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] GHANA: Musicians "besiege" government over royalties Message-ID: <017c01c7d98e$442b4ba0$0202a8c0@andy1> Musicians Run Riot Over DAILY GUIDE Story http://ghanabase.com/news/2007/1485.asp Posted on: 25-Jul-2007 Email to a Friend Print Format SOME MUSICIANS and key players in the music industry last Monday besieged the premises of the Copyright Society of Ghana (COSGA) in reaction to a story in the Monday edition of the DAILY GUIDE, headlined "Joe Ghartey Urged to Stop Royalty Distribution". The story cited Faisal Helwani, a producer, calling on the Attorney General, Hon. Joe Ghartey to stop COSGA from collecting and distributing royalties on behalf of right owners because COSGA had failed to account to the right owners. According to Mr. Helwani, the new copyright Act 690 section 49 makes it possible for the formation of a different society to take care of royalties, adding that with the new law COSGA seizes to exist. He called also for a probe into the operations of COSGA. Apparently, just by looking at the headline without considering the contents of the story, the musicians stormed COSGA offices to demonstrate against the story as well to collect their royalties before the Attorney General stops it. By a phony press conference, the DAILY GUIDE reporter was lured to the COSGA premises to face the wrath of the misinformed musicians. The angry musicians, who were shouting, would not listen to the reporter's explanations and called for a march to Helwani's house, which was halted by Alhaji Sidiku Buari, President of MUSIGA. Some officials of COSGA and musicians accused the reporter of 'allowing himself to be used by Faisal Helwani to plant the story', which they claimed was to deprive musicians. They claimed Faisal was not even a musician but a producer and as such had no right to make such comments. Beatwaves overhead one of them saying, "we want our money no matter how big or small it is". One musician, who wanted to remain anonymous said musician were poor and that the reporter should use his medium to tell the government of their plight. Source: Daily Guide -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... 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Name: ghanabase.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 10660 bytes Desc: not available URL: From ldxar1 at tesco.net Wed Aug 8 00:38:19 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Wed, 8 Aug 2007 08:38:19 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] ZAMBIA: Student unrest as lecturers' strike continues Message-ID: <018701c7d98f$175d7520$0202a8c0@andy1> http://www.voanews.com/english/Africa/2007-07-25-voa5.cfm Zambia's President Blames Opposition Over Student Riot By Peter Clottey Washington, D.C. 25 July 2007 Clottey's Interview With Tilyenji Kaunda Listen to Clottey's Interview With Tilyenji Kaunda Zambia's President Levy Mwanawasa is blaming opposition parties for instigating students of the Copper belt University to embark on a mass protest to destabilize the country. This comes after university authorities closed down the school after students went on a rampage and destroyed properties during their protest over a protracted strike by their lecturers. Sources say the lecturers who are demanding better wages are in negotiations with Mwanawasa's government, but there seem to be no noticeable agreement in sight. Tilyenji Kaunda is the chairman of the opposition United National Independence Party (UNIP). He said President Mwanawasa's accusations are misplaced. "I think that the real blame is that insufficient resource has been put into education, including institutions of higher learning. I think that is the real problem. So, actually, the students are merely venting their frustrations. Now they (students) are part and parcel of our society, and of course they interact with all political parties including the MMD (ruling Movement for Multiparty Democracy). So, I don't think that it's fair to blame the deterioration on opposition parties. I think that is inaccurate," Kaunda said. He said President Mwanawasa has no proof of the opposition's alleged complicity in the ensuing riots after the student demonstration. "I'm denying it because I'm saying that students are part and parcel of our society. And obviously they have a keen interest in the politics. they are venting their frustration, for instance the issue of the constitution, they've been waiting now since April 2003 for a new constitution to be in place, which would guarantee their rights in our democratic society. and I think that if they (government) want to talk about a root cause, let them invest more in the education sector. That is the only solution they can come to. Otherwise, blaming the opposition, they are shooting in the dark," he pointed out. Kaunda praised the formation of an inter-party body, which he said is seeking to bring together all political parties in the country for a discourse on national issues. "What has happened is that with the ZCID (Zambia Center for Inter-party Dialogue), this is a forum where political parties can meet and they can agree to disagree on a number of issues of national interest, and also have a consensus on the key ones for instance the constitutional making process.so the ZCCID is actually playing a useful role in our democratic system," Kaunda said. He said the government's recent pay increase to the country's civil servants was not enough. "I would say that 100% of one cent is nothing. So I think that the increases are cosmetic. The living standard, the basket that is required to be met is really far, far below what they've increased. I think that people are feeling the pinch," he noted. http://allafrica.com/stories/200706130551.html Zambia: UNZA Students Riot Email This Page Print This Page The Times of Zambia (Ndola) 13 June 2007 Posted to the web 13 June 2007 Sylvia Mweetwa And Darlington Mwendabai RIOTING erupted last night at the University of Zambia (UNZA) in Lusaka when students regrouped and stoned motorists on the Great East road Police had earlier in the day arrested nine students following disturbances on Monday night which spilled to yesterday. Police again fired tear-gas cannisters which sent students scampering, with some of them, seeking refugee in the nearby Mtendere and Kalingalinga townships. Trouble began as darkness was setting when suddenly students began trooping towards the Great East road. However, more policemen were rushed to the area to restore order. Earlier the students rioted smashing a windscreen to a Zambia Army bus registration number AF 1239 which was parked near the campus. They smashed windows to another vehicle believed to belong to a student there. The Great East road, which was earlier opened, was closed after fresh rioting. The students are rioting against the continued strike involving the University of Zambia Lecturers and Researchers Union (UNZALARU) at the higher institute of learning who are demanding a payrise. A Times team that rushed to the scene found students 'air lifting' a man they suspected to be a spy. The man later claimed that he had lost about K1.5 million and a cellular phone in the fracas. The students also harassed Times of Zambia journalist, Sylvia Mweetwa who was covering the event. They tore her skirt in the fracas. Traffic on Great East road diverted to other routes as vehicles from town were blocked. Lusaka Province police chief, Wasakaza Ng'uni said nine students had been arrested. Relevant Links Southern Africa Education Zambia Acting UNZA council chairperson, Tukiya Kankasa -Mabula stated that the industrial action did not follow the laid down procedures in accordance with Section 75 of the Industrial and Labour Relations Act and recognition agreement between the university and UNZALARU. Dr Mabula appealed to members of UNZALARU to resume work immediately to facilitate continuation of the normal bargaining process in accordance with the law. "The university council wishes to achieve quick resolution of the current unfortunate situation. Members of UNZALARU are therefore urged to avoid an escalation of the industrial unrest," Dr Mabula said, -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: audio_icon.gif Type: image/gif Size: 74 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... 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Name: curse10_2_ffffff_e8e8ff_e8e8ff.gif Type: image/gif Size: 104 bytes Desc: not available URL: From ldxar1 at tesco.net Wed Aug 8 00:40:10 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Wed, 8 Aug 2007 08:40:10 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: Community revolt over power cut Message-ID: <009101c7d992$b086def0$0202a8c0@andy1> http://www.dominicantoday.com/app/article.aspx?id=24782 Residents riot in power protest Santo Domingo.- A public protest against the prolonged power cut lasting over two days in La Isabelita neighborhood in Santo Domingo East culminated in a 30-minute exchange of fire in which one person was injured, following a demonstration organized by women residents of the area. Police officers injured a 23-year old man who was identified as Lenny Ortega in the leg. The young man was shot while carrying a large tire with the intent to set it on fire. The smell of burning rubber still lingered in this impoverished neighborhood. Local residents' association president Manuel Novas said that a larger police presence and improved lighting was needed in order to control the wave of assaults in the area. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: 1X1.gif Type: image/gif Size: 49 bytes Desc: not available URL: From ldxar1 at tesco.net Mon Aug 27 18:25:07 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Tue, 28 Aug 2007 02:25:07 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] ISRAEL: A quarter of young people evade conscription Message-ID: <00c701c7e912$462a5110$0802a8c0@andy1> Israel wages war on army of refuseniks ANNETTE YOUNG IN JERUSALEM Sun 26 Aug 2007 WHEN Arik Diamant's mother discovered her son was to refuse to do reserve duty for the Israeli army she pleaded with him to reconsider his decision, even offering to resign her job and work in a charity of his choice. But the former paratrooper and now software engineer was determined. "My parents were terrified that the ramifications of such a decision would destroy my life and endanger my career opportunities," said the 34-year-old co-founder of the Courage to Refuse movement. While Diamant and 600 fellow reservist refuseniks are making headlines over their choice, the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) is becoming increasingly worried that the numbers of Jewish men evading army service is on the rise. The trend is particularly noticeable among those aged 18 to 21, who under Israeli law must serve three years in the military. New figures reveal that 27% of potential male draftees do not now serve in the IDF, with this year's draft being the smallest in recent times. Nothing has enraged army chiefs more, however, than potential recruits dodging front-line service while parading their talents on TV. Matters came to a head recently when the line-up for the Israeli version of the hit show Pop Idol contained several contestants who were at the age at which they should have been doing their military service. The Prime Minister's Office is now planning a blacklist of entertainers so that councils know who should not be hired for civic celebrations. Councils are also being urged not to employ conscripts or reservists - Israeli men are expected to commit to up to one month a year on reserve duty that ends when they reach their mid-40s - who refuse to fight unless they have been legally exempted. Last week, a petition was also being circulated by high-level Israeli businesspeople calling for the business community to discriminate against draft dodgers seeking employment. Evidence of a new get-tough policy emerged earlier this month when an appearance at a 'Friends of the IDF' concert by pop singer Ivri Lider was abruptly cancelled. His agent, Roni Arditi, said the singer, who did not serve in the IDF, was asked to put his name to a letter declaring he "likes the IDF and respects its values". When he reportedly refused to do so, his appearance was cancelled. The reasons for the lack of commitment are clear. The recent Intifada and last year's bloody war against Hezbollah in Lebanon, are fuelling the reluctance to sign up. IDF officials also insist the yuppification of Israel is a contributing factor, with the MTV and internet generation much more interested in making money than serving at an army checkpoint on the West Bank. Ultra-Orthodox Jews are excused from military service on religious grounds. But leaving aside those who live outside Israel or have criminal records, 7% are being excused because of either medical conditions or "psychological incompatibility". According to the IDF, however, the number of those claiming "psychological incompatibility" has increased markedly. One IDF official said: "While there are those who cannot serve for legitimate psychological problems, there's a need to target people who turn up at recruitment centres with a letter from their psychiatrist saying they're mentally unfit, and the next minute they're running a hi-tech company. "These are people who have decided to not take part in what we view as an integral part of an Israeli's social responsibility. It's as if they've sent a letter to the tax office to say: 'Sorry, I don't feel like paying taxes this year.'" http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=1356412007 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ldxar1 at tesco.net Wed Aug 8 00:20:04 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Wed, 08 Aug 2007 07:20:04 -0000 Subject: [Onthebarricades] EGYPT: Bedouin uprising over land grab, house smashing near border - protesters injured Message-ID: <014801c7d98c$8495b100$0202a8c0@andy1> http://abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/07/31/1992367.htm?section=justin Bedouin clash with Egyptian police Posted Tue Jul 31, 2007 7:00am AEST Thousands of Egyptian riot police have clashed with Bedouin protesting against the Government near the border with the Gaza Strip, and witnesses say several civilians were shot and wounded. Witnesses and security officials say 16 civilians were injured in the clashes that lasted about three hours. Some of them were shot and others suffered teargas inhalation. "I saw a wounded man bleeding from his stomach and arm. I do not know if he will live," said Mosaad Abou Fajer, a Bedouin political activist. Security officials said the demonstrators, also numbering several thousand, destroyed a traffic checkpoint, threw stones and opened fire at the police. Witnesses said calm returned to the area after dark. The demonstrators were demanding title to the farmland they work, permits to build houses, pardons for sentences imposed by military courts, the early release of imprisoned Bedouin and a waiver of debts to the state-owned agricultural bank. The Bedouin set fire to tyres, disrupting traffic through the village of Maasoura between the north Sinai towns of Rafah and El Arish, witnesses and security sources said. Riot police deployed armoured cars, fired teargas canisters and opened fire in the air in an attempt to disperse the protesters. The Bedouin of north Sinai have become increasingly assertive about their grievances against the government in Cairo and have staged several large protests this year, mainly to demand the release of detainees. The police detained thousands of Bedouin after a series of bombings at tourist resorts in Sinai between 2004 and 2006. Mr Fajer said the authorities had set free only about 60 detainees in response to the latest protests. - Reuters http://www.africasia.com/services/news/newsitem.php?area=mideast&item=070731174748.3jknz69h.php 31/07/2007 17:47 CAIRO, July 31 (AFP) Bedouin youth dies of wounds from clashes with Egypt police A Bedouin teenager died on Tuesday of bullet wounds after clashes the night before between demonstrators and Egyptian police near the border with Gaza, his family and associates said. More than 5,000 angry Bedouins later held a protest against the killing, blocking off the main Rafah-El Arish road and burning tyre in Massura, an official with the security services told AFP. Auda Mohammed Arafat, 15, died in El-Arish hospital from wounds after Egyptian police violently dispersed a demonstration Monday by 2,000 Bedouins protesting over fears their houses near the border will be destroyed and calling for the release of their imprisoned brethren. "He was hit by bullets in the chest and stomach as well as by buckshot in the hands and feet," his father Mohammed Arafat told AFP. "I consider my son a martyr so I refuse to receive condolences," he added, saying that he has asked the state prosecutor to investigate the security forces involved. About 15 civilians and 20 policemen were wounded in the clashes in northeast Egypt that also resulted in a police traffic post being burnt. The Bedouins, many carrying guns and firing in the air, were demonstrating in the Massura area, blocking the main road between Rafah and nearby El-Arish before being surrounded by security forces. The protests erupted on July 22 in the same area over Bedouin fears the government would implement a decision to clear all buildings within 150 metres (yards) of the border with the Gaza Strip to foil smuggling. While the regional governor later denied any demolitions would take place, fear of losing their homes and property has prompted the Bedouins to call for registered ownership and licensing of their land. Currently most Bedouin land is held through informal contracts making it easy for the government to repossess plots. The protesters were also calling for the immediate release of hundreds of Bedouins being held without charge in a campaign of arrests since a series of terrorist attacks in the Sinai between 2004 to 2006. The entire border area has been a powderkeg in recent months with impoverished local Bedouins angry at the numerous security sweeps targeting their smuggling activities. In April, clashes between police and Bedouins led to dozens trying to escape into Israel to avoid the crackdowns and widespread imprisonment. ?2007 AFP http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/888207.html Dozens hurt as Bedouin clash with Egyptian police over evacuation By The Associated Press Dozens of demonstrators were wounded Monday when Bedouin clashed with Egyptian police in the Sinai Peninsula to protest a government order to demolish their houses along the Gaza Strip's porous border. Egyptian media have been reporting a government plan to evict the Bedouins from a 150 meter strip of land along the border to prevent traffickers from digging tunnels used to smuggle weapons and people into Gaza. About 3000 protesters shouted anti-government slogans and demanded that authorities rescind the order. "We will not leave our land, we will make it our graves," the Bedouins chanted. Advertisement Security officials said at least one police officer was wounded when protesters lobbed rocks at a police force trying to disperse them in downtown Rafah, the main town on the border. Police initially said it fired tear gas and used water cannons to evict demonstrators from the streets. A reporter at the scene then saw police firing live ammunition in the air and rubber bullets at the protesters. Dozens of demonstrators, possibly as many as 50, were wounded, the reporter said. The protest came a day after a U.S. delegation toured the area to probe reports of weapons smuggling. Aboul Hassan el-Sinawi, a Bedouin from the Al-Rumelat tribe in Rafah, said he was protesting because local government officials ordered him and his family to abandon their house, which he said lies some two kilometers from the border. "This is ridiculous, how can a two-kilometer long tunnel be built in the desert," el-Sinawi said. Protesters said authorities warned those who refused eviction that their homes would be demolished. They said the government is offering financial compensation for their houses, but not for trees and farmlands. Egypt is under pressure from the United States and Israel to stop the flow of weapons into Gaza ever since Hamas seized control of the tiny coastal territory in June. Two congressional delegations have inspected the border zone this month to probe reports about the tunnels along the 14-kilometer border. Egyptian authorities are considering a plan to demolish all homes next to the borders to prevent them from being used to hide tunnels. http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=38480 EGYPT: Fearing Border Protests, Cairo Meets Bedouin Demands By Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa al-Omrani CAIRO, Jul 10 (IPS) - Two months after the Bedouin, an indigenous people of Egypt's Sinai Peninsula began holding angry demonstrations against what they call a policy of official harassment by police, the authorities last week released dozens of tribesmen detained in mass arrests over the last three years. But while tribal leaders welcomed the move, they still say Cairo must deliver on promises to alleviate the plight of the Sinai Bedouin, who have long complained of discrimination and economic marginalisation at the hands of the state. "The government has begun to implement the pledges it made to us earlier," Mohamed Abu Ras, chief spokesman for the Sinai Bedouin told IPS. "But if it doesn't continue to keep its promises, we will resume our protests and demonstrations." In the first week of July, the government made its first tangible concession by releasing 29 tribesmen. "The security directorate of Northern Sinai released 14 Bedouin prisoners yesterday, two days after releasing 15 others," independent daily al-Masri al-Youm reported Jul. 4. Since 2004, thousands of the Sinai Peninsula's tribal residents have been arrested by police without charge. In October of that year, a triple bomb attack in the Sinai resort town of Taba was followed by the mass detention of local tribesmen accused of complicity in the crime. Subsequent attacks on Sinai tourist destinations in 2005 and 2006 were also followed by the mass arrest of local Bedouin residents. The government continues to blame the attacks on a shadowy Islamist group Tawhid wa Jihad. Cairo also claims, with relatively little evidence, that the militant group has a number of adherents among the region's tribal inhabitants. In late April, local Bedouin registered their discontent with the status quo after police in Northern Sinai killed two tribesmen who allegedly tried to evade a police checkpoint. The next day, an estimated 2,000 Bedouin from across the peninsula converged on the Kerem Abu Salem border crossing -- precariously located between Egypt, Israel and the Gaza Strip -- to express their outrage. In this politically charged setting, protestors demanded a halt to police violations against local residents and the release of Bedouin prisoners who had been wrongfully detained. Demonstrators also demanded the economic development of the Sinai Peninsula and more employment opportunities for the local population. After four days of protests, a deal was struck Apr. 29 between tribal leaders and government representatives, with the latter pledging a measure of redress to longstanding Bedouin grievances. But aside from releasing two detained relatives of the slain men, the government largely failed to deliver on its promises. On Jun. 14, Bedouin leaders reconvened in the Northern Sinai city of Rafah, where they angrily reiterated their demands. They went on to issue an ultimatum, saying they would return to the sensitive border area if their conditions were not met by Jul. 1. Cairo, fearing a diplomatic incident at the high-profile border with the Gaza Strip and Israel, quickly signalled its readiness to make concessions. In the last days of June, a security delegation headed by the deputy interior minister was dispatched to negotiate with tribal leaders. Shortly afterwards, the government announced release of the 29 prisoners, most of whom had been detained without charge since 2004, promising additional releases in the short-term future. "We are actively studying the cases of the remaining detainees and we will be releasing between 100 and 200 in the coming weeks and months," North Sinai Governor Ahmed Abdel-Hamid was quoted as saying. Abdel-Hamid further promised that Cairo would focus its efforts on the economic development of the impoverished region. "The government is sparing no effort to hasten the development of Northern and Southern Sinai and the realisation of the demands of its inhabitants," the governor was quoted as saying in the Jul. 5 edition of government daily al-Gomhouriya. He also stated that Cairo had plans to establish investment companies mandated with developing land in Sinai for agricultural projects in hope of creating job opportunities for the area's tribal residents. In an indication of the issue's importance, even President Hosni Mubarak weighed in on the matter. In the state press, he reiterated his government's pledge to release remaining detainees "within days". Nevertheless, Hatem al-Buluk, a journalist and resident of Northern Sinai, disparaged Cairo's apparent magnanimity, which he views as a largely tactical response to the problem. "I'm not impressed -- the government only released a handful of men who didn't even face charges," he said, estimating the total number of Bedouin detainees still in prison at about 1,200. "They all should have been released a long time ago." Al-Buluk went on to attribute Cairo's change of heart chiefly to the new security dynamic in the Gaza Strip next door. "The government just wants to avoid a security headache at the border," he told IPS. "This has become all the more precarious since last month's takeover of the Gaza Strip by (Palestinian resistance faction) Hamas." But according to Abu Ras, Cairo's new approach to the issue has already led to improvements on the ground. "The situation in the Sinai has improved noticeably," he said, pointing out that a number of oppressive police checkpoints throughout Northern Sinai had been removed. "We are confident that the government will ultimately address our concerns." Nevertheless, he added: "But if the government fails to keep its promises, our young men are more than ready to return to the border, where they will continue to press for our demands." While Buluk agreed that the Bedouin's lot had been improved by the removal of checkpoints, he was less optimistic about the long-term outcome. "The situation will probably deteriorate again, because the principal actors -- namely, the interior ministry and the North Sinai Governorate -- are still in charge," he said. "And they are the main reasons for the problem." The Bedouin of the Sinai Peninsula are estimated at about 380,000, divided into some 26 different tribes. Although most Bedouin now live relatively sedentary lifestyles, they were known until recently for their nomadic way of living and relatively conservative traditions. (END/2007) -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: 0.gif Type: image/gif Size: 43 bytes Desc: not available URL: From ldxar1 at tesco.net Wed Aug 8 00:25:41 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Wed, 08 Aug 2007 07:25:41 -0000 Subject: [Onthebarricades] INDIA: Singur protests continue over corporate land grab Message-ID: <015201c7d98d$48b64770$0202a8c0@andy1> http://www.hindu.com/2006/12/29/stories/2006122907861400.htm Singur: Medha joins protest Staff Reporter "Depriving farmers of their resources not acceptable" -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- a.. "Will continue struggle against anti-farmer policies of State Government" a.. Against law to displace people without proper rehabilitation: Rajinder Sachar -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW DELHI: Narmada Bachao Andolan leader Medha Patkar, along with several activists of trade unions and civil society organisations, staged a sit-in outside the Banga Bhavan here on Thursday against alleged forcible acquisition of agriculture land for the Tatas to set up a car factory in Singur. Ms. Patkar said the West Bengal Government should initiate a dialogue with the Singur farmers. "The gram sabhas should have been taken into confidence before initiating any project on agricultural land. The farmers have the right to know what is being done with their land. If the State Government has any faith left in democracy, it should talk to them," she said. Farmers were united in the struggle against creation of Special Economic Zones or setting up of industries on agricultural land in any part of the country, she said. Why such projects could not be set up on wastelands, she asked. "Depriving the farmers of their resources and means of livelihood by invoking colonial laws is not acceptable to us. We will continue our struggle against the anti-farmer policies of the State Government and win it," she said. Expressing solidarity with Trinamool Congress leader Mamta Banerjee, who has been on hunger strike on the Singur issue, Ms. Patkar said the Government should talk to Ms. Banerjee. Human rights campaigner and former Delhi High Court Chief Justice Rajinder Sachar said: "It is not a question of giving right value of land to the farmers. The more important question is what purpose does such a project serve? In India, where one-fourth of the population is living below the poverty line, who will benefit from the small car project?" Mr. Justice Sachar said it was against the law to displace people without proper rehabilitation. "It is against human rights. The West Bengal Government should admit it." New Trade Union Initiative, All-India Federation of Trade Unions, Bharat Jan Andolan, All-India Central Council of Trade Unions and Samajwadi Jan Parishad activists, besides students of the Jawaharlal Nehru University, took part in the protest. A memorandum was handed over to the Resident Commissioner of Banga Bhavan. Singur riots won't upset plans: Tatas BS Reporter in Kolkata Top Emailed Features . Dhirubhai Ambani's words of wisdom . What if you still haven't filed your tax return? . 