From ldxar1 at tesco.net Mon Oct 1 13:19:29 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Mon, 1 Oct 2007 21:19:29 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] BURMA: Thousands murdered, others flee as revolt squelched Message-ID: <02a001c80468$5f5adf80$0802a8c0@andy1> http://mparent7777-2.blogspot.com/2007/10/burma-thousands-dead-in-massacre-of.html Monday, October 1, 2007 Burma: Thousands dead in massacre of the monks dumped in the jungle Related The CCNWON Burma Files BURMA'S main internet link remained shut for a third day straight --- 01.10.07 This is London Thousands of protesters are dead and the bodies of hundreds of executed monks have been dumped in the jungle, a former intelligence officer for Burma's ruling junta has revealed. The most senior official to defect so far, Hla Win, said: "Many more people have been killed in recent days than you've heard about. The bodies can be counted in several thousand." Mr Win, who spoke out as a Swedish diplomat predicted that the revolt has failed, said he fled when he was ordered to take part in a massacre of holy men. He has now reached the border with Thailand. Meanwhile, the United Nations special envoy was in Burma's new capital today seeking meetings with the ruling military junta. Ibrahim Gambari met detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi in Rangoon yesterday. But he has yet to meet the country's senior generals as he attempts to halt violence against monks and pro-democracy activists. It is anticipated the meeting will happen tomorrow. Heavily-armed troops and police flooded the streets of Rangoon during Mr Ibrahim's visit to prevent new protests. Mr Gambari met some of the country's military leaders in Naypyidaw yesterday and has returned there for further talks. But he did not meet senior general Than Shwe or his deputy Maung Aye - and they have issued no comment. Reports from exiles along the frontier confirmed that hundreds of monks had simply "disappeared" as 20,000 troops swarmed around Rangoon yesterday to prevent further demonstrations by religious groups and civilians. Word reaching dissidents hiding out on the border suggested that as well as executions, some 2,000 monks are being held in the notorious Insein Prison or in university rooms which have been turned into cells. There were reports that many were savagely beaten at a sports ground on the outskirts of Rangoon, where they were heard crying for help. Others who had failed to escape disguised as civilians were locked in their bloodstained temples. There, troops abandoned religious beliefs, propped their rifles against statues of Buddha and began cooking meals on stoves set up in shrines. In stark contrast, the streets of Rangoon and Mandalay - centres of the attempted saffron revolution last week - were virtually deserted. A Swedish diplomat who visited Burma during the protests said last night that in her opinion the revolution has failed. Liselotte Agerlid, who is now in Thailand, said that the Burmese people now face possibly decades of repression. "The Burma revolt is over," she added. "The military regime won and a new generation has been violently repressed and violently denied democracy. The people in the street were young people, monks and civilians who were not participating during the 1988 revolt. "Now the military has cracked down the revolt, and the result may very well be that the regime will enjoy another 20 years of silence, ruling by fear." Mrs Agerlid said Rangoon is heavily guarded by soldiers. "There are extremely high numbers of soldiers in Rangoon's streets," she added. "Anyone can see it is absolutely impossible for any demonstration to gather, or for anyone to do anything. "People are scared and the general assessment is that the fight is over. We were informed from one of the largest embassies in Burma that 40 monks in the Insein prison were beaten to death today and subsequently burned." The diplomat also said that three monasteries were raided yesterday afternoon and are now totally abandoned. At his border hideout last night, 42-year-old Mr Win said he hopes to cross into Thailand and seek asylum at the Norwegian Embassy. The 42-year-old chief of military intelligence in Rangoon's northern region, added: "I decided to desert when I was ordered to raid two monasteries and force several hundred monks onto trucks. "They were to be killed and their bodies dumped deep inside the jungle. I refused to participate in this." With his teenage son, he made his escape from Rangoon, leaving behind his wife and two other sons. He had no fears for their safety because his brother is a powerful general who, he believes, will defend the family. Mr Win's defection will raise a faint hope among tens of thousands of Burmese who have fled to villages along the Thai border. They will feel others in the army may follow him and turn on their ageing leaders, Senior General Than Shwe and his deputy, Vice Senior General Maung Aye. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ldxar1 at tesco.net Mon Oct 1 13:48:18 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Mon, 1 Oct 2007 21:48:18 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] Petition: stand with the Burmese protesters Message-ID: <03d401c8046c$65c53060$0802a8c0@andy1> http://pol.moveon.org/pac/burma//comments.html?registered=1&petition_id=506&redirect_url=%2Fpac%2Fburma%2F%2Fcomments.html&id=11318-7045057-c5RV6Z -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ldxar1 at tesco.net Mon Oct 1 14:59:18 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Mon, 1 Oct 2007 22:59:18 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] MALAYSIA: Repression begins over anti-corruption unrest Message-ID: <048601c80476$512dfec0$0802a8c0@andy1> Five years for sabotaging street signs?! http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Friday/National/20070928080113/Article/index_html 2007/09/28 BATU BURUK RIOT: First man charged claims trial Khair Muzakkir Ali faces a maximum jail term of five years and a fine if found guilty of vandalising street signs in Jalan Sultan Mahmud. KUALA TERENGGANU: A 22-year-old unemployed man claimed trial at a magistrate's court here yesterday to committing mischief during the Batu Buruk riot on Sept 8. Khair Muzakkir Ali, from Jalan Sultan Mahmud here, is the first to be charged following the riot, which saw four policemen and three rioters injured. He was charged with vandalising street signs in Jalan Sultan Mahmud. If convicted under Section 440 of the Penal Code, he faces a maximum jail term of five years and a fine. Khair also claimed trial to failing to produce an identity card to Chief Inspector Norizan Jusoh. If convicted under Rule 25 (1)(n) of the National Registration Rules 1990, he could be fined a maximum of RM20,000 or a maximum jail term of three years or both. ASP Wan Razali Hassan prosecuted, while Khair was represented by Fathi Aziz Abu Bakar. Magistrate Nariman Badruddin set bail at RM2,500 and RM1,000 for the first and second charges respectively, in one surety. She also fixed trial for Feb 24. In the incident, riots broke out around 10.15pm after police attempted to disperse a crowd of 600 who turned up for a ceramah. The ceramah was organised by the Coalition for Clean & Fair Elections (Bersih), with speakers including Keadilan secretary-general Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim, Pas activist Muhammad Sabu and DAP representative Leong Ngah Ngah. The riot caused damages estimated at RM500,000. Meanwhile, a 15-year-old wanted by police in relation to the burning of the Jalur Gemilang is believed to have fled the state. Police have already identified the teenager and even published his picture in major dailies, but he has not surrendered. The youth, a Form 3 student from here, is also said to have been absent from classes since his picture was published on Sept 15. State police chief SAC I Datuk Ayub Yaakub, however, is still urging the boy to turn himself in. "He is supposed to sit for his Penilaian Menengah Rendah examinations, but he has failed to attend classes. We believe he is staying at a relative's house outside Terengganu. "He has no reason to be concerned as all we want from him is a statement. "We don't want him to fail his exam as we understand that he is an intelligent lad and active in school. "He may have been influenced to attend the gathering," he said. Ayub said to date, seven students four of whom are from secondary schools and the other three from instutions of higher learning, were among the 18 who have turned themselves in. Police are still looking for another 28 people, including several students, whose photographs were published in the newspapers following the riot. Ayub added that police have fowarded four investigation papers, including one relating to the police officer who fired warning shots hitting two rioters, to Bukit Aman and the Attorney-General's Chambers He reiterated his stand that police were not involved in the flag burning as claimed by some quarters. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ldxar1 at tesco.net Mon Oct 1 15:10:17 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Mon, 1 Oct 2007 23:10:17 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] Fw: Breaking News: 50 Arrests in Global Warming Protest Message-ID: <050801c80477$d9b6bbf0$0802a8c0@andy1> Breaking News: 50 Arrests in Global Warming Protest ----- Original Message ----- From: Greenpeace To: ldxar1 at tesco.net Sent: Thursday, September 27, 2007 9:55 PM Subject: Breaking News: 50 Arrests in Global Warming Protest Dear Dr Andrew, September 27, 2007 Just moments ago, 50 activists, including Greenpeace USA Executive Director John Passacantando, were arrested in front of the State Department building for participating in a global warming protest. The activists were protesting outside President Bush's summit of the world's largest global warming polluters - a meeting Bush called under the guise of appearing concerned about global warming even though he has refused to endorse mandatory emissions cuts and targets. This protest marks the greatest number of activists getting arrested in the name of global warming. But even if you couldn't be with us for today's protests, you can still take a stand in the fight against global warming. TAKE ACTION NOW! We know Bush won't take a stand on global warming, so it's up to Members of Congress, and they must act fast. Add your voice to the growing movement to combat global warming. Write to Congress, join our Project Hot Seat campaign, and stay tuned for upcoming activities you'll be able to participate in from your own hometown. I'll be in touch soon to let you know about other ways you can help stop global warming. For the Planet, Chris Miller Global Warming Campaigner p.s. Get the full story on our protest and see more images of the arrests. -------------------------------------------------------------------- 3 Ways to Help 1: Donate Now Help Greenpeace Take a Stand. Become a Member Today. 2: Take Action Visit our Action Center and take action today. 3: Tell a Friend Forward this message to a friend. Help spread the word. Greenpeace Executive Director John Passacantando, is arrested in front of the State Department. Stay tuned for his blog after he returns from jail. 702 H Street, NW Suite 300 Washington, D.C. 20001 (800) 326-0959 You received this mailing because you are subscribed to our mailing list. If you need to update your information or prefer not to receive these mailings in the future click here to update your account. We value your privacy. If you have any questions about how we use your information please read our privacy policy. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ldxar1 at tesco.net Mon Oct 1 15:24:12 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Mon, 1 Oct 2007 23:24:12 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] PALESTINE: Court victory for Bilin over apartheid wall Message-ID: <057301c80479$cc0235f0$0802a8c0@andy1> http://www.alternet.org/audits/63640/ One Palestinian Village Struggles Against Israel's Ever-Expanding "Settlements" By Mohammed Khatib, AlterNet. Posted September 26, 2007. More stories by Mohammed Khatib On September 4, after nearly three years of nonviolent protests by our village of Bil'in, the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that Israel's wall here must be moved further west, returning 500 acres of our farmland. In Bil'in we celebrated, along with our Israeli and international supporters. But Israel's Supreme Court demonstrated both the power of nonviolent resistance to Israeli occupation, and its limits. On September 5 the court rejected our petition to stop the construction of another Israeli settlement, Mattiyahu East, on our land even further to the west. Israel, with US support, appears determined to retain major West Bank settlement blocs, including one west of Bil'in, that carve the West Bank into bantustans. Bil'in is a West Bank agricultural village with 1600 residents located just east of "the Green Line", the pre-1967 border between the West Bank and Israel. In Bil'in, as in tens of Palestinian villages, Israel exploited security justifications to build a wall deep inside the West Bank and seize Palestinian land for illegal settlements. Israel trapped 60% of our land behind the wall, mostly olive groves that we depend on. In December, 2004 when the Israeli army started bulldozing our land and uprooting olive trees to build the wall, we went to our fields to protest. We learned from other West Bank villages that nonviolently resisted the wall, and we studied Gandhi, King and Mandela. We developed creative activities for our weekly protests. One Friday, activists locked themselves inside a cage, representing the wall's impacts. Another time, we built a Palestinian "outpost" on our village's land located behind the wall and next to an Israeli settlement, mimicking the Israeli strategy of establishing outposts to expand settlements. Another Friday we handed the Israeli soldiers a letter saying, "Had you come here as guests, we would show you the trees that our grandfathers planted here, and the vegetables that we grow. There will never be security for any of us until Israelis respect our rights to this land." We hosted two international conferences on nonviolent resistance, and many Israeli and international activists responded to our call to join us in a "joint struggle." Palestinians, Israelis and foreigners suffered patiently together as the soldiers met our nonviolent actions with teargas, rubber-coated steel bullets, and clubs. Over 800 activists were injured in 200 demonstrations. An Israeli attorney and a Bil'in resident both suffered permanent brain damage from rubber-coated steel bullets shot from close range. Another Palestinian lost sight in one eye. 49 Bil'in residents, including some protest leaders, were arrested. Some spent months in prison. Our achievements are due to our persistence, the worldwide media attention we attracted, and the support we gained from committed Israeli activists. We never expected much from the occupier's courts. The Israeli official who planned the wall told the Washington Post last month that he lost only three legal challenges to the wall's path, out of 120 appeals filed, this though the wall isolates 10% of the West Bank and was ruled illegal where it is built inside the West Bank by the International Court of Justice. All Israeli settlements are illegal under international law. Still, Israel's Supreme Court legalized the settlement of Mattiyahu East on our land, even though Mattiyahu East appeared to violate even Israeli law because it lacked an approved building permit. The rush to build followed President Bush's April, 2004 letter to then Israeli Prime Minster Ariel Sharon stating that, "new realities on the ground, including already existing population centers" make it unrealistic to expect Israel to withdraw completely to the Green Line. Israel responded by expanding "existing population centers", building huge apartment complexes, like Mattiyahu East, for hundreds of thousands of people, and calling them neighborhoods in existing settlements. These expanding settlement blocs fall conveniently on Israel's side of the wall. Strategically situated, the settlement blocs divide the West Bank into four isolated regions. Therefore, their annexation to Israel will render any Palestinian state unviable. Yet annexation of the settlement blocs is reportedly central to new Israeli government peace proposals to Palestinian President Abbas. We will continue to challenge these expanding settlements because they threaten the futures of Bil'in and the Palestinian people. And we will put our experience at the service of other communities struggling against the wall and settlements. From Bil'in, we call on Israeli and international activists to join us as we renew our joint struggle for freedom. Mohammed Khatib is a leading member of Bil'in's Popular Committee Against the Wall and the secretary of Bil'in's Village Council. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ldxar1 at tesco.net Mon Oct 1 15:31:48 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Mon, 1 Oct 2007 23:31:48 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] EGYPT: Massive factory occupation by striking workers Message-ID: <059c01c8047a$dc6e0c60$0802a8c0@andy1> *Egypt's biggest factory occupied by striking workers - show your solidarity*** *26 September* Thousands of workers at the biggest textile factory in the Middle East, Misr Spinning and Weaving in Mahalla al-Kubra north of Cairo have been occupying their plant since 23 September. The strikers are demanding wage rises to meet the spiraling cost of living, payment of bonuses and the impeachment of the factory management and the leaders of the factory's pro-government official union committee. Thousands of workers across Egypt have already joined strikes and protests in solidarity with the Mahalla strikers. In December 2006 a successful strike by workers at the same company set off Egypt's biggest wave of industrial action for decades, involving strikes by textile workers, postal workers and teachers. Independent trade union activists frequently face harassment and intimidation by the Egyptian authorities, while the official trade union movement is controlled by the government. The following appeal for international solidarity with the Mahalla strikers has been issued by the Centre for Socialist Studies in Cairo, which is part of a wider network of opposition and human rights groups campaigning for change in Egypt. ** *To add your name to the solidarity statement below, or to send a message of support to the strikers: e**mail **rabab100 at yahoo.com* *To send condemnation letters to the Egyptian General Federation of Trade Unions Fax # (+202)25740308 or Ministry of Labour Fax # (+202)24037562 *(please email a copy of the letter to the address above). Send protests to the Egyptian embassy in your country. *Read more about the strike here:* *http://arabist.net/arabawy/ ; http://africa.reuters.com/top/news/usnBAN454477.html * ** *Solidarity with the Mahalla Workers * We call upon all workers and fighters for justice to support *Mahalla Spinning and Weaving Company 27,000 workers currently on strike for their rights,* which are basic and legitimate rights for all workers. We shall use all means to express our solidarity with the workers and their families for their courageous stand and their struggle to seize their rights. *We also call upon all workers in all locations to act in solidarity with their colleagues at the Mahalla Spinning and Weaving Company*. We salute the initiative of the Grain Mills workers for their symbolic solidarity sit in, which they organized on the 23rd of September 2007 and their release of solidarity statements together with their colleagues in Shebin El Kom Spinning and Weaving Company. We also salute the weaving workers in Kafr El Dawwar for their decision to organize a solidarity sit in with their Mahalla colleagues on the 25th of September 2007. We also salute the students, foremost the Tanta university students, for their release of several solidarity statements with the workers. We also salute all centres and movements who expressed solidarity with the workers. *We condemn the policy of terror and arrests which the regime is using in the face of the legitimate demands of the masses of workers.* ** We condemn the policy of blockading the workers in the factory, which has failed to intimidate them and has increased their determination to continue their strike for their rights. We condemn the yellow puppet General Federation of Trade Unions and the Ministry of Labor who stand against the will of the workers and against their interests. *We call upon workers around the world and their unions to show their support to their fellow workers in Mahalla in everyway possible.* Center for Socialist Studies, Cairo ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- http://africa.reuters.com/top/news/usnBAN454477.html Egyptian workers take over giant textile plant Mon 24 Sep 2007, 14:08 GMT [-] Text [+] By Wael Gamal MAHALLA EL-KUBRA, Egypt (Reuters) - Seven thousand workers controlled one of Egypt's biggest textile mills on Monday, the second day of a strike by 27,000 employees of Misr Spinning and Weaving in the Nile Delta town of Mahalla el-Kubra. Five of the organisers went to the public prosecutor's office on Monday to answer accusations that they incited the strike and caused the state-owned company 10 million pounds in losses on the first day of the stoppage. The workers are demanding higher wages, more benefits, a larger share of the company's profits and the release of their five colleagues, one of the organisers said. Several workers said they took home about 150 Egyptian pounds a month, while the company posted a profit of 217 million pounds in the 2006/7 financial year. "It is in the hands of (President Hosni) Mubarak himself now. We want to eat and send our children to school. What can we do with 150 pounds a month?" said one of the workers, who asked not to be named. At the factory site on Monday groups of workers beat drums and chanted slogans against Misr Spinning and the management of the government holding company which owns it. Police kept their distance and no managers were present. Workers said representatives of the government-approved union came to visit on Sunday but the workers drove them away. The strike is one of the biggest in a long series over the past year in Egypt, where economic growth has not yet improved the conditions of many low-paid workers. In many cases managers have met most of the demands of the workers within days or at the most a few weeks. But the authorities have shown some signs of alarm at the strikes, usually led by groups of workers independent of the trade unions backed by and loyal to the government. In April the government closed down the headquarters of a group which gives advice to workers and unofficial unions. The Egyptian economy has been growing at about 7 percent a year for the past 18 months but inflation, at more than 8 percent for the past year, has eroded much of the value of any wage increases they have received. Price increases have been larger for foodstuffs, on which the poor spend a higher percentage of their income. Workers at Misr Spinning and Weaving went on strike in December last year and won a promise that workers would receive annual bonuses equivalent to 45 days' wages. They say the company has not fulfilled its promise and they are now demanding the equivalent of 12 months' basic pay as their share of the 2006/7 profits, representatives said. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ldxar1 at tesco.net Mon Oct 1 15:37:03 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Mon, 1 Oct 2007 23:37:03 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] INDONESIA: Protests over Japanese dolphin slaughter Message-ID: <05c601c8047b$969eb0d0$0802a8c0@andy1> Fwd from ASAP/Indoleft - James Balowski Indonesia/East Timor News Updates - Sept 26, 2007 =================================================== Group protests slaughter of dolphins for food Jakarta Post - September 26, 2007 Jakarta -- Non-governmental organization International Animal Rescue held a demonstration in front of the Japanese Embassy on Tuesday, urging its government to protect the dolphin. In observance of International Dolphin Day, around 20 members of the group protested outside the embassy against the killing of dolphins for food. Sudarno, the rally's coordinator, said that Japanese fishermen killed around more than 2,000 dolphins and whales each year, mostly around the Taiji coast. "Before being slaughtered, the dolphins are taken offshore, where they are stabbed to death and their necks are cut, leaving the offshore water red with blood," he said. "We hope that the Japan government can immediately stop this brutal killing." In the protest, the activists performed a theatrical show displaying the way the dolphins were being killed. The demonstration, which took an hour, ended peacefully. The embassy did not respond to the protest. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ldxar1 at tesco.net Mon Oct 1 15:39:22 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Mon, 1 Oct 2007 23:39:22 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] INDONESIA: Protest rallies as Jakarta bans beggars, buskers Message-ID: <05d701c8047b$e9f20520$0802a8c0@andy1> Ministry to assess bylaw on public order Jakarta Post - September 25, 2007 Jakarta -- The Home Affairs Ministry says it will study the newly endorsed contentious public order bylaw which, among others, bans beggars and buskers from working the city's streets. Janirudin of the ministry's legal bureau said Monday his office would examine whether the bylaw contradicted a higher law, the Constitution or public interest. "If it opposes a higher law or public interest, the ministry has the right to ask for a revision of the bylaw or ask the president to annul it," he said at a meeting with representatives from the Poor People's Alliance. Having been endorsed by the City Council, the bylaw, which was passed earlier this month, was submitted to the ministry to be registered; prior to registration, the city administration cannot enact it. Outside the ministry's building, more than 200 buskers, beggars, street children, transvestites and street vendors from the alliance, held a rally to protest the bylaw, saying it violated their constitutional rights as citizens. The bylaw bans street vendors from operating business on sidewalks, pedestrian bridges and other communal areas without official permission from the governor. It also prohibits people from donating money to beggars, buskers and street children with a maximum Rp 20 million (US$2,128) fine or a 60-day jail term. Edi Saidi from the Urban Poor Consortium said he believed the ministry would not endorse the bylaw. "These people work in informal sectors in order to survive. If the government thinks they aren't well- organized, then provide regulations for them instead of banning them (from making a living)," said Edi. The Jakarta administration endorsed the bylaw in an effort to create a tidier city; beggars, buskers and street vendors who operate in public spaces are regarded as a disturbance to public order. One busker said he never intended to earn money by singing on public transportation vehicles or in public spaces. "But I have to. I'm trying to survive. This bylaw is like playing God (because) it doesn't give us a chance to earn a living," he said. Another busker, a widow with five children, said she did not know any other way to earn money to feed her children. "Like every mother, all I want for my children is to see them become great people who have decent jobs. I don't want them to become like me. If the government doesn't want us to busk on public transportation, then please tell us where to go to earn a living," she said. She added many people were now reluctant to give buskers money since the city administration endorsed the bylaw earlier this month. "Previously I was able to earn around Rp 30,000 (US$3.2) per day, but lately I have only been able to get about Rp 12,000 per day," she said. Activist Edi said the ordinance could not be implemented well and therefore was prone to corruption and manipulation as people would try to bribe public order officials to evade the bigger fine. "If the city administration forces the implementation of this bylaw, we will oppose it," Edi said. --------------------------------------------------------------- Transsexuals say new bylaw on public order will increase discrimination Kompas - September 26, 2007 Jakarta -- Transsexuals are opposing the Jakarta regional government bylaw on public order that will soon be coming into effect. They say that the bylaw is discriminative and will criminalise the poor and particular social groups, including transsexuals. "Transsexuals are a group that up until now has suffered as a consequence of discrimination. This new bylaw will just increase discrimination against transsexuals, particularly poor transsexuals", said Ienes Angela, the head of the campaign and networking division of Arus Pelangi (Rainbow Current) on Tuesday September 25. Kompas received the statement a short time before Arus Pelangi held a press conference yesterday to convey its official position with regard to the bylaw. According to Angela, Arus Pelangi is a group that is active in advocating for and defending lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transsexuals and transgender people. Angela conceded that they don't know when Bylaw No. 9/2007 on Public Order will come into effect. However the bylaw, which was revised on September 5, has been agreed to by the Jakarta Regional House of Representatives. In its efforts to have the bylaw revoked, Arus Pelangi plans to organise more peaceful demonstrations and hold an audience with the Minister of Home Affairs, the Minister for Justice and Human Rights and the National Human Rights Commission. "Letters requesting an audience have already been posted. We are waiting on a reply", explained Angela. As reported by Kompas on September 25, last Monday a number of transsexuals demonstrated against the bylaw at the Department of Home Affairs on J. Medan Merdeka Utara in Central Jakarta. The demonstration was joined by around 300 or so poor people including vagrants, beggars, buskers and street peddlers. (muk) [Translated by James Balowski.] **************************************************** The INDOLEFT news service is produced by the Institute of Liberation, Media and Social Studies (LPMIS) and Action in Solidarity with Asia and the Pacific. To subscribe free to Indoleft send a blank message to . To view the archive of Indoleft posting since 2003 visit . INDOLEFT News Service Jl. Tebet Timur Dalam VIII No. 6A Jakarta Selatan 12820 Indonesia E-mail: jamesbalowski at yahoo.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ldxar1 at tesco.net Mon Oct 1 15:41:04 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Mon, 1 Oct 2007 23:41:04 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] US: Auto-workers strike; union surrenders Message-ID: <05ee01c8047c$26afa440$0802a8c0@andy1> Total surrender by US auto union By the WSWS editorial board 27 September 2007 The United Auto Workers union called off the strike by 73,000 auto workers against General Motors early Wednesday morning and announced a tentative contract that represents a total surrender to the massive concessions demands of the company. The union's suppression of the strike after only two days, during which the workers shut down all of the auto giant's US facilities, demonstrates the urgent necessity for auto workers to free themselves from the grip of the UAW and develop their struggle against the destruction of jobs, wages, health benefits and pensions on a fundamentally new basis and with new organizations entirely independent of the parasitic and corrupt UAW bureaucracy. The new basis of struggle is, above all, political-the fight for the independent political mobilization of the working class against America's corporate oligarchy and the twin parties of big business. GM workers should emphatically reject the betrayal worked out by the UAW in connivance with General Motors. More fundamentally, however, they must draw the bitter lessons of the aborted strike. The GM strike-the first national auto strike in three decades and the first at GM since the 67-day strike in 1970-was an expression of the growing discontent and resistance among workers in the US and internationally. The workers manned picket lines to fight against the company's plans to destroy health benefits for retirees, slash wages, undermine pensions and continue the assault on jobs. For the UAW, however, the strike was from the outset a cynical maneuver whose main aims were to provide a cover for its collusion with management, provide a harmless outlet for the anger of the rank- and-file, and use the workers as pawns in its tussle with GM over the terms of a deal that will relieve the company of its legal obligations to retirees and turn the union into a corporate entity controlling a multi-billion-dollar retiree health trust fund. The union called off the strike just at the point when it was beginning to cripple GM's operations throughout Canada and Mexico. There can be little doubt that the union's conduct of the strike from the outset was coordinated with GM to do the least financial damage to the company. The deal that UAW President Ron Gettelfinger announced Wednesday was in all likelihood agreed to before the strike. It in no significant way differs from the agenda for transforming the US auto industry into a low-wage, sweatshop operation announced by the company in advance of the strike. At no point were the interests of auto workers represented in the negotiations. The closed-door talks had the character of haggling between two corporate entities, each vying for the best possible terms for its commercial interests. Except that the UAW exhibited none of the intransigence and combativity of GM's corporate rivals, earning Gettelfinger the well-deserved contempt of those on the other side of the bargaining table. The union will be unsparing in the lies it peddles in its attempt to convince GM workers to ratify the agreement. But the reality was demonstrated by the verdict of Wall Street, which celebrated the historic renunciation of the most basic conditions of auto workers by driving up GM shares by a huge 9.4 percent, or $3.22. Ford Motor Co. shares rose 6.5 percent, on the expectation that the UAW will grant it a similar cost-cutting deal. The UAW sits on a "strike fund" of $950 million. This would be sufficient to sustain strike benefits-even if they were raised from the paltry $200 a week allotted by the union leadership-for many weeks. But, like everything else about the UAW, that cash hoard exists not for the purpose of struggle, but rather to sustain the bloated salaries and expense accounts of the thousands of bureaucrats who run the union. To add insult to injury, none of the union's millions will be used to cushion the financial hardship for the workers resulting from the loss of two days' pay, since strike benefits kick in only after eight days. If ratified, the new four-year agreement will have catastrophic consequences for current and future auto workers, along with hundreds of thousands of retired workers and their dependents. As the Wall Street Journal noted, the deal "includes a historic restructuring of GM's obligations for UAW retiree health care and sets up a mechanism for GM to buy out many of its current workers and replace them with new employees at lower wages." Thousands of older workers will be forced into retirement to be replaced by younger workers making half the traditional pay, with massively reduced benefits. The new union-controlled health care scheme will impose ever greater increases in out-of-pocket medical expenses on retirees, deplete resources from the pension fund, and lead to new wage and benefit cuts for current workers. With the establishment of a retiree health care trust, known as a voluntary employee beneficiary trust, or VEBA, which GM and the other automakers will partially fund, the UAW will get its hands on one of the largest investment funds in the US-estimated to be worth $70 billion-and become, in the words of the Wall Street Journal, a "major financial player." Gettelfinger and the other top UAW officials will become millionaires-at the direct expense of the jobs and living standards of the workers they nominally represent. Contract terms * Health care: The union has given up the right to employer-paid health care coverage for retirees, a gain won by UAW workers in 1964. The introduction of the VEBA ends GM's legal and contractural obligation to provide such benefits to its more than 400,000 retirees and their dependents. >From the beginning the VEBA trust will be under-funded, with reports that GM will pay as little as $30 billion of the $51 billion it owes. The fate of retired workers and their families will depend entirely on investments made by the union in an increasingly unstable stock market. Any shortfalls in the fund will lead to skyrocketing co-pays and premiums, as UAW workers at Caterpillar and Detroit Diesel learned when their VEBA funds ran out of cash. * Pensions: According to BusinessWeek magazine, the UAW gave GM a green light to raid the pension fund to pay for part of its contribution to the VEBA trust. This will endanger the future solvency of the pension fund and retirement benefits. * Wages: The deal establishes a two-tier wage system that will include, according to the Wall Street Journal, "wage and benefit rates for some new hires that would probably be far less-maybe even half-the current wage-and-compensation package given to UAW-GM members." Wages for current non-assembly line workers (maintenance, janitorial) will also be cut. Current workers will receive no wage increases for the life of the contract. Instead, the company will pay lump sum bonuses in the last three years of the four-year agreement. GM will also be able to negotiate a diversion of cost-of-living adjustments and increased cost-sharing of health care for active workers. This represents the extension to the Big Three (GM, Ford and Chrysler) of the drastic wage-cutting carried out by auto parts giant Delphi, and the achievement of Wall Street's demand to put an end to the "middle class" auto worker. * Jobs: The UAW claimed it called the strike to extract job security guarantees from GM. But the attempt to cast the contract as a boon to job security is an insult to the intelligence of auto workers. The agreement, according to all accounts, includes no job guarantees, but only empty promises that the company will consider investing new money in US plants. GM will retain an absolutely free hand to continue downsizing and using the threat of plant closings and layoffs to wrench future give- backs from the workers. The transformation of the UAW into a business by means of the VEBA is the culmination of a protracted process of degeneration, in which the union has become increasingly antagonistic to the interests of the rank-and-file and ever more the instrument of a privileged bureaucracy that is unaccountable to the members. This is not just a question of personal corruption (although corruption is rife within all layers of the union bureaucracy). It is rooted in the failure of the entire outlook and policy of not only the UAW, but of the official American labor movement as a whole. The leaders of the industrial unions that emerged from the sit-down strikes pitched industrial battles of the 1930s, including the UAW, rejected the fight for a labor party and instead aligned the unions with the Democratic Party. This signified the subordination of the interests of the working class to America's ruling elite, and the abandonment of any struggle for universal, government-run social benefits, such as health care, as well as any struggle for industrial democracy. The UAW accepted the economic dictatorship exercised by American capital in every factory and at every job site. This meant that the wages and benefits of auto workers were tied and subordinated to the profitability of the companies. In the heyday of American industrial dominance-when six out of ten of the world's cars were being built by Detroit's automakers-the consequences of this betrayal were not apparent. But with the steep decline in the global economic position of US capitalism, which finds its sharpest expression in the decay of America's manufacturing base, the disastrous implications of the union's pro- capitalist and nationalist policy are being felt by every auto worker. Today, all of the past conquests of generations of auto workers are being destroyed. The UAW responded to the crisis of the US auto industry by renouncing any form of class struggle, suppressing the resistance of auto workers to plant closures and wage-cutting, and embracing a corporatist policy of union-management partnership. On this basis it has collaborated in the elimination of 600,000 union auto jobs since 1978 and ever more brutal attacks on wages, benefits and working conditions. The final nail in the coffin of not only US unions, but unions throughout the world, was the increasing globalization of production, which undermined all labor organizations based on a nationalist program of attempting to extract concessions from corporations within the framework of the national economy and the national labor market. From organizations that once pressured the companies for concessions to the workers, unions everywhere were transformed into organizations that pressure workers for concessions to management. The central concern of the UAW bureaucracy over three decades of rapidly declining union membership, and the resulting contraction of its revenue stream from union dues, has been to secure its own interests even as it collaborated in the decimation of UAW jobs. By going into the health insurance business through its control of the massive VEBA trust fund, the UAW hopes to solve its problem. It has no problem sacrificing the jobs and living standards of UAW members to obtain the right to enrich itself. The GM strike has highlighted the organic conflict between workers and the old, bureaucratized labor organizations. Its betrayal underscores the fact that workers cannot conduct any serious struggle without throwing off the dead weight of these organizations and developing a new political movement of the working class. Such a movement must be independent of both parties of big business and base itself on a fundamentally different social principle: Economic life must be organized not to serve corporate profit and private wealth, but rather the needs of working people and society as a whole. It must be founded on the principles of social equality and genuine democracy-that is, on socialist principles. The vast industries upon which modern society depends can no longer be the private domains of corporate executives and Wall Street speculators. The auto industry must be transformed into a public enterprise, democratically controlled by working people, to provide safe, affordable and environmentally sustainable transportation, and economic security for the producers. http://www.wsws.org/articles/2007/sep2007/gmst-s27.shtml -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ldxar1 at tesco.net Mon Oct 1 15:50:00 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Mon, 1 Oct 2007 23:50:00 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] VENEZUELA: Oil workers repressed Message-ID: <064701c8047d$65e0bef0$0802a8c0@andy1> Declaration of the JIR of Venezuela: We repudiate the brutal repression against the oil workers BY: JIR (FT-CI), Thursday, September 27, 2007 In Puerto La Cruz We repudiate the brutal repression against the oil workers The Juventud de Izquierda Revoluionaria (JIR-PRS)* repudiates the violent repression against the oil workers of Puerto La Cruz, carried out today Thursday, in the morning at the entrance of the CVP (Corporaci?n Venezolana de Petr?leo) in Anzo?tegui. The workers were mobilizing for the Collective Petroleum Contract inthe morning, to deliver a document about the situation of the collective contract to the PDVSA President and Minister Rafael Ram?rez, but the answer they got was brutal repression by the Anzo?tegui state police**, who attacked the peacefully protesting oil workers. This [workers'] mobilization was part of the national day of struggle for the Collective Petroleum Contract. In these very moments, a small group of workers, among them Jos? Bodas, general secretary of Fedeptrol-Anzo?tegui, is locked inside the CVP building. The brutal repression now has three workers wounded by bullets, as union leaders report. Once more, workers struggling for their basic rights in the country have suffered a brutal repression, whether at the hands of the police who are under the executive authorities of the states or of the Guardia Nacional, that answers to itself (". la Guardia Nacional que responde a la Guardia Nacional"). All these repressive acts exactlyagainst those sectors of workers who are in the front line for their demands are not an accident. Today the same oil workers who confronted the coup plotters of April 2002, and those who were in the front ranks to defeat the oil work-stoppage sabotage, organized by the right wing and ordered from the US, by taking control of several refineries like that of El Palito, and preventing the success of Washington's assault, are repressed. How is it now fair to these workers that they are suffering repression? We call on all the political forces of the left, on the workers' organizations, unions and popular organizations, on the social movements, on student centers and human rights groups, etc., to repudiate this brutal act. In view of this attack, the broadest unity is needed, to carry out protests urgently in front of all PDVSA installations, in front of the Ministry, in front of [the presidential palace] Miraflores. This deed cannot go unpunished, since it indicates that now workers' protests are beginning to be criminalized; precisely those sectors that defeated the entire right-wing offensive and imperialist policies in the country [are being targeted]. We hold the government of this state and its police, and the national government, which runs PDVSA, responsible for all these acts, as well as for the fate of the workers who are still in the CVP installations in Anzo?tegui. Caracas, September 27, 2007 * * * This is the first statement this morning from [the union tendency] C-CURA-Petr?leo: OIL WORKER WOUNDED BY A BULLET IN ANZOATEGUI IN DEMONSTRATION TO DEFEND THE COLLECTIVE PETROLEUM CONTRACT - Press of C-CURA Petr?leo The act took place this Thursday morning, September 27, when the oil workers from Anzo?tegui state mobilized in front of the building of the Corporaci?n Venezolana de Petr?leo (CVP), which unites the mixed enterprises, to present their demands and opinions on the discussion of the collective petroleum contract to Minister Rafael Ram?rez, who was to make an appearance at this organization. The workers were repressed by the Anzo?tegui state police with tear gas canisters and bullets, with the deplorable result that one worker was wounded by a bullet in the back; the current state of health of the worker comrade is not known, but when he was being moved to the medical assistance center, he was in a weakened state. In view of this abominable act, in the best repressive style of the Fourth Republic, we, the oil workers of the country, demand of Pedro Carre?o, Minister of the Interior and Justice, that, since he indicated in recent statements to the national communications media that "the policy of the Venezuelan government on the subject of security could not be repressive," he should give an explanation regarding [this repression], because it is repressive, for the workers who mobilize in defense of their basic rights like the right to enjoy a fair collective contract. Meanwhile, we, the oil workers of Anzo?tegui, are calling on the rest of the oil workers and the rest of the groups of private- and state-sector production workers, to mobilize in repudiation of this sort of repressive, counter-revolutiona ry actions, that restrict the right of legitimate protest by the organized workers' movement in defense of their rights. === [*The JIR is the Venezuelan section of the Fracci?n Trotskista-Cuarta Internacional, a principled international Trotskyist tendency. [**The Governor of Anzo?tegui state is Tarek William Saab, described by Wikipedia as "one of the best known supporters of President Hugo Ch?vez." Governor Saab stands at the head of the state apparatus that includes the state police, who carried out the repression against the oil workers, which thus took place under chavista auspices. - YM] -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ldxar1 at tesco.net Mon Oct 1 16:09:07 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Tue, 2 Oct 2007 00:09:07 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] AFGHANISTAN: Locals blockade Kandahar highway in protest over civilian deaths Message-ID: <066101c80480$13822380$0802a8c0@andy1> http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5j8IVPcb28LLU9X4L69XJo80SH9tA Canada won't bribe Afghans after protest over civilian deaths: officer 4 days ago KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - A military official says Canada will continue to build ties with Afghans but won't rush in with "bribes" because of a false belief that Canadian soldiers were involved in the deaths of two Afghan civilians. Angry Afghans closed the main highway out of Kandahar city on Wednesday, blaming international troops, including Canada, for the deaths of a religious scholar and his brother during a raid on a suspected insurgent's home the night before. Some of the approximately 500 protesters chanted "Death to Canada," along with other nations involved in the war against the Taliban. Most of the anger was directed toward the United States. Military officials say no Canadian soldiers were involved, but the family of the dead men demanded amends on Thursday. "My cousins are killed illogically," said Abdul Hai, 25. "They must be given compensation." Qudratullah, an area elder at age 39, said the family should receive land or money for the deaths. "There are 18 family members left at the same house, including children and women," said Qudratullah. "Only one man remains at the family to feed the family, so that makes no sense that one man can feed the 18 family members." But Lt. Derrick Farnham, spokesman for the Provincial Reconstruction Team that works closely with Afghans on development and rebuilding projects in Kandahar province, said that his team will not react by offering "treats." "That's something that's been done in the past and it's been termed 'the great game' in Afghanistan, where locals play one side off the other in terms of getting treats and gifts," Farnham said Thursday. "That's something we want to avoid." "We don't want to be in a situation where we're seen as just bribing people who have a grudge against us because that puts us up against insurgents who can likewise bribe." International forces have come under scathing criticism for the mounting toll of civilian casualties in Afghanistan. President Hamid Karzai has said these incidents undermine efforts to win the trust of the people. Although verification is difficult as fighting continues, independent counts of civilian deaths by the United Nations and The Associated Press suggest about 600 civilians have been killed so far this year by both sides. The international coalition says the Taliban has falsely reported civilian deaths in order to discredit foreign troops and undermine their efforts with the public. Already, Farnham said there are areas where Canadians are just not welcome, particularly in the Zhari district, the birthplace of the Taliban movement and a stronghold of the insurgency. "Zhari is peculiar because there's almost a straight line that separates one side from the other and we don't have good access to the side that doesn't want us there," Farnham said. There are areas where Canadians are just not wanted, he said, not because the residents themselves are insurgents but because of fear. "They're unwilling to take our assistance because of the fear," Farnham said. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ldxar1 at tesco.net Mon Oct 1 16:10:42 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Tue, 2 Oct 2007 00:10:42 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] US: Protests in Irving over deportation programme, racial profiling Message-ID: <066901c80480$4a158b30$0802a8c0@andy1> http://www.star-telegram.com/629/story/248767.html Deportations lead to protest By PATRICK McGEE Star-Telegram Staff Writer STAR-TELEGRAM / STEWART F. HOUSE Anna Maria Negrete of Irving, left, holds a corner of the United States flag at a demonstration on the steps of Irving City Hall protesting the deportation of illegal immigrants. Do you think there is a racial profiling problem in Irving? Yes No I don't know Your vote has been counted, thank you for voting. IRVING -- Shouting matches and a few scuffles punctuated a boisterous demonstration Wednesday against the city's Criminal Alien Program, which has led to more than 1,000 deportations this year. About two dozen counterdemonstrators waded into a crowd of thousands at City Hall. Soon people were screaming at each other, and police escorted some counterprotesters away. Sgt. Jack Page said two counterprotesters, a brother and sister in their 60s, were arrested on suspicion of assault. He said one scratched a demonstrator and another grabbed a demonstrator by the throat. Carlos Quintanilla organized the protest against the police program, in which officials screen all inmates for possible referral to federal immigration authorities. He urged the crowd to boycott Irving businesses and to call the mayor to demand an end to deportations. About 2,000 people formed a ring around him. Fierce arguments erupted in their ranks, mostly breaking down along Anglo-Hispanic lines. "Hey let's chant, 'Don't break the law' because they're chanting something in Spanish," one counterprotester told others in his vastly outnumbered group. They started the chant but were soon drowned out by loud boos. One woman reached up and tried to swat down a pro-Irving sign. When police escorted a few of counterprotesters away, a demonstrator yelled, "Fuera! Fuera!" or "Out! Out!" in Spanish. That chant soon became a mantra of the night as more were escorted away. One man turned and gave the demonstrators the finger as police took him out of the crowd. Others stood their ground and argued face-to-face at length. Racial profiling alleged According to Irving police, 1,373 people have been turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, this year, leading the Mexican and Salvadoran consulates and Hispanic activists to cry foul and accuse the city of racial profiling. Only about four illegal immigrants were identified in the city jail a month before the Criminal Alien Program began in September 2006, according to information Police Chief Larry Boyd gave the City Council. About 52 a month were being identified when the program started, and up to 130 were identified per month by April, according to the chief. Mayor Herbert Gears said up to 300 a month have been identified in recent months. City and police officials have denied that they are engaging in racial profiling and said that all people arrested in the city are screened for possible referral to ICE when they are booked into jail. Gears said most of the people turned over to ICE were arrested on suspicion of driving without licenses. Quintanilla and other activists said Hispanics and their neighborhoods are being targeted. Demonstrators echoed his sentiments with cheers and signs. "I feel the Irving police are making a huge mistake with racially profiling Hispanic people here," said Stacey Ponce, 22, of Irving. "I know people who have been stopped for like a broken headlight or something, and then they're taken to jail." Counterprotesters argued that the policy has nothing to do with race and everything to do with the law. "Let's take the focus off of racism," said John Spencer, a 35-year-old counterprotester from Irving. "And let's not forget what the word illegal means. That's what my point was from the beginning." Patrick McGee, 817-685-3806 pmcgee at star-telegram.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: 720-Protest1.embedded.prod_affiliate.58.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 17419 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: pollPosition.gif Type: image/gif Size: 574 bytes Desc: not available URL: From ldxar1 at tesco.net Mon Oct 1 16:39:49 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Tue, 2 Oct 2007 00:39:49 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] Indigenous peoples unite against mining Message-ID: <070101c80484$5b5e25b0$0802a8c0@andy1> Resistance: Indigenous Peoples empowered to fight mining in Americas Sunday, September 30 2007 @ 07:21 AM PDT Contributed by: Anonymous http://www.infoshop.org/inews/article.php?story=20070930072140151 IndigenousTUCSON, Ariz. -- Indigenous Peoples from throughout the Americas fighting mining gathered to organize and support one another to halt the mining destroying their communities and the environment. The first in the series of articles focuses on the delegation from Peru, fighting copper mining and the poisoning of water sources. Resistance: Indigenous Peoples empowered to fight mining in Americas By Brenda Norrell TUCSON, Ariz. -- Indigenous Peoples from throughout the Americas fighting mining gathered to organize and support one another to halt the mining destroying their communities and the environment. The first in the series of articles focuses on the delegation from Peru, fighting copper mining and the poisoning of water sources. Coal, gold, silver, copper and uranium mining in Indigenous territories has reached the level of a global crisis. Nikos Pastos of Alaska's Big Village Network said climate change and melting ice, combined with oil drilling, result in unprecedented dangers for polar bears, walruses and whales. On the Navajo Nation and near its borders, proposals for new uranium mines, coal mining and the Desert Rock Power Plant pose threats to land and air already heavy with toxins. Manny Pino, Acoma Pueblo, said the sacred sites endangered by new proposed uranium mining include Mount Taylor in New Mexico, sacred to Pueblos, Navajos and other tribes in the region. At the root of the problem, says Western Shoshone Carried Dann, are the IRA tribal governments who are acting in the best interest of energy companies, rather than the best interest of the people. Louise Benally, Navajo from Big Mountains, Ariz., said the Earth is being "butchered" by mining and elected leaders at both the tribal and federal level are responsible and must be replaced. The Bush Administration has accelerated mining on Indian lands and is pushing for oil extraction and land claims in the thawing Arctic. In a story which repeats itself in every geographic region of the Americas, mining is rupturing communities and poisoning the environment, including the First Nations in Canada, Mayan in Guatemala and the Spokane Nation in Washington. A series of articles from interviews at the Western Mining Action Network Conference in Tucson on Sept. 27 - 28, 2007, exposes the tactics and destruction of mining in Indigenous territories in the Americas. Read more: Censored Blog http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ldxar1 at tesco.net Mon Oct 1 16:41:42 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Tue, 2 Oct 2007 00:41:42 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] BARBADOS: Statists look into uprising which destroyed prison Message-ID: <071001c80484$9eef82b0$0802a8c0@andy1> http://www.barbadosadvocate.com/NewViewNewsleft.cfm?Record=33154 Lack of leadership a factor during Glendairy Riot Web Posted - Sun Sep 30 2007 There was a lack of leadership by senior officials at Glendairy Prison during the riot that ultimately led to the facilitys destruction in March, 2005. This was the opinion of Prison Officer Two, Reginald Parris, who appeared before the Commission of Inquiry into to the incident at the Sir Garfield Sobers Gymnasium on Friday. Facing questioning from Attorney-at-Law for the prison officers, Tyrone Estwick, Parris testified that he expected to receive orders on how to proceed in the riot situation from any of the senior officers , including the Acting Superintendent of Prisons, or the Assistant Superintendent, but he did not see any of these officers on either of the two days of rioting. Furthermore, he testified that he did not receive any such orders on the first day of the riot, and found it difficult to say who was in charge at the facility during the crisis. Recounting the events of the day, Parris, who was one of two officers manning the F and G Corridors, said that his first indication that anything was wrong at the Station Hill site was when he faced a 20 to 25-minute delay while trying to re-enter the Station Hill site on March 29th after taking his morning break, only to be informed that a riot had broken out. Upon re-entering the prison, Parris said he witnessed approximately five officers of his rank congregated under the Arch . When he tried to return to his post, Parris said that he was greeted by rocks being thrown by prisoners from the Main Yard. The prison officer said that he then proceeded to the Armoury where he was issued with an M16 and was joined in the driveway by another officer in an attempt to prevent the rioting prisoners from leaving the Main Yard and entering the Extension Prison, without a direct order to do so. He recalled firing two warning shots when inmates approached this position, which caused the prisoners to disperse. Parris said that he and the other officer were eventually ordered to retreat from their position, a move that he believed resulted in the destruction of the Extension Prison. Parris, who testified for nearly three hours, told the Commission of Inquiry that he was waiting for a superior to order the inmates to desist their behaviour and for orders for the prison officers. He also noted that there was a shortage of staff on the first morning of the incident, and testified that only four prisoner officers were on duty that morning. The Commission of Inquiry is expected to meet again on October 8th, 2007. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ldxar1 at tesco.net Mon Oct 1 16:47:31 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Tue, 2 Oct 2007 00:47:31 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] JAPAN: 100, 000 protest attempts to rewrite wartime history Message-ID: <072a01c80485$6ebb76c0$0802a8c0@andy1> http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5ihzE9YL56-yySlpEk6gdU6P6SGKgD8RVGM2O1 100,000 Protest Over Japan Textbook By CHISAKI WATANABE - 1 day ago TOKYO (AP) - More than 100,000 people protested Saturday in southern Japan against the central government's order to modify school textbooks which say the country's army forced civilians to commit mass suicide at the end of World War II. Publishers of history textbooks were ordered in December to modify sections that said the Japanese army - faced with an impending U.S. invasion in 1945 - handed out grenades to residents in Okinawa and ordered them to kill themselves rather than surrender to the Americans. The amendment order came amid moves by Tokyo to soften brutal accounts of Japanese wartime conduct, but triggered immediate condemnation from residents and academics. About 110,000 residents and politicians attended Saturday's rallies in the prefecture (state) of Okinawa, said Yoshino Uetsu, one of the organizers. "We cannot bury the fact that the Japanese military was involved in the mass suicide, taking into account of the general background and testimonies that hand grenades were delivered," Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima told a crowd gathered at a park in Ginowan City. Accounts of forced group suicides on Okinawa are backed by historical research, as well as testimonies from victims' relatives. Historians also say civilians were induced by government propaganda to believe U.S. soldiers would commit horrible atrocities and therefore killed themselves and their families to avoid capture. About 500 people committed suicide, according to civic group and media reports. In recent years, some academics have questioned whether the suicides were forced - part of a general push by Japanese conservatives to soften criticism of Tokyo's wartime conduct. The bloody battle in Okinawa raged from late March through June 1945, leaving more than 200,000 civilians and soldiers dead, and speeding the collapse of Japan's defenses. The U.S. occupied Okinawa from the end of World War II until 1972. New textbooks for use in Japanese schools must be screened and approved by a government-appointed panel, which can order corrections of perceived historical inaccuracies. The publishers of seven textbooks slated for use in high schools next year had been asked to make relevant changes and submit them for approval. An official of the Education Ministry said Saturday that the ministry has no immediate plans concerning the amendment. She spoke on condition of anonymity, citing policy. Saturday's rally was the largest in Okinawa since the island was returned to Japan by the United States in 1972, Kyodo News agency said. In 1995, 85,000 people took part in a rally following the 1995 rape of a schoolgirl there by three American servicemen, according to the agency. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ldxar1 at tesco.net Mon Oct 1 16:53:16 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Tue, 2 Oct 2007 00:53:16 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] FRANCE: Vindictive sentencing over banlieue unrest Message-ID: <073301c80486$3c761700$0802a8c0@andy1> NOTE: This is a very sinister precedent - sentences of this kind for mass unrest are almost unknown in France, and it is no surprise the accused were "stunned" at the sentences, particularly given their age. Admittedly the case is unusual because someone was actually injured, but this could be the beginning of a lurch towards vindictive sentencing on a similar scale to neoliberal societies, as France prepares to embark on the neoliberal path - a path which will require the decimation of the country's vibrant social movements and spirit of resistance. This is very shocking and disappointing. http://www.expatica.com/actual/article.asp?subchannel_id=25&story_id=44422 French teens jailed for riot bus attack 29 September 2007 MARSEILLE (AFP) - A French court on Friday ordered two teenagers jailed for eight years for an arson attack on a bus which left a young French-Senegalese woman horrifically burned. The youths, aged 15 and 16, were among a gang who firebombed a bus in the southern city of Marseille during a brief flare-up of violence coinciding with the first anniversary of the 2005 riots in poor French suburbs. One passenger, Mama Galledou, a 26-year-old university student of Senegalese origin, was trapped inside the bus and suffered burns to two thirds of her body. Both teenagers appeared stunned as the judge read out the sentence at the end of the high profile trial. They had denied any intention to cause harm, saying they wanted to attract the attention of media covering the anniversary of the riots. Six other minors suspected of taking part in the attack are to stand trial in December. AFP -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ldxar1 at tesco.net Mon Oct 1 16:54:16 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Tue, 2 Oct 2007 00:54:16 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] PAKISTAN: Searches spark mass prison unrest Message-ID: <073b01c80486$60b7b4c0$0802a8c0@andy1> http://www.reuters.com/article/asiaCrisis/idUSISL263032 Pakistani warders taken hostage in jail riot Sat Sep 29, 2007 9:20am EDT Email | Print | Digg | Reprints | Single Page | Recommend (0) [-] Text [+] powered by Sphere Featured Broker sponsored link ? ? $ - Learn. Practice. Trade. QUETTA, Pakistan, Sept 29 (Reuters) - Inmates at a Pakistani prison rioted during a search for illegal drugs on Saturday and took about 24 wardens hostage. Prison authorities are negotiating with the inmates at the Mach prison in Baluchistan province where about 1,100 inmates are crowded into a jail built for 600, a prison official said. "The inmates turned violent when being searched. They have taken control of the jail and are also holding about 24 jail officials," provincial interior minister Furqan Bahadur told Reuters. The inmates, who also set fire to a building in the prison, complained of mistreatment, said an official at the prison, about 70 km (45 miles) east of the provincial capital, Quetta. Police had fired shots into the air but had not tried to enter the jail to end the uprising, the official said. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: iconSphere.gif Type: image/gif Size: 972 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: article; seg1=10226; type=featured_broker; sz=170x40; articleID=USISL263032; ord=4642? Type: application/octet-stream Size: 43 bytes Desc: not available URL: From ldxar1 at tesco.net Mon Oct 1 17:01:00 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Tue, 2 Oct 2007 01:01:00 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] INDONESIA: Displaced residents blockade terminal over land grab, compensation Message-ID: <077c01c80487$50f88720$0802a8c0@andy1> Residents blockade container terminal Jakarta Post - September 28, 2007 Jakarta -- More than 500 residents blockaded the entrance to Koja container terminal in North Jakarta on Thursday, hampering activities at the terminal owned by state port operator PT Pelindo II. The residents demanded compensation from the state enterprise for land acquired in 1994 to build the terminal. One landowner, Siregar, said the land was only valued at Rp 100,000 (around US$10) per square meter when the company relocated as many as 4,200 families from the 92-hectare plot of land 13 years ago. "They paid a low price because they said we did not possess legal land certificates, claiming the land still belonged to the colonial government. But, some of us had the (land ownership) certificates," he said as quoted by Tempointeraktif news portal. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ldxar1 at tesco.net Mon Oct 1 17:04:27 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Tue, 2 Oct 2007 01:04:27 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] IRAQ: Internal refugees protest, demand right to return Message-ID: <079401c80487$cccca980$0802a8c0@andy1> http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IRIN/9636aedbf15bcdbfa175e6dc394d3022.htm IRAQ: IDPs in Baghdad suburb stage protest, demand protection 24 Sep 2007 13:15:10 GMT Source: IRIN Reuters and AlertNet are not responsible for the content of this article or for any external internet sites. The views expressed are the author's alone. Alert Me | Print | Email this article | RSS [-] Text [+] Background Iraq in turmoil More BAGHDAD, 24 September 2007 (IRIN) - Nearly 400 internally displaced persons (IDPs) living in Baghdad's southern district of Saydiyah took to the streets on 23 September, demanding government protection to enable them to return to their homes. "Al-Saydiyah is now a place where you find many armed criminals who have occupied it and are thriving by killing and kidnapping. These criminals have played, and are still playing, with the lives of 50,000 residents - Shias, Sunnis, Christians, rich and poor," said Ali al-Amiri, 44, who represents the displaced families of Sayidyah. According to al-Amiri, 4,730 families, about 23,650 individuals, have been displaced from the once peaceful Saydiyah over the past 18 months due to the increasing sectarian violence in this particular neighbourhood. Nearly 2,000 others have been killed in Saydiyah, he said. "We want joint forces from the Iraqi army and police along with the Americans to clear our area of those terrorists to enable us return to our homes," said al-Amiri who led the demonstration to Baghdad's fortified Green Zone, home of the key government offices, including those of the prime minister and president. "We want to go back to our houses," said construction worker Thamir Hassan Hamza, 65, who took part in the demonstration. He fled his house in Saydiyah with seven sons last May and now rents a small two-room apartment for 300,000 Iraqi dinars (about US$240) a month. Sharp rise in number of displaced In its latest report issued in early September and covering February 2006 until 31 August 2007 the Iraqi Red Crescent Society, IRCS, said the number of displaced families reached 282,672 nationwide, about 1,930,946 persons - a 272 percent increase on the 2006 figures and an 85 percent increase on the figures for July 2007. Top of its list was Baghdad with 169,666 displaced families, and second was Mosul Province in the north with 15,063 displaced families; third was Salaheddin Province with 14,174 displaced families. The IRCS, the only non-governmental organisation (NGO) working on the ground countrywide, said its staff across the country were continuing to help displaced families despite constant danger. IOM says 2.25 million IDPs in Iraq However, a report covering two weeks of September issued by the Geneva-based International Organisation for Migration (IOM) on 18 September mentioned a higher figure for IDPs in Iraq - over 2.25 million. IOM said the number of IDPs almost doubled after the bombing of the al-Askari shrine in Samarra in February 2006. IOM said most IDPs were staying with family or friends. Others rented shelters or had moved into abandoned buildings and a small number had sought temporary shelter in camps. Reduced number of IDPs in Anbar Province The IOM noted improved security, and consequently a reduced number of IDPs, in Sunni-dominated Anbar Province in western Iraq and in parts of Baghdad. It said Anbar had slowly stabilised since January, due in part to increased collaboration between the Anbar Rescue Council (ARC), a coalition of tribes formed in 2006, the Iraqi police, the multinational forces and Iraqi forces. The ARC is enforcing extremely strict checkpoint procedures inside and at the entrance to towns, making movement within Anbar difficult, said IOM. "The ARC is also deporting IDP families from the governorate if they suspect any of the displaced men have links to the insurgents," said the IOM. It said Sunnis who do not have tribal links in Anbar, such as those from Basra, are treated with hostility. Ramadi, the capital of Anbar, is seeing waves of returnees due to the improvement in security, said IOM. "Unusual" displacement in Baghdad The IOM report notes the displacement in the second week of September of 250 Sunni families from the Hoor Rajab area of Baghdad to Abo Disheer, a Shia area in Dora, also in Baghdad. "In a city where displaced families usually flee from mixed neighbourhoods to homogenous neighbourhoods, this displacement is unusual because the IDPs are Sunni while the host community is Shia," said IOM, which added that Shia families in the area are reportedly supporting and even housing the new Sunni IDPs, who said they had fled after refusing to cooperate with al-Qaeda. Displacement continues unabated in other areas such as Diyala, Qadissiya and Salah al-Din, said IOM. "Overall August 2007 showed a sharp rise - of over 70 percent compared to July - in the numbers of Iraqis forced to abandon their homes," said IOM. It said the reasons for displacement were similar throughout Iraq - sectarian violence, continued military operations and generalised crime. sm/ar/cb ? IRIN. All rights reserved. More humanitarian news and analysis: <a href="http://www.IRINnews.org">http://www.IRINnews.org</a> -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: printer_icon.gif Type: image/gif Size: 918 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: iconRSS.gif Type: image/gif Size: 164 bytes Desc: not available URL: From ldxar1 at tesco.net Mon Oct 1 18:44:03 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Tue, 2 Oct 2007 02:44:03 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: Revolt by stranded passengers Message-ID: <083d01c80495$b668f870$0802a8c0@andy1> http://www.dominicantoday.com/app/article.aspx?id=25341 September, 6 - 6:12 AM Stranded passengers riot at Dominican airport Las Americas International Airport.- Some thirty passengers with reservations for travel to Spain, France and Italy on Spanish airline Iberia, have damaged the airline counters in protest at having been stranded for several days at the terminal. The travelers, mostly Dominican women resident in Spain, said that they have been going to the airport since Friday and that no airline executive has been able to provide an explanation for their plight. Other passengers argued that the situation has come about because Iberia has overbooked its flights to Spain, leading to a situation where the airline has to leave dozens of passengers stranded in the terminal on a daily basis. Police and military officers had to intervene in order to prevent the damage caused to the airline counters from being extended to their offices on the second floor of the airport. Many of the passengers complained that they had lost their jobs, saying that they were due back in Spain or Italy last Sunday in order to start work on Monday. -------------- 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 Oct 1 18:46:22 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Tue, 2 Oct 2007 02:46:22 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] More on France repression Message-ID: <084101c80496$09155e60$0802a8c0@andy1> "When the judge read out the sentence, the youngest of the two defendants, a 15-year-old boy, shouted: "Why me?" The mother of one of the teenagers fainted." Exactly - this is unmitigated state cruelty. And they may try to get even longer sentences for further defendants later! This can only be described as state terrorism, similar to that involved in the mass victimisation after the Bradford uprising. An attempt is being made to push the envelope in repression. http://africa.reuters.com/world/news/usnL28895095.html French judge jails teens for arson attack on bus Fri 28 Sep 2007, 17:24 GMT [-] Text [+] MARSEILLE, France (Reuters) - A French judge sentenced two youths to eight years in prison on Friday for their part in an arson attack on a bus that left one passenger with burns covering nearly two thirds of her body. When the judge read out the sentence, the youngest of the two defendants, a 15-year-old boy, shouted: "Why me?" The mother of one of the teenagers fainted. A gang of eight youths attacked a bus in the southern port city of Marseille last October, spraying petrol on the seats and setting it ablaze as passengers tried to flee. One passenger, Mama Galledou, a 26-year-old student from Senegal, caught fire and she spent months in hospital recovering from the severe burns which cover 62 percent of her body. The six other defendants are due to stand trial later this year and risk up to 30 years in prison because they are slightly older than the two jailed on Friday. The state prosecutor described the attack as a "commando operation" and had demanded 12-year terms for the first pair of defendants, who were not named by the court. The Marseille assault followed a number of similar attacks on buses around Paris, as gangs marked the first anniversary of nationwide rioting in many of France's poor, ethnically-mixed neighbourhoods. Marseille was hardly touched by the rioting and newspapers have quoted the arrested defendants as saying they wanted the same media attention as that given to the Paris arson attacks. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ldxar1 at tesco.net Tue Oct 2 15:11:57 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Tue, 2 Oct 2007 23:11:57 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] US/GLOBAL: Immigrants organise boycott of Western Union Message-ID: <0b0d01c80541$3f8df460$0802a8c0@andy1> Immigrants in U.S. Boycott Western Union Co. September 19, 2007 Advertisement WASHINGTON -- U.S. immigrant groups are ratcheting up a boycott of Western Union Co. in hopes of forcing the global money-transfer industry to reinvest in the immigrant communities from which it profits. Foreign workers complain that wire-transfer firms set extortionate fees and exchange rates, and that the industry fails to give back to immigrants. Western Union is being targeted for its size: It is the largest money-transfer player in the United States and ranks among the largest in the world. "We choose to stand up for our right to live in dignity and fight for our families," said Francis Calpotura, executive director at the Transnational Institute for Grassroots Research and Action. The network of 158 immigrant groups is spearheading the boycott, begun last week in California and slated for nationwide expansion starting on Monday. Immigrant workers in the United States send home some $70 billion in earnings a year, and the firms handling this trade skim more than $14 billion a year, mainly in transaction fees, market analysts say. Remittances from foreign workers around the world amounted to around $250 billion last year, and the figure is increasing by nearly one-third a year, according to the World Bank. Western Union, spun off from the U.S.-based First Data Corp. in September 2006, is a business worth $4.5 billion. Migrant workers say the company owes its success to them and they mean to cash in. "Western Union makes billions from Mexicans, and they give us pennies. It's time for Western Union to reinvest meaningfully in our communities," said a representative of the Oaxaquena Federation, who declined to be named. The company countered that it could not have attracted so much business had it charged uncompetitive fees. Additionally, the Colorado-based firm announced late last week that it would give away $50 million in educational and economic charity during the next five years. It said its "Our World, Our Family" initiative will channel the money through the philanthropic Western Union Foundation and through Mercy Corps, a U.S.-based international aid group. "Education and economic opportunity means providing people around the world with the tools to succeed," said company president and chief executive Christina Gold. "With Our World, Our Family, we will help open doors to new opportunities supporting global citizens on their journey to a better life." Even so, protest leaders said they plan to press on with their boycott. "The new initiative merely re-packages [the company's] current giving program," the Transnational Institute said in a statement. "It fails to address the campaign's key demands." Our World, Our Family would raise Western Union's overall philanthropic spending to 49 cents of every $100 in profit, up from 41 cents, according to the Transnational Institute. It compared this with $2.30 for every $100 of profit for leading retailer Wal-Mart and $7.50 for ice cream maker Ben and Jerry's, a unit of Unilever. Protesters said they would pressure Western Union to increase its charity and to give directly to groups working with immigrant communities. Mercy Corps, they said, lacked the experience of working with such communities in the United States. Boycott organizers also want the company and its subsidiaries, Vigo and Orlandi Valuta, to reduce their transaction fees and set more favorable exchange rates. In many poor countries, remittances from workers overseas exceed international aid. Remittances to Latin America and the Caribbean surpassed $60 billion in 2006, and about three-fourths of this came from workers in the United States, according to the Inter-American Development Bank. This money exceeded foreign direct investment and official aid combined. In six of the region's countries, it accounted for more than 10 percent of national income. The largest recipients of remittances are Asian countries, including India, which receives about $26 billion a year; China, which receives $23 billion; and the Philippines, which receives $14 billion. The flows are so large that development lenders -- the Inter-American Development Bank in the western hemisphere and the Asian Development Bank to the east -- and the governments of countries receiving remittances are seeking ways to lower transaction costs and channel more remitted money into investment projects. The transaction costs of money transfers often exceed 20 percent, researchers have said, adding that reducing these costs by even a few percentage points could yield savings of billions of dollars a year for the workers who are sending money home. Story Tools -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- See . __,_._,___ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ldxar1 at tesco.net Tue Oct 2 21:03:40 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Wed, 3 Oct 2007 05:03:40 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] AUSTRALIA: Workers attempt to blockade trucking company Message-ID: <307301c80572$62198770$0802a8c0@andy1> http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/scuffle-as-angry-workers-demand-company-pays-up/2007/09/26/1190486395983.html Scuffle as angry workers demand company pays up ABOUT 100 workers from the collapsed trucking company McArthur Express confronted police at the company's head office in Seven Hills yesterday as they demanded up to $1.5 million in unpaid superannuation and other entitlements. The workers, furious at what they say is a deliberate attempt to deprive them of what they are owed, scuffled with up to 20 police, including members of the public order and riot squad. Two workers were arrested when they attempted to stop a truck that police were trying to usher through the picket line, and a woman suffered minor injuries in the ensuing fracas. One man has been charged with affray and another with resisting arrest. Earlier in the day the workers entered through the front gate and tried to break into the company's office to demand their entitlements. A former McArthur truck driver, Brian Cox, said he had not been paid superannuation for eight years. "A lot of us knew they weren't paying us super but we were afraid that if we said anything we would be fired," Mr Cox said. "We've all got families, and mortgages to pay. We're just trying to get what we're owed. "I can't understand why they sent riot police. What did they think we were going to do, burn the place down?" The workers are awaiting a meeting of McArthur's creditors next Tuesday. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ldxar1 at tesco.net Tue Oct 2 21:05:06 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Wed, 3 Oct 2007 05:05:06 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] AFGHANISTAN: Afghans block roads near Kandahar Message-ID: <309201c80572$954448b0$0802a8c0@andy1> http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=2e994c2e-fbf2-48d0-838a-80545d7ab9ff&k=80107 Afghans protest Karzai regime, alleged allied killings Matthew Fisher, CanWest News Service Published: Wednesday, September 26, 2007 KANDAHAR -- Afghans shouting "Death to Canada" and other slogans blocked a main road in the hotly disputed Zhari District of Kandahar during a protest Wednesday against the rule of President Hamid Karzai and a house-to-house search operation by foreign forces that the demonstrators said had resulted in the death of two brothers who were mullahs. One of the allegations against the Canadian troops leveled by the demonstrators was that they had walked into a house on Tuesday night in the town of Sanzarai and had opened fire on those inside without saying anything. The Canadians were also blamed for several arrests. The operation was unfounded because there were no Taliban in the town, villagers told Afghan television crews which recorded the protest. A Canadian military spokesman denied that Canadian or other International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) troops had been involved in any such raids, adding that Canadian and ISAF forces had also not been present during Wednesday's protest. Email to a friendPrinter friendly Font: a.. * b.. * c.. * d.. * If the reports of a search operation in what is Canada's area of operations in southern Afghanistan were true, it may have been conducted by Afghan security forces or by U.S. forces operating outside NATO's ISAF command structure as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. However, the U.S. also denied any involvement in a search operation or that its forces had killed any civilians. Al-Jazeera put the number of demonstrators in Sanzarai at more than 1,000, but other sources and videotape evidence suggested that 300 to 400 men and boys had participated and that several mullahs had incited the crowd in what appeared to be an orchestrated event. "Foreign forces must co-ordinate operations with Afghan forces in order to avoid misunderstanding," Habib Sanzarai, the Zhari district chief, told Al-Jazeera. "If these actions against ordinary people are not stopped, more people will pick up arms and will fight the government and its foreign allies for justice." The protest came during a day of heavy fighting that left more than 160 Taliban dead in the neighbouring provinces of Helmand and Uruzgan. The confrontation in Uruzgan started as a Taliban ambush and ended with a counterattack by coalition warplanes and artillery, the U.S. military said. A Taliban spokesman disputed the death toll claimed by the U.S., telling Al-Jazeera, "Everyone knows we control the area, how possibly could the coalition stand there and count the bodies." The fighting in Helmand involved insurgents and the soldiers of the 205th Afghan National Army Corps, the U.S. military said. It centred around the town of Musa Qala. There has been an increase in direct ground combat recently between Canadian troops and insurgents, too. On Monday, Cpl. Nathan Hornburg of the King's Own Calgary Rifles was killed by a mortar. The 24-year-old armoured crew member was the first Canadian to die in ground combat in Afghanistan in 11 months. Most of the 71 Canadians who have been killed here have been struck by suicide bombers or by improvised explosive buried under roads. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... 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Name: button1-bm.gif Type: image/gif Size: 1536 bytes Desc: not available URL: From ldxar1 at tesco.net Fri Oct 5 16:23:04 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Sat, 6 Oct 2007 00:23:04 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] PALESTINE: "Internal" strikes and protests, Sept-Oct 07 Message-ID: <01ee01c807a6$ae543960$0802a8c0@andy1> * Gaza municipal workers strike, blame Abbas * Municipal workers protest * Doctors suspend strike during Ramadan * Palestinian teachers strike against six-day week * Teachers, lawyers respond to PLO strike call * 20 arrested as Palestinian police attack Hebron campus rally * General strike shuts down Gaza businesses, schools * Hamas forces clash with protesters in Gaza * Gunmen storm prison http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=25704 Gaza City municipal workers declare strike, blame Fayyad and Abbas for cutting off pay Date: 05 / 10 / 2007 Time: 15:03 Gaza - Ma'an - Frustrated after months of working without pay, employees at the Gaza City have declared a strike to begin Saturday. The workers issued a statement on Friday blaming Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and President Mahmoud Abbas for cutting off their salaries. The workers have demanded a full month's pay and a percentage of debts owed to them from nine months of unpaid work. The workers have set a deadline of the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=25597 Gaza municipal council employees appeal to PA for salaries Date: 29 / 09 / 2007 Time: 10:17 Palestinians burning rubbish during a municipal strike in August (MaanImages) Gaza - Ma'an - Employees at the municipal council of Gaza City on Saturday appealed to the Palestinian Authority, headed by President Mahmoud Abbas, to provide urgent aid to pay the salaries of around two-thousand employees. The employees have not received salaries for eight months. The municipality issued a statement calling on the Palestinian Authority to include the two-thousand employees of Gaza municipal council within the public sector employees who receive salaries from the PA. The statement said that these salaries would be equal to around 0.5% of the total salaries of public sector employees. http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/904442.html Last update - 14:24 17/09/2007 Gaza doctors suspend strike until holy month of Ramadan ends By The Associated Press Gaza doctors on Monday suspended a month-old slowdown, which has crippled the coastal strip's medical system, until the holy month of Ramadan ends in mid-October. Hospital doctors launched the slowdown in August after Gaza's Hamas rulers arrested a prominent physician allied with the rival Fatah movement of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. On orders from Abbas' West Bank government, which pays their salaries, most doctors shortened their daytime hospital schedule to three hours a day, receiving patients afterward in expensive private clinics, though emergency services continued to operate throughout the day. Advertisement Hamas later shut down more than 25 private clinics, putting Gaza patients at the mercy of the rivalry between the two factions. On Monday, the chairman of the doctors' union in Gaza, former Health Minister Zehmi Wahidi of Fatah, said the slowdown strike would be called off temporarily. "With Israel retaliating against militant fire from Gaza, doctors have decided to suspend the slowdown as a goodwill gesture for the holy month of Ramadan," Wahidi said. There was no immediate reaction from Hamas. The Islamic group vanquished Fatah forces in the strip in June and has ruled there since, while Abbas governs with his own cabinet from the West Bank town of Ramallah. http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=25083 First day of school cancelled in the West Bank due to teachers' strike Date: 01 / 09 / 2007 Time: 12:09 Bethlehem - Ma'an - Palestinian children were due to begin their first day back at school on Saturday, however in the West Bank, school was suspended due to a teachers' union strike. The teachers are protesting a government decision to reduce weekends to one day per week and end having Saturday as a day-off. In Tulkarem, in the northern West Bank, Ma'an's correspondent reported that the streets were teeming with students returning from school after finding their teachers absent from the classrooms. Media coordinator of the teachers' union, Nasaan Awwad, said that all teachers in the West Bank were committed to the strike. Awwad said that the strike will continue every Saturday until the caretaker government revokes its decision to order teachers to work a six-day week. The deposed Palestinian government in Gaza also decided to also increase working days and have one day-off per week, in order to keep pace with PM Salam Fayyad's government. However, teachers in Gaza appear to agree with the move and no strike was held in the strip http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=25226 Teachers, lawyers walk out in Gaza; Hamas government opposes strike order Date: 09 / 09 / 2007 Time: 11:11 Children sit on the steps of school closed due to the strike in Gaza city. [Ma'anImages] Gaza - Ma'an - Numerous schools in the Gaza Strip were closed Sunday as teachers refused to work in response to call for a general strike from Fatah and other factions of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). The factions called for the strike after Hamas-affiliated security forces attacked demonstrators participating in outdoor prayer services Friday. Ma'an's Gaza correspondent reported that many students did not attend school in both cities and refugee camps. By mid-day, however, it appeared that not all workers complied with the strike, reflecting Hamas' continued strength in the Gaza Strip. Lawyers in Gaza also refused to work, paralyzing much of the judicial system. The lawyers' syndicate released a statement saying, "This comment came as a condemnation of the crimes, the violations that are committed by the Palestinian peoples right in Gaza, and the violation of rights and public freedoms and especially freedom of worship and aggression against lawyers." Gaza's government objects In Saturday the dismissed Hamas-led government of the Gaza Strip stated their opposition to the strike order. "The strike is part of a plot aimed to resume the state of chaos in Gaza Strip and push the citizens towards rioting for the benefit of narrow factional interests at the expense of the public Palestinian interests," a government statement said. The government, headed by deposed Prime Minister Ismael Haniyeh, warned that the strike would have negative repercussions for Palestinian society, specifically in the education sector, in light of the bad academic results of last year. "The strike's may result in dangers on the unity of the Palestinian society, and creates more tension and dispute in the Palestinian arena which could allure the Israeli occupation to commit more criminal acts against the Palestinians as they did last week in the central and southern Gaza Strip," the government's statement added. The de facto government also argued for the need to keep hospitals out of political disputes. http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=25233 20 Students beaten and arrested as PA security forces disperse students at Hebron University Date: 09 / 09 / 2007 Time: 13:06 Hebron - Ma'an - Clashes erupted at Hebron University Sunday as Fatah-allied Palestinian Authority security services attempted broke up an outdoor rally held by Hamas-affiliated students, the university administration said. The students were protesting a planned tuition hike. The university administration would not allow the gathering on campus because classes were not in session Sunday. The Hamas-affiliated students then decided to hold their meeting outside. Security forces arrived, "dispersing" the students with clubs. The Associated Press (AP) reported 20 students "were beaten and arrested." The AP also reported that the security forces "forbade journalists from taking pictures, confiscating the camera of one photographer." The report also said some journalists were beaten. At the time this report was published, a meeting was underway between university officials and the commander of the security services in Hebron, Samih Seifi. University officials accused the Hamas-affiliated students of staging the meeting for 'political purposes.' http://www.albawaba.com/en/countries/Palestine/216685 Gaza: General strike to protest Hamas practices Posted: 09-09-2007 , 12:14 GMT Defying Hamas, scores of schools and shops closed their doors in Gaza on Sunday, observing a Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)-called strike to protest violence by the ruling Islamist movement. In the Rimal neighbourhood of Gaza City, most store fronts were shuttered and only a handful of shops open, AFP reported. Main streets in Gaza city such as the Omar al-Mokhtar saw a complete commercial strike. The universities of Al-Azhar, Al-Quds and Al-Aqsa were closed, as were the majority of state schools in the Strip. Schools operated by the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) remained open. A senior education official in Gaza told news agencies that the strike included 77 percent of the governmental schools, despite the fact that a large number of students headed Sunday morning for their schools. The Hamas-dominated Islamic university did not abide by the PLO's call. The PLO called on Friday for a one-day general strike to protest the use of force by Hamas paramilitaries in dispersing rallies which the Islamist movement had not authorized. At Shifa Hospital, the Strip's largest, only the emergency services were working, a doctor told AFP. The hospital has witnessed several work slowdowns in recent months, as staff protested Hamas firing senior hospital administrators who are members of Fatah. Hamas brushed off Sunday's action. "The disturbances are partial," spokesman Fawzi Barhum said. "I don't think that participation in the strike is large. Many schools are open. Businesses are functioning, as is the health sector. "This strike violates the law and public liberties... It is preventing the normal functioning of daily life in the Gaza Strip," he said, adding that Hamas "has the means to know who is cooperating with the Ramallah gang and answering its calls." ? 