4 key qualities of a true professional Tell us . Ask a question Advertisements . Free adspot for Industries . Promote ur event here . Investmart Moneywiz . Stocks & MFs Get Business updates: What's this? Advertisement 5Rediff P4C Classifieds February 06, 2007 10:33 IST Prohibitory order under Section 144 CrPC was reimposed at the Tata Motors small car project site in Singur following fresh violence in the area, even as Tata group chief Ratan Tata flew into Kolkata late on Monday evening for a meeting with Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya at an out-of-the-way office of the state government. After a marathon meet (lasting over two and half hours) with Bhattacharya and state Commerce and Industry Minister Nirupam Sen, Tata and the chief minister fielded questions from the media. Ratan Tata said given the pace of work at Singur, he was confident the small car would be rolled out by 2008. Tata was accompanied by R K Krishna Kumar, director of Tata Sons. Reiterating his position on West Bengal, he said it was a right move to select the state as an investment destination, adding, "We appreciate very much the kind of support we got from West Bengal." The Singur project would create jobs and improve livelihoods of people, Tata said. More than 1,000 villagers were now working on the project site, Bhattacharya said. Responding to queries whether Tata would talk to political parties to bring about a consensus, Tata said, "I am not a politician, but I am ready to talk to any reasonable party...as an industrialist, we should not be involved in the process." Mamata Banerjee, Trinamool chief, is back to protests after her marathon 25-day hunger strike against land acquisition in Singur. Her proposed visit to Singur stood cancelled after Section 144 CrPC was imposed on Sunday night. However, her party ensured that the area remained on the boil. Tata had earlier said Singur was being fuelled by competitors. The group would make this conspiracy public at an appropriate time, he said on Monday. http://www.rediff.com/money/2007/feb/06tata.htm http://asianfoodworker.net/india/070517singur.htm "Is Singur A Lost Cause? Should We Now Forget About Singur?" Part of the armed 24-hour security contingent which patrols the agricultural lands seized for corporate giant Tata Motors. We are often asked this question these days. Our answer is - No, Singur is not a lost game, and we cannot forget it . Though there is now a 10 foot brick and mortar wall around 997 acres of land, the future of the project is still uncertain. The State Government continues to use a heavy police presence along with the special riot police Rapid Action Force to guard the wall that has been forcibly put up around farmers' lands. It has put up watch towers that are manned round the clock by the police. The Government knows that the wall will only last as long as the police protect it- the project affected people have sworn to break the wall the moment the police is moved out. The farmers of Singur (owning about 400 acres) have refused to take cheques even now and have refused to part with their land. The wall's legitimacy, both in legal terms and in ethical terms is therefore questionable. The Government has...[repeatedly misinformed the public]..about the number of farmers who have accepted cheques and given consent, as the table below shows: Date Place Statement issued by Amount of land (consent given) 23rd November 2006 West Bengal Legislative Assembly Chief Minister 913 acres 23rd November 2006 Letter to Ms. Mamta Banerjee, Opposition leader Chief Minister 954 acres 8th January 2007 Letter to Partha Chattarjee, Leader of the Opposition Party Chief Minister 958 acres 23rd February 2007 Affidavit in Kolkata High Court Advocate General 305 acres 27th March 2007 Affidavit in Kolkata High Court Joint Secretary, Land Department 287 acres The farmers of Singur continue to struggle. Camps have been set up in two places near the wall that are constantly occupied by protesting farmers and others who support them. They are also waiting for the Court order. They are ready to build up greater movement in future depending on the Court order. Every time there is heavy rain and therefore a problem for the police to move around, the people of Singur take advantage of the situation and "attack" the wall. The last attack took place on 8th May 2007 when the people of Bajemelya were in a pitched battle with the police for over an hour and broke the wall. Agricultural workers, who were not owners of land but got their living from the land have been the first group to face destitution after the building of the wall. PBKMS organised a health check up for them recently along with measurement of Body Mass Index and examination for other signs of nutrition. Many of the workers and their families complained of hunger, fall in wages, greater indebtedness, loss of food sources etc. this year as compared to last year. They have also been visited in the past week by high officials from the district and from the West Bengal Industrial Development Industrial Corporation (the Government body responsible for facilitating the Tata Motors project). These people have tried to bribe the agricultural workers with promises of free houses, better roads etc. The workers have so far rejected their promises, asking them instead to guarantee them work for 11 months in the year, the amount of work they used to get on the land taken over for the Tata Motors Project. When workers on the brink of starvation and farmers faced by mounting debts can resist short term inducements like free houses and cheques in order to struggle against the long term effects of the Tata Motors project, should we also not join them in their struggle? -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... 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Name: singur-07-05-2.gif Type: image/gif Size: 46282 bytes Desc: not available URL: From ldxar1 at tesco.net Wed Aug 8 00:26:57 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Wed, 08 Aug 2007 07:26:57 -0000 Subject: [Onthebarricades] PAKISTAN: Lal Masjid protests, resistance continue Message-ID: <015a01c7d98d$78ce4a70$0202a8c0@andy1> http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/27/AR2007072700675.html?hpid=moreheadlines Riot Erupts at Pakistan Mosque; Blast Kills 13 Nearby By Griff Witte Washington Post Foreign Service Saturday, July 28, 2007; Page A12 ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, July 27 -- Radical students on Friday again commandeered Islamabad's Red Mosque, a site that has become a symbol for the instability surging through this country. Hours later, a suicide bomber killed 13 people in a market down the street from the mosque. The events underscored the broad forces challenging Pakistan's president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, a crucial U.S. ally on counterterrorism. While he is trying to quell a growing insurgency from Islamic extremists, he is also attempting to fend off a vigorous campaign from moderates to end his eight-year rule in upcoming elections. Policemen help a colleague injured in a suicide bombing that killed 13 people at a market several hundred yards from Islamabad's Red Mosque. (By Anjum Naveed -- Associated Press) Who's Blogging? Read what bloggers are saying about this article. a.. Tribuna Libre b.. Todays News c.. Ethiopian politics (ETP) - News, Ethiopia, Analysis, Addis Abeba Full List of Blogs (11 links) ? Most Blogged About Articles On washingtonpost.com | On the web Save & Share Article What's This? DiggGoogle del.icio.usYahoo! RedditFacebook Seeking a political solution, Musharraf reportedly met abroad on Friday with his most influential rival, exiled former prime minister Benazir Bhutto. At the mosque, security forces retook control late Friday afternoon, but scenes of police firing tear gas and protesters calling for jihad opened fresh wounds in a city still reeling from the nine-day siege that claimed more than 100 lives this month. The bombing, meanwhile, added to a series of attacks that have terrorized the country in recent weeks. "The security situation here is getting worse every day," said 22-year-old student Bilal Hassan as he surveyed the damage at the market. "You expect this in the remote areas, but not in our capital." Reports of a meeting in the United Arab Emirates between Musharraf and Bhutto were officially rejected as false, though political sources said privately that negotiations on a power-sharing agreement were advancing. While there is mutual contempt between Musharraf and Bhutto, Musharraf badly needs allies, and Bhutto has stated her intent to return to Pakistan for a third term as prime minister. Since both are regarded as moderates, they could conceivably form a pact to battle rising militancy. The Red Mosque has embodied Musharraf's problems with extremism. For much of the year, its pro-Taliban clerics waged a vigilante anti-vice campaign and promised an Islamic revolution in Pakistan. On July 10, commandos raided the compound, leaving a deputy cleric and dozens of armed followers dead. The mosque was then closed while the government made extensive repairs and demolished an adjacent madrassa, or religious school. The government also repainted the building a soft yellow in a bid to erase memories of its bloody past. The mosque is Islamabad's oldest. Just blocks from the president's house, it is a fixture in the heart of the normally sleepy capital. Its reopening Friday was supposed to signal a new era of calm, but instead sowed more chaos. A government-appointed cleric was preparing to give his Friday sermon when a group of radical students blocked him and forced his exit. They then demanded the return of the mosque's former cleric, Maulana Abdul Aziz, who was arrested July 4 while trying to flee the compound while wearing a burqa. Hundreds soon gathered on the streets to cheer as young men climbed onto the mosque's roof, chanting extremist slogans. Armed with cans of paint, the men soon began to turn the building red and spray graffiti on its walls. "Revolution will come through the blood of the martyrs," read one crimson inscription. The men also hung the Red Mosque's old signature black flags from the building's minarets. The protesters received support from at least one top political leader. "Maulana Abdul Aziz is still the prayer leader of the mosque," said Liaqat Baloch, deputy chief of a coalition of hard-line religious parties. "Musharraf is a killer of the constitution. He's a killer of male and female students. The entire world will see him hang." Security forces eventually moved in with armored personnel carriers and fired tear-gas canisters to disperse the crowd. As riot police surged toward the mosque, the crowd responded by swinging sticks and throwing rocks. During a lull in the fighting, protesters began searching through the debris of the madrassa. Many emerged crying, holding scraps of letters written by students or bits of clothing. While the government has said civilian casualties during the commando raid were minimal, rumors persist that hundreds of women and children were killed. Policemen help a colleague injured in a suicide bombing that killed 13 people at a market several hundred yards from Islamabad's Red Mosque. (By Anjum Naveed -- Associated Press) Who's Blogging? Read what bloggers are saying about this article. a.. Tribuna Libre b.. Todays News c.. Ethiopian politics (ETP) - News, Ethiopia, Analysis, Addis Abeba Full List of Blogs (11 links) ? Most Blogged About Articles On washingtonpost.com | On the web Save & Share Article What's This? DiggGoogle del.icio.usYahoo! RedditFacebook "What happened to these people was bad," said one man, who clutched a bit of blood-tinged concrete. "It was an act of cruelty." As he spoke, a man in plain clothes -- apparently a security official -- grabbed him by the waist and hustled him away. At the same moment, around 5:15 p.m., a blast reverberated through the area as the suicide bomber detonated his charge at Aabpara Market, several hundred yards from the mosque. The bomber appeared to target police officers who were gathered outside the market as part of a security buildup. Helmets blasted with holes and bloody khaki uniforms littered the ground around several shops destroyed in the explosion. Most of the dead were police; officers were also among the 61 wounded. The explosion instantly gutted an entire row of shops and sent body parts flying into a parking lot across the street. "It shook everything," said Abdul Jabar, 22, who was sleeping nearby at the time. Ikram Khan, 27, had just purchased a bottle of shampoo from one of the shops. As he walked away, he heard and felt an explosion behind him. "A big flame shot out," he said. "Then I started running." Security officials had already been on high alert when the bomber struck, and police later said they had had information that a bomber might strike in the market area. Officials said they would investigate whether the bomber had collaborated with the protesters at the mosque. "It could have been a plan to create unrest at the mosque, and then cause maximum casualties among security officers," said the state information minister, Tariq Azim Khan. Analysts said the fact that the bomber was able to get so close to a large group of police officers under supposedly tight security conditions indicated a major lapse. "I'm really very concerned," said retired Lt. Gen. Talat Masood, a security analyst. "If the law and order agencies aren't better able to control the situation, it could mean we're drifting toward anarchy." Special correspondent Shahzad Khurram contributed to this report. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: enlarge_tab.gif Type: image/gif Size: 209 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: PH2007072702530.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 29193 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: icn-talkbubble.gif Type: image/gif Size: 203 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: spacer.gif Type: image/gif Size: 43 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: pwdByTech82x18a.gif Type: image/gif Size: 578 bytes Desc: not available URL: From ldxar1 at tesco.net Sat Aug 18 02:13:47 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Sat, 18 Aug 2007 10:13:47 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] UK: Climate camp - protesters vs the police state Message-ID: <001f01c7e178$15b4bd00$0202a8c0@andy1> Climate camp has gone ahead in spite of scaremongering and injunctions. Some highlights: * Hundreds have gathered for workshops and training at the camp itself, despite police intimidation * On the second day, police were successfully expelled after rogue FIT agents attempted to enter the camp en masse. Video here: http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2007/08/378307.html * Protesters have staged lock-ons and direct actions at Farnborough private airport, XL Airways in Crawley, the Department of Transport in London and other sites On the downside, protesters have faced massive police abuse reminiscent of totalitarian societies. The police are basically showing that they have no respect for basic liberties and are a menace to freedom-loving people everywhere. Lowlights include: * Massive abuse of terrorism laws to persecute protesters * Camera seized and photos deleted * Protester arrested for refusing to give details * Violent abuse of protesters, throwing people into cordon, separating parents from children, cordoning people who did not join the march * Police forcing a protest INSIDE the exclusion zone at Heathrow Some low-lights of mainstream propaganda: * Police excuse their violent response by referring to "anarchists" and protest "veterans" who will use force if police "frustrate" them (so police are frustrating them why exactly? - notice how police expect to be able to squelch protests with impunity) * Why do the mainstream shirk from calling police tactics repressive, violent, fascistic, totalitarian, intolerant - instead settling for euphemisms such as "heavy handed" and "over zealous"? * Terrorism scaremongering is reaching new lows. Apparently the control freaks want people to take disruption of airports or making work for police to be intolerable because they take resources away from stopping terrorism. This is a poor excuse for treating protesters as terrorists! http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2007/08/378547.html Climate Camper Arrested Under Terrorism Act Climate IMC | 17.08.2007 10:50 | Climate Camp 2007 | Climate Chaos | Repression Early this morning, 4 people made their way to Heathrow Airport to support a picket of drivers and warehouse workers at the cargo handler Nippon Express. The staff at the company walked out two days ago after the company once again refused to settle a pay and shifts dispute. When walking towards terminal 2, where the picket was taking place, a couple of police officers stopped the group and told them they were being 'detained' and searched under section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000. According to the police this was because the people were 'on BAA property'. The grounds for initially stopping the group were that they 'matched the profiles of protesters at the climate camp' who were to 'cause possible disorder on BAA property'. Another 9 officers and one of the FIT team joined shortly. A student journalist who identified himself and was taking photos was told that 'under the terrorism act you have to give us your camera'. Reluctant to hand over the camera, the photographer was then grabbed by 4 officers and forced to hand it over. The police proceeded to delete images off the camera, before handing it back. They later denied all knowledge of this. Another one of the group refused to give his details while being searched under Section 44 and was arrested. He has been taken to West Draton police station. Climate IMC http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2007/08/378527.html?c=on#comments Friday 17th August: 16:30: Ten activists have occupied XL Airways offices in Crawley. One person is locked on inside the offices, a banner reads "Cheap Flights - Cheap Lives?" refering to links between the aviation industry and climate change, and XL's role in deporting people and children to the Congo on behalf of the home office. More updates on the ticker. 8.15am: At least ten climate change campaigners have blockaded the Department of Transport headquarters in London this morning. Several have superglued themselves to the revolving doors and other doors have been chained shut. Staff inside the Marsham Street building were seen giving thumbs up to the protestors who called themselves Climate Camp supporters. Two more protestors were on the porch roof with a banner reading "No Airport Expansion". Eventualy after around two hours the activists were removed and arrested. [See Press Release | Pictures | More Pics] The camp has been having a lot of visitors throughout the day. The local scouts group came to learn about the camp for their environment badges and someone posted photos of yesterday's visit by the local primary school which will be demolished if the third runway is to go ahead. Many local Sipson residents also visited the camp this morning to express continued support and solidarity and exchange experiences. http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2007/08/378022.html At 7am two independent groups of campaigners from the Camp for Climate Action stopped carbon-intensive private jets fom operating at two airports in the south east. Executive flights at Biggin Hill and Farnborough airports have been brought to a standstill by climate activists concerned at the huge growth in the use of private jets by business people. At Biggin Hill Airport the activists D-locked themselves to the gates of the airports. 10 people were then arrested. The blockade lasted for just under 4 hours. 24 people took part in the blockade at Farnborough Airport with 9 people locked onto lock-on devices across the access road. After an hour the aiport staff opened up an emergancy crash exit to allow the gathered business people in. Meanwhile protesters handed out leaflets to staff, passengers and locals. Jets were delayed and after 2 hours a second emergency exit was opened. By this point the police warned people they would be arrested and it was decided to return to the camp. Although no one was arrested, the police did seize lock-on devices. http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2007/08/378409.html Business flights blockaded by climate activists Camp for Climate Action | 16.08.2007 09:04 | Climate Camp 2007 | Climate Chaos | Ecology | Social Struggles | London Two independent groups of campaigners from the Camp for Climate Action have this morning stopped carbon-intensive private jets fom operating at two airports in the south east. Executive flights at Biggin Hill and Farnborough airports have been brought to a standstill by climate activists concerned at the huge growth in the use of private jets by business people. The activists D-locked themselves to the gates of the airports. At a time of growing public concern at the climate impact of the aviation industry, business jets have escaped public scrutiny. The actions are intended to raise awareness of the true cost of this hidden aspect of air travel. Richard George, currently at Biggin Hill said, "The aviation industry would like us to think that all flights are being taken by hard-working families on their once-a-year holiday. We are here today to shine a light on the dark secret of aviation, namely the enormous growth in private jet use by the super-rich." The protesters added that the actions are focused only on the carbon-intensive nature of private business jets. George added, "While ordinary people are trying to reduce their carbon emissions, many business leaders insist on flying in the most carbon-intensive way possible: a jet all of their own." Another protester pointed out, "In the 21st century we have instant communications. Video-conferencing has been successfully used by the media, corporations and univerisities, yet fat-cats insist on being flown around the world in their own personal jets. The time for such wasteful use of energy is simply over." The blockades began at 6.30 AM and are ongoing. ENDS Media contacts at the action locations Biggin Hill: 07879 416694 Farnborough: 07909 651093 Media contacts for the Camp for Climate Action 0777 286 1099 or 07858 177 178 Notes to Editor 1) According to The Economist, the average number of passengers on executive jets in Europe is two. 2) Farnborough is the only airport in Europe for the exclusive use of business aircraft. They recently attempted to double the number of flights despite massive local opposition, although these plans were rejected last year. Day 2: Low-Impact Living At The Climate Camp 15-08-2007 23:16 Wednesday August 15th After an early alert - around 9am a large Forward Intelligence Team (FIT) skirted the East perimeter, with an even larger group of Climate Campers responding by blocking the FIT cameras view - the camp got off to a productive start: After the site coordination meeting at 9:30am, the workshops kicked off, covering a wide range of topics including low-tech sanitation, nuclear power, climate change and global justice, decentralised energy, aviation and climate change, introduction to permaculture, and movement building. Read a report about the 'Wales LNG pipeline' workshop. Indymedia facilities are on-site, the entire campsite has wi-fi, powered by wind generators and solar arrays. Indymedia workshops have been going on since early morning, including open publishing, writing, reporting, and digital photography. The site is now wheelchair-accessible. Campers fitted up kitchens and installed a 'grey water' system, 4 wind generators provide power. New neighbourhoods, like the West Midlands neighbourhood are being built. [pics] Climate activists from the US and New Zealand, including the Convergence for Climate Action, the US social forum, the East Coast USA climate camp, The Yes Men, The Earth First! Journal, Rising Tide, have sent empowering messages in solidarity [video 1 2]. At 4pm, about 80 people left camp to participate in a local march against the airport expansion, but were held up by police, penned in and lead toward the perimeter of the airport - almost into the area covered by the BAA injunction. On the way, the police decided to block the A4 to lead the pen across it. Two hours later, the group headed back to the camp in heavy rain. One person was arrested for 'obstructing a police officer' (a FIT photographer) [report 1, 2, 3 | pics 1, 2]. More info on the ticker. http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2007/08/378349.html Police force climate camp march to Heathrow airport and block A4... info from camp | 15.08.2007 20:47 | Climate Camp 2007 | Climate Chaos | London Just a quick report to say that today a small march of around 80 people left from the climate camp to support a local demonstration against heathrow expansion. They were very quickly surrounded by over one hundred police - having just left the camp this happened in what could be called a side street - then quite inexplicably the police forced the group down several streets towards the airport. Still penned in on all side by police, they were then forced across the main A4 road (which police closed for some time before forcing the people across it) and then right up to the security fence of Heathrow where they were held for over one hour. Several eye witnesses have described how police were very heavy handed from the outset, throwing people who said they did not want to join the march into their cordon. Parents were seperated from children as police officers literally threw people into the crowd who were surrounded. Five people I've spoken to said that they would not engage in any discussion and were screaming at people and even making jibes such as 'you have no rights here' before roughly shoving people into the penned in crowd. Many people pointed out that the mainstream media were there filming, but they suspect that the whole incident may be portreyed as 'the protestors disrupting air travellers' or 'police foil attempt to block heathrow' or 'protestors cause traffic chaos'. Let's see... As to the protest by local campaigners, no one ever found it... info from camp Tuesday, August 14. After two days of setting up, the 2007 Camp For Climate Action is now open. After a press conference and an opening meeting, the first round of workshops took place in a field between Sipson and Harlington near Heathrow airport. Listen to the audio from a couple of workshops that were given today by Mark Lynas and Airportwatch/Hacan. Meanwhile, in Heathrow terminal 4, an invisible theatre pointed out that climate related apocalypse is nigh. The evening saw a brief police incursion. Around 7.30pm, approximately thirty police, backed by officers in riot gear, entered the camp without warning in an attempt to raid it. With their hands in the air, protesters formed a human barrier and blocked the police, before peacefully escorting them off the site [video | report 1, 2 | pics]. A woman superglued herself to the gate to prevent police enforcement [pics, video]. At 8.30pm, all was quiet. http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2007/08/378262.html Climate Camp Tuesday 14th - Personal Report happy camping | 15.08.2007 00:43 | Climate Camp 2007 | Climate Chaos | London Today was the first public day of the Camp for Climate Action just outside Heathrow. It also saw the early morning arival of some high winds and heavy rain. Undeterred more people have been arriving at the site throughout the day, with police stop and searches being at a much reduced level. At lunchtime a press conference was held outside the main marquee at the camp, attended by a wide range of mainstream media both from the uk and other countries. Several campers spoke at the press conference declaring the camp open for a week of learning about climate change, the science and politics behind it and possible solutions to it. Time was also taken to denounce yesterday's Evening Standard article which claimed people from the camp were intending to send hoax suspicious packages to Heathrow as downright lies. They said the camp expects to have critical coverage and to be challenged in the media, especially as the camp has become such a large story, but they said that such blatant lies as featured in the Evening Standard are not acceptable. They also said that a complaint was being lodged with the Press Complaints Commission. The press conference then went on to answer questions from the assemled media in front of the cameras. Many of