2007 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com) http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L07882358.htm Palestinian govt likens Gaza clashes to Intifada 07 Sep 2007 18:08:51 GMT Source: Reuters By Nidal al-Mughrabi GAZA, Sept 7 (Reuters) - The Western-backed Palestinian government said clashes on Friday between its supporters and Hamas security forces in the Gaza Strip marked the start of an Intifada against the Islamists ruling the territory. Wielding clubs, Hamas security men beat protesters, hurled stun grenades and fired in the air to disperse open-air prayers the rival Fatah faction held in the Gaza Strip in defiance of a ban on such gatherings. Medical officials said 20 people, some with gunshot wounds, were treated in hospital. "What we saw in Gaza today was the beginning of a third Intifada, against the Hamas occupation," Palestinian Information Minister Reyad al-Maliki told a news conference in the West Bank city of Ramallah. "We bless this uprising." Palestinians launched what they describe as uprisings against Israeli occupation in 1987 and 2000. Hamas took over the Gaza Strip three months ago after routing Fatah forces in a brief civil war. "They are chasing and beating and arresting us as if they were occupation soldiers," said one young Fatah supporter in Gaza's Maghazi refugee camp, likening Hamas forces to Israelis. The street showdowns had been widely expected after Hamas said it would not allow Fatah to conduct "political prayers" outdoors on the Muslim rest day. The Friday gatherings have become focal points for clashes between Hamas's Executive Force security wing that polices the territory, and members of Fatah, once the dominant faction in the Gaza Strip and now holding sway only in the West Bank. Responding to the latest confrontations, a Fatah-led meeting of factions in the Palestine Liberation Organisation in Gaza called for a general strike in the territory on Sunday and demanded Hamas apologise for the actions of its security forces. JOURNALISTS DETAINED The Executive Force took away three Palestinian journalists -- two working for Japanese television and the third man a photographer for the Associated Press -- and roughed up five other reporters during Friday's protests, witnesses said. The three detained journalists were later released, their employers said. The Jerusalem-based Foreign Press Association demanded an end to a "coordinated ... policy of harassment" of the media. The Hamas administration in the Gaza Strip also seized three members of Fatah's local leadership and an adviser to West Bank-based President Mahmoud Abbas, saying they had instigated "chaos". The three Fatah men were released later in the day, said a spokesman for the Hamas-run Interior Ministry. Speaking at a spot in Gaza City where Fatah members gathered for weekly worship, Youssef al-Zahar, a Hamas security officer, told reporters the movement was "trying to prevent people from using prayers to incite chaos and sabotage public property". In Ramallah, Abbas said: "We are witnessing another new cycle of crimes committed by the putschist forces against our people in the Gaza Strip". The Western-backed leader has described Hamas's routing of his Fatah forces in Gaza in fighting in June as a coup. Hamas has said Abbas acted unlawfully in subsequently dismissing a unity government it formed with Fatah in March. (Additional reporting by Mohammed Assadi in Ramallah) http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=25593 Gunmen attack Junaid prison in Nablus Date: 29 / 09 / 2007 Time: 09:25 Nablus - Ma'an - Anonymous gunmen on Friday night opened fire towards Junaid Central Prison, in the northern West Bank city of Nablus. Consequently, the Palestinians security services have announced a state of alert and Governor of Nablus, Jamal Muhaisin, has accused Hamas of providing illegal groups with weapons to provoke conflict. Palestinian security sources reported that three cars of armed assailants opened fire at Junaid, which comprises the offices of the Palestinian security services and a jail, in which several Hamas loyalists are incarcerated. The Palestinian security returned fire, but the gunmen fled. There have been no reported casualties from the attack. Palestinian security has opened an investigation into the incident. Muhaisin said that the Palestinian security services in Nablus are aware of Hamas members who provide weapons for dissidents, urging them to create chaos and blackmail businessmen in the area. The Hamas movement denied that its members opened fire at Junaid prison, or that Hamas supplied weapons to dissidents in order to incite violence in the West Bank. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ldxar1 at tesco.net Sat Oct 6 18:00:15 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Sun, 7 Oct 2007 02:00:15 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] KURDISTAN/TURKEY: Resurgence of PKK Message-ID: <258601c8087d$6c701c80$0802a8c0@andy1> http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L19774900.htm Six killed in clashes in s.east Turkey 19 Sep 2007 19:18:19 GMT Source: Reuters (Adds five PKK killed) TUNCELI, Turkey, Sept 19 (Reuters) - Five Kurdish guerrillas and one Turkish security official were killed in clashes in southeastern Turkey on Wednesday, army sources said. The sources said Turkish troops, backed by helicoper gunships, attacked a group of around 30 guerrillas in Sirnak province on the Iraqi border. The operation is continuing and there could be more casualties, the sources said. A Turkish security official was killed in an attack by Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants on a gendarme station in the eastern Anatolian province of Bitlis late on Tuesday, security officials said earlier on Wednesday. The militants who attacked the station escaped. The violence came after the Turkish military launched a 10,000-soldier offensive earlier this week against the PKK operating in neighbouring provinces. Army sources said operations against the guerrillas would be expanded. The PKK took up arms against the state in 1984 with the aim of carving out an ethnic Kurdish homeland in southeast Turkey. More than 30,000 people have died in the conflict, which subsided for several years after the capture of the group's leader Abdullah Ocalan in 1999. However, fighting has flared up again in the last couple of years with large numbers of the militants crossing the border from northern Iraq, where they are holed up in mountain bases. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ldxar1 at tesco.net Sat Oct 6 18:03:05 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Sun, 7 Oct 2007 02:03:05 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] IRAQ: Resistance attacks on oil supply, police, Sept-Oct 07 Message-ID: <259a01c8087d$d39c01d0$0802a8c0@andy1> * Iraq oil pipeline bombed * Tribes sabotage oil pipelines * More pipeline incidents * Armed group torches oil trucks * Suicide bomber hits Basra police * Other attacks on police http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L2349748.htm Internal Iraq oil pipeline cut by bomb - police 23 Sep 2007 18:13:50 GMT Source: Reuters BAGHDAD, Sept 23 (Reuters) - An internal pipeline carrying crude oil to a Baghdad refinery was ruptured in a bomb attack by insurgents, police said on Sunday, the second attack on a pipeline in Iraq in five days. Police said the pipeline connecting Baiji, 180 km (110 miles) north of Baghdad, to the Doura refinery in the capital was hit by a suspected improvised explosive device. Rescue teams had so far been unable to reach the area. Baiji residents reported seeing flames spewing from the ruptured line. It was not clear if work at the refinery had stopped. On Tuesday, Iraq's northern oil export pipeline to Turkey was damaged by a bomb attack that caused oil to spill into the Tigris River. The same attack also blew up another pipeline that transports crude to the Baiji refinery. (Reporting by Ahmed Rasheed, Baghdad newsroom; editing by Braden Reddall)) http://www.iwpr.net/EN-icr-f-338515 Tribes Sabotage Kirkuk Pipelines Local tribes who reap massive profits from stolen oil are likely to obstruct the authorities' attempts to protect pipelines. By IWPR reporters in Kirkuk (ICR No. 232, 07-Sep-07) Masked men infiltrate the village of al-Milih, 75 kilometres west of Kirkuk, and approach an oil pipeline that passes nearby. Under cover of darkness, they steal oil from an opening they drilled into the pipeline weeks earlier. Over a period of weeks, this scene is repeated nightly. Despite the presence of special oil ministry units, pipelines around Kirkuk are destroyed and hundreds of tonnes of oil stolen every day by tribe members from surrounding villages, such as al-Milih, Wadi Zghetun, al-Muradiyya, al-Saduniyya, al-Kanaina and al-Safra. The "oil protection units" were deployed to guard the pipelines after the government cancelled previous failed agreements with tribal forces to protect them. But in spite of this, oil is stolen from pipelines stretching from the al-Riyadh sub-district, 55 km west of Kirkuk, to the al-Fatha area 90 km to the west. Tribal sheikhs who profit from the stolen oil are likely to obstruct new measures planned by local authorities, including a special protection force, to stop the sabotage of the pipelines. Locals employed to protect the pipes are often from the same groups as those who are stealing the oil. Ever since a British-controlled company discovered oil in Kirkuk in 1927, the fate of the city has been tied to black gold. A thirst for oil drove Saddam's Baath party to assert control over Kirkuk, driving out thousands of Kurds and replacing them with Arabs. Before the fall of the old regime, the fields around Kirkuk produced nearly 850,000 barrels per day, more than 30 per cent of Iraq's total production at the time. In the first few years after the fall of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein's government, Sunni insurgents - many of whom as former soldiers had guarded oil routes under the old regime - blew up the pipelines to wreak havoc. Since then, insurgents have realised that stealing oil is also damaging, and is far more profitable than pure destruction. Today, Kirkuk's oil wealth is evaporating. Qais al-Mifraji, a 34-year-old farmer in the village of al-Safra, 63 km west of Kirkuk, describes how the pipelines are destroyed. "The insurgents usually come at night and plant a bomb to detonate the export pipeline," he said. "But if they want to steal, they just break it and fill their tankers. No one can stop them." The riddled pipes partially explain why four years after the US invasion, Iraq has not been able to match its pre-war crude production level of 2.5 million barrels a day. In 2006, production averaged 2.1 million barrels per day, mostly from oil fields near Basra in the south, which have not suffered the non-stop sabotage taking place in the north. Kirkuk now produces just 180,000 barrels a day. It could produce at least 400,000 more a day which, at current market prices, would net Iraq seven billion US dollars in revenue per year. Over the second half of last year, one stretch of pipeline connecting Kirkuk with the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan - the main outlet for Iraq's northern oil exports - pumped oil for only 43 days. The rest of the time, the pipeline lay idle, leaking crude through dozens of holes drilled along its 320-km run through the Iraqi desert. Another pipeline has been tapped into 39 times so far this year, according to the state-owned Northern Oil Company, NOC, which operates the Kirkuk field. Qadir Omer Rahman, director of the oil products distribution department in Kirkuk, said that the 80km-long pipeline from Kirkuk to the refinery in Bayji suffered many attacks. "Those who protect and guard the oil pipelines are recruited from the people of the villages through which the pipelines pass," he said. "They are the ones committing these acts of terror and smuggling, with the help of other groups." Unemployment and poor living conditions spurred Ayad Hamid al-Ubaidi from Hawdh village, who is in his thirties, to join the gangs who target pipelines and steal oil. "There is no one who can give us our rights," he said. "We have to use our own hands to obtain our rights." Rahman estimated that three million litres of oil are lost every month because of sabotage, which he said severely affects the provision of petroleum products to Kirkuk and the Kurdistan region's three northern governorates. Each stage of oil production in the north is hampered by criminal activity. It is not only the oil and its products which are stolen by outsiders. Pumps, transformers, generators and other valuable machinery and spare parts are frequently looted. Oil company workers are coming increasingly under fire from militias. Pipeline repair crews have been shot at and hit by roadside bombs. Sunni insurgents have been dropping leaflets in Kirkuk warning all government employees, including oil company workers, to quit or to face death. Last summer, Adi al-Qazaz, then NOC's director-general, went to Baghdad to visit the oil ministry. After his meeting, he was kidnapped by gunmen on the street, never to be seen again. While some NOC employees are threatened, others are suspected of cooperating in stealing both crude and refined oil. Truck drivers, as well as managers of fuel stations, are taking their share of the illegal business, draining supplies for Iraqi citizens who struggle to find cooking oil and fuel. A source in the NOC, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that there is a mafia-like group operating inside the company which smuggles large amounts of oil through pipelines, in cooperation with individuals inside the company. "When an explosion occurs in a pipeline and oil leaks from it, the people in charge neglect it, leaving the leak for several days until a large amount of oil has been taken from it," he said. Much of the smuggled crude oil is sold to merchants in Erbil through local brokers. They meet to do their deals in a restaurant in the sub-district of al-Gwer, 40 km west of Erbil, according to Ahmed al-Jobouri, an oil tanker driver. At small domestic refineries, the crude is transformed into refined fuel and then sold on the black market. Some will then be smuggled across the border. According to the NOC source, "the revenue from oil smuggled into Turkey is used to support the Turkoman Front in Iraq, and revenue from oil smuggled to Syria is used to support the insurgent groups in Iraq". Fuel is heavily subsidised in Iraq. Petrol stations receive limited supplies and citizens are given vouchers entitling them to buy a certain amount each week at the official low price. But because there is not enough subsidised fuel, most Iraqis end up buying oil products on the black market. A source in the Bayji refinery near Kirkuk, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told IWPR reporters that some officials from the General Company for Oil Products, which is in charge of issuing paperwork for the subsidies, sells authentic as well as false receipts to merchants. The stolen fuel is then smuggled and sold on the black market, either inside Iraq or across the border in Syria or Turkey. There is also small-scale smuggling. Salah Ali, who has been working as a tanker driver for six months, said receipts are issued at the Bayji refinery for 36,000 litres per tanker, which is their official load. But they are then filled to their full capacity of 40,000 litres, and the additional 4,000 litres are sold on the black market for five times the price of regular fuel. Similar activities go on at the smaller refinery in Kirkuk, said Irfan Kirkukli, the deputy chief of security on the city council. "Several trucks carrying oil products smuggled from Kirkuk have been seized," he said. "Vehicles have been caught smuggling 160 canisters of cooking gas from Kirkuk to Erbil, for example." Some petrol station owners, he said, sell their share of state-subsidised fuel to black market dealers. "Many such cases have occurred in Kirkuk and legal action was taken against [the culprits]," he said. "The filling stations weren't given [further] allotments and their owners were fined." To protect the pipelines and prevent illegal smuggling of fuel, several measures are to be implemented. Kirkukli said a special protection force to guard the pipelines will be formed, consisting of members of the Iraqi army, oil protection forces and the tribes from the areas where the pipelines pass through. Officials in charge of particular pipeline sectors will have to pay fines if their stretches are damaged or oil is stolen. Kirkukli also said that funds have been allocated to support oil infrastructure and to build observation towers along the pipelines in western and southern Kirkuk. Sami Amin Othman, the Kurdish chief of the oil protection force in Kirkuk, has recently hired 290 new security guards whom he plans to deploy along the pipelines. This, however, has already created unrest among the local Sunni Arab chiefs in the area. They seem to be afraid of losing power because the new guards will be paid directly by the government and not contracted through them. Because the people hired to protect the pipelines are often from the same groups that sabotage the pipes, and tribal bonds are often stronger than national loyalty, the illegal drilling is expected to continue. Sheikh Ziyad Hasan, who formerly served as a contractor protecting the pipelines, confirms that people from the area sabotage the pipelines and profit from the oil. Many locals, he said, lack the motivation to prevent thefts. "They believe that this oil serves the Americans and the new government, and that it does not benefit the people," he said. http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/RAS359660.htm Baiji pipeline ruptured in bomb attack A pipeline carrying crude oil from Baiji, 180 km (110 miles) north of Baghdad, to the Doura refinery in the capital was ruptured in a bomb attack, police said. http://www.mcclatchydc.com/212/story/19893.html Gunmen set fuel tankers ablaze north of Fallujah A number of fuel tankers that provide the local fuel stations with various oil products were set afire by gunmen near al-Gurma area to the north of Fallujah resulting in the death of a driver. http://news.monstersandcritics.com/middleeast/news/article_1357144.php/Armed_groups_set_on_fire_20_oil_trucks__Extra_ Middle East News Armed groups set on fire 20 oil trucks Sep 18, 2007, 14:54 GMT Baghdad - Armed groups believed to belong to al-Qaeda terrorist network in Iraq Tuesday set 20 oil trucks ablaze on the Fallujah-Samarra road, independent Voices of Iraq news (VOI) agency reported, citing a police source. The gunmen also seized a number of drivers, while others managed to escape and reported the incident, the source added. Most of the truck drivers, according to the source, are from Anbar and Salahaddin provinces who transport crude oil from Bayji refinery, 180 kilometres south of Baghdad. Then they export it to Jordan and Syria through Anbar province. The Fallujah-Samarra road is 100 kilometres south of Baghdad, linking it with Anbar and Salahaddin provinces. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070925/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq Suicide attack hits Iraqi city of Basra By ROBERT H. REID, Associated Press Writer Tue Sep 25, 4:59 PM ET BAGHDAD - A suicide car bomber Tuesday attacked a police headquarters in Basra, killing at least three policemen, wounding 20 people and raising fears about security in the oil-rich southern city now that British forces have withdrawn. It was the second major suicide attack to kill Iraqi police in as many days. The police chief of Baqouba was among at least 24 people killed when a suicide bomber attacked a Sunni-Shiite reconciliation meeting late Monday. An al-Qaida front group Tuesday claimed responsibility for the attack in Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad. Maj. Gen. Abdul-Jalil Khalaf, Basra's police chief, said the suicide bomber's legs were found tied to the steering wheel - clearly an attempt by the attack's planners to prevent the driver from running away. Khalaf blamed al-Qaida in Iraq for the attack, even though the terror movement was believed to have virtually no presence in the Basra area. The attack occurred about 8 a.m. when the driver, wearing a traditional Arab robe and headgear, tried to steer his explosives-laden sedan into the downtown police headquarters building but was blocked by concrete barriers, Khalaf said. The blast damaged nearby buildings and set several parked cars ablaze, witnesses reported. Fears about security in Basra have been mounting since the British army left its last position within the city on Sept. 2 and redeployed to the municipal airport, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) to the north. For more than two years, Basra, Iraq's second-largest city and headquarters of the country's vast southern oil fields, has been racked by violence from rival Shiite militias that have infiltrated police and government ranks. Several of the biggest militias are associated with major Shiite political parties. But suicide attacks - the hallmark of Sunni religious extremists - are rare in the mostly Shiite city. Officials were quick to point the finger at al-Qaida in Iraq, a Sunni extremist group. "It seems that al-Qaida wants to make use of the fragile situation in the city caused by the tension among the parties and the city's officials," Khalaf said. He said authorities had been devoting most of their resources to nighttime patrols but would increase the number of police and soldiers on the streets during the daytime. http://www.mcclatchydc.com/212/story/19840.html Fallujah - 2 roadside bombs detonated targeting a police patrol in al-Zaghareed area near the town of al-Saqlawiyah killing 2 policemen, injuring 4. Local Police have imposed a curfew in the area after allowing two hours for cars to return home. A member of theIraqi Police killed and three civilians wounded in an IED explosion that targeted their vehicle near Al Shaab Stadium in Zayuna neighborhood, east Baghdad, at around 08:00 am. http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L24264118.htm Kirkuk police chief escapes unhurt from a roadside bomb attack Kirkuk province police chief Jamal Tahir escaped unhurt from a roadside bomb attack on his convoy in the city of Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, police said. One of his guards was wounded. http://news.monstersandcritics.com/middleeast/news/article_1362337.php/Six_policemen_killed_in_separate_attacks_in_Salahaddin_province Middle East News Six policemen killed in separate attacks in Salahaddin province Oct 4, 2007, 10:23 GMT Baghdad - Six Iraqi policemen were killed in three separate incidents in cities of Salahaddin province, north of Baghdad, an Iraqi police source said Thursday. Unknown gunmen on Thursday morning shot dead three Iraqi police officers in the Sharqat area in the northern tip of the province, senior officer Hassan Ahmed said. Before escaping, the militants set fire to the officers' car with the policemen's bodies still inside, Ahmed added. Further south in Samarra, the Iraqi police found the decapitated body of another officer, a day after he had been abducted on his way home in the town of Duluiyah, 70 kilometres north of Baghdad. The body bore signs of torture. Militants with the al-Qaeda terrorist network in Iraq have been targeting residents. In the town of Dawr, about 10 kilometres east of Tikrit, gunmen attacked a police station killing two policemen, a source in the Salahaddin operations centre said. One gunman was killed in the clash and five others captured. From ldxar1 at tesco.net Sat Oct 6 18:02:41 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Sun, 7 Oct 2007 02:02:41 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] IRAQ - protests and everyday life, Sept-Oct 07 Message-ID: <259801c8087d$c33a4810$0802a8c0@andy1> * Hundreds protest draft oil law * Shiites protest assassination of Sistani aides * Neighbours protest separation fence between Baghdad Shiites, Sunnis * Baghdad revealed as bank robbery capital of the world * Baghdad civilians turn to TV to escape violence * Karbala radio station defies tradition * Kurds self-immolate, suffer honour killings in spate of burnings * Iraqis untouched by US "surge" http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/07/16/2574/ Published on Monday, July 16, 2007 by Agence France Presse Hundreds of Iraqis Protest Draft Oil Law About 300 oil industry workers gathered in Iraq's main oil port of Basra on Monday to protest a draft law that they said would allow foreigners to pillage the country's wealth." To compensate for the military and political failure of the US administration in Iraq, this administration is trying to control the country's wealth," the organisers said in a statement distributed to reporters. "If this is endorsed by the parliament it would abolish sovereignty and hand over the wealth of this generation and the generations to come as a gift to the occupier," the statement said. The protesters, employees of the Oil Pipelines Company, wore black surgical masks over their faces and carried banners and black coffins with the word "freedom" written on the sides. At issue is a clause in the draft hydrocarbon law allowing for production-sharing agreements with foreign oil companies, which many Iraqis see as a throwback to an earlier era of colonial exploitation. "This law, in fact destroys the achievements of the Iraqi masses and especially the Law number 80 of 1961 and the nationalisation of 1973," the statement said. The law from 1961, part of a bundle of socialist reforms issued by then-Prime Minister Abdul Karim Qassim, sharply limited foreign involvement in the oil sector. US officials see the passing of the draft hydrocarbon law - aimed at equitably distributing Iraq's oil proceeds - as a crucial benchmark of the country's political process and a key component of national reconciliation. ? 2007 Agence France Presse http://www.newspress.com/Top/Article/article.jsp?Section=WORLD&ID=565090329167266710 Shiite cleric's followers protest after assassinations of 2 aides in southern Iraq KATARINA KRATOVAC, Associated Press Writer September 21, 2007 3:58 AM BAGHDAD (AP) - Two aides to Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani were killed in shootings within hours, prompting his Basra followers to boycott Friday sermons in protest amid fears that an internal Shiite power struggle was increasingly targeting Iraq's top Shiite cleric. A top aide to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, meanwhile, conceded it may prove difficult for the Iraqi government to expel Western security contractors despite outrage that followed the killings of civilians in a shooting involving Blackwater USA contractors protecting State Department personnel. The aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation into Sunday's incident was ongoing, said a way out of the Blackwater crisis could be the payment of compensation to victims' families and an agreement from all sides on a new set of ground rules for their operations in Iraq. An Interior Ministry spokesman, Maj. Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf, said Friday that a report had concluded that Blackwater guards opened fire from four positions on a square in western Baghdad after a vehicle near their convoy failed to stop. Iraqi witnesses and officials have offered several conflicting versions of events and it was not clear how the Interior Ministry report would affect a joint U.S.-Iraqi investigation. Al-Sistani's followers in Basra, 340 miles southeast of Baghdad, refused to attend Friday sermons in their mosques, denouncing the latest assassinations of the cleric's associates, an aide said. Al-Sistani's representative in the Diwaniyah province, Ahmed al-Barqaawi, was gunned down while driving home to the city of Diwaniyah, about 80 miles south of Baghdad, police officials said. Hours earlier, one of the cleric's representatives in the Basra area, Amjad al-Janabi, was killed along with his driver in a shooting west of the southern city, police said. The deaths bring to at least five the number of al-Sistani aides slain since early August but it remains unclear if the killings reflect internal Shiite disputes or are the work of Sunni insurgents opposed to the vast influence enjoyed by al-Sistani over Iraq's Shiites and politics since Saddam Hussein's 2003 ouster. Al-Sistani's office in the holy city of Najaf declined to comment on the latest slayings. Basra Gov. Mohammed al-Waili called on the government to step up measures to protect clerics. Rival Shiite groups clashed violently in August in another Shiite holy city, Karbala, during a religious festival that left at least 52 people dead. Tensions have also increased in Baghdad, where the shooting incident Sunday involving Blackwater USA security guards which Iraqi officials said left at least 11 people dead in Nisoor Square in western Baghdad, infuriated many Iraqis. American and Iraqi officials announced a joint committee to probe the widely differing versions of the incident. Khalaf said the Interior Ministry report found that the security guards opened fire first on Iraqis who were driving in their cars. The report, Khalaf said, recommended annulling a legal provision that gives immunity to foreign security companies operating in Iraq. It also recommended Blackwater pay compensations to the victims' families and that all foreign security companies be replaced by Iraqi security companies. According to Khalaf, a car bomb detonated around noon Sunday near al-Rahman mosque in Mansour, a mile north of Nisoor Square. ''Minutes later, two mortar rounds landed nearby Nisoor square and they (Blackwater) thought that they were under attack,'' Khalaf said. ''They started shooting randomly from four positions in the square, killing 11 civilians and injuring 12 others. The first one who was killed was a driver who failed to stop and then his wife,'' Khalaf said, adding his opinion about the foreign security guards: ''They always lose their cool and have their fingers on the trigger.'' Separately, authorities in the autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq called for the release of an Iranian detained by U.S. forces Thursday in Sulaimaniyah. The U.S. military said he was smuggling in roadside bombs as a member of the elite Iranian paramilitary Quds Force, which is accused by the United States of arming and training Shiite militias in Iraq. But a statement by the Kurdish government said the Iranian was part of an Iranian delegation of economists and businessmen, with an ''official invitation.'' A spokesman, Fuad Hussein, said the detention was ''illegitimate.'' The U.S. detentions of Iranians is a sensitive subject for Iraqi officials trying to balance the interests of their rival U.S. backers and Iran, powerful allies of the Shiite-led government. Kurdish authorities also were irked by the January arrest of five Iranians during a U.S. raid in the northern city of Irbil. U.S. authorities have said the five included the operations chief and other members of the Quds force. Iran has insisted the five were diplomats in Iraq with permission of the government. The arrest could further strain Washington-Tehran relations, already taxed by earlier detention of each other's citizens, as well as U.S. accusations over Iranian involvement in Iraq's violence and Iran's disputed nuclear program. Iran has denied allegations that it is stoking the violence. --- Associated Press writers Sinan Salaheddin and Hamid Ahmed contributed to this report. http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070912/wl_mideast_afp/iraqunrestwall Baghdad neighbours protest over dividing wall by Ali Yussef Wed Sep 12, 7:43 AM ET BAGHDAD (AFP) - Hundreds of Shiites and Sunnis marched on Wednesday in protest at the building by US troops of a tall concrete wall separating their northwest Baghdad neighbourhoods, an AFP photographer said. The protesters complained that the wall would promote sectarianism and demanded its removal. Residents said that US forces last week began building the two-kilometre (1.25 mile) wall along the border of the mainly Shiite al-Shuala and adjoining Sunni-majority al-Ghazaliyah neighbourhoods without consulting them. The demonstrators -- tribal leaders, clerics and local residents -- marched from one neighbourhood to the other carrying banners reading "No to the dividing wall" and "The wall is US terrorism." The protesters demanded in a statement that the government intervene to halt the wall and ensure that the section already completed is demolished. "The wall is in accordance with Al-Qaeda's plans," the statement said, adding that the barrier was being built to "separate family from family." "The wall is dividing small neighbourhoods and will lead to the partitioning of Iraq," said Hassan al-Taii, a leader of the large Taii Sunni tribe. He demanded that the Baghdad government destroy the wall and act against those "planting division and sectarianism among Iraqis." Since early this year, US and Iraqi forces have been erecting walls around or between some Baghdad neighbourhoods in what their commanders call a "concrete caterpillar" designed to protect residents from sectarian violence. In April the military came under flak when it began constructing a ring of six-tonne (14,000 pounds) concrete blocks around the Sunni Adhamiyah neighbourhood to prevent it from being mortared from the nearby Shiite areas. Many Iraqis argue that the barricades will only heighten tensions between Sunnis and Shiites by segregating the once mixed city. During Wednesday's protest, demonstrators carried Iarqi flags and chanted, "No, no to terrorism", and "Yes, yes to unity." "This wall does not provide security and stability," said Shiite cleric Abdul Baqir al-Subaihawi. "The government must maintain security in Baghdad rather than separate its neighbourhoods," he added. Shiite radical leader Moqtada al-Sadr has urged artists to paint the concrete barriers springing up around Baghdad with murals showing what he dubbed the "ugly face" of the US military in Iraq. The Baghdad council has employed professional artists to paint the walls with calming landscapes and scenes depicting Iraq's natural beauty, but Sadr -- a firebrand preacher and militia leader -- had something more dramatic in mind. "I call on you to draw magnificent tableaux that depict the ugliness and terrorist nature of the occupier, and the sedition, car bombings, blood and the like he has brought upon Iraqis," he said. http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/world-news/article2977364.ece Baghdad revealed as bank robbery capital of the world Wednesday, September 19, 2007 By Kim Sengupta in Baghdad The attack had been planned with military precision. Twelve men, masked and carrying Kalashnikov assault rifles stormed into the al-Sanik branch of the Bank of Baghdad, disarmed the guards, tied them up and then terrified the staff by firing into the ceiling. About $800,000 (?400,000) in US dollars and Iraqi dinars was grabbed before the gang drove away in three cars, untroubled by the many checkpoints in the area. The raid was just the latest of a long and lucrative line that sees, on average, a million dollars a month being taken at gunpoint. Bank executives have been kidnapped from their homes for ransoms as high as $6mn. Amid the bombs and gunfire, there is one "industry" is doing remarkably well - Baghdad is now the bank robbery capital of the world. Iraq holds the world record for both the first and second highest amounts taken in the history of bank robberies. Top of the league is the estimated $800m removed from the Central Bank by Saddam Hussein's son, Qusay, in the dying days of the regime as US tanks were rolling into Baghdad. In second position is the heist, just two months ago, at the Dar al-Salam Bank at Sadoun Street in central Baghdad when three guards turned on their employers and left with $282m. Other banks hit recently has been the al-Rafidian which lost $1.2m; the Industry Bank, which had $784,000 taken; Iraqi Trade Bank, $1.8m ; the Bank of Baghdad, $ 1.6m; al-Warka Bank, $750,000; The Middle East Investment Bank, $1.32m... the list goes on. Four years after "liberation" and the coming of the free market, Iraq is almost entirely a cash economy with a mushrooming group of private banks and vast sums of money being moved daily across the country. The US authorities praised the rise of the private banking sector as one of the success stories of Iraq. But the upsurge in robberies has meant that some branches have been unable to pay customers because of lack of cash. One thing Iraq is not short of is men with guns. The banks, and their money convoys, are easy pickings. The security forces have their hands full with the insurgency and Shia militia groups and, in any case, are themselves suspected of carrying out many of the robberies. Firas Ali Suleiman, a driver for the Bank of Baghdad described how a van carrying $1.6m from its Hilla branch to Baghdad was ambushed. "It was a Kia van and it was not armoured, but we had four guards with the money inside," he said. "We were stopped at a checkpoint in Audiya run by the Ministry of Interior commandos. They ordered the back door to be opened and saw the money. The guards were called out and then put in handcuffs and hooded. I could hear them talking about the money and then they took the money out. I was told to drive away and I called the manager on my mobile and told him what happened. "The next roadblock was by the Mehdi Army (Shia militia). I think they, too, were expecting to get some money but, by then, of course, it was gone. The police were called later but they did nothing." Khalid Mohammed, the manager called by Mr Suleiman, is convinced most of the robberies take place with inside help. "I have been at a bank branch when the men with guns came. They knew exactly where the money was and, when they left, they went straight past all the checkpoints, no one searched their cars or asked any questions. "Before the war we just had a few banks, now there are lots of private ones, so less security, and more opportunity for stealing." Armed convoys, with darkened windows move through Baghdad every day.. They could be ministerial escorts, private security firms, or, as the police point out, robbers - and it is impossible for police to tell which is which. Iraq's biggest heists 1: Central Bank (2003): $800m (?400m) 2: Dar al-Salam (2007): $282m 3. Iraqi Trade Bank (2007): $1.8m 4: Bank of Baghdad (2007): $1.6m 5: MEI Bank (2007): $1.32m http://www.iwpr.net/EN-icr-f-339518 Baghdad's TV Escapists Residents watch hours of cartoons, films and music shows to get a break from the chaos outside their homes. By IWPR reporters in Baghdad (ICR No. 234, 2-Oct-07) Glued to their favourite cartoon show, Kadim Muhammed's two children and wife protest when he tries to switch over to watch the news. "My husband and I used to listen to detailed news bulletins about Iraq every day," said his wife, Sheima Juma. "But when a satellite channel reported a bombing in a popular market in Baghdad in which my brother was killed, I went into shock. Ever since that tragedy, I swore not to watch the news at all." Baghdad residents are escaping the violent reality of daily life by watching hours of anything from cartoon shows to music videos. Television helps stave off the depression and boredom born of having to endure constant curfews and shortages. The ministry of health estimates that 25 per cent of Iraq's population suffers mental health problems because of the country's successive wars, poverty and political persecution. Meisa' Sahib, a psychologist at the University of al-Mustanisiriyyah, said television entertainment allowed Iraqis to forget their cares and woes, especially children who see too much violence on the news. "The tragic scenes on the news have a dangerous affect on Iraqis [of all ages and] from all walks of life," she said. An aversion to the news is a relatively recent phenomenon here. In the past, Baghdadis were keen to know what was going on, with the latest headlines and political chatter dominating social interaction. Since the early 20th century, even prior to electricity reaching Iraq, the capital's residents enjoyed listening to radio news from kerosene- and battery-operated radios. Saddam Hussein's regime tightly controlled news and dissident political views, but people still managed to discuss current affairs in Baghdad's teahouses and literary gatherings. But these days, such gatherings are rare and the few people who still turn up for them tend to reflect on Baghdad's past. "We spend our time in the teashop playing dominos, backgammon and sipping tea with hamidh [dried lemon]," said Muhammed, a pensioner who wiles away the hours at the popular al-Zahawi teashop in Baghdad. "It's better than listening to the news, although we'll occasionally read an independent newspaper. We're fed up with the lies of political parties and politicians in Iraq." With the news such a turn-off these days, channels such as al-Qithara, featuring Iraqi songs, and MBC2, devoted to American films, are experiencing big hikes in their viewing figures. "Our life is boring and difficult," said Muhammed Abadi, a university student. "There's nothing nicer than the satellite music channels, which take me away to another world - a world that is pure, comfortable and far away from the bloody reality of Iraq." "I watch the Tom & Jerry cartoons more than my children do," said Waleed Talib, a teacher. "It is more enjoyable than news and politics." Mahmood Taha, also a teacher, holds the TV remote control in his hand as he settles down to watch a film with a plate of nuts and chips by his side. He is addicted to films, he says, but he avoids thrillers. "I don't want anything that scares me or causes me headaches," he said. "What we've already gone through is enough." http://www.iwpr.net/EN-icr-f-339524 Karbala Radio Station Challenges Traditions Station's tackling of controversial social issues and liking for western music raises clerics' eyebrows By an IWPR reporter in Karbala (ICR No. 234, 2-Oct-07) A radio station in Karbala is pushing boundaries in this holy Shia city by broadcasting music and cultural programming that some clerics and leaders consider inappropriate. Originally backed by the Iraqi National Congress, a moderate party led by Ahmad Chalabi, Karbala FM launched in October 2003 from a small home in the city's Hussein neighbourhood. Karbala FM is now independent and is the most popular station in the city - particularly among its youth. Karbala FM today broadcasts from a studio in the city and runs programming for much of the day, covering everything from culture to politics to religion. Its content frequently challenges traditions, raising eyebrows in this conservative city. "We have limited experience, but we're pushing for progress and creativity," said Huda Amir as she clicked through a sound editing programme in the studio. Amir is one of three female producers at the station. "I haven't worked at other radio stations because they're very religious and don't give women any opportunities," she said. "Our independence allows us to have diverse programming," said Hadi al-Rubai'i, who produces several Karbala FM shows. "The radio's management is independent of any movement, party or Marji'iyyah [Shia religious clerics]." "We broadcast the beliefs and views of all people," said programmes director Mohammed Fayhan. "We've even hosted Adnan Dulaimi (a hard-line Sunni lawmaker) because in our shows people from all Iraqi backgrounds get to have a voice." Prior to the fall of Saddam Hussein in April 2003, "there was only one ruler and one media. The radio stations would repeat the same speech over and over again. There was no space for criticism and transparency", said Amir Makhif al-Omer al-Jubouri, who founded the station and directs Karbala FM's board. "Today, there are many radio stations and satellite channels reporting on all topics, but most of them are party-affiliated and politicised." The station's "Good Morning Karbala" programme includes interviews with officials, phone-in discussions, coverage of social issues and even horoscopes. Its content is strikingly different from other broadcasters in Karbala, many of which are dominated by religious programming. Al-Rawdha al-Husseiniyyah Radio, for example, primarily broadcasts what happens in the Imam al-Hussein Holy Shrine, including funerals, daily prayers, Friday prayers, some local news and Islamic entertainment programmes. Most of its audience are strict followers of the Grand Ayatollah, Shia cleric Ali al-Sistani. Jubouri said that Shia religious values influence the station's content, and that Karbala FM "covers religious occasions with respect". But its content regularly touches on topics that are not normally addressed in public forums in Karbala. "'Shababik' (Windows) tries to address the backward views of our tribes and negative tribal traditions," said producer and writer Adil al-Battat. "Birds of Love", a night time call-in show about love and romance, was axed after a militia group paid a visit to the station "and asked us to end the show", said one Karbala FM employee who spoke on the condition of anonymity. "Evening Studio" has also ruffled feathers. The show plays samba music from Brazil as well as eastern and western pop rhythms but does not broadcast lyrics. Lyrics may include content out of line with Islamic beliefs. Music has been a key issue for the station as it tries to strike a balance between popular programming and the conservatism of Karbala's clerics. Religious radio stations do not broadcast any non-Islamic music, making Karbala FM the only broadcaster in the area that plays classic modern singers such as the Lebanese diva Fairuz and the widely loved late Egyptian vocalist Umm Kalthoum. Fairuz's voice floats through much of the Arab world via radio stations every morning, but Karbala FM has to mute Fairuz's voice so as not to offend the clerics. "I wish I could play [lyrical] songs in all our programmes, but the city is under the authority of clerics and armed militias," said Hamza Muhammed Feihan, a producer and editor at Karbala FM. He broadcasts rock and jazz music during his shows, as well as classic Arabic songs without the lyrics. "I may lose my life if I broadcast one song [with lyrics]," he said. "Some clerics criticise [Karbala FM] because in their opinion, most of the music the station plays is illicit and the [religious] scholars can't accept it," said al-Jubouri. Sheikh Mu'yyah al-Baydhani, a Karbala cleric, said that music is a point of dispute between Shia clerics. "Some forbid it all and are even opposed to broadcasting the national anthem, while others consider classical music permissible," he said. The restrictions on music are a constant frustration for Jubouri, who yearns for a time when he'll be able traditional national songs. "If you ask me about what I aspire to, I'll tell you that I wish I could broadcast all of the original Iraqi songs that made us sing for Iraq and love," said Jubouri. "I aspire to broadcast songs in my radio station, but the sacredness of [Karbala] . prevents me from doing that." http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20839736/site/newsweek/ Kurdistan's Fatal Flames Why are a growing number of young women in this relatively safe corner of Iraq showing up in local hospitals, dying of suspicious burns? By Kevin Peraino Newsweek Updated: 2:43 p.m. ET Sept. 18, 2007 Sept. 18, 2007 - The doctor knows, just from glancing at the burns, that someone is lying to him. Srood Tawfiq, a reconstructive surgeon at Sulaimaniya Hospital in Iraq's northern Kurdish region, buttons his white lab coat and steps into the burn unit. "Busy day yesterday," he says, pulling back a curtain to reveal a sleeping 16-year-old girl with kerosene burns over 90 percent of her body. The mother of the young woman, hovering over the hospital bed, tells Tawfiq that her daughter slipped and scalded herself while carrying a portable stove. The doctor listens sympathetically. But later, out of the woman's earshot, he explains that he doubts the mother's explanation. If it were really an accident, he whispers, "you don't get this degree of burn." Outside the hospital room he pulls off his hygienic mask and shakes his head. "We never tell them that they're going to die," he says quietly. Kurdistan has long been considered the one consistently safe and relatively prosperous region of Iraq. So why, in increasing numbers, are the territory's young women showing up at local hospitals dying of suspicious burns? According to the Women's Union of Kurdistan, there were 95 such cases in the first six months of 2007, up 15 percent since last year. A December 2006 report from the Asuda women's rights group in Sulaimaniya says that the "phenomenon is increasing at an alarming rate." Ninety-five percent of the victims are under 30, and roughly half are between 16 and 21. On the day before I stopped by the emergency hospital in Sulaimaniya, six young women were admitted with major burns, three of them telling suspicious stories. When I called Zryan Yones, the Kurdish health minister, he said that the trend among young women is more disturbing than a recent outbreak of cholera. He provided a startling statistic: since August 10, Kurdistan had had nine deaths from its cholera epidemic; in the same period, there were 25 young women dead of burns. "I have one young girl lying in our morgues every single day," he told me. So what's going on? Most of the survivors tell doctors that the burns resulted from a "cooking accident." But surgeons told me they can tell that the vast majority are not telling the truth. Kerosene, the fuel used to cook here, is not particularly volatile; if a woman comes in with burns over the majority of her body, it is likely intentional. Women's rights advocates in Sulaimaniya believe that the majority of the burn cases are suicide attempts; the remainder are suspected to be honor killings or other murders disguised as accidents or suicide. ("Cooking accident" has long been a euphemism for dowry killing in India.) Doctors told me that it's virtually impossible to distinguish between murder and suicide based on the burns and the women's stories. Still, anecdotal evidence suggests that the trend may be aggravated by a copycat effect among Kurdistan's teenagers. One 20-year-old woman, Heshw Mohammad, who briefly considered burning herself after her father killed her boyfriend two years ago, told me that self-immolation has become a sort of fashion among teenage Kurdish women. "They imitate each other," she says. What's the motive-and why fire? Doctors, rights advocates, and young women I spoke to described a collision of local tradition with modern technology and the fallout from the Iraq war. Death by immolation has a long history among ethnic Kurds. When someone is angry here, a popular interjection is "I'm going to burn myself!" Locals I talked to attributed the fire obsession to various local cultural sources. The Zoroastrian religion uses fire as a prominent symbol. The Kurdish new year, called "Nawroz," commemorates the day a folk hero named Kawa killed a tyrant named Zohak and then set a fire on a mountaintop to tell his followers; Kurds celebrate the day by burning tires and with other pyrotechnic displays. "Burning, traditionally, has been the way to die among the Kurdish people," says Yones, the health minister. Most of the burn cases in Kurdistan-whether suicides or honor killings-revolve around love and dating. Heshw Mohammad's case is typical. When she was 18 she fell in love with a local boy, and the two started seeing each other, which is generally frowned on in Kurdistan's traditional society. They communicated secretly by text message on their mobile phones to arrange meetings. But her father had other ideas about his daughter's future; he had already promised her to one of his friends. When Heshw's boyfriend asked her father to let the girl marry him, her father gunned the boy down with an AK-47, she says. She later attempted suicide by overdosing on medication, but she acknowledges that burning herself "crossed my mind." After the killing, her boyfriend's father took her to a women's shelter in Sulaimaniya, where she now says she sleeps late and spends her time watching South Korean soap operas on satellite TV. "I have no plans for the future," she told me. "I'm quite sure I will be killed in the end." Rights advocates explain that the introduction in the past several years of inexpensive mobile phones and e-mail to Kurdistan have made dating and casual sex easier, even as the old patriarchal social structures remain in place. "The explosion of technology has alienated people from themselves," says Samera Mohammad of the Rassan women's rights center in Sulaimaniya. She says that a disturbing number of the suicides involve boys who take pictures of their girlfriends with their camera phones and then show their friends. But rights advocates say that even something as simple as bad grades can be a motive for self-immolation. The Iraq war only made things worse. Refugees from Iraq's cities, some of whom have turned to prostitution to earn a living, have flocked to Kurdistan from elsewhere in the country, challenging rural sexual mores and the religious beliefs of the mostly Sunni Muslim Kurds. Kurdistan's lakeside resorts are said to be a popular destination for sex workers in search of easy income. "With the arrival of prostitutes, men have become more suspicious of their daughters," says Paiman Izzedine of the Women's Union of Kurdistan. Economic factors have also aggravated the problem, according to locals. The price of kerosene, for example, has tripled since the war began, its price swinging wildly, black-market dealers told me. That means households now stockpile the fuel for the winter in large quantities when they can get it cheap-providing young women with inspiration and an easy weapon. For now, the suicides are a phenomenon that is seldom discussed openly in Kurdistan. Srood Tawfiq, the surgeon at Sulaimaniya's burn center, says he has seen only five or six cases in which the patients admitted to a suicide attempt. Rights advocates told me that they're beginning to hold conferences in local villages to educate teachers and other community leaders about the problem. Yet even Tawfiq acknowledges that he doesn't press his patients too hard about their real motivations. "We don't insist on the cause," he told me, as we talked outside the burn unit. "We just ask once; we don't push it." Even in relatively peaceful Kurdistan, sometimes the truth is too merciless to speak. ? 2007 Newsweek, Inc. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6988828.stm Iraqis untouched by US surge By Andrew North BBC News, Baghdad "I haven't left my home in two months," says Kulsoom, a medical student who lives in east Baghdad with her family. The US has beefed up its forces in Iraq by 30,000 soldiers Not to see friends or relatives, not to go shopping, not to go to college for the extra training she would like before the new academic year begins. She has a lot of catching up to do. Kulsoom missed half her classes last year because of bombs, shootings and other threats which prevented either her or her teachers from reaching class. Only a few family members ever go out, for daily essentials. Otherwise they stay at home, day after day. But they would agree with Gen Petraeus that there has been a drop in violence since the American troop surge. "There are fewer attacks," says Kulsoom. "Now it is only four or five killed a day in our area. It used to be 20 or 30." "But we are still afraid. Nothing has really changed." Spoiling for a fight This is typical of what you hear from many Baghdad residents, nine months since President George W Bush announced his last-ditch bid to try to turn Iraq round. I am the optimistic one in my family but I have to admit that nothing has changed Kulsoom Baghdad student US surge has failed - poll Viewpoints: Iraq surge But that does not mean people feel any safer. It does not mean they believe the US troop surge has yet led to any lasting change that is bringing the fighting to an end. More concrete barriers divide the city, more checkpoints. But they have only dampened the violence, not addressed its causes, people say. Even if most Iraqis are exhausted by conflict, the many factions are not and the struggle for power goes on in a society which Ryan Crocker, the US ambassador to Iraq, acknowledged was still deeply "traumatised" by years under Saddam Hussein's brutal rule. Sunni groups who have allied themselves with the Americans in the former al-Qaeda stronghold of Anbar are not necessarily allies of the Baghdad government. Many Sunni tribesmen openly say it is a "government of Iran" controlled from Tehran. The suspicion is returned by many in Prime Minister Nouri Maliki's Shia-dominated government, who are anxious about the growing strength of some of these Sunni groups. There is no doubt that there has been a significant turnaround in Anbar, because of the tribal rebellion against al-Qaeda there. It is the one relative success the Americans can point to. But it is far from clear this will help bring wider peace and reconciliation. Militia rule There is little sign of this either along other ethnic, political and sectarian fault lines. Death squads still operate in Baghdad and many cities, even if at lower levels than last year. Under Saddam, it was the mukhabarat [secret police] we were terrified of - now it is the Mehdi Army Ali shopkeeper But among Shia militias in southern Iraq, fighting has intensified this year. Moqtada Sadr's Mehdi Army has continued to penetrate deeper into every aspect of life. "Under Saddam, it was the mukhabarat [secret police] we were terrified of," says shopkeeper Ali. "Now it is the Mehdi Army. They are everywhere." The only political progress since the surge is that the various boycotts of parliament have ended. But there is no sign that Iraq's politicians can now come together to agree on legislation such as sharing oil revenues or constitutional reform. In their marbled villas, hidden behind the walls and razor wire of the Green Zone, Iraq's democratically elected politicians seem ever more out of touch. Outside, people wrestle with the same problems. "We only get two hours of electricity a day," says Kulsoom. "One in the morning, one in the evening." The Americans send out constant press releases to journalists talking of new projects to improve the power system. But the situation is as bad as ever. Even this lower level of violence is still shockingly high. Iraqis still get kidnapped every day. Gen Petraeus told Congress that the number of car bombs was down by half from the start of the year. But they are still running at a rate of three a day. Leaving Iraq With so little sign of permanent change, that is why so many people continue to leave Iraq - up to 20,000 a week heading to already overwhelmed Syria. Kulsoom says 60 or 70 of her classmates have left in the past 18 months, many of her professors too. One hopeful sign is that a majority of Iraqis remain committed to the idea of Iraq as a unified state - not one split between Shia, Sunnis, Kurds and other groups. A poll for the BBC and ABC News released on the eve of the general's testimony bore this out. But this is not enough to overcome the violence. "I am the optimistic one in my family," says Kulsoom. "But I have to admit that nothing has changed." From ldxar1 at tesco.net Tue Oct 9 12:00:34 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Tue, 9 Oct 2007 20:00:34 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] CHILE: Anti-neoliberal protests mark coup anniversary, APEC summit Message-ID: <000c01c80aa7$a2bbc510$0802a8c0@andy1> Chilean protests make clear: one can't have democracy without a bit of anarchy. The "democrats" are in denial about this and as a result end up in fact in continuity with the generals, under whose rule they would still be living without protesters and stone throwers. http://www.voanews.com/english/archive/2007-08/2007-08-30-voa60.cfm?CFID=161253628&CFTOKEN=15318355 At Least 740 Arrested in Chile Protest Violence By VOA News 30 August 2007 Chilean officials say at least 740 people have been arrested after clashing with police during mass protests in Santiago over the government's social and economic policies. Authorities say demonstrators hurled objects at police and hid behind barricades Wednesday as officers used tear gas and water cannon to disperse the crowds. Some shops were looted as the violence erupted in the capital. Dozens of people were injured, including a ruling coalition senator, Alejandro Navarro, who was seen bleeding from the head after he was clubbed by an officer. Labor unions organized the protests, saying workers should get a larger portion of profits from Chilean industry. Chile is the world's biggest copper producer and has benefited from high prices for the metal in recent years. President Michelle Bachelet has pledged to take advantage of the country's revenues from copper exports to improve education and conditions for the poor. Chile has one of Latin America's most prosperous economies. Some information for this report was provided by AFP and AP. http://www.workers.org/2007/world/chile-0913/ Workers take to the streets in Chile By Jaimeson Champion Published Sep 9, 2007 9:49 PM On Aug. 29, hundreds of thousands of workers took to the streets of Santiago, Chile, to protest neoliberal economic policies and demand wage equality, better pensions, and greater access to healthcare and education. The demonstrations were billed as a "National Day of Action," and were initiated by the largest federation of trade unions in Chile, known as United Workers Central. Simultaneous demonstrations in other cities and towns across the country were also attended by hundreds of thousands of union members and their supporters, and included union organizing activities in addition to street protests. Central among the issues raised by the workers at the demonstrations was the issue of wage inequality. In many Chilean industries it is not uncommon for a supervisor to earn more than 200 times the wage of the average worker. In the mining industries, particularly copper, profits have soared by double digit percentages over the last decade yet wages for most workers have remained stagnant. Demonstrators condemned the practice of subcontracting in the mining industries, which is essentially a way for the capitalists to avoid providing workers with health insurance and other benefits. The demonstrations also denounced the neoliberal economic policies that the imperialist powers have attempted to force on the countries of Latin America for decades. These policies include greater privatization in key industries, the opening up of markets to the imperialist powers, and strict limits on spending for social programs. In many instances, the U.S. has made emergency aid and loan packages conditional on Latin American countries implementing these policies. Demonstrators asserted that these neoliberal policies have helped to enrich foreign corporations and the Chilean oligarchy at the expense of Chilean workers. They demanded that the government focus on the needs of Chilean workers instead of the predatory desires of the imperialist corporations. The huge demonstrations in Chile are yet another indication of the growing resistance to neoliberalism that is surging across Latin America. Workers across Latin America are bringing to the forefront the fact that neoliberalism and free market economic policies have brought misery and suffering upon the masses while fattening the pockets of the imperialist corporations. An increasing number of governments in Latin America are shunning these policies. Governments in Venezuela, Bolivia, and Ecuador are in open revolt against neoliberalism and imperialism. The demonstrators in the capital city of Santiago endured the violent tactics of the infamous Chilean riot police. The police lived up to their reputation for brutality by launching volleys of tear gas and firing water cannons into the crowds of demonstrators. More than 200 demonstrators in Santiago were injured. The police unwarrantedly arrested more than 700 demonstrators. Despite the unprovoked violence and arrests perpetrated by the police, the countrywide demonstrations were heralded by many labor leaders as a huge success and an indication of the growing movement for fundamental economic, social, and political change that is sweeping across Chile. The demonstrations come on the heels of huge student protests last year, where students occupied and took control of 13 schools in Santiago, and a series of strikes initiated by subcontracted mine workers that have shown the ability to effectively cripple production in the mines. The increasingly militant stances taken by the unions and students are indications that the endless promises of reform offered up by Chilean politicians over the past few years have worn thin. Chilean workers and students are taking to the streets in growing numbers to demand fundamental change, not token reform. Articles copyright 1995-2007 Workers World. Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is permitted in any medium without royalty provided this notice is preserved. http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5g37s-LgxpQwLYDBciYFe8rRX2Oqw Violence erupts as Chileans march to remember victims of Pinochet rule Sep 9, 2007 SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) - Rock-throwing protesters clashed with police backed by water cannons and tear gas Sunday during a march paying tribute to victims of the dictatorship of the late general, Augusto Pinochet. The government said 147 people were detained and a police officer was injured, in the annual march marking the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 1973, putsch that brought Pinochet to power. Smaller and less violent than in previous years, it was the first coup-anniversary protest since the former strongman died in December at age 91. Police blocked marchers - estimated at 5,000 by police and local media - from passing by the presidential palace, where freely elected Marxist president Salvador Allende committed suicide during the coup rather than surrender to the military. At least 3,197 dissidents were killed or disappeared during the 1973-90 dictatorship, according to an official report. More than 1,000 of them remain unaccounted for. Among those detained Sunday was Mireya Garcia, a member of an organization of relatives of the disappeared. She called the police action to keep protesters from the palace "a provocation against people who helped restore democracy." The government said it was trying to prevent a repeat of last year, when masked demonstrators attacked the building with a fire bomb that started a small blaze. Pinochet died under indictment on human rights charges and facing scores of lawsuits, but many in this South American country are bitter that he never was sentenced to prison time - unlike many of his subordinates, whom he blamed for abuses. More than 500 former officers and security agents have been tried and many jailed, including 50 generals, and scores of trials are still pending. The Pinochet family plans a private ceremony Tuesday at the former dictator's country home to inaugurate a crypt that will contain his ashes. http://english.pravda.ru/world/americas/14-09-2007/97137-alarm_chile-0 Alarm in Chile after deadly riots Front page / World / Americas 14.09.2007Source: A policeman was killed in clashes through the night on the anniversary of a 1973 military coup. Authorities fear of gang bandits linked to drug trafficking. Chilean authrotities expressed their concern on the bloody clashes that left one policeman killed and tens of injured through the night on the anniversary of the 1973 military coup that toppled the constitutional government of Socialist president Salvador Allende. As night fell Tuesday in Santiago and demonstrations to commemorate the victims of Gen. Augusto Pinochet's victims peacefully dissolved, masked youths erected flaming barricades on the streets of the city slums. Thousands of rampaging youths turned the surrounding areas of the Capital into chaos killing a policeman and seriously wounding 41 others. According to the preliminary investigation ordered by the Interior Ministry, the policeman was shot in his head by an automatic gun. The police squad was spotted by crossed fire coming from three directions. Authorities believe that the murder was planned and could be connected with bandits linked to drug trafficking. The government reported that 304 arrests as looters badly damaged several shops, seven schools and a gas station. Rioters threw chains on power lines, knocking out electricity to more than 140,000 homes. On Thursday, electricity was gradually restored to the affected areas. Riots took authorities by surprise. President Michelle Bachelet ordered the Interior Ministry to file criminal charges against those responsible and said the violence was an affront to those honoring the victims of the 1973-1990 dictatorship. She visited wounded policemen at a hospital and said the government would "take all possible measures" to prevent a repeat of such violence. According to observers, incidents took place in the slums where survive as much of the 13.7% of people living under the poverty line. These slums were created under Pinochet dictatorship as the military government decided to move out all poor families from central Santiago. Poverty and lack of essential services turned these areas into a source of opposition to Pinochet. But their situation was not eased by the democratic administrations that rule the country since 1990. While violent protests have accompanied the coup anniversary for years, officials appeared taken aback this year by the rioting and the participation of many youths aged 16 or younger. "We were surprised by the amount of firearms used," Santiago regional Gov. Adriana Delpiano said. Deputy Interior Minister Felipe Harboe said the protests should not be considered political in nature, and Defense Minister Jose Goni said criminals and vandals _ not demonstrators _ were behind the unrest. Tuesday riots come as Michelle Bachelet's presidency is being harashly challenged by different sectors. Students led violent protests last year to improve public education. Earlier this year bus drivers led massive demonstrations to protest reforms introduced in public transportation. A few days ago, the government faced tough protests led by trade unions. http://www.infoshop.org/inews/article.php?story=20070913103750869 Welcome to Infoshop News Sunday, October 07 2007 @ 11:58 PM PDT Police Officer Dies in Overnight Violence on Chile Coup Anniversary Thursday, September 13 2007 @ 10:37 AM PDT Contributed by: Anonymous Views: 346 Battles between police and gun-wielding attackers erupted in several Santiago neighborhoods late Tuesday evening, with some assailants reportedly using automatic weapons and sophisticated laser-sighting mechanisms against police. During one of these conflicts in the Pudahuel area, Officer Cristian Vera received a bullet wound to the head. He was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead Wednesday morning. POLICE OFFICER DIES IN OVERNIGHT VIOLENCE ON CHILE COUP ANNIVERSARY Santiago Times (Sept. 13, 2007) Battles between police and gun-wielding attackers erupted in several Santiago neighborhoods late Tuesday evening, with some assailants reportedly using automatic weapons and sophisticated laser-sighting mechanisms against police. During one of these conflicts in the Pudahuel area, Officer Cristian Vera received a bullet wound to the head. He was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead Wednesday morning. Another 42 officers were wounded that evening and thousands of dollars worth of property destroyed. The violence came after a day of relatively tranquil protest and commemoration of the anniversary of Chile's 1973 military coup. After Vera's death was announced, President Michelle Bachelet expressed her condolences to the victim's family and declared that the violent result was not in keeping with the spirit of the day. "It seems unacceptable to me that, on a date when Chileans are supposed to recognize that we are able to live in a democracy and work towards creating a more just country, violence and looting like this occur," said Bachelet. Tuesday marked the thirty-fourth anniversary of the September 11, 1973 coup, when President Salvador Allende was removed from power by military forces led by Gen. Augusto Pinochet. Following Chile's return to democracy in the 1990's, the day has been marked by demonstrations and violent upheaval by both coup supporters and leftist activists. In the early 1990's, protesters were sometimes killed, but the intensity of the anniversary has calmed in recent years. Vera's death represents the first police fatality on a coup anniversary since 1987. Police director Jose Alexander Bernales said he thought the violent attacks on police officers were a dramatic commentary on current affairs in Chile. "To kill a police officer in this country it is to kill justice; it is to kill the country," said Bernales. "And that is what they did last night." Elsewhere throughout the city, a number of businesses were ransacked by looters, resulting in significant property damages. In the Florida and La Pintana neighborhoods of Santiago, schools were looted and set ablaze. The violence comes amidst renewed criticism of Chile's courts and their allegedly lax attitude when dealing with delinquents. On Wednesday afternoon, officials in Santiago said they would pursue those responsible for Tuesday evening's violence to the fullest extent of the law, potentially even holding parents responsible for the actions of juvenile offenders. "We want to apply the maximum rigor of the law in these cases, and if there are people responsible who are repeat criminals, they will certainly be strictly prosecuted," said Metropolitan Region Intendente (governor) Adriana Delpiano. Still, Officer Vera's family is not convinced the justice system will function as it should. "We really don't expect much from legal authorities," said Alejandro Vera, the officer's brother. "Here in Chile, the police arrest people and then they are free to leave the next day." SOURCE: LA TERCERA, EL MERCURIO, LA NACION By: Trey Pollard (editor at santiagotimes.cl) From ldxar1 at tesco.net Tue Oct 9 12:06:34 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Tue, 9 Oct 2007 20:06:34 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] GUINEA, YEMEN, MOROCCO: Protests over price rises Message-ID: <000d01c80aa7$a2fe7360$0802a8c0@andy1> Neo-liberal policies leading to rises in prices for basic commodities have led to mass protests and unrest in Guinea, Yemen and Morocco. In Guinea, food price rises led to thousands-strong protests in which protesters built barricades after police attacked the protest. In Yemen, protests over fuel and other prices dovetailed with ongoing unrest over the situation of demobilised former southern soldiers from the civil war, leading to thousands-strong demonstrations especially in the south. Police attacked protesters viciously and several protesters were killed. In Morocco, food price rises have led to ongoing sit-in protests organised by a human rights group, which led to clashes with police in one locality. The protests succeeded in securing a price reduction. Thanks to Camilla Santos for information on Morocco. http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5h3SqQP6WP1puoHm6x-89PIxj70Ng Thousands protest price rises in Guinean capital Sep 18, 2007 CONAKRY (AFP) - Police used tear gas Tuesday to disperse thousands of demonstrators gathered in the Guinean capital Conakry to protest recent price rises, witnesses said. The protestors, the majority of them young, were complaining about the increased cost of essential items such as meat, rice and petrol as well as against repeated power cuts in parts of the capital. Small groups later formed barricades and set tyres on fire before police restored order, witnesses said. "This was a brief incident, with no arrests and no injuries. Only a few agitators disrupted the public order before it was rapidly restored," an anonymous police source told AFP. In the early hours of Tuesday a crowd of hundreds, later thousands, of people made for boulevard Le Prince, which links the suburbs with the centre of the capital, according to local residents. Two districts -- Hamdallaye and Enco 5, which were the epicentre of a bloody repression of a two-month national strike earlier this year -- saw the worst of the demonstration. There makeshift barricades were built and tyres ignited by protestors after police dispersed crowds using tear gas. Following a wave of demonstrations against the regime of President Lansana Conte in January and February, which saw at least 137 deaths, the diplomat Lansana Kouyate, backed by the trade unions, was named prime minister -- a function previously exercised by the president. Kouyate began widespread reforms aimed at breaking with previous misgovernment and attempted to relaunch the economy of this mineral-rich West African country. Guineans have seen little of the benefit of the country's resources, instead being racked by years of social turmoil. http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/world.aspx?ID=BD4A567775 Posted to the web on: 19 September 2007 Guineans protest at food prices Maseco Conde Sapa-AP CONAKRY - Hundreds of Guineans yesterday mobbed streets in the suburbs surrounding the capital , Conakry, throwing stones at cars and burning tyres as they protested against high prices of basic foodstuffs such as rice, sugar and oil. Riot police and military forces fired tear gas into the groups, which started gathering in the early morning, erecting barricades to block traffic, a witness said. There were no immediate reports of fighting or injuries. Previous confrontations between police and protesters in Conakry's suburbs have turned deadly. Clashes between security forces and antigovernment demonstrators in January and February left more than 100 dead - in some cases from police firing directly into crowds who were calling for long-time ruler Lansana Conte to step down. The west African state has since been working to re-establish order , with Conte agreeing to share power with a prime minister. But most of the citizens of the mineral-rich country are desperately poor and the high prices of basic goods have continued to incite anger. Last week, the government set price ceilings for a number of goods, including rice, oil and sugar. Yet a 50kg sack of rice continues to sell for at least 120000 Guinean francs (about $30 ) - above the government ceiling price of 85000 Guinean francs . A middle-level public servant in Guinea makes about 150000 Guinean francs a month . Conte has ruled this former French colony since 1984, when he grabbed power in a coup. The country of 10-million is the world's largest producer of bauxite, the raw material used to make aluminium. Shopkeepers shut their shops yesterday morning. Cars were avoiding the areas. A protester said they were angry about the continued high price of basic necessities . http://africa.reuters.com/wire/news/usnL18783909.html Police in Guinea fire in air to disperse protesters Tue 18 Sep 2007, 11:21 GMT CONAKRY, Sept 18 (Reuters) - Police in Guinea's capital Conakry fired in the air and used tear gas on Tuesday to disperse demonstrators throwing stones and burning tyres in protest at the rising cost of basic goods like rice. Street protests in January and February killed more than 130 people and forced President Lansana Conte to appoint a new consensus prime minister in the West African country, following union demands for action to improve living conditions. "They took to the streets to protest that the price of rice is too expensive. They've smashed up at least three rice stores, thrown stones and burned tyres on the road," a senior police official told Reuters, asking not to be named. There were no immediate reports of casualties in the disturbances, which took place in the Bambeto and Cosa suburbs of the sprawling port city. The unrest at the start of the year disrupted exports of bauxite from Guinea, the ore used in the production of aluminium. The country is among the world's poorest despite being the top exporter of the ore. http://www.newssafety.com/hotspots/countries/yemen/afp/yemen020907.htm One dead, 9 hurt in Yemeni price protest: report SANAA, Sept 2, 2007 (AFP) - One person was killed and nine were wounded on Saturday during clashes between Yemeni security forces and demonstrators angry about rising prices in the impoverished state, a human rights groups said. "The demonstrator was killed during disturbances that lasted several hours following the protest in the (southern coastal) city of Al-Mukalla," said Hussein Basaleh, the head of a human rights group in the city. He said one of those wounded in the clashes was in a critical condition. Other eyewitnesses said police made several arrests. Around 100 people were arrested the day before in the southern port city of Aden while preparing to demonstrate for better benefits for retired personnel but most were later freed, witnesses and officials said. An interior ministry source told the official Saba news agency that all demonstrations in Yemen must have prior government approval. The Council for the Coordination of Retired Groups organised the protest to demand greater assistance for more than 60,000 retirees from the military and civil service, most of whom insist they were forced to stop work early. Thousands of protestors in the capital Sanaa on August 28 called for the Yemeni government to resign because of falling living standards and rising food prices in one of the world's poorest states. In July 2005, at least 22 people were killed and 375 wounded when police clashed with demonstrators during two days of protests in Sanaa and several provincial towns against a sharp rise in fuel prices. ?2007 AFP All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or distributed. All reproduction or redistribution is expressly forbidden without the prior written agreement of AFP. http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/09/10/africa/ME-GEN-Yemen-Demonstration.php Two Yemeni protesters killed, dozens injured in clashes with riot police The Associated Press Published: September 10, 2007 SAN'A, Yemen: Two Yemenis were killed and dozens injured in clashes with riot police Monday in three towns where thousands of protesters demanded the release of over 200 southern Yemeni veterans and their sympathizers, detained in similar protests this month, a police official said. The two were fatally shot in the town of Ad Dali, 200 kilometers (125 miles) south of the capital, San'a, when rioters set fire to tires in the streets and threw stones at the police, prompting police to open fire to disperse the protesters. Meanwhile, in Aden, police dispersed demonstrators demanding the release of the veteran detainees and protesting high prices of essential food items. Also, several hundreds other protesters staged a sit-in in front of the opposition Socialist Party headquarters. A statement issued by that rally said the sit-in would continue until the government allowed the protesters the right to peaceful demonstrations. Police arrested several members from the opposition parties and other rights activists. The police official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to talk to the media, said the organizers of the demonstrations did not obtain prior permission from the Interior Ministry. The Yemen demonstrations, which started in August and have taken place daily in September, are staged by mostly members of the army of south Yemen who lost their jobs after a defeat by the northern forces. The protests underline persisting tensions between southern and northern Yemen, 13 years after the country's civil war. Monday's fatalities bring to five the number of demonstrators killed in the protests. Two were killed earlier this month and a third was killed in August. North and South Yemen were united in 1990, with the north's president becoming the united country's president. In 1994, rebels announced the secession of the south, and battled northern forces for several months in a civil war that ended in their defeat. Southerners also complain that they are kept out of government jobs - a main source of employment in the south - in favor of northerners brought in to fill the bureaucracy and security forces. Northerners also continue to hold large tracts of land in the south granted to them after the civil war. The government said earlier it had responded to the veterans' demands by allowing more than 7,000 southern Yemenis back into the army. But the offer was turned down by the retired officers, who said about 60,000 southern servicemen had been discharged. http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/A51F8E6D-5A78-4FD7-B462-5037C23A1808.htm Yemeni price protests turn violent At least one person has been killed and nine wounded in clashes between Yemeni police and demonstrators protesting against rising prices in the capital, Sanaa. Yemen has banned protests organised without permission after opposition parties staged several protests in recent weeks to demand the government acts to curb rising prices. Hussein Basaleh, the head of a human rights group in Sanaa, said on Sunday: "The demonstrator was killed during disturbances that lasted several hours." He said one of those wounded in Saturday's clashes was in a critical condition and witnesses said police made several arrests. Government officials say the rise is due to a sharp increase in the prices of commodities such as wheat in global markets. The government has ordered state bodies to import goods and provide them at lower prices. Retiree anger About 100 people were arrested on Friday in the southern port city of Aden while preparing to demonstrate for better benefits for retired personnel but most were later freed, witnesses and officials said. The Council for the Coordination of Retired Groups organised the protest to demand increased support for more than 60,000 retirees from the military and civil service, many of whom insist they were forced to stop work early. On August 28 thousands of protesters gathered in Sanaa to call for the Yemeni government to resign because of falling living standards and rising food prices. In July 2005, at least 22 people were killed and 375 wounded when police clashed with demonstrators during two days of protests in Sanaa and several provincial towns against a sharp rise in fuel prices. Four out of 10 Yemenis live on less than $2 a day, according to Britain's department for international development, which says Yemen's oil, its main earnings source, is expected to dry up by 2015. http://yementimes.com/article.shtml?i=1082&p=front&a=2 As Demands remain unmet, retirees threaten to continue protests Mohammed Bin Sallam SANA'A, Sept. 2 - Thousands of military and civil retirees poured into the streets of different southern and eastern governorates on Saturday in angry protests, imploring the government to listen to their demands and not to ignore their problems. The fiercest of them was staged in the city of Mukalla in Hadramout in which bloody clashes took place between policemen and protestors. The security forces attempted to disperse the crowds by force and in fact arrested many of them. It has been learned that at least two people were killed and tens of protestors, along with policemen were injured in the clashes that drove rioters to damage cars and destroy trade stores. The clashes broke out at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday following a peaceful demonstration that was organized by the Political and Public Function Coordination Committee and Military and Civil Retirees Coordination Council in Hadramout, as well as other social forums. Furthermore, on the same day, Aden city experienced heavy deployment of security personnel in most of the city's intersections after clashes between protestors and policemen broke out in the Sheikh Othman and Khor Maksar neighborhoods. During the clashes, 3 protestors were killed and 400 others injured. Most of those arrested, however, were released on the same day. Also, security forces prevented the crowd from holding a sit-in in Aden and vehemently dispersed those who started to gather with sticks and rubber bullets. A security source said to the media that the retirees were prevented from staging a sit-in under the subterfuge that they haven't obtained an official permission from the security authorities. Additionally, he accused the protestors of hurling stones at policemen, which forced them to react in kind. However, eyewitnesses denied that protestors hurled stones at policemen. In Khor Maksar, where the military and civil retirees' societies had been expected to stage a sit-in, military and security troops, along with armored vehicles closed all the entrances leading to the area and put cement barriers in the streets. Such measures even prevented government employees from going to their jobs in the nearby areas. In Al-Salam Sport Stadium in Tawr Al-Baha, Lahj governorate, a huge rally was held to protest against poor living standards, rampant corruption, abject poverty, unemployment and skyrocketing prices of foodstuffs. Speeches and poems criticizing poverty, corruption, unemployment and price hikes were given during the rally, which was held in the presence of the Military and Civil Retirees' Society, civil community activists, sheikhs, social personalities and thousands of citizens from nearby areas. In Al-Mahfad district, Abyan governorate, a large number of army and civil pensioners, along with ordinary citizens, joined a peaceful demonstration. They, like their fellow counterparts around the country, chanted slogans denouncing corruption and price hikes. Another rally, involving hundreds of locals, was organized by the retirees' society, Idle Youth Society and JMP, in Rasd district. The society of military, civil retirees and dismissed servants in the areas of Yafe', Labous, Yahr, Al-Had and Al-Muflihi in Lahj governorate held a peaceful sit-in at the local authority's building. In Al-Dhale' governorate, a massive demonstration was staged in protest against the crackdown on Aden protesters. Citizens confirmed that demonstrators in Al-Dhale' blocked the Sana'a-Aden Highway for more than five hours and categorically denounced the assaults on protestors in other governorates. The protesters around the country arrived at one powerful and unified consensus: the reinstatement of retirees, who were referred to pensions after 1994, and the resolution of the situations of those who were dismissed from their jobs before and after 1994. Other demands include considering petitions and complaints of retirees whose property was looted by the elite. Furthermore, the protestors are insisting that the government tackle unemployment among youths, create more job opportunities and help the facilitation of youths into universities, military academies through scholarships. The angry protestors vowed to continue their peaceful struggle until they attain all their legal rights. According to them, this is a vindication for the reservation of national principles, protecting national solidarity and strengthening justice. JMP denounced all the security and administrative procedures, in addition to the decisions that have been so far taken by the local authorities in Aden and Hadramout. Thus, this is preventing citizens from voicing their demands peacefully as ensured by the constitution. According to the opposition parties, such procedures are flagrant violations of the government's duty to uphold the constitution. JMP also called for an investigation to question government officials, who are responsible for what happened on Saturday. The opposition parties reaffirmed their stance that these wrong policies do not bode well for maintaining peace, security and stability throughout the country. The Forgiving, Conciliation and Solidarity Forums released a statement on Saturday deploring the behavior