the questions centred on the day of action planned for Sunday / Monday and in particular reports that people from the camp were asking protestors to bring, or come wearing, suits or cabin crew uniforms. In response to this it was explained that there was indeed a group making cabin crew uniforms, but these were of a theatrical nature for use by a theatre group more akin to can can dancers who were planning on singing songs and dancing to make their protest! Time and time again it was stressed that the protests and actions on sunday are not to target passengers, but the corporations and government who are the real climate criminals, and that any action would be safe and peaceful and not target the runways. Later in the afternoon the main welcome meeting of the camp took place with over 250 people sat in a giant circle inside the main marquee. The meeting ran through all the introductory talks for the camp, including how the camp is split into neighbourhoods with their own kitchens, how decisions are made, how to use the compost toilets, how to get involved and all the plethora of info that's needed to navigate your way through the temporary eco-village for the coming week. Following the welcome meeting the first set of workshops took place including "Two Degree Timebomb" by Mark Lynas and "Aviation: The Need to Stop Expansion" with people from Airportwatch and local group HACAN. There were also practical workshops aimed at making the camp run more smoothly with sessions on facilitation and consensus decision making as well as several other workshops. There was also many day visitors to the camp including local councillors who this afternoon were treated to a guided tour that took in the compost toilets and an impromptu workshop on grey water recylcling systems (several of which are being built for the kitchens onsite). Generally the camp is working well. Lots of people who have never been involved with this kind of campaigning have pitched in and started helping out with most of the major jobs that need doing to run the site getting done through people just volunteering to do whatever needs doing. And the food so far has been excellent. Despite the spell of terrible weather and the police obstruction in the set up phase the camp is well and truly underway. Later in the evening there was an incident with police coming onto the camp site in a tight phalanx of 25plus which resulted in a large crowd of campers obstructing their progress, holding their hands in the air chanting "Police Out!" - as people slowly pushed the police back they lashed out at those at the front. They withdrew to just outside the rope barrier which marks the edge of the campsite in the field as people cheered. At the same time riot police in full gear with helmets arrived quickly at the western gate into the field that the camp is on, and a woman from the camp superglued her hands to the gate in an effort to prevent them entering the site - in her own words attempting to "de-escalate the situation". Mainstream media where no where to be seen, their outside broadcast trucks that have been present for several days having moved from the road outside the camp. There was a short standoff as police blocked all access to the lane that leads to the camp, even preventing members of the press heading to the camp to cover the incident. Access was re-opened just as the woman was removed from the gate and senior police officers had entered the camp for an escorted tour around site where they reportedly said the incursion was not sanctioned by them. Most people I spoke to said the incident was a blatant attempt by sections of the police to provoke a reaction, to incite some trouble. It didn't work. Climate Camp prepares for opening 13-08-2007 23:34 Monday, August 13. More than 300 people continued to set up this years Camp For Climate Action in a field between Sipson and Harlington near Heathrow airport to prepare for a week of "low impact living and high impact direct action". After BAAs failed injunction, the authorities tried to make this as difficult as possible using anti-terrorist legislation. Climate campers and local residents responded with resourcefulness and determination [rap | pics 1, 2]. Some police entered the site at 7.30 am. Soon, each of them was accompanied by people from the legal support team acting as minders. The police blocked the only road to the camp at both ends and searched and filmed arriving campers. Resulting traffic jams affected both campers and residents. Until late afternoon, vehicles were not allowed on site. The police installed a large tele microphone at the gate and erected floodlights, so that the camp is lit at night. "Food and sanitation supplies were halted - everything had to be unloaded at the roadblock and carried or dragged to the site - half a mile away. Families - kids crying at the roadside - were forced to abandon their vehicles and carry their possessions, often in several trips, to the camp". Nevertheless, the camp is taking shape. People pulled together to get equipment off cars, into wheelbarrows and wheelie bins and into the camp. Large numbers of corporate journalists parked outside the camp were watching. Airportwatch has a list of media coverage. Local residents, many of whom are opposed to the Heathrow airport extension, offered food and drinks to stranded campers, or help in transporting goods to the camp. http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2007/08/378101.html Sunday, August 12. Late Saturday night, a field close to Heathrow airport site was occupied by about 100 people, the first wave of setting up the 2007 Camp For Climate Action [pics]. Twin double decker tripods were quickly erected and despite being just 800 metres from BAA's head office, it took the police two hours to find the site. There have been reports of two arrests and police copying data from mobile phones during searches. There are now several hundred people on site and the camp taking shape. Police have been searching people and preventing access to the site on and off but in the last few hours this seems to have solidified into a state of siege with police refusing to let vehicles with power, water or toilet facilities onto the site. Meanwhile, local residents celebrated "the place we call home" in the community arts and history project "our place". The following information is copied from the climatecamp.org.uk website: The Climate Camp site has been successfully taken! We now need lots of people to come down and get everything set up. We are on Sipson Lane, between the villages of Sipson and Harlington, North of Heathrow. By public transport: Train from Paddington to 'Hayes and Harlington' station. >From there bus 90, 140 or H98 heading South. Get off at the corner of Harlington High Street and walk West along Sipson Lane about 600 metres. OR About a 2 mile walk - south into Harlington village then as above. OR Go one station further on to West Drayton and take the 222 bus to the Western (Sipson) end of Sipson Lane. Location Map Staines is quite far away - if you want to make your own way to the site don't go to Staines! But if you get yourself to Staines railway station in West London by 10am on Tuesday 14th August, you will be greeted by our friendly welcome team and promptly transported via a magical mystery tour, to the camp! Staines railway station is very small so the Welcome Desk and pickup buses will be running from Spelthorne Leisure Centre, 5 minutes walk from the station.(There will also be lifts to the camp later in the day). If you get lost trying to find the camp or any other enquiries then call 0207 3779088 . There will be someone manning the phone at the London Action Resource Centre 10am to 6pm from 2nd August who will be able to help you. There will probably be policeman filming you at the station and elsewhere. Do not be intimidated imc uk http://www.guardian.co.uk/airlines/story/0,,2148873,00.html Rules, rotas and revolutionary song at climate action camp Helen Pidd Wednesday August 15, 2007 The Guardian For a gathering founded on anarchist principles, the Camp for Climate Action doesn't half have a lot of rules. "Wash your hands before meals" is chalked on the site notice board, while capital letters denote the importance of using the correct compost toilet for solids and liquids. And woe betide any journalist who manages to shake off their chaperone and leave the carefully marked path. The activists here have allocated one hour a day when journalists are allowed on site, accompanied by a media-literate camper; yesterday the Guardian was introduced to Hamish Campbell, a 42-year-old film-maker. He explained why even anarchists follow rules sometimes, and showed us the site's own wind turbine and solar panels. We lost Hamish after getting distracted by the stereo system in the West Midlands social tent, where a cheeky song called Revolution for Sale by a band named The Propaganda and Information Network was banging out of the speakers. We got told off, and after promising to behave gained a new companion, a care worker called Jessica Alba. She was not fazed by the prospect of a week without showers and was keen to point out the damaging effects of most chemical-laden cosmetics. At a press conference on site yesterday the activists hinted what form the direct action at Heathrow might take. They would not rule out action in the terminals, they said, and they confirmed that they had asked campers to bring suits and smart clothes and even improvised air steward uniforms - for a can-can performance. "Perhaps we will be occupying the headquarters of a big corporation such as BAA," said a spokesman. Later, a brief stand-off between protesters and police ensued after 40 officers patrolling the camp met with some opposition. The incident was quickly defused. The camp is split into neighbourhoods representing geographical areas, each with its own meeting and kitchen tents. Ms Alba was bunking in with the north-west gang, which was hoping for culinary superiority because, rumour had it, one activist from Lancaster was a professionally trained chef. As he had yet to show his face yesterday, it was up to the volunteers on the cooking rota to rustle up meals from the organic vegan ingredients. >From the look of the supply wheelbarrow fusilli would be appearing regularly on the menu. Some activists had brought their children along. Though the gloomy looks on some of the youngsters' faces suggested they would rather be at Centre Parcs, the parents insisted you were never too young to worry about climate chaos. Wayne Taylor, a 41-year-old probation officer from Birmingham, had Evan, five, and a Teenage Mutant Hero Turtle in tow. Evan, a big Doctor Who fan, was hoping to make a "protest K9". Wayne was just hoping Evan would not refuse to eat the food. "If he had his way it would be toast and jam, toast and jam, toast and jam." http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,2149499,00.html Climate protester denies obstructing police A protester from the Camp for Climate Action at Heathrow airport appeared in court yesterday after Supergluing herself to a gate at the camp. Veteran activist Penny Eastwood, 52, from Hebden Bridge in Yorkshire, denied obstructing a police officer when she appeared before Uxbridge magistrates. Ms Eastwood, who works as a project manager for the environmental charity Treesponsibility, delivered an impromptu lecture on the dangers of climate change while police freed her. She was protesting about the police presence on the site. The case was adjourned until October. Helen Pidd http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2007/aug/16/climatechange.uknews Police: Heathrow camp 'infiltrated by anarchists' a.. Matthew Weaver and agencies b.. Guardian Unlimited c.. Thursday August 16 2007 Police today defended their tactics and large presence at the environmental protest camp outside Heathrow airport by claiming it had been infiltrated by anarchist troublemakers. Officers at the Camp for Climate Action outnumber the 600 protesters by two to one. Protesters have accused police of adopting a heavy-handed approach to control the demonstration and the unjustified use of anti-terrorist laws against protesters. However, commander Jo Kaye, of the Metropolitan police, today said some of the protesters were "anarchists" who wanted to use the cover of an environmental protest to confront officers. He claimed veterans of clashes at G8 protests, Reclaim the Streets demonstrations and anti-capitalist May Day marches were among those who had joined the camp. "Some of these people have Reclaim the Streets heritage. Some of them will go back to the days of the Liverpool dockers march, not necessarily involved, but linked to it," Mr Kaye said. "If we frustrate them, then they will go in for confrontation because their aim is anti-state. "The environment is part of that, but we are talking about anarchists, so the cause assists their overall cause." Twenty-one people have so far been arrested in connection with Operation Hargood, the police response to the camp, officers said. Assistant commissioner Tarique Ghaffur said 1,200 officers were policing the protest every 24 hours, adding: "This is far more than we would like and we would want to. "The only reason we have done that is because they have threatened direct action . we know the types of targets these people will go for, and there are many in Heathrow and the surrounding areas." Mr Ghaffur said there had been "very little cooperation" from organisers during "limited dialogue" between them and police. He said police feared the extreme elements could "suck in" otherwise peaceful protesters, and said any attempt to disrupt the airport could be dangerous because of the high terror alert level in place. Penny Eastwood, a spokeswoman for the camp, said: "Many of the people here have been on protests before. The police have labelled all those as dangerous extremists." Ms Eastwood, who was arrested when she Superglued herself to a gate at the camp earlier this week, said officers were "trying to smear us as irresponsible". "I don't think I'm irresponsible - I'm trying to save the planet from devastating climate change," she added. "There is a long tradition of civil disobedience in this country." Earlier today, 11 climate change protesters were arrested at Biggin Hill airport, in Kent, after they chained themselves to the entrance and blocked the road to the airport. A similar protest was mounted at Farnborough airport, but ended peacefully without any arrests. Both demonstrations, aimed highlighting the "obscenity" of private jets, were part of a week-long campaign against the aviation industry. http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2007/aug/16/theairlineindustry.transportintheuk Chained airport protesters arrested a.. Matthew Weaver and agencies Climate change protesters who caused disruption at Biggin Hill airport in Kent this morning by chaining themselves to a gate have been arrested. Three protesters attached themselves to the main gate at Biggin Hill, while others lay across the airport's only entrance road with their arms chained together inside fluorescent yellow tubes. The protesters claimed to have prevented some passengers and staff from entering the airport. But a spokesman for Biggin Hill said the airport remained open and services were operating as normal. Chief Inspector Mick Dod from the Metropolitan Police's territorial support group said 11 protesters had been arrested. "We asked them to go and they have declined. They have been arrested under the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act," he said. Protests were also being staged this morning at Farnborough airport in Hampshire, as part of a week-long campaign against the aviation industry. Protesters spread themselves across the entrance road to the airport, but it was operating as normal. Both Farnborough and Biggin Hill airports specialise in business flights for small private jets. Today's protests are designed not to alienate ordinary passengers but to highlight the "obscenity" of private jets, according to the campaigners. Leo Murray, from Plane Stupid, one of campaigners banned from taking part in direct action at this week's protest camp at Heathrow, said today's action was aimed at the "super rich". "Flying by personal jet is an obscene choice to make. But as long as we have celebrity driven culture, that's what people aspire to," he said. Richard George, 26, a spokesman for Biggin Hill protesters, said a number of airport workers and passengers had been turned away. He said people with their own planes were "putting two fingers up to attempts by the rest of us who try to cut our carbon emissions". Another protester, who did not give her name, said: "As well as other kinds of negotiation, we feel direct action is necessary." Mr George stressed that the group had no plans to prevent passengers flying out of Heathrow at the weekend. "This is not the sort of thing that will be happening at Heathrow. We have no intention of shutting down Heathrow. That is a very different situation," he said. A spokesman for Biggin Hill said: "Passengers are being diverted to a different entrance and there is no disruption to services which are operating as usual." James Brown, a spokesman for the protesters at Farnborough, said 24 people blockaded the gate from 6.45am to 9.15am. He said the demonstration was called off when the airport opened other gates, leaving their protest ineffective. "Flights from this airport are all business flights and we have a system of economic growth that continues to grow and the concept of green capitalism is nonsense," Mr Brown said. Earlier, the chief executive of Farnborough airport, Brandon O'Reilly, said: "We have about 10 or 11 chaps lying on the ground in front of one of the security gates but the airport is operating normally. "It's a peaceful protest. The police are here and there is no trouble." The protests came as the jet charter company Twinjet said there had been a 15% increase in first-time private jet bookings this week. "Fear of disruption from this climate camp protest has led to some Heathrow travellers turning to our services," the company's managing director, John Keeble, said. "Heathrow's recent problems have already been good for our business, but this protest and the threat of disruption appears to be the final straw." http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2007/aug/17/climatechange.theairlineindustry Heathrow protesters glue themselves to government building a.. James Sturcke and agencies b.. Guardian Unlimited c.. Friday August 17 2007 Demonstrators from the Heathrow Camp for Climate Action today glued themselves to the Department of Transport in the latest action to highlight their protest against the airport. Around 11 protesters arrived at the building in Horseferry Road, central London, at around 8.15am. Six superglued their hands to its rotating doors, police said, while another two climbed on top of them with a banner protesting against airport expansion. A further three chained themselves to the doors. Police and paramedics arrived on the scene shortly afterwards and released the protesters from the doors. "You will see we are all quite young. We are the people who will have to deal with the consequences of climate change," Miko Minio, a 26-year-old who had been at the Heathrow camp since Saturday, said. A police spokesman said a number of arrests had been made for suspected public order offences, adding that "normality would be returned" to the area. Yesterday, 10 protesters were arrested when they locked themselves to airport gates at Biggin Hill, in Kent, and Farnborough, in Hampshire. Both airports specialise in business flights. The week-long camp is due to end on Sunday, when authorities fear protesters may carry out direct action protests at Heathrow. Mark Bullock, the airport's managing director, said he was disturbed by reports that protesters would bring bags so they could leave them at the airport - an action likely to trigger widespread security alerts. Other protesters were reported to be planning to disguise themselves as businessmen to gain access to aviation company offices or infiltrate parts of Heathrow reserved for executive travellers. The Metropolitan police assistant commissioner, Tarique Ghaffur, said 1,200 officers were being used to police the protest around the clock. http://www.guardian.co.uk/airlines/story/0,,2150741,00.html Turbulent times Lambasted by passengers, besieged by eco-protesters, and under fire from nearby residents fighting to save their homes - Heathrow has become Britain's 'nuisance airport'. John Harris reports Friday August 17, 2007 The Guardian On a single-track lane that runs along one side of the Camp For Climate Action, there's a creeping air of tension. In addition to the camera crews and journalists, clumps of police vehicles are parked up, and small groups of officers are keeping watch over the site - among them a police photographer, who trains a foot-long lens along the tents and marquees on the other side of a low fence. As he snaps away, a wizened-looking climate camper attempts to block his view with a huge white banner. Meanwhile, a group of drummers bash out what may or may not be a samba rhythm - an example, says one protester, of a tried-and-tested technique known as "tactical frivolity". The camp - located on land that may eventually be cleared for a third Heathrow runway - formally opened on Tuesday, beginning a week of activity that will reach a peak this Sunday with a day of direct action aimed at BAA, the airport's owners. On the face of it, the campers' point is simple enough: that if we're serious about scaling down our emissions of greenhouse gases, the people who own and run airports will have to abandon any plans for expansion and drastically scale them down. Friends of the Earth says that Heathrow contributes a third of the UK's aviation emissions, and flights from the airport pump as much CO2 into the atmosphere as five million cars, every year. (Environmentalists claim Heathrow's carbon output is 13.9m tonnes; BAA says it is 266,000 tonnes.) But protest is only one part of the exercise. To quote from the pamphlet handed to everyone who turns up, the camp is also meant to be "an amazing living experiment": a temporary microcosm of the ideal society, brought to a damp field in Middlesex. Look around, and you quickly get the idea. Decisions are taken consensually at daily meetings. Campers can borrow two-wheeled transport from a "bike library". There are methodically built compost toilets and a recycling system so thorough that it almost beggars belief. And campers can also make the most of scores of workshops, running from the straightforward ("Climate Change For Beginners") to the arcane ("Social Ecology: the future of anarchism"). The day I arrive, there is a lot of talk about an incident that happened on Tuesday night. At around 7.30pm, the camp's organisers claim that 25 or so police - members, they say, of a surveillance squad called the Forward Intelligence Team - attempted a "raid", trying to march into the camp until they were surrounded by campers and non-aggressively "escorted" from the site. While all this went on, several vans of riot police stood watch. At the camp, this short-lived flashpoint seemed to come as a surprise, though it fits neatly with the narrative that has been established in some of the more excitable parts of the media, based around the supposed arrival of "hardcore" elements and Sunday's day of action that will "paralyse" the airport. To borrow from the Kaiser Chiefs, Sky predicts a riot. With the proviso that the Climate Camp is sworn to non-violence, exactly what will actually happen is unclear. Alex Harvey, a 28 -year-old graduate student who acts as my "escort", sticks to the camp's official line, whereby any talk about action on the runways is unequivocally rejected, but there can be no guarantees beyond that. She insists that recent rumours about hoax bomb calls to the airport are false. That said, she claims that the camp is "much more likely" to aim its actions at the nearby offices of BAA, Heathrow's owners. "We keep saying that," she says, "and no one's hearing us." Twenty-four hours before, I begin my day in very different surroundings, waiting for the bus that runs between Heathrow's main hotels and its four terminals, and talking to Derek and Anne Hodge. Having flown in yesterday from Sydney and spent the night at one of the airport's three Holiday Inns, they are en route to Cork, then Southampton, and then for a final fortnight in Spain. They are ex-pats who relocated to Australia 22 years ago; with their golf clubs and pile of upmarket luggage, they have the comfortable air of people whose retirement has turned out very nicely indeed. Before they set off, however, their nerves were jangled by news from the old world. On news bulletins on their adopted country's Channel 10, they tell me, warnings have recently been sounded about the decline of Britain's biggest airport, and the camp that has pitched up close by. "The report was on TV the day before we left," says Anne. "They said Heathrow was the worst airport in the world, and using it was more stressful than a divorce." And how has it been for them? "It wasn't bad yesterday," says her husband. "But it isn't half grubby. It really does look dirty. If you compare it with other airports - Sydney, say, or Bangkok - it's really not very good. When you come here, being British by birth, you really do think, 'I'd like to be prouder of this.'" And the camp? "Oh, that's absolutely stupid," says Anne. "I've seen An Inconvenient Truth, but I think the weather's probably always been cyclical. Then again, when we've been getting ready to fly, I suppose I have thought, 'Should I do this?' But living in Australia, what can we do?" Her husband emits a muted grumble, tells me his politics place him "to the right of Margaret Thatcher" and suggests that the camp is the stamping ground of "lefty teachers". Having picked us up from the hotel, the bus wends its way through a crowded landscape, all box-like architecture and towering adverts. According to an incongruous alliance of people who have been recently raising their voices, these 4.6 square miles are now among the most unpleasant places in Britain. The Mayor of London Ken Livingstone recently claimed that Heathrow "shames London" and offers "appalling conditions" in which passengers are effectively kept prisoner in a "ghastly shopping mall". Sir Terence Conran thinks the airport has become a "really horrible place". One government minister - Kitty Ussher, who sees to the affairs of the City of London - has talked about the airport's negative impact on the high-flying international financiers on whom we are so often told our national wellbeing depends: a matter, she says, of problems with security, passport control and a mind-bending layout that amounts to "Heathrow hassle". The essential problem, according to some people, is the domination of the UK's airports by BAA - once known as the British Airports Authority, privatised in 1987, now owned by the giant Spanish corporation Ferrovial, and accused of behaving with all the arrogance of the archetypal private monopoly. In March, the Office Of Fair Trading referred BAA to the Competition Commission; as the latter puts its report together, plenty of voices have been claiming that Heathrow should be taken out of BAA's portfolio. The past few weeks, meanwhile, have seen events - thanks to ubiquitous media coverage, now bundled up into one of the biggest stories of the summer - that have only worsened Heathrow's troubles. In early August, having got wind of the camp's imminent arrival, BAA applied for a surreally wide-ranging injunction, focused on banning protest from an area far wider than the airport - including platforms at Paddington Station and certain junctions on the M4 - and preventing organisations including Airport Watch, an umbrella group that includes such well-known revolutionary groups as the Woodland Trust and the RSPB from protesting. Any half-decent PR adviser would surely have predicted the result: BAA received acres of bad press, and the camp was propelled into the national consciousness. And then, the high court granted an altogether more limited injunction than BAA was after, and, with an air of jubilation, the camp's organisers said that their plans remained unchanged. They pitched up on land that may eventually be concreted over by a runway that would increase the airport's annual flight numbers from 480,000 to more than 700,000. Largely populated by young enrag?s, the camp is also buoyed by the quiet support of rather older local people, many of whom have spent decades watching Heathrow eat into the surrounding landscape. These days, they tend to mention one place more than any other: Sipson, the village that a third runway would wipe from the map. Leaving aside the eco-protesters, there are not many lines to be drawn between Heathrow's local opponents and the politicians and business leaders - and passengers - who bemoan its currently shabby state. After all, the former want any plans for Heathrow's expansion to be abandoned, while many of the latter think its refurbishment and growth should only be accelerated. Underlying both their arguments, however, is Heathrow's essential problem. It boils down to this: why is one of the world's busiest airports and its surrounding netherworld located 15 miles from London, on a site