exercised by the security authorities in Aden governorate and their crackdown in protestors in different parts of the governorate. "Through their behavior, the security authorities have demonstrated that they are willing to divide people of the same nation, particularly the allowance of citizens in the northern governorates to hold demonstrations, while at the same time preventing those living in the southern governorates from voicing their concerns and demands," the statement said. "Such a discriminative behavior contradicts the simplest values of equal citizenship and national principles." The forums statement went on to say, "such conduct is a flagrant violations of the Constitution and human rights conventions, which Yemen endorsed and committed itself to protect." "Resolving the issue of retirees and those dismissed from their jobs demands serious dialogues between authorities and representatives of the pensioners councils. The situation requires the authorities to take a principled decision to prevent such egregious acts against retirees," it concluded. http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/09/04/africa/ME-GEN-Yemen-Demonstration.php Yemeni police disperse protesters with bullets, arrest scores as riots of disaffected veterans continue The Associated Press Published: September 4, 2007 SAN'A, Yemen: Riot police fired bullets, unleashed tear gas and water cannons Tuesday to disperse thousands of protesters demanding the release of more than 200 disaffected southern Yemeni veterans and their sympathizers detained in daily protests this month, a police official said. Tuesday's demonstrations took place in several cities in Yemen's southern province of Hadramawt, with protests burning tires and carrying red and black banners in a sign of mourning over the death of two demonstrators reported killed by security forces in similar protest Sunday. No one was reported killed during the protests Tuesday. The government deployed hundreds of riot police and sealed off several roads in the city of al-Mukalla, 560 kilometers (350 miles) southeast of the capital, San'a, where the biggest protest was held, said the police official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media. Later Tuesday, Yemen's top security body which includes the interior ministry and the national security department issued a statement warning "any party, movement, group or individual who stages or carries slogans that put national unity in peril, or calls for destruction of national unity, will be tried as a traitor." Under Yemen's constitution, traitors face the death penalty. Nasser Ba Quzquz, head of the opposition Tagammu Union Party in the southern province of Hadramawt said the demonstrations will continue regardless of authorities' threats. Ba Quzquz said that security forces rounded up scores of protesters and clamped down with roadblocks on entrances into al-Mukalla Tuesday to prevent more demonstrators from coming in from other areas. The demonstrations, which started in August and have been taking place daily this month, underline increasing tensions between southern and northern Yemen, 13 years after the country's civil war. The protesters are mostly members of the army of south Yemen, who lost their jobs after a defeat by northern forces. During the first protest in early August, one person was reportedly killed and some 1,000 arrested in clashes with police in the southern port city of Aden. North and South Yemen were united in 1990, with the north's president becoming the united country's president. In 1994, rebels announced the secession of the south, and battled northern forces for several months in a civil war that ended in their defeat. Southerners also complain that they are kept out of government jobs - a main source of employment in the south - in favor of northerners brought in to fill the bureaucracy and security forces. Northerners also continue to hold large tracts of land in the south granted to them after the civil war. http://www.flexnews.com/pages/11087/Africa/Wheat/moroccan_government_lowers_bread_price_violent_protests_dj.html Moroccan Government Lowers Bread Price After Violent Protests (DJ) Source: Dow Jones Newswires 25/09/2007 Casablanca, Sept. 25 - Violent protests over the cost of bread prompted the Moroccan government to annul a 30% price hike linked to soaring global grain costs. Protesters clashed with police, cars were torched and buildings damaged in the demonstrations Sunday in Sefrou, 200 kilometers (120 miles) east of the capital Rabat. Some 300 people suffered injuries, Moroccan newspapers reported Tuesday. The state news agency said more than 30 people were arrested. The government held an emergency meeting Monday, and Interior Minister Chakib Benmoussa ordered the price hike canceled, the Interior Ministry said. Amid rising world prices for wheat, the government authorized a bread price rise of 30% on Sept. 10, soon before the start of Ramadan. Moroccan consumption of breads and pastries rises sharply during the Muslim holy month, as families hold large feasts after sundown to break the all-day fast. The decision prompted widespread complaints from consumers that peaked at Sunday's protest, organized by the local branch of the Moroccan Association for Human Rights. The protest degenerated into violence that left schools, stores and administrative buildings damaged and several cars burned, the provincial governor, Mohamed Allouche, said. The Moroccan Association for Human Rights, a well-established group operating since 1979 with branches around the country, has organized several sit-ins against food price rises over the past year. The weekend protests raised the specter of bread riots in 1981 that left hundreds dead in Casablanca. Those riots were prompted by the government's decision to raise bread prices by 30 percent. This year, wheat prices have soared worldwide amid rising demand and shrinking stocks. One reason is increasing demand for biofuels, which can be made from wheat. European consumers have seen prices rise sharply for breads, pasta and meat products as a result of rising grain costs. http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2007/09/28/feature-01 Protests against price rises in Morocco 28/09/2007 Protests have broken out in several Moroccan cities due to recent food price hikes. Although the government has taken steps to halt the rises, returning to normal is proving difficult and sit-ins continue. By Naoufel Cherkaoui and Sarah Touahri for Magharebia in Rabat - 27/09/2007 [Sarah Touahri] Another sit-in is planned for Friday in front of the parliament in Rabat-Sal?. Following price increases for basic foodstuffs, a series of sit-ins has been organised in recent days in Morocco as a means of protest. Supported by civil society groups, members of the public went out into the streets to express their anger and to ask the government to take steps to relieve the economic pressure placed on them. Another sit-in is planned for Friday (September 28th) in front of the parliament in Rabat-Sal?. A demonstration in Sefrou on Sunday (September 23rd) turned violent, injuring several protestors and security personnel. The Moroccan Association for Human Rights (AMDH) organised the Sunday protest, which it described as peaceful, in order to protest the rise of prices during Ramadan. The situation got out of control when angry citizens began throwing stones at security forces, who responded with tear gas. Protestors proceeded to loot and burn a number of public buildings, in addition to shops and automobiles. Khaled Fathi, head of the AMDH branch in Sefrou, summarized the events for Magharebia, saying, "We organised a sit-in at 11:00 AM on Sunday for 45 minutes. The number of participants was more than 2500 persons. We delivered a speech in which we condemned the rise of prices, and we concluded it by asking the protestors to disperse in a peaceful way." "The first spark was ignited when the security forces provoked the protestors by insulting and cursing them," Fathi said. "The protestors responded by throwing stones at them. Consequently, open clashes erupted between the two sides in most districts of the town." Sefrou Mayor Mohammad Allouache blamed the AMDH for the unfortunate events, claiming the sit-in was not legal. He also said the "confrontations caused serious damage to public establishments and private property." Speak with Magharebia, AMDH President Khadija Ryadi responded, saying, "There is a stark contradiction between statements by the mayor of Sefrou and statements made by interior ministry officials after a meeting held at their request with the Association on Monday. The aim of that meeting was to provide us with a comprehensive report on the events that took place in Sefrou. They didn't say we were responsible." "The Director of Internal Affairs, the Governor of Fez, and the Governor of Rabat told us the ministry had no plans to interfere in the affairs of our association," Ryadi continued. "This is because the Government believes in the right to protest, and in individual and collective freedoms." A group called Concerted Action against the High Cost of Living organised its own demonstration in Rabat on September 26th. Abdesselam Adib, the group's co-ordinator, described the protestors' demands, which include not only the immediate cancellation of all price rises for basic products, but also the level of water and electricity bills, the cost of hospital treatment and other public services. Adib is also calling for a rise in the guaranteed minimum wage and fixed benefits, the application of a sliding scale for salaries, the immediate recruitment of unemployed graduates and an overhaul of public services, including halting the privatisation process of the water and electricity industries. The government has stated that the recent price rise of certain basic goods was due to rapid fluctuation in international markets. At a September 25th meeting, government officials decided to suspend taxes and duties on wholesale markets during the month of Ramadan. This measure will knock a total of 7% off the cost of basic vegetables such as potatoes, onions and tomatoes. Participants in the meeting also agreed to release price information to the wholesale markets, to combat pricing speculation. Steps taken to shore up wheat and flour supplies have allowed these products' prices to return to pre-Ramadan levels, including the price of bread, which now stands at 1.20 DH per unit. Officials have planned further meetings to make sure the decisions they have taken are applied. http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2007/09/26/newsbrief-01 Moroccans protest soaring food prices 26/09/2007 [File] A police team stands on the sidelines of the Sefrou protest Protests continued in Morocco over high food prices on Tuesday (September 25th), two days after a sit-in degenerated into riots in the town of Sefrou, where protesters clashed with police and set fire to cars. The protests, the latest of which took place in Rabat, were organised by the Moroccan Association for Human Rights, which has called for more protests later this week. The protests reportedly aimed to force the government to cancel a 30% increase in the price of bread. The price hike had been announced before Ramadan as a response to the rising cost of grain on the international market. Moroccan Interior minister Chakib Benmoussa called an emergency government meeting on Monday (September 24th), after which the price hike was annulled. http://arabist.net/archives/2007/09/27/moroccan-unrest-over-bread-price/ Moroccan Unrest Over Bread Price Moroccan Unrest Over Bread Price: CASABLANCA, Morocco - Violent protests over the cost of bread prompted the Moroccan government to annul a 30 percent price hike linked to soaring global grain costs. Protesters clashed with police, cars were torched and buildings damaged in the demonstrations Sunday in Sefrou, 120 miles east of the capital Rabat. Some 300 people suffered injuries, Moroccan newspapers reported Tuesday. The state news agency said more than 30 people were arrested. The government held an emergency meeting Monday, and Interior Minister Chakib Benmoussa ordered the price hike canceled, the Interior Ministry said. Amid rising world prices for wheat, the government authorized a bread price rise of 30 percent on Sept. 10, soon before the start of Ramadan. Moroccan consumption of breads and pastries rises sharply during the Muslim holy month, as families hold large feasts after sundown to break the all-day fast. In the past, bread riots were violently repressed in Morocco and the continuation of this trend could point to a return to the social instability of the 1980s and earlier. Morocco is relatively unique among Arab countries in being extremely exposed to rises in fuel and other prices, with the resulting pressure on the state budgets and on social peace. As in Egypt, which remains much, much more subsidized than Morocco is, there has been a grassroots movement growing over the past two years against the cost of life. Drawn largely from the ranks of the left (notably ATTAC Maroc) and associated with the Moroccan Association for Human Rights (AMDH from its French acronym), in a sense it has been more active on this crucial issue than Islamist parties such as the PJD or movements like Adl wal Ihsan. Last May, five protesters from the AMDH were given a ridiculous three-year sentence for chanting slogans hostile to the monarchy, one of the many signs that Morocco has not entirely stopped the bad old practices of the Hassan II regime. A situation like the current one, with genuine economic pressures on a technocratic government keen to balance its budget and on a population finding it ever harder to make ends meet (just as the small upper middle class is encouraged to consume ever more - there are advertisements for bank loans to buy plasma screen TVs all over the place in the big cities - could develop into a very serious issue for the new government of Abbas al-Fassi. No doubt Morocco will be appealing to major grain producers to provide some relief. Published by arabist September 27th, 2007 From ldxar1 at tesco.net Tue Oct 9 12:11:18 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Tue, 9 Oct 2007 20:11:18 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] SOUTH AFRICA: Housing protests in Soweto, Langa Message-ID: <000e01c80aa8$2bd56d10$0802a8c0@andy1> The wave of protests over services such as housing, water and electricity in shanty-towns has been ongoing pretty much since the end of the struggle against apartheid in South Africa. In the most recent incidents, protesters from the Langa shanty-town near Cape Town blocked a major road, before coming under attack from police; and a protester was fatally run over during a protest in Soweto over housing services. [Notice the state substitutionist discourse in one of these articles - the state stands for development, hence for everyone; hence the actually-existing people are "narrow individual interests"; notice also the use of threats - to cut people off waiting lists in retaliation for protests - the invalidatory discourses such as "thuggery" etc, and the claim that disrupting the economy is "unacceptable" - an explicit recognition that the right to protest is sacrificed by neoliberals for smooth economic functioning.] http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hSEiquLTQ7xlZe5riZQi0JoSasEw One dead in Soweto housing protest Sep 3, 2007 JOHANNESBURG (AFP) - One demonstrator was killed and several others injured during violent protests against housing conditions in the Johannesburg township of Soweto, police said Monday. The victim was accidentally run over by a bread van during clashes with police who had opened fire with rubber bullets and teargas during the demonstration which saw several hundred shack dwellers block a major highway. Among those injured were two journalists, police spokeswoman Inspector Edna Mamonyane told AFP. "Police had to use rubber bullets when hundreds of residents became violent during a protest," she said. "Two journalists were injured when protesters started throwing stones and bricks at the police. A protester was run over by a bakery truck and killed on the scene, while we arrested seven suspects." The clashes broke out as the protesters demanded to see a local councillor about their housing conditions in the sprawling township which was a hotbed of resistance to the former ruling apartheid regime. Anger has been growing among Soweto residents over the continuing poor standards of housing since the African National Congress came to power in 1994. President Thabo Mbeki last week denied that there was "a crisis of service delivery" under questioning from the opposition in parliament. http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gbmShc0LzJqyXcmHKseiAiBaUSsg S.African police break up service delivery protest Sep 10, 2007 CAPE TOWN (AFP) - South African police used rubber bullets to disperse hundreds of rioters on Cape Town's main airport route on Monday and arrested seven in the latest protest against government service delivery. The group, which had erected burning barricades on a one-kilometre (mile) stretch of highway from around 0400 (0200 GMT), severely disrupting traffic, broke up some eight hours later when police opened fire with rubber bullets and stun grenades. "The protesters started getting riotous. They were threatening the lives of people by throwing stones," police spokesman Captain Elliot Sinyangana told AFP. In the morning, the group robbed and set alight a passing bakery delivery truck, and city traffic department spokesman Searle Johannes said they damaged several police vehicles. Sinyangana denied demonstrators' claims that several were injured by close-range rubber bullet fire, saying one protester got slightly hurt when he fell. Seven people were arrested for public violence and would appear in court on Tuesday, he said. The demonstrators are residents of the Joe Slovo informal settlement, protesting their removal to faraway Delft to free up land to build the next phase of the government's low-cost housing project. In a media statement, a group representing residents said they were angry over "their imminent forced removal to the wasteland of Delft, over 30 kilometres (20 miles) away". "We refuse to be moved there. It is far from our workplaces and also from places where we look for work." Delft is a temporary relocation area. The government of the Western Cape Province, of which Cape Town is the capital, condemned what it termed hooliganism and violence used by the protesters. In a statement, the provincial housing department said removal to Delft was voluntary but essential if infrastructure was to be upgraded. "The Joe Slovo informal settlement is a disaster prone area," it said, adding the area was often flooded in summer and susceptible to shack fires in winter. "In order for the government to find sustainable solution to the problem, we need to provide proper infrastructure and formal housing." Anger has been growing among South Africans over the continuing poor standards of housing and other government services since the African National Congress came to power in 1994. President Thabo Mbeki recently denied that there was "a crisis of service delivery" in the country. Last week, a demonstrator was killed during protests against housing conditions in Soweto, South Africa's largest townnship. http://africa.reuters.com/top/news/usnBAN030161.html Seven face charges in Cape Town protests Mon 10 Sep 2007, 14:33 GMT CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - Seven protesters were charged with public violence on Monday after South African police fired stun grenades and rubber bullets to break up a demonstration on a main Cape Town highway, police said. Demonstrators burnt tyres and stoned cars early on Monday to protest against government failure to provide basic amenities. "We used minimum force, launching stun grenades and shooting rubber bullets after protesters stoned police and motorists," police spokesman, captain Elliot Sinyangana, said, adding the protesters were expected in court on Tuesday. Thousands of South Africans from mostly black townships and shantytowns have taken to the streets in recent months to voice anger over the lack of electricity, water and sewage and other services in impoverished neighbourhoods. In some cases crowds have attacked and even killed officials of the ruling African National Congress, which has vowed to improve the quality of life for millions of blacks who continue to live on the margins of the country's booming economy. Community activist, Luthando Zulu, told Reuters a large crowd of protesters had shut the busy road linking Cape Town with its airport. "The crowd is uncontrollable. The police shot at us. About 20 people have been hospitalised," he said. Police admitted they had fired at the crowd but said only one person had been injured. Meanwhile, the Western Cape ANC condemned the demonstrations and urged members to protest within the law. "The closing down of the N2 and the ripple effect this has on the economy is unacceptable," ANC provincial secretary Mcebisi Skwatsha said in a statement. http://allafrica.com/stories/200709101369.html South Africa: Scores Hurt in N2 Protest Cape Argus (Cape Town) 10 September 2007 Posted to the web 10 September 2007 Murray Williams And Henri Du Plessis Cape Town The N2 area near Langa was a no go zone for hours this morning when police clashed with demonstrators who had disrupted traffic, leading to scores of people being injured and a number of protesters arrested. Peak-hour traffic was thrown into chaos when traffic authorities closed the N2 when a demonstration by a crowd that grew to about 2 000 turned violent. Police were shot at and pelted with stones as they battled to contain the protest and tried to reopen the highway. Police fired rubber bullets into the crowd which began gathering at 4am and tried to set fire to houses in the N2 Gateway housing project. A nursing sister in the trauma unit at Vanguard Day Hospital in Bonteheuwel said they had treated about 50 protesters by 11am. Most of them needed stitches and three had been referred to Somerset Hospital with serious injuries. "We are very busy. People of all ages have been coming in, mostly with 'rubber bullet cuts'." The protest comes after residents of the Joe Slovo informal settlement demonstrated outside Parliament recently and threatened to close the N2 if their demands regarding housing were not met. Joe Slovo residents, supported by the Anti-Eviction Campaign, demanded that the government stop forcibly relocating them to Delft to make space for the further development of the N2 Gateway. This morning, national Housing Minister Lindiwe Sisulu cancelled a scheduled address at a Master Builders conference in Cape Town to attend to problems at N2 Gateway, said Monwabisi MacLean, chief communications director of the national Housing Department. He said the government had been continually engaging with residents from the Joe Slovo informal settlement. After a brief lull early this morning, violence erupted again as roving groups of protesters tried to access the N2 at Langa. Pockets of Metro policemen sprinted from site to site firing rubber bullets to prevent the crowd reaching the N2 near the Langa indoor sports complex. A massive bonfire was lit at the entrance to Langa, blocking traffic going in and out of the suburb. The outgoing lanes of the N2 remained closed to traffic until mid-morning, when traffic resumed, albeit slowly, on the N2 where a long line of police vehicles were parked on the road shoulder. Tension built yet again on an open space next to the N2 Gateway project where protesters gathered and were confronted by police, who at 11.15am issued an order for them to disperse. Police formed a line with their backs to the N2. They held their ground as portions of the crowd sang, danced and marched up and down in front of them. Then rocks started flying through the air and police began shooting rubber bullets and stun grenades. As the shots and stun grenades thundered around them, the crowd scattered, running between the houses beyond the open space as policement followed in hot pursuit. Shortly later the ground had been cleared and policemen brought people they had arrested back to their vehicles. A woman, wounded on the left side of her head and around her eye, cried as she was dragged back to the police line. People hiding in bushes were found and arrested by police. The chaos on the highway meant thousands of commuters were late for work in the city centre. Approach roads to Cape Town International Airport were also blocked, but the protest did not have an impact on operations, said Airports Company spokeswoman Deidre Hendricks. In this morning's chaos both incoming and outgoing lanes of the N2 were blocked between Jan Smuts and Vanguard drives. Sections of Vanguard Drive were also closed to traffic. Incoming commuters were stopped at Vanguard Drive and diverted to Klipfontein Road to the south and Voortrekker Road to the north of the N2. Outgoing traffic was similarly diverted off the N2 at Jan Smuts Avenue, creating a nightmare for motorists bound for the airport. The traffic back-up caused several cars to collide as vehicles travelling at 120km/h suddenly encountered the congestion. Mayor Helen Zille declined to comment on the protest or the reasons for it, saying that she was told it had to do with the N2 Gateway housing project and that it was an issue with which the provincial government had been dealing. Housing MEC Richard Dyantyi described the protests as being about "narrow individual interests" that could not be allowed to stop the development. Dyantyi said the development of the N2 Gateway pilot project "necessitated" the relocation of residents of informal settlements to temporary housing. "Due communication processes have been followed with community leaders and residents. "Development will continue and cannot be thwarted by narrow individual interests," he said. Additional reporting by Lindsay Dentlinger, Andisiwe Makinana http://www.news24.com/Regional_Papers/Components/Category_Article_Text_Template/0,,433_2182797~E,00.html 13/09/2007 11:33 AM - (SA) Housing protest goes awry LINDA KABENI DISTRUST in the allocation system for housing in Langa seems to be the main cause of the protest on Monday in which scores of people were injured when police opened fire on about two thousand residents of Joe Slovo in Langa, who had stormed the N2, setting tyres alight, with some throwing objects at moving cars. Protest leaders made it clear during the interview that the system has already short changed them into being moved to an area far from where they originally built their shacks at Joe Slovo The protest action has received harsh criticism from the ANC in the province. The marchers said they did this to get the attention of national Housing Minister Lindiwe Sisulu to come and listen to their grievances over housing disputes. ANC Provincial Secretary Mcebisi Skwatsha said 'the closing of the national road is unacceptable and based on either lack of information or unreasonable demands by a section of community,'. In her response to the protest, Sisulu blamed the PAC, saying 'it would confirm our worst suspicion that opportunistic individuals or parties are using housing crisis to the advantage,'. She said police had informed them that the protesters said they were PAC members and that councillor Joka had addressed them. But the protesters were adamant that Sisulu had promised them that once the N2 Gateway housing project was completed, about 70% of the residents of the informal settlement would receive first preference for allocation of houses. 'Instead,' said the leader of the protesters, Mapisa Sifiso 'We saw people from other areas being accommodated,'. Sifiso said also, during the construction phase, residents of Joe Slovo were asked to move to temporary houses in Delft. 'But when the houses were completed, people were told they will have to pay for their houses. We had thought we were getting free RDP houses,'. Sifiso said at one stage, they tried to raise their dissatisfaction with the minister, and handed her office a memorandum which stated their fears and concerns. 'But we only learned later that the minister had responded to our grievances through a weekend newspaper,' he said. In a statement released to the media, Sisulu said she recognised the right of people to express their views and protest, 'but the government is not going to tolerate indiscriminate violence where property is vandalized,'. Residents of Joe Slovo must decide whether they want to cooperate with government, she said. 'In this way, they will qualify for housing opportunities,'. http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=124&art_id=vn20070911032307914C333313 Halt protest or lose out, warns minister September 11 2007 at 06:58AM By Quinton Mtyala and Sapa Housing Minister Lindiwe Sisulu has warned that protesters who closed a freeway near Cape Town "will be removed completely from all housing waiting lists" if they continue their housing demonstrations. She said residents of the Joe Slovo informal settlement in Langa had to decide whether they wanted to co-operate with the government and qualify for housing. "If they choose not to co-operate, they will be removed completely from all housing waiting lists." Sisulu said the Gateway project management had been interacting with residents, and the violence was "completely unjustified". Protesters set up a burning barricade just off the N2 just after 4am on Monday, stoned police and their vehicles, broke up dwellings under construction in the N2 Gateway project alongside Joe Slovo and set a bakery delivery van alight. Their reasons for protesting varied - from a refusal to be moved to Delft, where temporary housing units have been built so as to make way for further Gateway construction, to charges that residents of Joe Slovo were not consulted about planned new housing. The Anti-Eviction Campaign described the situation as "absolutely terrible", saying police had opened fire on the protesters at close range with rubber bullets. "They shot women and children, and people are seriously injured. Dozens of residents have been arrested and the police are refusing to say where they have taken them even though some are injured." Western Cape Housing and Local Government MEC Qubudile Dyantyi described the protest as an "act of thuggery". ANC provincial secretary Mcebisi Skwatsha said the blockade was unacceptable and that protesters were either uninformed or unreasonable in their demands. Transport MEC Marius Fransman has called for anyone involved in protests on national roads to be arrested. First National Bank and the Housing Ministry announced a partnership in June for 3 000 bonded housing units at sites in Joe Slovo and Delft. But residents are demanding free RDP homes, put off by a price tag of between R150 000 to R250 000 for the houses. One resident claimed that no one from Joe Slovo was housed at the first phase of the N2 Gateway Project. "Instead we have people living there from Khayelitsha, Gugulethu and other areas." Luthando Ndabantu, who addressed the protesters, said people from Joe Slovo were promised houses after a devastating fire in January 2005. "They moved us to Delft to live in those shacks made of asbestos," he said. http://up191.apf.m2014.net/article.php3?id_article=212 UPDATE ON SITUATION FROM YESTERDAY'S SERVICE DELIVERY PROTESTS IN THE VAAL & GREATER SOWETO Tuesday 18th September 2007 by natalie Press Release Tuesday 4th September 2007: 23h30 The funeral of comrade Oupa Mpute (LPM Protea South branch secretary) who was killed in a hit-and-run accident by a delivery van in Protea South will take place on Sunday in Mapetla. The APF calls for police to immediately track down the person responsible for comrade Oupa's tragic death. Of 19 community members arrested in Protea South and Kliptown, 10 have been released without charge. The remaining 9 have been charged with public violence and released on R500 bail each which has been paid by the APF. They will appear in court in late September. APF leaders in Vaal continue to be harassed and intimidated by the police. On two occasions very late last night, several men claiming to be the police, but who refused to identify themselves, arrived at the homes of two APF leaders and unsuccessfully tried to enter. An ANC councillor for Protea South as well as a ward committee member threatened the life of LPM Gauteng Chairperson and Protea South resident, Maureen Mnisi (and stated that her house would be burnt down) at a public forum this afternoon, in the presence of police. No protection was offered to comrade Mnisi. The APF has informed the Gauteng Ministry of Safety & Security of this situation. ONCE AGAIN, THE APF STATES IN THE STRONGEST OF TERMS ITS CONDEMNATION OF POLICE CONDUCT IN THESE SITUATIONS. THE LEGITIMATE GRIEVANCES AND PROTESTS OF POOR COMMUNITIES AROUND SERVICE DELIVERY CANNOT BE SMASHED AND VOICES SILENCED. IT IS LONG PAST THE TIME FOR THE ANC AND GOVERNMENT TO LISTEN TO THOSE THEY CLAIM TO REPRESENT/SPEAK FOR AND TO START DELIVERING WHAT THEY HAVE PLEDGED TO DO FOR SO LONG. For further comment/informationcontact: IN PROTEA SOUTH: Maureen on 082 337-4514 IN THE VAAL: Patra Sindane on 073-052-7005 and/or Mish on 079 812-4724 IN KLIPTOWN: Thabo Modisane on 078 129-7797 OR CONTACT APF ORGANISER - Silumko on 072 173-7268 http://up191.apf.m2014.net/article.php3?id_article=211 HOUSING PROTEST IN ALEXANDRA! Tuesday 18th September 2007 by natalie Press Release Tuesday 4th September 2007: 19h00 RESIDENTS OF THE FAR EAST BANK WHO ARE MEMBERS OF THE VUKUZENZELE CRISIS COMMITTEE, ARE CONTINUING TO OCCUPY OVER 60 EMPTY COUNCIL FLATS IN EXTENSION 7: MARLBORO - ALEXANDRA. THEY HAVE BEEN CARRYING OUT THIS ACTION SINCE LAST NIGHT. RESIDENTS, WHO HAVE LONG BEEN WAITING FOR PROPER HOUSING AND WHO HAVE MET WITH, AND MARCHED ON, JOHANNESBURG CITY COUNCIL OFFICIALS ENDLESSLY OVER THE LAST FEW YEARS, ARE FED-UP AND ARE DEMANDING THAT THESE EMPTY & HALF-BUILT COUNCIL FLATS BE GIVEN TO THE COMMUNITY IMMEDIATELY THERE IS A HEAVY POLICE PRESENCE IN THE AREA. RESIDENTS HAVE VOWED NOT TO LEAVE UNTIL GAUTENG MEC FOR HOUSING - NOMVULA MOKONYANE - COMES TO ADDRESS THEIR DEMANDS. IN A PATHETIC AND UNSUCCESSFUL ATTEMPT TO ADDRESS THE RESIDENTS DEMANDS FOR PROPER HOUSING, THE CITY OF JOBURG, EARLIER TODAY, DISPATCHED 3 COUNCILLORS AND 2 JUNIOR HOUSING OFFICIALS TO THE AREA. RESIDENTS RIGHTFULLY REFUSED TO MOVE UNTIL THE JOBURG MAYOR AND/OR THE GAUTENG MEC FOR HOUSING COME TO ADDRESS THEIR DEMANDS. THE CITY OF JOBURG HAS PROMISED THAT THIS WILL HAPPEN BY 09H00 TOMORROW MORNING. IN THE MEANTIME, THE RESIDENTS WILL CONTINUE THEIR OCCUPATION For further comment/information on the scene contact: FRIEDA DLAMINI on 083 983-3809 http://up191.apf.m2014.net/article.php3?id_article=210 Service delivery protests by range of communities across the Vaal and Greater Soweto attacked by police early this morning Tuesday 18th September 2007 by natalie Press Release Monday 3rd September 2007 Community member in Protea South knocked down by car in road and killed instantly 8 arrested in Kliptown and 6 in Protea South. Scores shot at and chased into their homes. Journalists being harassed In Vaal, heavily armed police everywhere firing randomly and are conducting house-to-house searches for community leaders who remain in 'hiding' >From very early this morning, a range of poor communities - which include Boiketlong, Kanana, Dunusa and Sonderwater in the Vaal as well as Kliptown, Freedom Park and Protea South in Greater Soweto - embarked on a series of protests against lack of service delivery. In Protea South, one community resident taking part in the protest was knocked down by a car in the road and died instantly. Police began shooting randomly and chasing protesters through the settlement but residents fought back and forced the police back onto the main roads. While conducting a press interview, Protea South community leader, Maureen Mnisi was arrested along with 5 others residents. They are presently being held in Protea Police Station without charge. In Kliptown, 7 residents alongside APF organiser, Thabo Modisane, have been arrested by a private security near the railway line. All these comrades were heavily beaten by these private security thugs. They are presently being held in Kliptown Police Station without charge. In the variously mentioned communities in the Vaal, police forces immediately attacked community residents who had taken up positions on various roads, shooting randomly and chasing residents back into the homes. At present, although no one has been arrested, police are systematically conducting house-to-house searches to try and 'flush out' community leaders. THE APF EXTENDS ITS HEARTFELT CONDOLENCES TO THE FAMILY OF THE COMRADE KILLED IN THE PROTEA SOUTH ACCIDENT THE APF CONDENMS THE INDISCRIMINATE USE OF VIOLENCE BY THE POLICE AGAINST COMMUNITY PROTESTERS AND THE VIOLENT CONDUCT OF PRIVATE SECURITY GUARDS THE APF DEMANDS THAT POLICE IMMEDIATELY STOP THEIR CONTINUED HARRASSMENT OF JOURNALISTS AND GENERAL COMMUNITY MEMBERS AND STOP THE CONTINUED VIOLATION/INVASION OF RESIDENTS HOMES For further comment/information contact on the scene contact: IN THE VAAL: Patra Sindane on 073-052-7005 and/or Mish on 079 812-4724 IN KLIPTOWN: Thabo Modisane on 078 129-7797 IN PROTEA SOUTH: Virginia on 078 473-3086 OR CONTACT APF ORGANISER - Silumko on 072 173-7268 http://up191.apf.m2014.net/article.php3?id_article=209 VICTORY x 2!!! Tuesday 18th September 2007 by natalie Press Release Thursday 16th August 2007 All those arrested in Boiketlong (Sebokeng) service delivery- housing protest on Tuesday were released an hour ago without being charged. Some of the injured still receiving medical attention. Less than an hour ago, all 34 community residents arrested during Tuesday's protest in Boiketlong, were released from the Sebokeng Police Station without being charged. Police had held the residents since Tuesday morning and had initially intended to charge them in court this morning with public violence and illegal gathering. However, it become clear this morning when the residents were not brought to court that the Police had no case and after the expiry of the 48 hour period of holding those arrested that is allowed under law, all were released. At least two residents who were injured continue to receive medical attention and are considering opening cases against the police. Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR), who provided legal support in this case through their Strategic Litigation Unit, have noted with concern the increase in the number of charges of public violence and the use of excessive force, reminiscent of practices utilised by the apartheid regime, against community members who demand accountability and answers on basic service provision from unresponsive elected officials. The APF and the CAWP, along with the Boiketlong community hail this as a victory over those intent on smashing legitimate protest and arresting freedom of dissent. We thank the Strategic Litigation Unit at LHR for their excellent legal support in this case and all those social movements, community organisations, progressive NGOs and other individuals who have expressed solidarity. The Struggle Continues!! For updates/comment on the continuing Boiketlong struggle contact PATRA on 0730527005 Charges of public violence dropped against 17 members of the APF/Thembalihle Crisis Committee Two days ago - Tuesday 14th August - charges of public violence were dropped against 17 members of the APF/Thembalihle Crisis Committee - who had been arrested on charges of public violence on 10th July following a community protest over lack of service delivery. Represented by the Strategic Litigation Unit at Lawyers for Human Rights, the 17 Thembalihle residents had seen their case postponed twice while police and the Public Prosecutor attempted to build case against them. At the court hearing on Tuesday, submissions by the LHR legal team succeeded in the already weak case finally crumbling. This victory is another important milestone in the ongoing struggle by poor communities for service delivery and human dignity. For updates/comment on continuing Thembalihle struggle contact SILUMKO on 0721737268 Background to the case and the struggle for service delivery & housing in Thembalihle Post-1994, residents waited patiently for visible signs of job creation, public housing construction, the provision of water and electricity and enhanced educational and recreational facilities but nothing was forthcoming. The community's repeated attempts to engage in meaningful dialogue with their local councillor and with the Mayor of Johannesburg fell on deaf ears. Instead, in 2002, the City of Johannesburg sent in the Red Ants to try and forcibly evict the entire community (to be moved to desolate and far-away Vlakfontein) and the community fought back, successfully resisting their removal. After this, they were promised that thousands of houses would be built and that basic services would be delivered - but yet again, the community was forgotten and little or no development has taken place in the last several years. On 8th July 2007, the community held a mass meeting which demanded a report about the provision of housing and electricity in the area. Having received no answers from their councilor or officials in the City Council, the community took the resolution to engage in a peaceful march to the local municipal offices on the morning of 9th July so that officials could respond to their previous memorandums. Despite community requests for a meeting, the Johanesburg City Manager failed to meet with community members on two separate occasions on that day. The community decided to stage a blockade so that the Mayor of Johannesburg would come to address their grievances in light of the council's lack of accountability to the community. The demonstration went into the early hours of the morning, at which time the South African Police Service, together with the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police, opened fire on community protesters with rubber bullets. The crowd dispersed under heavy fire from the police and scores of people were injured. Seventeen community members were arrested randomly from their homes or on their way to the spaza shops. On 7th August 2007, the case was postponed for a week for the purposes of further investigation. On 14th August 2007, the case against the 17 members of the APF/Tembalihle Crisis Committee was withdrawn and all charges were dropped. . DEFEND FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AND PROTEST! SERVICE DELIVERY NOW! http://up191.apf.m2014.net/article.php3?id_article=208 Service Delivery-Housing Protest by community of Boiketlong (in Sebokeng- Vaal) attacked by police this morning. Tuesday 18th September 2007 by natalie Press Release: Tuesday14th August 2007 35 arrested (5 of whom were injured by rubber bullets) charged with public violence and illegal gathering. Heavily armed police continue to harass APF and community leaders and residents Early this morning, over 1000 residents of the 'informal settlement' of Boiketlong (in Sebokeng - Vaal) - under the banner of the APF and the CAWP - embarked on a service delivery-housing protest. Instead of listening and talking with the protesting residents, police opened fire at random on the crowd. Many were shot with rubber bullets while running away, others arrested as they tried to return to their homes. In all, 35 people have been arrested (including five of those injured who are now receiving medical attention) and are presently being held in the Sebokeng Police Station. Police have indicated that they are being charged with public violence and illegal gathering and will appear in court tomorrow for a bail hearing (the police have refused free bail). The APF/CAWP will post bail for those arrested and will fight the charges in court, as we have done with all other similar arrests of residents which have been made as a result of service delivery protests in several Gauteng communities over the last few weeks. Less than an hour ago, 9 APF and community leaders (including APF Chairperson, Bricks Mokolo) were then arrested for simply addressing a community gathering. They have been subsequently released without charge, However, heavily armed police are continuing to harass Boiketlong residents in an attempt to try and prevent them from meeting and discussing the situation and protesting the arrests already made. Once again, the actions of the police have been wholly unacceptable and completely out of proportion to the supposed 'threat' posed by such a protest. What we are witnessing again and again in poor community after poor community, is that the police and government officials treating the legitimate grievances and protests over service delivery, of the various communities, with contempt and arrogance. The Boiketlong action was (as has been the case elsewhere) the latest in a series of attempts over the last few months, by community residents, to highlight the complete failure of government to provide housing and decent services in their community. Residents have used every available avenue to highlight/publicise their demands for service delivery, only and always to be met with a deafly silence and to be told that they must shut up and continue to 'wait' (as they have been doing for many years) for government to come back to them on their repeated promises of housing-service delivery. Indeed, the police are so determined to 'stamp out' any free expression of dissent, that they are now arresting leaders who are doing nothing more than addressing a gathering of residents. THIS MUST STOP! If things continue the way they are, we will soon have an effective police state existing in poor communities! Problems around service delivery which are affecting hundreds of poor communities across this country are not going to go away because government doesn't like them or because police decided to try and smash any legitimate protest and resistance. There will only be more mass actions and protests as long as the government does nothing to seriously address the concerns and demands of those communities, and come up with concrete plans in which the communities and their organisations are included as an equal and legitimate partner. STOP POLICE VIOLENCE AGAINST POOR COMMUNITIES! DEFEND FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AND PROTEST! SERVICE DELIVERY NOW! For further comment/information contact: CAWP Organiser Patra Sindane (who has been arrested) on 073-052-7005: APF Chairperson Bricks Mokolo on 072 175-8948 Community activist Mish on 079 812-4724 http://up191.apf.m2014.net/article.php3?id_article=202 Boiketlong-Sebokeng Protest-Arrests Friday 14th September 2007 by natalie Press Release Tuesday14th August 2007 Service Delivery-Housing Protest by community of Boiketlong (in Sebokeng- Vaal) attacked by police this morning. 35 arrested (5 of whom were injured by rubber bullets) charged with public violence and illegal gathering. Heavily armed police continue to harass APF and community leaders and residents Early this morning, over 1000 residents of the 'informal settlement' of Boiketlong (in Sebokeng - Vaal) - under the banner of the APF and the CAWP - embarked on a service delivery-housing protest. Instead of listening and talking with the protesting residents, police opened fire at random on the crowd. Many were shot with rubber bullets while running away, others arrested as they tried to return to their homes. In all, 35 people have been arrested (including five of those injured who are now receiving medical attention) and are presently being held in the Sebokeng Police Station. Police have indicated that they are being charged with public violence and illegal gathering and will appear in court tomorrow for a bail hearing (the police have refused free bail). The APF/CAWP will post bail for those arrested and will fight the charges in court, as we have done with all other similar arrests of residents which have been made as a result of service delivery protests in several Gauteng communities over the last few weeks. Less than an hour ago, 9 APF and community leaders (including APF Chairperson, Bricks Mokolo) were then arrested for simply addressing a community gathering. They have been subsequently released without charge, However, heavily armed police are continuing to harass Boiketlong residents in an attempt to try and prevent them from meeting and discussing the situation and protesting the arrests already made. Once again, the actions of the police have been wholly unacceptable and completely out of proportion to the supposed 'threat' posed by such a protest. What we are witnessing again and again in poor community after poor community, is that the police and government officials treating the legitimate grievances and protests over service delivery, of the various communities, with contempt and arrogance. The Boiketlong action was (as has been the case elsewhere) the latest in a series of attempts over the last few months, by community residents, to highlight the complete failure of government to provide housing and decent services in their community. Residents have used every available avenue to highlight/publicise their demands for service delivery, only and always to be met with a deafly silence and to be told that they must shut up and continue to 'wait' (as they have been doing for many years) for government to come back to them on their repeated promises of housing-service delivery. Indeed, the police are so determined to 'stamp out' any free expression of dissent, that they are now arresting leaders who are doing nothing more than addressing a gathering of residents. THIS MUST STOP! If things continue the way they are, we will soon have an effective police state existing in poor communities! Problems around service delivery which are affecting hundreds of poor communities across this country are not going to go away because government doesn't like them or because police decided to try and smash any legitimate protest and resistance. There will only be more mass actions and protests as long as the government does nothing to seriously address the concerns and demands of those communities, and come up with concrete plans in which the communities and their organisations are included as an equal and legitimate partner. STOP POLICE VIOLENCE AGAINST POOR COMMUNITIES! DEFEND FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AND PROTEST! SERVICE DELIVERY NOW! For further comment/information contact: CAWP Organiser Patra Sindane (who has been arrested) on 073-052-7005: APF Chairperson Bricks Mokolo on 072 175-8948 Community activist Mish on 079 812-4724 From ldxar1 at tesco.net Tue Oct 9 12:15:24 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Tue, 9 Oct 2007 20:15:24 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] UGANDA: Traders clash with police over land grab Message-ID: <001201c80aa8$be81f2f0$0802a8c0@andy1> Traders resisted a social cleansing effort in which stalls were razed in Kampala, eventually forcing concessions from the state in the arrangement of the rebuilt market. Traders are opposed to the leasing of the market to a private firm and its cleanup in advance of a Commonwealth summit, which they fear will lead to their being pushed out. One trader was killed by police during the unrest. http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/12/585418 Man killed in traders riot Thursday, 6th September, 2007 E-mail articlePrint article Residents carry Ssebowa who was shot during the riots in Nansana. He died on arrival at Mulago Hospital By Nicholas Kajoba A BUILDER was yesterday shot dead during a riot in Nansana town council, a suburb of Kampala, as enforcement officials razed roadside stalls and makeshift markets at dawn. Richard Ssebowa was shot in the chest by a special Police constable, whom witnesses identified as Agaba. Ssebowa died moments after arrival at Mulago Hospital at around 11:00am. Officials said the "clean-up" was part of the programme to make roads beautiful ahead of the Commonwealth summit in November. The exercise kicked off early in the morning. When the traders reported to work, they were shocked to find most of their structures had been destroyed. They protested to the town council authorities, arguing that they had not been notified of the operation. However, the crackdown continued despite their pleas, which incensed them. The crowd grew bigger and more enraged with time. Sensing danger, the officials called in the Police from the nearby Nansana Police post, who arrived in time to stop the charging crowd. In an effort to disperse the traders, the Police constables shot in the air. A stray bullet killed Ssebowa. In the melee that ensued, the officials fled but the traders gave chase, pelting them with stones. Window panes of neighbouring buildings were shattered. The town council offices remained under tight Police guard. The situation only calmed down when more Police from Kampala, led by the commissioner of Police in-charge of operations, Grace Turyagumanawe, were deployed at the scene. Kampala Extra police chief Edward Ochom regretted the incident. The constable who shot the builder would face the law, he said. He blamed the officials for carrying out the demolition without alerting the Police. "They told us later when they saw that the crowd was growing bigger," Ochom said. Moses Muwawu, who lost a kiosk, blamed the Police for shooting live bullets at the crowd. "We asked them why they were breaking our structures without informing us in time. But they instead called the Police." Nansana mayor Moses Nsubuga Wandyaka was holed up in his office as the chaos raged. He only left under Police escort. Wakiso district chairman Ian Kyeyune called for calm. http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/13/586003 Kisekka Market riot rocks Kampala Monday, 10th September, 2007 By Herbert Ssempogo and Florence Nakaayi BUSINESS at Kisseka Market in Kampala came to a standstill yesterday afternoon as traders rioted over the plan to lease the market to a consortium. In May this year, Kampala City Council approved to lease the market to Rhino Investments and the vendors association, New Nakivubo Road Market Vendors Association. But another group of vendors, Nakivubo Road Old Kampala (Kisekka) Market Vendors, protested the move. The rowdy traders, who demanded audience with city authorities, lit bonfires in the middle of Kyaggwe Road, making it impassable as the 2:00pm riot intensified. Bonfires were also lit in the small alleys running through the market famous for second-hand vehicle spare parts. Thick black smoke and heat engulfed the area as traders set huge tyres on fire. "We want Sebaggala (the mayor) and Kijjambu (the town clerk)," the male-dominated mob chanted as they patrolled the streets. "There was a lot of chaos by the time I got out of our shop. All shops were closed and people were running everywhere," one of the traders narrated. Earlier, traders in the market and neighbouring areas hurriedly locked their shops as the riot gained momentum. The Police dispersed the riotous traders with teargas and volleys of shots, sending many scampering for safety in nearby buildings. Fire fighters rushed to the scene to extinguish the raging fire from the tyres. The Police acting director of operations, Grace Turyagumawe, addressed the incensed traders moments after the situation normalised. "I asked the traders' committee to forward their grievances to the city authorities. They should use peaceful means to solve their grievances instead of resorting to hooliganism." According to Turyagumanawe, the town clerk, Ruth Kijjambu, will meet the vendors on Thursday. http://allafrica.com/stories/200709130351.html Uganda: Police, Traders Agree On Truce New Vision (Kampala) 12 September 2007 Posted to the web 13 September 2007 Herbert Ssempogo And Florence Nakaayi Kampala THE Police and rioting traders at Kisekka market in Kampala yesterday agreed on a truce ending today at 2:00pm. The end to the running battles followed the intervention of the Inspector General of Police, Maj. Gen. Kale Kayihura, in the row between the traders and city authorities over management of the market. "I appeal to you to end these battles. We are friends but we are now running after each other," Kayihura pleaded. Some traders at the market in downtown Kampala are opposed to the city authorities' decision to lease the market to Rhino Investments and the New Nakivubo Road Market Vendors' Association. Another group of vendors, the Nakivubo Road Old Kampala (Kisekka) Market Vendors, however claim the latter do not represent their interests. The acting town clerk, Ruth Kijjambu, yesterday told journalists that Kampala City Council decided to lease the market considering the vendors' interests. The traders identified Rhino as a development partner. Mayor Nasser Sebaggala added that the vendors from the new market association would develop one-and-a half acres of the land while Rhino shares 2.2 acres, as agreed with vendors' management. The entire land was leased at sh1.52b as premium and sh76m as ground rent. Addressing hundreds of traders that gathered at Ramgharia Sikh Primary School, Kayihura said: "My office is open. You can come in anytime so that we resolve your grievances. You should now open your shops." Kayihura received a hero's welcome from some vendors but as he approached the school, men perched atop buildings, hurled bottles and stones at him but he did not flinch. He promised to ensure that city authorities meets the traders today at midday. Ssebagala invited the traders for a meeting today at the City Hall but they insisted he meet them at the market. Kayihura reiterated President Yoweri Museveni's earlier statements that traders should be given priority as the markets are redeveloped, adding that the Cabinet resolved that city authorities should not lease city markets without the traders' consent. Before Kayihura's intervention, the rowdy traders burnt tyres along sections of Kyaggwe and Nakivubo Road, which were also barricaded. Kampala's horizon was covered by the thick black smoke emitting from the burning tyres. As the chaos intensified, the water canon truck and anti-riot Police atop Land Cruisers arrived, sending many into hiding. The Policemen fired several teargas canisters into the air to disperse the crowd but the traders returned later and pelted them with stones and bottles. One of the windscreens of the water canon truck was shattered by a stone hurled by a trader. By press time, fire officers were clearing the charred tyres off the roads. http://allafrica.com/stories/200709120028.html Uganda: Gunfire, Teargas Paralyse Kampala Again New Vision (Kampala) 11 September 2007 Posted to the web 12 September 2007 Herbert Ssempogo and Florence Nakaayi Kampala FOR the second day yesterday, the Police and traders at Kisekka market fought running battles, paralysing several parts of downtown Kampala. Chaos at the market, which is at the centre of a management row between traders and city authorities, broke out again at 10:00am. A trader, Frank Sserugo, said the chaos was sparked off by city mayor Nasser Sebaggala's statements on an FM radio that the traders did not have enough money to develop the market. Sserugo said the irate traders set heaps of tyres on fire, forcing traders to lock up their shops. Security officers and special Police constables in vain tried to stop the violence. Frustrated by the rowdy traders, two Police officers fired several shots in the air in an attempt to disperse the crowd. But fellow officers disarmed them and took them to the Kampala Central Police Station. Some traders, enraged by the gunfire, started pelting the Police with stones, prompting some of them to take refuge. Others torched more tyres, causing thick clouds of smoke to cover the market area. The Police closed down Kyaggwe Road and William Street as several anti-riot police officers, backed by a water canon truck, arrived at the scene and swung into action. Many rioters fled, while others squatted as the anti- riot team fired teargas. Fire officers extinguished the bonfires after which the water canon truck shoved away the charred tyres. The acting commandant of the Mobile Police Patrol Unit, Christopher Abache, later appealed to the traders to go back to work. "My concern is that you are blocking the road. You are affecting the traffic." But the traders booed him down, insisting that they wanted to talk to the mayor and the town clerk, Ruth Kijjambu. "Those two know our problems," one of them bellowed, warning that they would not give in. They later taunted the Police as they marched along the road to the market. The tense situation turned comic when a daring man walked on stilts and gleefully waved at the traders, who handed him a placard that read: Twagala Meeya (we want the mayor). His time in the limelight ended quickly when the Police sprayed him with teargas. By press time, the situation had normalised. A few traders were even exchanging pleasantries with the police. "You lose money when you continue rioting. You should open your shops," a policeman advised. http://allafrica.com/stories/200709110481.html Uganda: Kisekka Market Riot Rocks Kampala New Vision (Kampala) 10 September 2007 Posted to the web 11 September 2007 Herbert Ssempogo And Florence Nakaayi Kampala BUSINESS at Kisseka Market in Kampala came to a standstill yesterday afternoon as traders rioted over the plan to lease the market to a consortium. In May this year, Kampala City Council approved to lease the market to Rhino Investments and the vendors association, New Nakivubo Road Market Vendors Association. But another group of vendors, Nakivubo Road Old Kampala (Kisekka) Market Vendors, protested the move. The rowdy traders, who demanded audience with city authorities, lit bonfires in the middle of Kyaggwe Road, making it impassable as the 2:00pm riot intensified. Bonfires were also lit in the small alleys running through the market famous for second-hand vehicle spare parts. Thick black smoke and heat engulfed the area as traders set huge tyres on fire. "We want Sebaggala (the mayor) and Kijjambu (the town clerk)," the male-dominated mob chanted as they patrolled the streets. "There was a lot of chaos by the time I got out of our shop. All shops were closed and people were running everywhere," one of the traders narrated. Earlier, traders in the market and neighbouring areas hurriedly locked their shops as the riot gained momentum. The Police dispersed the riotous traders with teargas and volleys of shots, sending many scampering for safety in nearby buildings. Fire fighters rushed to the scene to extinguish the raging fire from the tyres. The Police acting director of operations, Grace Turyagumawe, addressed the incensed traders moments after the situation normalised. "I asked the traders' committee to forward their grievances to the city authorities. They should use peaceful means to solve their grievances instead of resorting to hooliganism." According to Turyagumanawe, the town clerk, Ruth Kijjambu, will meet the vendors on Thursday. http://allafrica.com/stories/200709140057.html Uganda: Emotions Run High as Kisekka Market Re-Opens New Vision (Kampala) 13 September 2007 Posted to the web 14 September 2007 Steven Candia, Herbert Ssempogo and Florence Nakaayi Kampala AMIDST song and dance, ecstatic Kisekka market traders yesterday dropped padlocks from their shop doors as business resumed after three days of riots that had paralysed down town Kampala. The move followed a meeting with the local government state minister, Hope Mwesigye, in which she assured the traders that no one would take the market from them. With the announcement, the ecstatic traders shook to music by local artistes; Ronald and Jose Chameleon, as padlocks fell and doors flung open. Mwesigye said the process of leasing the market to other players, which sparked off the riots, was flawed. Delivering a speech in Luganda, occasionally punctuated with applause, Mwesigye assured the traders that there was no way mayor Nasser Ssebagala and town clerk Ruth Kijjambu, could be above the Central Government. The two were accused of leasing the market to private developers. She said the town clerk, who was under her ministry, had since morning ignored all her phone calls. "Priority should be given to sitting tenants so that they redevelop the market. They could also look for an investor so that it is a joint venture," Mwesigye said to an applause from traders, some of whom brandished placards. She said there was an option of the Government helping the vendors redevelop the market. Asked whether her ministry would order city authorities to revoke the lease, she said: "That is their business. It was a mistake." The Government, she said, had formulated a policy for the development of markets following numerous wrangles in the city. She promised to meet the 14-member executive of the Nakivubo Road Old Kampala (Kisekka) Market Vendors Ltd today at 10:00am. The association is against the leasing of the market to Rhino Investments and New Nakivubo Road Market Vendors Association. The Nakivubo Road Old Kampala (Kisekka) Market Vendors boss ,Robert Kisembo, said they had developed a "concept plan" of developing the market at a cost of $16m. He appealed to the traders to stay calm as "we work with the minister's office." Earlier the Kampala resident district commissioner, Stanley Kinyatta, had told the traders that the market would not be taken away from them. The meeting was attended by the Inspector General of Police, Maj. Gen. Kale Kayihura, who called for peace and the area MP, Erias Lukwago, who hoped that a lasting solution would be found to the saga. But as all this unfolded, a planned meeting between the city authorities and the vendors at City Hall was postponed indefinitely, though the district council stood by its earlier decision of leasing the market to the New Nakivubo Road Market Vendors Association and Rhino Investments. http://allafrica.com/stories/200709130012.html Uganda: KCC Must Come Out Clear On Markets The Monitor (Kampala) EDITORIAL 13 September 2007 Posted to the web 13 September 2007 Kampala For a third day yesterday, police and traders at Kisekka Market in Kampala fought running battles, paralysing business in several parts of the city. Ugandans were again awakened to SMS news alerts, "Kyagwe and Nabugabo roads closed as Kisseka Market vendors continue striking and burning tyres in the road. Anti-riot police deployed..." The friction surrounding markets in Kampala is generally degenerating into a crisis and threatening to get out of control. As the Kisekka Market riots continue, the report on how the sale or lease of another controversial market, Nakasero, was handled is also yet to be released. There are several shortcomings on the part of Kampala City Council management generally. The traders in Kisekka Market claim they have a valid tenancy lease running until 2011. They claim that without their knowledge, KCC authorities granted a separate lease for part of the already leased market, to another developer. There seems to be a growing sequence of controversies regarding the lease or sale of markets across the city and the problem is steadily widening. In the middle of these controversies and riots stands KCC. The city council has muddled itself in so much dirt over the markets that now the council's move, however good-intentioned it may be, appears like a big syndicate to dispose of the markets as urgently and dubiously as possible at the expense of public interest. The KCC management must come out clearly and extricate itself from this quagmire by explaining properly how the markets are leased or sold. One day it's a riot over Natete Market, another day it's Nakasero Market, Shauriyako, then Kisekka and tomorrow you will hear Nakawa, Makindye, etc. This must stop. If a market is to be leased, KCC should advertise the tenders, clearly stipulating the requirements for qualifying for the tender so that the process is transparent. That will cure the problem. The secret awarding of the market tenders without the knowledge of the stakeholders is bound to always breed riots. KCC's intransigence smacks of corruption, incompetence and influence peddling in the markets tendering process. We cannot afford to have incessant riots at a time when the country is about to host one of the world's most prestigious summits, the Commonwealth meeting, among whose key etiquettes include good governance and peace. From ldxar1 at tesco.net Tue Oct 9 12:20:25 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Tue, 9 Oct 2007 20:20:25 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] Student unrest in Nigeria, South Africa, Zambia, Uganda Message-ID: <001601c80aa9$721f3de0$0802a8c0@andy1> In Nigeria, students at Ahmadu Bello University staged mass protests over sharp fee hikes suddenly announced by the vice-chancellor. After days of protests and clashes, and at least one student shot by police, the university was shut down. Students also clashed with police at Witswatersrand in South Africa, where police fired rubber bullets to break up a student march. Students are protesting attempts to privatise halls of residence and raise rents, and disrupted lectures and tests. There have also been protests over service provision by school students in Zambia and Uganda. http://allafrica.com/stories/200710030393.html Nigeria: ABU Riot - VC Blames Union Leader Leadership (Abuja) 3 October 2007 Posted to the web 3 October 2007 Babagida Kakaki Abuja The authorities of the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria yesterday blamed last Friday's violent students' demonstration on the actions of the President of the Students' Union Government, Alex Mamcheka. Vice Chancellor, Prof.Shehu Abdullahi alleged at a news conference that the release of an information on the proposed increase in school fees by Mancheka sparked off the crisis . According to Abdullahi, the proposed schedule of fees was illegally released by the SUG president who is a member of the University Committee on the Assessment of Fees and Other Charges, shortly after a meeting of the committee. The vice chancellor further explained that the issue of hike in fees was unanimously agreed upon by all the university stakeholders, including the officials of the SUG since 2004, leading to the establishment of UCAFOC to consider a triennial review of the fees to be paid by both the new and old students. During the violent demonstration, two students were allegedly shot and seriously wounded by the police, while many sustained injuries. According to eye-witnesses, the two students whose identities could not be immediately established were hit by stray bullets from shots allegedly fired by policemen drafted to stop the rampaging students from taking their protests beyond the university campus at Samaru. The university authorities immediately responded to the crisis by closing down the school indefinitely. Prof Abdullahi however stated that the level of violence exhibited by the students during the protest indicated that there was more to the crisis than the issue of the proposed increase in fees. Abdullahi therefore said that the university authorities would soon launch a full scale investigation into the causes of the students' violence with a view to coming up with appropriate measures to prevent a reoccurence in future. He also said that an assessment of the extent of damage done to the property of the university was already being done, while some of the principal culprits had already been apprehended. http://allafrica.com/stories/200709281008.html Nigeria: Authorities Order Closure of Abu Zaria Leadership (Abuja) 28 September 2007 Posted to the web 28 September 2007 Danladi Ndayebo Authorities of the Ahmadu Bello University,Zaria today ordered the closure of the institution, following a demonstration by students against alleged plan to hike tuition fees from N25,000 to N40,000. Armed policemen have already been deployed to maintain law and order in the institution. Leadershipnigeria.com reports that Students have started vacating the campuses in compliance with the directive issued by the authorities. http://allafrica.com/stories/200709290056.html Nigeria: Abu Shut Over Students' Unrest This Day (Lagos) 29 September 2007 Posted to the web 29 September 2007 George Oji Kaduna Ahmadu Bello University, (ABU), Zaria, Kaduna State has been closed down indefinitely by the university's management following violent students' demonstration over increase in fees. Properties worth millions of naira, including two vehicles belonging to the university's Vice Chancellor, Prof. Shehu Abdullahi were destroyed by the students in the crisis, which began on Thursday night. It was gathered that the dispute arose over the decision of the management of the university to increase fees in the institution, which were opposed by the students. Confirming the closure of the institution, the university's Information and Protocol Officer, Bitrus Galmaka said that the decision was to forestall the situation from getting out of control. According to him, "in ABU, students don't pay tuition fees. So the increment is on other fees and not tuition. For example, students in Faculty of Arts will now pay about N14,000 per session, while science-based students will pay a maximum of N20,000 per session. The increase is between three and five per cent. "I have not been able to go into the university campus to assess the situation (as at 1pm) and to know the extent of damage. But the closure is immediate and indefinite." Eye witness told THISDAY that the crisis began when some students had gone round the university on Thursday night chasing out students who were reading in the classes and sacking the security men at the gates before embarking on destruction of property belonging to the university. A member of the committee that reviewed the fees expressed concern over the actions of the students, since according to him, the new fee regime was not beyond what the students could afford. He claimed that the student union leadership was part of the negotiation over the increment, pointing out that they put up a spirited fight which led to the minor increase in fees. "If you see what they are to pay, it is still far less that what students in some secondary school are paying. So, I don't see any reason for the tension," the source said. Meanwhile, unconfirmed reports have it that about two students had been shot by security agents who were drafted to curtail the violence from spreading to Samaru community as the rioting students barricaded the Sokoto road which passed through the front of the university. Already, armed mobile policemen and soldiers from Bassawa Barracks had taken over security in the area, while students were busy packing out their belongings from the campus even as some others remained adamant, insisting that they will not leave the campus. http://www.tribune.com.ng/30092007/news/news7.html ABU Riot: VC relocates to Kaduna Hassan Ibrahim,Kaduna - 30.09.2007 As rampaging students of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria, were given up to 12 noon on Saturday to leave the institution or face punitive measures, the Vice Chancellor of the institution, Professor Shehu Abdullahi, had since relocated to Kaduna for fear of being attacked by the students. Sunday Tribune gathered that the VC, who was in Abuja when the students demonstrated violently, quietly moved his family members to Kaduna. However, his house, private and official vehicles were vandalized allegedly by the students who accused the university authorities of being insensitive to their plight. Similarly, the house and other belongings of the Dean, Student's Affairs of the university were damaged beyond repairs allegedly by the students last Friday. The institution, as at Saturday, was heavily guarded by combat ready Mobile policemen, who were seen instructing petty traders on the Samaru campus to pack their belongings and leave before the 6pm deadline. Commercial drivers and motorcyclists had a field day as they were seen moving students in their hundreds, in and out of Zaria to their various destinations. No official statement was given as at the time of filing this report but many parents interviewed ,expressed dismay over the unfortunate incidence and called on the government to look into the matter and resolve the issue of high tuition fees in the overall interest of Nigerians. http://www.thetidenews.com/article.aspx?qrDate=09/29/2007&qrTitle=Police%20kill%20Bayelsa%20student%20in%20ABU%20crisis&qrColumn=NEWS Police kill Bayelsa student in ABU crisis . Saturday, Sep 29, 2007 A Bayelsa State indigene was killed in Ahmadu Bello University, Zaira, Kaduna State yesterday following the protest against 100 per cent increment in tution fees by the school's authorities. The student, The Weekend Tide learnt was killed by a stray bullet fired by armed mobile policemen in an attempt to scare the students away. The rioting students in-turn destroyed two cars attached to the office of the vice chancellor, Prof Usman Abdulahi. The Weekend Tide learnt that the heavy traffic jam caused by the student's road-block led to the invitation of policemen by the school's officials with the intention to chase the student off the road for easy traffic flow. But the Bayelsa State student was caught in the stampede as he was hit by a stray bullet which sources said was not aimed at him. Nobody could give his real identity as the armed policemen disallowed students from coming closer to the spot of the incident. According to school sources, the authorities are yet to address the issue, pending when normalcy returns to the university. http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=vn20071004005811870C886871 Cops, Wits students clash at protest October 04 2007 at 07:11AM Lee Rondganger, Solly Maphumulo and Shaun Smillie Police have fired rubber bullets and arrested students during a protest march at the University of the Witwatersrand. SAPS spokesperson Captain Cheryl Engelbrecht said two students were arrested after protesters started throwing stones at police and damaging vehicles on Wednesday. "The students were leaders in their 20s. They have been taken to the Hillbrow police station." Wits spokesperson Sharon Patel said it appeared that the two who were arrested were the president and deputy president of the student representative council (SRC). Earlier, hundreds of students stormed lecture halls and disrupted lessons in protest against apparent plans by management to outsource some of the residences and raise the registration fee from R4 500 to R5 500. In addition, the students are opposed to a study fee increase planned for next year that would see some pay up to 18 percent more. Blowing vuvuzelas and brandishing placards, they ordered students not taking part in the protest to join in. By 10.30am, students who were not part of the protest were milling around campus. Others sat under trees, chatting or reading. Incoming SRC head Themba Masondo said they were still waiting for management to meet and discuss the issues they had raised in a memorandum. An economics student said: "We don't want them to outsource the residences because then the majority of students, especially those from previously disadvantaged backgrounds, will not be able to afford to stay on campus." Patel said the SRC's demand for a zero percent increase was unrealistic. Wits needed to increase the number of beds available for students willing to pay their own way, and it had partnered with a Public Investment Corporation-led consortium, which was not a private body, she explained. http://www.thetimes.co.za/PrintEdition/Metro/Article.aspx?id=580367 Protest mayhem at Wits Published:Oct 07, 2007 About 500 students disrupted lectures and tests at Wits University this week in protest against increases in fees and accommodation for 2008. Several lectures had to be abandoned after students barged into lecture halls and jumped on desks. When the students blocked Yale Road on campus and refused to disperse, police were called. They fired rubber bullets. Mbali Hlophe, president of the Students' Representative Council (SRC), and SRC treasurer-elect Andile Makholwa were arrested and appeared in the Hillbrow Magistrate's Court on Thursday. They are out on R1000 bail each. At a meeting on Thursday, management and students signed an agreement about residences, meals, financial support for postgraduate students, and the way to deal with grievances about the Dean of Students, Prem Coopoo. Fees were discussed at Friday's meeting of the university council. - Charles Molele http://www.znbc.co.zm/media/news/viewnews.cgi?category=13&id=1190745952 Pupils run riot Pupils at Lusaka's Kamwala High School, resorted to violence after they were denied transport to go and attend burial of a fellow pupil. The students took to the streets after management refused to give them one of the buses to ferry them to leopards Hill cemetery. A check by a ZNBC, team at the school found the situation calm and only noted stones on the road outside the school. Efforts to talk to the Deputy Head Teacher proved futile as she was said to have left the office upon hearing the presence of reporters at the school. But police service spokesperson, Bonnie Kapeso said the pupils resorted to violence because they were not given adequate transport to accommodate all those that wanted to attend the burial. Mr. Kapeso said only a few attended burial. He said 29 pupils among them 11 girls and 18 boys have been picked up and charged with conduct likely to cause breach of peace. http://allafrica.com/stories/200710031224.html Uganda: Students Riot Over Lack of GTV The Monitor (Kampala) 4 October 2007 Posted to the web 3 October 2007 Felix Basiime Mbarara SAINT Joseph's Vocational School (Jovoc) has been closed after the students held a strike on Tuesday, October 2 because the institution has not connected to the new pay television channel GTV. The new pay TV service provider has rights to broadcast 80 percent of English Premier League matches. Matters came to a head when both Manchester United and Arsenal Champions League games could not be telecast simultaneously. Students rioted, breaking glasses. The school's headmaster,Fr.Bernadict Njunwoha when contacted, was in a crucial meeting but confirmed that they had sent home all the students. "They broke only glasses. I am in a meeting so the board will decide when the school will reopen From ldxar1 at tesco.net Tue Oct 9 12:27:20 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Tue, 9 Oct 2007 20:27:20 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] RUSSIA: Gazprom Tower sparks protests Message-ID: <001a01c80aaa$69446ff0$0802a8c0@andy1> There have been mass protests in St Petersburg, Russia, over plans to build a massive corporate skyscraper which would alter the city's skyline and jeopardise its historic feel, UNESCO rating and tourist appeal. The local council is spending a fortune subsidising the development, by a corporate giant linked to the elite, prompting concerns that money is being spent on corporate schemes instead of the poor. There are fears the project could be the beginning of the replacement of historic St Petersburg with a neoliberal skyscraper city. The protest was supported by liberal and leftist parties as well as local residents. The critique of urban "modernisation" has a long history in anarchist theory, being particularly associated with the Situationists and the anarchist sociologist Colin Ward. One of the slogans on the demonstration, "stop the corporate vandalism", echoes the title of one of Ward's articles. http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2007/09/60371CB7-4BA6-4EC9-945C-9026B4CA6052.html Activists Protest Gazprom Tower In St. Petersburg September 8, 2007 -- About 3,000 people have protested in St. Petersburg against plans by the state-owned gas giant Gazprom to build a skyscraper in the Russian city. The Gazprom complex, scheduled to be completed by 2016, includes a nearly 300-meter-tall building and a hotel in the Neva estuary, near the city's historical center. The project would change the city's skyline, and has prompted the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization to express concern. (AFP) http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jF_GxbcqX17mqV9uatAFM_dB9X_g Saint Petersburg protests Gazprom tower plans Sep 8, 2007 SAINT PETERSBURG (AFP) - About 3,000 people demonstrated Saturday in Saint Petersburg against plans by state gas behemoth Gazprom to build a skyscraper in the historic and picturesque Russian city. "Stop the construction vandalism," read one placard at the demonstration. ""Gazprom: enemy of the people," read another. The crowd marched through the centre of Saint Petersburg, founded three centuries ago by Tsar Peter the Great as the new imperial capital. Large numbers of police watched the protest, which was organised by small opposition parties, but did not intervene. The Gazprom complex due to be completed by 2016, includes a nearly 300-meter (1,000-foot) skyscraper and a five-star hotel on a 70-hectare (175-acre) area in the Neva estuary, near Saint Petersburg's historical center. The project would change the city's elegant skyline of palaces and churches, and has been prompted UNESCO to express concern. Anatoly Petrov, 55, an engineer, said at the protest: "I don't understand why the authorities are so indifferent to the fact that our city is dying." http://www.times.spb.ru/index.php?action_id=2&story_id=22944 Anti-Tower Marchers Take to Streets By Galina Stolyarova Staff Writer Alexander Belenky / The St. Petersburg Times Opposition leader and chess champion Garry Gasparov (c) marches with protestors on Saturday. The march was held in protest against new construction in the city. The plan to build a skyscraper to house the headquarters of energy giant Gazprom is driven by an inferiority complex, the tower resembles Godzilla, its completion would be like spitting in the face of Peter the Great and the whole project stinks, angered residents who joined a protest march on Saturday said. The focus of the March for the Preservation of St. Petersburg, which attracted about 5,000 people according to media reports, was the construction of the 396-meter, $2.3 billion Okhta Center tower for Gazprom. City Hall has pledged to cover half of the construction costs that it has said it will recoup from taxes to be paid by the Gazprom subsidiary company that will relocate to the city. Protestors carried posters with slogans that included "Authorities, You Stink," "Gazprom's Paunch Won Over Its Spirit," and chanted "City For the Residents," and "Gazprom, Go Home!" as well as calling for the resignation of Golvernor Valentina Matviyenko. The marchers were joined by Moscow politicians and human rights advocates and the rally was organized was by liberal party Yabloko with support from a number of non-governmental organizations. The protesters marched from Oktyabrsky Concert Hall to Chernyshevsky Gardens, where a meeting was held. "There is hardly any Russian citizen who can say that the fate of St. Petersburg leaves them indifferent," Yabloko leader Grigory Yavlinsky said at the meeting. "I still remember my first visit here when I was a little boy when my parents brought me to St. Petersburg to show a city of extraordinary beauty and grace. And of course I was bewildered to learn that a titanic monster, advertised as a modern symbol, is being forced on this beautiful city." Yavlinsky called the Gazprom tower a monument to an authoritarian regime. "There are so many people in need in your city that are sick, feeble or poor that it is a disgrace to spend millions on the tower, and it is cynical and hypocritical to talk about 'the interests of the city' in this context," Yavlinsky said. "The major beneficiary of this scheme is certainly not your average local citizen." The rally was held on the anniversary of the beginning of the Nazi Siege of Leningrad on Sept. 8 1941, and references to various forms of siege were prominent in the speeches. Garry Kasparov, one of the leaders of opposition coalition The Other Russia, accused state-run television channels of creating an "information shield" against the opposition that leaves the Kremlin's critics under a siege of silence. "Russia's corrupt authorities tend to regard all the country's resources - its lakes, rivers, woods, palaces, architectural treasures - as their own property," Kasparov said. "Russia's governors privatize the profits and nationalize the expenses, and regard the country as a bottomless source for state officials to get-rich-quick from. And of course they do not want a word of truth about their corrupt manipulations to sneak out to the masses. They invest a lot of their time and money into silencing the critics." Historian Yelena Malysheva, head of the Okhtinskaya Duga movement, the demonstration's co-organizer, said St. Petersburg is "besieged by construction vandals." Protesters accused the city of violating citizens' rights in order to placate deep-pocketed investors. "Governor Matviyenko seems to believe that the city that she governs is just one big bank account that must grow at any cost," Malysheva said. "But any city is first and foremost its people. It is a living organism, and it is being ruined. The governor just creates an unfriendly environment for those who live here: in-fill construction is rampant, and instead of restoring architectural treasures, the authorities give way to new concrete and glass monsters." The protesters argued that the Gazprom headquarters should be moved away from near St. Petersburg's historic center. Rewnowned actor Oleg Basilashvili, a member of the march's organizing committee, was on tour in Yekaterinburg on Saturday and could not join the march. But he contributed a recorded speech that was played at the meeting. The actor spoke with outrage about the Gazprom tower. "Our ancestors who built this city - Russians, Italians, French - left this marvel, this gorgeous pearl for us to cherish and preserve for future generations; the angel on top of the Peter and Paul Fortress or the golden ship that crowns the Admiralty are the precious symbols of the city that protect and inspire us," Basilashvili said. "And when I hear that they have become obsolete and our city needs new symbols, and it should be, of all things, the gigantic, monstrous 300-meter Gazprom tower that looks set to suppress the grace of the historical ensemble, it turns me upside down." Basilishvili said the ambitious project is driven by an acute inferiority complex. "The person behind it nurtures a desire to conquer a gorgeous city and bring it to the feet of this giant, despicable corn-on-the-cob," he said, referring derisively to the tower's design as it has appeared in architectural drawings. "We won't let it happen." http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/sep2007/gb20070925_345436.htm?chan=globalbiz_europe+index+page_top+stories Will New Gazprom Tower Wreck St. Pete? Opponents say the Russian energy giant's proposed 1,300-foot skyscraper threatens St. Petersburg's architectural heritage by Galina Stolyarova In an Internet game that has caught on quickly here, players throw apples at a monster with a striking similarity to the mythical Japanese beast Godzilla. This Russian monster, Gazzilla, creates havoc behind the silhouettes of St. Isaac's Cathedral and other famous landmarks of Russia's former capital. The winner is the player who kills Gazzilla with a direct hit on the head. But this beast, despite its great size, is agile, and landing a fatal blow is not easy. And so it may turn out in a real-life struggle. For Gazzilla represents a vast skyscraper, which the Russian oil and gas giant Gazprom plans to build by the Neva River. And objectors want to kill off what they see as its monstrous intrusion into their historic landscape before the plans leave the drawing board. The new Gazprom building, as designed, will be a twisting 396-meter tower, no less than eight times as high as the current official limit for new buildings in the city's beautifully proportioned historic center. It will stand near where the Okhta River flows into the Neva across from the famous white-and-blue Smolny Cathedral on the opposite bank. The tower is to be the new headquarters for Gazprom Neft, a subsidiary of the national energy monopoly, in St. Petersburg. And those who oppose it are now pitched against a corporate enemy of truly Herculean strength. The main headquarters of Gazprom would remain in Moscow. GOVERNMENT ENDROSEMENT The structure is expected to cost $2.3 billion, to be funded jointly by Gazprom and St. Petersburg. City officials say that St. Petersburg's contribution would be compensated for by the taxes that will be generated by the move to the city of such a large chunk of business and all the staff involved. Governor Valentina Matviyenko supports the project. "St. Petersburg should be happy that the No. 1 company in Russia is coming to the city," she said. And Gazprom's chief executive, Alexei Miller, said the tower will be "a new economic symbol for St. Petersburg." But the new symbol is not to everyone's taste. Indeed the grandiose project prompted a public protest on 8 September, when 5,000 people took to the streets in a "March for the Preservation of St. Petersburg." The marchers claimed the tower would wreck a historic skyline. As planned it would be well over twice as high as the Peter and Paul Fortress, now the city's tallest building, and more than three times taller than both the city's historic cathedrals, Smolny and St. Isaac's. The planned height of nearly 400 meters would put the tower among the 10 tallest buildings in the world. "There is hardly any Russian citizen who can say that the fate of St. Petersburg leaves them indifferent," said Grigory Yavlinsky, a leader of the opposition party Yabloko who attended the demonstration. "I still remember my first visit here as a little boy, when my parents showed me a city of extraordinary grace. And of course I was bewildered to learn that a titanic monster, advertised as a symbol of modernity, is being forced on this beautiful city." Earlier this year Yabloko called for a citywide referendum on the project but this move was defeated on a technicality in the city legislative body. Yabloko also asked the General Prosecutor's Office to investigate the legality of the funding agreement between Gazprom and the city government. St. Petersburg residents attending the protest march were blunt in their condemnation of the planned Gazprom tower. Renowned actor Oleg Basilashvili said its construction would be "spitting in the face" of Peter the Great, the tsarist founder. Among opponents of the plan nicknames for the structure have proliferated, including Gazochlen (hinting at its phallic shape), Gazoscryob (Gas-scraper), and "Matviyenko's Cucumber" after its chief advocate, the city governor. THREAT TO UNESCO STATUS But, while the protesters have made their point forcefully, Gazprom may have a more dangerous opponent in the shape of the UN's cultural body, UNESCO. The tower could even cause St. Petersburg to lose its prized place on the list of UNESCO's World Heritage sites. St. Petersburg is one of only three Russian cities on the list Marcio Barbosa, UNESCO's deputy head, told reporters in Moscow this month that Russia has been asked to halt all development work on the project until the organization has investigated its possible risks to St. Petersburg's architectural legacy. "To use soccer terminology, we have issued a yellow card to the city," Barbosa said. "If the situation does not improve, the next logical step is a red card. This means we will have to move St. Petersburg onto the list of endangered sites." He said a final vote to decide the city's fate would take place during UNESCO's 32nd session in Quebec in 2008. It was in May that the director of UNESCO's World Heritage Center, Francesco Bandarin, sounded the first warning to Russia. He called the plan "the most visible problem in St. Petersburg" and called its controversial design unacceptable. But St. Petersburg city officials appear unmoved. Vice Governor Mikhail Oseyevsky argued that UNESCO "does not have any official position on the project because its experts have not yet seen the final version." And the British architectural company that won the contest to design the tower, RMJM, is also defiant. The head of its St. Petersburg office, Philip Nikandrov, said UNESCO "does not have any authority over our company and cannot dictate to us what to do." This does not placate St. Petersburg architect Dmitry Butyrin, who heads the Council for the Protection of the Architectural Legacy of St. Petersburg. He believes the planned Gazprom building is a critical test of the city's ability to protect its architectural integrity. FEARS OF A TOWER CITY "Height regulations are being violated blatantly, and it is happening more and more often," Butyrin said. "If we swallow the Gazprom plan, more towers will quickly follow. We have nothing against Gazprom but we strongly suggest that an alternative location should be found." Other opponents argue that other jarring new buildings are already going up in the historic center and that if this continues, future generations will have to rely on old photographs to recapture the city's beauty. Historian Yelena Malysheva, who chairs a residents' group, Okhtinskaya Duga, said people's rights are being shamelessly violated. "If a wealthy investor points to a plot of land, the authorities will happily demolish all residential buildings -- even ones with historic significance -- if they get in the way of a plum project," she said. "The whole process is lawless!" Earlier this year, the U.K.