chosen during the second world war, now boxed in by housing, and expanded and altered over 60 years with precious little strategic vision? You only need travel abroad to grasp what's wrong: while so many of the world's airports now offer acres of space, futuristic flash and carefully designed passenger comfort, Heathrow has the distinct air of a project made up as people went along. It is, in effect, a very British botch-up. Once I've been dropped off at terminal three, my morning-long tour of Heathrow begins in a room known as the "Star Centre", where banks of plasma screens flash up CCTV pictures of every corner of the airport. This morning, particular attention is being paid to the tunnel that takes 55,000 cars a day between the terminals, and rumours about a possible disruptive action involving a gang of cyclists who are reported to have just set off from London (as it turns out, they don't show up). In between explaining his job, Greg Ward, Heathrow's burly operations director, issues the odd dismissive aside about what he calls "Camp Climate", while a WPC seconded here in case of early trouble from protesters ("I'm not allowed to talk to you," she says) splits her time between filling in a logbook and reading a paperback novel called Double Jeopardy. Twenty minutes later, I am sitting in a compact corporate meeting room with Mark Bullock, the managing director of BAA's Heathrow operation, promoted last month to being its public face after the departure of its chief executive Tony Douglas, who was last heard claiming that Heathrow was "bursting at the seams". The past few months, I suggest, must have been trying, to say the least. "What I know is, I inherited - if I can use that phrase - an airport that's handling 68 million passengers, and it was designed for 45 million," he says. "We've got the two busiest runways in the world. So it's always going to be difficult to manage an operation like that. There are so many external events that can influence the performance of the airport. When you're operating at capacity, it only takes an incident from the outside - the kind of thing that will force a change in security measures - and the ability of the airport to cope with that is quite stressed." Bullock says that Heathrow "isn't fixed, but it's moving in the right direction". (At BAA's HQ, tea is served in "Making Heathrow Great" mugs.) Like many of his colleagues, he claims that queues to pass through security checks now take no longer than 10 minutes - and bemoans the tendency of Heathrow's detractors to blame problems at check-in, passport control and baggage reclaim on BAA, when they are the chief responsibility of airlines and, in the latter case, the government's Border and Immigration Agency. When it comes to the camp, he says that he "cannot countenance direct action that would seriously disrupt one and a half million people". He defends the attempted injunction as an example of BAA doing "everything in its power" to stop just that eventuality. But didn't its surreally wide terms hand the protesters a PR gift? "The injunction needed to be quite widely worded," he says, "because these people don't stand up and say, 'I'm one of the people who's going to take direct action.' You can't pin them down." Eventually, we get on to the subject of the third runway. An idea that was first mooted in the 1940s, it was decisively placed on the agenda in late 2003, when the government announced its support for new runways at Heathrow and Stansted (and, just to really inflame environmentalists, Birmingham and Edinburgh). A consultation process will begin next month; a public inquiry is expected to start in 2008. As late as 2001, BAA claimed that it "would urge the government to rule out any additional runway at Heathrow", though it has now done a volte-face and decided to support the plan, which has only heightened local anger. "It's very difficult, isn't it?" says Bullock. "You've got to sympathise with people whose homes are in that area, which if it goes ahead, will be under a runway. That's why the consultation around the third runway needs to balance the social benefits of flying, the economic benefits to London and the UK of this hub airport, the climate impact, and the impact on individuals." Bullock talks about "balance" a lot, though for the residents of Sipson, there may not be much balance on offer. As and when the third runway is built, their village simply won't be there any more. "Yeah," he says, quietly. "That's where we'd have to build the runway. And that's why we have noise insulation schemes, schemes to compensate people for the loss of the market value of their houses, a purchase scheme to buy other people's homes. But I accept ... you know ... We're never going to make those people happy in that situation. We can't, can we? It is very difficult for them." And is it difficult for him, taking those kind of decisions? "As a human being, I feel for them, but you've got to look at the greater good of society and balance out the benefits you get for the many, compared with the problems it causes for the few." Even with three runways, Heathrow could still lag behind many of its international competitors. Despite handling 10 million fewer passengers a year, Paris's Charles De Gaulle airport has four runways; Amsterdam's Schiphol is 20 million behind, and it has six. In the towns and villages that nudge Heathrow's perimeter, there are suspicions that once a third runway is built, Heathrow will then expand again. "Personally, I don't see that," says Bullock. "And it's so far in the future that I'll be long gone by then. That's ... [pause] ... not something that we're contemplating." And if someone points out that BAA said much the same thing about the third runway, what's his response? Another long pause. "That's an impossible question to answer, isn't it? Come back in 50 years' time, and ask me - and who knows? But my answer can only be that there is no need for a fourth runway at Heathrow." My tour of Heathrow finishes with the building that is BAA's pride and joy. On the former site of a sewage works, just to the east of the central knot of buildings that contains terminals one, two and three, work is about to finish on terminal five. Designed by Richard Rogers, it will open in March next year to handle all the airport's British Airways flights, and boost Heathrow's passenger capacity by up to 25 million, thus relieving a good deal of the pressure that currently burdens the airport. It is a spectacular place, lit up by skylights that form huge arcs, and capped at one end by a vast window that looks out on Heathrow's runways. Once you have left the arrivals area, you are confronted with a very un-Heathrow sight: an outdoor piazza, replete with lines of trees. "This will be an urban space, completely different from what you'd expect at an airport," says Mike Forster, Heathrow's strategy development director, who rhapsodises about the new terminal. "Essentially, it will be a little part of London." Once the project is completed, work on updating Heathrow will continue: terminals three and four will be refurbished, and terminals one and two will be replaced by a new building, to be called Heathrow East. For some people, unfortunately, the promise of a gleaming future rings rather hollow. Back in the existing terminal three, having flown into Stansted from the Republic of Ireland, 41-year-old Jack Fitzsimons is en route to Mauritius. He has arrived at Heathrow eight hours early. "This place is just chaotic," he says. "It's terrible. I used terminal three about a month ago, and it was just overwhelmed. I think of Heathrow as a nuisance airport." The next morning, I spend a few hours in and around Sipson, the village that nudges the climate camp, where plenty of local people view Heathrow as an increasingly painful headache. Bryan Sobey, the 78-year-old president of the Harlington and Sipson Residents' Association, has been living here since 1951, watching as the airport was transformed from "a few Nissen huts" into the leviathan of today. As we talk, his wife Ann occasionally comes into the front room, carrying bulging lever-arch files that contain two decades' worth of cuttings, correspondence and official documents relating to plans for a third runway. One of the most recent is spread out on the table in front of us: a BAA "Master plan" map, in which the proposed site of the new runway is represented by an anvil-shaped blob, coloured royal blue. Look hard at the map and you can see what are there now: around 700 houses, most of them built in the wake of a guarantee from government in 1953 that even if Heathrow expanded, Sipson would remain untouched. Sobey spent much of his working life as a Heathrow customs officer, and claims to have always been troubled by the ad hoc developments that made Heathrow the higgledy-piggledy place it is today. "They're all bolt-ons, and none of them work effectively," he says. "It should never have been designed like it was, but nobody knew what would happen to air travel back then. We're still stuck with an airport designed in the 1940s that's been adapted, by piecemeal development, over the years. But that's what we do in this country: we build piecemeal rubbish." In nearby Russell Gardens, I meet Christine Taylor, her sister Jane, and mother Sheila, who has spent all of her 75 years in and around Sipson (and never used a plane - "too terrifying", she says). She does not take much persuasion to map out the lost geography that lies underneath Heathrow's runways, terminals and surrounding roads. The aforementioned Holiday Inn, she says, was once a set of allotments. Along Bath Road - the unappealing dual carriageway, now lined with hotels, that marks the airport's northern boundary - there were once neighbourhood shops. She talks about orchards, and the long-lost fruit and vegetable farms that were once the area's main source of work. Her daughters are among the leading lights of a local campaign group Notrag (the No Third Runway Action Group), and of the opinion that any plan to expand Heathrow would represent "madness". With the third runway looking ever-more likely, they tell me, families have been moving out of Sipson at speed, selling their homes to buy-to-let landlords who then rent them out to low-paid airport employees. Two years ago, says Jane, 10 Chinese hotel workers were discovered living in a nearby one-bedroom house. Five would sleep during the day, five at night. They were only discovered when all 10 arrived in the house at the same time, and a fight broke out. In Cranford, an array of houses and shops that has the bleak sense of a community locked into a long decline, the story is very similar. Jagraj Sran owns a property business called Heathrow Estates, and has watched a steady exodus over the past two or three years. "A lot of families are leaving," he says. "With all the talk of a third runway, there is a panic." Even without the prospect of expansion, you can see why people would want out: at around the forty- fifth second of every minute, a plane streaks overhead, making a noise so loud that any conversation has to stop. On a long residential street called Berkeley Avenue, where the houses' double-glazed windows are 50% funded by BAA, the sound is truly deafening: an immense roar that has been known to shake the tiles from the roofs. Sarupa Soni - who, now aged 68, has lived in her house for 42 years - says she is woken by the planes at five o'clock every morning, and the noise goes on until 11 at night. "It is very, very annoying," she assures me. "But you have to stop yourself getting bothered by it." Standing in her back garden as yet another plane comes thundering into land, you can only marvel at her resilience. A mile or so down the road, meanwhile, the Camp For Climate Action's second afternoon brings a kind of uneasy tedium. While more planes roar by, the police carry on watching and the drums play on. The campers busy themselves with their workshops, while serried camera crews and journalists wait idly by - as in the terminals, engaged in that ubiquitous Heathrow pastime of quietly waiting for something to happen. http://www.guardian.co.uk/airlines/story/0,,2148966,00.html It's not only anarchists Overzealous policing of the airport eco-protest shows the Met is miles behind the cultural curve Zoe Williams Wednesday August 15, 2007 The Guardian I am delighted by the Heathrow eco-protesters. It feels like ages since there was a decent, bed-down, in-it-for-the-long-haul demonstration. The subject is the proposed expansion of the airport and consequent increase in flights, but let's focus on the legality of this protest. BAA initially applied for legal protection so broad that it would have banned members of the RSPB from the Piccadilly line. Yes, that is true. Its case was thrown out by the high court, however, and only one group - Plane Stupid - has been banned from entering the airport. Nobody's been banned from the Piccadilly line. Everyone else, in consequence, is occupying the site between Sipson and Harlington legally. Don't get me wrong, they don't have planning permission - they're not allowed to build proper houses and live there. It is a legitimate protest, with appropriate permissions sought, and legal barriers overturned through proper channels. You'd never know it from the policing, which - the local force having commandeered 1,800 extra officers - outnumbers the protest group by more than 12 to one. Italian riot police have tear gas, and Swedish coppers, apparently, the right to drive marchers 20 miles down a motorway and leave them to walk back. Our police use overreaction. In the 2001 London May Day demo, where the police famously hemmed protesters into Oxford Circus for eight hours, effectively arresting everyone without having to jump through all the boring hoops associated with arresting people, police outnumbered protesters by six to one. That event, in fairness, had not been cleared through the channels of legitimacy. There is something galling about being told how much these things "cost" the taxpayer (Newbury bypass demos: ?5m; May Day 2000: police applied for ?3m but were only granted ?1m), when that cost is swallowed up not by damage, but by police histrionics. To get back to the legitimate protesters, by the time they'd been there half a day, questions were being raised about heavy-handed police behaviour. The roads leading to the site had been blocked off; cars approaching were being searched under the Terrorism Act. One protester remarked: "They know we are not terrorists. It's an abuse of the law." And while they can't have it both ways, these liberals - you can't complain about racial profiling in stop-and-search tactics, and then say that you can't be a terrorist because you're obviously white and middle-class - this is nevertheless correct. They are obviously not terrorists. The police are overdoing it because they always do. They are behaving as they've been behaving since Greenham and Twyford Down and Aldermaston and the miners' strikes. While this may be in keeping with some guidelines they've got somewhere, they are well behind the curve of culture. It is no longer as simple as authority versus anarchy; both the main political parties have more in common, ideologically, with Friends of the Earth than with BAA. There is nothing remotely cranky about trying to limit flights. The absence of Hilary Benn and Peter Ainsworth (environment secretary and shadow, respectively) from the site is not because they represent respectability and the protesters lawlessness; from their green rhetoric, at least, we can only imagine they are busy with holidays and whatnot. There is nothing, in other words, to make the police suppose they need to protect the right-thinking holidaymaker from the savage crusty. The protesters are far more likely to be civic-minded and law-abiding than the holidaymakers are. Protest does not necessarily mean disobedience, and disobeying BAA is unlikely to make you an enemy of society. It's amazing how long it's taking the Met to catch up with all this. Its protest guidelines should be discarded to the policing of times past, along with institutional racism and wooden truncheons. mszoewilliams at yahoo.co.uk http://www.guardian.co.uk/airlines/story/0,,2151409,00.html Attack of the baby eaters Shameless exaggerations of the climate protesters' dastardly plans have left us baffled at the camp George Monbiot Saturday August 18, 2007 The Guardian The allegations have been plaguing the Heathrow climate camp all week. They began in the Evening Standard: "Hoax bombs to cause alerts. Assaults on airport fence ... Protest leaders calling themselves 'The Elders' advised 'clashes with police will happen'." When I was asked on to Newsnight to discuss the issue of whether climate change is a greater threat than terrorism, we kept being dragged back to the hoax bombs. The story was later picked up across the media, including appearances in the Daily Mail and the Telegraph, and by Friday had been embellished with some lurid new quotes from the Metropolitan police in the Daily Express, which warned: "Extremist yobs hijack airport demo in plot to cause mayhem". All this has left us at the protest camp scratching our heads. The actions planned for tomorrow have been discussed openly at huge meetings. But nothing even resembling the schemes proposed by the Evening Standard has even been mooted. The campers will certainly be breaking the law by taking direct action - all protests can now be deemed unlawful - but they will be governed by strict non-violent principles. There are quite a few of us veterans here but age, sadly, confers no privileges: the camp is non-hierarchical, and no one has heard of "The Elders". There are plenty of anarchists, but the last thing they want is a ruck with the police, not least because - armed with nothing more than a sheaf of scientific papers - they would lose. As for scaling the perimeter fence, it has been ruled out on the grounds that we would probably be shot. Invading Heathrow's massive runways would put the lives of thousands at risk. So where did the story come from? It was, or so the byline claimed, written by Robert Mendick, the Evening Standard's chief reporter. One of the campers phoned Mr Mendick and asked him what was going on. "I'm very constrained about what I can say for various reasons," Mr Mendick replied. "Suffice to say I understand what you're saying and I can't go into it. Er, and I would further say it's, er, not something I was actually massively involved with and, er, I'll leave it at that." "What do you mean?" "... I really can't go into it." So what does he mean? Why is Mr Mendick unable to say where the claims in his story came from? How did he manage to write an article that he was not "massively involved with"? Is there a computer programme at the Evening Standard that composes reporters' articles on their behalf? I left messages for Mr Mendick yesterday but was unable to speak to him. Protests like this have two peculiar vulnerabilities. One is that anyone can claim to speak on their behalf, either in person or online, whether or not they are involved. The other is that anyone can say anything about them without fear of being corrected, let alone sued: accusations can be levelled at the collective that could not be directed at any of its members. As long as the claims remain in the plural, they can be stretched as far as public credulity will allow. During one roads protest in the 1990s we were accused of stabbing guards with hypodermic needles filled with blood, setting pit traps lined with metal spikes in the hope of catching and killing the police and arming ourselves with catapults and crossbows to take out the contractors: all nonsense, of course. Yet when some of us were hospitalised by guards (alongside several others, I had a bone broken during an unprovoked attack), most of the newspapers wouldn't touch the story for fear of being sued by the security firm. Scare stories about anarchist baby eaters are as old as protest. We can't prevent their publication - all we can ask is that you read them with the scepticism their authors failed to employ. http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/content/articles/2007/08/16/inside_climate_camp_feature.shtml Global City You are in: London > Features > My London > Global City > Inside the Climate Camp Inside the Climate Camp The week-long environmental protest near Heathrow, dubbed the climate camp, has been shrouded in secrecy. Media access has been restricted, however one of the protesters is giving BBC London an exclusive view of life inside the camp. Up to 2,000 people are expected at the Camp for Climate Action, which is demonstrating against airport expansion plans and aviation generally. The protester has agreed to keep BBC London up-to-date with the latest developments inside the camp. She has been inside the camp all week and wishes to remain anonymous. Update Four - 17/08/07 This is an experiment in self-government that I am privileged to witness. Call it anarchism, call it collectivism, call it what you like, but will it work? Can people govern themselves on a camp for one week? First thing: The length of the meetings is becoming increasingly annoying. They started off at about an hour, now they are running up to two hours each. It seems most of the day is taken up by non-stop meetings. This has reached farcical proportions because last night there was a meeting that went on from 6pm until 11pm with an interruption for George Monbiot's speech. The purpose of the meeting was to decide what mass action to take but at the end of the meeting the decision was identical to the decision arrived at the day before, which was that people may like to blockade BAA. Anyway, this is still being considered. There are meetings every morning but these go on interminably with interruptions. It all seems to centre on a system, which is designed not to allow voting but instead to allow collective decision making. The problem with this is that if you get just one person who blocks the decision then it falls and this happened last night. Just a handful of people blocked a decision which had been taken by about 250 people to agree that the BAA action was the mass action to take, but because of a handful of blocks it had to go back to being considered. So, marks for self-government: The jury's out. There is also the issue of camp discipline. This seemed to be going very well, but there was an incident this morning, involving a very drunk and tall gentleman with face paint who was going around interrupting all the meetings and annoying people. At first, a 'tranquility' team, this is a bunch of people who intervene and stop disputes, didn't turn up because no one could find them. Then, people tried to negotiate with this chap, and eventually it was left to a woman who jumped on him and tried to hold him down. He was marched out of the tent, but then he started wondering around the camp until eventually a bunch of men grabbed him and tried to escort him off the site. This then descended into farce when, this man, as he was being carried off the site started shouting, 'I want the police, get me the police.' After being carried off the site he was last seen being intercepted by the police, much to the relief of camp organisers. There have also been some reports of possible fighting involving locals on the site, but this is unconfirmed. The question for collective-anarchism is what to do about this? How can they police themselves and how can they police others who are causing trouble? Are they allowed to use force to control violence when the police are not here? This is a social experiment still in progress and the meetings continue. Update Three - 16/08/07 Police helicopters are flying above us. There are some people here wondering whether the police know the timings of the workshops and meetings and are doing it deliberately. The white noise is drowning out discussion to the irritation of some. A few of the inhabitants have also noticed the police increasing their presence along the borders of the camp, especially close to the airport. Update Two - 16/08/07 There is much concern on the camp about an incident yesterday when a group left to join what they had been told was a protest at Hatton Cross organised by the locals. They soon discovered that the locals hadn't organised a demonstration and when they left the camp they were rapidly rounded up by police and corralled. They claim they were then marched off by police in this corral to cause an obstruction on the Bath Road, which was then reported by the media as the first evidence of the demonstrators disrupting passengers' lives. There seems to be a feeling on the camp now that the police are manipulating them and did this deliberately to make them look bad. So we are in the process of setting up our own group called 'Cop Watch' which is going to monitor the police activities in some way. There is also some delight among the activists for an action taking place today at two private airports, I think they are, Farnborough and Biggin Hill. The camp has been told that this is down to small groups of independent people who may, or may not, have come from here. What's going on at the moment? Several more meetings narrowing down the options for the mass action that is due to take place at noon for 24 hours on Sunday. There is also some concern here about what to do if the police do decide to close down the camp. At the moment the plan is to resist peacefully. As for the eco-side of the camp, there are a lot of well-intentioned people here who sincerely believe that they are out to save the world from destruction and a lot of effort has been put into constructing eco-friendly activities. So, let's go through and mark them: POWER Pass: There several wind-turbines on the camp providing power. At night a lot of car batteries come out to provide light in many of tents, although it's been said that these have been charged by solar panels and the wind turbines. SANITATION Possible Pass: The toilets involve urinating on a hay bale (which eventually start to smell like a rabbit hutch, which have not been cleaned out for months) and also making deposits in a wheelie bin. All this is meant to be used for compost, but where will it go? WATER Possible Fail: At the moment the only water on the site, we are told, is being taken from a fire hydrant and there are signs on the back saying that this may be of questionable quality, although people are continuing to drink it. But where does this water come from? It obviously takes energy to bring on to the site. FOOD Pass: Much of the food is vegan. In fact, there is a camp-wide policy to have vegan food on the basis that this consumes less energy. Possible fail: However, mixed in with this food is soya milk, which is a product of industry. Also, some people have been handing out Belgian chocolates. And there have been regular trips outside the camp to find beer to drink. Update One - 15/08/07 This whole camp is run on meetings. There are hundreds of them. Somehow everything from washing up to the toilet rota has been worked out. a.. email: yourlondon at bbc.co.uk I have been waiting for some time now for something interesting to happen. The mass action being planned for Sunday has been hotly debated and has been changed several times. Over several hours at a conference in a tent activists discussed various options. Now Lord Clive Soley can breathe easy. The plan for a mass demonstration in his back garden has been axed. The most popular plan to date is to bring BAA HQ and Heathrow to a standstill. Conveniently this is only a 800 metres away from the camp. The activists here are a pretty cheerful bunch, some of whom are veterans of the G8 Parliament Square demonstrations. The question remains how all the activists are going to physically get out of the site. Let us know what you think about the climate camp protests. Your Views I have just watched BBC News @ 13.00hrs and also your london news. The Broadcaster talked about the demonstrations at Biggin Hill & Heathrow. As a resident in the area, it is not just about Climate change but also about between 700 to 1000 homes being destroyed, 12,000 to 15,000 people being displaced, is it possible for you to report more accurately & not what BAA want you to believe. 1 Aircraft produces more pollution than many cars but it would seem that cars are to blame. I am about to lose my home, I am 72 yrs & my wife 66 yrs of age, where do we go? Tell me, into a home? http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6943084.stm Last Updated: Sunday, 12 August 2007, 17:21 GMT 18:21 UK E-mail this to a friend Printable version Heathrow protesters set up camp Protesters will attend a week of activities A climate change protest camp is being set up outside Heathrow airport, two days earlier than had been expected. Thousands of protesters are expected this week at the Camp for Climate Action, which opposes the expansion of London's biggest airport. About 150 campaigners have begun building a camp less than a kilometre outside the airport's perimeter. In response, airport operator BAA warned it would not allow passengers to be "harassed or obstructed". Protesters from the UK and abroad are planning a week of demonstrations which will highlight what they claim are the links between climate change and aviation. 'Direct action' A "mass direct action" is scheduled for next Sunday and a website supporting the camp has promised acts of "civil disobedience". HEATHROW AIRPORT 67.7m passengers each year 469,560 flights each year 68,000 employees Four terminals, two runways Terminal 5 set to open 2008 Organisers say that a "temporary eco-village" has been set up near the villages of Sipson and Harlington - between the M4 motorway and the airport's northern perimeter. Protesters claim that the growth in air travel is a major factor in greenhouse gas emissions. "Holding the camp at Heathrow aims to highlight the lunacy of the government's airport expansion plans," says a statement from campaigners. Gemma Davis, a spokeswoman for the Camp for Climate Change, told the BBC that the intention was not to delay holidaymakers. "We're not here to try to disrupt passengers, we're here to try to disrupt BAA," she said. There are reports that the site, only 800 metres from BAA's Heathrow headquarters, was occupied by a group of protesters overnight. 'Irresponsible' A police spokesman said that about 150 people have set up camp at a sports ground belonging to Imperial College London - and that the protest was peaceful. The camp will culminate in a day of protest Airport operator, BAA, has warned against protests which could be a dangerous distraction at a time of heightened security fears. Last week, BAA won a High Court ruling banning certain protesters from Heathrow - but the injunction does not prevent the setting up of the camp. "With the current terrorism threat, keeping Heathrow safe and secure is a very serious business. Any action taken by the protestors that distracts us or the police from this task is irresponsible and unlawful," said Mark Bullock, BAA Heathrow's managing director. "Around 1.5 million passengers are due to pass through Heathrow during the week of climate camp, many of them families on their summer holidays. "It is our responsibility to ensure that we do everything we can to guarantee their safety and comfort during this very busy period." The protesters have also been joined by a local resident, James Payne, who says that uncertainty about the future expansion of the airport had prevented him from selling his house. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6947540.stm 'Tension growing' at climate camp Policing levels have now returned to normal at the camp A week-long climate change protest near Heathrow airport is continuing amid signs of growing tension between campaigners and police. An attempt to increase police numbers has been blocked and a woman arrested after gluing herself to a gate. Scotland Yard said its four officers at the camp had met with opposition and more staff had been sent in as support. The protesters want Heathrow's planned expansion halted because they say it will contribute to climate change. Map of proposed Heathrow expansion and climate camp Organisers said more than 100 demonstrators prevented about 30 officers from entering the camp overnight. Timothy Lever, a spokesman for the camp, said: "A large number of police attempted to break into the camp and they were peacefully removed by a large crowd of protesters with their hands in the air who gradually moved the police away. "The police gave us no warning and did not say why they were coming on the site. They did it after the media left." Scotland Yard said a uniformed forward intelligence team met opposition from some of the members of the camp, and more officers were sent in support. A statement said: "Police worked with the camp liaison to resolve the issue. Policing levels have now returned to the normal patrolling officers." Protester Penny Eastwood, of Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, was arrested on suspicion of criminal damage after she glued her hand to a metal gate on the edge of the camp. Groups banned Organisers say 550 people have now joined the camp - between the M4 motorway and the airport's northern perimeter in west London - and expect up to 2,000 people to take part in the protest this weekend. About 1,800 officers from Surrey police, Thames Valley police, the Metropolitan police, and British Transport Police will oversee the event. Airport operator BAA has obtained an High Court injunction banning certain protest groups from the airport. Organisers of the protest say the first few days will be taken up with 100 workshops on issues ranging from campaigning skills to practical training on how to take direct action. But a website supporting the camp has also promised acts of "civil disobedience". Police say the protesters are on the site - a sports ground belonging to Imperial College London - illegally. The campaigners insist they cannot be evicted without a court order so long as no criminal damage is committed. A fifth terminal will open at Heathrow in March 2008 and a new runway has been proposed by the government for about 2020. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/hampshire/6949076.stm Climate change protest at airport The airport is operating normally despite the protest Climate change campaigners are staging a protest outside Farnborough Airport in Hampshire. A spokesman for Hampshire Constabulary said that about 18 people were taking part in the peaceful protest outside the airport. "They are causing minimum disruption to the services," the spokesman said. It is believed the protesters are linked to the Camp for Climate Action involving more than 500 people at Heathrow Airport. Farnborough airport chief executive Brandon O'Reilly said: "We have about 10 or 11 chaps lying on the ground in front of one of the security gates, but the airport is operating normally. "It's a peaceful protest. The police are here and there is no trouble." Farnborough, which hosts a major international air show every two years, has about 100 flights a day involving private jets. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: 378539.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 39482 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: 378139.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 7631 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... 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Name: _44061515_protest203.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 21277 bytes Desc: not available URL: From ldxar1 at tesco.net Sat Aug 18 02:26:16 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Sat, 18 Aug 2007 10:26:16 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] EL SALVADOR: Attempt to criminalise water protesters as terrorists - protests continue Message-ID: <002b01c7e179$d448c620$0202a8c0@andy1> NOTE: the El Salvador protest link is dead, but I managed to find the article anyway. And yes, human rights activists really are comparing British policing to notorious Latin American regimes. The protesters accused have now been released on bail; solidarity protests have been held in El Salvador and elsewhere. see also: http://www.cispes.org/ --------------------------------------------- Terrorizing Social Protest http://writ.lp.findlaw.com/mariner/20070815.html By JOANNE MARINER Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2007 A disturbing trend is afoot. In the past couple of months, in two countries, governments have relied on broadly-worded terrorism laws to put down social protests. Political demonstrators in El Salvador and London have found police deploying a new weapon against them: laws designed to prevent and punish terrorism. In the town of Suchitoto, El Salvador, during a mass demonstration in early July against a water decentralization plan, fourteen protesters were arrested and charged with terrorism. At London's Heathrow Airport this week, police have been relying on stop-and-search powers contained in a recent terrorism law to control a huge demonstration against global warming. A government document made public last Saturday warned that police would employ their counterterrorism powers to deal "robustly" with any illegal protests. The demonstrators in El Salvador threw rocks at police and blocked roads, and some minority of participants in the ongoing Heathrow protest may also break the law. But the police already have plenty of legal authority to arrest demonstrators who disrupt flight schedules or damage property; their use of counterterrorism legislation is sheer opportunism. Political protesters are not terrorists, as police and prosecutors well know. Yet it seems that the broad authorities granted under recent counterterrorism laws are too tempting to resist. Why would state officials respect normal criminal law rules when they can instead employ laws that offer sweeping powers, few procedural safeguards, and harsh penalties? Conduct "Genuinely of a Terrorist Nature" Both the British and Salvadoran counterterrorism laws are written in broad language that invites police and prosecutorial misuse. In this respect, unfortunately, they are not all that different from many other countries' counterterrorism legislation. More than 50 governments have passed counterterrorism laws in the past six years -- many of them poorly written, filled with open-ended language, and vulnerable to misuse. The UN counterterrorism expert recently discussed the question of defining conduct that is "genuinely of a terrorist nature." He explained that the concept of terrorism should be understood to include only those acts committed "with the intention of causing death or serious bodily injury, or the taking of hostages," and "for the purpose of provoking a state of terror, intimidating a population, or compelling a government or international organization to do or abstain from doing any act." "That an act is criminal," he emphasized, "does not, by itself, make it a terrorist act." Few counterterrorism laws are as narrowly drawn as he and other experts recommend. Indeed, some of these laws are so broad that they easily cover political protests. They tend to cover a set of acts -- not necessarily violent acts -- requiring only that the acts be carried out for an enumerated, "terrorist" purpose. Reading the terms of these laws, there is good reason to fear that acts of political dissent could wrongly be deemed terrorist in a number of countries. In Azerbaijan, for example, acts that inflict "significant damage to property," or (an interesting catch-all category) cause "other socially dangerous consequences," can be prosecuted as terrorist, as long as they are carried out with the goal of requiring state authorities to comply with the perpetrator's demands. Other countries' definitions are similarly broad. Since social protest is almost always meant as a form of political pressure -- that is, a means of compelling state authorities to change their policies -- the purpose requirement of such counterterrorism laws will almost always be met. And so the possibility of arbitrary enforcement of such laws is very real. Placards Not Bombs With fears of terrorism high, many governments now have tough counterterrorism laws at their disposal. But while the extraordinary powers granted to police and other state authorities under these laws are publicly defended by reference to the threat of terrorism, some of the actual conduct they apply to has little connection to the problem. Governments apparently need to be reminded: political protesters are not terrorists. Rock-throwers are not suicide attackers. People carrying placards are not people carrying bombs. --- Joanne Mariner is a human rights lawyer based in New York. Her previous columns on terrorism and human rights are contained in FindLaw's archive. Readers who would like more information about El Salvador's prosecution of political protesters should visit Human Rights Watch's website, at http://hrw.org/english/docs/2007/07/31/elsalv16545.htm. If convicted, the defendants will face 10 to 15 years in prison. ------------------------------------------------- http://hrw.org/english/docs/2007/07/31/elsalv16545.htm El Salvador: Terrorism Law Misused Against Protesters Salvadoran Legislature Should Amend Overbroad Law Against Terrorism (Washington, DC, July 31, 2007) - The government of El Salvador should dismiss terrorism charges brought against protesters who allegedly blocked roads and threw stones at a July 2 demonstration, Human Rights Watch said today. Blocking roads and throwing rocks may well be crimes, but they're not acts of terrorism. The Salvadoran government can legitimately prosecute protesters who break the law, but it should not misuse counterterrorism legislation against less serious crimes. Jos? Miguel Vivanco, Americas director of Human Rights Watch On July 2, a public protest in the Suchitoto municipality against a national plan to decentralize water distribution ended in a violent confrontation between police and protesters. Protesters blocked public roads and threw rocks at police, while police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters. Police also alleged that protesters fired shots, although none of the press coverage of the demonstration mentioned that protesters were shooting. Fourteen people were arrested and subsequently charged with "terrorism": 10 of them were charged on the basis of alleged involvement in the roadblocks and rock-throwing, and three others on the basis of additional claims that they used firearms against police. (Charges against the remaining defendant, who allegedly interfered with police operations, were provisionally dropped.) An appellate court sustained the charges against the 13 defendants, but found that the firearms allegations were not even minimally supported by the evidence. If convicted, the defendants will face 10 to 15 years in prison. "Blocking roads and throwing rocks may well be crimes, but they're not acts of terrorism," said Jos? Miguel Vivanco, Americas director of Human Rights Watch. "The Salvadoran government can legitimately prosecute protesters who break the law, but it should not misuse counterterrorism legislation against less serious crimes." Although the international community has not agreed on a precise definition of terrorism, it is widely understood that the term applies only to the most serious crimes of political violence, directed at instilling fear in the population in order to achieve a political goal: "the peacetime equivalent of a war crime," in the words of United Nations Terrorism Prevention Branch expert A.P. Schmid. El Salvador's use of terrorism charges for less serious crimes allegedly committed during a political protest is inappropriate and represents a misuse of counterterrorism legislation. El Salvador's Special Law Against Acts of Terrorism, which entered into force in November 2006, does not include an explicit definition of terrorism. The closest the law comes to defining terrorism is in Article 1, which provides that the purpose of the law is to prevent and punish crimes that "by their form of execution, or means and methods employed, evidence the intention to provoke a state of alarm, fear or terror in the population, by putting in imminent danger or affecting peoples' life or physical or mental integrity, or their valuable material goods, or the democratic system or security of the State, or international peace." The provision used in the present case purports to criminalize "acts of terrorism against the lives, physical integrity or liberty of public officials and internationally protected persons," but it makes no reference to terrorism in its operative language. Nor does it require showing that the prohibited act provoked a state of alarm or terror in the population (Article 5). Instead, the part of the provision used against the 13 defendants simply criminalizes actions aimed at "destroying or damaging" the belongings of government officials. The provision covers a wide variety of acts that do not fall within any reasonable definition of terrorism. The counterterrorism law contains other overbroad provisions as well. Besides criminalizing incitement of terrorism, Article 8 of the law imposes a sentence of five to 10 years on anyone who publicly justifies terrorism. Article 6 prescribes a prison sentence of 25 to 30 years for people who participate in "taking or occupying, in whole or in part" a city, town, public or private building, or a variety of other locations, through the use of weapons, explosives or "similar articles," when these acts "affect ... the normal development of the functions or activities" of the inhabitants or other users of the location. Again, this provision criminalizes a variety of actions that do not fall within any reasonable definition of terrorism. Human Rights Watch called on the Salvadoran legislature to amend its counterterrorism law to ensure that it is only applicable to certain very dangerous acts that are committed with the requisite intent and could thus be reasonably deemed acts of terrorism. In addition, the legislature should amend or repeal several provisions of the law, including articles 5, 6 and 8, which are vague and overbroad, and which prescribe sentences that are disproportionate to many of the crimes they encompass. Human Rights Watch also called on the Salvadoran authorities to put in place safeguards to prevent inappropriate use of the counterterrorism legislation instead of ordinary criminal law, in particular where such use could be politically motivated. ----------------------------------------------------- http://www.worldpress.org/Americas/2873.cfm El Salvador Privatizing Water and the Criminalization of Protest Jason Wallach NACLA News July 24, 2007 Supporters of the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) march during a protest in front of the special court of San Salvador to demand for the liberation of 14 people accused of terrorism in the aftermath of a demonstration against the government's plan to decentralize the drinking water supply. (Photo: Jose Cabezas / AFP-Getty Images) Last year, when residents in Santa Eduviges entered their second month without running water, everyone knew something had to be done. A town assembly was called. Community members expressed outrage that the water company's $7 per month bill always arrived on time, but taps barely flowed. When they did, the liquid that came out was an ugly brown. In the assembly, anger quickly turned toward system operator Roberto Saprissa. He received the money, but was doing nothing to fix the system's problems. They complained that service under Saprissa was deficient and polluted. Despite a number of meetings with government officials, the company simply did not respond. The community discussed the issue and came to a decision. They demanded the de-privatization of the town water system and its management to be put under the control of the national water agency, ANDA (Administraci?n Nacional de Acueductos y Alcantarillados). Last year, when residents in Santa Eduviges entered their second month without running water, everyone knew something had to be done. A town assembly was called. Community members expressed outrage that the water company's $7 per month bill always arrived on time, but taps barely flowed. When they did, the liquid that came out was an ugly brown. In the assembly, anger quickly turned toward system operator Roberto Saprissa. He received the money, but was doing nothing to fix the system's problems. They complained that service under Saprissa was deficient and polluted. Despite a number of meetings with government officials, the company simply did not respond. The community discussed the issue and came to a decision. They demanded the de-privatization of the town water system and its management to be put under the control of the national water agency, ANDA (Administraci?n Nacional de Acueductos y Alcantarillados). Days later, residents of this small community near the San Salvador suburb of Soyapango, overtook the Gold Highway that leads into the capital. Young and old occupied the busy thoroughfare from the morning rush until 6 p.m. The community made their demand clear: "Give us clean water and put our system under government control." That evening, police fired tear gas to dislodge the crowd and arrested five people. Eventually the government dropped the charges and released the five residents arrested during the protests. The community won a rare victory: the water system was put firmly under government control. But all that may soon change. While dozens of communities in El Salvador have occupied roads demanding water service, the particular conflict that confronted this village of 300 people - and their unusual demand - stands to be repeated now that right-wing deputies in El Salvador's Legislative Assembly are threatening to pass a controversial General Water Law. The legislation calls for water administration to shift from the national to the municipal level and requires local governments to sign over water management through "concessions" - or contracts with private firms - for up to 50 years. The proposed law has become a lightning rod for opposition from community groups and social organizations who say it amounts to a privatization of the country's water system. Critics of privatization argue that keeping the water under state-management through the ANDA is the lesser among various evils. The national entity is mired in corruption and bribery scandals and has been the target of extreme budget cuts by Salvadoran President Antonio Saca. Its budget was slashed 15 percent in 2005, falling to its lowest level this decade - a perplexing reduction in a country where 40 percent of rural Salvadorans have no access to potable water. While it is clear that the state-run ANDA isn't the smoothest-sailing ship in the sea, many believe it remains the most accessible and accountable entity for communities with an urgent need for water. ANDA workers responsible for repairing water systems agree. They say they want to work, but accuse the government of engaging a plan to discredit the agency and thus, justify the privatization as a solution to poor service. "People complain about ANDA's slow response time," says Wilfredo Romero, General Secretary at SETA, the union of ANDA workers. "But delays don't happen because workers don't want to work; we do. But to make repairs, we need an assignment order from management." Those orders, charges SETA's International Relations Secretary Jorge Ren? Cordoba, "are prioritized for systems that are planned to be concessioned off. The rest have to wait their turn." SETA members explain that municipalities who reject water concessions are put at the end of the line. As a result, service has slowed to a crawl in San Salvador, where Mayor Violeta Menj?var from the FMLN political party opposes concessioning the city's water services. SETA took out half-page ads in the nation's two biggest daily newspapers opposing the General Water Law, which according to the ad, "would privatize water and condemn thousands of our compatriots to suffer thirst for the inability to pay." SETA members point to the devastating results of the recent privatizations of the country's telecommunications and electricity sectors, which led to the firing of thousands of workers. Many of these workers were forced to re-apply for the same jobs at half the pay with none of the state-provided benefits. The average ANDA worker currently makes about $300 month. "If we take the electricity sector and telecommunications as guides, privatization has meant higher rates, lower quality, less access, and less sovereign control over public services," says Krista Hanson of the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES). Privately run water concessions in Latin America have a terrible track record. The most notorious example occurred with a project imposed by the World Bank in Cochabamba, Bolivia. The Bank made delivery of a loan conditional on the privatization of the country's largest water systems. When the Cochabamba water services concession ran by the U.S.-based Bechtel Corporation raised household water bills by 200 percent, it sparked a civil uprising that forced the company to leave the country and the water system was put under public control. After Cochabamba, the World Bank retired the word "privatization" and replaced it with terms like "concessions" and "decentralization," or "private sector participation." But critics say whatever the euphemism, the end result is the same: higher rates, lower quality, and less access. In El Salvador the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), a division of the World Bank, approved loan 0068-ES, "Reform Program For the Water Sector and the Potable Water and Sanitation Sub-sector" in 1998. The main function of the loan was to transfer state-run water companies "under a decentralization of services with private sector participation." The IDB directed $36 million of the loan for the "promotion of such private sector participation (PSP) using specialized consultants to give support and financial advice to the government towards the effective organization of PSP schemes." It was one of these new "schemes" President Saca planned to announce on July 2 in Suchitoto 28 miles northeast of San Salvador. The speech was meant to inaugurate a "national decentralization policy," including water administration. Saca arrived by helicopter and was quickly shuffled off in a limo to an elite resort area on Lake Suchitoto to make his announcement, but hundreds of invited dignitaries, including the Japanese Ambassador never got there. Road blockades guarded by unionists, grassroots organizations and community residents against the plan prevented their arrival. Militarized police swat teams attacked the peaceful protestors with tear gas and rubber bullets. Among the 14 people arrested, were Marta Lorena Araujo and Rosa Mar?a Centeno the president and vice-president, respectively, of the Association for the Development of El Salvador (CRIPDES), a widely respected grassroots organization. Araujo, Centeno and two other CRIPDES representatives rode in a red pick-up truck toward the protest in Suchitoto when police pulled them over and arrested them near the community of Milingo. The driver was accused with assaulting a police officer, though footage of his arrest proves he put up no resistance to the needlessly aggressive officers. "More than anything, this was a kidnapping," charged Julio C?sar Portillo, husband of the jailed Araujo. "With it, the government is sending a political message: 'Don't protest.'" Charges of "Acts of Terrorism" will stand against thirteen of the fourteen defendants. Judge Ana Lucila Fuentes de Paz of the Special Tribunal of San Salvador also denied bail for the jailed activists, who will have to wait up to 90 days in El Salvador's notoriously harsh and crowded jails while prosecutors gather evidence for trial. Fuentes de Paz threw out "Public Disorder" and "Illicit Association" charges against all the defendants, because prosecutors failed to provide evidence. A fourteenth defendant, Facundo Garc?a, had all charges dropped. Fuentes said Garc?a had only sought to aid those being arrested, which did not constitute a crime. After more than two weeks in jail, a review panel of judges allowed the conditional release of four more defendants on July 20, but the charges against them still stand. The "Suchitoto 13" are being charged with "terrorism" through the draconian "Special Law Against Acts of Terrorism" (SLAAT) passed after a sniper killed two police officers during a protest in July of last year. Activists say the application of the SLAAT confirms their warnings that the law would be used to criminalize protest and silence dissent. Amnesty International decisively condemned the detentions: "[Amnesty] fears the detentions were carried out to punish people for participating in the legitimate protests and to inhibit similar acts in the future." Demonstrations erupted against the detentions with protesters calling the 13 detainees El Salvador's first political prisoners since Peace Accords were signed in 1992. A July 4 statement signed by more than 60 Salvadoran social organizations demanded an immediate release of all detainees. Barring that, they exhorted respect for the physical integrity of the accused by state authorities. The demands were made in the wake of reports police had threatened to throw some detainees out of a transport helicopter as it hung over Lake Suchitoto the day of the arrests. Such threats resonate deeply here, with state-sponsored human rights atrocities of the civil war still fresh in people's minds. Meanwhile, U.S. solidarity organizations backed a wide range of Salvadoran groups demanding guarantees for the physical integrity of the arrestees, and for their immediate release. The Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES) added a call for the repeal of the anti-terrorism law. "If the U.S. government publicly supported the approval of the anti-terrorism law, as they did, then they should denounce it when it is being applied for political purposes," said Hanson, who is Program Director for the New York-based CISPES. Representatives from the U.S.-El Salvador Sister Cities organization announced that efforts to launch a "Dear Colleague" letter in the Congress had netted two co-sponsors. They said final wording of the letter was finished and that the group would start trying to enlist Congressional co-signers in the coming weeks. ---------------------------------------------------- http://www.cispes.