-based World Monuments Fund, a leading heritage protection body, placed St. Petersburg on its list of the world's 100 most endangered historic sites, alongside war-torn Iraq, sinking Venice, and hurricane-ravaged New Orleans. Mikhail Amosov, who used to chair the town planning committee of the St. Petersburg Legislative Assembly, said the lack of an effective planning code is at the root of the problem. He said he and other legislators drafted such a code in December but that it has yet to be discussed. "For cities like St. Petersburg, with a stunning historic landscape, it's essential to have detailed protective legislation and construction policies," Amosov said. "There must be rules that ensure that the city's economic development doesn't happen at the cost of its unique appearance." Amosov complains that some companies are being allowed to break existing height limits and that it's far from clear how this is done. He implies that the lack of a town planning code may facilitate corruption. "City Hall is not interested in passing a clear code because it would put an end to certain murky construction practices, which apparently benefit some officials," he said. Provided by Transitions Online-Intelligent Eastern Europe http://uk.reuters.com/article/oilRpt/idUKL0837242720070908 Marchers protest Gazprom's St Petersburg skyscraper Sat Sep 8, 2007 6:36pm BST ST PETERSBURG, Russia, Sept 8 (Reuters) - Former world chess champion Garry Kasparov was among some 4,000 demonstrators who marched on Saturday to protest against state-run gas firm Gazprom's planned skyscraper in St Petersburg. Yabloko opposition party leader Grigory Yavlinsky also joined the peaceful protest through the centre of the city, in which demonstrators shouted "Down with Gazprom". Gazprom (GAZP.MM: Quote, Profile, Research) wants to build the tower, dubbed "Gazoskryob" or Gasscraper and nearly as tall as France's Eiffel Tower, near the centre of the city which is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. "This skyscraper is ugly. It is absolutely clear it is an absurd, shameless and a disgraceful idea," Yavlinsky said. The campaign to stop the tower is one of the biggest protests during Vladimir Putin's seven years as president and may give liberal opponents a chance to win back some public support. Russia's divided liberal opposition has so far failed to create a unified party capable of overcoming the seven-percent barrier required to win seats in a parliamentary election in December. City authorities refused permission for the protest to take place on St.Petersburg's main thoroughfare but allowed it to march on narrow side streets. In the past, police cracked down on marches led by Kasparov and his supporters from The Other Russia movement in various Russian cities but there were no violent incidents during Saturday's demonstration. http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/225597/Protests_against_the_destruction_of_St_Petersburg_s_heritage Protests against the destruction of St Petersburg's heritage Posted Sep 8, 2007 by Over 2,000 people protested Saturday in the Russian city of St Petersburg against the destruction of the neo- classical, baroque architecture in the city centre, which is listed as a UNESCO world cultural heritage site. Inhabitants of the city and opposition activists from the camp of former world chess champion Garry Kasparov signed a petition Saturday against plans to build a 300-metre-high skyscraper for the Russian energy group Gazprom, Russian radio Echo Moskvy reported. Opponents of the project fear that the construction of "Gazprom- City" on the River Neva will change the character of the city which is a tourist magnet and has been dubbed the Venice of the North. In February, UNESCO criticized the plans for the building of the glass and steel oil tower along with other new buildings which would far exceed the city's 48-metre height limit. City authorities hoped to gain tax income to the tune of millions through the transfer of the Gazprom headquarters from Moscow to St Petersburg St Petersburg Governor Valentina Matvijenko has described the planned building as a masterpiece. Critics accuse the Kremlin-controlled energy monopoly Gazprom of delusions of grandeur. From ldxar1 at tesco.net Tue Oct 9 12:31:02 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Tue, 9 Oct 2007 20:31:02 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] CHINA: Unrest by demobilised soldiers, Xinjiang peasants Message-ID: <001e01c80aaa$ed923800$0802a8c0@andy1> The wave of social unrest in China continues with what has been reportedin the west as a coordinated wave of protests by demobilised soldiers at three training centres across the country. According to a human rights group, the soldiers at retraining centres destroyed equipment and set fires to protest poor living conditions. Meanwhile, in the restive border province of Xinjiang, farmers clashed with police in protests over price-fixing. http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jq3s2UlJDnKqOhZalN1sgJWx3IZw Thousands of Ex-Soldiers Riot in China By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN - Sep 11, 2007 BEIJING (AP) - Thousands of demobilized Chinese soldiers rioted last week at training centers in at least three cities in an extremely rare series of coordinated demonstrations, a human rights group said Tuesday. Former troops smashed classrooms, overturned cars and set fires to protest their poor living conditions, the Hong Kong-based Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy reported. At least 20 people were injured and five arrested when riot police moved in to quell the disturbances, which started on the afternoon of Sept. 3, it said. The center said about 2,000 ex-soldiers took part in the riots in the cities of Baotou, Wuhan, and Baoji, spread over a 775-mile stretch of eastern China. Reports posted on the Internet along with video clips appearing to show some of the violence said the disturbances were even more widespread, but gave few details. The reported protests, which authorities refused to confirm, were notable for their level of coordination, something not seen on a nationwide scale since the 1989 pro-democracy demonstrations in Beijing and several other cities. They also follow a string of recent campus unrest by students angered by poor living conditions or administrative changes that reduced the value of their diplomas. However, they were the first incidents reported involving former soldiers, who are usually deferential and loyal to the communist regime. Demobilized soldiers are frequently rewarded for their service with government jobs, and 6,000 of them were sent to 12 different railway schools in July for two years of training, the reports said. However, they were angered by run-down dormitories, bad but expensive food and a lack of study materials, according to the center and Internet reports. Dorm rooms did not have electrical outlets and students were charged 75 cents each time they charged their mobile phones, the reports said. The reports said classes have been suspended and police moved in to patrol. Phones at the Baotou school rang unanswered, while officials who answered at the Baoji and Wuhan schools refused to comment on the reports or further identify themselves. The Railways Ministry that runs the schools did not immediately reply to faxed questions. http://www.thestar.com/News/article/255589 2,000 retired soldiers riot over poor living conditions Equipment smashed, fires set at schools where demobilized Chinese troops being retrained Sep 12, 2007 04:30 AM BEIJING-About 2,000 former soldiers rioted in three Chinese cities last week over poor conditions in railway vocational schools where they were retraining, a rights group said. Nearly 1,000 smashed equipment and set fires in their school in Baotou in Inner Mongolia and clashed with hundreds of police. At least 20 people were injured and five were arrested, the Hong Kong-based Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy said yesterday. Similar riots occurred in Baoji, in the northwestern province of Shaanxi, and Wuhan, capital of Hubei province in central China, on the same day, Sept. 3, the centre said in a faxed statement. "Food in the schools is bad and expensive. The dormitories have no electrical outlets and the students need to pay to recharge their cellphones," it said. An official at the Baoji school refused to confirm details, saying only that "everything has returned to normal. "It was not a big deal, and things like that happen on campus a lot. But it was exaggerated by some people," he said. "I do not want to say anything more about it, because it would not be good for our school's reputation." The Wuhan school would not comment. Phones at the Baotou school were disconnected. An official at the Railway Ministry declined to comment. The simultaneous incidents, in which school property was smashed or set on fire, were organized by some of the former soldiers, the centre said. The rioters were among 6,000 discharged troops the ministry recruited in July to be trained at 12 railway vocational schools across the country, it said. Troops discharged from the People's Liberation Army used to be offered good posts in the government or the police, but reforms in recent years have meant most of them have been left on their own after being demobilized, fuelling discontent. It is rare in China for co-ordinated protests to hit several cities simultaneously, demonstrating the power of cellphones and the Internet, the Hong Kong-based group added. http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6921230,00.html Demobilized Soldiers Riot in China Friday September 14, 2007 11:16 AM By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN Associated Press Writer BEIJING (AP) - Demobilized soldiers rioted at a retraining center in northeastern China overnight, the latest in a series of apparently coordinated protests against living conditions, a teacher and a human rights monitoring group said Friday. About 1,000 ex-soldiers began smashing up classrooms and dormitories at the Qiqihar Railway Institute late Thursday night using beer bottles, the Hong Kong-based Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy said. It said they then attempted to break out of the school, heading for the city train station, but were blocked by police and armed special forces. The clashes intensified when additional demobilized soldiers flocked to the school after hearing a rumor that two ex-soldiers had been killed, the center said in a statement. In all, at least 10 people were injured and five arrested, it said, without identifying the injured as rioters or police. A teacher at the school who gave only his surname, Wang, confirmed the clashes had occurred, but said the situation was now calm and classes had resumed. However, Wang said all the demobilized soldiers had been removed from campus, confirming the Hong Kong center's claim that all 6,000 demobilized soldiers recently placed at railway institutes in several cities had been ordered to return to their homes. ``All the retired soldiers are gone,'' Wang told The Associated Press by phone from the school, 650 miles northeast of Beijing. The violence comes just over one week after about 2,000 demobilized Chinese soldiers rioted at training centers in at least three cities. The reported protests, which authorities refused to confirm, were notable for their level of coordination, something not seen on a nationwide scale since the 1989 pro-democracy demonstrations in Beijing and several other cities. Ex-troops were angered by run-down dormitories, bad but expensive food and a lack of study materials, according to the center and Internet reports. China has been steadily cutting the size of its 2.3 million-member armed forces, but many of those demobilized have reportedly struggled to find jobs. About 560,000 officers and men were due to be retired from the service this year, with panicked servicemen paying large bribes to obtain jobs in the more developed cities for fear of being sent back to their hometowns, the Hong Kong center said. http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/09/17/asia/AS-GEN-China-Ex-Soldiers-Riot.php Chinese ministry protests media reports on riots among ex-soldiers at training centers The Associated Press Published: September 17, 2007 BEIJING: China's Railway Ministry said recent disturbances at railway-owned training centers involved only a small number of people and that calm has been restored. The ministry's comments, sent in a fax over the weekend, were its first since the Hong Kong-based Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy, a monitoring group, reported last week that thousands of demobilized soldiers sent to railway training centers had rioted in at least three cities. The ministry said the incidents occurred, but that The Associated Press' reports about them were inaccurate. It took issue with an AP report that cited the Hong Kong center as saying that riot police were called in to quell the violence, resulting in 20 injuries and five arrests. "Among the railway workers taking part in training, an extremely small number of students were dissatisfied with the training management, and because of that there arose improper behavior," the ministry said. "The situation has been appropriately handled and training has resumed." The Hong Kong center reported Sept. 11 that the ex-soldiers rioted over poor living conditions. Camera phone footage of one riot posted on the Internet showed about 100 people rampaging through a cafeteria, picking up a picnic table with attached benches and throwing it through a window. A training center administrator in a fourth city, Qiqihar, confirmed Friday that a similar incident had occurred at his school the day before and said the demobilized soldiers had been sent home. The statement from the Railway Ministry's International Cooperation Department did not provide further details about the incidents or say how calm was restored. It accused the AP of "distorting the facts and maliciously carrying out false reports." Asked Monday for additional clarification, an official at the International Cooperation Department again called the report incorrect, but refused to pinpoint the alleged errors or provide new facts. As is common among Chinese bureaucrats, the official identified himself only by his surname, Chen. Protests by demobilized soldiers are an acutely sensitive issue for the Communist government, which dislikes demonstrations in general. Soldiers were accorded a special status in the first decades of Communist rule. But free-market reforms have opened up new opportunities for many Chinese in the past 20 years, making military service attractive mainly to poorer Chinese and making it hard for the government to find them work once their service is over. The riots were never reported in local media, underscoring the Communist Party's tight controls over all news media. Reports on unrest are especially sensitive ahead of next month's twice-a-decade party congress at which the policy agenda for the next five years is to be set out. http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gXvGihtqGeXJhWFId-NwgaNdNGVgD8S2VV8G0 Chinese Farmers Protest Cotton Prices By ALEXA OLESEN - 3 days ago BEIJING (AP) - Cotton farmers in China's far west clashed with police and paramilitary guards over alleged price-fixing by local authorities, leaving 40 people injured, witnesses and a Hong Kong media report said Friday. The riot broke out Sept. 22 in Ili, an area in the northwest corner of the remote Xinjiang region, after police raided farmhouses looking for caches of hidden cotton, local farmer Zhang Xiaolan said. Farmers were hiding the cotton to sell on the open market because they believed the local authority's fixed price for the crop was too low, Hong Kong's South China Morning Post newspaper said. Authorities paid about 55 cents a pound, but the same amount sells for about 82 cents on the open market, it said. The paper said local officials had earlier set up checkpoints around the settlement to make sure no cotton was smuggled. "One farmer was caught and locked up at the police station for hiding cotton ... so hundreds of us gathered in front of the police station asking for his release," Zhang said. After a few hours, violence erupted with cotton farmers breaking police station windows and some 50 to 60 riot police with shields beating people to get them to disperse, Zhang said. Mass protests in China, particularly among the rural poor, are on the rise as they struggle to protect their rights amid a roaring, fast-changing economy. The official Xinhua News Agency reported in July that about 385,000 rural people participated in "mass incidents" from January to September 2006. It did not define what constituted a mass incident. The Post cited the Hong Kong-based Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy, a monitoring group, as saying the incident in Ili occurred Sept. 23. Three local residents said it happened a day earlier. Local resident Zhong Cheng, 38, said he and his younger brother were at the police station to renew an identification card and got caught up in the clash. His brother Zhong Yong "was just watching what was happening and was beaten on the knee by police," he said. "We were handcuffed and ordered to kneel on the floor, but my brother couldn't move because of his injury, so they kept kicking him." Both were detained for four days and released without charge, he said. Zhong heard police say 29 people had been arrested while the Post said the number was 25. The Post said 40 people were injured in the clash. The farm settlement is under the authority of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, which was set up 50 years ago to control and colonize Xinjiang. The body controls a significant swathe of the Xinjiang economy. "The main problem is that the purchase price is set too low, while the costs of growing cotton are getting too high," the Post quoted a local woman surnamed Cheng as saying. "The farmers cannot put up with it anymore." A paramilitary official with the regional 7th Division Production and Construction Corps in Kuitun city confirmed farmers in the area rioted last month over cotton prices and said the incident was being investigated. He refused to give additional details and, like many Chinese officials, would only give his surname, Wang. A protest against rising bus fares in the southern province of Hunan earlier this year reportedly drew 20,000 residents and prompted a harsh police crackdown in which witnesses said one person was killed. From ldxar1 at tesco.net Tue Oct 9 12:43:12 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Tue, 9 Oct 2007 20:43:12 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] Anti-capitalist protests in Australia, New Zealand Message-ID: <002601c80aac$a0af6100$0802a8c0@andy1> In Australia, police continued their campaign of harassment at the APEC protests by attacking a solidarity protest with protesters facing charges over the G20 protests. In New Zealand/Aotearoa, activists rallied against a summit with the United States, again facing police repression and violence. The weekend before the protests, police had used pepper spray in an attack on an anarchist convergence event. http://www.theage.com.au/news/National/Two-arrested-over-G20-case-protest/2007/08/31/1188067330124.html G20 court arrests 'an overreaction' August 31, 2007 - 12:49PM Police who arrested two protesters outside a Melbourne court have been accused of overreacting and heavy-handed tactics. A large police presence greeted about 30 protesters there to support 21 people who appeared in Melbourne Magistrates' Court charged over last year's G20 riots. A scuffle between police and protesters broke out outside court when a protester was arrested by police for possession of a knife. According to fellow protesters, the man was attempting to hand a pocket knife and nail clippers to another protester outside the court to hold for him so he could go inside the court. Fellow protester Fiona Taylor accused police of "brutally" handling the man and described their actions as an overreaction. "This guy is a traveller and like most backpackers in Victoria he carries a Swiss army knife and some nail clippers," she said. Another supporter outside the court, Anthony Main, said he suffered an injury to the forearm during the scuffle. "This is another extreme overreaction of police to minor protest activity and we think that we're going to be taking this further," he said. "I will be seeking legal advice and a doctor's report today." In a statement, Region One Inspector Mick Hermens said the police response was appropriate with regard to the circumstances and bearing in mind the impending meeting of world leaders at the APEC summit in Sydney. A man in his 20s is expected to be summonsed for possessing a controlled weapon and a 31-year-old English resident will be summonsed to court for hindering police in the course of their duties, the police statement said. Meanwhile, inside the court, 21 people charged over last year's G20 protest faced a magistrate for an appearance concerning their impending committal hearing. They face various charges including riot and affray that stem from the G20 summit of the world's financial leaders in Melbourne on November 18 last year. Prosecutor Chris Beale told the court some lawyers for the accused had expressed a desire to resolve the matter. He said in at least one case a plea offer was made to some of the lesser charges. However, he said the offer flagged was inadequate and was rejected. A warrant for the arrest of one of the accused, Akim Sari, 28, was issued after he failed to appear in court. Magistrate Sarah Dawes extended the bail of the other 21 defendants to appear at court again on February 18 next year for a 10-day committal hearing. http://www.stuff.co.nz/4196939a11.html Protesters arrested outside US-NZ conference NZPA | Monday, 10 September 2007 Three protesters were arrested after a scuffle broke out outside the venue of the United States New Zealand Partnership Forum in Auckland, protest organisers said. The two-day forum, which is being attended by about 50 American government officials and business leaders, is looking at how the two countries can strengthen political, business and personal ties. Our World Is Not For Sale campaign spokesman Ryan Bodman said about 100 protesters took part in a lunchtime march through the central city to the conference venue. He said the arrests occurred when police tried to move people away, but those people found their path blocked by a barrier. Meanwhile, forum keynote speaker Chris Hill, the US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, had no complaints about the presence of protesters. He said he would have been prepared to talk to them, but didn't see any of them when he went for a walk around the waterfront and Queen St. "People have a right to express their opinions, people have a right to be concerned about issues of globalisation," he told journalists. "We live in very deeply transformational times right now, so it's understandable. We have to justify what we are doing, so I don't worry that people have concerns." http://www.indymedia.org.nz/ Actions in Auckland against NZ-US Partnership Forum 10 Sep 2007 by AIMC Around 100 people marched down Queen Street to the Hilton Hotel to protest against the NZ-US Partnership Forum. The forum, which brings together representatives of the two governments as well as from major US and NZ corporations to work on tightening the economic and political links between the two nations, was moved in the last minute from the Auckland Museum to the Hilton Hotel. The protests had begun earlier in the day with a picket at the road corner by approximately 20 people, during the time Prime Minister Helen Clark arrived at the forum. The main march began at Aotea Square at 12 noon, with protesters taking the street, setting off flares and chanting all the way to the Hilton. Upon arrival at the Forum venue, a stand-off began with the police. After a short period, a scuffle erupted when the police attempted to open one lane to allow vehicles to enter and exit the area, an attempt which succeeded despite some resistance from a number of people. Some time later the police made a decision to open the remaining lane and force the protesters onto the footpath behind plastic barriers. In the ensuing altercation, three people were arrested and several injured. The protests highlighted a number of issues. Our World Is Not For Sale spokesperson Ryan Bodman stated that the results of a free trade agreement between the US and Australia have included "the degradation of environmental protection, particularly in relation to genetic engineering of food, the degredation of quarantine laws, an economic nightmare for small farmers and businesses, a huge increase in australia's trade defecit with the us, reduced access to affordable Australian pharmaceuticals and threats to australian manufacturing jobs." The same results and others can be expected if an NZ/US agreement is signed. http://indymedia.org.nz/newswire/display/73659/index.php My account of the US-NZ Partnership Forum Protests By Cam The NZ-US Partnership Forum, a closed meeting of hand picked government and corporate heads, including Associate US Secretary of State Chris Hill, Helen Clark and executives from Nike and Boeing, was meant to be held at the Auckland War Memorial Museum. Yesterday morning activists learnt that this meeting was no longer going to descrate what is supposedly a war memorial and was instead being held at the Hilton Hotel on the water front. On the March At midday today around 100 people meet at Aotea Square. Led by marchers carrying a huge banner reading 'Notforsale.org.nz: No Free Trade Deal with the US we marched down Queen Street. The banner was so big it became a little bit impractical at times as it dragged at the bottom so some of us carrying it occasionally tripped on it. As one of the banner carriers, I had to carry it at neck height so my head just popped over the top. The Greenpeace mobile sound system, in a wheelie bin, was pumping out Rage Against the Machine, Public Enemy, Atari Teenage Riot and other stirring protest anthems, giving the march a nice Rhythm to it. One demonstrator carried a lit flare making pretty lights. Once we got down to the intersection with Victoria Street roadworkers informed us we couldn't march down Queen Street so we took an indirect route downtown via side streets. We started chanting "hey hey USA, how many kids you killed today", "when corporate elites are on the attack attack: stand up fight back!". One member of the National Distribution Union (NDU) gave a speech on how a free trade deal with the US could well mean Pharmac is no longer able to subsidise prescription medicines. This would be good for the big US drug companies, such as Pfizer, but bad for us ordinary people having to pay increased prices for a basic necessity. Another comrade led us in an awesome chant that nearly covered pretty much every concern that demonstrators had about the extremely destructive form of corporate globalization and state repression being pushed by the governments of both the US and NZ: "When corporate elites are on the attack - stand up fight back!, when innocent Iraqis are under attack - stand up fight back. When GE free is under attack., when our environment., when Tonga's democracy movement is., when East Timor is under attack., when indigenous people are under attack., when the Treaty of Waitangi is under attack- STAND UP FIGHT BACK!" I had wondered why there were no cops following us, until we marched on to the feeder bridge that ends at the Viaduct harbour. I could see a wall of police in fluro jackets blocking the entrance to the Viaduct (and hence the Hilton). I joked with the NDU activist next to me that I could see a whole heap of people in fluro yellow but I didn't think they were NDU members. Two activists very capably directed traffic, so both the cars could drive on the bridge and protesters could safely march along it. Arriving at the Hilton When we arrived at the entrance to the Viaduct one demonstrator, with a loud hailer, started saying "if you care about the environment take a step forward"(I can't remember his exact words). The crowd steps forward. "If you care about democracy take one step forward." The crowd stepped forward until they were just in front of the police lines. Jane Kelsey, a professor of law at the University of Auckland and well known social justice campaigner, gave an impassioned speech about how the US-NZ Partnership Forum was such an anti-democratic set up that it had to meet behind huge security, in much the same way that Sydney was turned into a police state for APEC, in order to push an extremely anti-human and anti-democratic form of globalization. She also spoke of how a huge number of people's organizations of workers, peasants and other poor people in South East Asia and Latin America were seriously challenging the neo-liberal corporate globalization order. In the Philippines, which has suffered over a century of domination by American imperialism* ,popular movements have stopped the government entering into free trade negotiations with the USA. The driveway was blocked. Cars couldn't get in or out so the cops pushed people back to create an entrance for vehicles. The police formed a new line in front of their entrance way, leaving the demonstrators to occupy the rest of the entrance. For the next 20 minutes or so there were some more speakers, including ones from the Water Pressure Group and Citizens Against Privatisation. People milled around listening to the music, talking and sometimes dancing. One young woman started speaking about how a US-NZ Free Trade Agreement was a threat to NZ sovereignty and we had to stand up to protect our nation, as proud New Zealanders. I got a bit annoyed when she got heckled by a few people yelling "nationalist crap!". Considering that the poster for the demo had a map of Aotearoa with a caption 'For sale?', it did not seem like such an out of place argument for someone to make, even though many of us, including myself, dislike nationalism. Nevertheless I like the writings of the late Aotearoa nationalist and Marxist, Bruce Jesson. He made excellent critiques of neo-liberalism and passionately argued that socialism needed to be adapted to suit Aotearoa conditions. I imagine if he was still alive he could well have been there with us yesterday. A Police Photographer - just like in Zimbabwe or West Papua! Behind the police lines this whole time was the ominous presence of a police photographer taking photos of us with a huge telephoto lens. I put on a huge grin, waved at him and started yelling "I'm smiling for you! Come on take the photo!". I stood for a bit longer smiling and pulling funny faces. When he appeared to be aiming at people speaking on the mike I stood in front of them to try obscure his view. I'm not sure if this worked or not. A couple of times he put his camera down when I did and tried pointing at something else. However, I doubt this did much good because he had a huge telephoto lens and he was behind police lines so I couldn't obscure his view completely. I started yelling out to him "Hey did you know that taking photos of protesters is something cops do in Zimbabwe? Did ya?" The photocop just stared into the distance with a blank expression, as cops usually do. A friend next to me said "Nah he probably didn't". I remember watching a news item showing a demonstration in Zimbabwe against the vile dictator Robert Mugabe. There were police on the sidelines taking photos of people. Indonesian Police and Military also do the same thing at peaceful demonstrations in West Papua. Cops Get Viciously Violent By this stage we were planning on leaving. I was holding up the big banner at the front and one of the protester leaders came up to me and said that we were about to leave, so bring the banner back out to the front of the march. As demonstrators were leaving, the commanding officer of the Team Policing Unit (the thugs the police use to break up parties and demonstrations) began barking into his loud hailer that the entrance was now a restricted zone and that we had to all leave or we would be arrested. He literally did bark, sounding like a vicious dog. It took a while for the 70 or so demonstrators to file through to the footpath because it had been blocked off by road works barriers, leaving only a metre wide gap to get through. All of a sudden the cops started barking "MOVE, MOVE, MOVE" and pushed forward in a tight line. The Greenpeace wheelie bin boombox became quite soundtrack like, suddenly switching track to "bad boys, bad boys. What you gonna do, what ya gonna do when they come for you". Several people fell over and then got crushed by other demonstrators being forced back by the cops. The cops were yelling "get behind the barrier" but no one could get behind because they were being crushed up against the barrier. I put out my arm and said to the cops "stop moving there's people on the ground getting crushed". Others were doing the same. Someone could have been seriously injured or worse. The cop responded "yeah ok" but then kept on pushing forward over the fallen demonstrators. What was really disconcerting was the police officers' completely emotionless robot like expressions while they were busy forcing themselves forward hurting people. I didn't see the arrests but suddenly heard everyone chanting "shame, shame, shame". I suppose they had some 'better work stories' to tell their friends and family. What is to be done I think everyone who has a chance should write a complaint to the Police Complaints Authority about the behaviour of the Police yesterday. While probably nothing will happen, it will mean that public disgust at their actions will be on the record. If ordinary people acted like the cops did yesterday they would have been arrested and put before the courts. Most importantly we need to continue building a movement against a free trade agreement with the US, anti-human corporate globalization, war and militarism. The Not for Sale Campaign have made a great contribution. In the words of the Australian singer and Aboriginal activist Kev Carmody "out of little things big things grow". *In 1899 the US invaded the Philippines. A 15 year long war ensued in which Filipino nationalists resisted US forces. Over a hundred thousand Filipinos died. US forces raped, pillaged and even massacred whole villages. Filipinos were forced live in controlled internment camps, in much the same as the Japanese Imperial army forced people in China to 30 years later and the US did in Vietnam during the 1960s and 70s. http://indymedia.org.nz/newswire/display/73660/index.php Demonstration in Auckland against US/NZ Partnership Forum 11 Sep 2007 12:50:26 PM Morning Picket The protests against the US/NZ Partnership Forum started at around 7:45am with a picket outside the Hilton where a press conference was scheduled to start at 8.30am. The protest organisers were under the impression that the Forum will be held at the Auckland Museum in the Domain. A local radio station reported that the venue had been changed to an inner-city venue. After further conversation with journalists and a drive-by at the Museum, it became evident that the whole Forum would be held at the Hilton. March Protesters started gathering in Aotea Square at 12noon. It was decided to march down Queen Street to the Hilton. Around 100 people joined the march and we left at around 12:30pm behind a huge banner saying "NotForSale.org.nz - No Free Trade Deal with the USA". There were a number of union activists from the NDU and Unite, people from socialist groups and a lot of anarchists from around the country who were in Auckland for the anarchist conference organised by A Space Inside. Flares were let off on the march, people chanted, music was played. At the Hilton Police only started to be visible when we approach the Hilton. They tried to "give us an escort" by driving into the demo. An orange smoke bomb was thrown towards the policeline. The driveway to the hotel was blocked for 15 minutes. Then the cops decided to clear half the driveway so cars could get to the hotel. Extra cops came in and were positioned at the side. "Move, move, move!" And after a short scuffle the protesters were moved. Speeches were delivered by law professor Jane Kelsey, Penny Bright from the Water Pressure Group, a member of Citizens Against Privatisation and others. While listening to fantastic music (Rage Against the Machine - yay!) the cops started clearing the whole driveway. During that scuffle three people were arrested and several activists were injured by the police. The cops threw punches and grabbed a woman's breasts. One cop's hat was expropriated. After the pepper spraying the previous day, it was another violent display of the state's army protecting the ruling class. http://indymedia.org.nz/newswire/display/73669/index.php Monday: USNZ Partnership Forum Masks A Suspension of Civil Rights Over the last two weeks state forces in Auckland have attempted to "expose, disrupt, misdirect, discredit, or otherwise neutralize" the protest activity occuring around the USNZ Partnership Forum and around Auckland in general. Intense surveillance and repression has been a common feature as well as the use of bail conditions to disrupt the expression of political opinions. The paragraph's below give a brief summary of some of the ways the police violated civil and human rights in an attempt to suppress and disrupt dissent. On Monday morning a Auckland Police Detective attempted to enter my home at 193a Symonds Street. He demanded that my friend open the door and repeatedly asked to speak to me. My friend refused and asked the Detective for a search warrant. None was given and the Detective left telling my friend, "We are going to lock Omar up". On Monday afternoon at Princes Wharf I was arrested by police and charged with Obstruction. As I was being processed on Princes wharf the police attempted to make me sign my property sheet without putting the megaphone on it. One officer told me that there was no megaphone, though I was clearly arrested with one. After asking repeatedly for it the police brought it around from behind a car and put it on the property sheet. After leaving Princes Wharf we were driven to Auckland Central Police Station where I was processed again by officer X180. He began by asking me where I was born. When I refused to tell him where I was born he told me to, "stop fucking around". I calmly pointed out that I had no legal right to offer anymore information than my name, address and DOB. At this point he told me he would rip my t-shirt off me. He then asked for the security cameras in the processing area to be turned off. The cop standing next to me looked away when I tried to make eye contact. X180 and another officer behind the counter told me to "play the game". I refused and X180 and the other officer took me to a bare cell, which did not have a toilet or a bed, to "cool off". I had offered no resistance nor aggression. I asked to consult a duty solicitor at this point and was told that I had to wait my turn. X180 and another officer X444 as well as other security guards repeatedly walked past my cell and I repeatedly asked to consult and instruct a duty solicitor without delay. I was ignored. At one point an officer with a an English accent told me "I'll get one of the boys to come and get that for you." I also asked X180 if i could use the toilet and he ignored me. I was forced to urinate twice between the crack between the cell-door and cell-floor. I was held in this cell for 6.5 hours. At one point the officer with an English accent came and told me that all I had to do to get bail was to answer the questions such as my ethnicity. I refused. I was eventually released at 7.30pm by officer X444. At no point had police allowed me my basic civil right to consult a lawyer. they offered no explanation for this. The megaphone was returned sans $70 of rechargable batteries. http://indymedia.org.nz/feature/display/71713/index.php Activist arrested at Anarchist conference At 9.30am two police officers arrived at A Space Inside social centre, on Symonds Street, and arrested one activist for alleged breach of bail conditions, in relation to yesterday's demonstration against the detention of Iranian asylum seekers in Mt Eden prison. They ventured into the stairwell and grabbed the young man. When other activists came to his aid the police pulled out their pepper spray and aggressively sprayed several people in the eyes. According to people present during the arrests the police did not have a warrant. The arrested activist was beaten by the cops once they got him outside the building and taken to the police station. This weekend A Space Inside is hosting an Aotearoa wide anarchist conference. From ldxar1 at tesco.net Tue Oct 9 12:48:40 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Tue, 9 Oct 2007 20:48:40 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] DENMARK: Protests continue over Ungdomshuset Message-ID: <002d01c80aad$64290910$0802a8c0@andy1> The unrest in Denmark over the eviction of the Youth House social centre continues to simmer. In September there were protests and unrest at an event to commemmorate the eviction, and in early October, attempts to occupy a new building. Sadder news is that Christiana commune has signed a deal with the state which will lead to the gradual dismantling of the free space. http://www.theage.com.au/news/World/Danish-youth-protest-turns-violent/2007/09/02/1188671777400.html Danish youth protest turns violent September 2, 2007 - 1:59PM At least 15 people were arrested, according to the Danish Broadcasting Corp. The unrest started after a demonstration commemorating the Youth House, a makeshift cultural centre for the city's anarchists and disaffected youth that was demolished in March. Protesters set fire to street barricades and smashed shop windows in the Norrebro district of Copenhagen, Danish media reported. In March, hundreds of people were arrested in several days of street violence when police evicted squatters living in the graffiti-sprayed brick building. ? 2007 AP DIGITAL http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2007/10/06/18452363.php 100s claim new youth house in Danemark by Copenhagen news Saturday Oct 6th, 2007 7:19 AM A historical, well-loved Copenhagen youth cultural house, Ungdomshuset, was sold by the city to another owner this year. This was met with days of protest. Now, users of the previous house are trying to start a subsequent center. Manifesto Action Gr?ndalsv?nge All? 13 (AktionG13) is an initiative based in and around the movement for a new youth house. We started with a single objective; to get a new youth house. We've been looking at empty buildings in Copenhagen for a long time now, and we've ended up picking the house at Gr?ndalsv?nge All? 13 for the purpose. New youth house - Gr?ndalsv?nge All? 13 The location is situated in the Northwest District of Copenhagen (Nordvestkvarteret), just by Fuglebakken S-train station, and it has a great potential as a new free space. The house is about the same size as the former youth house at Jagtvej 69 and has got a big yard. As Copenhagen's city council hasn't, as promised, given us a replacement for Jagtvej 69, we have taken matters in our own hands and found a new house. We have visited the house on numerous occasions and agree that it's a unique place that we, with your help, are looking forward to move into. The area is owned by the Copenhagen municipality, so the politicians don't even have to find extra funds, to buy the house for us. Ongoing newsticker: G-Day 15.27 >From the speaker trucks the four coloured blocks are now being asked to act independently. The demonstration is on Borups Alle under the overpass. Eyewitnesses say, that riot vans in front of the road passing under the railway tracks to Gr?ndalsv?nge are now parked so close together that squezzing between them would physically be a problem. G-Day 15.23 The police have taken up positions at Fuglebakkent S-train station. The police number in the hundreds, many riot vans are present and the road has been narrowed to almost nothing for the demo. The police are determined that it go no further according to the police spokesman. G-Day 15.17 Police chief spokesman Flemming Steen Munch has said to Modkraft.dk that the heavy police presence at the intersection with Borups Alle is aimed at preventing the demo from getting on to the motorway overpass. He also confirmed that the police would not be letting the demo get any closer to the house than Fuglebakken st. G-Day 15.05 The demo is nearing the intersection Borups Alle-Lundtoftegade. There is a lot of police present in the intersection - at least twelve riot vans and cops. If the demo turns down the road as agreed with the police, they will be able to cut off the demo and shut it in on both ends. For the first time today a confrontation seems to be likely. G-Day 14.51 Yesterday the left radical youth organistion R?d Ungdom published a statement saying that a post on their internet forum inciting violence had been removed. The poster's IP was logged and traced to one of the major news papers in Denmark "Politiken". As the case is now the object of interest for the general public the IT service dept for Politiken has declined making comments. R?d Ungdom has stated that violence is not the basis of G-13 nor for R?d Ungdom itself. The post has been removed, but evidence retained. Politiken has shown a continued interest in the dealings of G13, earlier today reporting that rolls of barb wire and construction materials had been moved to the site, and has several times featured articles on the small protests against the placing of a social centre in the city. http://english.indymedia.dk/publish/show/21 http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/10/07/europe/EU-GEN-Denmark-Street-Clashes.php Hundreds of youths could face charges from clashes with Copenhagen police The Associated Press Published: October 7, 2007 COPENHAGEN, Denmark: Hundreds detained following clashes with Copenhagen police have been released but may face charges in connection with the violence, authorities said Sunday. Demonstrators fought with police Saturday after officers prevented a crowd of thousands from reaching a vacant building they want to use for parties and concerts. The protesters set fires and tried to climb over squad cars blocking a road, prompting officers to fire tear gas, police said. Officers arrested 437 people overnight, police spokesman Flemming Steen Munch said Sunday. No one was injured, he said. Most were Danes but those detained also included 21 Germans, 18 Swedes, eight Finns, seven Norwegians, and protesters from Britain, Spain, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland and Turkey, he said. Munch said they could face charges later - including some that carry jail sentences. Saturday's protest centered around the closure of the Youth House, a popular hangout for anarchists, punk rockers and left-wing groups that was torn down in March. The City of Copenhagen had sold the Youth House to a Christian congregation six years ago, and evicted the squatters in March in order to hand the building over to its new owners, who later tore the building down. The protesters claim the city had no right to sell the building and have staged several demonstrations demanding a new house. On Saturday, thousands tried to get to a vacant waterworks plant they want to serve as the new Youth House. Built in 1897, the Youth House had long served as a community theater for the labor movement and as a cultural and conference center. Vladimir Lenin was among its visitors. In recent years, it had hosted concerts by performers such as Australian musician Nick Cave and Icelandic singer Bjork. http://mathaba.net/news/?x=566536 Police arrest over 430 people in Copenhagen riots, scores injured Posted: 2007/10/08 From: Mathaba At least 436 people were arrested by police after a demonstration in support of a youth center turned violent, Danish media reports said. Scores of protesters were injured in the street riots after police used teargas to disperse the demonstrators. Hundreds of mainly youthful protesters marched in the Danish capital, calling for the creation of a new autonomous youth center. The forced eviction of a popular youth center triggered last month several days of riots in Copenhagen. Teenage demonstrators led fierce street battles with baton- wielding riot police. Hundreds of rioters smashed shop windows and set street barricades, cars and municipal garbage cans on fire, forcing police to use tear gas. An incendiary device exploded in a police vehicle. At least 40 protesters, mostly radical leftist and anarchist youths, were detained. Copenhagen was also the scene of violent riots in May after authorities demolished another youth center which had been occupied since the 1980s. The eviction of that youth house sparked several nights of clashes with police, leading to more than 700 arrests and dozens of injuries. --IRNA http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7032163.stm Danish clash sparks mass arrests Thousands of demonstrators planned to occupy a new building Police in Denmark say they expect to bring charges against many of the 437 people detained overnight following clashes in the capital, Copenhagen. Police used tear gas against thousands of young demonstrators who were protesting against the closure of a youth centre earlier in the year. The protesters had tried unsuccessfully to occupy a different building. A police spokesman said a record number of people were detained. They have all been released but charges could follow. Some of the demonstrators threw smoke bombs, set fires and tried to break through police barriers and climb over police cars, the spokesman said. "It started out as a peaceful demonstration but then there was more and more violence and the riots against the police started," spokesman Flemming Munch told AFP news agency. No injuries were reported. Organisers of the demonstration said as many as 4,000 people took part. Left-wing activists had occupied the youth centre, in Copenhagen's Noerrebro district, since 1982. But the building was sold by the city in 2000 to a Christian group. Squatters were evicted in March 2007, which led to violent street clashes and hundreds of arrests. The youth centre was later demolished. http://mwcnews.net/content/view/17202&Itemid=1 Record arrests in Denmark protests | Authorities fired tear gas at the demonstrators, while protesters hurled smoke bombs [AFP] Danish police have clashed with demonstrators, arresting a record 437 people, after they attempted to occupy a vacant building in Copenhagen, according to officials. Many of the protesters taking part in Saturday's demonstration on Saturday were evicted six months ago from a youth centre scheduled for demolition. "We have arrested 437 people today. That is a record," Flemming Munch, a Copenhagen police spokesman, was reported by the AFP news agency as saying. He said that he expected most of the demonstrators to be released from police custody overnight. "It started out as a peaceful demonstration but then there was more and more violence and the riots against the police started," Munch said. marketing The Danish Ritzau news agency reported a police spokesman as saying that the police had "never arrested so many people in a single incident before". Police estimated the number of demonstrators as between 1,000 and 2,000, while organisers said there were as many as 4,000 people. The authorities fired tear gas at the demonstrators, while protesters hurled smoke bombs and tried to break through police barriers and climb over police cars. No injuries were reported, according to the police, and demonstrators failed to occupy the unused waterworks owned by the city of Copenhagen. In March, the forced eviction of squatters running the Ungdomshuset centre, a haven for the city's youth and its underground culture since 1982, sparked several nights of violent protests in the capital. http://mwcnews.net/content/view/16510/51/ Denmark demonstration turns violent Copenhagen saw several days of protest in March over the closure of the Youth House [EPA] Protesters in Denmark have set fire to cars and smashed shop windows after a demonstration commemorating a now demolished Youth House turned violent, according to police. Activists clashed with police early on Sunday, soon after a demonstration to commemorate the youth shelter that was torn down by the authorites in March. One police officer was injured and 63 people were arrested as riot police clashed with protesters in the Noerrebro district of Copenhagen, police said. Officers used tear gas to disperse the crowd. "Three or four people will be charged for violent behaviour against police officers," said Flemming Steen Munch, a police spokesman. "The others have been released." marketing Not forgotten Mads Firlings, another police spokesman, said: "It's six months since we cleared the house there, and they want to show they have not forgotten. "Almost immediately they started building barricades and throwing rocks through the windows of shops and banks." The situation had calmed down on Sunday morning and crews had begun to clean up the streets. In March, the city saw several days of street violence and hundreds of people were arrested in demonstrations after police evicted squatters living in the Youth House. http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/harriet_riley/2007/09/farewell_to_freetown.html Farewell to Freetown Christiania, Copenhagen's last bastion of hippydom, is finally to close after nearly 40 years. What is the future for dissent in Denmark now? Harriet Riley September 18, 2007 7:30 PM After nearly four decades of independence from Denmark and the EU, Christiania's dream of a subsistence lifestyle, free from capitalist constraints and social segregation, is finally coming to an end. Last week the council of Christianian elders and representatives of the city of Copenhagen met to ratify what is more a peace treaty than a business deal, ending the battle that has raged between them since the Freetown's inception in 1971. Residents cannot help but see it as surrender; over the next 10 years their land will be gradually ceded to the government for redevelopment. Everybody, both inside and out, understands that this is the end of an era in the fight against mainstream consumer-culture. The market creeps in over the ramshackle fence and this legendary bastion in the war against capitalism knows that within another decade it will have left the field for ever. Nevertheless, Christiania holds the mantle for most enduring utopian community of the 20th century. It was born out of the revolutionary tumult of the 1960s and 1970s, when a group of young protesters, disillusioned with growing materialism, conservative politics and stifling social expectations, tore down a barbed wire fence around the abandoned military encampments of Christianshavn and declared themselves an independent state. At first, attempts were made to clear the emerging shanty town, but ultimately true to form, the Danish government allowed it to stand as a social experiment. The island site, like much of Copenhagen, is constructed on reclaimed land heaped over the centuries into defensive earthen barricades. It is dotted with grey 19th century barracks and concrete watch-posts now covered in lively graffiti. The gradual eating-up by flowering vines and blackberry bushes of these imperious stone ruins lends Christiania an epic beauty most attuned to the original vision of its founders: martial structures put to a peaceful use. The rest of the territory varies in its adherence to the dream, and in its attractiveness. Some houses display genuine architectural flair and loving craftsmanship while others are in a state of disrepair surrounded by refuse and scrap-heaps. Verdant gardens flourish, but they are littered by the burned-out shells of buildings and bonfires where rubbish is torched. Enormous Cerberus-like dogs, a mongrel breed unique to the area, patrol its forested paths. They are, like their owners, well socialised by the communal environment and rarely dangerous, though they look capable of biting through steel. Most intriguing and significant of all, however, is not the site's exotic appearance - which has made it Denmark's third biggest tourist attraction - but the fact that it is a microcosmic study of social evolution. The process by which an internal government developed to regulate the freedom shows how residents were forced to compromise their anything-goes approach in the same way that all communities first find their laws. It was an organic occurrence, fuelled partly by the necessity of presenting a united front to the larger city, and partly by the effects of the drug trade. The liberated town required rules on how it would stay liberated, and though still relying heavily on the goodwill of its citizens to create welfare and respect property rights, a ruling council was made responsible for creating schools and daycare centres to service the generation born within their borders. They also covered the creation of a flag (three yellow circles on a red background, signifying their separateness from the other two islands spanned by Copenhagen) and the designation of public and private spaces within the polis. Within the territory itself there are five cafes vying for attention, alongside a bakery, a grocers, a bike hire company and plenty of shifting street stalls selling clothes, jewellery or drug paraphernalia. Outposts of hippydom and the new age endure all over the world, fascinating those too young to remember their conception and amusing those who do. Christiania, however, has proved to be something more substantial. Shops outside the commune print T-shirts with the Danish slogan "Protect Christiania" alongside the flag. "We only have them in summer, for the tourists," explains a shop assistant. "Too expensive all year round. We have to pay royalties to Christiana for their logo." In other words, Christiania is a brand name, a market presence. It was this ability to promote itself as something romantically separate while still being totally integrated into the wider economy that provided Christiania with the stability it needed to endure longer than similar separatist experiments. Denmark's tiny capital has a reputation disproportionate to its size, but it is in no way undeserved. Artistically, it represents youth and innovation, the cutting edge of contemporary culture. Politically, it is a symbol of balanced socialism and environmental progress. Denmark as a whole is a unified machine in which everybody believes in the power of the principle, and everybody plays his or her part to make it work. Efficiency and casualness, though seemingly oxymoronic, sit side by side, as do uniform equality and an intensely individualistic belief in independence. And it's no coincidence that such opposing principles underlie the city's identity. They feed off each other, providing the necessary antidotes to one another's shortcomings. What some might call equality, others would term homogeneity. In Scandinavia, especially in Sweden, there is a drive not exactly to "keep up with the Jens" but to make sure the Jens still have exactly the same bike, car and house as you do. They take pride in following fashion to the letter, so that no one appears to have more or less than their neighbour; there is a concerted communal effort to practise the egalitarianism they preach. The Danish expression for this is "the curse of Loki" - somewhat similar to tall poppy syndrome in that anyone who does particularly well is frowned upon for having somehow betrayed the community ethic. It probably accounts for the high level of apologetic philanthropy practiced by Danish businesses, not least M?rsk Group whose owner, AP M?ller, donated both the new waterfront opera house and a theatre nearby. A contrary effect of the same principle means that to walk down a street in Scandinavia is to see many more tattoos and outrageous hairstyles than anywhere else in Europe, particularly on otherwise conservative bodies. Women in their fifties shopping for groceries display purple streaks in their greying blonde hair. Men in business suits carrying sensible leather briefcases have dragons wrapped around their wrists. When education, housing, even homewares and clothing, are designed to be universal, the flesh itself is the only remaining beacon of individuality. It is no surprise that the Christiania phenomenon should have blossomed in Denmark. Though recent Cambridge studies found Denmark to be the happiest nation in Europe, thanks to trust in public institutions such as the police and high levels of social integration, these are just the things that Christianians believe are lacking in western society. Yet few other governments would have allowed Christiania to endure, and handled its many challenges as diplomatically as the Danish have. Put simply, the Christiania/Copenhagen divide is no more than a geographical illustration of the tattoo principle. In this binary world, Copenhagen is clean-cut, civil, stylish, cool. Christiania is scruffy, loose, warm, old school. Both pride themselves on being tolerant, community-focused and environmentally friendly. Their residences, which seem the antithesis of one another, are in reality living out the same essential principles. Christiania's ethos and reputation are not exclusively derived from the Summer of Love, as successive generations have adopted and adapted the site to suit their own trends. Punk, goth, anarchist, various extremes of the Christian religion, voodoo and Gypsy are all incorporated, as are curious teens, backpackers, runaways and junkies. This has been a source of conflict, not so much internally but within the wider society. Christiania's name was closely attached to the Youth House incident that took place in late 2006 when a group of squatters were evicted from a historic building on HC Andersen Boulevard. The building, once a gift of the city to its youth, hosted concerts, provided studio space and fostered a generally rich counter-culture, until it was bought out by a Christian sect who planned to convert it into a church. Much was made by the local media of the minor clashes that occurred - in a usually peaceful city - between police and protesters refusing to vacate the premises. In the end, the controversy became so strong that the house was demolished to prevent further violence erupting around it. The issue split the nation for several months. On one hand there was the spurious reputation of the ultra-conservative Christian sect to whom the government sold the property, without providing a replacement venue for its current occupants. On the other was the value of the real estate, the young people's failure to maintain it, and the fact that the site was frequented by drug dealers. Fuelled by the current wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, Denmark's left and right are locked in a fierce pre-election debate for the national heart. The latter, personified by the Danish People's party, openly petitions for the restriction of immigration to retain the nation's historic homogeneity. This is contrary to the policies of the left, which usually dominate at both the public and political level. Youth House provided another point of visible contention and there is little doubt that it precipitated the recommencement of negotiations over the Freetown. Christiania's central agora still bears the frank but obsolete title of Pusher Street, since the cocaine and heroin trades (conducted by Europe's transnational biker gangs) were conclusively disassembled in the mid-1990s. This has done little to change its reputation as a refuge for criminals, extremists and delinquents. However, the handsome, sylvan waterfront is now prime real estate; this, more than any moral issue, has truly determined its fate. Like most human communities, Christiania has come full circle, first in a state of nature, then developing government and currency, and finally being reintegrated, for economic reasons, into the capitalist society that it first rejected. A war ended by treaty is undoubtedly better than one concluded in annihilation, and so the gradual decommissioning of Christiania may promise a gentler fate than Youth House. But the pathologies she was responding to endure, not only in Scandinavia but across the entire western world. Leaving by the main gate, I pass a gaggle of tourists photographing the sign erected there: "Now entering the EU." Christiania's legacy will be a question: how do we meet the social inequities produced by our current system, as individuals and as a community? Though perhaps the solutions do not involve succession or revolution, no doubt they will need to be as ambitious and bold as the steadily spreading petunias that grow from the cannon-barrels of Christiania. From ldxar1 at tesco.net Tue Oct 9 12:57:20 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Tue, 9 Oct 2007 20:57:20 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] SWITZERLAND: Antifa rule the streets in Bern Message-ID: <004701c80aae$9a07aa40$0802a8c0@andy1> There have been thousands-strong militant anti-fascist protests in the Swiss capital Bern against the far-right SVP, which is doing well in elections on a viciously racist campaign featuring images of white sheep kicking out black sheep and foreigners as criminals. As the SVP planned a pre-election rally in the capital, antifascists mobilised to disrupt the march. Accounts suggest a remarkable victory for antifa, with the fascists diverted from their original route and police admitting they were unable to contain the revolt. Protesters were in control of large areas of the capital. What's rather strange is that the reports suggest Swiss are "unused" to such events - which occur annually in connection to the Davos summit and have happened when Nazis have tried to march previously. http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5hhBc6bCFz0faB5T8X_lpTdw78tQQ Extreme-left groups stage violent protest in Swiss capital Bern 1 day ago BERN, Switzerland - Extreme-left groups staged a violent protest in the Swiss capital Saturday, damaging property and preventing a campaign rally by one of the country's largest parties from taking place. According to police, hundreds of masked protesters attacked stalls and equipment set up in front of parliament for a pre-election event by the nationalist Swiss People's Party. Police said 18 officers and three protesters were injured. Police fired tear gas to disperse the protesters and made 42 arrests. The violence prevented 10,000 supporters of the People's Party from marching through Bern to a square in front of parliament to hear leading party members speak, including Justice Minister Christoph Blocher and Defence Minister Samuel Schmid. Left-wing groups had called for protests against the rally - held two weeks before the country's Oct. 21 parliamentary elections. A separate "Festival against Racism" attended by up to 3,000 people in Bern passed peacefully. The People's Party condemned the violence as contrary to Switzerland's democratic tradition. The party has been criticized in recent months for its hardline stance on immigration, illustrated by campaign posters showing white sheep kicking a black sheep off a Swiss flag. http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,2185760,00.html Switzerland reeling as radicals create havoc at rightwing political rally ? Rioters hurl petrol bombs and torch cars in capital ? Fear that riot will increase support for the far right Ian Traynor in Berne Monday October 8, 2007 The Guardian The Swiss capital of Berne was turned into a battle zone at the weekend when leftwing radicals seized control of the main square outside parliament, routing the main far-right political party two weeks before a general election and catching the Swiss police off guard. Dozens of protesters were arrested and around two dozen people injured, mostly police officers, as police deployed tear gas, water cannon, and rubber bullets to try to regain control from gangs of highly organised, masked people who turned the small and normally sleepy capital of Switzerland into a scene of devastation. The clashes on Saturday and the revulsion triggered among mainstream Swiss by the unusual street violence are likely to play into the hands of Christoph Blocher, the tough-talking populist and millionaire industrialist who leads the Swiss People's Party (SVP), the far-right movement tipped to win the elections later this month following a campaign denounced as overtly racist by a United Nations watchdog. Mr Blocher called a campaign rally of his party in the capital and some 10,000 of his supporters converged on Berne to march to the capital's main square in front of parliament. But the planned rally was hijacked by up to 1,000 masked street fighters who blocked the SVP's progress, outwitted the police by operating in small groups moving in and out of the crowds, and ransacked the SVP stage and campaign equipment. The Federal Square, site of a charming Saturday morning flower and vegetable market, resembled a war zone by Saturday night, littered with debris, masonry, shattered glass and torched metal. The city mayor admitted "impotence" in the face of the riots. The trouble raised questions about the readiness of the Swiss authorities to cope with potential hooliganism at next summer's Euro 2008 football championship being hosted jointly by Austria and Switzerland. Mr Blocher's SVP is expected to emerge as the strongest party with more than a quarter of the vote in the elections in two weeks due to a blunt anti-immigrant campaign, broadsides against the European Union, and a robust affirmation of traditional Swiss isolationism. The party's main election poster bears the slogan: My Home, Our Switzerland, Keep It Secure. It shows three white sheep kicking a black sheep off the red-and-white Swiss flag. The UN's xenophobia watchdog, based in Switzerland, described the explicit anti-immigrant message as openly racist. The foreign minister and current Swiss president, Micheline Calmy-Rey, a social democrat, has complained that the SVP campaign is giving Switzerland a bad name and partially blamed it for the weekend violence. "One should not play with fear just to win a few votes," she said. "The current provocations and attacks in politics leave their mark." But the confrontation in a country not used to political violence could boost Mr Blocher's support and entrench his pugnacious nationalist conservatism as the leading force in Switzerland. The SVP is collecting signatures demanding a referendum on the deportation of "criminal foreigners." "Foreigners are shamelessly abusing Swiss hospitality. This has to be stopped," the SVP manifesto argues. The success of the SVP campaign is being studied by neo-Nazi groups in Germany. Markus Meier, a reader, commenting in the newspaper Neue Z?rcher Zeitung, wrote: "How can pseudo-political activists organise a riot-party in a Swiss town, cause thousands of francs worth of damage and leave the taxpayer to pick up the bill." Mr Blocher criticised the police for being unable to ensure safety for an authorised political meeting after his rally was forced to retreat. "It's obvious that the biggest party in Switzerland can no longer go to the federal square," Mr Blocher told his supporters to huge applause. Police officers admitted they had been outwitted by the guerrilla tactics of the rioters who set fires, lifted paving stones, torched vehicles, hurled stones and petrol bombs, and laid waste to the jewellers' stores and posh watch dealers of the capital. The Berne police chief, Stephan Huegli, described the events as a black day for Swiss democracy and freedom of speech. http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/10/07/europe/EU-GEN-Switzerland-Violent-Protest.php Swiss president calls for calm after pre-election violence in capital The Associated Press Published: October 7, 2007 BERN, Switzerland: The Swiss president on Sunday condemned the violence that erupted a day earlier when extreme-left groups halted a nationalist party's election rally. Up to 500 masked protesters blocked a 10,000-strong march through Bern by People's Party supporters hoping to hear party figures speak two weeks before national elections. The protesters also destroyed campaign stalls and equipment set up for the rally outside Parliament. Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the protesters, who they said used "guerrilla tactics" to disrupt the event. Eighteen officers and three protesters were injured, and 42 people were arrested, police said. "I'm saddened by the images of violence," Swiss President Micheline Calmy-Rey said in an interview with weekly Sonntags Blick, adding that extremists must not be allowed to prevent people from exercising their right to free speech. The People's Party has been criticized in recent months for its hard-line stance on immigration. Police said about 100 neo-Nazis had joined the People's Party march, which had to be diverted to another location on the outskirts of Bern - Switzerland's medieval capital. "A few hundred extremists can't endanger our democracy," Calmy-Rey said in the interview, appealing to all sides to stop playing on voters' fears in order to gain political advantage for the Oct. 21 polls. The violence raised concerns about the increasingly harsh tone of political debates in the normally peaceful Alpine republic. Opponents of the People's Party have accused it and leading members such as Christoph Blocher - who holds the portfolio of justice minister in the seven-seat government - of deliberately stoking tensions with provocative statements and policies. The party recently launched a campaign to deport criminal foreigners, illustrating its point with posters showing white sheep kicking a black sheep off a Swiss flag. Interior Minister Pascal Couchepin, a member of the center-right Radical Democrats, said he warned his colleague Blocher about the risk of violence at Saturday's rally, as left-wing groups had called for demonstrations against the event. Recent surveys have suggested the People's Party would get 26 percent of the vote, putting it four points ahead of its closest rival, Calmy-Rey's Social Democrats. A separate "Festival against Racism" in Bern on Saturday was attended by up to 3,000 people and was peaceful. http://euronews.net/index.php?page=info&article=446854&lng=1 Swiss police and protestors battle at Berne rally A clean-up operation is underway in the Swiss capital, Berne, after clashes between police and anti right-wing protestors. It is the latest sign of growing tensions ahead of an unusually divisive election this month. Violence is said to have erupted when hundreds of demonstrators tried to break-up a march organised by the right-wing People's Party. Support for the right-wing party has soared under the leadership of industrialist Christoph Blocher, who has appealed to conservative Swiss voters with his anti-European Union, isolationist stance. His party, which has campaigned against minarets in Swiss cities and plastered billboards and roadsides with posters calling for "black sheep" foreigners to be kicked out, is poised to be the largest winner in elections set for October 21. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7032021.stm Violence at Swiss pre-poll rally The nationalist party is tipped to win the elections later this month Violence flared in the Swiss capital of Bern as left-wing protesters tried to stop a pre-election campaign event by the nationalist Swiss People's Party. Police fired tear gas as demonstrators hurled rocks and bottles in front of parliament to interrupt a march and rally by about 5,000 SVP supporters. The SVP has been criticised recently for its hard-line views on immigration. Its campaign posters - showing white sheep kicking a black sheep off a Swiss flag - have stirred controversy. The party, which has campaigned against minarets in Swiss cities, condemned the violence as contrary to the country's democratic tradition. The disorder comes two weeks before the country's 21 October parliamentary elections. Recent polls have forecast the SVP to emerge as the largest vote-winner. http://euronews.net/index.php?page=info&article=446834&lng=1 Clashes in Switzerland at political rally There have been clashes in Switzerland between police and leftist activists who were protesting against an election rally by the right wing Swiss People's Party. Police moved in to clear demonstrators after they blocked the square outside the parliament in Berne where the rally was to be held. With two weeks to the election, the Swiss People's Party is leading the polls by around four percent. Leader Christoph Blocher lashed out at the protestors as aggressors who could not tolerate the views of others. His party's campaign has featured a poster portraying foreigners as black sheep being kicked out of the country by white sheep. They have also campaigned against Islamic minarets in Swiss cities. The violence in Berne indicates how unusually divisive this election has been. Blocher's party won the largest share of the vote in 2003 and appears on course to repeat that success. The Socialists are trailing second, with the centre-right liberals third. http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Top_News/2007/10/08/swiss_capital_plagued_by_weekend_riots/5532/ Swiss capital plagued by weekend riots Published: 8, 2007 at 12:48 PM BERNE, Switzerland, Oct. 8 (UPI) -- Officials in the Swiss capital, Berne, hoped for calm Monday after left-wing radicals seized The Federal Square outside parliament over the weekend. Nearly 1,000 masked protesters moved against a campaign rally put on by the right-wing Swiss People's Party (SVP), looting the stage and inciting riots. Riot police used tear gas, water cannons and rubber bullets in an attempt to regain control over the capital square, the Guardian reported. More than two dozen people were injured during the riots and police arrested nearly a dozen protesters. The riots were part of a debate over Swiss nationalism and mounting concerns over immigration. SVP members displayed election posters showing three white sheep kicking a black sheep off the Swiss Flag over the slogan "My Home, Our Switzerland, Keep it Secure." The message manifests concern that Switzerland is becoming a safe haven for political refugees from troubled regions such as Serbia and Rwanda. The SVP claims the majority of the prison population are foreign nationals. The SVP garnered nearly 27 percent of the vote 2003 election as voters rallied around its populist message, The New York Times said. http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/237755/18_injured_42_held_in_Swiss_political_protest 18 injured, 42 held in Swiss political protest Posted Oct 6, 2007 Eighteen people were injured and 42 detained in Berne Saturday when police clashed with left-wing demonstrators protesting at a rally of the nationalist Swiss People's Party (SVP). The party had called on thousands of its supporters to take part in a pre-election rally at the main square before the capital's parliament building. Demonstrators disrupted the event, prompting the rally organisers to seek police protection. Police then moved in using teargas. The violence spilled over and nearby streets saw shops and cars damaged. The SVP - which has campaign posters showing white sheep kicking a black sheep off a Swiss flag - has been recently criticised for its hard-line views on immigration. The party has also campaigned against minarets in Swiss cities. The clashes came two weeks before 21 October parliamentary elections which recent polls have forecast the SVP winning most votes. dpa hpd sc http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/08/world/europe/08swiss.html?hp Immigration, Black Sheep and Swiss Rage By ELAINE SCIOLINO Published: October 8, 2007 SCHWERZENBACH, Switzerland, Oct. 4 - The posters taped on the walls at a political rally here capture the rawness of Switzerland's national electoral campaign: three white sheep stand on the Swiss flag as one of them kicks a single black sheep away. Pascal Lauener/Reuters A protest against backers of the rightist Swiss People's Party ended in clashes and tear gas. Christoph Blocher, the justice minister and the driving force in the rightist Swiss People's Party's, addressing a crowd in Bern. "To Create Security," the poster reads. The poster is not the creation of a fringe movement, but of the most powerful party in Switzerland's federal Parliament and a member of the coalition government, an extreme right-wing party called the Swiss People's Party, or SVP. It has been distributed in a mass mailing to Swiss households, reproduced in newspapers and magazines and hung as huge billboards across the country. As voters prepare to go to the polls in a general election on Oct. 21, the poster - and the party's underlying message - have polarized a country that prides itself on peaceful consensus in politics, neutrality in foreign policy and tolerance in human relations. Suddenly the campaign has turned into a nationwide debate over the place of immigrants in one of the world's oldest democracies, and over what it means to be Swiss. "The poster is disgusting, unacceptable," Micheline Calmy-Rey, the current president of Switzerland under a one-year rotation system, said in an interview. "It stigmatizes others and plays on the fear factor, and in that sense it's dangerous. The campaign does not correspond to Switzerland's multicultural openness to the world. And I am asking all Swiss who do not agree with its message to have the courage to speak out." Interior Minister Pascal Couchepin, of the Liberal Democratic Party, has even suggested that the SVP's worship of Christoph Blocher, the billionaire who is the party's driving force and the current justice minister, is reminiscent of that of Italian fascists for Mussolini. [On Saturday, a march of several thousand SVP supporters in Bern ended in clashes between hundreds of rock-throwing counterdemonstrators and riot police officers, who used tear gas to disperse them. The opponents of the rally, organized by a new group called the Black Sheep Committee, had tried to prevent the demonstrators from marching to Parliament.] The message of the party resonates loudly among voters who have seen this country of 7.5 million become a haven for foreigners, including political refugees from places like Kosovo and Rwanda. Polls indicate that the right-wing party is poised to win more seats than any other party in Parliament in the election, as it did in national elections in 2003, when its populist language gave it nearly 27 percent of the vote. "Our political enemies think the poster is racist, but it just gives a simple message," Bruno Walliser, a local chimney sweep running for Parliament on the party ticket, said at the rally, held on a Schwerzenbach farm outside Zurich. "The black sheep is not any black sheep that doesn't fit into the family. It's the foreign criminal who doesn't belong here, the one that doesn't obey Swiss law. We don't want him." More than 20 percent of Swiss inhabitants are foreign nationals, and the SVP argues that a disproportionate number are lawbreakers. Many drug dealers are foreign, and according to federal statistics, about 70 percent of the prison population is non-Swiss. As part of its platform, the SVP party has begun a campaign seeking the 100,000 signatures necessary to force a referendum to let judges deport foreigners after they serve prison sentences for serious crimes. The measure also calls for the deportation of the entire family if the convicted criminal is a minor. Human rights advocates warn that the initiative is reminiscent of the Nazi practice of Sippenhaft, or kin liability, under which relatives of criminals were held responsible and punished for their crimes. The party's political campaign has a much broader agenda than simply fighting crime. Its subliminal message is that the influx of foreigners has somehow polluted Swiss society, straining the social welfare system and threatening the very identity of the country. Unlike the situation in France, where the far-right National Front leader Jean-Marie Le Pen campaigned for president in the spring alongside black and ethnic Arab supporters, the SVP has taken a much cruder us-against-them approach. In a short three-part campaign film, "Heaven or Hell," the party's message is clear. In the first segment, young men inject heroin, steal handbags from women, kick and beat up schoolboys, wield knives and carry off a young woman. The second segment shows Muslims living in Switzerland - women in head scarves; men sitting, not working. The third segment shows "heavenly" Switzerland: men in suits rushing to work, logos of Switzerland's multinational corporations, harvesting on farms, experiments in laboratories, scenes of lakes, mountains, churches and goats. "The choice is clear: my home, our security," the film states. The film was withdrawn from the party's Web site after the men who acted in it sued, arguing they were unaware of its purpose. But over beer and bratwurst at the Schwerzenbach political rally, Mr. Walliser screened it for the audience, saying, "I'm taking the liberty to show it anyway." For Nelly Schneider, a 49-year-old secretary, the party's approach is "a little bit crass," but appealing nevertheless. "These foreigners abuse the system," she said after Mr. Walliser's presentation. "They don't speak any German. They go to prostitution and do drugs and drive fancy cars and work on the black market. They don't want to work." As most of the rest of Europe has moved toward unity, Switzerland has fiercely guarded its independence, staying out of the 27-country European Union and maintaining its status as a tax haven for the wealthy. It has perhaps the longest and most arduous process to become a citizen in all of Europe: candidates typically must wait 12 years before being considered. Three years ago the SVP blocked a move to liberalize the citizenship process, using the image of dark-skinned hands snatching at Swiss passports. And though the specter of terrorism has not been a driving issue, some posters in southern Switzerland at the time showed a mock Swiss passport held by Osama bin Laden. Foreigners, who make up a quarter of the Swiss work force, complain that it is harder to get a job or rent an apartment without a Swiss passport and that they endure everyday harassment that Swiss citizens do not. James Philippe, a 28-year-old Haitian who has lived in Switzerland for 14 years and works for Streetchurch, a Protestant storefront community organization, and as a hip-hop dance instructor, said he is regularly stopped by the police and required to show his papers and submit to body searches. He speaks German, French, Creole and English, but has yet to receive a Swiss passport. "The police treat me like I'm somehow not human," he said at the Streetchurch headquarters in a working-class neighborhood of Zurich. "Then I open my mouth and speak good Swiss German, and they're always shocked. "We come here. We want to learn. We clean their streets and do all the work they don't want to do. If they kick us out, are they going to do all that work themselves? We need them, but they need us too." SVP officials insist that their campaign is not racist, just anticrime. "Every statistic shows that the participation of foreigners in crime is quite high," said Ulrich Schl?er, an SVP Parliament deputy who has also led an initiative to ban minarets in Switzerland. "We cannot accept this. We are the only party that addresses this problem." But the SVP campaign has begun to have a ripple effect, shaking the image of Switzerland as a place of prosperity, tranquillity and stability - particularly for doing business. On Thursday, a coalition of business, union and church leaders in Basel criticized the SVP for what they called its extremism, saying, "Those who discriminate against foreigners hurt the economy and threaten jobs in Switzerland." "In the past," said Daniele Jenni, a lawyer and the founder of the Black Sheep Committee who is running for Parliament, "people were reluctant to attack the party out of fear that it might only strengthen it. Now people are beginning to feel liberated. They no longer automatically accept the role of the rabbit doing nothing, just waiting for the snake to bite." From ldxar1 at tesco.net Tue Oct 9 13:22:13 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Tue, 9 Oct 2007 21:22:13 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] Global ecological-related protests and actions Message-ID: <006c01c80ab2$144a4fd0$0802a8c0@andy1> * AUSTRALIA: Four protesters scale power station * UK: British police waste ?5m at Faslane, ?7m at Heathrow * TRINIDAD: Residents protest against power station plan * AUSTRALIA: Farmers protest pipeline impact on irrigation * AUSTRALIA: Protesters arrested at port in coal protest * SPAIN/GLOBAL: Nomads, herders stage global protest for way of life * BULGARIA: Environmentalists rally against conservation rollback * US: Protests for Neah Bay rescue tug * IRELAND: Shell to Sea protests continue in Mayo * CANADA/INDIGENOUS: Six Nations protest continues at Grand River; builder injured * INDIA: Greenpeace protest GM trials * IRELAND: Hill of Tara anti-roads protesters target parliament * BAHRAIN: Protests may shut factory over noise, privacy concerns * WEST PAPUA: Biak people protest Russian satellite plan, non-consultation * INDIA: Police clash with protesters after bus accident due to commercialisation http://abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/09/03/2022283.htm Four arrested at Loy Yang protest Posted Mon Sep 3, 2007 12:00pm AEST Updated Mon Sep 3, 2007 12:06pm AEST Four people have been arrested over the protest at Loy Yang (ABC) Four people have been arrested over a climate change protest at a Gippsland power station. Police Search and Rescue crews used angle grinders to cut free the woman and three men who had chained themselves to conveyor belts at the Loy Yang power station near Traralgon. They broke into the site about 5:00AM and spent five hours locked to the equipment in cold rainy conditions before being taken away by police. The protestors want political leaders at today's APEC forum in Sydney to take notice of their actions. Loy Yang Power says the protest cut power generation by a quarter, but the unit is now back up and running. The company will consider increasing security at the site. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/glasgow_and_west/6974919.stm Last Updated: Sunday, 2 September 2007, 11:55 GMT 12:55 UK Faslane protest costs police ?5m Former MSP Carolyn Leckie is among those to have been arrested The cost of policing anti-nuclear protests at the Faslane naval base on the Clyde has reached ?5m, new figures have shown. A campaign to stage daily protests at the base began last October. Statistics compiled ahead of a meeting of the Strathclyde Joint Police Board showed up to 150 officers had been on duty at the base at any one time. The daily blockade of the base, organised by the Faslane 365 group, is due to finish at the end of this month. The figures show that policing costs reached a peak of ?1.7m in October. The number of officers needed at the site has varied from an average of about 150 in October to lows of between 20 and 90 since March. Much of the money has been spent on overtime payments to officers. More than 110 groups from around the world have taken part in the protests, leading to more than 900 arrests. The campaign has included sit-down protests and people chaining themselves to fences in a bid to cause disruption to work at the base. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/6982705.stm Heathrow protest police cost ?7m More than ?7m was spent on policing during the climate change protest at Heathrow Airport, Scotland Yard says. Up to 1,800 police officers were on duty on busy days during the eight-day Camp for Climate Action last month. Some 70 people were arrested as protesters demonstrated against the airport's expansion, the Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA) was told. Commander Bob Broadhurst said ?4.3m would have been spent anyway, as it included bills such as salaries. The protest culminated with a blockade by hundreds of anti-aviation campaigners of the offices of airport operator BAA on 19 August. The final day of action was marked by a series of demonstrations at businesses across the UK. Sizewell B nuclear power station in Suffolk, the headquarters of BP in London and two carbon offsetting companies were singled out. http://www.trinidadexpress.com/index.pl/article_news?id=161197834 Residents slam EMA at Couva protest Peter Christopher South Bureau Monday, September 3rd 2007 'NO STEEL PLANT': Residents of Pranz Gardens sport T-shirts in protest against the construction of a steel mill in their community on Saturday. Residents of Pranz Gardens, Couva, on Saturday held what they described as a day of solidarity with residents of Chatham, Bagatelle and other areas said to be affected by industrial construction. Resident Sahadeo Puran slammed the Environmental Management Authority, which, he said, claimed that residents had missed their opportunity to block the planned construction of the Essar steel mill at Couva. "The EMA never came here to do consultation with residents," he said, adding that the Authority appeared to not be doing its job as he pointed that nearby, another energy sector company was cutting down mangroves in preparation to build a port at Pt Lisas. Another resident, Samlal Annan, said that the residents' protest was not politically motivated, but he questioned the Government's Vision 2020 plan. "First world status is to raise us to a higher level, but they killing us with dust. They are going to kill us with pollution. Is that really development?" asked Annan. He also questioned the EMA's approval of the planned construction of the steel mill. "God knows who the EMA came and saw down here," said Annan. The day of solidarity, which was held at the community's recreational ground, included presentations by a number of activists from that community. http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/09/04/2023447.htm Irrigators' group claims responsibility for pipeline protest Posted Tue Sep 4, 2007 11:13am AEST An irrigators' group says it was responsible for barricading the Premier inside a water pumping station in Victoria's north last week. John Brumby was prevented from leaving the facility at Colbinabbin by a group of farmers from the Plug the Pipe group, angry about a planned pipeline from the Goulburn Valley to Melbourne. Mr Brumby said the protest was organised by the Liberal and National parties, but the group's Andrew Leahy say that is untrue. "Just local grassroots people fighting against the pipeline," he said. Mr Leahy says the Premier might be confused because both political parties support his group's opposition to the pipeline. He is refusing to say who told him of the Premier's trip. http://abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/09/04/2023233.htm?section=justin APEC protesters arrested at coal port Posted Tue Sep 4, 2007 9:11am AEST Updated Tue Sep 4, 2007 11:04am AEST Map: Newcastle 2300 Eleven people have been arrested in the Port of Newcastle, in the New South Wales Hunter region, after climate change protesters tried to disrupt coal loading operations this morning. The 11 protesters were part of a group of 20 young people staging a demonstration at the Carrington loading terminal at the world's biggest coal export port. Police say the group scaled a four-metre-high perimeter fence earlier this morning and five locked themselves onto coal reclaimers, used in ship loading operations. Port officials were forced to shut down the machinery and stop coal train movements for safety reasons. Police moved in and arrested the 11 protesters, who will be charged with trespassing. Police Inspector Damien Cox said the protesters placed themselves in real danger by locking themselves onto machinery. "Certainly, we expect people's right to protest but our major concern is obviously the issue of danger to those people and also to other people who have to go and take them away from this location," he said. The group said it was trying to raise awareness of climate change ahead of the APEC summit leaders' meeting, which runs from Friday to Sunday in Sydney. One of the protesters, Nicky Ison, earlier said the group had hung a banner that read 'APEC fuelling climate chaos'. Coal loading operations in Newcastle have returned to normal after two hours of disruptions. Yesterday, climate change protesters disrupted electricity generation in Victoria when four chained themselves to equipment at a power station in Gippsland's Latrobe Valley. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/09/10/wspain110.xml Herdsmen flock to Madrid sheep protest By Fiona Govan in Madrid Last Updated: 1:54am BST 10/09/2007 The streets of downtown Madrid have been transformed as nomads from the across the globe gathered to lead a procession of sheep in a symbolic show of their right to roam. Herdsmen from as far away as the Masai plains of Kenya and the steppes of Mongolia joined Spanish shepherds on their annual march through the city's boulevards to exercise their right to continue their traditional way of life. Spanish herders drive their stock through the capital to highlight the existence of an ancient route used for the movement of livestock between the summer grazing pastures to warmer wintering regions. "We refuse to allow the encroachment of the modern world to threaten our existence," said Fernando Garcia Dory, one of the organisers, who explained that thousands of routes across Spain were being destroyed by housing developments, roads and railways. The event marked the launch of the World Gathering of Nomads and Transhumance Herders which brings delegates from 32 nations together to discuss the wider issues facing the 250 million nomads whose livelihoods depend on moving their herds between pastures. "It is a wonderful opportunity to come together in a show of solidarity," said Mohamed Ewangaye, 40, a Saharan Touareg, as he led three camels through Plaza Puerta del Sol, Madrid's equivalent of Piccadilly Circus. "We all share the same problems and are fighting for our way of life to be recognised and protected." http://blogs.smh.com.au/sit/archives/2007/09/baabecuestopper_herd_instinct.html Baa-becuestopper: Herd instinct takes over in Madrid protest Usually it's never-ending roadworks, impossibly narrow streets and thousands of other cars that make driving in Madrid a nightmare. On Sunday, it was sheep. Shepherds from 32 countries joined Spanish farmers to herd hundreds of sheep and other farm animals through the city centre as part of an annual protest to protect traditional grazing routes. Urban development has swallowed thousands of kilometres of ancient paths around Madrid, blocking the way of farmers who have used the paths to move their livestock from summer to winter pastures for centuries. Herders from as far away as Kenya, Mongolia, India, Argentina and Mali travelled to Madrid for the annual march to protest against the loss of their land and livelihood to modernisation. The event marked the launch of the World Gathering of Nomads and Transhumance Herders, where participants will discuss the wider issues facing the 250 million nomads whose livelihoods depend on moving their herds between pastures. (Wikipedia defines transhumance as "vertical seasonal livestock movement, typically to higher pastures in summer and to lower valleys in winter".) http://www.sofiaecho.com/article/bulgarian-environmentalists-gathered-in-protest-against-natura-2000-territories-exclusion/id_24892/catid_67 BULGARIAN ENVIRONMENTALISTS PROTEST AGAINST NATURA 2000 TERRITORIES EXCLUSION 16:59 Thu 13 Sep 2007 Between 30 and 40 environmentalists gathered for a protest near the Environment and Water Affairs Ministry building in Sofia against the exclusion of 353 000 sq m of land from the environmental network Natura 2000. Environmentalists gathered on the occasion of the September 13 meeting of the national bio-diversity council which would examine the documentation for the 29 zones that were postponed in November 2006, Focus news agency reported. Elena Tilova from Zeleni Balkani (Green Balkans) eco organisation said that environmentalists from Stara Zagora had arrived in Sofia specially for the protest. Protesters said that excluding the territories from Natura 2000 would threaten the population of the brown bear, wolf, lynx and several other species. According to the European directive for Natura 2000, 70 per cent of the brown bear population should be included in Natura 2000 but currently only 54 per cent is, Tilova said. The territories that were excluded from Natura 2000 cover part of the buffer zones of the national park Balkan and Rila, Sredni Rodopi and Sredna Gora. Environmentalists said that many citizens that were not directly involved in non-governmental organisations joined the protest. http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/thebigblog/archives/121732.asp?from=blog_last3 Protest du Jour Nearly all the local greenies will be out in front of the convention center today to drum up support for a permanent rescue tug to be stationed at Neah Bay. Legislation for this effort has come and gone for eight years now. Environmentalists want the tug ready at the northwest tip of the state, near the entrance to the Strait of Juan de Fuca and, ultimately, Puget Sound, to respond quickly to vessels in distress and to help protect against a possible oil spill. The Clean Pacific Conference, which has been meeting at the convention center since Wednesday, brings together government agencies and business interests in the maritime security, environmental and energy industries. Thursday's protest is being billed as the "Show Us the Tug" street demonstration. And in accordance with Seattle tradition, the People for Puget Sound, Surfrider Foundation, Seattle Audubon, the Washington SCUBA Alliance, et al., have booked appearances by the Mud Monster and Buster the Salmon, in addition to a blue whale, an oyster, an octopus, a crab, surfers, divers and birders. Fun starts at 10:45 a.m. at Seventh and Pine downtown. Posted by Candace Heckman Candace Heckman at September 13, 2007 9:14 a.m. http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/breaking-news/ireland/article2962123.ece Arrests made at latest Shell to Sea protest in Co Mayo Friday, September 14, 2007 Gardai in Co Mayo have arrested a number of people following a protest at the site of the gas refinery being built by Shell in Bellanaboy. A large group of demonstrators gathered at the site this morning for the latest in a series of protests arranged by the Shell to Sea group. They had intended to mount a sit-down blockade, but more than 50 people reportedly climbed over the gates of the refinery site in attempt to disrupt construction work. Shell to Sea claims some protestors were injured in clashes with Gardai. http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=05db89ae-0e9d-4c9c-80c0-34ad18a4a9db&k=46623 Man in hospital with serious head injuries; native protest continues Mark Brennae , CanWest News Service Published: Friday, September 14, 2007 A day after a construction worker was seriously injured in what his brother called an act of "native terrorism," members of the Six Nations maintained a second blockade along the Grand River in southwestern Ontario Friday, in protest of housing developments on land they say they own. On Thursday 52-year-old_Sam Gualtieri, of Caledonia, was seriously injured after a confrontation with several other men. The man was working in a housing development, where he was attacked by at least one or possibly more men, Ontario Provincial Police said. A native protestor sits on the barricade that separates the disputed Douglas Creek Estates land claim site from a suburb of Caledonia on June 29th, 2007. SIMON HAYTER/National Post Const. Paula Wright said the protest began around 7:30 a.m., and the man was, who working inside one of the new homes, was found at about 4 p.m. "It was an isolated incident," Wright said, although she would not rule out the possibility protesters were involved in the attack. The man's brother, Joe, told CHCH-TV that more than three individuals attacked Gualtieri and that his nephew saw a native protester hitting him over the head with what may have been an oak railing. "It was held with two hands when when the one nephew found (Gualtieri) unconscious, the individual had just finished striking him again,"_Joe Gualtieri told CHCH-TV. "Standing on top of him, almost crouched down, beating him over the head - when he was already unconscious." Gualtieri said his brother falls in and out of consciousness and is incoherent and wants the assailant charged with attempted murder. The OPP would not comment on details of the attack, other than to say the man was "in serious condition in hospital," and that no arrests had been made. A spokeswoman for Six Nations, Jacqueline House, confirmed there was a scuffle between at least one protester and a man "upstairs," in one of the homes, but said she was not sure who had started it. Wright said the protest was peaceful and a heavy police presence which included several OPP personnel and cruisers, was there to maintain order. Protesters took the site briefly earlier this month but have returned, the television report said, because despite a meeting between the two sides, builders refused to follow "the natives' protocols," CHCH-TV reported. The blockade is about 1.5 kilometres north of the Douglas Creek housing development site where members of the Six Nations have been protesting for a year and a half. The natives claim they own the land along the Grand River. It was given to them by the British Crown in 1784 but the Canadian government says most of it was surrendered or sold back more than 150 years ago. CanWest News Service/with files from CHCH-TV. http://www.hindu.com/2007/09/19/stories/2007091955661500.htm Greenpeace activists protest against genetically engineered brinjal trials Special Correspondent "Bio-safety data should be made public to enable an independent assessment" - Photo: AFP CALL FOR HALT: Greenpeace activists "force feed" volunteers with genetically-engineered eggplants during a protest outside the Krishi Bhawan in New Delhi. NEW DELHI: Highlighting the imminent threat of genetically engineered (GE) crops on the food chain, Greenpeace on Monday protested against the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) for collaborating in field trials of brinjal. "We are here to demand an immediate halt to all field trials till the bio-safety data generated so far is made public to enable [an] independent assessment. So far, safety studies on all GE crops are shrouded in secrecy that has really hindered the public from analysing the data and raising a debate on the issue. With emerging evidences of companies hiding critical bio-safety data that could prove the negative side-effects of GE crops on health, an independent assessment is indispensable," said Greenpeace campaigner Jai Krishna. Largescale field trials The Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) recently approved largescale field trials of Bt Brinjal, belonging to Mahyco. The expert committee, which allowed these trials, recommended that they be done under the control of ICAR; absolute responsibility was vested with the Director of the Indian Institute of Vegetable Research, an ICAR institute. The ICAR is represented on the GEAC. Alleging contempt of the Supreme Court, the Greenpeace activists said the apex court stayed field trials of GE crops, but the GEAC had approved trials of brinjal. "The GEAC move to legitimise these trials by requiring them to be conducted in institutional premises is most curious as this move does not forestall the possibility of transgenic contamination," said Aruna Rodrigues. Bt brinjal has never been allowed an independent assessment because the safety data has never been disclosed. The efforts of Greenpeace through the Right to Information Act have been unsuccessful as the authorities have not complied with the Central Information Commission's order, she said. http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/breaking-news/ireland/article2988082.ece Tara campaigners stage musical protest outside Dail Saturday, September 22, 2007 Campaigners gathered outside Dail Eireann earlier today to continue their protest against the development of the M3 motorway near the historic Hill Of Tara. Over 20 harpists from TaraHarpers played their instruments on the streets outside the Government Buildings to demonstrate against the proposed route. Hollywood star Stuart Townsend spoke out in support of the action "All along we've always said, we understand that Meath residents don't want to sit in traffic any more than I do," he said. "But obviously you need to balance that out with environmental and heritage protection" http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/Story.asp?Article=194771&Sn=BNEW&IssueID=30188 Protest may shut factory By MOHAMMED AL A' ALI A STEEL factory in Buhair could be closed, following years of protests from people living nearby. Residents also want a nearby labour camp run by another company moved, saying it overlooks their homes and invades their privacy. The Central Municipal Council wants to give the steel factory owner the opportunity to switch to an alternative business, less likely to disturb his neighbours. They say they will grant a licence if he agrees to switch to a commercial business, such as warehousing, instead of an industrial factory. Councillors say they will also work to relocate the nearby labour camp, to ease residents' discomfort. Families have submitted several petitions to the council, demanding that the factory be closed and the neighbouring camp moved. They say the factory is noisy and operates day and night. They also complain that the labourers in the camp are noisy and can see into their home, said council chairman and area councillor Abdulrahman Al Hassan said yesterday. Random licensing is the main reason behind the problems those residents are facing." "Whether they came first or the factory and labour camp doesn't matter because the area has residents and they are our top priority." "We have nothing against the businessman and we don't want him out of business and this is why we are coming up with something that he and residents would be happy with," said Mr Al Hassan. He said the labour camp near the steel factory was another problem. "This camp overlooks houses and if people can't have privacy in their houses, then what can they do? " asked Mr Al Hassan. "It would be now up to the council to decide the fate of the factory and camp, which we hope will be removed as soon as possible from the area, which is expected to see more houses in the future." The council is expected to discuss the problem at its meeting tomorrow. alaali at gdn.com.bh www.thejakartapost.com/detailnational.asp?fileid=20071005.H06&irec=5 Biak people protest Russian satellite plan JAYAPURA, Papua: At least 300 members of the Biak Traditional Council (DAB) protested Thursday outside the Biak Numfor regency legislative council, demanding the government review its decision to permit the launch of a Russian satellite from the area in 2010. "The agreement on the Russian satellite launch, which was signed in Jakarta last month, was unlawful because it failed to involve the Biak traditional community in the talks that led to the agreement," protest coordinator and DAB chairman Piter Yarangga said. He said a DAB plenary meeting held earlier in the day recommended the central government review the agreement, which it said would have an impact on the local community's customary rights.-- JP http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-10-07-voa17.cfm New Delhi Police Put Down Riot After Bus Kills 7 By VOA News 07 October 2007 Indian authorities say riot police in New Delhi fired tear gas Sunday to disperse an angry crowd after a bus crashed into a group of pedestrians, killing seven people. Police detain, beat up a resident who was allegedly throwing brickbats at the police after an accident in New Delhi, 07 Oct 2007 Police said crowds of angry people blocked streets and beat up the driver of the Blue Line bus. The privately operated Blue Line buses can often be seen speeding and breaking traffic laws to beat their competitors to pick up passengers. The buses have killed more than 85 people this year. The Blue Line buses account for about half of the thousands of buses running in the Indian capital. Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters. From ldxar1 at tesco.net Tue Oct 9 13:32:57 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Tue, 9 Oct 2007 21:32:57 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] Satyagraha against power project in Sikkim, north India Message-ID: <007401c80ab3$940aab10$0802a8c0@andy1> A protest movement has been launched against hydro-electric power projects in northern parts of Sikkim in India, particularly regarding attempts to divert a river in Dzondza. The movement is led by the indigenous Lepchas who claim the affected area is sacred to them and that constitutional protections involved in the incorporation of Sikkim into India are being violated. The campaign is taking the classic form of a satyagraha or non-violence movement, including marches, rotating fasts and suchlike. Despite this emphasis on non-violence the movement has faced repression. India has faced ongoing protests against its massive hydroelectric schemes, which are nearly always located in the impoverished and tribal areas of the north, such as the long campaign against the Narmada Dam project. The schemes generally destroy farmland and indigenous ways of life without compensation, whereas the benefits flow mainly to the rich and the state. The last article attached does not deal directly with the protests but helps locate the issue in a broader persistence of colonial reasoning in India. http://www.hindu.com/2007/09/13/stories/2007091354420900.htm Protest against hydel projects in north Sikkim spreads Special Correspondent Hunger-strikes by Lepchas in Darjeeling and Kalimpong of West Bengal; Delhi dharna planned Kolkata: The hunger-strike by members of the Affected Citizens of Teesta (ACT), an organisation largely made up of Lepcha ethnic community in Sikkim, entered its 85th day in Gangtok on Wednesday. A renewed appeal by the Sikkim government to call it off has been rejected. The organisation is demanding the scrapping of hydel power projects proposed in the north of the State. What started as an indefinite strike has turned into a relay. Similar hunger-strikes have been launched in Darjeeling and Kalimpong by members of the Lepcha community in neighbouring West Bengal and moves are on to spread the movement, Dawa Tshering Lepcha, general secretary ACT, told The Hindu from Gangtok. A fresh phase of protests is also being planned in New Delhi, he added. The ACT is opposing the Sikkim government's proposal to set up seven hydel power projects in the Dzongu area north of the State - a region that falls within the Lepcha tribal reserved area and has a population of nearly 8,000. There are less than 45,000 Lepchas, barely five per cent of the State's population, across Sikkim. Dzongu considered sacred "Dzongu is considered sacred by all Lepchas. The community originated from the region and the setting up of mega projects there is being opposed on grounds that they pose not just a demographic threat to the community, but a threat to its traditions and culture and the environment as well," Mr. Lepcha said. In an appeal in the form of a letter to ACT president, the Sikkim Chief Secretary had stated that the Cabinet has approved setting up of a seven-member review committee to "examine issues relating to the implementation of hydel projects in North Sikkim." The committee has been directed to submit its report within 100 days. Till then activities in five proposed projects will stop, the letter added. "We have rejected the setting up of the committee as we have not been consulted regarding its constitution. One condition of ours was that half its members be eminent environmentalists drawn from outside the State," Mr. Lepcha said. http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSSP65944 Ancient India tribe marches against power project Sat Oct 6, 2007 7:47am EDT By Bappa Majumdar KOLKATA, India, Oct 6 (Reuters) - Thousands of Indian tribespeople protested on Saturday against the construction of hydro power projects on what they say is sacred land in the remote northeast, officials said. The ancient Buddhist Lepchas, who say they are already marginalised by the growing population of ethnic Hindu Nepalis in the region, strongly oppose the project in Dzongu mountain, which they regard as the abode of their guardian god of the mountains. "Dzongu is a reserved territory of the Lepchas and we will protect the land of our forefathers with the last drop of blood," said Tseten Lepcha of the Affected Citizens of Teesta. There are plans to construct at least six hydro power projects along the Teesta river in the tiny Himalayan state of Sikkim to generate more than 3,000 MW of power. The protest was seen spreading on Saturday after thousands of Lepchas were seen holding placards and shouting "Stop the project" and "Protect Dzongu", on the streets of Kalimpong, a tourist town in neighbouring West Bengal state, witnesses said. The ancient Lepchas traditionally revere the Teesta river, and fear its disappearance into a series of proposal tunnels will be accompanied by their own marginalisation. It will also cause widespread destruction of vegetation and kill thousands of rare fish, they say. Several rounds of talks with the government have failed to resolve the dispute. "The parleys have all failed and they want nothing less than scrapping of the Teesta project, which is impossible," B.B. Gooroong, chief adviser to the government, said on Saturday. The 100,000 Lepchas living in the two states are now coming together on the issue. "Dzongu is all that is left to us, how can we let them destroy it," added Dawa Lepcha. http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=10&theme=&usrsess=1&id=172754 Lepcha rally in Kalimpong draws thousands Statesman News Service GANGTOK, Oct. 7: Over 5,000 people took part in a mass rally organised by members of the Indigenous Lepcha Tribal Association at Kalimpong yesterday to protest against upcoming hydroelectric power projects at Dzongu, a Lepcha reserve in North Sikkim. People from Nepali, Bhutia and Lepcha communities ad members of various social organisations took part in the rally that started from 10th Mile Fatak and culminated at Damber Chowk, a stretch of five kilometre. "We will do whatever we can to stop setting up of hydel power projects at Dzongu," said Mr Lyangsong Tamsang, president of ILTA. The Lepchas from Kailmpong and Darjeeling have already started hunger-strike to express their solidarity with members of the Affetted Citizens of Teesta who have launched a tirade against the Sikkim government over the issue. The relay hunger-strike of the Lepchas has completed 108 days in Sikkim, 47 days in Kalimpong and 37 days in Darjeeling. Mr Dilip Kumar Pradhan, a member of Seva Kalyan Samiti, said: "Not only Lepchas, all people should oppose the Sikkim government's bid to disturb the sanctity of Dzongu." Those who participated in the rally included members of the Government Pensioners' Association, Seva Kalyan Samiti, All India Nepali Scheduled Caste Association, Kalimpong, Darjeeling Hill Muslim Association and Milanee Club. http://www.newkerala.com/oct.php?action=fullnews&id=7986 Peace rally to protest mega hydel power projects in Sikkim Gangtok, Oct 2: Police today detained many monks and youth of the Lepcha community when they attempted to take out a peace procession towards Gandhi statue to focus their plight in Sikkim. About 100 monks and Lepcha youths under the banner of Sangha of Dzongu (SOD) and Concerned Lepchas of Sikkim (CLOS) carrying a portrait of the Father of Nation took out a rally with banners, prayer flags along with the tri-colour to protest proposed erection of dams and setting up power projects in tribal north Sikkim. Along with the Affected Citizens of Teesta (ACT), both the organizations have been spearheading a Satyagraha against the proposed implementation of mega hydel power projects in north district. As their relay hunger strike entered its 104th day today, the rallyists were proceeding to offer floral tributes to Mahatma Gandhi's statue at M G Marg here. The detention came after the rallyists defied an order to remove the banners and stopped slogans, except the national flag, before proceeding towards the statue. Police detained about 25 people, including monks and later allowed the remaining people in groups to offer their tributes to the Mahatma sans banners and posters. East Sikkim Superintendent of Police (SP) M S Tuli said the procession did not take any permission as required under Section 30 A of the Police Act. Mr Tuli said the leaders of the rally would be detained under 151 Cr Pc to prevent further trouble while the others would be released. Meanwhile, a state-level function to tribute Mahatma Gandhi was also organized at the same place. --- UNI http://www.hindu.com/2007/10/07/stories/2007100754401200.htm Hydro-power projects in Sikkim to be reviewed Aarti Dhar NEW DELHI: The Affected Citizens of Teesta (ACT), whose agitation demanding a halt to all hydro-power projects in Sikkim completed 100 days, got an assurance from the Planning Commission that some aspects of the proposed projects in the region, particularly in Sikkim, will be reviewed. An ACT delegation, which met five members of the Commission earlier this week, told The Hindu that the members had assured them that a committee would be set up to look into "some aspects" of the projects. The ACT has also submitted a petition to the Supreme Court's Empowered Committee to stay the projects, said Dawa Lepcha, ACT general secretary. The Lepchas, identified as one of the three ethnic tribal communities of Sikkim, have been protesting against the projects as they pass through their 'sacred land' Dzongu. They believe that the rivers and the peaks in Dzongu are their places of origin and final resting, and they will be affected due to the projects. http://www.tehelka.com/story_main34.asp?filename=cr290907SATYAGRAHA.asp Satyagraha For The Teesta Protestors from across Sikkim are on hunger strike against projects on the river. NEERAJ VAGHOLIKAR reports Mountain in a river: Excavated material dumped back in the Teesta to slow its waters Photo: Manju Menon The Sikkim government's plans to expedite a major plumbing exercise - involving 26 large hydroelectric projects in the ecologically and culturally sensitive Teesta river basin - is meeting with resistance. Protestors have joined together in an organisation called the Affected Citizens of Teesta (ACT); they have been on satyagraha against these plans since June 20. The ongoing protests are focused on projects proposed in North Sikkim, particularly in Dzongu, the holy land and exclusive reserve of the Lepcha tribe. The satyagraha has been characterised by a prominent youth presence; another important feature was the support lent by the state's Buddhist monks, who have been offering prayers to protect the satyagrahis and the sacred landscape threatened with desecration. While Sikkim has seen dam-related protests before, there have never been any on this scale. The 1990s saw the construction of the 60MW Rangit project, clearances for the 510MW Teesta V project (currently under construction) and the scrapping of the Rathong Chu project following protests about its impact on a sacred landscape. But in the last three years, the state government has signed MOUs for no less than 26 large hydroelectric projects in the state. Relay team: Protestors who are on a hunger strike demanding the scrapping of the project Courtesy:Weepingssikkim.com On December 12, 2006, ACT met Chief Minister Pawan Chamling. They demanded the scrapping of the projects in Dzongu, and sought a review of the other projects in Sikkim. Based on an assurance from the CM that these issues would be looked into, they called off a proposed rally in Gangtok. But ACT's concerns were not addressed and in the months preceding the satyagraha, the state government started land acquisition procedures for the 1200MW Teesta III and the 280MW Panan projects, both of which involve construction work inside Dzongu. This was the last straw and ACT started its satyagraha on June 20, with 34-year-old Dawa Lepcha and 20- year-old Tenzing Lepcha on an indefinite fast, while others supported them with a relay hunger strike. The arguments used to justify these large projects in Sikkim are: exploitation of the state's perennial water system to produce power for the nation; economic benefits to the state through power export; employment generation and low displacement of local communities. However, several unique features of the state - its ecological and geological fragility, its indigenous communities, their cultural and spiritual association with the river system and the landscape - pose a challenge to these ambitious plans. The erstwhile kings of Sikkim had accorded special legal protection to Dzongu and North Sikkim, further reinforced after the merger with India through constitutional protection of old laws and traditions. "The spurt of large hydel projects in Sikkim is in direct contradiction of the constitutional and legal protection given to us. The simultaneous construction of so many projects is going to involve an influx of a huge number of outside labour for a long period of time. These demographic changes are going to have a serious socio cultural impact, particularly in North Sikkim. We want the seven proposed projects in Dzongu scrapped and others in Sikkim reviewed," says Dawa Lepcha of ACT. The ministry of Environment & Forests (MOEF), while granting environmental clearance to the 510MW Teesta V project in 1999 asked for a detailed 'carrying capacity' study of the entire Teesta river basin. The clearance letter states: "No other project in Sikkim will be considered for environmental clearance till the carrying capacity study is completed." Solidarity: The Lepchas of the Darjeeling hills also support the Sikkim agitators Photo: Azuk Lepcha Pemzang Tenzing, a civil engineer and ACT member, says: "We were hopeful that this process would enable a comprehensive assessment of the cumulative impact of the many proposed hydel projects and a serious options assessment for ecologically and culturally sensitive development in Sikkim. But even as the study is being finalised, the MOEF has already granted environmental clearance to at least six hydel projects in Sikkim since 2004 in violation of its own condition." At least two of these - the 1,200 MW Teesta III and the 280 MW Panan - are on the border of the Khangchendzonga National Park. A large part of the first is, in fact, inside the biosphere reserve and the second involves carrying out ancillary works inside the national park in violation of Supreme Court orders. Tenzing adds, "Even as per official figures, the projects involve diverting up to 85-90 percent of the river flow in the lean season through long tunnels before the water is dropped downstream. Not only will this destroy the riverine ecology but a cascade of projects will mean the Teesta is in full flow only in brief stretches between the two hydel projects. That is why we are saying that the Teesta is being converted into an underground river." There have been repeated appeals from the state government to withdraw the satyagraha and at least six rounds of talks were held between the government and ACT, but none led to a conclusive breakthrough. After a personal appeal from the CM, Dawa and Tenzing withdrew their indefinite fast on August 21 after 63 days, but the satyagraha continues with the relay hunger strike by other members. On September 6, the government informed ACT that a seven-member review committee is being set up to "examine various issues related to implementation of hydel projects in Dzongu area of North Sikkim" and that until the submission of a report by the committee within 100 days all activities related to five projects in Dzongu would be stopped with immediate effect. The government has conveniently left out two major projects directly impacting Dzongu - TeestaIII & Teesta IV. While it has chosen to leave out Teesta III where land acquisition procedures have been on, four of the five projects it claims to stop work on are yet to get necessary clearances to start work. On September 10, ACT rejected this proposition and renewed the demand for scrapping all hydel projects in Dzongu. During this entire period there has been tremendous support to the satyagrahis from around the country and the world. The Lepchas in the Darjeeling hills have also lent their support to the cause, with a road blockade of NH31A as well as ongoing relay hunger strikes in Kalimpong and Darjeeling. Opposition parties have also taken up the issue, but this has been conveniently used by the ruling Sikkim Democratic Front government to dismiss the entire protest as being "politically motivated". In a speech on Independence Day, the CM made personal attacks on several individuals associated with the protests, including respected Buddhist monk Sonam Paljor Denjongpa. The attack was condemned even by those who support the hydel projects. Sikkim's Information and Public Relations secretary MG Kiran says: "We do not yet know what their (ACT's) problem is. These are benign projects and we can handle them well." It is ironic that just a few months ago, the state Chief Secretary admitted to an environmental governance crisis in the 510MW Teesta V project in an affidavit to the Supreme Court-appointed Central Empowered Committee. The affidavit says the power company has "grossly violated the terms, conditions and guidelines" of the MOEF and dumped excavated material "into the river Teesta obstructing its free flow causing thereby huge damage to the forest and environment." http://nagarealm.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=4496 Stabbing the mountains Posted byadminonSaturday, September 29, 2007 In May 2003, the Centre launched the 50,000 MW hydroelectric initiative as a step forward to tap the near 78 per cent unutilised hydropower potentials in the country. In all 162 new hydroelectric projects across 16 Indian states were proposed and the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation was identified as the nodal agency for execution. The North-east topped the list with 76 hydroelectric projects proposed across Sikkim, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram, which on completion would alone generate 31,885 MW power. The ten projects proposed in Sikkim, as estimated, would yield 1,469 MW energy. All these projects were envisaged in the river Teesta and its tributaries. The Teesta, with a 7,755 square km catchment area, traverses a 414 km distance cutting across Sikkim, parts of Darjeeling hills and the plains of Jalpaiguri before submerging into the mighty Brahmaputra in Bangladesh. Four years down the line, now in 2007, of the ten proposed hydroelectric projects, the Teesta stage-V is near completion, Teesta stage-IV is under survey and investigation, while another five projects in north Sikkim have been stalled due to agitation by the ethnic Lepcha community. Two other hydroelectric projects in the Teesta basin, located in Darjeeling district bordering Sikkim - the Teesta Low Dam Project-III & IV - are under construction. Both the TLDP III & IV are coming up alongside National Highway 31A that connects Sikkim with the rest of the country, via Siliguri. As is the case with big hydropower projects elsewhere in the country, conservationists had vehemently opposed the river taming projects in the Teesta. They demanded scrapping of the TLDP III & IV at the very conceptual stage, arguing that the hydropower projects would result in large-scale damage to the natural environment and would put an adverse impact on the lives of surrounding habitants. However, giving a damn to the environmental concerns and twisting the rules and norms, the NHPC ultimately managed to get the go-ahead signal from the Union ministry of environment and forests. As was apprehended by conservationists, construction of the two hydropower projects, coupled with other factors, have now started taking their toll on the overall natural environment, both in Sikkim and the Darjeeling hills. Landslips and landslides in the region, this time around, have shot up to a worrisome high. Residents and environmentalists say that after 1950 the situation has degraded to an all time worst both in terms of frequency and devastation caused by the landslides. The magnitude of the landslides is such that in August-September alone, the Sikkim lifeline NH 31A was closed for over 15 days. The 92 km highway has degraded to such a miserable state at Kalijhora and Rambhi (TLDP project sites) that the arterial road might simply get eliminated in the near future. Given the context, there is a need to take a re-look at the 50,000 MW hydroelectric initiative that facilitated an intensified river taming activity in the country. Rectification of the 3:97 adverse hydro-thermal power ratio and taking it to the ideal 40:60 contribution was laid down as the prime motivator for the 50,000 MW initiative launched in 2003. The major thrust was put on exploitation of the abundant and commercially viable (sic) hydropower potentials in the eight north-eastern states. And here comes to fore the typical colonial approach to development, wherein the powers-that-be try to impose everything from above. On most of the occasions developmental needs are identified within a prejudiced and biased framework. In a larger context, it is the inherent malady of the development philosophy across Third World nations. Instead of taking a customised approach, as the diverse natural and social settings demand, developmental plans are often adopted as a uniform replica. Thus, we plan Delhi-like high-rise shopping malls in the Darjeeling hills and want to drive Mercedes to the Everest! Irrespective of the actual need and suitability, big dams, flyovers and expressways et al have emerged as the key indicators of "development" in our times. The decision to tap the huge hydropower potentials of the North-east, was based on the consideration of commercial viability, and bypassed the vital aspect of environmental and social affordability of such exploitation. Like, while envisaging the Teesta basin hydroelectric projects, it was plain overlooked that the soil in Sikkim and the Darjeeling hills primarily consisting of gneissose and half-schistose rocks, is coarse and shallow in nature and simply cannot withstand big hydropower projects. A large portion of the Sikkim territory is covered by the precambian rock and is much younger in age than the hills. The rock consists of phyllites and schists and therefore turns the slopes vulnerable to weathering and is very prone to erosion. Excessive rainfall, which is a common feature in the region, further intensifies the erosion and causes heavy loss of soil nutrients through leaching. This makes the hills very fragile and vulnerable to even a little disturbance. Again, the Teesta river basin falls under zone IV of the Indo-Myanmar seismic map and often experiences tremors of low to moderate intensity. Between 1897 and 1990, a total of eight earthquakes measuring 6 to 7.6 on the Richter Scale was recorded near the TLDP project sites in the Teesta. >From its origination point in lake Chho Lhamu, at an altitude of 5,488 metres in the Himalayas, the Teesta emerges as a snout from the Zemu glacier located above the Lachen Gompha. It is a rain and snow-fed river. About 158.40 square km area of the river basin remains permanently covered with snow. During a 1999 study, the International Commission for Snow and Ice found the glaciers in the Himalayas receding faster than in any other part of the world and at present rates, are likely to disappear by 2035. High-altitude lakes formed by the glacial avalanching are potentially dangerous. Moraine dams (created by debris accumulated by glacial action on mountain slopes and valley floors), which hold back these waters are comparatively unstable and a sudden breach can lead to the discharge of huge volumes of water and debris, which would eventually result in devastation in the downstream. A 2002 report by the Geological Survey of India, Kolkata branch, made the case against the Teesta hydroelectric projects further strong. It specifically warned that "A number of active and dormant landslides are present within the project area due partly to anthropogenic activities and partly to adverse geological condition/slope morphology... further destabilisation of already vulnerable slopes cannot be ruled out. Proposed constructional activities may also cause landslides. "Though NH 31A will be at a much higher elevation of the FRL of Stage IV dam, but in those stretches where mud-stone and clay-stone will come into contact with the reservoir water, stability of the existing road bench may become vulnerable." The expert warnings could not deter the decision makers who put commercial considerations first. Nor did they think that with its dense forest cover and rich biodiversity, the Teesta river basin hosts one of the 25 biodiversity hotspots in the world and any hindrance in the natural flow of the turbulent river would eventually invite disaster on the surrounding habitants. Thus, keeping in tune with the national hydropower policy of India, the Union ministry of environment and forests gave its nod to the TLDP projects in 2003-04. West Bengal, in whose territory the TLDP III & IV are coming up, was happy to ink a deal that facilitates 12 per cent power share for the state free of cost and other related benefits. The cumulative result: the over 5.40 lakh population in Sikkim and the near half a lakh in Kalimpong sub-division (as per the 2001 census) in Darjeeling district, every now and then suffer the risk of getting cut off from the rest of the country. Carrying forward the devastating march, the NHPC is now all set to build another five hydroelectric projects in the Teesta at Dzongu in north Sikkim. The government of Sikkim is trying to "convince" the Lepcha community which has stalled the proposed projects by virtue of its indefinite fast. It is being touted that "the hydropower projects would usher in social and economic prosperity in Sikkim". The fact is, just like the failed battle against the TLDP III & IV projects in West Bengal, concerns against the hydropower projects proposed at Dzongu have got more than enough scientific and logical footings. In 2001-2006, the Centre for Inter-disciplinary Studies of Mountain & Hill Environment, University of Delhi, conducted a study on the carrying capacity of the Teesta basin in Sikkim. The key findings of the study (pages 161-220) read: "Physiographic studies show that the valleys in the northern parts of Teesta basin are asymmetrical which indicate instability and proneness of slopes to sliding. Glacial moraines, mostly confined to north Sikkim, along with numerous active landslides in the region, indicate that this locale represents a fragile ecosystem. During the formation of Darjeeling-Kalimpong or the Sikkim Himalayan ranges, intense folding, faulting and thrust movements have taken place. These tectonic features act as trigger points for catastrophic manifestations of the natural dynamic forces resulting in earthquakes and landslides. These events represent serious geological hazards and make the region highly fragile - and sensitive to any disturbance." The report specifically cautions: "The thick moraine deposits at several sites in north Sikkim provide weak substrates on which it seems very unsafe to establish any mega developmental project." For the time being, the Lepchas of Sikkim have become successful in stalling the hydroelectric projects at Dzongu. However, only time will tell whether they ultimately succeed in getting the projects scrapped or succumb like the activists who had risen against the TLDP projects in West Bengal. For, fighting an all-powerful state is not an easy task, more so is to battle its mindset. (The author is on the staff of The Statesman, Siliguri) http://sikkimnews.blogspot.com/2007/09/relay-hunger-strikes-continue-in.html Wednesday, September 19, 2007 Relay hunger strikes continue in Darjeeling, Kalimpong GANGTOK, Sept. 18: The Lepchas from Darjeeling and Kalimpong are still on their relay hunger strike, which completed 27 days in Kalimpong and 18 days in Darjeeling. Also, they have successfully completed their Delhi tour where they had pleaded with the UPA and Union ministers. "We met Mr Oscar Fernandez, union labour minister and he has assured us", said Mr Dorjee T Lepcha president of the Indigenous Lepcha Tribal Association (ILTA). "We also met Mr Nilotpal Basu, Mr Fernandez and Mr Abani Roy, RSP, and they too have taken the matter seriously," he added. "Mr Fernandez was surprised that no one had brought up the issue and was under the impression that everybody was happy with the projects," said Mr Lepcha. "So now he had will take the matter seriously," he added. "We also wrote letters to the Human Right Commission and they are sending some journalists and politicians to look the matter" said Mr Ajuk Tamsangmo, chief coordinator of the lepcha youth organisation (LYO). "They are also committed to solve the matter soon, " he added. "We are waiting for the state government to fulfil its commitment as the hunger strike by the affected citizen of Teesta (ACT) continues", said Mr Tamsangmo. "Our religious sentiments and our faith which we have been practicing for thousands of years is at stake. So we are ready to sacrifice our selves to protect Dzongu sanctity", he added. "Now we are also planning a mass rally in Kolkata and demonstrations in Delhi next month, " he said. Earlier, they had met tribal minister, Mr PR Kyndya and Mr Raj Nath Singh, national president of BJP and they had receives a positive response. at 8:46 AM Posted by The Sikkim Times www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=31&theme=&usrsess=1&id=170790 A colonial haunting When decolonisation dismantles the residues of a humiliating past, and even as Bombay has been renamed Mumbai and Calcutta Kolkata, we await the day when Darjeeling will become Dorjiling, writes Sreejith Kalandy In March 1929, British officialdom in Darjeeling, headed by the deputy commissioner, Blandy, was busy making plans to commemorate what was assumed to be the centenary of its founding. Officially, the British had come to possess the town only in 1835, and, therefore, some time still remained for the completion of the 100th year of its possession. But as a certain H Hosten, defending official wisdom, commented in Bengal Past and Present, "May we not say that 18 June, 1829, the date of Lloyd's first report indicates the beginning of Darjeeling, and that therefore 18 June 1929 might suitably be celebrated as its first centenary?" He also suggested that the "first documents (old diaries, family papers, newspapers, printed books) to which Darjeeling owes its existence as a British city be published or republished this year" as a means of leaving behind "some enduring form of the public spirit aroused by a century of peaceful occupation... and some lasting remembrance of the men who lived here and are gone". For the colonisers, the history of the region effectively began with their arrival. The natives were seen as incapable of independent existence - a non-historical people destined to be absorbed by larger nations. The Lepchas, among others, as Dozey, the historian, observed, "have no history either of themselves or of others". On those rare occasions, when native actors like the "pagla dewan" of Sikkim do find their way into the pages of colonial historiography, it is inevitably in the form of villains, counter posed as they are to apparent Anglo-Saxon heroes like Campbell. The rapacious colonial territorial conquests in these parts were legitimised through a deployment of the myth of Pax Brittanica, which, it has to be said, has been internalised by many a modern day Anglophile, caricatured to a fault by Chhabi Biswas in the Ray classic, Kanchenjunga. In Darjeeling, fear of disease and disorder prompted the British to demarcate where the whites and the locals were to live. The result, as elsewhere in India, was two different worlds - the English settlements with well-planned streets and gardens, whereas the locals had to live alongside narrow filthy lanes. In the white areas, apart from Auckland Road and Lavendar Lane, reveal the distinctly English names given to half-timbered dwellings modelled after English country cottages, which may have partly mitigated the nostalgia the early settlers felt for an England left behind. More than that, perhaps, naming and renaming of places in the imperial agenda constituted a symbolic as well as literal act of mastery. The areas inhabited by the British, including its armed barracks, were self- contained in order "to keep them away from the baneful influences at work in the bazaar". On the infrequent occasions the British ventured to those areas inhabited by the locals, they were repulsed by the filth and poverty they were confronted with. While entering a monastery, Newman's Guide to Darjeeling warned intending visitors to "provide themselves with a good supply of eu-de-cologne as the sacred atmosphere of the interior is a good deal removed from that of 'Araby the Blest'." For many among the English, India's present was akin to Britain's past. On seeing a devil dance in a monastery, W Brook Northey exclaimed, "As a picture of medievalism, I know nothing to compare with it." In the construction of a "British" identity, demarcation of difference and inferiorisation of the "other" was something the colonisers could not do without. In Darjeeling, to describe one as "enlightened" meant that someone else like the Lepchas or the Bhutias had to be demonised. Thus, of the native coolies, Captain Hathorn had this to say, "Strange, wild, dirty, uncombed, independent semi-savages they are... with the Mongolian cast of countenance." The region was thought to be rich in resources with great potential for economic development, but the ignorance of the locals and the obsolete social customs they followed were blamed for hindering the possibility of it being transferred into a commercially viable economy. The above-mentioned guide, for instance, claimed that "the European tea planter has done more to develop the natural resources of this beautiful country within a short span of years, than could be accomplished in centuries without his aid". In colonial discourse, imperial Europe was projected as the "centre" and the areas that lay outside it at the margin or the periphery, lacking in civilisation. Consequently the colonisers' attempts to bring those areas under the influence of "enlightenment" became the rationale for their exploitation. Decades after independence, we are yet to confront our colonial past, let alone question it. What else but a masked Raj hangover is it when we take pride in the repair of a colonial watch-tower or the renovation of the tomb of Captain Lloyd, one of the architects of the dubious acquisition of Darjeeling by the British. While decolonisation elsewhere dismantles the residues of a humiliating past, and even as Bombay has been renamed Mumbai, and Calcutta Kolkata, we still await the day when Darjeeling will become Dorjiling. And, indeed, that hour, when the USA next decides to invade a Third World country, while the rest of the world protests, we will think twice before donning the Stars and Stripes. (The author is a Lecturer in History of Darjeeling Government College.) From ldxar1 at tesco.net Tue Oct 9 13:40:53 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Tue, 9 Oct 2007 21:40:53 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] Global pro-democracy protests Message-ID: <007f01c80ab4$afc4f210$0802a8c0@andy1> Protests against undemocratic regimes and over issues of human rights, civil rights and corruption. (I wasn't quite sure what to do with the rather bizarre movement in Italy...) * BELARUS: Arrests at court solidarity protest * INGUSHETIA: Protesters accuse state of abductions, clash with police * EGYPT: Bedouin stage wave of angry protests against police harassment * BURMA/MYANMAR: Monks trash shop in anti-regime protest * ASSAM/INDIA: Death of suspect's mother prompts protests * US: San Jose protest against tasers * ITALY: "Irreverent" anti-politician movement shakes elite * KENYA: Muslims protest deportations of "terror suspects" * NIGERIA: Traders protest against police, army harassment * UK: Protesters demand action on Darfur * PAKISTAN: Teachers stage protest against abuses * GERMANY: Attack on civil liberties protested * EGYPT: Journalists strike to protest abuses http://www.charter97.org/eng/news/2007/09/04/omon Seizure by riot policemen near the court (Photo) 17:12, 04/09/2007 Today court trials over Young Front activists are taking place in Salihorsk and Nyasvizh. Dozens of people have gathered to express support to the young activists. However, buildings of the court were cordoned off by riot police. And riot policemen detained people. Administrative violation reports against opposition activists of full age detained near the building of Salihorsk regional court have been drawn up. They are charged with violation of the article 23.34 Part 1 of the Administrative Code of Belarus (Violation of the order of organizing or holding mass events or picketing), a detained Franak Vyachorka said. Ales Kalita, Zmitser Fedaruk and some other persons are staying in the local police department. Trials over the detainees could take place on September 4 or 5, Franak Vyachorka supposed. Part 1 of Article 23.34 of the Administrative Code reads: "Violation of the established order of a meeting, street rally, demonstration, picket or other mass event holding leads to an official warning, or a fine up to 30 basic units, or an administrative arrest". As we have informed, 15 young activists were detained on September 4 near the building of Salihorsk regional court where the trial over Ivan Shyla is taking place today. Ivan Shyla is charged with activities on behalf of an unregistered organization (the Young Front). http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2007/09/20/014.html Thursday, September 20, 2007. Issue 3747. Page 3. Protesters, Police Clash at Ingush Protest Rally The Associated Press NAZRAN, Ingushetia -- Hundreds of people scuffled with police and threw stones at a rally Wednesday in Ingushetia's main city, Nazran, to protest increasing abductions. Some 500 people rallied in a central square and blocked a main road to protest the spike in kidnappings, which they blamed on federal and regional military, law enforcement and security forces. http://www.russiatoday.ru/news/news/14468 September 20, 2007, 22:24 "In charge of situation" say Ingush authorities as violence subsides At least two soldiers have been killed and four wounded in separate incidents in the southern Russian republic of Ingushetia. A car and an army truck came under fire in different locations within an hour of each other. At least 13 people have died as attacks on law enforcement officers, army personnel and civilians increase in the region. More than a dozen incidents have been reported in the last few weeks alone. Meanwhile, two Ingush men that were abducted in the Chechen republic on Wednesday have been released. They are now home and safe. The father of one of the abducted men thanked those involved in the release. "We have relatives and friends in Moscow and in the Chechen republic who helped us, we also recieved support from many decent police and security officers who took part in the search," he said. "I'd like to also thank the media for their help," the man continued: "They called me at one in the morning, gave the phone to my son, he said they were alive and well and asked to pick them up from the town of Shatoy in the Chechen republic." They were kidnapped on Wednesday while on their way home from the city of Grozny. Unidentified men in military clothing are said to have stopped their taxi and beaten the driver. The incident immediately sparked a protest in the city of Nazran in Ingushetia where some two hundred people blocked a road and the only railway in the city. They blamed the Ingushetia authorities for the kidnapping. The region's Interior Minister arrived at the rally but was attacked by the protestors and had to flee. Police tried to disperse the crowd, which responded by throwing rocks. Several people were injured on the both sides. Police even fired gunshots into the air to disperse the crowd but it continued to grow until the news came that the abducted men had been released. The President of the Republic Murat Zyazikov denied any allegations that Ingush authorities were involved in the incident. "I was going to fly back home last night, but towards night everything returned to normal. They were found somewhere in the Shali district of the Chechen republic. It is an unclear and intricate story. Moreover, those who were saying the brothers had disappeared didn't apply in writing to the prosecution office or anywhere," Mr Zyazikov noted. The security situation in Ingushetia has been deteriorating over the last two months following the murder of an ethnic Russian woman and her children. Later a bomb exploded at their funeral injuring some ten people. The new incident adds to the local government's problems, but it says it is in charge of the situation. Meanwhile, human rights groups say the situation in Ingushetia is getting out of control. Even the president of the Chechen republic Kadyrov offered help, but Moscow besides sending additional troops has so far kept silent, and Mr Zyazikov made it clear, his republic can solve its problems on its own. http://africa.reuters.com/wire/news/usnL07749387.html Sinai Bedouin protest against Egyptian government Fri 7 Sep 2007, 16:56 GMT EL ARISH, Egypt, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Hundreds of Bedouin protested peacefully in Egypt's Sinai on Friday, complaining of poor living conditions and violence against them by Egyptian authorities, security sources said. The Bedouin gathered in the Al-Masoura region near Rafah, in Wadi Amr in central Sinai, and near Sharm el-Sheikh, demanding an end to arbitrary arrests and demolition of homes, the sources said. They threatened to expand the protest if their demands were not met. Bedouin leaders said police had killed a 20-year-old Bedouin man, Ali Abdelbasit Salama, on Wednesday as he tried to cross into Israel. They also said police had detained a Bedouin activist, Massoud Abou Fager, at a checkpoint in the town of Kantara Sharq on Thursday night. Earlier this week Bedouins blocked the road north from the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh with burning tyres in protest at the demolition of 20 houses. Police had said the houses were built without licences. Relations between the police and the Bedouin have been poor since at least 2004, when the police detained thousands of local people for possible links to a group which bombed tourist resorts. Thousands of Egyptian riot police clashed with Bedouin protesting against the government in July and witnesses said several civilians were shot and wounded. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7032926.stm Last Updated: Sunday, 7 October 2007, 19:27 GMT 20:27 UK Egypt Bedouins in angry protest Relations between the Bedouins and police were already tense Crowds of angry Bedouins have rampaged through the streets of an Egyptian town in protest at what they say is the failure of police to protect them. Thousands were said to have taken part in the protest on Sunday in the northern Sinai town of el-Arish. The Bedouins accused the police of failing to act after they were attacked by a rival tribe on Saturday. Northern Sinai has become increasingly tense in recent years as ties between inhabitants and police deteriorate. Sinai bombings Crowds of Bedouins destroyed the offices of the ruling party, burning down furniture and pulling down pictures of President Hosni Mubarak. Police used tear gas to break up stone-throwing protesters and a number of arrests were reported. A number of Bedouins needed medical treatment. Witnesses said the dispute began after a fight between two men from the el-Fawakhria and el-Tarrabeen tribes. Hundreds of el-Tarrabeen members then came into town on Saturday in trucks, opening fire on an el-Fawakhria neighbourhood and wounding five people. El-Fawakhria tribesmen took to the streets in protest on Saturday and repeated the demonstrations on Sunday. The BBC's Heba Saleh in Cairo says the latest violence can only strain further what is already a very difficult relationship between the Bedouins and police. Thousands of Bedouins were rounded up and many were tortured in the wake of bomb attacks by Islamic militants against tourist resorts in Sinai over the past two years, our correspondent says. http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22378571-23109,00.html Buddhist monks trash shop in protest >From correspondents in Rangoon September 07, 2007 02:59pm Article from: Agence France-Presse ANGRY Buddhist monks in Burma trashed an electronics shop owned by a local militia leader hours after releasing 20 officials held hostage in their monastery. The monks in Pakokku, about 500km north of Rangoon, held the government and security officials hostage for several hours yesterday and torched four of their cars. After releasing the officials, about a dozen monks headed into the town to look for local leaders of militia groups which have cracked down on rare protests that swept across the nation since August 19. Burma's military rulers have broken up most of the protests by deploying gangs organised by the state-backed Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA) and by a group called the Swannarrshin, or Masters of Force. On Wednesday, uniformed soldiers fired shots in the air over about 300 protesting monks in Pakokku and then beat the crowd, inciting widespread anger in the town which is a major centre of Buddhist learning in Burma. "The monks destroyed the electronics shop owned by the township USDA chairman, as this man led the group beating the monks during Wednesday's protest," one resident said. "Then they went to the home of a senior USDA member, but he ran away from them." The monks also wrote on the wall of a school: "We don't want the Swannarrshin," another resident said. The military and the Buddhist clergy are the two most important institutions in Burma, and the only groups which maintain networks stretching across the entire country. The monks were credited with helping to rally popular support for a pro-democracy uprising in 1988, which was crushed by the military, when soldiers opened fire on protesters, killing hundreds. In an unusually swift commentary on the situation in Pakokku, Burma's state media today accused the monks of trying "to create public outrage in order to intentionally incite a mass protest like '88 unrest". Meanwhile, a group of detained pro-democracy supporters have ended a week-long hunger strike after one of them was finally granted treatment for a serious leg injury, activists said today. The detainees launched a hunger strike on August 30 to demand medical attention for Ye Thein Naing who suffered a broken leg when authorities violently broke up a demonstration in Rangoon, activists said. Authorities agreed to take Ye Thein Naing, 37, to hospital on Wednesday. They released him last night into the care of an official with the Opposition National League for Democracy (NLD), according to activists. http://www.hindu.com/2007/09/10/stories/2007091053771200.htm Death of ULFA militant's mother sparks protest Sushanta Talukdar Guwahati: Death of mother of a hardcore militant of United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) during a raid by police at the militant's residence on Saturday sparked off an angry protest in lower Assam's Nalbari district on Sunday. Residents of Namati village under Nalbari police station of the district, where this incident occurred, attempted to take out a protest march but were turned away by police. They alleged that surrendered ULFA cadres who were in the raid party had tortured the mother of the ULFA cadre and demanded action against the guilty. Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) D.K. Pathak told The Hindu that the woman died of heart attack during a raid. The ULFA in a statement alleged that the mother of one of their colleagues -Bhaskar Rajbongshi-was "brutally tortured to death by the surrendered ULFA cadres accompanying the police during the raid" and his wife was picked up by the raid party. http://www.hindu.com/2007/09/13/stories/2007091354140700.htm Protest rallies against death of ULFA cadre's mother Sushanta Talukdar Guwahati: Thousands of people took out rallies in lower Assam's Nalbari town and a 'Black Day' was observed in the State on Wednesday protesting the death of Sabitiri Rajbongshi, mother of ULFA militant Bhaskar, during a raid by the Assam police and the Central Reserve Police Force. The protesters demanded a judicial probe into the "killing" and strong punishment to the guilty. http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2007/06/10/18426599.php [digest of several articles on taser incident] www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_6861474 San Jose march today opposes police use of Tasers Bay City News Service Article Launched: 09/11/2007 08:11:34 AM PDT SAN JOSE - San Jose community members will hold a rally and march today in an effort to halt the San Jose Police Department's use of Tasers, event organizers have announced. The rally will kick off in front of the Santa Clara County district attorney's office at 70 W. Hedding St. at 5 p.m. with speeches by family members of victims who have been allegedly Tasered by San Jose police officers. Participants will then head to the San Jose Police Department and call on officers to turn in their Tasers. The event will end with a live demonstration of the effects of Taser use and the release of 268 balloons, representing each officer-involved, Taser-related death throughout the country since 2001, according to event organizers. There have been five Taser-involved deaths involving San Jose police officers since 2004, organizers said. Copyright ? 2007 by Bay City News, Inc. www.mercurynews.com/search/ci_6100994?nclick_check=1 Dozens gather to protest death linked to Taser By Rodney Foo Mercury News Article Launched: 06/09/2007 01:38:44 AM PDT A candlelight vigil was held Friday evening outside the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office to protest the death of Steve Salinas, who was jolted by police Tasers during an incident at a San Jose hotel last month. The eldest of Salinas' four children, Noreen Salinas, led a group of 36 people in San Jose calling for prosecutors to bring charges against the San Jose police officers who used the stun guns on the 47-year-old truck driver. They also demanded the police department stop using Tasers. The county coroner has not yet determined the exact cause of Salinas's death, and the district attorney's office and police declined to comment to news outlets Friday. May 25, police officers responding to a disturbance at a North First Street motel room confronted Salinas. Police said a struggle ensued and Salinas was shot with Tasers. He was pronounced dead at the scene by medical personnel. Since 2004, five people have died after being shocked with Tasers by San Jose police. http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/09/12/america/italy.php Irreverent protest movement unnerves Italian establishment By Elisabetta Povoledo Published: September 12, 2007 MILAN: The success of a grassroots anti-politics campaign spearheaded by an iconoclastic comedian is giving Italian politicians pause for thought. Beppe Grillo is the man behind V-Day (the V stands for a very rude Italian expletive), which attracted 300,000 people on Saturday to sign a petition supporting a common goal: purging Italy of its corrupt political class, which in Grillo's view includes political parties, most government institutions and the media. Some politicians dismissed Grillo's initiative as "shallow demagoguery" and warned of "populist tendencies." "Mass protests aren't always right," Antonio Polito, a center-left senator, said Wednesday. "The history of the last century is full of mass protests that were wrong. When democracy was lost, it was lost thanks to mass protests." Others cautioned of warning bells that should be heeded. and try to understand," Fausto Bertinotti, the left-wing speaker of the lower house of Parliament said on a talk show late Tuesday night. "Grillo is filling a void that exists in politics with some very dubious material, but his criticism should be accepted." Italians lined up in more than 200 cities and towns to sign the petition for Grillo's "Clean Up Parliament" proposal that, if it were brought before Parliament and adopted, would ban candidates convicted of crimes from seeking public office, limit politicians to two terms and introduce the direct election of legislators. "I was really surprised. I didn't expect such a big turn out," Grillo said in a telephone interview Tuesday. Organizers estimated that 50,000 people turned out at a rally to hear the comic rail against the political class in Bologna on Saturday. "What happened out there was the release of a virus that's about to attack the political class. But in this case there's no vaccine." In many ways, V-day was one more example of a growing dissatisfaction among Italians with the state of politics. With more than 750,000 copies sold, a summer best seller has been Sergio Rizzo and Gian Antonio Stella's "The Caste: How Italian Politicians Became Untouchable," a biting expos? of greed, waste and corruption. "People feel that basic requests, like greater efficiency, widespread reforms, or the modernization of institutions and the economy are being ignored by the current class," said Roberto D'Alimonte, who teaches political science at the University of Florence, noting that statistics and polls all pointed to general dissatisfaction. "Then, too, they see the current crop of politicians as costly, privileged and arrogant." Grillo's protest began through his blog, www.beppegrillo.it, now one of the top five most read Web sites in Italy with more than a million hits in July, according to Nielsen//NetRatings. The blog has spawned hundreds of grassroots groups - called "meet ups" - that organized stands in cities around Italy and abroad to collect signatures Saturday. "The idea of V-day was to give a voice to those who don't have a voice," said Grillo, who has denied plans to start his own political party. His supporters, he noted, are already "a political movement" and meet regularly to discuss issues like the economy and the environment and try to raise awareness on those questions. "Because the movement starts on the Web, it starts from below," he said. This was, he said, a blueprint for the future. "We need new blood, new words." In the long run, the V-day campaign could further weaken Prime Minister Romano Prodi's center-left government, which has been struggling to implement many of its campaign promises. In a poll published by the Milan daily Corriere della Sera this week, 68 percent of respondents said that they were not satisfied with the government during its first 16 months in power. Renato Mannheimer, whose polling company Metis conducted the survey, wrote that the disappointment arose from the perception that the government was "unable to bring things to a close," citing dozens of examples of "unanswered promises and uncompleted projects." After the rallies, some of Grillo's critics attacked the comic for his "messianic approach." "The political class feels threatened and so it's defending itself by trying to delegitimize the protests," D'Alimonte said. "But there's more to it." Grillo said: "They're calling me a guru, someone who mesmerizes crowds. But that just means that they didn't get what happened on the streets on Saturday." http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/09/14/africa/AF-GEN-Kenya-Protests.php Up to 3,000 Kenyan Muslims protest handling of terror suspects The Associated Press Published: September 14, 2007 NAIROBI, Kenya: Up to 3,000 Kenyan Muslims protested Friday outside the capital's main mosque, saying their government should not send terror suspects to other countries for investigation. Earlier this year, The Associated Press reported on the transfer of prisoners in Kenya to Ethiopia, a country human rights activists have accused of mistreating prisoners. Human rights groups, lawyers and several Western diplomats told The Associated Press earlier this year that hundreds of prisoners from more than a dozen countries, including Kenya, were transferred secretly and illegally from Kenya and Somalia to Ethiopia. Some were captured by Ethiopian troops that drove a radical Islamic government out of neighboring Somalia late last year. Others were deported from Kenya, where many Somalis had fled the violence in their homeland. Those released have said they were interrogated in Ethiopia, an ally in the U.S. war on terror, by U.S. security agents. The U.S. says that the interrogations were in the interests of national security. Member of Parliament Bilow Kerow asked the placard-waving crowd Friday, "We are we detaining people here and taking them to Ethiopia or Somalia? Does that mean there is no law here?" Kenya has the right to detain people accused of terrorism but that should be done within the framework of Kenyan law, Kerow told the crowd. Some of the protesters had family who had disappeared. "My brother is not a terrorist. That is one thing I am very sure of. He is not. If he is and they are saying he is a terrorist then where is he? Why are they being cowards?" said Leyla Abdullahi, who has one brother detained and another who disappeared after become a vocal campaigner for the first brother's release. Protesters said they would vote against Kenya's current government if the practice was not halted. General elections are planned in December. Many of the marchers vowed to continue to their protests next week, including a march to the Ethiopian Embassy on Tuesday and a picket of Parliament on Wednesday. Alamin Kimathi of the Muslims Human Rights Forum said they were also calling on the government to fire the minister responsible for internal security and the chief police commissioner. "They turned Kenya into an outpost for Ethiopia and the U.S.," he said. http://allafrica.com/stories/200709140335.html Nigeria: Anambra Traders Protest Against Police, Army Harrassment Vanguard (Lagos) 14 September 2007 Posted to the web 14 September 2007 Anayo Okoli Awka Some traders from the Building Materials Market Ogidi, Idemili North Local Government Area of Anambra State, yesterday protested against what they called "intimidation and harassment with Police and Army" by the leadership of the market against any trader who opposes some alleged fraudulent activities going on in the market. The traders who went on protest carrying placards with anti-market executives slogans and chanting songs against the leadership of the market, appealed to Governor Peter Obi to intervene in the crisis rocking the market. Among other offences the traders alleged against the market committee Chairman, were divide and rule, sidelining of the other members of the executive committee. However, in his reaction, the Chairman Augustine Edozie accused the former executive who were also the market building committee, of sponsoring crisis because they were afraid that the new executive is going to probe them. The Financial Secretary of the union published what he called "16-month Result Unaudited Revenue and Expenditure Account for the period ended 5th July, 2007" and distributed same in the market, which allegedly sparked off protest during a prayer session in the market on Monday. In the said finanial report, the sum of N295,900 was alleged to have been given to EFCC for unspecified reason, N913,170 for Armed Forces Public Relations assistance, N2,037,800 for installation of transformer, but the traders were contesting the said expenses. http://ukpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5hO1JDIdl4hzGgOCaNHOtiHPBuczQ Campaigners demand action on Darfur Sep 16, 2007 Hundreds of demonstrators marched through London to call for immediate action to end the conflict in Darfur. The rally was part of a Global Day for Darfur, which saw events taking place in more than 30 countries around the world, as campaigners called for their governments to step up to their responsibilities in the war-torn region. In London, protesters marched from the Sudanese embassy near St James's Park to Downing Street, waving placards bearing the slogans: "Darfur: Don't Look Away" and "Protest Darfur". More than two million people have been displaced since Janjaweed militias - allegedly backed by the Arab-dominated government in Khartoum - started reprisals against ethnic African rebels in Darfur. According to the UN, up to 200,000 people have died from starvation, disease and killings since 2003. The rally coincided with the second anniversary of the UN "responsibility to protect" agreement in which world leaders vowed to act to stop genocide and mass atrocities. But two years after that declaration, campaigners say the international community has yet to fulfil their commitments to Darfur. A recently agreed hybrid African Union-United Nations mission, consisting of about 20,000 peacekeeping troops and another 6,000 police, is expected to start arriving in the western region of Sudan from next month. Prime Minister Gordon Brown has signalled that the UK will provide "technical" assistance for the force and also support for the African nations that contribute manpower. At one point Tom Porteous, director of Human Rights Watch, urged campaigners to don blindfolds as a reminder for people "not to look away". He said: "This is what people are doing, they are turning a blind eye to it. They are not seeing what's going on." http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007%5C09%5C23%5Cstory_23-9-2007_pg7_43 Polytechnic students' protest continues for 7th day LAHORE: The students of the Government Polytechnic Institute for Women on Saturday staged a protest on the eighth consecutive day against the evacuation of the Shadi Lal Building. The students blocked the Lower Mall in front of the Civil Secretariat for an hour and shouted anti-government slogans. A large number of teachers and parents of some students also participated in the protest. Maleha Sattar, a student of the institution, said in order to stop students from coming on the roads the institution's both gates had been locked on the principal's orders. Strong contingent of police had been deployed outside the institute. A teacher of the institute, seeking anonymity, said Mozang police had arrested the institute's sweeper Rafiq Masih. Mozang police station house officer (SHO) Abid Rasheed said, "The police have not arrested anyone." Another teacher said the SHO had been harassing teachers. He said the SHO had also demanded a list of the teachers association's members. He said the principal had provided the SHO with the list. United Teachers Association president Professor Muhammad Arif said, "We will protest till the fulfilment of our demands." He said the principal threatened to hand him over to the police if he would not back off. staff report http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/09/23/world/main3289375.shtml Germans Protest Online Surveillance Berliners Speak Out Against Proposal To Collect Info From Private Computers And Telecoms Comments 9 BERLIN, Sept. 23, 2007 German riot police bock demonstrators in central Berlin on Saturday, Sept. 22, 2007. About 8,000 protested against a "surveillance state" and planned laws to collect personal and private data. The banner reads "Terror by law." (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber) (AP) Demonstrators in Berlin on Saturday protested against state surveillance and a new anti-terror package proposed by the interior minister. The proposal includes online searches of private computers and telecom data. In spite of the few scuffles between police and radical left groups the demonstration with about 8,000 protestors, was peaceful. The demonstration started at the Berlin landmark, Brandenberg Gate and went through the center of Berlin. The demonstration went under the title "Stop the surveillance madness." According to organizers, it was called by 50 different groups and German opposition parties. "I don't think people are ready to give up their personal freedom," one protestor said. "The demonstration shows it." http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-10-07-voa16.cfm Egyptian Newspapers Strike to Protest Government Crackdown By VOA News 07 October 2007 More than 20 independent and opposition newspapers in Egypt have suspended publication for a day to protest what they say is a government crackdown on press freedoms. Editors and opposition party leaders called Sunday's one-day strike after the prosecution and jailing of seven journalists in September. The charges ranged from misquoting Egypt's justice minister to spreading rumors about the health of President Hosni Mubarak and defaming his son Gamal. The Bush administration said it was concerned about the prosecution of the Egyptian journalists. Meanwhile, Bedouin tribesmen demanding better security from Egyptian authorities have attacked government buildings in the northern Sinai peninsula, in a protest triggered by a shooting attack by a rival clan. At least six protesters were injured as they clashed with plainclothes police in the town of El-Arish Sunday. Authorities say a mob attacked the town council building and destroyed the local headquarters of the ruling party, torching furniture and pictures of President Hosni Mubarak. Authorities say the unrest started Saturday after truckloads of armed men from one Bedouin clan entered El-Arish and fired at members of another clan. Police say one person was killed and at least three others were wounded. Egyptian police used tear gas to try to quell the rioting that started after the shooting. From ldxar1 at tesco.net Tue Oct 9 13:56:05 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Tue, 9 Oct 2007 21:56:05 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] Worker protests and strikes, September 2007 Message-ID: <008701c80ab6$cf7758d0$0802a8c0@andy1> * INDIA: Unions protest plant closure * PAPUA NEW GUINEA: Wildcat strike shuts down gold mine, hits profits * MOROCCO: Blind job-seekers complain of police violence * TRINIDAD: Maintenance workers protest against slow negotiations * INDIA: Workers wear red marks to register protest at autocratic management * THAILAND: Anti-privatisation protests planned * INDIA: Sacked cops (!) stage road-block, protest [how the tables turn?] * DENMARK: Public broadcasters strike against job cuts * SOUTH AFRICA: Mine workers injured by police shooting at picket * CANADA: Alberta workers demand labour law change * TRINIDAD: Worker, sewage workers blockade office in wages protest * BULGARIA: Teachers stage prayer protest against low pay * BAHRAIN: Health service drivers call off strike * US: Event for the rich targeted by tax protesters * AUSTRALIA: State threatens workers over labour law protests * US: Cabbies strike over GPS privacy invasion, fee increases http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Pune/Unions_protest_Bajaj_plant_closure/articleshow/2332348.cms Unions protest Bajaj plant closure 3 Sep 2007, 0312 hrs IST,TNN PUNE: Labour organisations at Bajaj Auto Limited pledged to continue protesting against the closure of the Akurdi plant on Sunday. Around 40 to 45 labour organisations came together at the workers meet organised by the Kamgar Sanyukta Kruti Samiti to protest against closure of the plant. Retired judge B.G. Kolse-Patil, who presided over the meet, strongly condemned the plant's closure and called upon the workers to unite to gather firm public support for the agitation. Vilas Lande, member of the legislative assembly (MLA) said he supported the agitation as Bajaj Auto had shut down the Akurdi plant to benefit from the rising land prices in the township. Speaking to TOI, Dilip Pawar, president, Vishwakalyan Kamgar Sanghatna, said the workers would launch an indefinite agitation against BAL management by organising bandhs, showing black flags and morchas. "We will agitate as long as BAL does not rescind its decision and reopen the plant" he said. http://abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/09/03/2022965.htm?section=business Strike stalls production at PNG gold mine By PNG correspondent Steve Marshall Posted Mon Sep 3, 2007 7:21pm AEST Updated Mon Sep 3, 2007 7:57pm AEST Strike action is continuing to halt production at one of the world's largest gold mines in Papua New Guinea. Armed police were flown to the mine at the weekend to protect company assets. Disgruntled workers forced the Lihir gold mine to close four days ago. Local reports say national workers accuse the mine of offering expatriate employees a better deal. But Lihir's Brisbane-based spokesman Joe Dowling says that is not the case. "I have absolutely no knowledge of that whatsoever," he said. "These allegations are untrue. You're talking about issues, I'm not absolutely confident, are even the issues of the workers." Mr Dowling would not comment how much the strike was costing the company in lost production. http://libcom.org/news/papua-new-guinea-wildcat-causes-millions-losses-05092007 Papua New Guinea: Wildcat causes millions in losses September 5th, 2007 by Marshall Ongoing wildcat action by striking workers has caused millions of dollars in losses for a massive mining project. Workers at the Lihir gold mine in Papua New Guinea walked out five days ago over a pay dispute in an unofficial action that is still unresolved. Efforts to cut a deal have stalled while managers consider Lihir's workers' demands, which include sacking the entire management of the mine. It is claimed that workers have been consistently denied the right to organise to protect their rights at work. Miners were also concerned that management would renege on commitments to raise their wages and improve working conditions. A number of workers took direct action last week, moving heavy machinery to block entrances to the mine and suspend production. Mining bosses and government officials branded the action "illegal" after miners failed to register their complaint through the proper legal channels, but the entire workforce of 3,500 are out. Armed police were flown in from Port Moresby and high-level government delegations are said to be attending the site. According to Pacific Magazine's website, workers have now formed their own organisation, the Lihir Gold Allied Workers Union, as a means of co-ordinating demands. The Lihir open-pit gold mine is one of the region?s biggest commercial projects. About A$1.2bn (about US$1bn) in commercial bank financing has been raised for the scheme, which will produce 1m oz of gold per year. Investment banks Goldman Sachs and Australia?s Macquarie Bank underwrote the funding. The four-day stoppage has cost parent company Lihir Gold an estimated US$6m in losses. According to Reuters newswires, the strike had ?jolted? the world?s gold markets, causing the price of gold to drop by US$2 per ounce last Friday. Mine workers now hope that the massive disruption caused means that management will fulfill their verbal commitments to raise salaries and improve conditions. The Lihir mine is one of the world?s richest gold production sites, but has come under severe criticism from locals. A blast earlier this summer was said to be responsible for the death of a child and over the past few years there have been numerous fatal accidents involving workers. According to the Mineral Policy Institute, over 98m tonnes of cyanide-contaminated ?tailings? (waste by-products from processed gold ore) and 300m tonnes of waste rock will be dumped into the ocean over Lihir's projected 36-year lifetime . The strike continues into its sixth day. http://africa.reuters.com/wire/news/usnL04818999.html Blind Moroccan job seekers say beaten at protest Tue 4 Sep 2007, 13:52 GMT RABAT, Sept 4 (Reuters) - A group of blind Moroccan graduates who chained themselves to a bridge to demand government jobs said they were beaten up by police on Tuesday, leaving some seriously injured. The demonstrators had planned to stop traffic on the bridge in the capital, Rabat, and some had threatened to commit suicide by jumping off. "But the security forces had information about the protest and blocked us," said a group member who identified himself only as Mario. "They intervened very violently. We were marched off to a wood nearby and 14 of us were injured, some very seriously." An interior ministry spokesman said the police were obliged to use some force to unchain the protesters, who were blocking the traffic, but that no one was beaten. Around 1 million of Morocco's 33 million people are officially unemployed and joblessness is especially high among graduates after state cuts led to a dearth of government jobs. Some have been severely injured after drinking petrol and insecticide or setting themselves alight to protest over their plight. In March, dozens of disabled graduates chained themselves together at Rabat's central train station, bringing services to a standstill. Witnesses said at the time that some were kicked, beaten and threatened by the security forces. http://www.trinidadexpress.com/index.pl/article_business?id=161199567 MTS workers take protest to Whitehall Anna-Lisa Paul alpaul at trinidadexpress.com Friday, September 7th 2007 Employees of the Maintenance Training and Security Company (MTS) yesterday staged a mid-morning protest outside the Prime Minister's Whitehall, Port of Spain office, hoping to get an audience. They were disappointed after acting prime minister Dr Lenny Saith left without speaking to them. President of the Transport Industrial Workers Union Roland Sutherland said the 300 MTS workers who assembled around 10 a.m. in the Queen's Park Savannah, Port of Spain were frustrated by the slow pace of negotiations between the union and the company. Vowing that workers would continue to their protest action until negotiating sessions resumed for the period 2005-2008, Sutherland said following a meeting with Works and Transport Minister Colm Imbert on Tuesday, workers were demanding an immediate resumption of negotiations. He said there were plans to picket the MTS plaza at Aranguez today and added that some workers were forced to wipe out their savings to meet their daily living expenses. All 900 workers are hoping for a speedy conclusion to negotiations, he said. thestatesman.org/page.news.php?clid=2&theme=&usrsess=1&id=16910 A protest with a difference Statesman News Service PATNA, Sept. 7: It was a very unusual kind of protest witnessed for the first time in Bihar today. Hundreds of the government employees of the Agriculture Department located in the state?s main secretariat today reached office sporting big ?tilaks? (red vermillion mark) on their forehead to register protest against what they described as the ?autocratic? action of their department?s special secretary Mr CK Anil. Mr Anil, it may be recalled, had yesterday recommended suspension of the deputy director (monitoring) in the agriculture department Mr Laxman Mishra for attending office with ?tilak? on his forehead despite his repeated warnings. Peeved at the action of the Mr Anil, all the employees reached the office today sporting big and broad red vermillion marks on their forehead. Those who forgot to put vermillion marks in their houses had their foreheads embossed with the big red ?tilak? in the office as a mark of solidarity with their senior colleagues who, they accused, were being victimised on religious grounds. archives.mybangkokpost.com/bkkarchives/frontstore/news.html?click_page=2 Workers plan protest against privatisation State enterprise employees are planning a mass protest next week to pressure the government to dump state enterprise privatisation bills. Sawit Kaewwan, secretary-general of the State Enterprise Workers' Relations Confederation (SERC), said the workers plan to gather outside parliament on Wednesday to push the government to scrap a draft bill on state enterprise privatisation along with the 1999 Corporatisation Act. http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/004200709130357.htm Sacked cops from Jhansi stage protest Jhansi (UP), Sept. 13 (PTI): Several policemen, who were sacked by the Uttar Pradesh government after an inquiry report indicted their recruitment process, on Wednesday staged a protest against the government's decision and blocked traffic here. Police sources said the constables collected at the Elite Crossing Wednesday morning and disrupted vehicular traffic briefly. They said senior police officials including Senior Superintendent of Police, Vir Bahadur Singh, reached the spot and pacified the agitating constables. The authorities are maintaining a close eye on the situation, the sources added. Soon after the government decision Tuesday, the authorities re-called all newly-recruited constables from duty and asked them to submit their uniform and arms. http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/09/12/europe/EU-GEN-Denmark-DR-Strike.php Reporters at Danish public broadcaster stage strike to protest against jobcuts The Associated Press Published: September 12, 2007 COPENHAGEN, Denmark: Thousands of reporters and news productions staff at Denmark's public broadcaster, DR, walked off their jobs Wednesday in a one-day strike to protest a savings package that will result in 481 layoffs, union officials said. Radio and TV journalists at the Danish Broadcasting Corp. walked out at 11:00 (0900 GMT), after management announced its full cost-saving plan, said Steen Larsen, a DR representative for the Danish Union of Journalists. "We're worried about the quality of our programs and the journalism we'll be able to provide," Larsen said. "We're wondering how much time journalism has left." Larsen said about 1,000 reporters and about 1,000 news production workers had joined in the strike action. Workers are expected to return to work on Thursday, he said. DR has cited higher-than-expected costs related to building its new headquarters, saying it needs to cut costs by around 300 million kroner (?40.3 million; US$55.7 million) a year starting in 2008. Most of the job cuts will be made by leaving vacancies empty and by letting time restricted contracts expire, DR officials say. But 50 layoffs were announced Wednesday, Larsen said. The company's General Director Kenneth Plummer said in a statement that "2007 has been an extraordinarily tough year for DR. The savings plan has left significant marks in the organization, and it has been horrible to say goodbye to good, competent and dedicated colleagues, and to see that their areas of work disappear." DR said a series of programs would be reshuffled, shortened or canceled on both Wednesday and Thursday due to the strike. Created in 1925, DR is an independent company financed by viewers' license fees. http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=594&art_id=nw20070913140623677C298151 Numsa workers injured during a protest September 13 2007 at 04:29PM Nineteen striking members of the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) were injured in Germiston on Thursday during a protest at the Johnson Matthey factory, police said. Workers in the motor industry are currently on strike demanding a nine percent wage hike, while employers are offering 8.5 percent. Germiston police spokesperson Captain Steady Nawa said a group of 300 strikers were picketing at the factory gate on Henderson street near Duka Thole informal settlement when Ekurhuleni metro police opened fire on them, allegedly without any provocation. "One person who tried to take photos of the incident was assaulted by the metro police. Sixteen others were injured and another two were injured during a stampede," said Nawa. http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/Alberta/2007/09/14/4497113.html Boiling point reached among Alberta workers Over 400 people demand labour law changes By BROOKES MERRITT, Sun Media There is something seriously wrong in Alberta. That?s the message representatives of more than 180,000 unionized workers took to the legislature yesterday, as malcontent construction workers were joined by even bigger unions in their demand for Alberta?s labour laws to be reformed. ?When 97% of members in a construction trade vote for a strike, but the government can still rule that strike is illegal, there is something seriously wrong in Alberta,? Alberta Federation of Labour president Gil McGowan shouted to a crowd of over 400 people outside the Alberta Labour Relations Board this afternoon. McGowan, whose group represents over 30 Alberta unions, was joined by the presidents of dozens of non-labour trade unions, including the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees, the Canadian Union of Public Employees, the United Nurses of Alberta and the Health Sciences Association of Alberta. An animated speaker, McGowan roused the crowd into several ear-splitting chants of ?Rights right now!? and ?Recall the (labour legislation)!? The demonstration is the latest development in growing labour strife across Alberta?s construction sector, which has now spread to the entire unionized labour force. What began with the Carpenters Union calling an Alberta labour law into question because it banned them from striking has started a broader movement exposing what McGowan calls ?unconstitutional labour laws that deny workers their rights.? Top Labour representatives from Calgary and Red Deer were even in attendance today. ?It?s getting to a boiling point,? McGowan said. ?