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=260&Itemid=28 Organizations Mobilize Against Repression and "Terrorism" Charges on Romero's Birthday Thursday, 16 August 2007 On Wednesday, August 15 - the day that would have been Monse?or Romero's 90th birthday - the social movement of El Salvador celebrated his stand against repression by marching through the streets of the capital. A procession went from the Hospital de la Divina Providencia, the site of Romero's assassination, to the National Cathedral in downtown San Salvador. In reaction to the climate of increased government repression of social organizing and protest, the demonstrators demanded an end to repression and concentrated in front of the downtown Cathedral, where Romero is buried. The activity concluded with a mass offered in memory of Romero and his work - hundreds of people came from social organizations, historic ecclesiastic communities and the Romero Foundation which continues to work for the canonization of Romero. Before his assassination by right-wing death squads in March, 1980, Romero said, "It frightens me, brothers and sisters, when repressive laws and violent attitudes remove the legitimate ways people have to express themselves." Yesterday's activity was also motivated by the release on bail this past July 29 of the 9 remaining prisoners captured in Suchitoto on past July 2. While people are celebrating the momentary victory of their provisional release, the action also called attention to the fact that the terrorism charges are still being applied despite national and international opposition. All 14 accused of terrorism will go to trial the first days of October. FMLN and social organizations maintain their support to the prisoners and their families, continuing to organize and mobilize so that the charges are dropped. Criminalizing Protest the "legal" way: Reforms to Penal Code Under intense national and international pressure, President Saca and his cabinet have been making contradictory and diluted statements about the terrorism charges against the 14 Suchitoto protestors. Saca is now saying that it is important to make a distinction between "public disorder" and acts of terrorism, although his Fiscal General (chief state investigator), Garrid Safie, continues to insist that that terrorism charges be applied. President Saca is moving forward to ensure that even if protestors are found guilty of lesser crimes than "terrorism" that they still spend years in jail. Saca has been pushing ARENA and other right wing deputies in the Legislative Assembly to approve a series of reforms to the Penal Code, including "public disorder" and the newly created crime of "attacks against public peace." Both legal changes would further criminalize protests by making common protest tactics punishable with 2-10 years of imprisonment. For example, two or more people who block a road in a "dangerous manner" could go to prison for three to five years under these reforms, and anyone who gathers in front of a hospital - presumably to protest the privatization of health care - can go to jail for a maximum of ten years. This last reform to the Penal Code may be in response to the increasing mobilizing against the steps Saca is taking towards the privatization of both water and health. Security Minister Rene Figueroa has been unusually frank in speaking with media, saying that "our interest is that those that are rebellious be punished; they must be punished, either with the Anti-terrorism law or the Penal Code." The FMLN deputies in the National Assembly are opposing the reforms, saying they are a tactic by the ARENA government to "silence the will of the people" and eliminate dissent. Death Squads in the National Civil Police On July 29, Sergeant Nelson Antonio Arriaza Delgado, head of the Criminal Investigation Unit of the National Civilian Police (PNC) of San Miguel, was arrested by the armed forces for the murder of Amado Garc?a, and he is also suspected of ties to extortionists in the region. Also arrested were Carlos Ch?vez Hidalgo, an ex-PNC agent implicated in this murder and others, and Rember Rolando Mart?nez, a civilian accused of involvement in the death of Garc?a. The PNC has admitted that they suspect members of the Division of Investigations have been involved in extrajudicial homicides, and that they have relationships with "delinquent groups." The FMLN has called for an investigation into this matter, citing the 2006 report of the governmental Human Rights Office (PDDH) which stated the existence of death squads in the country, and documented police participation within these groups. Irma Amaya, and FMLN deputy, stated her belief that the PNC "has been politicized, because its director is a militant of the official party..dedicated to promoting defamation campaigns against other sectors instead of investigating these cases fully and professionally." FMLN legislator Benito Lara has demanded an investigation into the PNC by the National Assembly. The president of the non-governmental Human Rights Commission of El Salvador (CDHES) has presented a denouncement to the Inspector General of the PNC, calling for an investigation of this matter by the PDDH as well as a second investigation by both the PDDH and the United Nations Torture Commission into police brutality and extra-judicial torture. A number of businesses are accused of backing this practice by paying or otherwise compelling "hit men" - be they police or civilian - to carry out these crimes. One such businessman, Domingo Saravia, is being investigated for involvement with a death squad in which the participation of PNC members is presumed. PNC Director Rodrigo ?vila says that at this time Saravia has not been accused of financing criminal structures but that there is an investigation. While the FMLN and social movement are calling for a real investigation and an end to the impunity of these organized death squad-like groups, ARENA officials are trying to brush this new information under the rug by claiming it is an isolated incident. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: leftquote.gif Type: image/gif Size: 164 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: rightquote.gif Type: image/gif Size: 160 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: 20070724-water-protest.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 42373 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... 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Name: romero_bday.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 76562 bytes Desc: not available URL: From ldxar1 at tesco.net Sun Aug 19 05:16:29 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Sun, 19 Aug 2007 13:16:29 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] SIKKIM/INDIA: Sikkim hunger strike against mega hydel projects enters 60 days, Chief Minister unleashes vicious campaign Message-ID: <00e201c7e25a$c6d3ece0$0202a8c0@andy1> ----- Original Message ----- From: Sushovan Dhar On the 15th of August when the whole country celebrated 60th anniversary of independence, two young hunger strikers in Sikkim, Dawa Lepcha and Tshering Lepcha completed their 57th day of protestfast in Gangtok, Sikkim.The fasting duo, members of the Affected Citizens of Teesta (ACT) are onhunger strike from June 20, 2007, along with other members, protestingagainst the indifferent attitude shown by the Sikkim Government towardsthe issues and concerns raised by the people of north Sikkim and theinhabitants of Dzongu, a Lepcha Reserve in particular.Their current demand that the State Government constitutes a ReviewCommittee and all ongoign construction works on hydel projects bestopped pending the report submitted by the Review Committee have notben fulfilled yet. Although, the Government promised to constitute sucha Committee, neither it has been notified nor any discussion took placeon who will be the members of the Committee and who will head it. ACThas demanded that the Committee be headed by a well known, politicallyindependent person and fifty percent of the members of the Committeeshould be acceptable to ACT.Thus the stalemate continues while the health of the protesting duodeteriorates.A total of 26 mega hydel projects randing from 150 MW to 1200 MW havebeen proposed in Sikkim, ten of them on the Teesta river itelf, andeight of these are proposed in north Sikkim within the area ofKhanchenzjonga Biosphere Reserve, home to peace loving Lepchas, aprimitive community, endangered flora and fauna, a biodiversity hotspot,falling under severe earthquake prone zone IV and dotted by hundreds oflandslides and landslips. The area is also sacred to the Lepchas, thelast of their ancestral homeland.The information on the hunger strike, views of the people of Sikkim andthose from the rest of India and abroad, and a lot of documentaion onthe proposed hydel projects, impacts and about the region have beendisseminated through a dynamic blog at *weepingsikkim.blogspot.com* from the day 1 of the hungerstrike. Without this blog, we would have never learnt so much on theissue and the news of the protest.Please visit weepingsikkim.blogspot.com *Pawan Chamling unleashes vicious campaign against ACT borderinginsinuation and personal vendetta*While the stalemate continues in to the 60th day, during the last weekprior tot he independence day, Pawan Chamling, the Chief Minister ofSikkim, and the leader of the Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) hasunleashed a vicious campaign and a scathing attack on the peacefulprotestors unparalled in the political history of Sikkim.Even those who sent messages of support and solidarity to ACT andappealed to the CM for speedy resolution of the impasse have not beenspared. Our friends who have called up the CM and Governor's office havebeen misbehaved with over the telephone.The following paragraphs are quoted from Chamling's recent IndependenceDay speech and the Press Releases issued by the SDF.The press release of Sikkim Democratic Front has cautioned nationalintelligence agencies against a cyber-war launched as "Weepingsikkim"website launched from Sikkim and alleged anti-national andanti-development work is campaigning through website. SDF further addedthat promoter of ' *weepingsikkim'* Pemzang Tenzing engaged in cyberactivities that amounts to anti-national activities.The Affected Citizens of Teesta who have not only failed to comprehendthe right spirit and values and meaning of 'SatyaGraha' as identifiedand taught by Gandhiji who undertook it to free India from clutches offoreign powers. Here in Sikkim same is misused for wrong purposes thatstands for anti-Sikkim policies.Chief Minister told the massive gathering at Palzor Stadium on theIndependence Day that a cyber warfare is launched through"WeepingSikkim"website by Pemzang Tenzing who just added lepcha to hissurname by engaging into anti-national and anti-development work throughcyber campaign.He further added that promoter of 'weepingSikkim' PemzangTenzing has collected Rs.40 lakhs from state government towards landcompensation towards his land for hydel projects and now devoted toactivities that amounts to anti-national activities.Testen Lepcha who isChief Co-ordinator of ACT is general secretary of SPCC although he sayshe resigned from the post and President of ACT Athup Lepcha became aMinister in Sikkim Government on slogan'Return of Sikkim from India'.All these people are political people and therefore how can ACT benon-political organisation as they term it.Even Lepcha Priest (Bonthing) who was made to join hunger strike for aday was paid Rs.10000/-by way of settling his loan in a Mangan Bank by ACT.The Outsiders are trying to disturb the Peace in Sikkim.If the peace isdisturbed and threatned than Police would be its first casuality as itwould the force that would have to fight it out the insurgency of anykinds therefore Sikkim Police is one of the most happiest and stressfree force should timely contend these forces and find out who arepeople spreading communal hatred through pamphlets.Further, he requestedbusiness community in state to not to give support and financialpatronage to anti-sikkim and anti-developement forces who are solelymotivated to disturb peace in state.Sikkim chief minister Pawan Chamling today warned that "outsideinterference" in the internal affairs of the state will not be tolerated.The chief minister was addressing a meeting organised by the rulingSikkim Democratic Front (SDF) at the Guards' Ground in Tathangchen heretoday.Prior to the meeting, the SDF took out vehicle rallies from all over thestate that converged on the capital in a show of strength. The rallieswere aimed at silencing the Opposition in the wake of protests againsthydel power projects in the Lepcha reserve of Dzongu and elsewhere inthe state. All senior leaders of the party, legislators and cabinetministers attended the meeting.Chamling's scathing critique made obvious references to the supportextended to members of Affected Citizens of Teesta (ACT) by CPM leaderand Bengal minister Asok Bhattacharya and the Lepcha organisations ofDarjeeling.In the course of his three-hour speech Chamling also came down heavilyon ACT alleging that the organisation was just a front for such outsideforces. "There is only a handful of people from Dzongu are taking partin the hunger strike. The rest are all outsiders," he said.Chief Minister Dr. Chamling while commenting on ACT told the massivegathering that ACT is front of a group of political minded people whohave all come together to use platform of NGO for their politicalambitions and Lepchas associated with these organisations are not fromDzongu but from across the border of Sikkim and are raising crores ofrupees from different sources in the name of environment, lepchas andDzongu. The public faces of ACT are not in the control of ACT as theyare being guided by people with mask and behind curtains with politicalmotives. He said, "Hunger Strike is a method chosen by ACT to collectcrores of rupees from various sources".*From weeping sikkim blog*Just yesterday, I received a communication from the administrator of theblog mentioning that*"Yesterday on Independence day, nobody was spared in the aggressivespeech and not even weepingsikkim.blogspot.com!!! You can read more on the speech on **www.sikkimnews.blogspot.com ** It's reached a point where i may be handing over the blog to someoneelse because i fear things here. Its sadly not a democracy here inSikkim, its a fascist state."****What can we do?*The precent situation cannot continue like this...with the Governmentnot willing to honour the demands, the health of the hunger strikersdeteriorating, and above all there is an apparent move to exploit thedemographic divide against the Lepchas and Bhutias.Hundreds of appeals have reached the government to which it seems to beinsensitive. The appeals have also reached the Prime Minister and thePresident both from India and abroad.The citizens of this country and those who stand in favour of democracyand freedom of speech and expression have to decide and decide fast howto end this impasse. What should be the logical interventions?For the benefit of our friends and readers, the contacts forcommunication are given below.1. *Chief Minister's Secretariat*Phone:91 3592 202575,202536,202304Fax: 202245Email: cm-skm at hub.nic.in 2. *Governor of Sikkim*Phone 91-3592-202756Fax 91-3592-202742Mobile: 91-9434011174 (Dy. Secretary)Email: abhutia at nic.in 3. *Prime Minister of India*Email: manmohan at sansad.nic.in /manmohan at sansad.nic / pmosb at pmo.nic.inEmail: chavanprithviraj at sansad.nic.inPhone: +91-11-23012312 / 23018939Fax: +91-11-23016857 / 23015603 / 230142554.*President of India*Email: presssecy at alpha.nic.in /presssecy at sansad.nic.in/ presidentofindia at rb.nic.in Phone: +91-11-23013172 / 23015321Fax: +91-11- 23017290 / 23014580 / 23017824 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Why delete messages? Unlimited storage is just a click away. __._,_.___ Messages in this topic (1) Reply (via web post) | Start a new topic Messages | Files | Photos Socialist Pakistan News (SPN) is managed by supporters of Weekly Mazdoor Jeddojuhd and Labour Party Pakistan Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required) Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch format to Traditional Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe Recent Activity a.. 6New Members Visit Your Group SPONSORED LINKS a.. Pakistan b.. Pakistan calling card c.. Pakistan long distance d.. Pakistan phone card e.. Call pakistan Y! Messenger Files to share? Send up to 1GB of files in an IM. Yahoo! Mail You're invited! Try the all-new Yahoo! Mail Beta Endurance Zone on Yahoo! Groups Groups about better endurance. . __,_._,___ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ldxar1 at tesco.net Tue Aug 21 02:20:27 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Tue, 21 Aug 2007 10:20:27 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] UK Climate Camp Day of Action Message-ID: <003601c7e3d6$c4de2db0$0202a8c0@andy1> Protesters got near BAA HQ but apparently didn't manage to blockade it due to repression, though some reports suggest gates were blocked for some time. The main problem appears to have been that protesters were less numerous than the army of violent police who turned out to crush them. But the BBC conclusion that the protest was effectively squelched is countered by some of what's appearing on sites like Indymedia. Vicious fascist tactics by police were widespread, including violent arrests, assaults on demonstrators, road blocking, pigpenning and the use of riot squads and horses. Protesters have been arrested on a variety of dubious charges, one for "refusing to give police a name and address after anti-social behaviour" (i.e. catch-alls and abusive laws were in widespread use). Police did not even allow the march along the proposed third runway route to proceed unhindered. The model of repression is a continuation of that used at Mayday and DSEi down the years, and shows that violent practices which would be intolerable in a minimally free and tolerant society have now been normalised as a means to crush dissent. The police are basically showing their commitment to total war against forces of freedom and their disregard for the liberty and welfare of others, which confirms once more their evil nature as a social assemblage. They act in a way that even they would condemn as violent and intolerant if anyone else did it, yet think this hypocrisy from a comparative perspective can be excused by their failure to think, by mere operational convenience elevated into win-at-all-costs totalism. Let the cost of repression be paid in hostility earnt by the police - let it not be without cost! There seems to have been some self-defence from protesters, with BBC reporting "missiles" thrown at police and two arrests for "assault" (probably self-defence). But the BBC footage shows pushing and shoving - along with cops whining about not being told about events in advance, and with at least one police attack on a protester highlighted. There have also been continuing non-violent direct actions of the kind which have been happening all week, such as a lock-on at the BAA depot. Pictures of police violence on BAA march: http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2007/08/379028.html Photos from BAA cargo blockade: http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2007/08/379093.html BBC coverage (watch for dodgy rhetoric, but also images of police attacking a protester): http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/help/3681938.stm Interviews with climate campers: http://climatecamp.org.uk/videos.php ----------------------------------------------------------- http://climatecamp.org.uk/ Mass action: on Sunday August 19 we will symbolically mark out the path of the proposed third runway. Then at 3pm we will converge on BAA headquarters and blockade BAA for as long as possible. Come join us! http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2007/08/379028.html Late afternoon march to BAA - Cops go crazy snapper | 19.08.2007 20:28 | Climate Camp 2007 | Climate Chaos | Repression | London When the group left from the rear of the camp, at first mounted police tried to ride into people but soon backed off and allowed them to stream across the field. As the people approched the opposite side of the field there were many vans of riot police arriving in adjacent streets and deploying to meet the protestors. There were even van loads of police getting changed into their riot gear on the M4 motorway before scrambling up the bank. As protestors moved along the fence or tried to climb out of the field the police attacked them with batons and shields. I saw several hit, punched, repeatedly thrown to the ground, pushed into ditches, and sworn at. Over the next 15 minutes more and more riot police kept arriving (something like 100), many running into the field following mounted police that had galloped into a gap in the fence. Police prevented media from entering the field and a high hedge prevented them filming the scenes in the field. http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2007/08/379088.html We left camp in a southeasterly direction and we soon encountered police on horseback and foot. As the people at the front of the group neared the road they were confronted by a number of police on horseback, in addition to at least 20 police vans lining up all down the road. A number of us turned to the left still in the field and attempted to get to BAA headquarters through the bushes at the south of the field. At this stage it turned a bit ugly and a handful of people were beaten by the police with their batons and turned back. I spoke to one man who was in pain from receiving a blow across his forearm. We carried on through the southern half of the field and people continuously made attempts to cross police lines, some of which were successful and some resulted in more fighting. We reached a fence and someone attempted to climb it, as he was repulsed by the police there was a feeling in the crowd that if we all rushed together then we would get through. However, with the great majority of the protesters being peaceful and non-confrontational, this didn't occur and we carried on through the field and reached a small park next to a housing estate where again there were attempts to get through and some agressive tactics by the police to stop us. At this stage they managed to circle us and it became obvious we would be kettled. A small group of locals were in the park with their dogs and were obviously watching the confrontation. The riot police shouted at them to move back and when they did not do so, one of the policeman grabbed one of the dog's lead and suspended the animal in the air as if to hang it. He soon let it go to shouts of 'shame' from the crowd and the locals retreated from the scene. By this time we were surrounded by about 100 riot police who had completely encircled us. The protesters mainly sat down and talked within their groups about tactics and what they might expect next. We were kept there for around 45 minutes, and were entertained by the samba percussionists amongst us. Eventually, the police told us they were going to escort us back to the camp to head of any chance of a 'public order' offence. We were herded back across the fields by the 100 or so riot police who now seemed to be in a good mood, no doubt looking forward to a cup of tea before their next encounter. dave t http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2007/08/378854.html Day 6: Climate Camp's Day of Action imc uk | 19.08.2007 13:27 | Climate Camp 2007 | Climate Chaos | London Midday Sunday saw the start of Climate Camp's 24 hours of mass action. 10.45pm The seven-strong support team from the World Cargo depot blockade have been made to leave and are on their way back to site. Those locked on have been arrested but it's not clear at this time if they have yet been removed. 9.10pm The BA World Cargo terminal shed is being blockaded by 8 people in lock on tubes forming a circle [press release|photos]. They have seven people present in support. Meanwhile Bicycology have delivered food to the 250+ people sheltering under tarps outside BAA. There is music and a party atmosphere despite the rain [later reports|audio]. 8.15pm Bicycology has just left the camp with trailers full of food, cake and treats for those planning on camping at BAA tonight. Around 80 people are currently at the BAA offices planning to stay overnight. 8.00pm The police cordons around both groups of protesters at BAA HQ have now dispersed. Some people are now returning to camp whilst others are trying to join the larger block to camp overnight. 7.30pm About one hour ago people dropped a banner reading 'Plane Suicide' on Colnbrook Bypass motorway bridge over the M25. The banner overlooks the traffic going northbound, some of which will exit off towards the aiport. 7.20pm The smaller group penned in at BAA is negotiating to be moved with the bigger group on the other side of the building. People are preparing to stay for the night at BAA - cooking equipment is being sorted and a cooking rota is being organised. 6.20pm Kids blockade arrives at BAA with bicycle soundsystem and placed in kettle. Meanwhile some some people are returning in dribs and drabs to camp. People are free to come and go as usual via the Sipson Lane gate. All others are blocked. Legal team are confirming 5 arrests so far and more reports of injuries are coming in. 5.00pm Riot police are blocking the footpath exit, southeast of the camp. They are not letting people out but they are letting people in. A line of people has been formed in front of them with their hands up on the air. 4.00pm A man superglued himself to a security vehicle at the Heathrow business academy. He was unstuck and arrested. Meanwhile the majority of the kids block are heading towards the BAA offices along the A4 with others returning to the camp. The atmosphere is good, the march looks really colorful and people are singing. 3.30pm Around 250 people are being confined by police behind the BAA offices. The building itself is now protected by a ring of police. Small groups of people keep coming to the area of BAA building. In the BAA carpark another small group are "praying" with the BAA monks! Another 200-300 people from the Kids block are headed towards the BAA offices. 3.15pm Around 100 protesters have reached BAA and are holding a banner reading 'Social Change Not Lifestyle Change'. Lots of mainstream media are present. 3.00pm 200-300 people left the camp from the south side and fanned out into smaller groups. TSG, police in riot gear and mounted police are there. One protester has reportedly been injured by a police horse. Police have broken down a fence to enable mounted police to enter and are being aggressive. 100 people were penned in but have since returned to the camp, others made it further towards BAA. 1.00pm 3 teenage girls are on the roof of the Heathrow Business Academy, very close to BAA headquaters. They have unrolled a banner that reads Make Planes History 12.00 noon At least three large groups of several hundred people each have marched out of the camp from both exits towards the various targets of their actions. Children, parents and supporters are on one family-friendly march, one group is marking out the proposed third runway, while another has left from the south end of the camp and fanned out into smaller groups to foil police efforts to keep them in. Also on the newswire: Video 1 2 3 4 5 6 | Photos: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 | Reports: 1 | Press Releases: Press release from Climate Camp Media: Police attack protesters | Activists Deny Smear by General Manager of Carmel Agrexco For up-to-the-minute climate camp reports and breaking news, check the Indymedia UK News Ticker. You can also get it as SMS alerts or listen to it by phoning the Blasted Campers info line on 0207 043 3783. Daily round-ups are on the UK Indymedia Climate Camp page. Links: Camp For Climate Action website | workshops | bust card | directions 1, 2 http://newsbox.msn.co.uk/article.aspx?as=adimarticle&f=uk_-_olgbtopnews&t=4023&id=6187225&d=20070820&do=http://newsbox.msn.co.uk&i=http://newsbox.msn.co.uk/mediaexportlive&ks=0&mc=5&ml=ma&lc=en&ae=windows-1252 19/8/2007 6:06:15 PM ( Source: Reuters) Police, protesters scuffle at Heathrow By Simon Rabinovitch LONDON (Reuters) - Police with batons skirmished with groups of climate change protesters on Sunday near the headquarters of the operator of Heathrow airport. The scuffles in a field close to airport operator BAA's building came after largely peaceful marches from a camp where campaigners, who want to draw attention to the impact of aviation on global warming, have been massing all week. BAA said the airport was operating normally and there was no disruption to passengers. About 200 marchers made it to the BAA car park where there was a strong police presence. Some protesters pitched tents and were planning to stay overnight. Police chased another group into fields, hitting some with truncheons, before ringing them. Police said they had made four arrests, one for assaulting a police officer, taking the total number of campaigners detained over the course of the week to 49. The protesters want Heathrow's expansion plans dropped and the growth of air travel halted. The protest comes at the height of the holiday season at the world's busiest international airport that handles nearly 70 million passengers a year. Paul Morozzo, a campaigner at the BAA headquarters, said the 24 hour "direct action" would continue through Monday. "There are lots of different plans. Some are planning to stay here, others want to do other things," he said. HIGH ALTITUDE Scientists say air transport contributes to global warming, and the carbon dioxide gas and water vapour emitted by aircraft are four times more potent at high altitude than at sea level. The government says it is committed to tackling climate change and plans to set legally binding targets for cutting CO2 emissions -- but it also backs an expansion of air travel, which is set to double in the next 25 years. Earlier, marchers with carnival-style floats and speakers adorned with flowers blaring music left the camp with a banner saying: "We are armed ... only with peer-reviewed science". The climate change activists have been camped out for a week near Heathrow, west of London. Organisers estimated there were 1,000-1,200 protesters taking part in the protests. "We believe in unlawful protest when it is peaceful and justified," one of the organisers, Leila Harris, told reporters. Over the past week protesters broke into an Israeli-owned food import warehouse near Heathrow, and super-glued their hands to doors at the Department for Transport in London. Heathrow's operator, Spanish-owned BAA, expressed concern that chaos could ensue, but police said they planned to use up to 1,800 officers and were confident they could keep control. The campaigners insisted that their quarrel was with the aviation industry, not with passengers. They said they would not do anything to endanger passengers, such as blocking runways. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6953518.stm Last Updated: Sunday, 19 August 2007, 23:06 GMT 00:06 UK E-mail this to a friend Printable version Minor scuffles in airport protest Protesters and police came face-to-face during the day of action Climate change campaigners have been involved in minor scuffles with police as they targeted the offices of Heathrow Airport operator BAA. The BAA protest forms part of 24 hours of "direct action" by the Camp for Climate Action near the airport. Eight protesters were later arrested after blockading British Airways' world cargo centre on Sunday night. The demonstrators were lying on the ground in a circle with their arms encased in steel tubing. The group stopped vehicles getting into the Eastern Perimeter Road depot in a protest they claimed was highlighting how transporting food by air is contributing to climate change. Organisers say 1,400 people have been taking part in the day of action, while police at the scene put the number at about 1,000. Map of proposed Heathrow expansion and climate camp The BBC's Megan Lane, at the BAA offices near the west London airport, said there was a stand-off between the two sides as dusk fell on Sunday evening. About 100 protesters were sitting down at the entrance to the headquarters' car park, in the hope of blocking BAA staff from coming into work. A further 100 or so protesters were supporting those sitting down in the entrance, in Bath Road. There are certainly times when unlawful action is required in order to force changes that aren't happening fast enough Alex Harvey Campaigner Colourful scenes at protest Police said if protesters blocked a public highway, they risked being arrested. Officers moved about 10 protesters, before allowing those clearly inside the grounds to stay. Earlier, 50 protesters were contained in nearby Mondial Way, following confrontations between police and protesters in which missiles were thrown at officers. Six people were arrested during the day - two for assault on a police officer, one for carrying Class A drugs, one for criminal damage, one for going equipped to cause criminal damage, and one for failing to give a name and address after anti-social behaviour. 'Pushing and shoving' Alex Harvey, one of the campaigners at the camp, said the "siege" at BAA would last until Monday morning. She said it would remain peaceful, but she could not guarantee it would be lawful. There's been some pushing and shoving but we've managed them safely, and they've been allowed to make their protest, but in a safe way Commander Jo Kaye, Metropolitan Police "There are certainly times when unlawful action is required in order to force changes that aren't happening fast enough," she said. Police said there had been some "pushing and shoving" between the two sides as protesters approached the BAA site. Commander Jo Kaye of the Metropolitan Police said: "We've policed a number of marches and actions. The number of officers and the types of tactics used has varied based on the situation with which we have been faced. "I have stated right from the start that what we want to do is facilitate lawful protest, that is our duty and something we are committed to doing. "We have had a very limited dialogue with the organisers and I would call for more - especially as they are continuing with their phase of mass action." BAA has said it will not be commenting on the day of action. Protesters have been at the camp - situated between the M4 motorway and the airport's northern perimeter in west London - for a week. Activities have included talks and workshops and some sporadic direct action, such as protesters locking themselves to the gates of a nearby Israeli firm which flies produce to the UK. Protesters staged a sit-in at BAA's offices On Sunday, protesters left the camp in separate groups at midday to begin their march to the BAA site. Some protesters and members of the local community symbolically walked the 3km (1.8 mile) route of Heathrow's proposed third runway. Banners carried slogans such as "You Fly, They Die", "Climate Change Kills" and "No Third Runway: Sipson Village RIP". Three teenage protesters scaled a fence near BAA, and unfurled a banner saying "Make Planes History". Protester Layla Harris said: "We have had enough of the prioritisation of economic growth over the future of our planet. "We are part of a growing global movement of ordinary people that will stop climate change." A fifth terminal will open at Heathrow in March 2008 and a new runway has been proposed by the government for about 2020. http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2007/08/379099.html Press Release - Climate activists blockade Heathrow freight depot fruity | 20.08.2007 01:24 | Climate Camp 2007 | Climate Chaos | Globalisation | London 19th August 2007, 21:30 At 21:00, eight protesters from the Camp for Climate Action have blockaded British Airways' World Cargo Depot at Hatton Cross, outside Heathrow Airport. The protesters blockaded vehicle access by locking themselves together in a ring with 'arm tubes'. British Airways handle air freighted foodstuffs, which are a rapidly growing source of greenhouse gas emissions. Air freighting of food to UK grew by 140% between 1992 and 2002. Air freighted food amounts to 14% of total food-related CO2 emissions. The protesters claim that importing fruit and vegetables from developing countries encourages unsustainable farming practices, uses scarce water resources and keeps farmers locked into a cycle of poverty, competing for ever lower prices. Anna Kay, one of the blockaders said, "We in the UK need to move to eating locally produced and organic food instead of supporting this energy intensive and environmentally destructive industry". The blockade was organised by an independent group of activists who have been taking part in the Camp for Climate Action. ENDS Notes to editor: Arm Tubes are lengths of tube into which two protesters put their arms and lock themselves together. Blockaders on location can be contacted on 07798 745613. Camp Press Group can be contacted on 0777 286 1099 or 07858 177178 fruity -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... 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Name: clip_image013.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 20090 bytes Desc: not available URL: From ldxar1 at tesco.net Tue Aug 21 02:42:59 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Tue, 21 Aug 2007 10:42:59 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] Climate Camp: BAA blockade reported as successful Message-ID: <005201c7e3d7$a92e5c10$0202a8c0@andy1> http://newsbox.msn.co.uk/article.aspx?as=adimarticle&f=uk_-_olgbtopnews&t=4023&id=6195766&d=20070821&do=http://newsbox.msn.co.uk&i=http://newsbox.msn.co.uk/mediaexportlive&ks=0&mc=5&ml=ma&lc=en&ae=windows-1252 20/8/2007 5:29:16 PM ( Source: Reuters) Climate protest spreads to Sizewell By Stephen Hird LONDON (Reuters) - Climate protesters expanded their Heathrow airport action on Monday, with small groups demonstrating outside Sizewell nuclear power plant and BP's London headquarters. The Camp for Climate Action spread their protest to Sizewell "A" and "B" on the last day of the week-long Heathrow environmental demonstration held against plans to build a third runway. About six members chained themselves together across the road to the Suffolk plant in an attempt to prevent traffic going into the main entrances. "We oppose the myth that nuclear power is carbon-neutral and a solution to climate change," said Paul Bruce, a spokesman for the camp. The action was organised in protest at government proposals to build new nuclear power stations and to draw attention to the problem of dealing with nuclear waste, the group added. In another protest, about a dozen activists glued their hands to entrance doors at oil firm BP's headquarters in central London. The camp was considering extending its Heathrow protest for three hours until 3 p.m., organisers said. Scuffles broke out at the entrance to the headquarters of the operator of Heathrow airport, BAA, when activists tried to prevent members of staff getting to work. About half BAA's normal numbers turned up, with the rest working at other buildings or from home, a BAA spokesman said. He said protesters had failed to disrupt operations. Bruce however said the demonstrations had been successful. "We never intended to disrupt planes," he said. "Our intention was to blockade BAA's headquarters, which has been successful. "We wanted to highlight the selfishness of business in wanting a third runway, and that has been successful. We have also built a social movement. Between 100 and 150 camp members remain at the site, the BAA spokesman said. About 20 activists have been arrested at the camp, with a further 40 detained at different sites including the Department of Transport and Biggin Hill airport. Eight were arrested on Sunday on suspicion of aggravated trespass after an incident outside a BA world cargo site near Heathrow. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: grau.gif Type: image/gif Size: 43 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: 2007-08-20T123025Z_01_NOOTR_RTRIDSP_1_OUKTP-UK-CLIMATE-BRITAIN-HEATHROW.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 5024 bytes Desc: not available URL: From ldxar1 at tesco.net Sat Aug 25 12:27:19 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Sat, 25 Aug 2007 20:27:19 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] OAXACA: The lights of Xanica Message-ID: <001d01c7e74d$f57ac3f0$0802a8c0@andy1> http://elenemigocomun.net/1224 The lights of Xanica People in the Zapotec community of Santiago Xanica in the Sierra Sur of Oaxaca continue to struggle for their right to choose their municipal president in an assembly by means of traditional practices and customs and to gain the freedom of the first political prisoners of the Ulises Ruiz regime in the face of threats, harassment, and arrest warrants on the eve of the municipal elections of August 26. August 22nd, 2007 - Carolina writes: The road to Xanica climbs up from Huatulco through a beautiful forest. It?s rough and unpaved, but the driver of our wooden-railed pick-up knows all the ruts and curves, even in the rain. He?s lived there all his life. His name is Isa?as. He talks to the two of us, who were lucky enough to be riding up front, about the woods and the deer and possums and armadillos that live there. Then he says, ?See those lights? They?re the lights of Xanica.? On our two-hour ride they look really distant, then closer, then even further away, but there they are, shining clearly through the mist, always visible in this part of the Sierra Sur of Oaxaca. Isa?as answers our questions and tells about the state of siege in his town. Only later did I learn that he?s one of eight people from Xanica with warrants out for his arrest. (en espa?ol) When we get to the Zapoteco town of Santiago Xanica, the folks from the Committee for the Defense of Indigenous Rights (CODEDI) welcome our caravan with the arc of a sky rocket, a brass band, warm words, hot coffee, bowls full of steaming tamales made with chepil leaves, and a dance. CODEDI-Xanica is part of the alliance known as the Popular Anti-neoliberal Oaxacan Magonista Coordinating Body (COMPA), adherent to the Other Campaign, and one of the founders of the Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca (APPO). It is also part of the Magonista-Zapotista Alliance (AMZ) together with the Indian Organizations for Human Rights in Oaxaca (OIDHO) and the Autonomous Magonista Collective (CAMA)??the organizers of our caravan of solidarity with this community that has resisted an extremely high level of repression during the last decade. Around 45 people, including visitors from Italy and Spain, left Mexico City on August 5 and got back on the 9th. We stayed at the OIDHO center in Atzompa on the way, where we talked for a while with their members about the threat to local autonomy from all the major political parties in the upcoming elections. We also stopped at the prison in Pochutla so that ten people could visit Abraham Ram?rez V?zquez and the brothers Juventino and Noel Garc?a Cruz, the first political prisoners of Ulises Ruiz Ortiz?s regime. They were all shot, then arrested, after the state police opened fire on CODEDI members on January 15, 2005. The three are still in jail on false charges of homicide, attempted homicide, and kidnapping. The eight people with arrest warrants have the same generic charges. In Xanica, the doctors of the Salud Autogestiva collective treated patients, the Hormiga Libertaria collective presented handmade books to the community, and we participated in several workshops ranging from theater to sexuality, reproductive health, puppets, children?s games, artwork from recycled paper, and human rights. In the human rights workshop and subsequent conversations, Abel Ram?rez V?zquez (Abraham?s brother) gave us a historical overview of the current crisis, and at least 15 Xanica residents told us of abuses that the government has committed against CODEDI simply because they have defended their indigenous rights and autonomy. Abel said: ?We have experienced the violation of our indigenous rights both collectively and individually. Your life changes when your rights are violated?. We try to conserve our cultures, but the super-rich force another way of life on us. They impose ideas on us through the mass media that are totally alien to our reality. Then some people are tempted to live like the people on TV live, but it?s not our thing. We?re never going to be like them. They?re inflicting a kind of death on us. They kill what we are and another way of life is born. The government tells us not to worry, that it?s normal, but it?s hurting us?. ?Meanwhile, they?re robbing the water from our rivers like the Copalito. They never asked our permission. We?re the ones who?ve taken care of the forest. They?re doing away with the ecosystem. There are people who are dying because they don?t have water to drink, but the water is for the luxury hotels in Huatulco. The Plan Puebla-Panam? opens up the Huatulco tourist corridor, and the money goes to the rich while the rest of the people fall deeper into poverty.? Private property and the market According to Abel, many of today?s problems can be traced back to the 19th century. He says that communal property, ?which is the most important thing for indigenous people,? was fenced off before 1900. Many people who only spoke the Zapotec language didn?t find out about the laws setting up the new private property regime, and consequently, their lands were stolen from them. They were left with only a small patch of land or no land at all. Abel explained that around 1930, many farmers began to grow coffee, and by the 40s and 50s they had stopped growing corn, beans, and chili?just coffee. There were two big plantations near Xanica: Alemania and San Pablo, both of which had company stores that kept the laborers permanently indebted. Since then, jobs in the area have mainly depended on the international price of coffee. When the price went down from 1980 to 1990, a lot of plantations were abandoned, which was a heavy blow for people who didn?t have land of their own for growing coffee: they had nowhere to work. Some started growing corn, bean, and chili again. When prices rise, there?s a lot of work in the coffee picking season from November to January, but it?s badly paid. Maybe they?ll pay a farm worker 300 pesos (? $27 USD) to work 15 days cleaning the coffee field. In other cases, they may pay as much as 80 pesos (? $7.20 USD) a day, from 7:00 in the morning until 5:00 or 6:00 in the afternoon, depending on the boss. It takes the farm workers two hours to walk to work and two hours to get home and then they have to carry wood. They don?t even have a burro (donkey); they carry it on their backs. Since the Free Trade Agreement was signed, coffee prices have gone down even more. Now there?s hardly any work. Ever since the 1990s the emigration from Xanica has been heavy. Rebellion in Xanica in the 50s In keeping with the rebelliousness of the Zapotecos against the lords of Monte Alb?n, their battles under the command of Jos? Mar?a Morelos and Vicente Guerrero, their resistance against the French, their enlistment in the ranks of Emiliano Zapata?s army, the town of Xanica rose up in the 1950s. Abel tells us that ?there were problems much like the ones we have now.? People came from Miahuatl?n to sell clothing and bread, and they also set up big butcher shops. They wanted the people of Xanica to work for them, and they also wanted to establish their own local authorities. They refused to respect the community assembly, the council of elders, and the traditional practices and customs for choosing public servants. The people of Xanica, unwilling to accept this domination, rose up in arms. The army soon came in and there were deaths on both sides. ?Some of the local people went to jail because they killed a soldier. The army was in the area for three months looking for the rebels, who hid in the mountains. The army finally left and people either returned or kept on hiding out.? ?But we paid a price,? Abel says. ?A lot of children died and houses were burned. It was a small war that jeopardized our traditional practices and customs.? The current conflict shapes up Gildardo Garc?a tells us that the current conflict in Xanica began ten years ago. ?Up until 1998, we chose our town president according to our usos y costumbres, or traditional practices and customs. Whether or not a person was elected depended on his or her record of community service and other requirements for holding office. A potential official would be evaluated by the townspeople.? In June of 1998, the method of choosing officials according to traditional practices and customs in a general assembly in indigenous communities, with no interference from the political parties, was legalized in a constitutional reform in the state of Oaxaca. Nevertheless, according to one of the coordinators of CODEDI, C?sar Luis D?az, this reform coincided with the arrival of all the major political parties, ?offering people positions and cash,? which was very attractive to some people. ?Really though,? says C?sar, ?there?s even less respect for indigenous rights in Oaxaca now than there was before.? Abel Ram?rez V?zquez adds that the governor promoted the reform to ?clean his dirty conscience.? Really though, says Abel, ?they refuse to let us develop our culture, our language, our collective form of work. This is directly opposed to our way of life, our autonomy. International law doesn?t allow them to disappear an entire people.? In 1998, the election of Alejandro D?az Ram?rez by traditional practices and customs in Xanica was contested, and the PRI party?s Juan Cruz L?pez was imposed as municipal president. In response, the people took over the municipal building and set up a popular government with majority support from the townspeople. Almost instantly, both state police forces and army units arrived to besiege the legitimate town government. CODEDI was founded in this situation of extreme tension to fight against indigenous rights violations. Through constant pressure, the organization got Cruz L?pez to resign, and Alejandro D?az Ram?rez was elected in the community assembly in 2001. For three years, Xanica made advances in self-government. The CODEDI coordinators Abraham Ram?rez V?zquez, C?sar Lu?s D?az, and Froylan Gonz?lez Cruz initiated projects to open a pharmacy, library, and computer center. They also started a housing project and got funds to build 60 houses. Up to that time, townspeople lived in huts made of reeds or tin. Abel Ram?rez says, ?We tried to reinforce collectivity, working together to build the houses. Everyone unloaded the building materials and went to work. In 2004, we were almost finished.? In August of 2004, however, another abuse was committed against us. Sergio Garc?a Cruz violated the system of traditional practices and customs and took over the presidency, supported by the PRI, PAN, PRD and some of the religious leaders. The ministerial police came in to protect him. The tension mounted during the first days of 2005. At the first of January, CODEDI made the decision not to participate in the community service projects known as tequio convened by the illegitimate president. On January 2, army trucks arrived, supposedly looking for (non-existent) marihuana and poppy fields. January 15, 2005 According to the testimony of a number of different people, about 10 o?clock in the morning, 80 men and women, young and old, were engaged in a tequio project convened by CODEDI, unloading bricks from a truck. A patrol truck pulled up about 11 o?clock, and Commander Cipriano Hern?ndez Garc?a of the state police arrogantly ordered them to get the truck off the road. His tone of voice was threatening. Several people told him that they would only take a few minutes to finish up, but he radioed to another patrol truck that people were blocking the roadway and wouldn?t let him go by. He called for reinforcements, and when he gave the order, they got ready to fire. Abraham Ram?rez stepped forward and tried to talk to the Commander, who put his gun to his stomach. When Abraham pushed the rifle downwards, the officer shot him in the leg. At that point, the police opened fire, wounding two youth, Noel y Juventino Garc?a Cruz. The municipal president Sergio Cruz Garc?a also participated in the attack along with several armed civilians. According to Abraham?s mother, ?ngela V?zquez Garc?a, ?They didn?t think twice about shooting him. Abraham went down immediately. Bullets were flying from all directions. We came running down from our house up on the hill, and when we got to the church, bullets from all sides were falling around our feet. There was crossfire.? According to Gildardo Garc?a, the townspeople defended themselves with bricks and stones, and after about twenty minutes forced the police to retreat. They then took the wounded men to the clinic, where they were given serum and a few pills. The clinic didn?t have the medicine that Abraham needed for his more serious wound, however. It was impossible to take them to the hospital because by this time the entrance to the town was blocked by the police. Carolina Cruz Garc?as says that it was late at night before the three left for the Health Center in Pochutla in a Red Cross ambulance, accompanied by Alejandro D?az Cruz and escorted by more than twenty patrol trucks. When they got to the R?o Copalito, there were many more policemen, supposedly investigating the death of a policeman. They stopped the ambulance and demanded that the three wounded men get out, but the medic said it was impossible and refused to allow a search. Even so, the police pulled Alejandro D?az Cruz out of the ambulance and threw him into a patrol truck. They asked him the names of the men in the ambulance and beat him savagely when he refused to reply, prompting the three men to identify themselves. Upon hearing the name Abraham V?zquez Ram?rez, the commanding officer said, ?Oh, so you?re the head honcho. Well, you?re really fucked now.? The police accused the three of killing the officer, who, in fact, was killed by ?friendly fire? from his own men during the shooting. The ambulance took a long time to get to Pochutla due to the leisurely pace of the escorts, and, as a result the men received no medical attention for 36 hours. The police took Alejandro D?az Cruz with them in their patrol truck, interrogating and torturing him on the way. In the hospital Abel Ram?rez says that at the Health Center in Pochutla, the doctors intended to cut off Abraham?s leg, saying that there was no remedy for his bullet wound. A call went out, however, and successful mobilizations by the COMPA prevented the amputation. Later, the three were transferred to the General Hospital in the city of Oaxaca, Abraham in a small plane and the other two in an ambulance. Upon arrival, 400-500 supportive people were on hand to receive him, as well as several hundred police. Abraham Ram?rez V?zquez had surgery, and immediately afterwards was chained to his bed. In the hospital he was always under police guard. His wife, Graciela Merced Cruz, was forbidden to visit him for three months. The visits of other family members were prohibited at times or permitted only during the daytime with many obstacles. According to Celerino Jaime Mart?nez L?pez, ?They wouldn?t let us spend the night with him in the General Hospital in Oaxaca. He needed help to get up and go to the bathroom in the night, but there was nobody there to help him.? Carolina Cruz says that family members were not permitted to bring badly needed crutches into the hospital. She adds that on another occasion, Abraham Ram?rez borrowed a cell phone from Isa?as Mart?nez L?pez and made a call to the National Commission on Human Rights. When the police guards found out, they beat Isa?as vindictively. For several weeks, Abraham, Noel and Juventino were chained to their beds and threatened by their police guards. They were then taken to the Santa Maria Ixcotel Prison in the city of Oaxaca. Galdino Castro Hern?ndez says that ?at Ixcotel they didn?t take Abraham in on a stretcher; he had to walk in at gunpoint. He didn?t receive medical attention there and visits were prohibited.? Mobilizations The mobilizations called by the COMPA began in the city of Oaxaca, where people camped out to demand justice and freedom for the three men from Xanica. On Friday night, January 21, 2005, three hundred people from the ?caravan of women, girls, and boys against injustice and oblivion? got to the Zocalo in Mexico City, where they stayed for three months. En route, Bert?n Garc?a Cruz was arrested and jailed for two days. On February 3, the president of the National Commission on Human Rights (CNDH) invited COMPA members in the city of Oaxaca to a meeting to discuss the abuses with the new governor Ulises Ruiz, but the meeting became a trap in which Alejandro Cruz L?pez of the OIDHO was arrested. State of siege About two hours after the shooting on January 15, 2005, approximately 300 policemen arrived in Xanica, where they stayed for six months. They searched and interrogated local people and also searched their houses. Celerino Jaime Mart?nez L?pez reports that ?we were all under surveillance, kidnapped, besieged. There was a cordon around our simple, wooden houses. They not only surrounded the houses, but also followed people around. The dogs barked when the police came right up to the houses. The policemen pointed their guns at us.? According to ?ngela V?zquez Garc?a, ?The police in Xanica told us we couldn?t walk around, but we have the right to do that. We keep on walking around no matter what they said.? Angelina Ger?nimo Garc?a tells us that she was there when they shot Abraham and when people took him to the clinic: ?I left the door of my house open. When I got back, the police were in my kitchen, cooking. They had used my tablecloth to wipe themselves after using the bathroom. They took several of my pots and placemats and 50 pesos (? $4.50 USD) I had saved. I couldn?t do anything about it. They also went into my daughter?s house. She found one of them asleep on her kitchen table. They cut off her electricity and she hasn?t had light for three years. Some of the women who used to be in our organization joined up with Sergio [Garc?a Cruz], and they all have light. He?s the municipal president and he used to work with us, but he went for the big money. He used to say he was against the police, but now he always goes around with a police escort.? Abel Ram?rez V?zquez says that the police were digging trenches for 15 days, looking for arms. They wanted to terrorize people. The Special Ops forces known as the UPOE were there, too. Gildardo Garc?a Mart?nez adds: ?The children couldn?t leave the house without the police pointing their guns at them just like they were animals.? For six months, according