(Employment minister) Iris Evans had better get this message, or things could get worse.? That message is clear: it demands Evans immediately begin the process of reforming labour laws in Alberta through consultation with the unions. McGowan - joined by CUPE president D?Arcy Lanovaz, AUPE president Doug Knight and NDP MLA David Eggen ? delivered the letter to a gobsmacked ministerial assistant this afternoon, as hundreds chanted outside the legislature. ?We?re not asking Mrs. Evans to look at changing the labour laws. We won?t accept an empty promise to re-evaluate the law only when these people go back to work. We?re demanding she meet with us to begin the process today. We?re available day or night, and we?ll be waiting,? McGowan told the bewildered aid. ?We union leaders represent over 180,000 Alberta workers. Be warned we are not a group who should be turned away lightly.? Evans was not available for comment. http://www.trinidadexpress.com/index.pl/article_business?id=161203115 WASA workers block office in wage protest Jensen LaVende Saturday, September 15th 2007 more pay: WASA workers protest at their Farm Road, St Joseph, headquarters yesterday. WORKERS at the Water and Sewerage Authority blocked the entrance and exit to the office yesterday, demanding a better wage offer. The monthly-paid workers, including managers, technical and clerical staff, used their cars preventing access to WASA's head office at St Joseph. The workers are arguing that their salaries must not be lower than that of the daily-paid employees who received a proposed increase of 28-31 per cent three weeks ago. Heralal Maharaj, spokesman for the protesting WASA employees, led the workers in chanting "We shall not be moved" while demanding to have negotiations over and done with. Maharaj added that negotiations had begun in January and to date no acceptable offer was made. He said that the 28-31 per cent increase offered to the daily-paid workers should be matched by the Public Services Association who has only offered them a 15 per cent increase. One worker vented his frustration saying that the increase in the cost of living forced the workers to protest. Gerald Richardson, general manager of Human Resources, said that the protest action was premature. He added that there had been progress in the negotiations and questioned the motive behind the protest. When asked what would be the next move if a favourable response wasn't made Maharaj said: "If necessary things would go further next week." Speaking with the Express, Stephen Thomas, acting chairman of the PSA, said that the offer made by the Public Sector Negotiating Committee (PSNC) was "senseless". "If we don't get a reasonable position put to us we would meet directly with the PSNC," he added. Thomas said that they expected to see a proposal on Monday and on Wednesday they are expecting an acceptable response from the PSNC. http://www.sofiaecho.com/article/teachers-in-bulgaria-protest-with-prayer-for-bulgarias-education/id_24929/catid_66 TEACHERS IN BULGARIA PROTEST WITH PRAYER FOR BULGARIA?S EDUCATION 16:30 Mon 17 Sep 2007 Prayers for Bulgaria?s education mark the first official school day in Bulgaria, September 17 2007. The prayers were part of the teachers? protests against the low salaries they receive, Focus news agency reported. Teachers from all over the country took part in the protests, which included prayers, silent rallies, one-hour strikes. Protests would continue during the rest of the week. The teachers demand a 100 per cent increase in the monthly wages from October 1 2007. The Teachers? union threatens with a strike from September 24 2007, if the negotiations with the Cabinet fail. The Cabinet offers a 52 per cent gradual increase in the salaries by July 2008. http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/Story.asp?Article=194328&Sn=BNEW&IssueID=30183 Drivers call off protest By MANDEEP SINGH MORE than 120 Health Ministry drivers, excluding those in the Accident and Emergency Department, yesterday called off a two-day strike and dropped their overtime demands. The move followed a meeting with ministry Under-Secretary Dr Aziz Hamza and Finance and Human Resources Assistant Under-Secretary Ebrahim Shehab. The drivers had demanded two hours' overtime during Ramadan, since they have to start work earlier than timings set by the Civil Service Bureau (CSB) for government employees. "Officials asserted this demand could not be met in the absence of a budget and the drivers were offered days off in lieu," said a ministry spokesman. He said the drivers initially declined the offer, but following discussions with ministry officials at the meeting they later agreed to it. The strike is now officially cancelled and drivers will return to work today, said the spokesman. The ministry had signed a BD2.8 million four-year contract with Avis Bahrain in July as part of an outsourcing plan for its transport services. The deal involves supply of all kinds of vehicles, excluding ambulances, training drivers as well as supervising and managing operations. Proposal Avis Bahrain business head Greggory Rodrigues told the GDN that the company has offered the ministry 15 of its own drivers to take care of the "extra two hours" every day. "This proposal has been accepted," he said. Mr Rodrigues said the ministry staff initially had some reservations about the new deal, but these doubts were soon dispelled. "The role of Avis is restricted to supervising, training and managing operations," he said. Mr Rodrigues said Avis is also prohibited from interfering with the rights of the employees in line with the relevant laws of the CSB. "However, employees must follow the procedures placed by the company related to running the operations in a successful and organised manner," he said. He said reports presented by the company to the ministry authorities on the performance of the employees would be helpful when promotions or incentives are considered. Ministry services acting director Mahmood Habib Ibrahim said in a circular issued to the Transportation Department that the drivers would be entitled to 26 hours' overtime in one month, but that would be 'paid' in the form of three and a quarter days of leave, added into their leave bank. mandeep at gdn.com.bh http://www.reuters.com/article/mergersNews/idUSN1928853320070919 Carlyle's Rubenstein the subject of tax protest Wed Sep 19, 2007 3:31pm EDT By Michael Flaherty NEW YORK, Sept 19 (Reuters) - Roughly 25 members and supporters of the Working Families Party gathered outside the Waldorf Astoria here on Wednesday to protest the tax treatment of private equity firms. The group specifically targeted David Rubenstein, co-founder of the Carlyle Group [CYL.UL], one of the largest private equity firms in the world, who was speaking at a conference inside. "These firms are getting away with murder," said Dan Cantor, executive director of Working Families, a community and labor-based organization that advocates for the middle and working class. Private equity firms, which have raised more than $400 billion and done more $700 billion in the last year alone, have their profits taxed at the capital gains rate, or 15 percent. Lawmakers have proposed various bills that seek to raise taxes on the profits -- known as carried interest -- on private investment funds to 35 percent, the same as the ordinary income tax rate. Members of the protest briefly entered the conference and hung a banner above the audience before Rubenstein. The message was the same as on the signs and handouts: Why does Carlyle Group founder David Rubenstein pay taxes at a lower rate than a hotel doorman? When asked about the protest, Rubenstein cracked several jokes as the audience laughed and applauded. "When history is written and people talk about the great protests," Rubenstein said, mentioning civil disobedience efforts from Gandhi and Martin Luther King, "I don't think that this will be in that category." http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,22475323-2862,00.html Anti-WorkChoices protest warning John Masanauskas September 25, 2007 12:00am EMPLOYERS have been warned not to pay any workers who walk off the job and take part in an anti-WorkChoices protest tomorrow. Up to 30,000 building and manufacturing workers are expected to shut down a major part of the CBD when they march from Carlton to Flinders St station from 10am. Organised by the Trades Hall Council, it will be the first major rally this year against the Howard Government's workplace changes. The last mass protest was held at the MCG in November last year, but unions failed in their bid to fill the arena. Victorian Employers Chamber of Commerce and Industry spokesman David Gregory said that tomorrow's protest was pointless and would disrupt businesses and city workers. "We understand what the union position is on IR -- this rally is an absolutely unnecessary, misguided waste of time," Mr Gregory said. "You have to wonder what is motivating the organisers." Under federal laws, workers at the rally face fines or having their wages docked unless they get written permission to attend or take leave. http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-10/04/content_6829894.htm NY cabbies to strike again in protest of GPS installations NEW YORK, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- Thousands of New York taxi drivers are planning a second strike in less than two months in protest of new Global Positioning System (GPS) installations and credit-card scanners, local media reported Wednesday. The Taxi Workers Alliance will begin the 24-hour walkout on Oct. 22, including a lunchtime demonstration outside the Taxi & Limousine Commission in Lower Manhattan, announced Bhairavi Desai, executive director of the cabbies' group. The stoppage is directed against the new GPS systems and credit-card scanners that the city is mandating for all cabs. Taxis are required to have the new technology installed as of their first inspections scheduled after Oct. 1. The union says it represents about one-fifth of the city's 44,000 licensed taxi drivers. Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the city would be ready, but told the cabbies that it was in their best financial interest to keep working. The first cab strike on Sept. 5-7 caused delays, but fell short of bringing the city to a grinding halt. Cab drivers are angry over fees averaging about 5 percent on each credit card transaction, and the invasion of their privacy by the presence of the GPS system. From ldxar1 at tesco.net Tue Oct 9 14:01:05 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Tue, 9 Oct 2007 22:01:05 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] INDIA: "Mobs" target ration dealers over corruption Message-ID: <008b01c80ab7$82560eb0$0802a8c0@andy1> http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Kolkata/Police_fire_to_quell_riot_1_dead/articleshow/2421229.cms Police fire to quell riot, 1 dead 2 Oct 2007, 0204 hrs IST,TNN LABHPUR/SURI: The agitation in Birbhum against unscrupulous ration dealers again took a violent turn on Monday, with police opening fire to disperse a mob. While a 50-year-old man died after being shot, several others were injured. The violence began after villagers gathered at the Labhpur BDO's office to submit a memorandum against ration dealers who had been hoarding subsidised foodgrain for sale in the open market. The office guards panicked after seeing the crowd swell to several thousand and closed the gate to keep them out. That apparently provoked the villagers, who turned violent. RAF was summoned and the firing began soon after. http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Ration-riot-another-death-in-police-firing/224291/ Ration riot: another death in police firing Express news service Posted online: Thursday , October 04, 2007 at 12:00:00 Updated: Thursday , October 04, 2007 at 02:26:46 Kolkata, October 03 ONE more person died in police firing in the state when a violent mob tried to set on fire the house of a ration dealer on Wednesday. The incident took place at Ketugram in Burdwan. This is the second death in police firing after October 1, when one person was killed at Lavpur in Birbhum following a mob attack on the house of a ration dealer. On Tuesday also violence erupted at Kirnahar and Mayureshwar, also in Birbhum when a violent mob attacked ration shops and looted food grain, protesting against the corrupt practices by ration dealers. As many as 12 people were injured in the incidents. "Police had to fire six to seven rounds to disperse a mob that attacked the house of a ration shop owner at Ketugram. A person, Bhanu Das, was killed in the process," Raj Kanojia, IG, Law and Order, West Bengal Police, said. Reacting to the increasing number of incidents of violence against ration dealers across the state, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee meanwhile appealed to the people not to take law in their hands. He assured the people of taking appropriate measures against corrupt ration dealers. In his statement, the CM said: "For the last few days, violent incidents against ration dealers have been taking place in various districts. The state government is trying its best to maintain the supply of food grain and we have appealed to the Centre to increase its supply. We will try our best so that the poor people of the state can avail themselves of the Public Distribution Scheme. The government is investigating into the allegations of corruption against some ration dealers and it will take appropriate measures. I see houses of ration dealers are being attacked and I request to all not to repeat this kind of incidents." The West Bengal MR Dealers Association meanwhile threatened to surrender all its licences en masse. It submitted a memorandum to the CM demanding his intervention to find a way out of the problem. Oppostion parties demand CBI probe Opposition parties Congress and Trinamool Congress have demanded a CBI inquiry into the alleged malpractices with food grain supplies in the Public Distribution System. In separate press meets, Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee and Congress Legislature Party leader Manas Bhuniya said they had no confidence in the inquiry being conducted by the state machinery. "The government came to know that dealers are smuggling ration goods to the open market, only when people started protesting. In fact, the dealers were running their business safely in connivance with the ruling party cadres. We don't have any faith on any inquiry by the state government. So we demand a CBI probe which should not be politically influenced," Banerjee said. WBPCC general secretary Manas Bhuniya alleged that food grains and kerosene were being smuggled to Jharkhand and even Bangladesh. http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=1&theme=&usrsess=1&id=172688 Ration protest on Statesman News Service BURDWAN/MALDA, Oct. 7: An angry mob, protesting against corrupt rationing practices, ransacked the house of a ration dealer, looted food materials and launched an attack on a procession and office of the CPI-M in Nababhat in the outskirts of Burdwan town today. The ration dealer is reportedly a Trinamul Congress supporter and the attackers were allegedly backed by the RSP. As protests and public outrage against corrupt rationing practices spread to the neighbouring districts, angry villagers in the Kandi sub-division area of Murshidabad ransacked houses and shops of five ration dealers, went on a looting spree and also set on fire their go-downs in a series of incidents since yesterday.In Burdwan, a mob broke into the house of ration dealer, Mr Sheikh Fakir Mohammed around 8.30 a.m., dragged him out of his house along with his sons and beat them up. Even the womenfolk of the house were not spared. The mob also torched a tractor, six motorbikes and a Tata Sumo while furniture worth Rs 12 lakh were set on fire as well. Ten television sets, ten VCDs, a sound system, two refrigerators were damaged when the house was ransacked. Gold jewellery worth Rs 8 lakh and Rs 14 lakh in cash were also looted. Soon after this, a group of CPI-M activists and leaders were also attacked when they tried to defend the dealer and a local party office was ransacked. Twelve CPI-M supporters, including two of their leaders, Mr Ganesh Chowdhury and Mr Arabindo Panja were rushed to the Burdwan Medical College and Hospital. The police resorted to lathicharge to disperse the mob and eight villagers were arrested. Later, around 2000 CPI-M supporters, took out a rally in the village brandishing sword, lathis and chains. The ration dealer later alleged: "The intruders were headed by RSP activists. Yesterday they had demanded Rs 15 lakh to spare house of vandalism." Reports say that the dealer, is also a rich farmer and according to the district administration, "there has been no complaint against him." Mr Amol Halder, district CPI-M secretary said: "The miscreants are taking advantage of the current turmoil surrounding the rationing system. This dealer is a supporter of TMC, but our men went to his rescue as we are not tackling the issue politically." Meanwhile, the Murshidabad SP, Mr. Rahul Srivastava said that 37 persons were arrested in connection with looting spree at shops of ration dealers' and go-downs of distributors. "A large police contingent has been deployed in trouble prone areas to combat the situation," Mr. Srivastava said. Police said that violence spread to Murshidabad following rumours that dealers in the district would compensate Rs 1000 each to ration cardholders. When dealers refused to do so, angry villagers looted the houses of ration dealers located at Sherpur, Simulia in Khargram today. At Sherpur, two vehicles and two go-downs of Mr. Nazir Khan, a ration dealer, were set on fire. 24 persons were arrested in this connection. At Simulia, villagers looted the house of Aleyara Bibi, a modified ration dealer, when her husband was away from home. It was alleged that villagers looted even ornaments from her house. "We do not have such information, but will enquire into the ornament looting case, if any. In fact, we do not have complaints and we are initiating suo moto cases here," the Murshidabad SP said. Police said that distributors serving the Kandi sub-division area could not supply materials for this week and some dealers left their home after hanging a closure notice in front of their shops. This created further trouble. http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Ration-riot-Godowns-robbed-torched-in-Burdwan-Hashkhali-Murshidabad/225948/ Ration riot: Godowns robbed, torched in Burdwan, Hashkhali, Murshidabad Press Trust of India Posted online: Monday , October 08, 2007 at 12:00:00 Updated: Monday , October 08, 2007 at 02:36:18 Print Email To Editor Kolkata, October 7 Eight CPM leaders, including an MLA and a ration dealer, were beaten up by mob and their ration shops ransacked as protests erupted against the public distribution system (PDS) in Bardhaman and Murshidabad today. At Khargram in Murshidabad, protests culminated in a group of locals torching the godown of a ration dealer. Police have arrested 37 people in this connection. A similar incident took place at Hashkhali in Nadia as well. At Nabaghat in Bardhaman district, Sheikh Fakir Mehmood's godown was torched and plundered by locals around 10 am. The locals had abducted him on Saturday and made him promise to pay compensation before police rescued him in the evening. The trouble started when he backtracked on his promise today. When eight CPM leaders, including local MLA Pradip Tah, Ganesh Chowdhury and Kamal Gaen reached the spot to control the situation, they were also beaten up. The injured MLA had his hand broken in the attack and was hospitalised. Two policemen had to be hospitalised too. The mob set afire a nearby CPM party office as well. Six people have been arrested. "The situation is being constantly monitored," said SP (Burdwan) Piyush Pandey. At Kumarpur and Lakhsmipur, two more ration shops were vandalised. Armed CPM activists then took out a procession raising slogans against agitators. The party district secretary Amal Halder said later in the day that CPM cadres would fight the agitating people in the district. The local administration, meanwhile, has constituted a committee comprising the district magistrate, block development officers (BDOs) and the zilla sabhadipati. Residents have been asked to approach the committee with complaints against any ration dealer. Protests against corruption in thePDS have gained momentum in the state after a youth was killed in police firing at Labpur in Birbhum on October 2. Over 2,000 protestors had then burnt a police jeep and several motorcycles. On Wednesday, six PDS shops - two each in Bankura, Birbhum and Burdwan districts - were set on fire by angry mobs. Following the protests, the state government cancelled licenses of more than 40 ration dealers. From ldxar1 at tesco.net Tue Oct 9 14:06:57 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Tue, 9 Oct 2007 22:06:57 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] Various school and refugee-related protests Message-ID: <008f01c80ab8$53dfdf60$0802a8c0@andy1> I've compiled here a number of stories related to schools, mostly repression in schools, and victimisation of refugees. What's with these fascists thinking schools are apolitical protest-free spaces and protest is a simple disciplinary problem of "absence"? Still more so describing simple protest actions as "crimes" and grounds for exclusion! It's a real Dark Age political attitude - I doubt some of these people even have the foggiest idea what a "right" is. Regarding the Ali Panah story... A "right to protest as long as it's lawful" is meaningless - it makes the right conditional on the state's whim. Even the likes of China and Burma recognise a "right to protest as long as it's lawful"! In contrast, the very idea of a right to protest is that it CANNOT legitimately be banned. Such formulations as this occur to allow lip-service to rights which are violated in practice. * School students protest closures in Scotland * School students burn blazers in uniforms protest * Iranian hunger-striker in New Zealand * Solidarity protesters disrupt prison over refugee hunger strike * Romanian self-immolates in Spain, demanding right to return * School occupation ends in Wales * American court stands up for anti-uniform protest badges http://news.scotsman.com/education.cfm?id=1388382007 Pupils' protest takes to streets GARETH ROSE EDUCATION REPORTER ( grose at edinburghnews.com) HUNDREDS of protesting children downed pens and walked out of primary classes this morning as the strikes in protest at the planned school closures got under way. Children from Craigentinny, Lismore, Bonnington and Drumbrae schools chanted songs, waved banners and cheered as passing motorists hooted their horns in support. Former council leader Ewan Aitken was among 300 parents and pupils to twice march around the Craigentinny campus to show their opposition to the school being on the council's hit list. Pupils at Castlebrae Community High School, however, called off their morning-long strike at the last minute after pleas from teachers and meetings between pupils in the lower and upper schools. Linda Brown, chairwoman of the Craigentinny Primary School parents committee, said: "It went brilliantly - really, really well. "The atmosphere was brilliant and we did two walks around the school and then on to the shops. All the children were chanting, 'Craigy forever, houses never'. The teachers were standing at a side door and applauding." Gail Ross, secretary of the Lismore Parents Action Group, said: "It was absolutely marvellous, a really good protest. "We had about 70 people, including children and adults involved, and a lot of the vehicles that went past were tooting their horns, including bus drivers." Lisa Manders, 29, of Cables Wynd House, Leith, whose daughters Billigo, nine, and Paddileigh, five, attend Bonnington Primary, where up to 100 protested, said: "We had to protest outside the school gates - we were not allowed to do it inside the grounds, as the council told us we cannot use their property. "The kids were right into it." Meanwhile, parents were marching to Drumbrae Primary in protest to the plans to shut the school and send youngsters to neighbouring Clermiston. They were also planning to take children out of the school at 11am to hold their own strike action. Chris Menzies, 27, of Durar Drive, Clermiston, whose children Aaron Marjoribanks, eight, and Reese Marjoribanks, four, attend Drumbrae, said: "This is a small, close-knit community and people are very angry about this. The council has been gagging teachers, it's an absolute joke. "We feel we've got a good case to keep the school open, this is the only one in the area with a working kitchen. They say we don't have enough children but houses are being built and young families are moving into the area." Iain Kay, chairman of the Castlebrae Community High School parents committee, said the pupils were still firmly against the proposed closure even though they called off the strike. Flyers had gone round the school urging all the children to meet at the gates at 8.30am. Mr Kay said: "Senior pupils met with the junior pupils and they've decided to find a more constructive way of getting their point across." This will please the council who had written to schools urging them to stop protests taking place during lesson time. Mike Rosendale, head of neighbourhood services, wrote to headteachers saying: "We have been told that a number of parents may be advocating that pupils take strike action and/or demonstrations should take place in school grounds and/or during school hours. "We recognise that parents may wish to make their voices heard but we cannot condone anything that will cause disruption to children's education. "Demonstrations should not be allowed on school grounds and any child who misses classes as a result of this type of action should be marked as an 'unauthorised absence'." School pupils burn blazers in uniform protest www.24dash.com/education/28242.htm Publisher: Jon Land Published: 02/10/2007 - 22:49:28 PM Printable version School pupils burn blazers in uniform protest Police were called to a school today after pupils started burning their blazers. The students at Abertillery Comprehensive School, south Wales, are believed to have been protesting against new regulations making the jackets compulsory. The blazer blaze started in the school's bus bay after pupils, mainly from Year 11, walked out of lessons. Headteacher Pauline Thomas told the South Wales Argus: "We sent letters out at the end of the last term, informing parents that youngsters must now wear the blazers. "It was not a protest over cost, it was just a case of some pupils who do not like being told what to do. "What they were doing is a criminal offence. Letters will be sent out to all the parents of the children involved and some will have to be excluded." Police officers and firefighters were called this afternoon but the students ran away when they arrived, Mrs Thomas told the newspaper. >From Friday, pupils will be sent home if they are not wearing the blazers, she added. A Gwent Police spokeswoman said officers were called to the school at about 1pm but that the incident was over by the time they arrived. A South Wales Fire and Rescue Service spokeswoman said firefighters did attend but were not needed at the scene. A spokesman for Blaenau Gwent Council said: "The Local Education Authority is aware of an incident at Abertillery Comprehensive School which involved a number of pupils setting fire to their school blazers, after which some left the school premises. "The headteacher and her staff have managed the situation and notified the relevant authorities in order to protect the health and safety of the pupils. "There are well-established procedures in schools, notably Schools' Councils, for involving pupils in the formulation of school policies such as those on uniform, and appropriate opportunities are available for the discussion of any issues which arise. "The school will contact the parents of pupils who have been absent from school to seek their cooperation in ensuring their attendance at school and in avoiding any reoccurrence." http://www.tv3.co.nz/News/NationalNews/Iranianhungerstrikerstepsupprotest/tabid/423/articleID/33808/Default.aspx Iranian hunger-striker steps up protest Sun, 02 Sep 2007 10:41a.m. Anglican Archbishop David Moxon visited Ali Panah today A jailed Iranian hunger striker has intensified his protest by refusing to take mineral supplements. Ali Panah has not eaten for 52 days in protest at the Government's refusal to grant him refugee status. Mr Panah says he will be killed if he is deported to Iran because he has converted to Christianity. Seven of Mr Panah's supporters were yesterday arrested after chaining themselves to lights and a flagpole outside Mount Eden prison. Anglican Church Social Justice Commissioner Anthony Dancer has just returned from a visit to Mr Panah. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10461227 Seven arrested after prison protest released 12:37PM Sunday September 02, 2007 Seven people protesting in support of an asylum seeker after an incident at Mt Eden Remand Prison yesterday have been released. Five were arrested yesterday afternoon after chaining themselves to the flagpole and lights at the prison, while another two who were warned to stay away from the prison grounds were also arrested. The seven were members of the group Global Peace and Justice Auckland and were protesting in support of Iranian asylum seeker Ali Panah, who is now into the 52nd day of a hunger strike. Senior Sergeant Cam Moore of Auckland Police said the men were arrested yesterday afternoon but had been released from custody yesterday evening. He said all seven would appear in court some time within the next week. "People have the right to protest in a democratic society but it has to be lawful and peaceful," he said. "Unfortunately, they weren't being lawful." The protesters had refused to sign bail papers and refused food in solidarity with Mr Panah while at the Auckland Central police cells but Mr Moore said this morning that they had been released. Mr Panah is starving himself in protest over a government decision to deport him to Iran. He has been detained in Mt Eden prison but has weakened in recent days and is now being treated in Auckland Hospital. Global Peace and Justice spokesman John Minto said he understood Mr Panah was "very weak but strong in spirit" in his Auckland Hospital bed. He has been has been accepting liquid mineral supplements on the advice of his doctors but is refusing solid food. Mr Panah has refused to sign deportation orders, saying he would face death if he was returned to Iran. His supporters say he converted to Christianity when in South Korea and sent a video of his baptism to his mother. They say the video was apparently intercepted by Iranian customs officials and referred to the authorities. In his absence, he was sentenced to death. They want the government to issue a temporary visa until it is safe for him to return to Iran. His supporters include Anglican Archbishop David Moxon and The Rev Dr Anthony Dancer, the Anglican Church's social justice commissioner. Both have previously asked for mercy for Mr Panah. Mr Panah has had a refugee appeal authority hearing but was not granted refugee status. Mr Minto said Mr Panah's case had few differences to that of Thomas Yadegary, a Catholic convert who was freed on bail in April after being held in prison without charge since November 2004. Immigration Minister David Cunliffe said last month said Panah had had his full rights under the law over his claim for refugee status. - NZPA http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSL0484609320070904 Romanian sets himself alight in protest in Spain Tue Sep 4, 2007 2:46pm EDT MADRID (Reuters) - A Romanian man set fire to himself in front of a Spanish government building on Tuesday to protest against the failure of authorities to help him and his family return to their home country, Spanish media said. The man, in his 40s, was desperate after criminals tricked his family out of 400 euros ($540) which they had saved to buy tickets back to Romania, the government's representative in Castellon, on the east coast of Spain, Antonio Lorenzo told the press. Despite efforts by his family and police officers to prevent him, the man poured petrol onto himself and lit it with a lighter in front of the central government's headquarters in Castellon. Police officers managed to remove the man's clothes to put out the blaze and he was rushed to hospital with burns to 70 percent of his body. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/6977353.stm School protest break-in ends The council said the school building has been offered to the community Five members of the Welsh Language Society have ended a day-long occupation of Mynyddcerrig junior school in the Gwendraeth valley. The group broke into the school near Kidwelly, in protest at its closure and changed the locks. They say the building could become a focal point for the community but the council want to sell it - something the council denied. Councillor Ieuan Jones described it as a "criminal act for publicity". The five forced their way into the former Welsh-medium primary, which had seen previous protests by parents and the local community over its closure. The school - which had 16 pupils - shut in July as part of reorganisation. I can't understand why they're there - we're offering the school to the community if the community wishes to take on the challenge Councillor Ieuan Jones Carmarthenshire has a 10-year schools' reorganisation programme, aimed at improving school buildings as well as cutting surplus places, that could see up to 32 schools closed and replaced with new area "super schools". Carmarthenshire Councillor Ieuan Jones, the executive board member for education, described the protest as "a nonsense". He said: "I can't understand why they're there. We're offering the school to the community if the community wishes to take on the challenge. It's part of our policy. "The consultation process took a period of over nine months and, as a matter of fact, when the school was already unable to fund itself, we actually put in more money into that school in order to keep the teacher there until the school actually closed. "So we've bent over backwards in the case of Mynyddycerrig." After the protest, campaigner Ffred Ffransis accused the council of "going through the motions" in offering the school building to the community. "It's if they can get a business plan together almost immediately and if there are exceptional circumstances - it's not going to happen," he said. "They're going to try to sell off the building as quickly as possible and raise money for the council, it doesn't matter about the local community, the parents or the children's education." http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/21/nyregion/21nazi.html?_r=1&ref=nyregion&oref=slogin Court Allows Boys' Protest via Buttons By JONATHAN MILLER Published: September 21, 2007 BAYONNE, N.J., Sept. 20 - A federal district judge ruled on Thursday that two grade-school students here can wear buttons depicting Hitler Youth to protest having to wear school uniforms. The judge, Joseph A. Greenaway Jr. of Federal District Court in Newark, wrote in a 28-page decision that the button did not "materially and substantially disrupt the work and discipline of the school." The judge based his decision in part on a 1969 ruling by the United States Supreme Court that allowed students in Des Moines to wear black armbands to school in protest of the Vietnam War. He wrote that had the button depicted swastikas, a Confederate flag, or a burning cross, it would have been "plainly offensive" and he would have ruled differently. The schools superintendent, Patricia L. McGeehan, said the district was disappointed in the ruling, and planned to review its options. Ms. McGeehan said in a statement that the district was "very concerned with the precedent this may set not only for Bayonne but for every public school district in New Jersey that tries to create and maintain a school environment conducive to learning and that is not offensive to students or staff." The statement added, "Images of racial and ethnic intolerance do not belong in an elementary school classroom." The dispute over the button began last fall, when Michael DePinto, 11, who was a fifth grader at Public School 14 at the time, objected to the policy. To protest, he and his mother, Laura, 47, made a button that included a photograph of a group of grim, identically dressed members of Hitler Youth with the words "No School Uniforms" imposed over them. After Michael wore the button for several weeks, the district sent a letter to his home in November, demanding that he stop or face suspension. Another fifth-grade student, Anthony LaRocco, then began wearing one as well. After the suspension threat, the boys' parents sued, claiming their First Amendment rights were being denied. Michael said on Thursday that he had never intended to offend anyone but merely make a point about conformity. "It's like forcing a swastika on someone," he said. "It's what Hitler did to his youth." From ldxar1 at tesco.net Tue Oct 9 14:10:35 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Tue, 9 Oct 2007 22:10:35 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] Discrimination-related protests Message-ID: <009301c80ab8$d5f14c00$0802a8c0@andy1> * INDIA: Delhi women students protest sexual harassment * INDIA: Uprising over racist remark about Pop Idol winner * US/INDIGENOUS: Columbus Day protested in Denver * SWEDEN: Muslims protest cartoon in Orebro * US: People with disabilities take aim at state * US: Cancer activists demand funding from rich company http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/002200709232166.htm DU students protest rising incidents of sexual harassment New Delhi, Sept. 23 (PTI): Scores of Delhi University students and their parents today staged a protest here against the rising incidents of sexual harassment in the campuses and demanded enhancement of security in colleges. Students, parents and representatives of NGOs and RWAs, under the aegis of 'United Students', assembled at the crowded Central Park in Connaught Place this evening expressing concern over the rise in sexual harassment cases. They demanded the security at the campuses should be enhanced. INDIAN IDOL CONTROVERSY DJ'S RACIST REMARK LEADS TO RIOT October 02, 2007 FANS of Nepalese Prashant Tamang were elated when the former policeman became the surprise winner of the Indian Idol singing contest. But the happiness quickly turned to anger after an allegedly insulting remark made by a radio DJ towards Mr Tamang sparked off a riot in Siliguri, West Bengal, on Friday. Indian troops were called out to keep the peace after more than 30 people were hurt in clashes between police and fans of the 24-year-old Idol winner, wire agencies reported. The violence erupted after nearly 2,000 supporters of Mr Tamang marched to lodge a protest over a radio jockey's derogatory comments about the Indian Idol winner. The marchers were upset DJ Jonathan Brady referred to Mr Tamang as a 'Gurkha', or guard, one of the jobs frequently held by ethnic Nepalese, who live in areas that were once part of Nepal or have migrated to India. During a live broadcast, Mr Brady said: 'Shopkeepers will now have to make their own security arrangements as Gurkhas have taken to singing.' Most ethnic Nepalese are economically marginalised. Although Mr Brady later apologised for the remarks, fans took to the streets to protest anyway. The Indian media reported that the violence was sparked off when the marchers were passing by the Siliguri Zilla Hospital. The mob was said to have blocked an ambulance that had tried to make its way through the crowd into the hospital. The marchers then allegedly assaulted everyone inside the ambulance, including the patient it was carrying. Protesters also threw stones at the ambulance and set a police jeep on fire. When residents in the area protested the attack on the ambulance, the marchers reportedly became angrier and vandalised shops in the vicinity. 'Nearly 2,000 fans of Tamang marched in a procession and submitted a memorandum to the office of (the) subdivisional officer in Siliguri (town),' state police inspector general Raj Kanojia said. 'The clashes snowballed into violence. Shopowners downed their shutters and the streets were deserted.' The mob also clashed with police when they arrived on the scene. Police fired shots in the air after teargas did not work. One person sustained bullet injuries. Eleven people, including some policemen, were hospitalised. CURFEW A curfew in Siliguri was imposed, and hundreds of soldiers and border security troops patrolled the streets as people stayed indoors. As of yesterday, soldiers were still seen patrolling the streets. Mr Tamang's supporters also called a one-day strike on Saturday in surrounding areas of Siliguri in Darjeeling district, which has a huge ethnic Nepalese population. Shops and businesses closed in response, witnesses said. Police said Mr Tamang's fans also set fire to the residence of a police official, but the flames were doused before they could cause much damage. On Friday, Mr Tamang publicly appealed to his fans to end the violence. 'I urge you all to maintain calm, otherwise I may not be able to concentrate on my career,' Mr Tamang said in an appeal on a private TV channel in Bengali and Nepali. He added that he would take legal action against the DJ for his slur. The state government has also ordered the radio station, Red FM, to explain itself by this evening. 'The remarks are in violation of the programme code,' the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said in a statement, which also branded the station 'racist and insulting'. http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN0625722520071006 Columbus Day protest in Denver leads to arrests Sat Oct 6, 2007 6:26pm EDT By Keith Coffman DENVER (Reuters) - About 75 protesters, including American Indian activist Russell Means, were arrested on Saturday after blocking Denver's downtown parade honoring the Italian-born discoverer Christopher Columbus, an event they denounced as "a celebration of genocide." Police loaded protesters onto buses after they refused orders to disperse. Most will be charged with obstruction of a roadway or disrupting a lawful assembly, Denver Police Lt. Ron Saunier said. Police delayed the parade's start for more than an hour as they tried to head off confrontations. American Indian groups and their supporters have disrupted the city's annual Columbus Day parade every year for nearly two decades, leading to clashes with Colorado's Italian-American community over the century-old celebration, the longest-running such commemoration in the United States. Columbus Day, marked this year on October 8, is an official holiday for most U.S. federal government workers, many public schools, state and local agencies and the U.S. bond market. It recalls the October 12, 1492, landing of Columbus in the Americas on his search for a naval route to India, an event that spawned an era of European interest in the New World. Means, talking to Reuters before his arrest, said Columbus was the "first trans-Atlantic slave trader" after landing in the Americas in 1492. He said Columbus started centuries of oppression of native peoples. "By all accounts, Christopher Columbus was personally responsible for thousands of deaths of the original inhabitants of this hemisphere," Means said. Parade organizer George Vendegnia of the Sons of Italy said his group would honor Columbus' legacy until the U.S. Congress changed the holiday's name. Some cities including Berkeley, California, have already changed the name to "Indigenous People's Day." "It's a day for us to celebrate our heritage," Vendegnia said. Parade opponent Glenn Spagnuolo, an Italian-American, said Columbus' legacy should not be celebrated. "To honor someone who, by his own writings, was a slave trader, is immoral," he said. "I don't see any of my Italian culture in celebrating the occupation and destruction of native cultures." Swedish Muslims protest publishing of blasphemous cartoon STOCKHOLM: Scores of Muslims staged a demonstration on Friday against a Swedish newspaper and demanded that its chief editor apologise for publishing a blasphemous drawing. The rally outside the Nerikes Allehanda newspaper in Orebro followed formal protests by Iran and Pakistan in a brewing conflict over the cartoon made by Swedish artist Lars Vilks. Sweden's prime minister called for mutual respect between Muslims, Christians and nonreligious groups in an apparent attempt to avert a wider conflict. Last year, fiery protests erupted in Muslim countries after a Danish newspaper published 12 blasphemous cartoons. Islamic law is interpreted to forbid any depiction of the Holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) for fear it could lead to idolatry. About 300 people rallied outside the newspaper's offices, demanding an apology and saying the cartoon was insulting to Muslims, the news agency TT reported. Nerikes Allehanda editor-in-chief Ulf Johansson met with the leader of the demonstration, but refused to apologise for the cartoon, which was part of an August 19 editorial criticising several Swedish art galleries for refusing to display a series of such drawings by Vilks. "They say they are offended and I regret that, because our purpose was not to offend anyone," Johansson told The Associated Press. "But they are asking for an apology and a promise that I never again publish a similar image...and that I cannot do." The editorial defended "Muslims' right to freedom of religion" but also said it must be permitted to "ridicule Islam's most foremost symbols - just like all other religionss' symbols." The paper said Vilks' drawings were different from the "rotten" cartoons published by Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten. Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt commented on the dispute for the first time on Friday, saying Sweden was a country "where Muslims and Christians, those who believe in God and those who don't believe in God can live side by side with mutual respect". "At the same time we are anxious to stand up for the freedom of speech...which is about not taking decisions politically about what is published in newspapers," Reinfeldt told TT. The government has not commented on earlier protests by Iran and Pakistan. Vilks asked AP, "Why can you not criticise Islam when you can criticise other religions?" Vilks said he expected protests locally against his drawings but insisted he didn't mean to insult Muslims. "My images are art. I don't have a xenophobic attitude. I'm not against Islam. Everyone knows that," he said. ap http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0911adapt_websep12,1,7988613.story?ctrack=1&cset=true After AMA, disabled take aim at state 2nd blockade protest shuts down Thompson Center By Mary Owen | Tribune staff reporter 9:59 PM CDT, September 11, 2007 A group of disabled protesters staged a blockade within the State of Illinois office building in the Loop for more than five hours Tuesday while their leaders and state officials negotiated issues of concern to the disabled. About 3 p.m., approximately 200 protesters from the advocacy group ADAPT blocked the three main entrances and exits at the Thompson Center, wedging their wheelchairs into revolving doors. Earlier, they blocked escalators in the building and turnstiles and vending machines at the Clark/Lake Chicago Transit Authority station in the center. Several state employees trapped inside the center looked over balconies to watch the protest. Meanwhile, people outside couldn't get in to shop, eat at the food court in the basement or visit any of the state agencies in the 16-story structure. The protesters began blocking elevators and escalators in the building around 11 a.m. At that point, four ADAPT members went to Gov. Rod Blagojevich's office on the 16th floor seeking a meeting with him. They did not have an appointment, and Blagojevich was out of the office all day, state officials said. The blockade ended about 5 p.m. after ADAPT leaders met with Matt Summy, Blagojevich's deputy chief of staff, and Grace Hou, assistant secretary of the state Department of Human Services. The activists obtained promises that the governor would meet with the group before Oct. 17 and that he would not reopen the now-shuttered Lincoln Developmental Center. During his first gubernatorial candidacy, Blagojevich vowed to reopen the state-run compound for developmentally disabled adults in central Illinois but later conceded that it might not be a good idea. The center closed in 2002 after numerous problems of abuse, neglect and mismanagement. ADAPT activists staged a similar protest Monday, blocking the entrances to the American Medical Association building for more than three hours. mowen at tribune.com More articles http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/553003,CST-NWS-adapt12.article Disabled protest again THOMPSON CENTER BLOCKADED | Gov OKs some demands September 12, 2007 BY NORMAN PARISH AND JIM RITTER Staff Reporters After a protest that eventually closed the Thompson Center Tuesday, disabled activists and Gov. Blagojevich's office agreed on plans they say will help move the disabled from nursing homes to community settings. Protesters initially blocked elevators and escalators inside the building. By Tuesday afternoon, more than 200 demonstrators shut the building down completely by blocking doors with their wheelchairs. The blockade ended about 5 p.m. when the governor's representatives agreed to some of the group's demands, which included proposals Blagojevich's office said it had already planned to carry out. Activists want the state to spend less money sending disabled people to nursing homes and other institutions. The money saved, they say, should pay for assistance programs that would enable disabled people to live in their own homes. Blagojevich's office agreed to set up a meeting with ADAPT, the group that organized the protest, by Oct. 17. Officials also ensured that the troubled Lincoln Developmental Center in Lincoln would not reopen. Officials also said ADAPT would be part of a committee to help with a $58 million program to move the disabled from nursing homes and institutions to the general population. Hundreds of visitors were inconvenienced during the protests. Tacara Juarez couldn't get her driver's license after taking the day off to come downtown. Robert Lozano couldn't give blood. Lesley Perrin missed a workers comp arbitration hearing. Monday, ADAPT activists blockaded the American Medical Association building for nearly four hours. Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed http://www.bostonherald.com/business/real_estate/view.bg?articleid=1029647 ACORN activists stage protest at Lehman's office By Jerry Kronenberg Thursday, September 6, 2007 - Updated 32d 2h ago E-mail Printable (5) Comments Text size Share (0) Rate Some two-dozen activists stormed Lehman Brothers' Boston offices yesterday to demand that the financial giant help a Dorchester cancer victim avoid foreclosure. "Lehman Brothers has (so much) money that they could wrap me up in dollars. What do they need that little bit of money they're trying to scruff me up for?" said Deborah Redrick, who's in default on a mortgage Lehman purchased from the lender that originally underwrote it. From ldxar1 at tesco.net Tue Oct 9 14:22:42 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Tue, 9 Oct 2007 22:22:42 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] Anti-neoliberal and related protests Message-ID: <00a801c80aba$87805af0$0802a8c0@andy1> Anti-neoliberal protests/actions: * MEXICO: Teachers protest pension plan, shut down US border * MEXICO: Opposition group blows up pipeline * MEXICO: Zapatistas issue statement supporting pipeline action * KENYA: Squatters protest over land charges * PAKISTAN: Traders' protest ends encroachment crackdown * INDIA: Police attack protest against supermarkets, seven injured * VENEZUELA: Street vendors continue protests against "cleanup" * INDIA: Bangla Bazaar locals protest road-building, market demolition Related: * FRANCE: New unrest on estates, cars burnt * US - VERMONT: Weekly peace protest continues, gains support * US: Hundreds of students protest Halliburton recruiters at UW-Madison * ITALY: Italians take day off pasta in price rise protest * PAPUA NEW GUINEA: Police fight looters at warehouse * INDIA: Sex workers protest anti-trafficking law * INDIA: Left stafes protest against US naval exercises, nuclear deal http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/mexico/tijuana/20070901-9999-6m1border.html Teacher protest shuts down border lanes By Anna Cearley, Steve Schmidt and Karen Kucher UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITERS September 1, 2007 Mexican teachers who closed down border lanes yesterday to protest changes to pension laws said their demonstration succeeded despite the inconvenience to thousands of border travelers. YVETTE DE LA GARZA / SignOnSanDiego Mexican police officers in riot gear line up between the protesting teachers and the international border. "We achieved what we were hoping to, although police blocked us and didn't allow us to get closer (to the crossing)," said Rafael Olivera, a teacher who protested near the San Ysidro port of entry. "It was peaceful." For about 2? hours, several thousand teachers prevented traffic from moving freely through the San Ysidro and Otay Mesa ports, Tijuana police said. The protest lasted until about 12:30 p.m., and no immediate reaction came from the Mexican government over demands to restore former pension benefits. It was part of a nationwide protest that targeted ports of entry along the entire U.S.-Mexico border. Many eyes were on San Ysidro, which is the busiest land port of entry. Mexican and U.S. authorities directed traffic away from the border to prevent gridlock. The timing around the busy Labor Day weekend forced some southbound travelers to change their plans. Sufia Herbst of Encinitas planned to drive down yesterday about noon with family members for a reunion at an Ensenada hotel. Instead, part of the group left at 6 a.m. yesterday to avoid potential problems. "I was worried about what might happen," Herbst said. The last time teachers demonstrated at the border, some commuters driving in both directions tried to nudge past teachers who heckled them. This time, Mexican police formed a barricade more than 200 yards from the San Ysidro crossing, stopping the group from advancing closer. The teachers instead gathered under the shade of a bridge overpass and sang protest songs. The teachers are opposed to a new Mexican law that requires teachers and other public-sector employees to pay higher pension premiums and work longer. The government says the changes are needed to prevent the system from collapsing. There were no altercations or arrests, Tijuana police said. At the San Ysidro port of entry, where pedestrians were still able to cross by foot, a group of about 2,500 protesters dwindled to about 1,000 around 11:30 a.m., Tijuana police said. Event organizers put their numbers higher, at about 7,000. At the Otay Mesa port of entry, about 500 protesters tied up some of the border lanes, but cars managed to get through during the protest, Tijuana police said. Southbound lanes on Interstates 5 and 805, south of state Route 905, remained closed until early afternoon while authorities waited for demonstrators to clear out, the California Highway Patrol said. Staff writer Sandra Dibble contributed to this report http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aVoi3SjxXhZA&refer=home Pemex Blames Sabotage in 6 Separate Pipeline Blasts (Update6) By Thomas Black and Valerie Rota Sept. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Petroleos Mexicanos, the country's state oil monopoly, said saboteurs blew up three oil and gas pipelines in the energy hub of Veracruz state, marking the third terrorist strike on its distribution network since July. The six explosions that shut down lines carrying crude oil, natural gas and propane were ``premeditated acts,'' Pemex said in an e-mailed statement. About 12,500 people were evacuated after the blasts at 3 a.m. New York time, Veracruz Governor Fidel Herrera said on Mexico City-based Radio Formula. Pemex reported no injuries or damage outside its facilities. ``In today's democratic Mexico, there is no place for these criminal acts,'' President Felipe Calderon, traveling in India, said in a statement e-mailed by his office. ``Those who attack the security of the Mexican people under any pretext are attacking Mexico and democracy.'' Calderon, who took office in December, is grappling with the country's most serious security threat since a guerilla uprising in 1994 led to rebel seizure of the tourist town of San Cristobal de las Casas. Unchecked, guerrilla attacks on energy infrastructure could undermine his plans to quicken economic growth with higher government spending on development projects. `Main Arteries' The blasts today follow two separate pipeline bombings in July that disrupted natural gas for thousands of residents and businesses in four central states. The damage to industrial production from this attack may be greater because it affects a larger gas pipeline and lines that connect to Mexico City and Guadalajara, the country's second-largest city, said David Shields, an independent energy analyst in Mexico City. ``These pipelines are the main arteries of supply to Mexico City and the surrounding areas,'' Shields said. Vitro SAB, Mexico's biggest glassmaker, halted production at five glass factories as gas supplies were cut to Vitro's plants in Mexico City, Toluca, Queretaro and Guadalajara, the company said in a statement. Grupo Industrial Saltillo SAB, the Saltillo- based producer of auto parts and construction materials, had to shut three ceramic-tile plants in the states of Guanajuato and San Luis Potosi because of a lack of natural gas. Vitro's shares fell for a second day, dropping 78 centavos, or 2.9 percent, to 25.92 pesos. Grupo Industrial Saltillo rose 20 centavos to 18.4 pesos. Mexico's Bolsa index of the 35 most- traded stocks declined 1.2 percent to 29,893.18 after falling 1.8 percent on Sept. 7. The explosions caused natural gas for October delivery to rise, said Michael Rose, trading director at Angus Jackson Inc. in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The price climbed 39 cents, or 7.1 percent, to $5.891 per million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The price earlier touched $5.976. Guerrillas ``The market is on edge, everybody is short and whenever anything happens we'll go up,'' Rose said. Pemex is the only supplier of natural gas under Mexican law. The company, which generates tax revenue equal to almost 40 percent of federal spending, will require manpower and funds to repair the damage at a time it's struggling to slow a decline in oil production that began in 2004. During the first seven months of this year, Pemex produced an average of 3.16 million barrels per day, down from 3.38 million barrels in 2004. A guerrilla group that calls itself the Popular Revolutionary Army claimed responsibility for the blasts on July 5 and July 10. No one has taken responsibility for today's attacks. The group, operating in Oaxaca and other southern states, demanded the government release two of its members, whom the Interior Ministry denied having in custody. Distribution The group first surfaced in Oaxaca and Guerrero states two years after the 1994 uprising in Chiapas by the Zapatista Army for National Liberation, an armed group demanding indigenous rights. The EPR has shown itself to be more violent than the Zapatistas, who avoided conflict with Mexican authorities after their initial uprising. Three of the blasts occurred in different areas of a 48-inch natural-gas pipeline that originates at Pemex's Cactus plant and goes to San Fernando in the northern state of Tamaulipas, Pemex said. The other three explosions damaged a gas line, a liquid- propane pipeline and a 30-inch oil pipeline. The 30-inch natural gas line connects Minatitlan to Mexico City. The 24-inch liquid natural gas line supplies Guadalajara. Restoring Service Pemex will take three to five days to repair the damage and restore natural-gas service, said Carlos Ramirez, a Pemex spokesman, in an e-mail. The blasts cut off supply of about a billion cubic feet per day, mostly to businesses, he said. Pemex said natural-gas supply will be the most affected by today's blast. Local supplies of propane and gasoline would be met, the company said. The explosions on July 10 cut natural gas service to four states and caused more than 100 large companies to reduce or suspend production for a lack of gas. The explosions today will have an even greater impact because they have cut supplies to more businesses across a larger region of central and western Mexico, said the Confederation of Industrial Chambers, an umbrella industrial trade group. ``It's a concern that these incidents, which seriously affect the operations of a strategic supply such as Pemex, are repeated even after the preventive measures the government put into place after the July event.'' Following the Pemex blasts in July, President Calderon deployed 5,000 troops from an elite military unit to safeguard Pemex's facilities as well as dams and power plants. Pemex stepped up aerial surveillance of its 60,000-kilometer pipeline system. The company's pipeline network is too extensive to patrol completely, Shields said. ``If terrorists have decided they're going to blow up Pemex pipelines, then it's going to be very hard to stop,'' he said. ``There was a time in Colombia that this would happen every week.'' http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/mexico/20070924-1538-mexico-pipelineexplosions.html Zapatista rebels back group that attacked oil pipelines :38 p.m. September 24, 2007 MEXICO CITY - Mexico's Zapatista rebels, who waged a short-lived armed struggle against the government 13 years ago, issued a declaration supporting a Marxist guerrilla group believed to be behind recent attacks on the country's oil and gas pipelines. The Zapatista National Liberation Army did not explicitly condone the Sept. 10 and July 11 attacks, which temporarily cut the delivery of gas and oil and cost businesses hundreds of millions of dollars in lost production. But it said in a statement sent to the news media on Sunday that the People's Revolutionary Army's demand for the government to release two of its members "is not only legitimate, it is also a complaint against the dirty war being revived by that lover of military uniforms, (President) Felipe Calder?n." The statement, which was also posted on the Zapatistas' Web site on Sunday, could not be independently verified. Calder?n's office did not immediately issue a response. The People's Revolutionary Army, a secretive Marxist group that killed dozens of police and soldiers in the late 1990s, has claimed responsibility for two separate attacks on pipelines operated by the state-owned oil company Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex. The group threatened to continue attacks until authorities release two rebels they believe are in government custody. The government denies holding the men, and Attorney General Eduardo Medina has suggested that they may have fallen victim to internal divisions within the guerrilla movement. The Zapatista National Liberation Army seized the city of San Cristobal de las Casas and other communities in Chiapas state on Jan. 1, 1994 in the name of socialism and Indian rights. http://allafrica.com/stories/200709191110.html Kenya: Squatters Protest At Title Deed Fee The Nation (Nairobi) 20 September 2007 Posted to the web 19 September 2007 Nation Correspondent Nairobi Squatters who were given land by the Government in Malindi District will pay for their title deeds, after all. This is contrary to an earlier indication that they would be free of charge. The announcement by local Land Adjudication and Settlement Officer, Mr Geoffrey Kariuki, is bound to ignite uproar among more than 3,000 squatters in Ngomeni who were promised by President Kibaki on September 1 that they would get the documents for free. Squatters have been jamming the lands office to know why the officer was "selling" the title deeds to them despite the presidential order when he issued the more than 1,500 documents. "Why is Mr Kariuki selling the title deeds to us? The President told us these documents would be issued free of charge from now on," said Mr Charo Chea. However, Mr Kariuki explained that only the cost of processing the documents was waived by the President. In a meeting at district commissioner Anne Ng'etich's office, yesterday morning, Mr Kariuki said there was a breakdown of communication between the ministry and the squatters. "What the Head of State waived were the processing costs which vary between Sh1,000 and Sh2,000 depending on the acreage. Otherwise the cost of the title deed known as Settlement Fund Area remains," he said. He said the cost of a title deed depended on the size and location of the plot. For Ngomeni area, the cost starts from Sh2,850 for the first acre, Sh650 for the second acre and so forth. The DC blamed the Lands Department for failing to create awareness among squatters and the public. Created confusion "It was necessary after the President's announcement to make wananchi aware which costs he meant. Failure to do this has created confusion," Ms Ng'etich said. She told the officers to start awareness campaigns among squatters on the true position. Ms Ng'etich feared that even the free tuition in secondary schools next year would be misconstrued to mean free education. "We might witness similar situations on the free tuition for secondary school unless adequate awareness is created among wananchi," she said. http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007%5C09%5C20%5Cstory_20-9-2007_pg7_33 Anti-encroachment drive ends after traders protest Staff Report LAHORE: An anti-encroachment drive in the Ichhra shopping area was postponed because of protests by traders on Tuesday. The operation was ordered by the district coordination officer to remove encroachments within 24 hours from the area for security reasons. The operation started on Monday but has been postponed till the end of Ramazan. The city government staff impounded illegal stalls in Samanabad Town and in protest about 200 shopkeepers and their staff blocked Ferozepur Road for a few minutes and forced the city government's staff to leave. The shopkeepers also shouted slogans against district and town nazims and claimed that the operation was damaging their businesses. The city government's staff was prevented from removing the platforms outside the shops. Tariq Zaman, Staff Officer to DCO said the anti-encroachment drive had been postponed because most of the city government staff was busy checking the bazaars to make sure clean food was being sold at rates set by the government. He said the traders had promised to remove the encroachments by themselves. He also said the operation would resume after Ramazan. http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jorI4AEq4YeL0vd9bdgjczVqzs7g Seven hurt in India protests against supermarkets Sep 22, 2007 THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, India (AFP) - Two shop-owners and five policemen were injured when a protest against big retail stores turned violent in southern India on Saturday, police said. Some 100 shopkeepers demonstrated in the city of Kozhikode in Kerala state to protest at the opening of dozens of Western-style air-conditioned supermarkets, which they say threaten their business. "The police will not be able to crush our protest through violence. We are fighting for our livelihood," T. Nasiruddeen, president of the Kerala Merchants and Traders Coordination Committee, said. Police said the protesters had turned violent. "We caned the violent mob to disperse them," said police commissioner Balram Kumar Upadhyay. The communist state government promised earlier this month to ban the entry of retail giants into the state. But in the past few months, several supermarket chains have opened a few dozen stores in the state as opportunities in retail grow. The Kerala government has not said what it will do about the presence of existing retail chains but the traders said they want the licences removed. It was the third such big protest against organised retail stores in the country this year. Last month, one of India's largest states ordered the closure of retail stores set up by Reliance Industries citing law enforcement problems, after traders attacked the company's Reliance Fresh stores. Corporate giant Reliance launched its six-billion-dollar retail business last November. A host of domestic and international companies are seeking to invest in India's lucrative 300-billion-dollar retail market. http://www.vheadline.com/readnews.asp?id=76033 Published: Tuesday, September 25, 2007 Bylined to: Jeremy Morgan National Guard (GN) squads in full riot gear to persuade 'buhoneros' to leave Caracas Daily Journal (Jeremy Morgan): Nobody could accuse Mayor Freddy Bernal of the messy Libertador municipality in west Caracas of being a quitter. This guy just won't give up in the battle against rotting rubbish, housing shortages and stroppy people. Bernal is taking yet another stab at cleaning up the joint, and he's zeroed in on Plaza Diego Ibarra round the back of the twin towers at El Silencio. There's no doubting the place could do with a wash and brush-up. For years, it's been a haven for buhoneros -- the street vendors and stall holders who are one of the many banes of Bernal's life. In a sense, they always make their mark and you can clearly see they've been around. The mayor appears to have prevailed in his latest bid to get the buhoneros to go from the plaza -- in contrast with their continuing infestation of nearby Avenidas Baralt and Fuerzas Armadas. But he had to resort to the heavy hand in the form of National Guard (GN) squads kitted out in full riot gear to persuade them to move along. Now he's sent in the bulldozers to scrape away the scruffy shacks that sprang up amidst the buhoneros, crowding out the elegant statues and other ornaments of the good old days when the plaza presented itself to the world in spanking form to a design by architects John Stoddard and Fernando Tabora way back when in 1967. Bernal hopes to resurrect the square in all its former glory. But skeptics say he faces an uphill struggle on several fronts. Caraquenos tend to tip their garbage just about anywhere. Curing them of this lamentable custom could involve a major exercise in social re-education. The towers are dilapidated, both inside and out. Once home to ministries, government departments and upmarket offices, today they're crammed with squatters and large families in small spaces. The square sits bang slap in the middle of a notoriously crime-ridden and violent district, which does little to induce a sense of identity or place. People tend to get quickly inside, bolting and barring their doors against the evil outside. As is the nature of things, this combination of negatives feeds off itself. Bernal is said to have given up trying to work out which was the chicken and which the egg some time ago. And it's not just Diego Ibarra that's a headache. Libertador is home to thousands of shanties precariously perched on sliding hillsides. He's tried to get people to move out but that's difficult in the absence of alternative accommodation. The mayor's latest challenge is a barrio called El Mamon overlooking Antimano in south Libertador. Five houses have tumbled down and 25 more are deemed to be in imminent danger of doing so. Residents want to go somewhere better but say that until they do, they'll stick with the devil they know. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Lucknow/Bangla_Bazar_residents_stage_protest/articleshow/2356886.cms Bangla Bazar residents stage protest 11 Sep 2007, 0150 hrs IST,TNN LUCKNOW: Shopkeepers and residents of Bangla Bazar took to streets on Monday afternoon following apprehension of their shops and houses being demolished by the Lucknow Development Authority (LDA) to pave way for construction of a four-lane road. It is being widely speculated that the road would lead to a new 'rally sthal' in Sharda Nagar, around 3 km from the previous site Ambedkar Ground. The latter, LDA officials claim, would be converted into Kanshi Ram Smarak. Though officials refused to say anything, sources said that the new rally ground, to be known as 'Rama Devi Sthal', is close to Ambedkar University and would occupy an area of around 50 acres, even though the available land in the area is around 90 acres. Piquantly, a small village, Khwajapur, is located in the said area. An LDA official said that they are in touch with the villagers asking them to leave the land. The villagers would be settled on an alternate site. As the width of road would be increased to around 45 metres from the existing 25 metres, makes nearly 250 houses and shops liable to be demolished by the government. Sources said that the LDA has already prepared a list of around 255 houses which are likely to face bull-dozers. Aware of the consequences, some of the shopkeepers and residents of the area staged a march and raised slogans against the administration. Shopkeepers later closed their shops in protest. Even as the situation turned tense, senior district administration officials, including district magistrate Chandra Bhanu, reached the spot where they were handed over a memorandum by the local traders. According to the traders, they were told that section 144 has been imposed and no one is allowed to stage a demonstration. The traders have demanded compensation for their loss in case a demolition drive is carried out in the area. LDA officials, however, claim that the shop-keepers have encroached upon the road. Sources claimed that chief minister Mayawati visited the site a couple of days back. It was soon after the CM's inspection that the work of ground levelling started. Sources said that the ground will have to be prepared as a rally sthal by the second week of October. October 9, happens to the birth anniversary of BSP founder Kanshi Ram. With Ambedkar Ground being changed to Kanshi Ram Smarak, the question arises whether the venue for Lucknow Mahotsava would be changed this year? The smarak is expected to come up by October 9, which happens to be the birth anniversary of BSP founder Kanshi Ram. Sources claimed that the LDA has refused to allot the ground for the annual gala event organised every year between November 25 and December 5. District administration sources said that they are searching for a new site. Speculations are, however, rife that the venue for Mahotsava may be Laxman Mela ground this year. http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article3033354.ece Riot police move in as youths burn cars on French estate By Rachel Shields Published: 06 October 2007 Dozens of hooded youths battered two police vehicles with metal bars, set fire to more than a dozen parked cars and torched a community centre in north-east France, officials said yesterday. The rampage, in a tough neighbourhood in Saint-Dizier, about 120 miles east of Paris, revived memories of a wave of car burnings, vandalism and clashes with police by youths in 2005, fanned by feelings of alienation among French youths of Arab and African origin. Authorities were not sure what sparked the incident involving 30-40 youths, which erupted as firefighters - escorted by police - entered the Vert-Bois neighbourhood on Thursday in response to a fire alert. A police officer was treated for cuts from broken glass, and a firefighter received blows from a metal bar on his arm. The youths fled the scene. Riot police were called in from nearby Reims and will remain in Saint-Dizier throughout the weekend. No arrests were made. "There are always high tensions in this housing project," said Yves Guillot, state administrator for the Haute-Marne region. Interior Minister Michele Alliot-Marie condemned the violence in a visit to the town early yesterday. Police have little or no control in some housing projects, where they face insults, projectiles or worse. Firefighters also come under attack and often require a police escort when they are called out. http://www.boston.com/news/local/vermont/articles/2007/09/14/in_vermonts_capital_weekly_protest_enters_sixth_year/ In Vermont's capital, weekly protest enters sixth year By John Curran, Associated Press Writer | September 14, 2007 MONTPELIER, Vt. --For five years, they've staked out their turf in front of the federal building, homemade signs in hand. Some are peace activists who've been at it so long they remember sticking flowers into the barrels of National Guard rifles during Vietnam demonstrations. Some are recent recruits who joined in because they had to let people know how they feel. They appear every Friday, homemade signs in hand, standing shoulder to shoulder through the lunch hour, hoping to make a difference. Their ranks are thinning -- up to 100 have participated, but usually it's a hardcore dozen -- and their signs beginning to wear, but they always show up. "It's not enough for me, as a citizen, to express myself with a vote every two or four years," said Jules Rabin, 83, a retired baker from Marshfield. "I have a lot of friends at dinner parties who grouse and complain and deplore and then do nothing. What we're doing may be futile -- we're not going to turn the big ship around -- but we need to do the little bit we're capable of. That, to me, is pretty basic. "When something is deeply wrong with the country, you don't just content yourself with voting," said Rabin, one of the "sextons of the vigil" who, with his wife, Helen Rabin, 66, brings the signs each week. "Leahy, Sanders, Welch, No More Money For War. Troops Home Now." "Bush Lied. There Were No Weapons of Mass Destruction." "Support Our Troops, Bring Them Home." "Let Not One More American or Iraqi Die For the Lies that Launched This War." The weekly protest, which has no formal name or committee behind it, consists of a rotating roster of people. Sometimes, only a couple show up. It started in September 2002, when its original participants hoped public opposition might avert the war. Then it kept going. Like the war, no one knows when it will end. Robert Brower, 67, a yoga instructor from Middlesex, was there from the start. He's been there almost every Friday since. It's written in on his calendar at home -- a weekly commitment he can't miss. "I do it for myself," he said Friday. "I feel like I have to do something. "I wake up every morning and I say `What can I do to help us resolve this?'" Mary Jane Kennedy, 56, of Montpelier, who started showing up in 2005, felt an obligation to get involved. "I'd seen these people standing here, and I thought, `For one hour a week, I'll stand here and I'll continue thinking about it. "I'm like most Americans. I'd rather disconnect. I'd rather concentrate on my garden, or watch TV. But I felt an obligation to do something," said Kennedy. She held a handwritten sign that read: "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter ... M.L. King." Joan Stander, 76, of Montpelier, a part-time substitute teacher, carried a sign that read: "Demand an end to this unjust war." "It's such a mess. I just want to cry when I see the numbers (of casualties) go up," she said. She said the war won't end until Congress pulls the plug on financing it. "But I don't think they have the guts." The sidewalk pedestrians, U.S. Post Office patrons and motorists who pass by the protesters' spot near the Vermont Statehouse, have mixed reactions. Bill Williams, 64, of Swanton, clapped his hands and smiled as he passed Friday. "It's tremendous testimony," he said of them. Some drivers honk their horns. Occasionally, the pedestrians stop to talk or voice their support. The tourists -- especially the ones from abroad -- take pictures. "Protests are kind of a way of life up here, and I think it's kind of an example of that," said Jeanette Cordell, 61, of New Smyrna Beach, Fla., who paused to snap a photo with a digital camera. Some aren't as charitable. They use hand signals to show it. But those reactions have become rare, several of the protesters said. "What's most upsetting to me, and it's happened just a couple of times, is that the mother of a serviceperson comes by and says `My son is over there so you idiots can stand out here and do this,'" said Helen Rabin. "That can be a little hard to take. I understand their feelings. And we're not against the soldiers, for heaven's sake." Brower sees less of that than he once did. "I do notice that there's a very different response to us than there was at the beginning," he said. "People used to flash us the bird, say `This is a free country, why don't you go live in Iraq?' There was a lot of anger. Now, there's a lot of encouragement. I don't know what we're accomplishing, but I do notice that." http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=10258 September 21st, 2007 2:16 pm Hundreds of students protest Halliburton recruiters at UW-Madison By Ryan J. Foley / Associated Press A couple hundred students jammed into a University of Wisconsin-Madison building Thursday to protest Halliburton Co.'s recruiting at a campus job fair. The protesters sat in front of the company's booth, virtually blocking access to the its four recruiters. Engineering student and protest organizer Chris Dols led the group in song. "I said, 'From high to low, Halliburton got to go,'" the crowd sang. The Campus Antiwar Network is accusing Halliburton, whose former subsidiary had large contracts to aid the U.S. military in Iraq, of profiting from war and other unethical practices. The group had a noon rally at the top of Bascom Hill in the center of campus and then marched to the Engineering Centers Building, where the career fair was being held. Activists said they would discourage students from meeting with the oil services company. Organizers said earlier this week they expected anywhere from a few dozen to as many as 600 students to take part. The event is drawing parallels to a 1967 protest against recruiters for Dow Chemical Co., which made napalm used in Vietnam. A peaceful sit-in that ended in a bloody confrontation between students and club-wielding police officers galvanized the anti-war movement. University officials have warned protesters they must avoid chanting and threatening behavior and allow students to visit any recruiter they wish. Students have vowed to follow the guidelines and stay peaceful. Nearly 300 companies are taking part in the three-day career fair, university officials said, with about 100 of them expected there Thursday. Houston-based Halliburton is looking for entry-level employees as part of its plan to add 13,000 workers this year. A company spokeswoman has called its critics uninformed since Halliburton and its former subsidiary, KBR, separated earlier this year. KBR has won billions of dollars in contracts from the U.S. government to help the military in war zones. http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article2961299.ece Pasta off the menu as Italians protest at rising prices By Peter Popham in Rome Published: 14 September 2007 Millions of Italians took the drastic measure of not eating their customary plate of pasta yesterday, in protest at what consumer organizations claim are savage and unjustified rises in the price of staple foods. In the central piazzas of major cities including Rome, the organizations handed out free pasta, bread and milk to draw attention to their cause and urged passers-by to take a day off from shopping. In Italian supermarkets a one-kilo pack of spaghetti costs on average ?1.14 (96p). By mid-afternoon it was claimed that up to 48 per cent of Italians had gone along with the strike, which is intended to put pressure on the government's watchdog on fair competition to launch a full investigation into price rises. Rosario Trefiletti, president of Federconsumatori, said: "In six sample cities, Milan, Rome, Naples, Bari, Catania and Palermo, between 12 and 48 per cent of people interviewed in major shopping centres said they did not intend buying pasta today." Pasta - Italians are Europe's greatest consumers of it eating 10 times more per head than in Britain - was the major target of the campaign, but the organizers urged the public not to buy anything which has recently shot up in price. Carlo Rienzi, head of one of the groups Codacons, said: "We have met the head of the Anti-trust Authority, Antonio Catricala, who has recognized the fundamental role of our organizations in reporting pricing irregularities." A spokesman for the Authority said, "It is not in our power to change or impose prices, but an investigation is under way on deformities in the market." Codacons maintains that recent whopping price rises in the cost of essentials - pasta up 27 per cent year on year for example - cannot be justified by citing rises in cost at source. "It's all a result of speculation," the organization claimed. "The excuse of raw material costs cuts no ice." Its website has a table showing that pasta in the supermarket cost four times the cost of the grain at source, fresh pasta 15 times, bread 11 times and milk four times. One member of the government has bought into the campaign: portly minister of justice, Clemente Mastella, whose favourite pasta dish is paccheri (like sliced-up sections of garden hose) with tomato and ricotta cheese, said he would join the strike "because I believe in the cause". But another government minister, Rosy Bindi, said it would be redundant for her to join the strike as she was already on a diet. http://www.chinapost.com.tw/asia/2007/09/22/123630/Looters-police.htm Looters, police clash in Papua New Guinea PORT MORESBY -- Looters engaged in running fights with police in Papua New Guinea's highlands when authorities attempted to stop them taking advantage of fires to rob two warehouses, police said Friday. Highlands Police Commander Simon Aauba said several police were injured in the violence, which erupted in the major town of Mount Hagen on Thursday. "I'm very disappointed with the public, overall the police did a tremendous job preventing what could have been a very nasty situation," he said. The three-hour clash saw police firing warning shots at stone throwing looters and resulted in the majority of businesses and government offices closing their doors. http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=23&theme=&usrsess=1&id=172774 Sex workers protest IPTA KOLKATA, Oct. 7: The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act (ITPA) is a means of earning money from the US, claimed sex workers from all over the state as they protested against the impending revision in the IPTA. "The US provides medicines for Aids patients in India. Those in power make money by allowing them to sell their medicines here. The allegation that minor girls are forced into the flesh trade is a deliberate excuse to satisfy their only purpose of making money. The revised IPTA, if implemented, will not only render the sex workers without any means of livelihood but will also enhance the spread of HIV infection because then no one will be practicing safe sex. With the spread of the virus, the government will be able to earn more money," Dr Samarjit Jana, programme officer of National Aids Control Organisation said. n SNS http://www.hindu.com/2007/09/04/stories/2007090460330400.htm Left announces Statewide protest against nuclear deal Staff Reporter The protest will be for five days Nuclear deal will impact agriculture, says Nagaraj BANGALORE: The Left parties of Karnataka today reiterated their opposition to the Indo-US nuclear agreement and the joint naval exercises, and announced a State-wide campaign to protest the deal. Campaign The five-day campaign will begin on Tuesday and include protest meetings and conventions across the State, said G.N. Nagaraj, State Secretary, CPI (M). "We must see the nuclear deal in perspective. It is not merely about nuclear energy. The agreement will impact every aspect of life in India, including agriculture, industry, education, the judiciary and the military," he said. The United States was seeking strategic military cooperation with India in terms of logistical support, maritime trade security and interoperability, which will "bind India into joint operations with the U.S. in their aggressive war strategies", he added. Serious impact Warning of a "serious impact on agriculture", Mr. Nagaraj said that the agreement would foster the domination of multinational companies over Indian agriculture, through patents and controls over trade. Joint exercises On the joint naval exercises with Singapore, Japan, Australia and the United States, he said that this would form "a quadrilateral reminiscent of the cold war". Joint exercises with the United States now appear to have extended to joint exercises with United States allies, he added. Stating that the deal is a "clear departure from the Common Minimum Programme, which was the basis of the Left parties' support to the UPA government", Mr. Nagaraj said that the Congress must not function as a "single party dictatorship". From ldxar1 at tesco.net Tue Oct 9 14:30:34 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Tue, 9 Oct 2007 22:30:34 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] Miscellaneous protests Message-ID: <00ac01c80abb$a0c77f10$0802a8c0@andy1> Various protests and social unrest... * NEPAL: Bomb protest shuts schools * NEPAL: Pogrom victions block roads * NEPAL: Maoists leave camps for protest * NEPAL: Thirteen killed in clashes between Maoists, anti-Maoists * INDIA: Maoists coordinate unrest in Bihar, three killed * ALGERIA: Protest against terrorism - tens of thousands urge peace * BRITISH-OCCUPIED IRELAND: Unrest in Derry against "SS" RUC * UK: Police get comeuppance as woman pelts with objects * INDIA: Unrest after train runs over pilgrims * POLAND: Cod fishermen protest EU ban, demand quota or compensation * NIGERIA: Locals besiege university, demand local appointment * INDIA: Murder victims stage hunger strike, protest over compensation http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/09/06/asia/AS-GEN-Nepal-Schools-Strike.php Bomb protest strike shuts schools in Nepal's capital The Associated Press Published: September 6, 2007 KATMANDU, Nepal: A student strike to protest bomb blasts that killed two high school pupils closed down schools and colleges Thursday in the Nepalese capital. All educational institutes were shut in Katmandu, said the High School Students Welfare Council, the student group that organized the strike. Two of the three people killed in Sunday's three bombings in Katmandu were 12th grade students at a local school. Twenty people were hurt in the blasts. The student group is also demanding government financial compensation for the families of the students killed and improved security around schools. Police are still investigating the bombings. Three little-known groups pushing for more autonomy in Nepal's restive south have claimed responsibility for the blasts. Police detained at least eight people, but have yet to say if any are suspects. Ethnic minority groups in the south want greater autonomy, more seats in the national legislature, and a guaranteed number of representatives in the government. http://www.kantipuronline.com/kolnews.php?nid=124467 Kapilvastu riot victims call off highway banda, continue other protests Kantipur Report KATHMANDU, Oct 3 - Traffic on the east-west Mahendra Highway resumed Wednesday as Kapilvastu riots victims agreed to call of their highway banda. However, the riot victims said that they would continue their other protest programmes until their demands were met. The highway has been reopened till October 10, said Keshav Pandey, coordinator of the struggle committee, adding, all other protest programmes, however, will be continued till the demands are met. The judicial committee formed by the government to probe the incident has reached the most affected Chadrauta area today. In a meeting held today, the committee convinced the victims to call off their protest programmes including the highway banda. The meeting was attended by representatives of the political parties, local administration and locals. The general strike had grounded all the vehicles plying across Chandrauta in the the Mahendra Highway. Posted on: 2007-10-03 09:01:03 (Server Time) http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jaRWUY4EbRNzOcP_PTAgbbXCDyug UN protest as Nepal Maoists leave camps Sep 14, 2007 KATHMANDU (AFP) - Thousands of Nepal's former Maoist rebels briefly left their United Nations-monitored camps for a protest Friday, drawing strong condemnation from the world body. Around 5,000 uniformed Maoists left their camps in Nawalparasi for around two hours Friday to protest about their conditions and push for integration into Nepal's national army, their division commander told AFP. That was "a serious violation of commitments made in the agreement on the management of arms and armed personnel reached between the Maoists and their partners in the Interim Government," the UN said in a statement. About 31,000 people said to be former fighters are confined to 28 camps around the country as part of a landmark peace deal reached between the government and Maoists late last year. "We left the camps to put pressure on the government," division commander Pratikchhya said from the camps 130 kilometres (80 miles) southwest of Kathmandu. "The government has agreed to give 3,000 rupees (45 dollars) per month to each of our fighters but so far we have not received any money. We also want integration into the Nepal Army," he said. Nepal is due in November to elect a body that will rewrite the country's constitution and decide its political future, but peace deal violations could endanger the holding of the elections, the UN statement said. "Implementing the commitments in relation to the management of arms and armed personnel, without exception, is essential to ... preparing a free and fair atmosphere for the Constituent Assembly election," it said. Nepal's Maoists launched their "people's war" aimed at toppling the monarchy and establishing a one-party communist state in 1996. After the end of the civil war that killed at least 13,000 people, the rebels signed a peace deal and have been given seats in parliament and ministerial portfolios. http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/000200709191440.htm Riot toll reaches 13 in Nepal Kathmandu, Sept. 19 (PTI): The death toll during the three days riots that broke following the killing of an anti-Maoist group leader in Nepal rose to 13 today after seven more bodies were recovered in the district, police said. Curfew was relaxed for four hours today after administration had passed shoot at sight orders in the area for the past three days to control the situation, in southern Nepal town of Kapilvastu near Lord Buddha's birth place. Property worth millions of rupees was also damaged in the riots that followed the killing of Mohit Khan, a former leader of an anti-Maoist group by an unidentified group, that sparked clash between the Maoists and anti-Maoist groups since Sunday morning. According to the police, over 100 vehicles were either vandalized or torched and over 300 houses in various places were set ablaze by violent groups. In Chandrauta Bazaar itself, 85 vehicles were torched. Currently, the situation has calmed downed in the area. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Patna/Maoists_run_riot_in_Bihar_kill_three/articleshow/2396385.cms Maoists run riot in Bihar, kill three 24 Sep 2007, 0259 hrs IST,TNN PATNA/RANCHI: Maoists killed three persons in Gaya district of Bihar and blew up a railway station in Jharkhand on Sunday in a 24-hour bandh called by them to protest the arrest of a senior Naxal leader in Patna. The ultras gunned down three persons including a jawan of the Special Auxiliary Police (SAP), the force specially created to combat Maoists in the state. A driver and a cleaner were also killed for "violating" the 24-hour bandh called by Maoists to protest the arrest of senior Naxal leader Tushar Kanti Bhattacharya in Patna recently. The slain policeman has been identified as Shankar Singh Baghel from Allahabad (UP). Soon after the bandh became operative in the zero hour on Sunday, Maoists struck in a big way at two places under the Amas and Barachatti police station in Gaya district and torched vehicles, including a passenger bus. Mercifully, the passengers were allowed to disembark before the vehicle was torched. In all six vehicles including a bus were burnt near Amas on the GT Road, another eight trucks were torched in the Barachatti area. Gaya SP Amit Jain could not be contacted for details. True to their operational pattern, the ultras retained the element of surprise in their operation as the police had apparently not bargained for a major offensive on the busy GT Road. Train services in the Magadh region were also severely affected due to sabotage by Maoists near Parasnath in the neighbouring Jharkhand. Movement of trains remained suspended for more than eight hours following the blast and subsequent track dislocation on the Grand Chord section of the railways. Several important trains including Rajdhani Express, Mumbai Mail, Puri Express and Jodhpur Express skipped Gaya on being diverted through the main line via Patna. http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/world/view_article.php?article_id=87642 Algerians protest against terrorism after suicide attacks By Hassen Zenati Agence France-Presse Last updated 06:52am (Mla time) 09/10/2007 ALGIERS -- Tens of thousands of Algerians protested against terrorism Sunday after two suicide bomb attacks in recent days claimed by an Al-Qaeda offshoot killed at least 52 people. Demonstrations were held in Algeria's major cities, including the capital Algiers, where participants gathered in a sports arena, displaying banners saying "no to violence and crime." Prime Minister Abdelaziz Belkhadem was among politicians attending the rally, where speakers denounced suicide attacks as "contrary to the values of Islam." Messages of support poured in from around the world, led by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon who said he was "deeply shocked and saddened by the escalation of terrorist violence in Algeria." The latest attack occurred Saturday when a blast ripped through a naval barracks in the port town of Dellys, 70 kilometers (45 miles) east of Algiers. Most of those killed were members of the coastguard, but the interior ministry said three civilians also died and many of the 47 wounded were also civilians. On Thursday, 22 people were killed and more than 100 wounded when a man exploded a device in a crowd waiting to meet President Abdelaziz Bouteflika in the eastern city of Batna. It was an apparent assassination attempt against the president but the attacker was reportedly discovered by the crowd and set off the bomb before Bouteflika arrived. Political parties, unions and civil society groups called for Sunday's protests with the theme: "No to terrorism. Stop instability. Don't touch my Algeria." Islamic militants from Al-Qaeda's self-styled offshoot in north Africa have claimed credit for other recent bombings. The Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) has pledged allegiance to Osama bin Laden and renamed itself the Al-Qaeda Movement in the Maghreb, sparking Western fears of Islamist militants gaining a toehold in north Africa from which to launch attacks in Europe and beyond. The United States denounced the attacks and called them a reminder of the threat posed by global extremism. "We deplore the vicious attacks in Algeria. The attacks are another reminder of the terrorist threat faced by freedom-loving people around the world," White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said. The European Union issued a statement saying "terrorism in all its forms constitutes one of the most serious threats to peace in the world." The bloc reiterated its "support for Algerian efforts to overcome the great sufferings of recent years and achieve national reconciliation." Messages of condolence and condemnations of the attacks also came from France, Iran, Jordan's King Abdullah II, Morocco and Spain. Bouteflika went on television after Thursday's attacks to denounce the "criminals" responsible but vowed to pursue his national reconciliation policy. That initiative aims to integrate Islamists who renounce violence that rocked the country after the army intervened in 1992 to cancel elections an Islamic fundamentalist party was poised to win. About 2,000 militants have been freed from prison and the authorities say about 300 have given themselves up, earning a presidential pardon. But in April, car bomb attacks on the government headquarters and a police station in Algiers killed 33 people and injured more than 220. Three months later, 10 soldiers were killed and 35 people wounded when a suicide bomber rammed a truck full of explosives into barracks at Lakhdaria, 100 kilometers east of Algiers. In a separate incident, Algerian security services said they had arrested two suspected Islamist militants "as they were preparing an attack" in the town of Medea, 80 kilometers south of Algiers. The pair are part of an armed group that massacred a peasant family in September 2004 at nearby El-Hamdania, they said. Copyright 2007 Agence France-Presse. All rights reserved. http://www.rte.ie/news/2007/1001/northviolence.html PSNI defends actions in Derry riot Monday, 1 October 2007 16:40 The PSNI has rejected claims by Sinn F?in that officers were heavy-handed during rioting in Derry city centre during the early hours of yesterday morning. Police said several hundred people were involved in the disturbances and that the response was proportionate. Five PSNI officers and one civilian were injured during the trouble. However, Sinn F?in said eyewitness reports pointed to events spiralling out of control after a large number of police officers intervened in a relatively minor scuffle between two individuals. Foyle MLA Martina Anderson has called for Northern Ireland's Police Ombudsman's Office to investigate what happened. http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/article3033594.ece Fury as Derry riot footage is posted on the internet Saturday, October 06, 2007 By Clare Weir Footage of violent riots in Londonderry are today available to view by computer users all over the world after the images were posted on an internet website. The mayor of the city said that the films give "the wrong message" to people who may want to visit the North West. The trouble, early last Sunday, sparked a war of words between Sinn Fein and the PSNI. Five police officers were injured as battles raged along Shipquay Street between 2am and 4am. Up to ?10,000 worth of media equipment was damaged after the rioters targeted a marquee in Guildhall Square set up for a BBC roadshow. The violence cast a shadow over the city's FiddleFest which had attracted performers and visitors from all over Ireland. And now the city's shame is on the internet for all to see, prompting criticism from the Mayor and the chief of the local tourism bureau. One of the videos is entitled: "Derry/ Shipquay street riot Sat night after the town". On the footage, young people can be heard to shout "SS RUC" while a man stands in front of a line of riot police shouting: "Come on, you orange b*****s!" In another video, Polish onlookers watch in amazement. Mayor Drew Thompson said: "This is disturbing and is obviously sending out the wrong type of message. People use their mobile phones for all sorts of reasons these days, including to film things. But people need to be responsible and perhaps it would have been better if this footage was handed to the police rather than put on the internet where people could obviously get the wrong idea about the city." Karen Houlahan, marketing manager at Derry Visitor and Convention Bureau, said she hoped that the footage or the riots themselves would not deter potential visitors. A spokesman for the Police Ombudsman's office said no complaints had been lodged. http://www.fifetoday.co.uk/fife-free-press-news/Loud-music-parties--and.3179113.jp [Police get comeuppance - pelted with objects by woman threatened with ASBO. The victimization of the difference based on the supposed "greater good" of conformists, pursuing persecution instead of conflict resolution, necessitates insurrection in everyday life, of which this is an example] Loud music, parties ... and police in riot gear Riot police called to house Banned from returning for three months A KIRKCALDY woman has been evicted from her Templehall home after her extreme anti-social behaviour caused eight months of misery for her neighbours. Fife Police obtained a closure order against Karyn Gray and her partner Mark Somerville at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court last Friday, preventing them from living at their St Kilda Crescent council house for the next three months. The order followed months of complaints about the couple's anti-social activities which included loud music, late night parties, shouting and swearing, intimidation and fighting with weapons. Just last week police officers attended in riot gear following yet more complaints. PC Ross Laing, of the Safer Neighbourhoods Team, said the trouble began when Gray (24) leased the property from Fife Council in January. Mark Somerville later moved in with her, during which time her behaviour worsened. PC Laing said: "It was obvious that this woman just didn't care that she was subjecting her neighbours to months of misery.There were regular incidents of loud music, drunken parties, disorder, including fighting with weapons, and shouting and swearing. "Just this week, police officers had to attend in protective clothing, complete with riot shields. Officers were pelted with abuse and objects from a balcony." Sheriff Paul Arthurson granted a closure order on the property having considered representations made on behalf of the Chief Constable. Sheriff Arthurson heard the couple have moved to East Wemyss and do not plan to return to St Kilda Crescent, having already removed most of their belongings. Gray was not present in court. As a result of the closure order being granted, Fife Council workmen secured the property to prevent Gray from gaining entry. She is barred from living at the address for three months, after which she has the option of returning. Fife Police could also apply for an extension to the order to a maximum of six months. Locality manager Mary Siskou said: "We have to think of the greater good of the majority of people in the neighbourhood.'' Last Updated: 06 September 2007 10:15 AM http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/001200709141110.htm Train runs over 16 pilgrims, riot follows New Delhi, Sept. 14 (Xinhua): At least 16 pilgrims were run over by a train while they were crossing a rail bridge to collect river water for temple offering, the PTI reported Friday. Fellow pilgrims went on the rampage after the accident, carrying out arson attacks and violent protests at the Saryu Ghat railway station of Uttar Pradesh late Thursday night. http://uk.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUKL1728381720070917 Polish cod fishermen protest against EU ban Mon Sep 17, 2007 2:54pm BST By Malgorzata Rakowiec GDYNIA, Poland (Reuters) - Polish fishermen staged a protest in their boats on Monday to demand the lifting of a European Union ban on fishing for cod in the eastern Baltic Sea. The Commission ordered Poland to halt trawling for cod in the area, saying the country had misreported its catch and exceeded its EU quota for the threatened species. Monday would have been the first day of the new cod fishing season. Fishermen in northern Poland say the EU ban is depriving them of their livelihoods. They want it lifted or compensation paid instead. "Nothing has been done to help us to survive if we are not allowed to fish for cod," said one of more than 200 fishermen involved. They took boats just offshore in the protest but did not fish. The dispute is one of several points of friction between the Poles and the EU on the environment. Poland has demanded bigger carbon dioxide emissions quotas and is also at odds with Brussels over a planned road through a nature reserve. Large discrepancies between cod catch figures reported to Brussels by Polish authorities and those provided by EU inspectors revealed that Poland had exhausted its 2007 cod quota for the area, the Commission said. Scientists have long advised that eastern Baltic cod has been overfished to the point where the species might vanish from the area and have recommended an outright fishing ban. Polish Marine Economy Minister Marek Grobarczyk tried to convince the European Commission to scrap the ban on Monday, presenting documents he said showed stocks of the fish were higher than estimated by the EU executive. "We are taking action to change the Commission's decision," Grobarczyk told reporters after meeting EU Fisheries Commissioner Joe Borg. The Commission said recently that it would have to cut the amount of cod caught by a third in 2007 if the species is to stand a chance of surviving after years of overfishing. (Additional reporting by Marcin Grajewski in Brussels) http://allafrica.com/stories/200709260522.html Nigeria: Villagers Besiege Benue Varsity Over VC's Appointment Daily Trust (Abuja) 26 September 2007 Posted to the web 26 September 2007 Hir Joseph Makurdi Dozens of angry villagers Monday besieged the Federal University of Agriculture Makurdi (UAM), Benue state, paralyzing academic activities in protest over the federal government's refusal to appoint a vice chancellor from the area. Tiv natives from mainly the host community of Mbagwen in Makurdi Local Government Area, mostly elderly men, insisted that the federal government appoints one of their own, Professor Emmanuel Kucha as the new Vice Chancellor. Professor Kucha was one of the applicants for the job after the tenure of the last VC, Professor James Ayatse terminated on September 15, 2006. Since then the government of former President Olusegun Obasanjo refused to appoint a substantive VC to replace Professor Em-manuel Ogunwole who remained in acting capacity until the rumoured appointment of Professor Dafwang from the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. Before the present development, the appointment of a VC was stalled by internal problems fueled by petitions and counter petitions by interest groups particularly those opposed to the appointment of anyone other than Kucha or the other two who were nominated. The protesters blocked the entrance to the university and chased away both academic and non-academic staff, including the acting VC. They, however, allowed students into the campus. It was observed that scores of students and staff were stranded at the SBS junction which links the university with the metropolis, where commercial buses are boarded. The protesters blocked the road and prevented access to the campus and promised never to vacate until their demand was done. This they remained there from as early as 7am till at about 2pm when anti riot policemen were drafted to the scene to forestall further breakdown of law and order as well as prevent the protest from escalating. Police spokesman, Samuel Jinadu (ASP) told Daily Trust that his men successfully contained the protest. Leader of the protesters, Ukeyima Beetse told newsmen that they donated their land for the establishment of the university, but have been denied all privileges that should accrue to them as host community. According to him, they have been deprived of employment even for junior cadre jobs normally reserved for indigenes and the trend of deprivation heightened during the tenure of Professor James Ayatse, when a few of their sons employed as security men were sacked. They claimed that the Acting VC, Ogunwole has consolidated the practice of oppressing them to the extent that even access to water from the University is denied them. At press time efforts to get to the acting Vice Chancellor Professor Ogunwolo proved abortive as he was said to have fled with other principal officers of the University. University authorities could not be reached for comments either, as the spokesperson, Mrs Rosemary Waku refused to pick calls. http://sify.com/news/fullstory.php?id=14537162 Nithari victims' kin go on protest fast Thursday, 04 October , 2007, 01:42 Noida: Relatives of the Nithari victims on Wednesday went on a hunger strike at a village here protesting the Uttar Pradesh government's alleged laxity in providing the promised compensation. Five members of different families including Pappu Lal, Jhabbu Lal, Ashok Kumar and others went on a protest fast alleging that the state government was not keeping its promises. The families of children killed in the Sector 31 house of Moninder Singh Pandher by his domestic help Surindra Koli, the two accused in the CBI cases, said they were given free plots of land with registry done but the sub-registrar's office was now demanding Rs 26,000 in stamp duty. They also complained that they were yet to be given jobs as promised by the state government. From ldxar1 at tesco.net Tue Oct 9 14:35:15 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Tue, 9 Oct 2007 22:35:15 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] West Papua news Message-ID: <00b801c80abc$48557a70$0802a8c0@andy1> * Ecosystems die while government fiddles * Indonesian police hit and run, then beat survivors * Pacific churches want focus on Papua * More troops to Papua by 2017 * Papuan genocide targets church * International cooperation needed to save rainforests says Indonesia * Papua's rainforests and global warming * Growth of Islam in Melanesia: heeding the call to prayer in a region that reveres the pig [including some discussion of Islamic involvement in West Papua] http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0709/S00006.htm Eco-systems die while Government Fiddles. Sunday, 2 September 2007, 2:24 pm Press Release: Green Party Ancient eco-systems of Pacific and SE Asia die while Govt. fiddles Green Media Release 2 Sept 2007 New government rules aimed at helping to slow widespread devastation of ancient "paradise forests" in South East Asia and the Pacific only go part way, says Greens Co-Leader Russel Norman. He says the Green Party welcomes the Government's new "sustainable procurement guidelines" just released but is disappointed they will still allow government departments to purchase tropical timber products from a source that the procurement policy itself defines as unsustainable. "The new sustainable procurement policy is welcome and makes progress in many areas," Dr Norman says. "However, it is absurd that the government guide to sustainable procurement endorses the Malaysian Timber Certification Council (MTCC) scheme as meeting all the `legal sourcing and sustainably managed requirements' (p.12) when the table on the very next page reveals that the MTCC scheme certifies timber that is not sustainable and only legal under certain conditions. (See the pdf of the document here.) "The Government's own report says MTCC certified timber is not sustainable and not always legal, so why does MTCC certified timber get the tick of approval for sustainable procurement?" Dr Norman says it is important to get these government guidelines right because they may be used as a guideline for all New Zealanders trying to avoid purchases of tropical timbers such as kwila. New Zealand's trade in kwila often entails human rights abuses and destruction of rare eco-systems and unique wildlife in West Papua and Papua New Guinea, where Malaysian loggers are prominent. "The Norwegian Government banned the use of all tropical timber in their sustainable procurement policy released just two months ago because of the difficulties in ascertaining whether any tropical timber is legal and sustainable. Yet here is the New Zealand Government not only allowing the use of questionable tropical timber but actually endorsing one of the guaranteed unsustainable sources of tropical timber, MTCC certified timber. "Malaysian logging companies have a long record of illegal and unsustainable clearing of rainforests throughout Asia and the Pacific. Many reports, including from the World Bank, have linked the Malaysian logging company Rimbunan Hijau to illegal and unsustainable logging and the human rights abuses of those indigenous people who dared to stand up against Rimbunan, including in PNG and West Papua where most of our kwila is thought to come from. "For the New Zealand Government to endorse the sustainability of the Malaysian logging is an affront to all those people who have fought Malaysia's rapacious loggers. The sustainable procurement policy should ban the use of all tropical timber in government projects until we have some idea that the timber is genuinely sustainable and legal, just as the Norwegian Government has done." Note: The Green Party will continue its protests against the ANZ Banking Group - for financially supporting the Malaysian logging corporation Rimbunan Hijau - at the ANZ offices on the corner of Featherston St and Lambton Quay, Wellington, at 8am tomorrow. http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0709/S00067.htm Indo Cops 'Hit And Run' Then Beat Survivors Tuesday, 4 September 2007, 11:40 am Press Release: Institute for Papuan Advocacy Indonesian Police 'hit and run' and then beat survivors in Nabire, West Papua Nabire, West Papua: Police crash a police car into a group of five West Papuan youths, killing one and critically injuring two others, report human rights workers in Nabire. Decky Nagapa (22 years old), a farmer from Wonerejo village, close to Nabire died at the scene. After the incident the four police personnel in the car including the driver were reported to have fled from the scene. Three of the Policemen except the driver then returned to the scene of the incident. The Human rights workers report that the survivors, Deni Nakapa (27 years old) and Januarius Zonggenau (20 years old) both students from Wonerejo, who both suffering severe injuries, were then savagely beaten by police while being transported to the hospital. Januarius Zonggenau (20 years old) was so badly beaten by police that he was unconscious when he arrived at the hospital. The incident occurred two weeks ago on the 17th of August, Indonesia's Independence Day. The deceased and the two injured men are all from the Moni tribal group. The two injured men suffered substantial injuries to the head, arms, back, and legs. Both men were admitted to the Public hospital in Siriwini. Both men were released on the 31st of August. Zonggenau and Nakapa are both students studying in Manodo, Sulawesi and were visiting home for the holidays. Manado is the home of a sizeable and politically active West Papuan student population. According to two witnesses at the scene, the driver and the three passengers - all policemen and driving a police owned car - clearly saw the men sitting by the side of the road when the car suddenly turned towards the men and increased speed. The two injured survivors were then forced into a police car where they were beaten by police before being taken to hospital. The driver of the police car, reported to be Rizal Asal from Buton in Sulawesi, is in police custody. Witnesses say that the car involved in the incident is a light blue Kijang displaying police license plate number DS 7472. The names of the other three policemen at this stage are not known and it is unclear whether these men are under investigation or not. Witnesses and advocates of the three men are calling for a full investigation and charges to be laid against the three policemen as well as the driver. This tragic incident is the latest in a series of recent incidents in Nabire. This includes recent "mysterious" killings of a church youth leader and human rights advocate Matius Bunai (29 years old) and teh killing of Ones Keiya (31 years old), a farmer. In addition human rights and local church workers in Nabire are being threatened. Troops stationed in Nabire are also carrying out military operations in the Jamo valley inland of Nabire. Several weeks ago there was also a mass food poisoning event in Nabire which left scores of people sick and and many being admitted to hospital. Also last week in Nabire there have been protests by students over corruption in the education department and a strike by teachers in the last week over lack of pay which closed 196 primary schools in the district. Spokesperson for the Institute for Papuan Advocacy & Human Rights, Paula Makabory said today, "It is incredible that the Indonesian Police can do anything they like to Papuan people and get away with it. The Indonesian security forces are expanding a campaign of terror against the Papuan people in Nabire and a number of regional centres in West Papua." "The Central government in Jakarta appears to have no interest in controlling their security forces. These security forces are working to cause conflict with the Papuan community. Human rights abuses in West Papua are increasing and it seems like the policy is supported by Jakarta. " "You have to think that the Indonesian government sanctions this kind of intimidation and abuse of the West Papuan people. The Governments policy of Special Autonomy has failed in West Papua. The security forces are now tightening their control and carrying out repression of the community. A human rights crisis is unfolding in Nabire and the world must take notice." http://www.rnzi.com/pages/news.php?op=read&id=35056 Pacific churches put spotlight on plight of Papuans in Indonesia Posted at 03:29 on 12 September, 2007 UTC The Pacific Conference of Churches 9th Assembly in American Samoa wants the international community and the World Council of Churches to look in to human rights violations and denials of self-determination in Indonesia's Papua region. A resolution approved by the assembly expresses the PCC's solidarity with the people of West Papua. The resolution deplores the ongoing denial of self-determination for the indigenous peoples of Papua and specifically the violation of the basic rights of those peoples by the Indonesian government. The resolution also highlights the widespread exploitation and destruction of Papua's natural resources by the administration and by foreign investors, without consent and against the interests of the peoples of West Papua. www.thejakartapost.com/yesterdaydetail.asp?fileid=20070913.H01 More troops eyed for Papua by 2014 National News - September 13, 2007 The Jakarta Post, Jakarta The Indonesian Army has proposed a third infantry division for their Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad) in Papua, which would see more guards made available to patrol Papua border areas and other conflict-prone regions. The Army needs financial assistance from the government however before its proposal can be realized. "Indonesia is a huge archipelagic country, which is geographically and politically strategic among the international community," Army Chief of Staff Gen. Djoko Santoso said. He spoke to reporters after chairing the handover ceremony for the post of Army's Special Forces (Kopassus) chief from Maj. Gen. Rasyid Qurnuen Aquary to Brig. Gen. Soenarko at the Kopassus headquarters in East Jakarta on Wednesday. "We need a strong armed forces to maintain the unity of our country. "If we can secure financial support from the government, the third infantry division of Kostrad is expected to be established by 2014," Djoko told Antara. He said they have also considered establishing more cavalry and engineering battalions to guard the country's border areas and conflict zones. The establishment of a third division was first suggested in the early 1980s. "But the idea (was not made a) reality until I became Army chief," he said. "The expansion (of Kostrad) is necessary ... to establish a stronger defense system." "Ideally, Kostrad must have three divisions. "But financial constraint has... (seen us with) two infantry divisions and an infantry brigade," he added. Currently, Kostrad has two divisions -- the first is in Cilodong, Bogor, south of Jakarta and the second is located in Malang, East Java. http://www.spcm.org/Journal/spip.php?breve1618 Indonesia : Papuan Genocide - terror targets Church. jeudi 20 septembre 2007 Indonesia : Papuan Genocide - terror targets Church. pray for God to intervene on behalf of his people in Papua. By Elizabeth Kendal Ones Keiya (31) was found dying beside a road in Nabire, West Papua, on the evening of 23 July 2007. He died in hospital hours later from injuries that included deep lacerations to his head, hands and feet as well as a smashed skull. Keiya was a local indigenous Papuan farmer and member of the Maranatha Kingmi Protestant Church. On 7 August, Matius Bunai (29), a youth worker with the Kingmi church, was also found dead with injuries the same as Keiya's. He had been ambushed the night before on his way home from a church meeting. A church worker says the police are refusing to investigate the killings which the Papuan community is certain were committed by Indonesian security forces. Indonesia has closed West Papua to the outside world and murdered its nationalist leaders. Security is controlled by known abusers of human rights and killers such as Colonel Burhanuddin Siagian, indicted for crimes against humanity in East Timor. In the midst of this dangerous, volatile and repressive environment, courageous church leaders risk their lives and use their networks and international connections to keep getting news of the Papuan genocide out to the world. Rev Sofian Socratez Yoman is President of the Fellowship of West Papuan Baptist Churches. He is a courageous, outspoken critic of Indonesia's genocidal policies and human rights abuses in the province. On Sunday evening 29 July, a group of Indonesian police, soldiers and intelligence officers harassed and threatened him at gunpoint outside the Baptist Church service in Jayapura. Paula Makabory of the Institute for Papuan Advocacy & Human Rights warns, 'My organisation is very concerned about Sofian Yoman's personal safety.' According to Yoman, Indonesian military intelligence has infiltrated the church and is working to subvert and divide it. West Papua News and Information reports that on Sunday morning 2 September, Indonesian military, police and intelligence agents distributed leaflets throughout Jayapura picturing and defaming Sofian Yoman and Agus Alue-Aluay, Chairman of the Papuan People's Council (Majelis Rakyat Papua MRP). Since granting Special Autonomy to Papua in 2001 the Indonesian authorities have increased their repression and terrorisation of Papuans. The Indonesian military (TNI) frequently provoke clashes and fake incidents which they then cite to justify killings, massacres and ethnic cleansing. The Freeport killings at Timika in 2002 are one such example. Rev Ishak Onawame and two of his church workers, Esau Onawame and Yarius Kiwak are amongst seven Papuans languishing in Cipinang Prison, Jakarta, after being betrayed by the FBI (USA) and framed by the Indonesian courts to cover up TNI involvement in the killings (thus protecting Indonesian, TNI and US interests). The TNI has proposed that a third infantry division be sent to the province to monitor separatists and patrol borders. Furthermore, the Javanese Muslim immigrant population increases by some 5000 weekly. The Papuan genocide is essentially about greed, corruption and exploitation of Papuan resources. However, it is also about Islamic imperialism and Javanese Muslim religious and racial hatred of the predominantly Christian indigenous Papuans. Whilst the Papuan genocide is being perpetrated by Indonesian hands, Western democratic 'Christian' governments that promote liberty and rights are complicit. Though they once facilitated the evangelisation of the Papuans (one of the great mission stories of the 20th century) they are now by their silence supporting the Papuans' annihilation, as economic and geo-strategic interests are deemed more important than human life or moral integrity. http://www.rnzi.com/pages/news.php?op=read&id=35287 International co-operation needed to save Papuan rainforests, says Indonesia Posted at 18:29 on 23 September, 2007 UTC Indonesia's government says the best chances of saving Papua's tropical rainforests increasingly rest with co-operation among the international community. Indonesia plans to join with Papua New Guinea and at least 9 other developing countries with tropical forests in a coalition to fight climate change. Other countries on board are Brazil, Cameroon, Costa Rica, Columbia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Malaysia, Mexico and Peru. The coalition aims to press wealthy nations to pour money into offsetting the impacts of global warming. The Minister for the Environment, Rachmat Witoelar, says their coalition campaign ties in with efforts to mitigate illegal logging of the Papua region's native forests. "There is a large area of rainforest and a lot of it is destroyed. But we're trying to stop the destruction and we hope that the Europeans, the Americans and, I don't know, maybe the New Zealanders - they buy the furniture coming from here (Papuan forests) - I hope they stop buying these things and then maybe they can stop selling it." The Minister for the Environment, Rachmat Witoelar, says the coalition will be officially launched next April http://www.thejakartapost.com/detaileditorial.asp?fileid=20071006.F04&irec=3 Papua's forests and global warming Neles Tebay, Abepura, Papua Papua is the size of California and is almost entirely covered by vast stretches of virgin rain forest spread over 41.5 million hectares -- or 23 percent of Indonesia's total forested area of 180 million hectares. But some 22 million hectares of these forests are classified as production forests, rather than conservation areas. Indonesian control over the territory of Papua has seen the region's forests suffer deforestation at the hands of foreign and domestic private companies. First, during the Soeharto regime, Papua's forests were targeted by logging industries authorized by the Jakarta-based central government. Up until 2001, as many as 40 logging companies -- none of which were owned by the indigenous Papuans -- were active in Papua, with permission from the central government. The timber companies, without any interference, were able to cut down trees in Papua and sell them to foreign countries. According to Greenpeace, more than 25 percent of Papua's natural forests has been sold by timber firms exporting to Japan, the U.S., European countries and China. Second, as the timber business is worth billions of dollars annually, Papua's forests have also been targeted by illegal logging companies. Pressure on Papua's forests has progressively increased due to overseas demand, notably from China. In 2003, some 7.2 million cubic meters of timber was reportedly smuggled out of Papua. An investigation carried out by the London-based Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) revealed "illegal logging in Papua typically involves the collusion of the Indonesian military, the involvement of Malaysian logging gangs and the exploitation of indigenous communities". Due to deforestation in Papua, both legal and illegal, Indonesia has been listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the country with the fastest pace of deforestation in the world. (The Jakarta Post, June 4, 2007). Indeed, Papua's forests have contributed approximately US$100 million to the central government annually. Third, despite the government's efforts to combat unauthorized logging activities, Papua's forests continue to suffer from illegal logging. Furthermore, Papua's forests are now being targeted by the palm oil industry as well as the timber industry. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has already asked Papua's governor Barnabas Suebu to open up five million hectares of land for conversion into palm oil plantations, in a drive to increase biofuel production and reduce state spending on domestic petrol subsidies (The Wall Street Journal, Aug. 10, 2007). The government of Malaysia, the world's largest palm oil producer, invited Suebu to see for himself how palm oil plantations can spur economic growth. Plantation companies from Jakarta and Malaysia have been running out of space in other parts of Indonesia. Meanwhile, European demand for biofuel remains strong, therefore Papua's virgin forests will continue to be targeted by palm oil producers. China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) and its Indonesian partner, PT. Sinar Mas Agro Resources &Technology, have announced they signed an agreement with Jakarta to invest $5 billion over eight years to develop palm oil plantations in Papua. PT Sinar Mas is expected to clear some 1,2 million hectares of Papua's rain forests in Boven Digul, Merauke and Mappi regencies to make way for palm-oil plantations. Meanwhile, a Korean company in collaboration with a national company, is also planning to fell trees to clear the path for palm oil plantations. So, it is clear that some millions of hectares of Papua's virgin forests will be deliberately cleared by government-authorized palm oil companies. In other words, deforestation in Papua for the sake of the palm oil industry is being permitted by the government. The government and the palm oil companies should be reminded that rain forests play a key role in maintaining the world's environmental balance. They need to realize that deforestation in Papua causes not only environmental damage to the western half of the island of New Guinea, but also affects global warming. As the government destroys more and more hectares of Papua's forests in the name of economic growth, a global warning on deforestation is urgently needed and should be raised by parties in Papua, Jakarta and from other nations. Clearing our ancient forests to make way for economy-boosting palm oil plantations is not the only way to enhance economic growth in the country. The government should seek other ways to improve economic growth in Papua, and in general, Indonesia. The writer is a lecturer at the Fajar Timur School of Philosophy and Theology in Abepura, Papua. http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/heeding-the-call-to-prayer-in-a-region-that-reveres-the-pig/2007/09/07/1188783496490.html Heeding the call to prayer in a region that reveres the pig Email Print Normal font Large font September 8, 2007 Page 1 of 4 | Single page Islam is taking root in Melanesia, writes Ben Bohane. The question is: will it be a transplanted faith - or can it take on a distinctly Pacific identity? AdvertisementAdvertisement Those who think the Pacific Islands and Christianity are forever entwined need to think again. Christianity has reached its high-tide mark in the region, and other faiths, including Baha'ism, Buddhism, Jewish cults and traditional beliefs, are making inroads. But by far the most significant new religious movement in the region is Islam, and nowhere is the growth of Islam more visible than in Melanesia, which has a culture of religious dynamism and experimentation, where kastom (custom) rules, and where cargo cult and Christian movements continue to evolve, blend, mutate, syncretise and spawn new belief systems. Islam can now be added to the mix and its effect on local beliefs, national politics and regional security can no longer be overlooked. Although there are no official figures and few academic studies, it is believed there have been more than 1000 indigenous converts to Islam in recent years in Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Fiji. Other Melanesian territories including East Timor, Maluku and West Papua have much older links to Islam, with communities existing there for centuries comprising indigenous and settler Muslims. New Caledonia also has a large number of Muslims who have settled there from all over the Francophone world over the past 100 years. For Mohammed Seddiq, a ni-Vanuatu Muslim who provided land and a small building which houses Vanuatu's first mosque, conversion to Islam did not happen overnight, but over many years, until he felt that "Allah had truly called me". "I was a Pentecostal Christian before but I didn't feel in control of my life and I had a problem with alcohol," he says. "Islam is straightforward and disciplined and this is what I needed to be a better person in the eyes of Allah. You know, the Bible is only full of stories, but I found that the Koran gives direction to life." Today there are between 100 and 200 ni-Vanuatu converts to Islam, and mosques are springing up in the outer islands of the archipelago. Chiefs are often the target of proselytising African Muslims, on the often correct assumption that if they convert then their extended families, clans and other islanders are likely to follow suit. Islam is taking root through a curiosity factor, its anti-imperial rhetoric and, most importantly, its similarities to local cultures and belief systems. First among these similarities is the fact that Islam developed from a tribal Arabic culture and maintains decision-making bodies like Melanesian chiefly councils. The notion of "payback" or "an eye for an eye" is one that resonates strongly in Melanesian tradition. Although Christian influence is strong, Jesus's exhortation to turn the other cheek has not been largely adopted by Melanesians, who are often frustrated that Western law does not compensate victims, unlike traditional Melanesian and Islamic law. Polygamy and gender separation (such as men's houses and women's houses in Melanesia) are common to both cultures. Seddiq in Vanuatu even suggests that since his people traditionally sat on mats, mosques feel more natural to them than churches with pews. Islam offers a way of life that incorporates the social, political, spiritual and economic spheres. Before European contact, Pacific islanders lived in theocratic states, where the whole structure of daily life and political decision-making revolved around the spirit world. Part of the problem Western observers have in understanding the region is that they tend to have a secular outlook and place primacy of their analysis on the role of the state (for example, issues of good governance, corruption, service delivery and unemployment) when the world view of Melanesians is virtually the opposite - their daily lives remain governed by kastom, community obligations and subsistence agriculture. They place little emphasis on the role of the state since it is an introduced concept, heavily centralised in the capital cities with usually little impact on daily lives in rural and remote areas. Scott Flower, a PhD student at the Crawford School of Pacific Policy at the Australian National University in Canberra, is watching the growth of Islam in Melanesia closely. "Melanesian people generally do not comprehend or desire the separation of religion and the state," he says. "The centrality of religion in their daily life is very important." Flower argues that Muslim communities in each country will continue to grow in size and number because, like Christianity, Islam and its associated organisations provide islanders with public good (such as health and education), a moral and spiritual system, access to global networks, and opportunities, prestige and alternative paths to social and political power. Many Pacific Islanders would argue that if governments or Christian missions cannot provide basic services, particularly in health and education, then they are happy to take them from wherever they are offered. Families from poor squatter settlements in Port Moresby, Port Vila and other urban centres are sending their children for the free education at Islamic schools in Malaysia, Yemen, Fiji and Saudi Arabia. Twenty-eight local Muslims from Vanuatu are studying in Islamic colleges in Fiji, Malaysia, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Pakistan. Given that Vanuatu is the smallest country in Melanesia, it is likely that at any one time hundreds of Pacific Muslims are in schools throughout the Islamic world. Foreign and local missionaries often suggest that what Muslim missionaries offer is not conversion, but reversion - that is, by embracing Islam, islanders are returning to kastom and ancestral ways. But with so much of kastom relating to pork-eating, betel nut-chewing, kava-drinking, courtship dancing and ancestor worship - all not halal for those who truly embrace Islam - the question is: what kastom is left? Can Pacific kastom find a place within orthodox Islam? This goes to the heart of one of the central questions facing Islam globally: can Islam separate its faith and philosophy from Arabic cultural practices? There is also the issue of Pacific Islanders not being fully aware of the breadth of the faith, from the tolerant, mystical Sufi tradition, to orthodox Sunni and Shia beliefs, to militant Wahabiism, to explicitly non-violent sects such as the Ahmadiyyah. Pigs are going to be an issue when it comes to spreading Islam in the Pacific. For most islanders, pigs are more than just domestic animals that clean up the scraps. They are revered as symbols of wealth and as important commodities for gift exchange, marriage, reconciliation ceremonies and compensation. Some communities even have mystical pig cults. Chiefs in Vanuatu often wear circular pig tusks as a sign of their status. A tusk adorns the country's flag. How will Islam deal with this? It seems Muslims are taking their cue from Christians such as Seventh Day Adventists, who view pigs as unclean. In Adventist communities, islanders can own pigs and give them in ceremonies, without ever having to touch or eat them. Already there is debate at the Hohola Mosque in Port Moresby on what kind of Islam is most suitable for this part of the world. Regular exchanges with members of Papua New Guinea's Catholic, Anglican, Baha'i and Buddhist clergy are a cause for optimism that communal tensions can be kept in check. But given that much of the mosque's funding has come from Saudi and Malaysian sources, and the fact that its imam is a Nigerian steeped in Wahabiism (a puritanical Muslim ideology) many ask if this the most appropriate form of Islam for PNG and the region. Yaqub Amaki, the general secretary for the PNG Muslim Association, says: "I can say that we have already had some very robust discussions on this issue. Some of us think that a more moderate interpretation, found in countries like Malaysia and Indonesia, will be more appropriate for the umma [community] here. We are still finding our way here and while there are no real divisions in Islam, there are different paths and we need to be open to debate. "Since the Saudis and Malaysians were here in the beginning to assist us, it is only natural that we should follow their lead, but I am confident that Islam here will gradually take on a more PNG style over time." While Islam is being quietly and peacefully absorbed into central and eastern Melanesian nations and most parts of the Pacific, the same cannot be said for those in western Melanesia, particularly those regions under Indonesian rule. Here, jihadi groups flourish and sectarian conflict periodically explodes. In Ambon and Maluku more than 10,000 people died in sectarian conflict between Christians and Muslims in the late 1990s. In West Papua, the OPM (Free West Papua Movement) has for years warned that militant groups such as Jemaah Islamiah and Laskar Jihad are operating there to suppress the independence movement, springboarding across unpatrolled borders into neighbouring PNG, Australia and other Pacific islands. The OPM commander, John Koknak, says there are more than a dozen jihad training camps in West Papua. "I have been warning Australia and PNG for some time, but they prefer to trust the generals in Jakarta," he says. "You know, Islam in the Pacific is nothing new; JI is using the same networks as the Libyan Mataban groups who came here in the 1980s to set up cells and support Pacific liberation groups." His assessment is supported by "Robert", a PNG intelligence operative with responsibility for border security, who complains of regular infiltration by militant groups and people smugglers across the unmonitored 800-kilometre border with Indonesia. Like other members of the defence force, he believes Australia's and the US's pro-Jakarta policy is undermining regional security. "By refusing to talk to OPM or acknowledge the West Papuan struggle, Australia is missing out on valuable intelligence that OPM can provide on jihadi groups," he says. The regional security analyst Rohan Gunaratna also believes West Papua is home to several militant Islamic groups. "If militant Islamic groups maintain their presence in West Papua then certainly their influence will spread into the Pacific; it is only a matter of time," he says. "That is why it is time for Australia to change its Java-centric focus and concentrate more on eastern Indonesia." So is there a serious Islamist terrorist threat in the Pacific? Says Flower: "While the more alarmist government and media scenarios of terrorist threats in the Pacific are undoubtedly inflated, the other perspective of a completely benign security environment is also likely to be incorrect." As Islam spreads it will be intriguing to see just how well the Pacific way can blend with the teachings of an Arabian prophet whose desert visions are now settling over the scattered islands of a faraway sea. From ldxar1 at tesco.net Tue Oct 9 14:45:11 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Tue, 9 Oct 2007 22:45:11 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] UK: Stop the War: "The Day We Broke the Ban" Message-ID: <011c01c80abd$ab3b8340$0802a8c0@andy1> 1) THE DAY WE BROKE THE BAN, 8 OCTOBER Yesterdays demonstration was a tremendous success and a big victory for our movement. It was attended by at least 5,000 people, a hugely impressive turnout for a weekday. Coaches came from far and wide and the number of students on the march was particularly impressive. Many colleges brought their biggest delegations since the Febuary 15 2003. Many people have sent e-mails or phoned over the last few days sending support and saying they wished they could attend. The size and spirit of the march reflected the deep public disgust at the government's continued support for Bush's wars. It also showed the determination of the movement. The police's attempt to ban the march, no doubt at the insistence of government ministers, served only to increase the turnout. The scale of the response and the tremendous public stand taken by Tony Benn, Walter Wolfgang, Brian Eno and others made it impossible for the police to stop us on the day. And so a disturbing assault on our civil liberties was overturned and the views of the anti war majority were delivered to Parliament. The Stop the War Coalition would like to thank everyone who managed to attend yesterday, everyone who helped organise and publicise the demonstration and the many hundreds of people from around the country and the world who have e-mailed and phoned their messages of support. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ldxar1 at tesco.net Tue Oct 9 18:23:10 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Wed, 10 Oct 2007 02:23:10 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] BURMA/UK: Solidarity protests target Total Message-ID: <018c01c80adc$1f06c780$0802a8c0@andy1> > Burma Solidarity Actions > > 03-10-2007 16:04 > http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/leedsbradford/2007/10/382731.html?c=on#comments > > Around 30 activists blockaded a Total petrol station to protest against > the company's heavy involvement with the military junta in Burma which > is responsible for the deaths of several protesters in just the last few > days. > > Total is in a joint venture with the Burmese dictatorship in the Yadana > gas project, which earns the regime hundreds of millions of dollars > every year. Aung Sun Suu Kyi, the democratically elected leader of the > Burmese government under house arrest, says: "Total has become the main > supporter of the military regime". > > A mix of students and locals stood, sat or drummed across both entrances > to the forecourt for an hour and a half. Holding a banner reading > "Totalitarian Oil-Fuelling Oppression in Burma" they leafleted and spoke > to passers-by and motorists. Staff at the petrol station threatened > protesters with sticks, car and lorry drivers attempted to run over > protesters, but despite this things remained peaceful. > > Later in the day, students at the University of Bradford passed an > emergency motion to mandate the Student Union to support the Burmese > monks and investigate alternative suppliers since they currently use > Total for fuelling their minibuses. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ldxar1 at tesco.net Sat Oct 13 12:44:49 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Sat, 13 Oct 2007 20:44:49 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] Various stories Message-ID: <006a01c80dd1$85516890$0802a8c0@andy1> * Egyptian textile strike links * French taxi drivers protest liberalisation * Malaysia: lawyers protest corruption * Bangladesh: left parties protest IMF, foreign interference * Indonesia: protesters oppose crackdown byelaw * Botswana: Bushmen updates These are some links to the on-going Egyptian Textile worker's strike for higher wages, sharing profits and giving benefits. The Egyptian working class is amongst the lowest paid in the world. Industrial unrest has been particularly strong since last year. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7013184.stm http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/F7ED9823-F42C-457D-97A1-142BFFF8F205.htm http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/4216755a4560.html French taxis snarl roads in petrol protest Reuters | Thursday, 27 September 2007 Thousands of taxi drivers snarled traffic in French cities in protest at an end to tax breaks on petrol and threats to liberalise their profession. Horns blaring and moving at a snail's pace, hundreds of taxis converged on a Paris district that houses many government buildings. Other cars slowed access to the capital's main Charles de Gaulle airport. "Around 80 per cent of Paris' 15,000 taxi drivers are mobilised," said a spokesman at the large CFDT union. There were also protests in the cities of Bordeaux, Lille and Lyon. Taxi drivers are up in arms over government plans to scrap a tax break on petrol duties from January that they say will cost them up to 2200 euros ($NZ4263) a year. They are also worried centre-right President Nicolas Sarkozy plans to liberalise the highly regulated taxi sector and introduce more taxi licences. Finding a taxi during the rush hour can be mission impossible in Paris but taxi drivers say a major deregulation would jeopardise the overall quality of their service. "We need to continue to keep very close tabs on the qualification of drivers, the respect of tariffs, the good condition and cleanliness of vehicles," the FUT-SP union said in a statement. http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iRG2vdNxJzlSl7DHVN645Qbm917Q Malaysian lawyers defy police in rare protest march 6 days ago PUTRAJAYA (AFP) - Two thousand Malaysian lawyers defied police Wednesday to stage a rare protest demanding a probe into allegations that a lawyer fixed judicial appointments with a senior judge. Supporters, including members of opposition political parties the Democratic Action Party and Keadilan, swelled the crowd by another 200, witnesses said, as the lawyers led the march in the administrative capital of Putrajaya. The police presence was heavy as the march began from the Palace of Justice, housing Malaysia's highest court, to Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's office. Malaysia's Bar Council handed over a memorandum demanding a royal commission of inquiry into a video clip released a week ago by former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim. The recording purportedly shows a well-connected lawyer telling a judge over the telephone that he would push his name forward for a senior appointment. The protest went ahead despite the government's announcement Tuesday that a special independent panel had been set up to investigate the authenticity of the video recording. Protesters chanted "We want justice" as they marched while holding placards stating "Judiciary has gone to the dogs" and "Judiciary has gone to the drain." Bar Council president Ambiga Sreenevasan said of the inquiry: "It can only be the first step. They can't force the presentation of witnesses or documents. The royal commission is a better option." She described the heavy security, which included anti-riot police and a police helicopter, as "an act of intimidation." Ambiga said the council also submitted a separate memorandum urging the government to establish an independent commission for the appointment of judges. "We call for an independent judiciary and more transparency in the appointment of judges. We are also asking for a meeting with the prime minister," she said. "What are we walking for? We are walking for justice. We are walking because we want judicial reforms," Ambiga said as heavy rain fell during the five-hour-long protest. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday October 03 2007 10:21:29 AM BDT Left parties demand end to diplomats' meddling They also termed setting up of IMF office in the Bangladesh Bank building as unacceptable and a threat to national interest Different leftist parties, organisations and eminent personalities Tuesday urged foreign diplomats to refrain from interfering in Bangladesh''s election and politics, reports UNB. They also termed setting up of IMF office in the Bangladesh Bank building as unacceptable and a threat to national interest and demanded its shifting from the BB building. Presided over by Jatiya Mukti Council President Badruddin Omar, the meeting was adddressed, among others, by Manzurul Ahsan Khan and Mujahidul Islam Selim of CPB, Bimal Biswas and Haider Akbar Khan Rono of Workers Party, Khalequzzaman and Bazlur Rashid Firoz of BSD, Tipu Biswas of Jatiya Gano Front and Abu Hamed Shahabuddin of Bangladesh Samyabadi Dal. The meeting, held at the city''s Green Road, also demanded lifting of state of emergency and release of teachers and students, who were arrested in connection with August 20-22 campus violence across the country. =============================================== =================^================================== I N D O L E F T - News service > > =================^================================== Protesters say new public order bylaw 'makes no sense' Detik.com - September 24, 2007 Ramadhian Fadillah, Jakarta -- Opposition to Draft Bylaw No. 8/2007 on Public Order established by the Jakarta provincial government is continuing. Around 200 buskers, beggars, transsexuals, street peddlers and 3 in 1 jockeys descended upon the Department of Home Affairs building on Monday September 24. Led by the Urban Poor Consortium (UPC), they were calling on the department to reevaluate the bylaw. Wearing red head bands with the writing "Reject Bylaw No. 8/2007", they gave speeches and sang songs. "We demand that the Department of Home Affairs not approve Bylaw 8/2007", said action coordinator Edi Saidi from UPC during a break in the action on Jl. Medan Merdeka Utara in Central Jakarta. Saidi said that workers in the informal sector will suffer a huge financial loss with this regulation. Never mind that it makes no sense. "How can those using the services of or buying from a street peddler be subject to a jail sentence, it doesn't make sense. Conceivably a fine of 5-20 million rupiah, then six months jail. This doesn't makes sense. Furthermore we feel as if all avenues will be closed off [to us]", said Saidi. Saidi promised that they would continued to hold demonstrations until the Department of Home Affairs agrees not to approve the law. The demonstration that began at 10.30am ended at around 12.20pm. Representatives of the protesters were also able to meet with the secretary general of the Home Affairs Department. The department promised it would study the bylaw taking into consideration the concerns of informal workers who work on the streets. (umi/nrl) [Translated by James Balowski] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ BOTSWANA: Charges against some Bushmen hunters dropped, but water ban remains Twenty-one Botswana Bushmen arrested in June and July for hunting to feed their families have had the charges against them dropped. However, six others still face charges, and the government refuses to let Bushmen who have gone back to their land use their water borehole. http://www.survival-international.org/news/2498 http://www.survival-international.org/news/2497 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ldxar1 at tesco.net Thu Oct 18 14:15:53 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Thu, 18 Oct 2007 22:15:53 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] UK: Blockade targets BNP - fascists kicked out of Nottingham Message-ID: <009501c811cc$10ec95c0$0802a8c0@andy1> Anti-fascists successfully blockade BNP meeting venue http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/nottinghamshire/2007/10/383877.html Notts IMC | 17.10.2007 21:17 | Anti-racism | Nottinghamshire Nick Griffin, leader of the BNP, was scheduled to speak at Kimberley Parish Hall on Tuesday 16th Oct. The hall was surrounded by anti-fascists from well before the event was scheduled to take place. The anti-fascists massively outnumbered the police as well as the BNP and their supporters. Anti-fascists were responding to a callout from Nottinghamshire Stop the BNP for a mass demonstration against the planned meeting. Police numbers were very low though and they did not really have the resources to make arrests. There were 3 arrests though, mainly around the chaos of a particular scuffle or other. All this resulted in was 2 cautions and 1 released uncharged. The evening ended with the anti-fascists agreeing to leave. It was only this gesture that allowed Nick Griffin to leave the building. No more than about 10 people managed to pass through the lines over a period of more than 2 hours. Reports: tonight in Kimberley | Stopping the BNP in Kimberly Previous feature articles: BNP wins seat in Broxtowe | Campaign against racism in Lincoln is gaining ground | Founder of British fascist gang stabbed to death | BNP Action in Loughborough >From the newswire: Stop the Nazi BNP in Nottinghamshire! | BNP Standing in Notts. Griffin Speaking | Anti-BNP demo in Beeston | BNP councillor's neighbour | Sadie Graham shoots straight On Tuesday night around 100 anti-fascist protesters and local people managed to succesfully blockade a BNP meeting in Kimberly, which had hoped to see party leader Nick Griffin as the main speaker. Antifash wrote: "In a pincer move of dangerous guile and cunning we approached the parish hall where the fash were due to meet from two different directions. In a bit of an anti-climax there were only a handful of coppers and no obvious fascist presence. We quickly moved into a line to completely block the front of the hall, preventing any movement in and out. After a bit of pushing and shoving with the outnumbered police we had a line several people deep across the driveway to the hall. Down at the other end people blocked the pedestrian entrance to the hall. No wannabe fascists were going to get into this meeting." Anti-fascists from many different walks of life and persuasions linked arms and made a show of force against the few skinheads and others who did try and push through. Scuffles ensued as the police first tried to break anti-fascist lines at the main gate, and then clear the smaller entrance. One antifascist suffered a minor injury as the main gates were pushed to and fro in the melee. There were three arrests near the smaller entrance. In all perhaps 10 BNP supporters were helped into the hall by police, before they gave up all attempts. Several times that number of fascists stood at a distance in the rain, helpless and dumb. Nick Griffin has a conviction for inciting racial hatred, and has been known as a Holocaust denier. His party has been targeting the Western and Northern parts of Nottinghamshire for years, not daring to approach the more diverse and wised-up urban centre. Nottinghamshire Stop the BNP organised the counter rally to show that the BNP's race hate politics are not welcome in Kimberley or Eastwood. Defend jobs, defend our communities, our health service, our housing and the education rights of our kids. Yes! But also defend them from the race hate of the BNP that only leads to violence and division. ' "It is more important to control the streets of a city than its council chambers." Nick Griffin, 1997 Well, you're not having our streets, you Nazi scumbag! Once the BNP supporters had given up and gone, the anti-fascists held the cordon until they chose to withdraw, but not without insisting that Nick Griffin be made to leave the town centre first. Amid chants of "scum" Griffin was hastily driven away into the night on the back streets towards Watnall. Nottinghamshire Stop the BNP is a broad coalition of Trade Unionists, local people, community activists and others, that has flourished over the last six months in response to the BNP's renewed attempts to gain a foothold in the area. In the May council elections BNP regional organiser Sadie Graham was elected in Brinsley, with two independents and Labour failing to unite the anti-fascist vote. In Kimberley the BNP barely managed 10% at the polls, despite heavy campaigning. In Nottinghamshire the BNP have had little luck so far on the streets or in the council chambers. Notts Stop the BNP say that further actions are planned in the run up to a bye-election in Sutton West on 1st November, where they have already had a prescence on the streets. Notts IMC http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/nottinghamshire/2007/10/383854.html Stopping the BNP in Kimberley Antifash | 17.10.2007 17:14 | Anti-racism | Nottinghamshire A personal account of last night's anti-fascist action in Kimberley, Nottinghamshire, which resulted in the total disruption of the BNP's planned meeting with their leader, Nick Griffin. What could be more enticing a prospect for a rainy Tuesday night in Kimberley than 'An Evening With Nick Griffin'? It seems hard to imagine anything more delightful than the chance to hear this nazi scumbag spread his fascist filth to a ragged bunch of local misfits (I mean, hardcore aryan warriors). Still, the chance to show the BNP up for what they are - vile fascists - and to stop their hate-peddling in our area, over 100 anti-fascists turned up to do the decent thing and send them home with their tails between their legs. I left the city centre at about 5 already bumping into a few fellow antifash on the way. Getting to the meetup early things were looking good. Lots of our lot gathered around in smaller groups and plenty of cars ready to go. Got myself a lift and, in spite of the rush hour traffic, was at the Sainsbury's car park in Kimberley in plenty of time. Damn, this weather's miserable. And where have all those people from the first meetup point disappeared to? Our mass seemed a bit less than critical. Not many filth about though, although the SWP have gone straight over to have a chat with the senior officer (which bit of 'No comment' didn't they understand?). Everyone must be off on a reccy, sheltering from the rain, or giving their cash to Sainsburys. Eventually some banner and placard bearers got together and we headed out into the town. In a pincer move of dangerous guile and cunning we approached the parish hall where the fash were due to meet from two different directions (OK, there was a small communication breakdown). In a bit of an anti-climax there were only a handful of coppers and no obvious fascist presence. We quickly moved into a line to completely block the front of the hall, preventing any movement in and out. After a bit of pushing and shoving with the outnumbered police we had a line several people deep across the driveway to the hall. If we'd moved a bit quicker we could have got the gate shut but it seemed not everyone cottoned onto the plan quick enough. Down at the other end people blocked the pedestrian entrance to the hall. No wannabe fascists were going to get into this meeting. At this point, heavily flanked by his meatheads and the local plod, Griffin made an appearance on the hall steps. It turned out he'd already got here along with Broxtowe BNP councillor Sadie Graham and a couple of others (presumably local organisers). It was all too much fun for Griffin, stamping his little feet with delight and laughing until he was red(er) in the face and his pudgy frame shook. What he'd forgotten, of course, was that to have his meeting he'd need to get his followers in there too. Slowly skinheads of various sizes started turning up and trying to get to their meeting. They were massively outnumbered and didn't look to stand a chance. Eventually the police managed to break a small handful through at the pedestrian entrance and arrested 3 from our side. Most of the boneheads were stuck outside in the rain looking miserable, having to put up with chants of 'Nazi scum, off our streets'. Eventually, at about 8:45 (1 1/4 hours after the meeting was due to start) the assembled fash realised that this was not going to be their night and slunk off. 'It's like 1945 all over again' someone joked. The only people left on the other side of the street now were the assembled local kids. They'd seemed to be in support of the fash at first but I wonder what they thought then, to see them defeated and heading off to lick their wounds. Not such heroes now I reckon. Still, I think it would have been good to have made more of an attempt to engage with the kids rather than standing around making jokes which often seemed to amount to what a bunch of chavs the skinheads are, or some version of Victory to the Workers. If we want to make our alternatives to fascism seem attractive I think there are better ways of doing it. Now it was time for the nazis in the building (who'd been making desperate attempts to try and make it sound like they were having a barnstorming meeting!) to try and make an escape. After police negotiations with a very pissed off looking BNP security meathead the handful of people they'd got through before made a dash (with heavy police protection of course) to get out of the driveway of the neighbouring house. They were forced back into the building again looking shame-faced. Later again, stewards apparently entered into negotiation with the police to bring the 'meeting' to a close. Apparently we had to stand aside and let Griffin leave and agree to go home when he had. I'm not sure what we were meant to be getting out of this negotiation. I wasn't happy because it was only about 9:30 and the BNP leadership could easily regroup with the members who'd left together for a late meeting. Still, it seemed like a tactical mistake to split the group, so we made a space for the fuhrer's car to leave amidst angry shouts of 'Scum!' Sadie Graham and a few other hangers on appeared on the steps again in an attempt to laugh us off but they could barely conceal their rage. After Griffin had gone it was time to wrap up and get out. There was a lot of backslapping going on, and it certainly was a victory for us, but it would be good not to relax our pressure on the BNP. They clearly are campaigning hard in Notts and Derbyshire, and are planning on holding their Red, White & Blue festival in the area again next year. Let's make sure we kick them out for good before we congratulate ourselves too much. Antifash http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/nottinghamshire/2007/10/383826.html tonight in Kimberly Pete | 17.10.2007 02:00 | Anti-racism | Nottinghamshire Wow, that was fun! Hopefully people will post up something more comprehensive soon, but I thought I'd kick off with my feelings about tonight's Stop the BNP action. Nick Griffin was scheduled to speak at Kimberly Parish Hall tonight. Things did not go according to how he would have planned. The hall was surrounded by anti-fascists from well before the event was scheduled to take place. To romantic shouts of 'No Pasaran' and the like the crowd picketed the venue completely. Shortly after I arrived I saw a police group forming clearly planning to break through the lines of people, but when they tried it they were pushed back. The anti-fascists massively outnumbered the police as well as the BNP and their supporters. The latter is hard to quantify as the line between BNP supporter and idle onlooker was blurred. This is mainly because the BNP supporters were mainly passive and to be frank vacant. Apart that is from the applause they accompanied every time the police forcibly handled an anti-fascist. A number of attempts were made by BNP supporters to bust into the meeting and a few got through. Only with the support of some very big police officers who were repeatedly dragging anti-fascists away from their lines. Police numbers were very low though and they did not really have the resources to make arrests. There were 3 arrests though, mainly around the chaos of a particular scuffle or other. All this resulted in was 2 cautions and 1 released uncharged. The evening ended with the anti-fascists agreeing to leave. Had they decided to stay it was not at all obvious how Nick Griffin would have been able to leave the building. I am not sure how many made it into the building in the end, but it can't have been more than about 10 that passed through the lines. This is over a period of more than 2 hours. Not sure what more to add. I'd recommend against posting photos though. In fact I'd ask that Indymedia moderators take them down if they are posted. Perhaps they could be shown in public at some event in the future, but there's no need to make REdwatch's job too easy. anyway, my personal gratitude and solidarity to all who were there. Pete -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: 383497.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 3546 bytes Desc: not available URL: From ldxar1 at gmail.com Mon Oct 1 14:49:52 2007 From: ldxar1 at gmail.com (Andy) Date: Mon, 01 Oct 2007 21:49:52 -0000 Subject: [Onthebarricades] US: Minneapolis Critical Mass under attack Message-ID: <047001c80475$326a9670$0802a8c0@andy1> > News & Views for Anarchists & Activists: > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/smygo > > http://tinyurl.com/2fwobd > Freewheeling Critical Mass will take to the streets Friday -- quietly, > many hope > By Randy Furst > Star Tribune > Last update: September 27, 2007 ? 10:00 PM > > John Nowicki, 46, is hoping for no confrontations today when he joins > what could be hundreds of bicyclists in a freewheeling ride known as > Critical Mass. "I'm hoping for more bicyclists and a happy ride," says > the Minneapolis businessman, who took part in a Critical Mass ride last > month. > > Some consider the monthly rush-hour ride a celebration; some consider it > a protest. Last month, some considered it a riot when Minneapolis police > used Tasers and chemical spray and arrested 19 people. > > Police were accused of overreacting. But others blamed the provocations > of a few bandana-wearing bicyclists who may be connected to an anarchist > group planning protests at the 2008 Republican National Convention in > St. Paul. > > "We're going to be dealing with issues like this increasingly over the > next year as we prepare for the convention," said Mayor R.T. Rybak last > week. Local officials are aware that in 2004, three days before the > Republican National Convention, New York police arrested 250 Critical > Mass bicyclists. > > Rybak said he and Police Chief Tim Dolan will continue to review > Critical Mass, "making sure that we protect public safety and don't > overreact when we shouldn't, but also take stands when we need to > protect people." > [When should they overreact?--DC] > > The Minneapolis city attorney's office disclosed this week that no > charges will be brought against at least 11 of those arrested Aug. 31. > Four face gross misdemeanor charges, including interfering with arrests, > and there is one case of fourth-degree assault of a police officer. > > At a meeting in City Hall last week organized by Council Member Cam > Gordon, about 30 Critical Mass riders met with key police officials to > prevent a recurrence of the August arrests. Gordon termed the meeting > "extremely successful," with police receptive to bicyclists' ideas. And > some riders expressed willingness to "self-police" the ride to prevent > confrontations. > > What is Critical Mass? > > Getting concurrence from Critical Mass is a challenge. > > Critical Mass has no leaders, organization or membership. It includes > students, workers, parents and children. When today's ride kicks off at > 5:30 p.m. in Loring Park, there will be no predetermined route. > > "I look at it as a huge fun thing to do on Friday, not a protest," says > Paul Kristapovich, 19, an intern in Cam Gordon's office who was arrested > in August. To avoid a conflict of interest, his case has been referred > to another city attorney's office. > > "Critical Mass is [as] many different things as there are people riding > it," says Nowicki. "For me, it's one time a month to come together as a > group of riders and say we are not blocking traffic, we are traffic. It > is an empowerment thing for bicyclists. Some people see it as anti-car > culture, some people see it as anti-capitalist culture, some people see > it as pro-environment." > > But he also says there are a handful of "amped-up" youth who ride into > oncoming traffic, force cars to slam on their brakes and provoke police. > > Under Critical Mass philosophy, the lead bicyclists are supposed to stop > at a red light, but once it turns green, all riders continue through the > intersection, even when the light changes. To prevent cars from entering > the Mass, some riders engage in "corking" -- blocking cars at > intersections until all bikers move through. > > Such behavior does not endear Critical Mass to some motorists -- or some > bicyclists. > > "I believe in standing up for rights, but I don't believe in running red > lights and running stop signs," says Mike Beadles, past president of the > Twin Cities Bicycling Club. > > Critical Mass began in 1992 in San Francisco, and today the ride, on the > last Friday of each month, is popular worldwide and in many U.S. cities. > > It surfaced in Minneapolis in 1995. "The first one involved 15 or 20 > people," says Gene Operpiller, 45. A partner in the One on One local > bike store and cafe, he no longer joins the rides. > > The ride has gotten "really big" in the last three or four years, says > Nowicki, who co-owns a background-check business in Minneapolis. > > As in other cities, Minneapolis police have sometimes arrested Critical > Mass members. "I have seen all kinds of responses to Critical Mass," > said Robin Garwood, an aide to Gordon. Sometimes, a single squad car > follows the ride. "I've been on rides where there's no police." > > What happened Aug. 31 > > Trouble erupted on Aug. 31. An anarchist group, which is planning to > protest at the Republican convention next year, urged members to > participate in the ride. Meanwhile, police concerned about traffic > disruption and damage to cars had a State Patrol helicopter fly overhead > and assigned officers to film the ride. > > Chief Dolan said police "were overwhelmed" by the "intentional > disruption" of traffic by some 300 cyclists. He said most officers' > actions appeared justified, but some actions "give me some concern." > > After police tried to make one arrest and bicyclists encircled them > chanting, "Let him go," police put out an "officer needs help call" that > Dolan said was not "an ideal way" to deal with it. He wants more police > coordination and vowed a full investigation. No helicopter will fly over > the riders today. > > "It seems to have got way out of hand this time, and police > overreacted," said Jeff Pemberton, 19, who was arrested. > > David Renz, 28, said he was a bystander shooting video with his $300 > camera when he was Maced and arrested. An officer broke his camera, he > said, throwing it to the ground. "I was completely passive," he said. > > Neither Pemberton or Renz will face charges. The Hennepin County > attorney's office has not decided whether to charge three juveniles. > > Former Minneapolis Police Chief Tony Bouza said failure to charge 11 > people suggests police overreacted. But former Minneapolis City Attorney > Bob Alfton said it is no indication of improper arrests. > > Rybak cites city efforts on behalf of biking, and is open to doing more. > "But when people disrupt other people's rights, we will of course, > enforce the law," he said. > > To that, Jordan Kushner, an attorney for some of the arrested > bicyclists, replies, "The ball is in the court of the Police Department > if they want to restrain the police." > > Staff researcher Roberta Hovde contributed to this report. Randy Furst ? > 612-673-7382 Randy Furst ? rfurst at startribune.com > > -- > Dan Clore > > My collected fiction: _The Unspeakable and Others_ > http://tinyurl.com/3akhhr > 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! Groups Links > > <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/smygo/ > > <*> Your email settings: > Individual Email | Traditional > > <*> To change settings online go to: > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/smygo/join > (Yahoo! ID required) > > <*> To change settings via email: > mailto:smygo-digest at yahoogroups.com > mailto:smygo-fullfeatured at yahoogroups.com > > <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: > smygo-unsubscribe at yahoogroups.com > > <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: > http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ > From ldxar1 at tesco.net Mon Oct 1 15:03:45 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Mon, 01 Oct 2007 22:03:45 -0000 Subject: [Onthebarricades] CHILE: Mapuche protests continue - "terrorism" laws used vs activists Message-ID: <04c401c80477$22514570$0802a8c0@andy1> MAPUCHE INTERNATIONAL LINK 6 Lodge Street Bristol BS1 5LR England Tel/Fax: + 44-117-9279391 E-mail: mil at mapuche-nation.org Website: www.mapuche-nation.org Update on the current situation of the Mapuche in Chile 27 September 2007 Grave Concern for Mapuche Chief on hunger strike Chilean authorities refuse to comply with international human rights legislation There is now grave concern for the welfare of Chief Juana Calfunao and her sister Luisa Calfunao, who have been on hunger strike since 7 August. They were imprisoned in Temuco in November 2006 after being involved in protests to defend their community land against local landowners. After suffering a long history of harassment against their entire family, including this most recent detention, they resorted to a hunger strike in order to protest their innocence and highlight the use of repressive measures against the Mapuche. The Chilean government, however, is refusing to change its policy on a range of anti-terrorist legislation, including preventive detention, which is being used against the Mapuche as they engage in democratic protests to defend their ancestral territory. Their stance flies in the face of work taking place in the international arena aimed at protecting indigenous peoples. This month the UN General Assembly adopted the 'United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples' with an overwhelming majority. The Declaration recognises that indigenous peoples have the right to full enjoyment as a collective or as individuals of all human rights and fundamental freedoms. This includes the right to assembly and peaceful protest. As well as the urgent concern for Chief Calfunao and her sister, there are ongoing worries about the safety and wellbeing of a number of other Mapuche prisoners. On 1st September Ernesto Lincopan was hospitalised following an attack by a fellow inmate in Temuco prison, who stabbed him in the shoulder. This is one recent example of the kind of intimidation Mapuche prisoners are left exposed to, as they have no status as political prisoners and are therefore detained alongside violent criminals. Other Mapuche campaigners, including Chief Calfunao's husband, Antonio Cadin, suffer from chronic health problems but have not received adequate care and treatment whilst in detention. Their communities have now asked for the assistance of an independent doctor from the International Red Cross. Chief Calfunao, her sister and husband and a number of other Mapuche political prisoners are due to appear in front of an open tribunal in Temuco on 22 October. They have been told to expect sentences of between 10 to 17 years and have requested the presence of independent observers from international human rights organizations at the hearing. Mapuche International Link appeals once again to the international community to express their solidarity with the Mapuche. Please address your concerns to the following authorities. Addresses: . Misi?n Permanente de Chile ante las Naciones Unidas en Ginebra, 58, Rue de Moillebeau (4? piso), CH-1209, Ginebra, fax: + 4122.734.52. 97, misionchile at misginchile.org . Misi?n de Chile ante la Uni?n Europea, 106 Rue des Aduatiques, 1040 Bruselas, B?lgica, Fax.: +32 (02) 736 49 94, embachile at embachile.be . Sra. Michelle Bachelet Jeria , Presidenta de la Rep?blica , Palacio de La Moneda , Santiago, Chile. Fax: (+562) 690 4958, opinion at presidencia.cl, internet at presidencia.cl, mhansen at presidencia.cl . Sra. Paulina Veloso Valenzuela, Ministra Secretar?a General de la Presidencia, Palacio de La Moneda, 1160 Entrepiso, Santiago, Chile, fax: + 562. 69.04.329, gjoignant at minsegpres.cl . Sr. Belisario Velasco Barahona, Ministro del Interior, Palacio de la Moneda s/n, Santiago de Chile, fax: (+562) 69 68 740, lguzmanp at interior.gov.cl (contacto de prensa) . Sr. Isidro Sol?s Palma, Ministro de Justicia, Morand? 107, Santiago Casilla 21, Santiago, Chile, fax: (+562) 698 70 98, minju at reuna.cl; minju at minjusticia.cl ; rmadrid at minjusticia.cl . Sr. Alejandro Foxley Rioseco, Ministro de Relaciones Exteriores, Catedral 1158, Piso 3, Santiago, Chile, fax: (+562) 696 87 96, minrel at minrel.cl ; mdelaguarda at minrel.gov.cl . Don Eduardo Klein Koch, Intendente IX Regi?n La Araucan?a, Bulnes 590, piso 2, Temuco, Chile, fax: +56 45 208630 o +56 45 208218, intaraucania at interior.gov.cl . Sr. Tucapel Jim?nez F., Presidente Comisi?n de DDHH, Nacionalidad y Ciudadan?a de la C?mara de Diputados, tjimenez at congreso.cl . Senador Sr. Carlos Ignacio Kuschel Silva, Presidente de las Comisi?n de DDHH, Nacionalidad y Ciudadan?a del Senado, ddhhsen at senado.cl Please write also to the diplomatic representative of Chile in your country. Mapuche International Link For more information, please visit our website at http://www.mapuche-nation.org Visit Your Group Search Ads Get new customers. List your web site in Yahoo! Search. Green Groups on Yahoo! Groups share your passion for the planet. Yahoo! Groups Moderator Central An online resource for moderators. . __,_._,___ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: nc3=4617366 Type: application/octet-stream Size: 43 bytes Desc: not available URL: From ldxar1 at tesco.net Mon Oct 1 16:54:35 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Mon, 01 Oct 2007 23:54:35 -0000 Subject: [Onthebarricades] PAKISTAN: Wave of protests, unrest and repression as lawyers, activists and journalists challenge regime Message-ID: <074001c80486$9dcff700$0802a8c0@andy1> Thanks to CMKP and Socialist Pakistan News for many of these stories. - Andy http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=74233 Police action in Islamabad By By Adeel Pathan 10/1/2007 HYDERABAD: The media persons on Sunday observed a black day across the Sindh province and strongly protested the police action in Islamabad against their fraternity. A large number of local journalists and media persons gathered at the Hyderabad Press Club and took out a protest rally to mark their disapproval that no rule of gun or baton-charge could keep them from performing professional duties. Reports from other districts of the province said that almost all of the major cities, towns and villages the journalists observed Sunday as a 'black day' against the police action in Islamabad. They also took out rallies, shouted slogans, and took banners inscribed with slogans against the state's use of power against its own citizens. They termed the police action in Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore as act of terrorism and demanded action against those responsible, including the information minister and senior police officers. They said the torture on the media persons proved that the press freedom was still a dream in Pakistan. They said such incidents would not stop journalists from delivering their professional duties, adding the government must respect press freedom. Meanwhile, activists of Pakistan People's Party Parliamentarians and Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) staged protest demonstrations outside the Hyderabad Press Club against the manhandling of journalists and lawyers in Islamabad and Karachi. District president of PPP Zahid Bhurguri MPA while women wing president of PML-N Soorath Thebo led the demonstrations and expressed solidarity with the journalists. The Communist Party of Pakistan (CPP) General Secretary Imdad Kazi in a statement condemned the police torture against journalists and termed it a grave situation in terms of lawlessness in the country. He said power race within the ruling parties for a bigger share was creating anarchy in the country. Imtiaz Hussain adds from Khairpur: Journalists and lawyers here on Sunday observed black day against police highhandedness in Islamabad. The journalists wore black armbands and hoisted black flags over the press club. President of People's Lawyers Forum, Sukkur division, Liaquat Hussain Sher advocate, Manzoor Hussain Larik and others alleged that the Chaudhrys of Gujrat had brought people from Gujrat to attack journalists and the lawyers in Islamabad. They said the show of brute force defamed the country. They demanded of the Supreme Court to take suo moto notice and bring the culprits to book. They termed the Islamabad action state terrorism and an attempt to subjugate the media. They called for stern action against police officials involved. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Brutal Protest by Lawyers against Musharraf [in Pictures] Click Here to see all the pictures I could collect of the protest going in Islamabad against Musharraf outside Election commission office. http://www.pakistanuncut.com/2007/09/29/brutal-protest-by-lawyers-against-musharraf-in-pictures/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007/09/30/story_30-9-2007_pg12_1 Lathi goli ki sarkar, nahi chalegi, nahi chalegi! The revolution will not be televised, will not be televised, will not be televised, will not be televised. The revolution will be no re-run brothers; The revolution will be live... Gil Scott-Heron (1970) 3 lawyers and one journalist injured in police shelling * FIR lodged against 30 lawyers, including presidential nominee, Gandapur * Protest against Musharraf's nomination, not SC decision: Naeem Qureshi By Urooj Zia with photos by Athar Hussain KARACHI: Three lawyers and one journalist were seriously injured Saturday afternoon when policemen in riot gear entered the jurisdiction of the City Court and fired teargas shells at lawyers protesting the nomination of General Pervez Musharraf in the upcoming elections. "For the past four days, the police had been slowly barricading the area around the City Court," a lawyer, Sakina, who was suffering from the effects of the teargas an hour and a half after the protesters were attacked by the police. "Today they brought the barricades closer, and started shelling as soon as we stepped out on the road. This was on Raja Riaz Shaheed Road, within the jurisdiction of the City Court." KBA members attended an emergency general body meeting at 11:00 a.m. after which they came out to stage a protest on main M.A. Jinnah road where the police were waiting to check their movement ahead of time. The groups of lawyers were forced to retreat by batteries of policemen in riot gear. They pushed the lawyers back into the alley in front of the KBA office. This led to some stone pelting from the lawyers' side as the police responded with baton charge. Protesters responded to the shelling by pelting stones at the policemen. Three lawyers, Masood Rehman advocate, Khalid Tanoli, and Javed Sheikh, and one journalist, Fareed, a photographer with the Associated Press (AP) were injured by the shelling. They were taken to Civil Hospital Karachi (CHK) for treatment. The Karachi Bar Association (KBA) held a meeting in the morning, and everyone who participated insisted that lawyers should take to the streets to protest the nomination of General Pervez Musharraf in the upcoming elections, lawyers said. The bar association management decided, however, that lawyers will not take to the streets - they would stay within the jurisdiction of the City Court and protest. "We decided to assemble on Raja Riaz Shaheed Road (outside the bar room)," Masood Rehman advocate, one of the lawyers who was injured, said when Daily Times spoke to him at the CHK emergency room. "The moment we got there, however, police vehicles on both sides of the road (the lighthouse, and Tayeb Ali Alvi Road) started firing teargas shells at us." The lawyers were unarmed. 'The only weapons we had were our pens. Come to think of it, they could be lethal,' lawyers at CHK said. Karachi Bar ambulances were brought in and those seriously injured were taken to the CHK. The rest who suffered minor after-effects of the teargas were treated within the City Court compound. 'The police are still standing outside, and we can't leave, because they might start firing at us again,' lawyers said. 