to Froylan Gonz?lez Cruz, both police and army patrols held people at gunpoint and searched them when they walked to work between 6 and 8 o?clock in the morning. They knocked their machetes out of their hands and made it impossible for them to work. They asked: Why are you leaving home so early? Why are you walking by here? Why do you get home so late? Who did you go to see? Where? ?We don?t have a fixed schedule,? says Froylan. ?Only people under orders from the government live that way. They asked people for identification but the compa?eros resisted. They know their rights. There?s strong resistance here.? There aren?t so many police units in Xanica now, but there are permanent agents guarding the town hall. On the other hand, there?s an increase in army checkpoints between Xanica and Huatulco. According to Froylan, the soldiers set up their check points every two weeks. They may stay 15 or 20 days, searching and questioning people. ?ngela V?zquez Garc?a says that the last time she and her grandchildren visited the prisoners in Pochutla, the army searched them. Torture, arrests, threats, and harassment Looia Esther Morales Acevedo has this to say: ?When Marcos was on his way here with the Other Campaign, Sergio Ram?rez Vazquez, C?sar Luiz D?az, and Leoncio Cruz went out to put up posters. When the police tried to stop Sergio, he answered, ?I live here. I have the right to do it.? They beat the men on the way to the jail and charged them falsely with hitting a policeman.? Looia says that she saw the police stomping on her husband Sergio and called out, ?Don?t you treat him that way!? Sergio Ram?rez V?zquez (Abraham?s brother) says that the police tortured him and tried to hang C?sar Lu?s D?az. They held them for several hours and beat them. Sergio says, ?They hung me up with my arms chained to the railing on the church for three hours. Then they took out a club from somewhere and wrote in my file that I had tried to kill a policeman with a club.? Sergio affirms that Alejandro D?az Cruz was tortured with plastic bags placed on his head and that he was falsely charged with the sale of cocaine. The police were trying to hang C?sar Lu?s D?az; as a matter of fact, they had the rope around his neck, when around 25 women and children rescued him. How did they do it? ?They were furious when they rushed into the jail,? says C?sar. ?There was a lot of pushing and pulling, and they just grabbed hold of me and pulled me out of the policemen?s hands. There?s nothing weak about the women of Xanica; they?re really courageous.? Since then, C?sar has received anonymous threats in the form of letters tucked under the door of his house. On June 18, 2007, he was arrested and charged with homicide, attempted homicide, resisting arrest, threatening an officer, and possession of arms. He was tortured and a gun was planted on him. The charges of homicide and attempted homicide are in connection with the police killed on January 15, 2005. The more serious charges were dropped, C?sar believes, due to the support he received from the Oaxacan teachers, the APPO, and people in other parts of Mexico and the world. He is now out on bail for the lesser charges. Mar?a Carolina Cruz Garc?a is another person who is extremely vulnerable. She has received several threats by e-mail and has been identified and followed by plainclothes policemen in Huatulco, who called her name, ?Caro,? four times. The following day, a member of the OIDHO went to visit someone in the Ixcotel prison, and the police seem to have confused her with Carolina. They said, ?You?re Carolina from Xanica. You like the APPO marches. You went to visit Abraham, Noel, and Juventino. You?re Caro?. She said, ?No, I?m not.? Someone else found a file on the internet with photos of Carolina taken a year ago at the marches in the city of Oaxaca, and others from the encampment, cooking, talking to other people. The file is labeled ?the radical of the APPO. CODEDI?. Carolina Cruz says that she was in the room when they arrested Alejandro Cruz L?pez at gunpoint. She said to the policeman: ?Don?t mistreat our compa?ero?. ?You shut up,? he replied, with his gun to her head. There are also arrest warrants out for the following people: Froylan Gonz?lez Cruz, Gildardo Garc?a Mart?nez, Apolinar Garc?a Cruz, Alejandro D?az Cruz, Aurora Garc?a Cruz, Sergio Ram?rez V?squez, Isa?as Mart?nez L?pez and Antonio Mart?nez L?pez. They all have the same charges stemming from the events of January 15, 2005, even though it is well known that the policeman was killed by his own fellow officers the day of the shooting. It is believed that the charges may be an effort to intimidate and blackmail people so that they will stop their activism, but people are also aware that the danger is real, especially on the eve of the municipal elections of August 26. Continued abuse of political prisoners When Abraham Ram?rex V?zquez, Noel Garc?a Cruz, and Juventino Cruz were in Ixcotel, the guards threatened to lynch them. Tel?sfora Cruz Crua, the mother of Juventino and Noel, says that the threats and punishments are ongoing at the jail in Pochutla where they are now being held. Abraham?s mother, ?ngela V?zquez Garc?a, says that they punish her son because he always defends his rights and speaks up for the other prisoners. ?When there?s an abuse, he always denounces it. They shot him and arrested him because he speaks out, and that?s why they?re punishing him now.? According to Carolina Cruz, the warden is always telling the other prisoners that Abraham, Juventino, and Noel are bad people, that they?re nothing but killers. She says the warden paid another prisoner to beat Abraham up. ?Abraham had protested because they were selling cooking oil at 20 pesos (? $1.80 USD) a liter at the prison when the going price is 12 pesos (? $1 USD). A lot of prisoners can?t even cover their basic expenses. Before Abraham began to write up every abuse, the human rights groups had never showed up at the prison. The warden hates him. When a lot of people visit him, they know he?s not alone.? Cristobal, Abraham?s 10-year old son, says that the guards recently grabbed his dad in front of him and his younger brothers and took him upstairs. Abraham?s wife, Graciela Merced Cruz, adds: ?They took Abraham up to the punishment cell. They?ve got 11 people packed into a little room that measures 3 by 3 meters. They didn?t give us any explanation, and they wouldn?t let me see the warden. It was nighttime and I had the children with me. I asked them, ?Where else can we go? I?m staying right here.? They didn?t let me see him until early the next morning. An officer came down and said, ?Your husband is really pissed off.? He offered to give me a special place to sleep, but I said no, that I?d stay in the kitchen. They gave Abraham three days of punishment.? Cristobal had more to say: ?On January 15, they threatened my dad. They said, ?You?re a guerrilla and you?re going to die.? They had him in chains in the hospital. We couldn?t take him anything. I felt really sad. He demands people?s rights. They said on the radio that we had AR15s, but they?re lying. It?s a pretext for keeping my dad in jail for the rest of his life.? Last year on June 14, I was at the encampment in the city of Oaxaca with my little brother. We had to run. There was a lot of tear gas and some people fell down. We ducked into a school. They hurt C?sar?s little boy when they forced us to get out of there, pointing guns at our heads and shooting tear gas. They threw us down on the floor and beat us. The teachers are afraid to come to Xanica, but we?re going to defend them. We really love our teachers. Saying goodbye In the human rights workshop, we agreed to spread the word about what we had heard there and to encourage human rights organizations to send observers to the municipal elections on August 26 to allay possible fraud and repression. After the women of Xanica displayed their brightly colored weaving, there were messages of thanks and commitment. It was time to say goodbye, but the people wouldn?t let us go without giving each person in the caravan a beautiful weaving, painting, or carved object. Their generosity knows no limit, nor does their impressive organization and spirit of struggle. And, oh yes, we saw the lights of Xanica up close. The smiles of the children and their voices, lifting our spirits with poems, songs, and chants as we walked to the bus: If we get out in the streets ?Yes, that?s right! to struggle for the people ?Yes, that?s right! we?ll bring about the change ?Yes, that?s right! that the people are demanding. ?Yes, that?s right! As the Comandante said ?Yes, that?s right! Comandante Che Guevara ?Yes, that?s right! and Genaro V?zquez, too, ?Yes, that?s right! Ever on towards victory ?Yes, that?s right! and fuck the government, too. ?Yes, that?s right! ? More information: ? Communiqu?: ?no more injustices against the people? ? Cesar Luis D?as arrested without warrant in Xanica ? Silvia Hern?ndez. Presa pol?tica del Gobierno de Oaxaca ? Governor Ulises Ruiz; 6 months of harvesting terror in Oaxaca ? Oaxacan Activist Released: The Campaign Continues ? State Repression and Indigenous Resistance in Oaxaca ? Peri?dico Autonom?a ? Alianza Magonista Zapatista (AMZ) ? Colectivo Aut?nomo Magonista (CAMA) ? Coordinaci?n Oaxaca Magonista Popular Antineoliberal (COMPA) ? Organizaciones Indias por los Derechos Humanos en Oaxaca (OIDHO) -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: ninos-de-xanica-sm.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 18604 bytes Desc: not available URL: From ldxar1 at gmail.com Sat Aug 25 17:51:14 2007 From: ldxar1 at gmail.com (Andy) Date: Sun, 26 Aug 2007 01:51:14 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] Fw: [smygo] Quebec Police Deny, then Admit, Using Agents Provocateurs in Demonstration Message-ID: <008001c7e77b$35582030$0802a8c0@andy1> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Dan Clore" Newsgroups: talk.politics.libertarian,alt.society.labor-unions,alt.politics.libertarian,alt.activism,alt.fan.noam-chomsky,alt.anarchism,alt.society.anarchy,alt.politics.radical-left,alt.org.iww To: ; Sent: Sunday, August 26, 2007 1:06 AM Subject: [smygo] Quebec Police Deny, then Admit, Using Agents Provocateurs in Demonstration > News & Views for Anarchists & Activists: > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/smygo > > [After they first denied planting the agents as phony demonstrators, the > story about other protestors giving them a rock and asking them to throw > it at police may seem even more doubtful than it would have anyway. Far > more likely, they were planning to throw rocks in the general direction > of the other police, who would then use that as an excuse to violently > attack the real protestors. It's notable that if not for the clip on > YouTube, they would likely have gotten away with this use of agents > provocateurs. Some of the following stories show a remarkable bias in > favor of the police and against protestors, and should be taken with a > very large grain of salt.--DC] > > ***** > > http://tinyurl.com/2rzl3f > Quebec police stand behind undercover trio > MONTREAL > > Quebec provincial police stood by the actions of three officers who were > undercover as protesters at the North American Leaders' summit, but say > they will conduct an internal investigation to review their practices. > > "If there are methods or procedures that need to be changed or adjusted, > you can be reassured that will be done," Inspector Marcel Savard said > yesterday. > > Savard defended the three agents and said they were not there to provoke > demonstrators in Montebello, Que., where Prime Minister Stephen Harper, > U.S. President George W. Bush and Mexican President Felipe Calderon met. > > "At no time did the officers in question engage in provocation or incite > anyone to commit violent acts," Savard told a news conference. > > A video clip of the officers showed up on the popular website, > Youtube.com and has been viewed 190,000 times. > > Savard acknowledged that one of the officers was given a rock by > protesters but did not use it. > > "One of the extremists gave the rock to one of our police officers and > he had a choice to make," Savard said. > > "He was asked by extremists to throw the rock at the police, but never > had any intention of using it." > > Meanwhile, the Canadian Union of Public Employees is demanding an > independent, public inquiry into the actions of the Quebec provincial > police. CUPE said the provincial police's waffling on the issue has only > further damaged its credibility to answer questions and Canadians have a > right to ask whether their governments recognize and protect the right > to demonstrate peacefully. > > Public Security Minister Stockwell Day continued to brush off questions > about a call for a public inquiry, saying in Vancouver that those with > complaints can make a formal complaint. > > "The thing that was interesting in this particular incident, three > people in question were spotted by protesters because were not engaging > in violence," Day said. > > "They were being encouraged to throw rocks and they were not throwing > rocks, it was the protesters who were throwing the rocks. That's the > irony of this," he said. > > ***** > > http://tinyurl.com/3a4tsc > August 25, 2007 > Cover blown on Quebec police tactics > By Licia Corbella > > It's common practice for police to go undercover and infiltrate > potentially dangerous groups. > > When it comes to protest groups, their role is to identify those who are > planning violence and to help de-escalate potentially volatile > situations -- not to incite them. > > But that, shamefully, is what it appears the Surete du Quebec got up to > during the recent tri-lateral meetings between Prime Minister Stephen > Harper and the presidents of the United States and Mexico. > > Three balaclava-wearing police, posing as thug-like young anarchists > were outed by Dave Coles, president of the Communications Energy and > Paperworkers Union of Canada during anti-globalization protests of the > Security and Prosperity Partnership summit Monday in Montebello, Que. > > A video available on YouTube.com shows Coles trying to de-escalate > potential violence -- not created by members of his peaceful protest, > but by the officers. > > At first, Coles demands: "Put the rock down, this is our line. This is > for old guys, grandmothers, grandfathers," he yells. > > Eventually, Coles realizes that the provocateurs are police. When they > are outed, the undercover officers embarrassingly inch towards their > uniformed colleagues decked out in full riot gear. > > Initially, the Surete du Quebec denied they used undercover agents. But > the video trapped them. On Thursday they admitted that the three > arrested men were indeed cops, but insist they weren't attempting to > provoke protesters into violence, rather they were in the crowd to find > those seeking to cause violence. > > Nonsense. Their cover was blown by Coles who first thought they were > thugs intent on disturbing his peaceful protest. > > The Quebec provincial government should investigate this. > > Better yet, it's long past due that police across the country have fully > independent oversight groups looking into complaints against them. > > Having police investigate police usually leads to zero accountability. > > This time video made the police look like the bad guys and the usual > suspects the good guys. > > With video phones increasingly common, they have to better watch > themselves, not just others. > > ***** > > http://tinyurl.com/2j4hln > Probe required into police tactics > TheStar.com > August 25, 2007 > > When Prime Minister Stephen Harper was asked Monday whether he was > concerned about protesters outside a summit of North American leaders in > Montebello, Que., he replied with a smile: "I've heard it's nothing. A > couple hundred? It's sad." > > Harper was right about the protest being "sad," not because of its size, > but due to the international controversy that has arisen after it was > revealed that undercover Quebec provincial police officers had posed as > protesters during the demonstration. Quebec police officials have > admitted the officers were involved in the protest. The question now is > whether they tried to provoke protesters to commit violence. > > The protesters say yes, pointing to a posting on video-sharing website > YouTube that shows three men, their faces concealed by bandanas and one > holding a rock, being confronted by activists before apparently being > handcuffed and arrested by police. > > But the S?ret? du Qu?bec denies allegations its officers were trying to > incite the activists. Instead, it says the officers mingled with > protesters to ferret out those bent on violence. It also says their > cover was blown after they refused to throw rocks. > > Whatever the case, the incident has sparked legitimate concerns that > cannot be casually shrugged off, as Public Security Minister Stockwell > Day tried to do this week by suggesting unhappy protesters could lodge a > complaint with the Quebec force. > > It may well be legitimate for police to go undercover to keep an eye on > large demonstrations. But allegations that police may have tried to > infiltrate a peaceful protest to provoke a violent confrontation merit a > prompt independent investigation, preferably by a judge. > > Despite the Quebec force's firm denials, the YouTube video raises > legitimate questions about how its officers conducted themselves. > > If their aim really was to thwart violence, why did the three officers > don bandanas and camouflage pants typical of hard-core anarchists to > infiltrate a bunch of mostly middle-aged union and social activists? > > Why did one of the officers have a rock in his hand in the first place? > > Who in the Quebec force approved these tactics? And what did the > Mounties, which along with the Quebec provincial force policed the > summit between Harper, U.S. President George Bush and Mexican President > Felipe Calder?n, know about the strategy? > > Canadians deserve answers to these questions without delay. > > The Quebec force said yesterday a protester handed one of the officers a > rock, but he had no intention of using it. It also said it is launching > an internal review of its procedures. That does not go far enough. > > The right to protest peacefully is a cornerstone of our democratic > society. Allegations that Quebec police may have overstepped their > authority in order to short-circuit a legal demonstration should be > given the full public scrutiny that only an independent probe can provide. > > ***** > > http://tinyurl.com/2yban7 > YouTube for dummies > The Edmonton Journal > Published: 2:08 am > > Chalk up another high profile outing for YouTube. > > Quebec provincial police officials initially scoffed at notions that it > had attempted to infiltrate protest groups at the Montebello summit to > stir up trouble. But there it is on the popular website: three agents > preposterously attired as bandanna-wearing "Black Box" anarchists > wielding rocks in an otherwise peaceful assembly of middle-aged and > older unionists. > > Caught out, officials at Suret? du Qu?bec admitted the identity of the > constables while denying they acted as agents provocateurs or committed > any crimes. They refused to comment further. > > Pressure is building for an investigation that will test the accuracy of > that denial. As well, the RCMP -- the lead agency for summit security -- > would undoubtedly be asked if it signed off on the Keystone Kops > operation. > > Maintaining security at such events is obviously serious and important > work, a matter of national pride in this case. Balancing the rights of > public guardians and legal protesters is a tricky business requiring > skill and subtlety. > > But Canadians can not sit idly by when police grossly overstep their > role. Once again, we have been embarrassed at an international function > by what seems to be overzealous policing. It's tedious to the point of > infuriating, but a full airing is necessary to determine what happened, > and why. > > ***** > > http://tinyurl.com/ytfrsz > Quebec police defend officers' actions at summit > Updated Fri. Aug. 24 2007 8:06 PM ET > CTV.ca News Staff > > Quebec provincial police on Friday defended the actions of three > officers who posed as protesters during the North American Leaders' > summit earlier this week in Montebello, but added there will be an > internal investigation into their conduct. > > Authorities initially denied claims from protesters that officers had > infiltrated their ranks but later acknowledged the three men were police > officers. > > They admitted the officers were undercover after footage of a > confrontation between the men and Montebello demonstrators surfaced on > the popular video sharing website YouTube. > > Insp. Marcel Savard defended the three agents Friday at a news > conference in Montreal, and insisted they were not there to provoke > demonstrators. > > "At no time did the officers in question engage in provocation or incite > anyone to commit violent acts," said Savard. > > He also said one of the officers was given a rock by protesters but the > officer had no intention of using it. > > "One of the extremists gave the rock to one of our police officers and > he had a choice to make," Savard said. > > "He was asked by extremists to throw the rock at the police, but never > had any intention of using it." > > The SQ did not answer questions on whether the RCMP was involved in the > summit incident or whether the Quebec police received political orders > to infiltrate the protesters. But the police force did say it will > conduct its own internal investigation of the incident. > > "If there are methods or procedures that need to be changed or adjusted, > you can be reassured that will be done," said Savard. > > Calls for inquiry > > The Canadian Union of Public Employees is demanding an independent, > public inquiry into police actions at the summit. > > CUPE said Canadians have a right to ask whether their governments > recognize and protect the right to demonstrate peacefully. The union > said the provincial police's waffling on the issue has only further > damaged its credibility to answer questions surrounding the incident. > > Public Security Minister Stockwell Day, meanwhile, continued to brush of > questions about a call for a public inquiry. > > "The thing that was interesting in this particular incident, three > people in question were spotted by protesters because were not engaging > in violence," Day said Friday in Vancouver. > > "They were being encouraged to throw rocks and they were not throwing > rocks, it was the protesters who were throwing the rocks. That's the > irony of this," said Day, adding the actions were substantiated by the > video that he has seen of the protests. > > "Because they were not engaging in violence, it was noted that they were > probably not protesters. I think that's a bit of an indictment against > the violent protesters." > > A distraction > > Earlier Friday, the union president who exposed undercover cops posing > as protesters at the summit said the controversy is distracting the > public from the real issue. > > Dave Coles, president of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers > Union of Canada, told CTV's Canada AM he's disappointed the controversy > is shifting attention from the discussions that took place at the summit. > > "One of the problems we're having here is it's taking away from the > issue, why we were there," he said. "We were there to demonstrate that > we are opposed to the (Security and Prosperity Partnership). This covers > it all up." > > Coles is shown in the YouTube video shot Monday from protests in > Montebello accusing three masked protesters of being police. > > At first he confronted the men because they were holding rocks and the > line they were in was meant for peaceful protests. > > "When I saw these three burly guys coming towards the line armed with > rocks, I confronted them like I had others and immediately became > apparent that these weren't protesters," he said. "They looked like > police, they acted like police. I accused them of being police. You > could see by their reaction in their eyes that they were caught with > their hand in the cookie jar." > > In the video, Coles can be heard shouting and seen trying to pull down > the masks from the men. > > "Put down the rock, cop!" Coles is heard shouting in the video. > > The men push towards the police line in the video and they are > immediately pushed to the ground, arrested and taken away. Photographs > taken by another protester shows the men on the ground wearing boots > with the same emblem as the officers who are arresting them. > > The police say their men were just trying to pinpoint the real > troublemakers in Montebello. > > After viewing the YouTube footage, security expert Martin Courcy told > CTV Montreal he thought the Quebec police force was at best sloppy, and > at worst dangerous, in their conduct. > > "The masked officers are adding fuel to the fire instead of defusing the > situation," said Courcy, who trains police forces on security issues. > > But others, like retired Montreal police investigator Steve Roberts, > told CTV the SQ did the right thing. > > "They can't be burned on a job. So if they're with a group that's > throwing rocks, they'll throw the rocks, too." > > The two-day summit drew hundreds of protesters demonstrating against a > number of issues. > > Their main focus, however, was the Security and Prosperity Partnership > agreement that was set to be discussed by North American leaders, Prime > Minister Stephen Harper, U.S. President George Bush and Mexico's > President Felipe Calderon. The partnership would deeply integrate trade > and security across the continent. > > Critics argued the partnership would force Canada to relax its high > standards for worker and food safety in the interest of securing a deal > with the U.S. and Mexico where standards are often lower. > > With a report from CTV Montreal's Stephane Giroux and files from The > Canadian Press > > ***** > > http://tinyurl.com/28qhxy > Yoni Goldstein > The QPP's undercover blunder > > It was pathetic enough that three members of the Quebec Provincial > Police force who posed as hard-core protesters -- garbed camo gear, > faces covered by bandannas, one even bearing a rock -- at the two-day > meeting of North American leaders held this week in Montebello, Que., > were so easily spotted by real protesters. Even worse was the QPP?s > attempt to explain why it sent agents provocateurs into the protests in > the first place: The three fake protesters weren?t trying to incite > violence, the QPP claimed, they were simply working undercover to weed > out potential troublemakers. > > Right. And they must have figured that a peaceful protest composed of > Gap khaki-wearing, middle-age union folk was the best place to find the > kind of raging, rock-throwing, police-bating protesters that usually > cause trouble at these sorts of events. > > The star of the YouTube clip that outed the undercover cops is Dave > Coles, president of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of > Canada. As seen in the video, Mr. Coles confronted the QPP men as soon > as they attempted to join his protest. He told them to get away -- that > his was a peaceful protest, not the place for violent confrontation. > ?This is our line,? he shouts, ?this is for old guys, grandmothers > grandfathers. This is our line.? > > To his credit, Mr. Coles seemed to figure out quite quickly that the > fake protesters were really undercover cops. In the video, he asks the > ?protester? clutching a rock to pull down his handkerchief from his > face. The protester refuses and, soon after, shoves Mr. Coles. At that > point, Mr. Coles begins to shout ?These guys are cops? and ?Put down the > rock, cop.? > > As if that weren?t enough to rank this op as a complete bust, in the > next part of the video, the protesters quickly move on to ?confront? > riot police (one seems to be having a fairly congenial conversation with > the riot squad) and are quickly ?arrested.? To top it all off, as riot > cops are frisking one of the agents provocateurs, the video shows that > both uniformed police and protester apparently prefer the same kind of > footwear. Coincidence? Nobody thought so. > > In principle, I have nothing against police surveillance work. Those > sorts of operations can be perfectly viable, especially at events where > a small group of rabid, anarchist protesters have been known to incite > full-fledged riot scenes. But there is fine line between reconnaissance > operations and inciting protesters so that you can make the big arrest. > The story at Montebello clearly appears to be a case of the latter, and, > worse still, the pitiful work of amateurish incompetants. > > ygoldstein at nationalpost.com > > ***** > > -- > Dan Clore > > My collected fiction: _The Unspeakable and Others_ > http://amazon.com/o/ASIN/1587154838/ref=nosim/thedanclorenecro > Lord We?rdgliffe & Necronomicon Page: > http://www.geocities.com/clorebeast/ > News & Views for Anarchists & Activists: > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/smygo > > "Don't just question authority, > Don't forget to question me." > -- Jello Biafra > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Yahoo! 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