'We have therefore gone to the District and Sessions Judge (South), Nisar Shaikh, to ask him to make the policemen move out of here.' Policemen posted outside the City Court compound an hour after the incident claimed, however, that nothing 'untoward' had happened in the area. "No, there was no shelling here. The protesters are up there in the building, talking to the judge," an officer-in-charge claimed. When asked why they had brought riot police with them when 'nothing untoward' had happened, the officer replied, "This is our city, our Karachi. We can go where we please." A total of four lawyers were arrested and taken to the City Court Police Station. The City Court police lodged FIR No. 104/07 (under Sections 147, 148, 149, 353, 504) against at least 30 lawyers, including KBA's secretary general, on behalf of Sub-Inspector Mohammad Ameen. SHO Zahid Hussain told Daily Times that four lawyers, advocate Salahuddin Gandapur, advocate Abdul Saeed Qureshi, Gul Mohammad and Sohail Baig Noori were taken into the custody and KBA General Sectary Naeem Qureshi, Hanif Kashmiri, Faheem Zia, Saleem Zia, Javaid K. K. and others have yet to be arrested. The SHO said that he and his policemen, ASI Tariq Mehmood, were injured during the riots. Saturday's protests were not against the Supreme Court's September 29 decision, KBA's Naeem Qureishi said. "Our protest was to challenge the nomination papers filed by General Pervez Musharraf for the upcoming presidential elections. We had called this protest on September 25. Today lawyers all over Pakistan were observing a Black Day." Moreover, Qureishi said, the Supreme Court's decision did not state that President General Pervez Musharraf could contest the upcoming elections in uniform. "The Supreme Court ruling was about the objections filed by various parties and their admissibility in court," he explained. Policemen posted outside the city court premises promised to stay at their positions post-Iftar. "We've ordered Iftar for everyone here. We plan to stay here for a long while," the officer-in-charge claimed. Later, District and Sessions Judge South on a complaint by Javed Burki, counsel for Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, ordered judicial magistrate Ashique Ali Ghauri to conduct raids to recover the detained. [End] http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007/09/30/story_30-9-2007_pg12_3 'Oppression and arrests do not scare us' KARACHI: The mood in the Karachi Bar Association (KBA) offices was jubilant and militant at the same time Saturday afternoon, as lawyers vowed to 'continue protests despite continued oppression and arrests'. They said this in the aftermath of the day's protests, where shelling by riot police left three lawyers and a journalist injured. Lawyers sat around a television on the top floor of one of the City Court buildings, watching footage of protests in Islamabad and Karachi. They cheered every time a lawyer was shown fighting back with policemen. 'Yeh! Sher ka bacha!' Footage of lawyers being baton charged elicited anti-State and anti-Musharraf slogans in the packed room: Musharraf [...], haey haey; Lathi goli ki sarkar, nahi chaleygi nahi chaleygi. Footage from Islamabad showed Federal Information Minister Tariq Azeem standing in a doorway, looking out at the protest outside. "Baher nikal, [...]," (Come out, you...) the lawyers in the KBA room shouted, just as the cable connection suddenly went out. They then chanted slogans in favour of Justice (Retd) Wajihuddin, who is standing against General Pervez Musharraf in the upcoming presidential elections. "The government is making a show of power. It wants to send a message across: dissenters and people demanding the supremacy of the Constitution and the rule of law will be suppressed," said Masood Rehman Advocate, one of the lawyers who was injured in Saturday afternoon's shelling around the City Court. "Saturday afternoon's shelling was a violation of human rights. In order to cling to power, a dictator is oppressing the masses from all schools of thought. The basic rights of the people of Pakistan are being taken away from them." In a statement made to media personnel later, KBA general secretary Naeem Qureshi said that lawyers had filed a petition at the Supreme Court, and with the Election Commission of Pakistan. "We have listed nine objections that we have against General Pervez Musharraf's nomination in the upcoming presidential elections. Our struggle for the supremacy of the Constitution and the rule of law shall continue until democracy is restored in the country," he said . urooj zia [End] http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007/09/30/story_30-9-2007_pg12_4 11 arrested from peaceful protest outside ECP KARACHI: Eleven people, including Asad Butt of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), were arrested Saturday morning during a peaceful protest across the road from the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). At 11:35 a.m. Saturday, around 15 people carrying banners and placards inscribed with anti-Musharraf slogans congregated across the road from the ECP office, within the jurisdiction of the Preedy Police Station. Ten minutes later, the police baton charged the crowd, pushed 11 of them into vans and took them to the Artillery Maidan police station. Those arrested included Makhdoom Ayub Qureishi of the National Party, the general secretary of the All-Pakistan Trade Union Federation (APTUF), Farid Awan, Yawer Ali from the Irtiqa Institute, Ali Hasan and Dr Riaz Ahmed from the International Socialists Pakistan (ISPak), Raheel Iqbal of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Railway Workers Federation central president Manzoor Razi, Asad Butt from the HRCP, Mahroof Sultan from the Karachi United Welfare Association, Hasan Alia, a freelance journalist, and Ali Raza, a student. The protesters were unarmed and went nowhere near the gates of the ECP, according to eyewitnesses, including rickshaw and cab drivers and shop owners. Personnel from the Preedy Police Station maintained, however, that the protesters were breaking the law. "They were trying to enter the premises of the ECP," said one officer. "We repeatedly told them to stay back, and when they refused, we baton charged them in order to disperse the crowd." The protesters were then kept in temporary custody at the Artillery Maidan Police Station, "because we don't want people flooding the Preedy police station," officers from the Preedy station said. "You won't find them there right now, though," Imtiaz Soomro from the Preedy station said. "They will have been moved to an undisclosed location. They will be brought out only if we want to press charges, otherwise no one needs to know their location. They will probably be released in the evening with a warning. They were picked up just to stop the demonstration." A visit to the Artillery Maidan police station showed, however, that the detained protesters were still there. No FIRs had been lodged, nor were any charges being brought against them. When the District and Sessions Judge (South) was told about the incident, he issued an notification ( No.2695 of 2007), ordering Civil Judge (and Judicial Magistrate), Ashique Ali Ghori, to conduct a raid at the Artillery Maidan Police Station, and set free anyone who was being detained illegally (without an FIR). The magistrate reached the police station around 3:15 p.m. He claimed to have searched every room at the station, and found no illegal detainees. In the meantime, an FIR against the 11 detainees was lodged at the Preedy Police Station, under Sections 147, 148, 149 and 186 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC). "Section 149 is a non-bailable offence," Ghori said. "This means that an order will have to be obtained from the court in order to release the detainees. Tomorrow is Sunday, so this will have to be done Monday. In the meantime, the 11 men will stay in the lockup." Some lawyers who had come to the police station to plead the prisoners' case said that the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry had issued orders for the release of all protesters who had been detained. "All detainees in Islamabad have been released under this order," they said. Ghori maintained, however, that the CJP's order could not be implemented in Karachi. Moreover, he said, the Artillery Maidan Police Station was out of his jurisdiction, and he had been sent there only with orders to get all illegal detainees released. "Beyond that, I'm not authorised to do anything here. The 11 people you are talking about have not been detained illegally - an FIR has been lodged against them," he said, adding that he did not know why he had been sent to a police station outside his jurisdiction. He also did not know why the 11 men were being kept at the Artillery Maidan Police Station, even though an FIR against them had been lodged at the Preedy Police Station. In the meantime, the 11 men in custody seemed to try to make the best of the situation. Every 15 minutes or so, they'd break out into anti-State, anti-Musharraf and anti-imperialism slogans. The evergreen 'Lathi goli ki sarkar...' was interspersed with 'Samraj! Murdabad!' (Down with Imperialism), and similar outbursts, which irritated the higher police officials and amused the lower officials. "We thought the lockup would make them quiet, but they're having fun even here," one official patrolling the grounds around the cell said, laughing. A mock meeting was called up with APTUF's Farid Awan in chair, and it was "decided" that the 11 comrades-in-arms would "continue the struggle for democracy, come what may". 'We're fine either way. When we left home for the protest in the morning, we were prepared for arrests,' they said when they were informed that they might have to spend the weekend in jail. 'Just make sure that they provide water in the restroom, and put up two fans outside the door of our cell. Everything else is okay.' urooj zia [End] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CMKP leads Lawyers protest in Islamabad The CMKP's Rawalpindi/Islamabad district participated with its full strength in the protest called by the lawyers on Saturday, 29th of September in order to siege the election commission's office. An emergency meeting of the district committee (DC) was held on Wednesday, 26th of September in which it was decided that it was compulsory for all district members to participate in this protest. Everyone agreed to meet outside GEO television's office and then proceed to the protest as a group along with other leftist parties and some lawyers. On the day of the protest the group of carders coming from Rawalpindi which included comrade sikandar, comrade talal, comrade fahad, comrade waleed, comrade taimoor could not reach the geo office on time as all the roads leading to Islamabad were blocked by barricades and limited amount of traffic was allowed to pass through. But the Rawalpindi comrades despite these barricades and road blocks managed to reach the constitutional avenue only to find out that it was blocked by heavy contingents of police and rangers! The CMKP carders joined the handful of lawyers who were denied entrance to the Supreme Court. The carders started chanting anti government slogans which charged up the lawyers and in no time were we along with the lawyers able to break the barricades and push through the heavy contingent of police. The police in return started baton charging the lawyers along with our party carders. This infuriated us even further and we started pelting stones at the policemen. A few lawyers indulged in hand to hand combat with the policemen. The police seeing our reaction pulled back and all of us marched towards the Supreme Court. There we were greeted by a huge number of lawyers who had already made it to the Supreme Court. We met other party comrades who had already made it to the Supreme Court. People who had made it to the Supreme Court before us were comrade zahoor, comrade nazish, comrade munir, comrade liaqat and comrade stalin (of kasoor party). Comrade zahoor informed us that a fierce battle had already occurred between the police and the lawyers and carders of the CMKP had already been severally baton charged and comrade nazish along with some other leftist friends had been arrested by the police. This news however did not demoralize us and we became even more charged up. We joined the lawyers who were protesting outside the election commission's office (the election commission office is right in front of the Supreme Court). The carders of CMKP starting chanting slogans and the lawyers joined them. We took out our huge banner which said 'fuaji aamreeat namanzoor' which translated in English means 'down with military dictatorship'. We were the ONLY political party present at the occasion. The lawyers welcomed our slogans and our banner and EVERYONE; the lawyers, the students, people from various organizations gathered behind it. We did not even need to hold our banner as the lawyers and other activists volunteered to hold our banner and they requested us to lead the slogans. We started marching towards the election commission's office from the Supreme Court behind our banner. We were leading the anti government slogans and the lawyers were responding with great enthusiasm. When the police saw us proceeding towards the election commission started to baton charge us. We however did not retreat and decided to respond. We snatched away their sticks, a few lawyers who were carrying black flags took out the sticks from the flag and we started beating up the police with our own sticks. Other lawyers indulged in a hand to hand combat with the police. Lawyers who were a little behind started throwing stones at the police. The police responded by throwing stones at us. During this battle prominent lawyer atezaz ashen who was participating with us side by side was hit by a stone and he fell on the ground. The police charge towards him and started beating him up but the lawyers pushed back the police and he was surrounded by a wall of lawyers who were then beaten up by the police. This infuriated us even more and we leaped at the police men with greater anger. We were then able to pull the SP (who was spear heading the baton charge against the lawyer) towards us and started beating him up. The police on seeing the situation getting out of control fired tear gas at us. Dozens of tear gas shells were fired at us. Moreover, the police also resorted to aerial firing after which we had to disperse. We took shelter inside the Supreme Court. After sometime we again went outside and similar battle took place between us and the police. The police again resorted to shelling and stoning after which we had to retreat to the Supreme Court along with the lawyers. During this a policeman targeted our DC president comrade munir and threw stones at him with full force. Comrade Munir sustained several injuries on his feet and legs. But he was able to make it to the Supreme Court. Inside the Supreme Court we were complemented by various senior lawyers and journalists. Asma Jehangir, a senior lawyer and chairperson of human rights commission of Pakistan complemented out efforts and invited us to meet her in person. We also had the opportunity of meeting atezaz ahesan who again complemented us and said that he was very glad to see young people in a communist party. He then patted on the back of one of our comrade and said loudly to all the lawyers present that these are people who are here without any selfish interest. He continued by saying that they are people who have a dream which goes beyond the restoration of democracy and I salute these people. He then recited a few lines from his poem which he had written for Lenin and Che. He also invited us to meet him in person and we exchanged contacts. Liaqat baloch, a leader of MMA was also present on the occasion and comrade sikandar, secretary of Rawalpindi/Islamabad district confronted him and questioned him that on the one hand MMA always claimed to be fighting for "democracy" and today he had failed to mobilize a single person of his party! He responded by saying that no other party has come and the lawyers didn't give a call for protest. On this comrade sikandar replied that if the lawyers had not given a call how come the entire CKMP was at the Supreme Court. Liaqat baloch could not answer this and he walked away after which comrade sikandar briefly addressed the lawyers present that CMKP was the only political party who had stood in this testing time with the lawyers. He assured them that our party has and will continue to stand with the lawyers. The lawyers welcomed this move and many young lawyers and students approached us to inquire about our party. At about 3pm in the evening the lawyers ended the demonstration. We also decided to call it a day but then we came to know that the journalists were holding a demonstration in front of press club against today's inhuman treatment of lawyers and journalists. All our comrades most of who were limping are barely able to walk as a result of the baton charge and stoning decided to go to the protest. We immediately prepared play cards to carry on the protest. But when we reached press club we found out that the protest had been postponed till Sunday. A bit disappointed on the cancellation of the protest but on the whole very happy, satisfied and a bit injured out enthusiastic and determined comrades returned home. Overall it has been a terrific and very productive day for the CMKP. Not only have we been able to penetrate deeply into the lawyers movement, we are not in contact with their very top leadership. So over all the day was a HUGE success and hopefully. The CMKP despite being baton charged, stoned and tear gased will never bow down to the dictators. We will continue to fight the brutality until it ceases to exist. We won't rest till we've sent the army back to it's barracks. Every single member of the CMKP is ready to lay down its life for the cause!!! And as bhagat singh said : "Sarfaroshi ki tamana aab humaray dil mein hai; Dekhna hai zor kita bazoay qatil mein hai!" ------------------------------------------------------------------ Today dated 29 Sept in the city of beast and boars, Peoples movement for Justice ( KMJ) activist in Karachi arrested by state protect terorizing element means Police, MOTHER PEDER AZAD gunday. in demonstrators , Dr Riaz Ahmed, Ali Hassan ,Ali Yawar (International Socialist), Raheel Iqbal (Peoples Party Pakistan) , Manzoor razi (Railway Union) Asad Butt HRCP ,Freed Awan Trdae Unionist and others arrested by the Tazeerat Pakistan TP,,artcle # 147, 148 186 and 427 FIR number 551 Parady Police station but demonstrators were keep in lock up in Arterlary Maidaan Police station with out verifing and unlawful act by the police. they are near Election commision high court Sindh at 11:45 am. they were demands removal of General Mussaraf Wardi Wala NOOOOOOO,,,Namanzoor. infront of Election Commision the demonstrators were chant slogan against Imperialism and state protect terrorism in Pakistan and in Karachi perticular. so all civil society and all left political activist and Parties comdmed the act of State. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Black Day Observed in Pakistan CMKP actively participates Karachi, Sept 29: On the occasion of countrywide Black Day by the Pakistan Bar Council against the nomination of General Musharraf to contest the election for the office of the President third time violating the constitution of Pakistan, leaders and workers of the Communist Mazdoor Kissan Party (CMKP) fully participated in the peaceful rallies of the lawyers community in Islamabad, Lahore, Multan and Karachi. Some of the CMKP members were baton charged and arrested in Islamabad. The Central Secretariat of the CMKP in an emergent meeting presided over by General Secretary Ejaz Ghani, expressed CMKP's solidarity with the lawyers waging struggle for the democratic spirit of Constitution being distorted by military-led government under General Musharraf. It demanded the release of all such detained people, including CMKP workers without further loss of time. In Karachi the People's Movement for Justice composed of Communist Mazdoor Kissan Party (CMKP), Socialist Party, People's Labour Bureau, Human Rights Commission Karachi Chapter, Socialist International and others held a peaceful rally in front of the Sindh Election Commission. The peaceful demonstration was lathicharged by brutal police force for no reason and several were also arrested. The participants pledged to continue the struggle against military direct or indirect intervention in political affairs, resisting the nomination of General Musharraf to contest presidential election third time in uniform. It also strongly condemned the savage act of the Islamabad police who resorted to lathicharge against the lawyers, media men, political activists and other organizations holding peaceful demonstration before the Chief Election Office. It termed the police assault and arrest of political activists and others as the law of jungle that unmasked General Musharraf's hallow slogans of "enlightened moderation". CMKP Central Secretariat expressed its obligations to show solidarity of the CMKP with the lawyers community for just cause by participation of its leaders and workers in Islamabad, Lahore, Multan and Karachi. He demanded immediate release of all the people under police custody and punishment for those police officials and personnel who exhibited savagery. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- (ISLAMABAD - 29TH SEPTEMBER 2007) The Central Chairman of the Communist Party of Pakistan (CPP), Engineer Jameel Ahmad Malik has strongly condemned the brutality upon the lawyers and journalists on the Constitution Avenue today by the Islamabad police on the direct instructions of the preacher of the enlightened and moderation policy holders. CPP also protested on the arrest of Ali Ahmad Kurd and other political activists and lawyers, who were leading a peaceful procession for lodging a protest against the nomination papers of Pakistani Army General, who is contesting for the top slot of the President ship of the country. Engineer Jameel said that he is deeply shocked to see that how an eminent and top jurist and former Federal Interior and Law Minister Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan, lawyers and a large numbers of journalists like Ibrahim of KTN and one foreigner was badly beaten and lathi charged by the Islamabad and Punjab Police. He requested the Supreme Court of Pakistan to take suo motu notice of all these unlawful arrests and lathi charged by the police on lawyers and journalists. CPP demanded an exemplary punishment to those, who are responsible for such an episode. CPP Chairman fully support and express his solidarity with the Secretary General of PFUJ Mazhar Abbas. He also requested all the progressive and leftist journalists to vehemently support Mazhar Abbas for his bold and noble cause. Engineer Jameel appreciated the bold decision of Mazhar Abbas to boycott today the Iftar Party and Dinner of the premier Shaukat Aziz, which was hosted by Aziz in the honour of Mazhar Abbas and others senior journalists. The way a well known anchor of ARY TV, Asima Shirazi narrated that how his team members Faisal Hakim and his cameraman, who was performing their professional duties was badly beaten by police has moved every one into tears. Communist Party expressed his sympathy and solidarity with all the journalists, lawyers' community and political activists. Engineer Jameel lauded their struggle for the noble and just cause of democracy. CPP Chairman said that today incident has made one thing very clear that Election Commission of Pakistan is highly partial and the Chief Election Commissioner has lost all of his credibility for free and fair elections in Pakistan. Engineer Jameel immediately demanded the Government for the removal of Chief Election Commissioner. Dear all, After the new arrest of Farooq and other comrades: 1. ESSF is relaunching the international defense campaing for the release of Farooq Tariq and other political detainees. Last May-June, 451 signatures were already collected. See the original call and the list of signatures at: http://www.europe-solidaire.org/spip.php?article6363 Additional signatures can be sent to: Pierre.Rousset at ras.eu.org 2. We are also publishing on ESSF website reactions and messages after the latest arrest. See: http://www.europe-solidaire.org/spip.php?article7581 This page is very incomplete. If you wish your stand (or stands you know of) to be added to this web page, please send them to me too. In solidarity, Pierre Rousset Le 29 sept. 07 ? 02:56, Peter Boyle a ?crit : Dear Comrades In Australia we are campaigning through fax/email letters of protest over the latest detention of Labour Party Pakistan general secretary Farooq Tariq and 10 other members of the LPP to the Pakistan High Commission in Australia. It is an outrage that Comrade Farooq Tariq and 10 other LPP members were arrested along with him after participating in a lawyers'protest rally against General Musharraf's bid for a second presidential term on Thursday September 27, 2007 outside Lahore High Court. It is an even greater outrage that these comrades have now been charged under the Terrorist Act! Farooq Tariq had been invited as a keynote guest speaker to the Latin America-Asia Pacific International Solidarity Forum to be held in Melbourne on October 11-14, 2007. See There will be guest speakers from all over the world at that conference and they will undoubtedly be adding their voices of protest at the detention of Farooq Tariq. Regards Peter Boyle National Secretary Democratic Socialist Perspective (DSP) Australia * * * Copy of open letter to President Musharraf: President Pervez Musharraf c/- Pakistan High Commission to Australia PO Box 684, Mawson ACT 2607 parepcanberra at internode.on.net Fax: 61-2-62901073 cc Minister of Interior minister at interior.gov.pk Dear President Pervez Musharraf I write on behalf of the Democratic Socialist Perspective in Australia to strongly condemn the latest arrest and detention of Labour Party Pakistan General Secretary Farooq Tariq on Thursday September 27, 2007 outside Lahore High Court, and to demand his immediate release and the release of the 10 other members of his party who were arrested along with him. Farooq Tariq has been a prominent leader of the ongoing campaign for democracy in Pakistan and this is the third time in last three months that he has been detained. Farooq Tariq had been invited as a keynote guest speaker to the Latin America-Asia Pacific International Solidarity Forum to be held in Melbourne on October 11-14, 2007. There will be prominent guests from all over the world at that conference and they will undoubtedly be adding their voices of protest at the detention of Farooq Tariq. Yours sincerely Peter Boyle National Secretary Democratic Socialist Perspective 23 Abercrombie Street Chippendale NSW 2008 Australia Pierre Rousset Europe solidaire sans fronti?res (ESSF) http://www.europe-solidaire.org Pierre.Rousset at ras.eu.org ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Farooq Tariq sent to jail Lahore: 28 September 07: The Anti Terrorist Court, Friday, rejected the petitions of Farooq Tariq, and 10 other LPP comrades, challenging the case registered against them under Anti Terrorist Act (ATA). A team of senior Supreme Court and High court lawyers, including Rabeyya Bajwa advocate, Nisar Butt advocate and Nisar Safdar advocate, led By Asma Jehangir appeared before the court to defend Farooq Tariq and other party comrades. Asma Jehangir told the court that it is a baseless case against the LPP members just to terrorize the working class activists to stop them exercising their lawful right to protest. The Police have involved them in concocted case, therefore they should be released, she argued. But court did not entertain her argument and order to send Farooq Tariq and 10 LPP members to Camp jail Lahore for seven days. After this order the LPP members present in court premises raised slogans of Shame Shame and go Mushraf go against General Mushraf and military Junta for illegal cases registered against political workers. Meanwhile LPP has announced countrywide protests from Saturday for the release of farooq Tariq and other party comrades. For the release of Farooq Tariq, and other party comrades, please send your protest letters to: 1-General Pervez Musharraf President of Pakistan President House Constitution House Islamabad, Pakistan Fax: +92 51 922 1422, 4768/ 920 1893 or 1835 Email:http://www.presidentofpakistan.gov.pk/WTPresidentMessage.aspx 2-Mr. Shaukat Aziz Prime Minister of Pakistan Prime Minister Secretariat Constitution Avenue Islamabad, Pakistan Email: primeminister at pak.gov.pk 3-Mr Pervez Elahi Chief Minister Punjab Chief Minister House Lahore, Pakistan Email: http://www.chpervaizelahi.com/writemsg.asp 4-Lt General Khalid Maqbool Governor Punjab Governor House Lahore, Pakistan Fax: +92 42 9200023 Email: governor.sectt at punjab.gov.pk Comradely, Khaliq Shah On behalf of Labor Party Pakistan Ph: 0321-9402325 Dear All, It is hereby inform you that Labour Party Pakistan general secratry Farooq Tariq and twenty other activists have been arrested by the lahore police on sep 27 just after a demonstration orgnized by Lahore Bar Association,LPP and other civil sociaty orgnization.The demo was orgnized on the call of Pakistan Bar Concil against the ellegal and immoral presidentiol reelection of gen Parveez Mushrif.Before this election thousand of political activest have been arrested all around the country in recent few days.Labour Party Pakistan played a vital role in past Lawyers movement for the restorstion of chief justice of Pakistan.Labour Party Pakistan Chairperson Nisar Shah Advocate announced that LPP will continue our struggle against Mushrif milltry regime.Nisar Shah strongly codemn the illegal harrasment of Farooq Tariq and thousnds other political activist,he appealed to all comrades and HR activists to send their protest e-mail to the government of Pakistan on this issue. Nisar Shah, Chairperson Labour Party Pakistan, -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Workers and civil society organizations joined hands with Advocates Movement for justice and democracy against Musharraf military regime in a protest rally from Lahore High Court to Charing Cross on 27th September 07 http://uk.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUKISL27846120070930 Pakistani journalists protest police "brutality" Sun Sep 30, 2007 4:12pm BST Email This Article |Print This Article | RSS [-] Text [+] ISLAMABAD, Sept 30 (Reuters) - Pakistani journalists protested on Sunday against police violence against colleagues covering a protest against President Pervez Musharraf in Islamabad a day earlier. About 400 journalists and human right activists chanted anti-government slogans and condemned police "brutality" as they marched from a press club in Islamabad to the parliament building. More than a dozen lawyers, several journalists and a cabinet minister were injured in clashes on Saturday outside the Election Commission, where Musharraf's nomination was accepted for a vote on Oct. 6, which is expected to secure him a fresh term. Police launched a baton charge and fired tear gas to disperse black-suited lawyers and opposition activists, who have been at the vanguard of a pro-democracy movement. "They want to snatch our freedom which is unacceptable. We'll fight, we'll fight for our independence and freedom," Mazhar Abbas, president of Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), told the marchers. Similar rallies in support of press freedom were held in other cities including Karachi, Peshawar, Multan, as well as tribal areas where the army is fighting pro-Taliban militants. Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry on Sunday ordered Islamabad's top administration and police officials to provide explanations to the Supreme Court on Monday to explain why force was used against lawyers and journalists. The Supreme Court dismissed on Friday challenges to General Musharraf's bid to seek re-election while still army chief, removing a major obstacle to his securing another term. Opposition parties say they will resign their seats before the presidential vote, even though Musharraf has vowed to quit the army, his main source of power, if he wins. http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007%5C10%5C01%5Cstory_1-10-2007_pg13_5 Lawyers plan major protest on The Mall today * To sit-in at Regal Chowk, boycott courts against 'police brutality' LAHORE: Lawyers will rally on The Mall today (Monday) to protest the police action initiated against them across the country on Saturday. Lawyers will also boycott court proceedings for most of the day. The National Action Committee, which has been set up by lawyers, met on Sunday and decided to go ahead with the demonstration. Lahore Bar Association (LBA) president Sayyed Muhammad Shah told Daily Times that he had announced a full-day boycott of courts. He said that after the general house meeting, LBA lawyers would rally from Aiwan-e-Adal and march to GPO Chowk. He said lawyers would wear black armbands and hoist black flags on their bar buildings. Lahore High Court Bar Association (LHCBA) secretary Sarfaraz Cheema said that after the general house meeting, LHCBA lawyers would merge with the LBA rally at GPO Chowk and march to Regal Chowk where they stage a sit-in and protest against the police. However, Cheema said the LHCBA would boycott court proceedings after 10:00am. The LBA president asked journalists, NGOs and all political parties to take part in the rally. He criticised the government, alleging that the police was resorting to violence to stop lawyers from demonstrating. He said that faced with such brutality, lawyers would not remain peaceful during demonstrations. Shamsa Gohar, vice president of lawyers belonging to the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (Lahore chapter), said the lawyers were united and would not allow President Pervez Musharraf's regime to continue ruling the country. She denounced Saturday's police action against the lawyers. She said the lawyers' movement could not be suppressed by force. She said the movement would continue till Musharraf's regime came to an end. Shamsa also denounced the Election Commission of Pakistan for accepting the nomination papers of a serving army general to contest the presidential elections. LHCBA vice president Firdaus Butt said the Supreme Court decision favouring Musharraf had encouraged lawyers to struggle harder against him. http://www.kansascity.com/news/world/story/296750.html Protest by Pakistani lawyers over candidacy becomes violent The Washington Post ISLAMABAD, Pakistan | Police in riot gear attacked lawyers and journalists with batons, tear gas and rocks in a running battle Saturday at the gates of the Supreme Court. The clash came a day after judges ruled that President Gen. Pervez Musharraf can stand for another term. About 200 lawyers tried to march from the Supreme Court to the Election Commission to protest Musharraf's candidacy. They were vastly outnumbered by security forces, who charged into the crowd swinging metal-tipped sticks. The lawyers fought back, and a melee ensued in which more than 40 people were injured. Police chased the lawyers onto the grounds of the Supreme Court, which was shrouded in a haze of tear gas much of the day. One protester was beaten as he tried to retreat into the court building. After he collapsed, uniformed officers continued to thrash him with sticks. Private television stations that had been broadcasting live coverage of the protests were taken off the air. When Pakistani journalists tried to enter the Election Commission, they, too, were attacked by police. At least six were injured. http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,2180471,00.html Musharraf's re-election attempt sparks riot Associated Press Sunday September 30, 2007 The Observer Riot police fired tear gas and used batons on protesting lawyers as Pakistan's Election Commission rejected opposition to President General Pervez Musharraf's re-election bid. A day after the Supreme Court quashed legal challenges to Musharraf's candidacy, the commission approved his nomination, a senior official said on condition of anonymity. The commission approved only five of the 43 candidates, including Musharraf's two main challengers: Wajihuddin Ahmed, a retired judge nominated by lawyers, and Makhdoom Amin Fahim, vice chairman of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party, the official said. Clashes continued for more than two hours. Several journalists were beaten by police. Deputy Information Minister Tariq Azim was pummelled by protesters when he arrived. He was rushed into a car and driven away. Lawyers also rallied in Lahore and Karachi, where police arrested some and beat others. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-pakistan30sep30,1,945421.story?track=crosspromo&coll=la-headlines-world&ctrack=1&cset=true Pakistani protest turns violent M.K. Chaudhry / EPA Lawyers were among the hundreds who demonstrated in Multan. Dozens are reported injured as police beat back demonstrators upset by Musharraf's bid to win reelection without giving up his army post. By Laura King, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer September 30, 2007 ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - In a stone-throwing melee in the heart of Pakistan's capital, riot police Saturday fired tear gas and beat lawyers and human rights activists protesting President Pervez Musharraf's plans to have himself reelected while serving as chief of the military. Dozens of people were reported injured in the daylong clashes, which marked an escalation in the political tensions that have roiled Pakistan for months as a nationwide grass-roots movement to oust Musharraf has gained strength. Until now, even very large anti-government protests were mainly peaceful. Clash click to enlarge Map Related Stories - Court OKs Musharraf reelection drive - Pakistan's leader files election papers - Musharraf to keep army post if he loses the presidency, high court is told - As the India-Pakistan border opens a bit, laborers bear load - Pakistan backs off Al Qaeda pursuit - Pakistani opposition leaders arrested The violence came as Pakistan's Election Commission gave its seal of approval Saturday to Musharraf's bid to secure a new five-year term in a vote by outgoing national and provincial lawmakers next Saturday, an election he is almost certain to win. A day earlier, the Supreme Court cleared the way for Musharraf's reelection by dismissing legal challenges to his running for office without giving up his military post. The general has pledged to give up his uniform after he is reelected but before he is inaugurated. The high court had left the door open to Musharraf's disqualification by the Election Commission, but that body, which was handpicked by the Pakistani leader, formally accepted his candidacy. Musharraf seized power in a coup eight years ago, and after the Sept. 11 attacks became a key U.S. ally against Al Qaeda and the Taliban. But his prestige and popularity have been greatly diminished in recent months. During Saturday's clashes between police and hundreds of protesters, clouds of tear gas rose above the capital's broad, tree-lined Constitution Avenue. At one point, tear-gas canisters landed inside the manicured grounds of the Supreme Court complex. Across the street, outside the Election Commission building, some of the protesting lawyers wielded wooden staves to battle police, their black coats and neckties flapping. Lawyers have taken the lead in the anti-Musharraf movement since March, when the general tried to dismiss Pakistan's respected chief justice. More than 1,000 police and paramilitary troops were deployed in and around the court complex and the Election Commission building. "This is the face of martial law," declared lawyer Hamid Khan, who represented cricket-star-turned-politician Imran Khan in court challenges to Musharraf's eligibility to seek reelection. "We don't accept this election process at all. How can it be fair when one candidate has a uniform and a gun?" The injured included protesters and journalists, who said police beat everyone in the area. A senior government official, Tariq Azim, the state minister for information, was roughed up by the crowd outside the Election Commission building. Authorities said at least a dozen police officers were hurt. Some of the protesters threw stones at police; some police officers picked up the rocks and hurled them back. Asma Jahangir, a veteran lawyer and human rights activist, was hit by a stone she said was thrown by a policeman. "The government had planned beforehand to teach the lawyers a lesson," said Jahangir, whose long white stole was stained with blood. "I saw them specifically pointing to particular lawyers and then beating them up." Some analysts predicted more unrest, not only surrounding the vote for president by the national and provincial assemblies, but also in advance of general elections for those bodies that are to take place by mid-January. Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has said she will return from self-imposed exile to lead her party in that contest, but her camp is still engaged in power-sharing talks with Musharraf. Another potentially important player in the general elections, former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, was deported this month by Musharraf's government when he tried to return after seven years of exile. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: iconFeed.gif Type: image/gif Size: 959 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: clicktoenlarge.gif Type: image/gif Size: 189 bytes Desc: not available URL: From ldxar1 at gmail.com Tue Oct 2 14:43:19 2007 From: ldxar1 at gmail.com (Andy) Date: Tue, 02 Oct 2007 21:43:19 -0000 Subject: [Onthebarricades] Fw: [cmkp] Burma: articles and reports from Thailand, Philipines and Indonasia Message-ID: <0a4601c8053d$61f0bcd0$0802a8c0@andy1> ----- Original Message ----- From: Labour Party To: labour party Sent: Tuesday, October 02, 2007 4:04 AM Subject: [cmkp] Burma: articles and reports from Thailand, Philipines and Indonasia Dear all, Please find enclosed articles and reports from Thailand, Indonasia and Philipines on the situation in Burma from known activists from the region. Farooq Tariq Burma : The struggle continues Giles Ji Ungpakorn: Thailand While the mainstream media concentrate on the pronouncements of foreign governments and the role of the U.N. in stopping the bloodshed perpetrated by the Burmese junta, the real struggle is on the streets and in the cities around Burma . The idea that the Chinese government, responsible for the Tiananmen Square Massacre, or the Thai military junta will somehow restrain the Burmese military is laughable. The West has a long history of supporting military juntas in South-east Asia and never lifted a finger to stop massacres in Indonesia or the Philippines. It is most ironic that in fact, the present demonstrations that we are seeing in Burma, arise from a realisation by Burmese pro-democracy activists that they cannot rely on Western powers or anyone else to bring about a change and they have to act themselves. Until the military started its latest round of bloody crackdowns, the mainstream media were claiming that the wide spread use of the internet meant that the watching eyes of the world would prevent a massacre, "unlike in 1988". In fact we could see pictures of the 1988 crackdown and we were all aware of what was going on. The great uprising which started on 8th August 1988, was initiated by student protests over economic issues. Soon it developed into demands for democracy. On the morning of the 8 th a general strike started in the docks and spread to government offices. All sections of society, including priests, marched to demand the end to military rule and despite the bloody brutality of the regime, the movement showed signs of winning. Ne Win, the old military dictator was forced to resign and the junta changed its name and promised elections. However, instead of pushing forward with the struggle, which would have toppled the military completely, the movement was deflated. Aung San Suu Kyi told demonstrators to disperse. The reasoning was that they should trust the army and not push them "too far". The energies of the democracy movement were channelled into electoral politics. After Suu Kyi's party, the National League for Democracy ( N.L.D.) won 392 seats out of a total 485 in 1990, the junta refused to accept the result. Suu Kyi and N.L.D. politicians were arrested, but the movement had already been weakened. Some student activists joined the armed struggle in the countryside, but they soon became demoralised. For years after the defeat of the 1988 movement, demoralised activists had hoped that the United States would put pressure on the Burmese junta to release Aung San Suu Kyi and negotiate a road map to democracy. Despite the understandable pessimism of many Burmese exiles, lessons have been learnt by many activists. Earlier this year a loose network of activists decided to start open protests in the form of "prayer marches" at temples. This was followed by the large demonstrations of monks after fuel price rises of 500%. Thousands of ordinary people gained confidence and joined the monks' protests. Hundreds of politicised young men have become monks in recent years, partly due to the fact that the junta closed down or restricted entry to colleges and universities. The temples were safer places for people to gather and talk, much like the Mosques in Iran during the revolution or the Catholic Church in Communist Poland before the uprising there. The pro-democracy movement today has more experience than in 1988. Twenty years ago they were prepared to allow Suu Kyi and her party, the National League for Democracy to lead the movement. Today there are debates about the way forward. While everyone agrees that Suu Kyi and all political prisoners should be freed immediately, the radicals are wary of leaving the leadership of the movement in the hands of the N.L.D. Freedom and democracy can only be achieved by also dealing with the ethnic conflict. The non-Burmans, who make up more than half the population, have never been happy with a unified state and many groups have been in a state of constant armed struggle against the central government since independence. It is encouraging to see that the Karen National Union has come out very clearly on the side of the pro-democracy movement and has urged Burmese soldiers to turn their guns on their officers. It is to be hoped that the democracy movement responds to this act of solidarity by taking up a position allowing ethnic groups self-determination. In the past Burmese independence leaders such as Aung San (Sui Kyi's father) or U Nu were not that enthusiastic about allowing different ethnic groups to have autonomy. The 1947 Panglong conference to discuss the future of Burma was boycotted by the Karen, Karenni, Mon, Arakan and Wa. Sui Kyi herself has been unclear on this issue and is not fully trusted by non-Burmans. While many of the activists trace their roots back to 8-8-88, thousands of young people on the protests are too young to have taken part back then. This means that a whole new generation of people have become radicalised. There are signs that they are prepared to resist the army with great courage and sacrifices. One woman, interviewed by Reuters, summed up the present situation by saying "it is good but it is dangerous". Democracy can only be achieved by overthrowing the junta. There is no room for compromise and the junta can never be trusted. We can only hope that the democracy movement inside Burma will strive to topple the regime, like in Manila in 1986, Bangkok in 1992 and Jakarta in 1998. This will involve fighting back and also winning over ordinary soldiers to the side of the people. It will involve strikes by the growing working class, both in the cities of Burma and also among the millions of Burmese migrant workers, especially in the factories on the Thai side of the border, such as in towns like Mae Sot. It may be a long process, but we can all act to show the necessary solidarity. Giles Ji Ungpakorn Workers Democracy Thailand Giles Ji Ungpakorn Faculty of Political Science Chulalongkorn University Bangkok 10330, Thailand +66-(0)813469481 UK mobile +44(0)7817034432 WDPress Blog http://wdpress. blog.co.uk/ Burma - Memories from Rangoon and Bagan in 2000 Junya Lek Yimprasert Thai Labour Campaign For nearly twenty years human rights groups around the world have organised protest after protest in their attempts to pressure world leaders to take action to restore democracy in Burma. But it seems their voice has never been loud enough - especially in the ears of Asian governments. For instance, the Chinese and Japanese governments have major interests in Burma and conduct their business ignoring totally the fact that the Burmese people are oppressed by one of the most ruthless military juntas on the planet. The raw violence of the Burmese military against their own citizens in 1988 - and continuously ever since then, has pushed millions of Burmese to take refuge in neighbouring countries. In Thailand there are now about 150,000 political asylum seekers and about 2 million Burmese working in the lowest paid jobs, some documented some not, at about 2 USD a day [40% of minimum wage]. These political immigrants are very exposed and vulnerable to all kind of abuse from both the employers and Thai government authorities. Many get arrested and deported back to Burma and must pay money to completely corrupt military authorities all down the line. For the 20 years that millions of Burmese have been taking refuge in Thailand they have never been granted any rights of citizenship and can receive no social welfare. They have always been obliged to live, as in a trap, in poverty, having to run and hide like animals when their factories and campsites are raided by Thai police. We have let 50 million Burmese people suffer far too long. After observing first hand (short article below) conditions of absolute poverty along the Irrawaddy, one of the richest rivers in Asia, in 2003 the Thai Labour Campaign (TLC) established a programme to fight for the rights of Burmese workers in Thailand. This work has been supported by Norwegian Church Aid (Norway) and Diakonia (Sweden). To facilitate this work TLC has established an office in Mae Sot, a refugee town on the Thai-Burma border. Memories from Rangoon and Bagan in 2000 Junya Yimprasert, Coordinator, Thai Labour Campaign "We will go to demonstrate for Democracy in Burma at Government House" my friends told me in Sydney during a 2-month exposure programme in Australia in 1990. The action was organised to mark 2 years since the day of the military crack-down in Burma and to remember the thousands of people who were killed on 8th August 1988. Since then I have participated in many protests and actions for democracy in Burma. Missions to Burma for Altsean-Burma (Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma) in 2000 and 2001 brought me face-to-face with the awful reality of the living conditions of the Burmese peoples. Going to Rangoon on both trips, I soon began to understand what 'the absolute poverty of the people in Burma' meant in real terms, and also what the expression 'business has no boundaries' can mean in practice. Every hotel was hung with pictures of military officers, and my companion Steve Beeby and myself learnt that the military authorities have made it their custom to demand a free stake in hotel ownerships. On the second trip we stayed at a hotel popular among Asian businessmen - from Singapore, China, Korea and Japan. Thai are most visible as the organisers and managers of hotel and service business. In Rangoon we were approached by a skinny Burmese boy: "Do you like to take a tour to Bagan?". After following us for half a day he finally succeeded in convincing us that we could go by taxi to Bagan, 350 kms to the north, and return to Rangoon within two days. About half-way to Bagan, on a terrible road, we realized that neither our guide or taxi driver knew what they were doing. The promised 6 - 8 hour drive became 14. We went through endless check-points at which our poor guide, muttering that 'everyone has to pay', had to keep forking out Kyat. At one stop he received information that his brother had died. He was very sad, and we sad for him. We suggested we return to Rangoon, but he refused. His need of money was now even greater than when we started the trip. Travelling back to Rangoon we visited 2 roadside villages. In one, the villagers took us on a tour of their community. They were very poor, each family living in a shack made of bamboo and any materials that could be scavenged. They were short of everything: blankets, medicines, healthy food and future. A member of one of the families we visited was sick: "We have to look after him as best we can here. We can't take him to the hospital it is too far away and we don't have any money". We were told that it was not just this family, but that more than 100 kilometers from Rangoon there is no village along the whole Irrawaddy that has any means to get their sick to a hospital. Although many years have now passed since those trips, my memories of the living conditions in Burma remain vivid. I hope for change in Burma. I hope that all of us, the whole world, will focus the attention that is required to bring peace and democracy to Burma - NOW. We may not permit the shedding of yet more innocent blood in Burma. In the past 20 years the Burmese have lost far, far too many of their loved ones. The peoples of Burma have suffered enough. ******* Junya Lek Yimprasert Thai Labour Campaign P.O. Box 219, Ladprao Post Office Bangkok 10310 Tel: + 66 1 617 5491 Fax: + 66 2 933 1951 www.thailabour. org meistra budiasa" writes from Indonasia Dear all During this week many activist pro democracy in Indonesia make solidarity action for people in Burma, on september 28 action by coalition organization like NGO, Womens group, leftist, Student movement, Religious, and Buddhis group in jakarta protest to the embassy Burma and today around 50 people from trade union make protest in front Burma Embassy for demand military regime step down. More picture protest during September 28 and October 1 you can look at http://mediabebas. blogspot. com Salam Solidaritas Statement by the Partido ng Manggagawa (Party of Workers) Philippine September 27, 2007 Filipino workers support the Burmese people The Filipino working class joins the peoples around the world in condemning the brutal suppression by the military junta of the protest movement in Burma. We add the voice of the workers in the call for democratization in Burma, freedom for political prisoners and an end to the military rule. We express our solidarity for the people of Burma especially our Burmese brother and sister workers. The working class of Burma suffer as much or even more as other sectors and classes of Burmese society under the heel of the military junta. The Burmese military dictatorship may be a throwback to the Dark Ages of old but under its iron fisted rule the new paradigm of globalization is being forced down the throats of Burmese workers. Multinational corporations are extracting super profits from the blood and sweat of Burmese workers who are denied the most elementary labor rights by the brutal dictatorship. The Filipino workers sympathize with the situation of their Burmese brothers and sisters for we suffered the very same exploitation and very same abuse under the Marcos dictatorship. In fact the burgeoning protest movement in Burma against price increases recall to mind the welgang bayans (nationwide public strikes) of the '80's and '90's against economic hardship during and after the Marcos dictatoship. The Burmese military dictatorship hope to nip in the bud the protest movement against the economic crisis and scuttle its maturity into a political movement for democracy in their country. But the tables may yet be turned and instead the bloody repression may still incite the beginnings of a new uprising against military rule. Despite the forced isolation of Burma under the dictatorship, international solidarity has a significant role to play in sustaining and strengthening the protest movement in Burma against economic hardship and for political freedom. Thus the Partido ng Manggagawa will educate and mobilize the Filipino workers as vanguard fighters or democracy to stand as one body and speak with one voice in support of the Burmese people and workers in their struggle for political freedom and social emancipation. ## Send instant messages to your online friends http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com __._,_.___ Messages in this topic (1) Reply (via web post) | Start a new topic Messages | Files | Photos | Links | Database | Polls | Calendar 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.. 8New Members Visit Your Group Need traffic? Drive customers With search ads on Yahoo! Best of Y! Groups Check out the best of what Yahoo! Groups has to offer. Yahoo! Groups Join a Health & Fitness Group or create your own. . __,_._,___ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ldxar1 at tesco.net Tue Oct 2 16:22:39 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Tue, 02 Oct 2007 23:22:39 -0000 Subject: [Onthebarricades] Fw: [cmkp] Burma: articles and reports from Thailand, Philipines and Indonasia Message-ID: <0c0601c8054b$4d710e00$0802a8c0@andy1> ----- Original Message ----- From: Labour Party To: labour party Sent: Tuesday, October 02, 2007 4:04 AM Subject: [cmkp] Burma: articles and reports from Thailand, Philipines and Indonasia Dear all, Please find enclosed articles and reports from Thailand, Indonasia and Philipines on the situation in Burma from known activists from the region. Farooq Tariq Burma : The struggle continues Giles Ji Ungpakorn: Thailand While the mainstream media concentrate on the pronouncements of foreign governments and the role of the U.N. in stopping the bloodshed perpetrated by the Burmese junta, the real struggle is on the streets and in the cities around Burma . The idea that the Chinese government, responsible for the Tiananmen Square Massacre, or the Thai military junta will somehow restrain the Burmese military is laughable. The West has a long history of supporting military juntas in South-east Asia and never lifted a finger to stop massacres in Indonesia or the Philippines. It is most ironic that in fact, the present demonstrations that we are seeing in Burma, arise from a realisation by Burmese pro-democracy activists that they cannot rely on Western powers or anyone else to bring about a change and they have to act themselves. Until the military started its latest round of bloody crackdowns, the mainstream media were claiming that the wide spread use of the internet meant that the watching eyes of the world would prevent a massacre, "unlike in 1988". In fact we could see pictures of the 1988 crackdown and we were all aware of what was going on. The great uprising which started on 8th August 1988, was initiated by student protests over economic issues. Soon it developed into demands for democracy. On the morning of the 8 th a general strike started in the docks and spread to government offices. All sections of society, including priests, marched to demand the end to military rule and despite the bloody brutality of the regime, the movement showed signs of winning. Ne Win, the old military dictator was forced to resign and the junta changed its name and promised elections. However, instead of pushing forward with the struggle, which would have toppled the military completely, the movement was deflated. Aung San Suu Kyi told demonstrators to disperse. The reasoning was that they should trust the army and not push them "too far". The energies of the democracy movement were channelled into electoral politics. After Suu Kyi's party, the National League for Democracy ( N.L.D.) won 392 seats out of a total 485 in 1990, the junta refused to accept the result. Suu Kyi and N.L.D. politicians were arrested, but the movement had already been weakened. Some student activists joined the armed struggle in the countryside, but they soon became demoralised. For years after the defeat of the 1988 movement, demoralised activists had hoped that the United States would put pressure on the Burmese junta to release Aung San Suu Kyi and negotiate a road map to democracy. Despite the understandable pessimism of many Burmese exiles, lessons have been learnt by many activists. Earlier this year a loose network of activists decided to start open protests in the form of "prayer marches" at temples. This was followed by the large demonstrations of monks after fuel price rises of 500%. Thousands of ordinary people gained confidence and joined the monks' protests. Hundreds of politicised young men have become monks in recent years, partly due to the fact that the junta closed down or restricted entry to colleges and universities. The temples were safer places for people to gather and talk, much like the Mosques in Iran during the revolution or the Catholic Church in Communist Poland before the uprising there. The pro-democracy movement today has more experience than in 1988. Twenty years ago they were prepared to allow Suu Kyi and her party, the National League for Democracy to lead the movement. Today there are debates about the way forward. While everyone agrees that Suu Kyi and all political prisoners should be freed immediately, the radicals are wary of leaving the leadership of the movement in the hands of the N.L.D. Freedom and democracy can only be achieved by also dealing with the ethnic conflict. The non-Burmans, who make up more than half the population, have never been happy with a unified state and many groups have been in a state of constant armed struggle against the central government since independence. It is encouraging to see that the Karen National Union has come out very clearly on the side of the pro-democracy movement and has urged Burmese soldiers to turn their guns on their officers. It is to be hoped that the democracy movement responds to this act of solidarity by taking up a position allowing ethnic groups self-determination. In the past Burmese independence leaders such as Aung San (Sui Kyi's father) or U Nu were not that enthusiastic about allowing different ethnic groups to have autonomy. The 1947 Panglong conference to discuss the future of Burma was boycotted by the Karen, Karenni, Mon, Arakan and Wa. Sui Kyi herself has been unclear on this issue and is not fully trusted by non-Burmans. While many of the activists trace their roots back to 8-8-88, thousands of young people on the protests are too young to have taken part back then. This means that a whole new generation of people have become radicalised. There are signs that they are prepared to resist the army with great courage and sacrifices. One woman, interviewed by Reuters, summed up the present situation by saying "it is good but it is dangerous". Democracy can only be achieved by overthrowing the junta. There is no room for compromise and the junta can never be trusted. We can only hope that the democracy movement inside Burma will strive to topple the regime, like in Manila in 1986, Bangkok in 1992 and Jakarta in 1998. This will involve fighting back and also winning over ordinary soldiers to the side of the people. It will involve strikes by the growing working class, both in the cities of Burma and also among the millions of Burmese migrant workers, especially in the factories on the Thai side of the border, such as in towns like Mae Sot. It may be a long process, but we can all act to show the necessary solidarity. Giles Ji Ungpakorn Workers Democracy Thailand Giles Ji Ungpakorn Faculty of Political Science Chulalongkorn University Bangkok 10330, Thailand +66-(0)813469481 UK mobile +44(0)7817034432 WDPress Blog http://wdpress. blog.co.uk/ Burma - Memories from Rangoon and Bagan in 2000 Junya Lek Yimprasert Thai Labour Campaign For nearly twenty years human rights groups around the world have organised protest after protest in their attempts to pressure world leaders to take action to restore democracy in Burma. But it seems their voice has never been loud enough - especially in the ears of Asian governments. For instance, the Chinese and Japanese governments have major interests in Burma and conduct their business ignoring totally the fact that the Burmese people are oppressed by one of the most ruthless military juntas on the planet. The raw violence of the Burmese military against their own citizens in 1988 - and continuously ever since then, has pushed millions of Burmese to take refuge in neighbouring countries. In Thailand there are now about 150,000 political asylum seekers and about 2 million Burmese working in the lowest paid jobs, some documented some not, at about 2 USD a day [40% of minimum wage]. These political immigrants are very exposed and vulnerable to all kind of abuse from both the employers and Thai government authorities. Many get arrested and deported back to Burma and must pay money to completely corrupt military authorities all down the line. For the 20 years that millions of Burmese have been taking refuge in Thailand they have never been granted any rights of citizenship and can receive no social welfare. They have always been obliged to live, as in a trap, in poverty, having to run and hide like animals when their factories and campsites are raided by Thai police. We have let 50 million Burmese people suffer far too long. After observing first hand (short article below) conditions of absolute poverty along the Irrawaddy, one of the richest rivers in Asia, in 2003 the Thai Labour Campaign (TLC) established a programme to fight for the rights of Burmese workers in Thailand. This work has been supported by Norwegian Church Aid (Norway) and Diakonia (Sweden). To facilitate this work TLC has established an office in Mae Sot, a refugee town on the Thai-Burma border. Memories from Rangoon and Bagan in 2000 Junya Yimprasert, Coordinator, Thai Labour Campaign "We will go to demonstrate for Democracy in Burma at Government House" my friends told me in Sydney during a 2-month exposure programme in Australia in 1990. The action was organised to mark 2 years since the day of the military crack-down in Burma and to remember the thousands of people who were killed on 8th August 1988. Since then I have participated in many protests and actions for democracy in Burma. Missions to Burma for Altsean-Burma (Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma) in 2000 and 2001 brought me face-to-face with the awful reality of the living conditions of the Burmese peoples. Going to Rangoon on both trips, I soon began to understand what 'the absolute poverty of the people in Burma' meant in real terms, and also what the expression 'business has no boundaries' can mean in practice. Every hotel was hung with pictures of military officers, and my companion Steve Beeby and myself learnt that the military authorities have made it their custom to demand a free stake in hotel ownerships. On the second trip we stayed at a hotel popular among Asian businessmen - from Singapore, China, Korea and Japan. Thai are most visible as the organisers and managers of hotel and service business. In Rangoon we were approached by a skinny Burmese boy: "Do you like to take a tour to Bagan?". After following us for half a day he finally succeeded in convincing us that we could go by taxi to Bagan, 350 kms to the north, and return to Rangoon within two days. About half-way to Bagan, on a terrible road, we realized that neither our guide or taxi driver knew what they were doing. The promised 6 - 8 hour drive became 14. We went through endless check-points at which our poor guide, muttering that 'everyone has to pay', had to keep forking out Kyat. At one stop he received information that his brother had died. He was very sad, and we sad for him. We suggested we return to Rangoon, but he refused. His need of money was now even greater than when we started the trip. Travelling back to Rangoon we visited 2 roadside villages. In one, the villagers took us on a tour of their community. They were very poor, each family living in a shack made of bamboo and any materials that could be scavenged. They were short of everything: blankets, medicines, healthy food and future. A member of one of the families we visited was sick: "We have to look after him as best we can here. We can't take him to the hospital it is too far away and we don't have any money". We were told that it was not just this family, but that more than 100 kilometers from Rangoon there is no village along the whole Irrawaddy that has any means to get their sick to a hospital. Although many years have now passed since those trips, my memories of the living conditions in Burma remain vivid. I hope for change in Burma. I hope that all of us, the whole world, will focus the attention that is required to bring peace and democracy to Burma - NOW. We may not permit the shedding of yet more innocent blood in Burma. In the past 20 years the Burmese have lost far, far too many of their loved ones. The peoples of Burma have suffered enough. ******* Junya Lek Yimprasert Thai Labour Campaign P.O. Box 219, Ladprao Post Office Bangkok 10310 Tel: + 66 1 617 5491 Fax: + 66 2 933 1951 www.thailabour. org meistra budiasa" writes from Indonasia Dear all During this week many activist pro democracy in Indonesia make solidarity action for people in Burma, on september 28 action by coalition organization like NGO, Womens group, leftist, Student movement, Religious, and Buddhis group in jakarta protest to the embassy Burma and today around 50 people from trade union make protest in front Burma Embassy for demand military regime step down. More picture protest during September 28 and October 1 you can look at http://mediabebas. blogspot. com Salam Solidaritas Statement by the Partido ng Manggagawa (Party of Workers) Philippine September 27, 2007 Filipino workers support the Burmese people The Filipino working class joins the peoples around the world in condemning the brutal suppression by the military junta of the protest movement in Burma. We add the voice of the workers in the call for democratization in Burma, freedom for political prisoners and an end to the military rule. We express our solidarity for the people of Burma especially our Burmese brother and sister workers. The working class of Burma suffer as much or even more as other sectors and classes of Burmese society under the heel of the military junta. The Burmese military dictatorship may be a throwback to the Dark Ages of old but under its iron fisted rule the new paradigm of globalization is being forced down the throats of Burmese workers. Multinational corporations are extracting super profits from the blood and sweat of Burmese workers who are denied the most elementary labor rights by the brutal dictatorship. The Filipino workers sympathize with the situation of their Burmese brothers and sisters for we suffered the very same exploitation and very same abuse under the Marcos dictatorship. In fact the burgeoning protest movement in Burma against price increases recall to mind the welgang bayans (nationwide public strikes) of the '80's and '90's against economic hardship during and after the Marcos dictatoship. The Burmese military dictatorship hope to nip in the bud the protest movement against the economic crisis and scuttle its maturity into a political movement for democracy in their country. But the tables may yet be turned and instead the bloody repression may still incite the beginnings of a new uprising against military rule. Despite the forced isolation of Burma under the dictatorship, international solidarity has a significant role to play in sustaining and strengthening the protest movement in Burma against economic hardship and for political freedom. Thus the Partido ng Manggagawa will educate and mobilize the Filipino workers as vanguard fighters or democracy to stand as one body and speak with one voice in support of the Burmese people and workers in their struggle for political freedom and social emancipation. ## Send instant messages to your online friends http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com __._,_.___ Messages in this topic (1) Reply (via web post) | Start a new topic Messages | Files | Photos | Links | Database | Polls | Calendar 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.. 8New Members Visit Your Group Need traffic? Drive customers With search ads on Yahoo! Best of Y! Groups Check out the best of what Yahoo! Groups has to offer. Yahoo! Groups Join a Health & Fitness Group or create your own. . __,_._,___ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ta_bd76 at yahoo.com Wed Oct 3 04:25:29 2007 From: ta_bd76 at yahoo.com (tarek ahmad) Date: Wed, 03 Oct 2007 11:25:29 -0000 Subject: [Onthebarricades] JOIN NEW LEFT GROUP OF BANGLADESH Message-ID: <839864.93232.qm@web53705.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Hello Comrads! This groups is open for all who are interested about politics, history & culture of Bangladesh. This group is aimed to link up the people of the world who are fighting against capitalism, imperalism and corporate globalism. Web Address: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/spb_bangladesh Email Address: spb_bangladesh at yahoogroups.com Long live Proletarian Internationalism. --------------------------------- --------------------------------- Take the Internet to Go: Yahoo!Go puts the Internet in your pocket: mail, news, photos & more. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ldxar1 at tesco.net Fri Oct 5 16:23:26 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Sat, 6 Oct 2007 00:23:26 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] PALESTINE/ISRAEL: Protests and actions inside Israel, Sept-Oct 07 Message-ID: <020701c807a6$bb4b02c0$0802a8c0@andy1> * Arabs launch boycott of El Al * Israeli draft resisted * Strike by Israeli-Arab teachers averted after concessions * Palestinians resist blockade of al-Aqsa as Ramadan begins * Arab-Israelis call for boycott of national service * Israeli Arabs mark anniversary of unrest http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=904851&contrassID=1&subContrassID=7 Last update - 18:39 18/09/2007 Arab sector heads plan boycott of El Al over 'harassing' security probes By Yoav Stern and Zohar Blumenkrantz, Haaretz Correspondents The leaders of the Arab sector on Tuesday announced plans to boycott El Al Airlines to protest the company's "harassment" and "interrogation" of Arab passengers at airports and border crossings. At this stage, the protest will be carried out only by members of Arab institutions, though it is likely that others from the Arab sector will be called to join. The boycott was announced Tuesday by Amir Mahool, chairman of the national council for the protection of freedom. Many Arab citizens have complained about intensive security checks they are forced to undergo at the airport, which can include humiliating questions and separation from the other passengers. Advertisement The council, which for the last years has been associated with the Higher Arab Monitoring Committee, has recently separated to become an independently active association. The council was initially formed a few years ago as a body of support for Sheikh Ra'ad Salah and the Islamic Movement. The group comprises representatives from various political parties and movements, and acts to ensure the freedom of Arab bodies and personalities "being politically persecuted by Israel and its mechanisms of oppression." The council has also called on Jordan to avoid cooperation with Israeli security services. According to Mahool, when Arab organizations in Israel are under investigation, Jordan conducts parallel probes of groups associated with these organizations. http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070924/wl_nm/israel_draft_dc_3 Young Israelis dodge the draft, some in protest By Elana Ringler and Rebecca Harrison Mon Sep 24, 8:08 AM ET JERUSALEM (Reuters) - To many she is a traitor, a coward and a parasite. But 17-year-old Israeli "draft dodger" Saar Vardi says if more people thought like her, the Middle East would be a more peaceful place. Vardi is part of a growing group of young Israelis who are refusing to sign up for mandatory military service, often in protest over the Jewish state's occupation of Palestinian territory or because of last year's unpopular war in Lebanon. Army statistics show the number of young people who do not enlist for military service has crept up in recent years to more than 1 in 4 men in 2007 and more than 43 percent of women. "People refer to me as a traitor and say that my country has given me so much and I'm not willing to give anything back, like a parasite," Vardi, a student, told Reuters. "But I know what I believe ... If truly everyone saw things the way I see them then we wouldn't need an army." Most Israeli men have to serve for three years in the army and are liable for reserve duty after that unless they can prove they are physically or psychologically unfit for battle, or come from an ultra-Orthodox background. Women must do 21 months. Until recently, opting out of military service was largely taboo in a nation born out of war, and in constant conflict with its Arab neighbors. Groups of young soldiers clutching rifles are a common sight on the streets of Israel and for many, serving in the army goes to the core of national identity. The trend to avoid the draft -- which has been joined by some entertainers -- has sparked heated media debate and government pledges to act. "When he goes into battle a soldier should not have to feel that a portion of our society regards him as a sucker," Defence Minister Ehud Barak was reported as saying in July. "It's time to go back to the days when service was a right and an honor and shirking was like wearing the mark of Cain." "CANCER" Ultra Orthodox Jews have been exempt from military service for years, and their ranks are growing. But more secular Israelis are also finding ways around joining up, sometimes by saying they are conscientious objectors or unfit. Some say they are loath to fight for an occupying force and are willing to go to jail for their beliefs. Others say they do not trust Ehud Olmert's government with their lives after a report said the prime minister acted impulsively in going to war against Lebanon last year. And some young Israelis would simply rather focus on their education or career than on defending their country. "There's the ongoing wars and the ongoing occupation," said Hagay Matar, who spent two years in prison for refusing the draft. "People are starting to feel they don't have to do it." But several mayors have vowed not to allow entertainers who did not enlist to take part in Israel's 60th anniversary celebrations next year, and one suggested denying them jobs in municipal government. Some commentators have lambasted those who shun military service, reminding them they face jail. "Draft dodging is a cancer that eats away at the foundations of Israel as a society," said Eitan Haber, a columnist writing in Israel's most popular daily Yedioth Ahronoth. "They don't want to serve? They will get a mess kit and a prison uniform." "WHAT'S ISRAEL DYING FOR?" But those who resist military service have also found support. Columnist Yonatan Gefen asked in the Ma'ariv newspaper why Israel's young people would want to fight in an army "that doesn't know what it is dying for." Israel should favor a leaner, professional military over conscription and focus on technology and intelligence instead of numbers, particularly since military might did not help it get rid of guerrillas in Lebanon, said another commentator. "Modern wars are not won by masses of foot soldiers," wrote columnist Gabi Nitzam in Yedioth Ahronoth last month. Israel is trying to make the army more attractive for young people by allowing promising sportsmen, musicians and even fashion models to do their military service away from the frontline while pursuing their careers. The government is also planning to launch a civilian service program, which would allow conscientious objectors, the physically unfit, ultra Orthodox Jews and Israeli Arabs -- who are exempt from the draft -- a chance to serve in other ways. Reuven Gal, who headed a team that drew up recommendations to government for the new program, said Israelis should have the option to shun the army as long as they did not shirk national duty entirely. "We want to create a norm whereby a person who does not enlist goes to civilian service," Gal was quoted as saying. "We should not generalize and say that draft-dodgers should be strung up in the city square." http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3444302,00.html Arab sector cancels school strike Mediated by President Shimon Peres, negotiations between Arab sector representatives and Education Ministry reach agreement: NIS 100 million added to Arab sector school budgets Moran Zelikovich Published: 08.31.07, 17:25 / Israel News Following suit with the Middle and High School Teachers Association and the Sderot Teachers Committee, the Arab sector has also cancelled threats to strike on the first day of school. Negotiations between the Education Ministry and Interior Ministry supervised by President Shimon Peres ended successfully, and thus 460,000 Arab students will start school as planned this Sunday. The budget for Arab sector schools will get an additional NIS 100 million, it was agreed. In addition, 40 thousand school hours will be added, totaling NIS 21.9 million, and four new committees to examine education in the Arab sector will be established. The committees will examine the state of pupils' academic achievement, educational content, development and learning disabilities. The committees will start work in October and will be demanded to present their conclusions in three months time. Raja Zaatara, a member of the Arab educational affairs monitoring committee, welcomed the agreements. "Since Education Minister Yuli Tamir assumed her position, they've tried to ignore our demands. Now, thanks to President Peres' mediation, we've made some achievements. For some reason people assumed that if the education minister was left-wing, then our demands would be met with less of a struggle and there would be more attention paid to problems in the Arab sector, but that didn't happen. Now we feel that we're starting to reach significant achievements." In recent weeks intensive negotiations were held between representatives of the Education Ministry, the Arab sector, representatives of local authorities, and the director generals of the Interior and Education Ministries regarding the demands. Representatives of the Arab sector charged that school infrastructure was poor and there was a severe lack of classrooms, as well as budgetary funds to improve the education system. The representatives further noted about the great disparity between the Jewish and Arab sectors regarding pupils' achievements on matriculation exams. http://euronews.net/index.php?page=info&article=442715&lng=1 Tensions in Jerusalem as Ramadam begins On the first day of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan there have been scuffles between Israeli police and pilgrims from the West Bank trying to get to Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque, one of Islam's most sacred sites. Security has been stepped up this year as the start of Ramadan has coincided with celebrations marking the Jewish new year. Checkpoints have been reinforced in the West Bank and around Jerusalem with large crowds expected to make their way to the city. Access to the area of the Al-Aqsa mosque, which also contains the Temple Mount, sacred to Jews, has been restricted. Only Palestinian men aged 45 and over, and women aged 35 and over are being allowed in to attend Friday prayers. http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=903722&contrassID=1&subContrassID=7 Last update - 01:02 15/09/2007 IDF blocks West Bank Palestinians trying to reach Al-Aqsa Mosque By The Associated Press Hundreds of Palestinians thronged two major West Bank checkpoints, trying to reach Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque on the first Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, despite tight Israeli restrictions. Israel Defense Forces troops turned back many of the West Bank faithful. Only men above the age of 45 and women above the age of 35, who had also obtained special permits, were allowed to enter Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque - the third holiest shrine of Islam - said police spokesman Shmuel Ben-Ruby. This year, the start of Ramadan, a month of fasting and religious observance, coincided with the Jewish New Year. As customary, Israel imposed a blanket closure on the West Bank during the Jewish holiday, barring virtually all Palestinians from entering Israel. Advertisement Hundreds of Israeli police were deployed in streets and alleys in and around Jerusalem's walled Old City, where the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound is located. Troops also took up positions at two major West Bank checkpoints, one to the south of Jerusalem and one to the north. The checkpoints are built into Israel's West Bank separation fence, which rings most of Jerusalem to control Palestinian movement into Israel. At the southern checkpoint, near Bethlehem, hundreds of Palestinians, many of them elderly, pushed up against police lines set up near the separation barrier. At one point, the crowd pushed through the police line. One woman crawled on her hands and knees, another fell to the ground as people behind her surged forward. IDF troops shouted at people to get back. At the northern Qalandiyah crossing, near the city of Ramallah, hundreds of people waited to pass. Hamdi Abu Fadi, 44, was turned back because he didn't meet the age requirement. Abu Fadi said he'd try to sneak into Jerusalem in another area, in hopes of reaching Al-Aqsa. Prayers performed at the shrine are considered more powerful than worship in another mosque. Palestinians have long complained that Israel is violating their right to freedom of worship by restricting access to a major shrine. "It's a crime against us all year long, whether during Ramadan or any other month," said Abu Fadi. Israel says it imposes the restrictions to prevent possible attacks by Palestinian militants. Ramadan is a time of heightened religious fervor, which security officials fear could increase the motivation for carrying out attacks. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3449201,00.html Arab-Israeli group: National service offshoot of occupation army Baladna launches campaign calling on Arab-Israeli youngsters to boycott national service program. 'A state that doesn't recognize the national and collective existence of the Arab public cannot claim that it knows what this public's true needs are,' group says Roee Nahmias Published: 09.13.07, 23:44 / Israel News Baladna - the Association for Arab Youth - is expected to launch a campaign Friday calling on young Arab-Israelis to boycott the national service, which it referred to as "an offshoot of the IDF". The campaign's slogan will be: "National service - your way to the army". A week-and-a-half ago the Higher Arab Monitoring Committee of Israeli Arabs launched a campaign against the government's intention to enforce mandatory national service on the country's Arab citizens, who are exempt from military service. The committee decided to form a special taskforce to combat the government's decision which "contradicts the political, nationalistic and civil beliefs of the Arab leadership in Israel". 'Government still has a lot to prove' Baladna officials said in a statement that "despite what the government claims, the national service is a branch of the occupation army, which has always acted against the Arab-Israeli population and the Palestinian people in general. "Therefore, any attempt to present the national or civil service as social activity constitutes a deception of the public in general and the Arab public in particular," the officials said. As part of the campaign, a conference calling on young Arab-Israelis to boycott the program will be held in cooperation with the Higher Arab Monitoring Committee of Israeli Arabs. In addition, prominent Arab filmmakers, actors and musicians will take part in a special event to promote the campaign. According to Baladna, "a state that doesn't recognize the national and collective existence of the Arab public cannot claim that it knows what this public's true needs are, and therefore cannot determine how young Arabs can best serve Arab society. "Since its inception Israeli has been intentionally ignoring the Arab public's needs - so the government still has a lot to prove before it preaches to the Arabs about good citizenship," the group said. Baladna director Nadim Nashef told Ynet, "We decided to launch the campaign following the government's decision regarding national service. We fear that this decision will lead to an initiative that would obligate all Arab youngsters to serve." http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=908462&contrassID=1&subContrassID=7 Israeli Arabs demonstrate in Umm al-Fahm to mark October 2000 riots By Yoav Stern, Haaretz Correspondent At the junction near the entrance to Umm al-Fahm, several dozen political activists demonstrated on Saturday with family members of those killed during the October 2000 clashes. They carried huge Palestinian flags and posters with the photographs of the 13 dead, the fourth such demonstration in the past two weeks. Seven years have passed since the incident that redefined the relationship between Arab citizens of Israel and the state. To date - and contrary to the spirit of the recommendations made by the Or Commission examining the events - no indictment was brought against any of those who shot the 13 dead, nor against any senior officials. The Justice Ministry issued a statement recently saying that the attorney general has held many discussions on the matter, and these deliberations have still not been completed. The events of 2000 will be officially commemorated with a procession at 3 PM Monday down the central street of Sakhnin, with the participation of most of the bereaved families. A candlelight procession will be held at Kafr Kana tonight at 8 PM. Leaders of the Arab community will also visit the various memorial sites in the north. The Monitoring Committee, the most senior public organization of the Arab community, has called on party activists not to participate in the processions carrying party flags. There is a fundamental disagreement among Arab political organizations in Israel on how to view the October incidents. On one end of the spectrum stands Hadash, which in recent years has followed a path aiming to moderate the protest. On the other end stands Balad and the Islamic Movement, which calls for intensifying the protest. Central to the argument is the historical context of the events. In contrast with previous anniversaries, there have been no calls by the Monitoring Committee to hold a strike in the Arab communities. Last year there was a vociferous debate on the issue, and in the end it was agreed to follow the Hadash recommendation and avoid a strike. Only a few hundred people participated in the commemorations in Sakhnin last year, which was very disappointing for the bereaved families and the politicians, and served as further proof that the general public does not support major protests. At Hadash they say that the incidents of October 2000 are the most significant events in a line of events that influence the Arab Israeli public, but stress that the most important event is Land Day in 1976. During those events, Rakah, the predecessor of Hadash, was the organizing force, and six Israeli Arabs were killed in clashes with the authorities. Balad, on the other hand, considers the October 2000 clashes as a breaking point. Hadash chairman MK Mohammed Barakeh told Haaretz this week that Land Day "is a watershed, the event that separates between two periods. Before that day we followed Mapai and its offshoots, and after that we emerged tall." Barakeh stressed that it should not be forgotten that it is the Israeli establishment that is responsible for the crimes carried out on October 2000, because "it drowned in blood" those who tried to "express legitimate solidarity with the Palestinian people." In 1976, the Islamic Movement was still not considered a significant political power in the Arab street, and Balad had still not been established. However in 2000, both movements were quite dominant, and both invest considerable effort in commemorating the incidents. "This is a central event in the history of the Arab Israeli public," MK Jamal Zahalka, chairman of Balad, told Haaretz this week. "It does not compete with Land Day, but it is no less important. Politically, the events of October 2000 are very important to us." -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ldxar1 at tesco.net Fri Oct 5 16:24:13 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Sat, 6 Oct 2007 00:24:13 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] PALESTINE: Everyday resistance and survival, October 2007 Message-ID: <020b01c807a6$d7667200$0802a8c0@andy1> * NGO starts checkpoint library initiative * MLK disciples work for peace in Palestine * Article on Dheisheh media activists * Beer contest glimpses rare aspect of Palestinian Christian life * Canaan fair trade group formed http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/TAM750783.htm Palestinians liven up checkpoints with a good book 01 Oct 2007 08:45:24 GMT Source: Reuters By Haitham Tamimi HEBRON, West Bank, Oct 1 (Reuters) - A new charity is easing Palestinians' frustration with their regular long waits at Israeli army checkpoints by stocking taxis with books for them to read. The checkpoints, which Israel says are needed to stop suicide bombers, dot the occupied West Bank, hampering travel between Palestinian towns and villages. "People spend many hours at checkpoints," said Nafiz Asilah, head of the Palestinian Library on Wheels for Non-Violence and Peace, an independent organisation funded by European NGOs. "We are providing the passengers with books for their benefit and enjoyment during the long wait." The scheme started about a week ago, providing some 15 taxi drivers based in the city of Hebron with a bag containing about 10 books, ranging from short stories to quiz books and books about Muslim history and practices. Passengers get a book at the start of a journey, then hand it back when they arrive. The aim is to expand the campaign to some 50 drivers in other West Bank towns. Palestinians say the checkpoints amount to collective punishment and are pressing Israel to dismantle some of them ahead of a U.S.-sponsored peace conference expected in November. http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/stories/2007/09/16/king_0916.html MLK disciples work for peace in the Mideast By MARGARET COKER Published on: 09/16/07 Bethlehem, West Bank - For decades, the rocky soil in the Holy Land has been notoriously hostile to peace. But civil rights activist Bernard Lafayette believes he has the right spiritual fertilizer to change that. Lafayette, a longtime assistant of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., is training a group of Palestinian social workers, civil rights activists and political leaders to spread King's teachings of nonviolence across the West Bank and Gaza Strip. "People talk about how hopeless this place is ... but I feel that these are problems with a solution," said Lafayette, a former resident of Atlanta. "I've seen places where peace looked just as impossible. ... These places turned around. It's never too late for the seeds of justice to bloom." Last week, 32 Palestinians involved in organizations committed to peace completed a yearlong course sponsored by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and the Center for Non-Violence and Peace Studies at the University of Rhode Island, which Lafayette heads. Last year the SCLC opened two centers for nonviolence training in the Middle East. One is in Bethlehem and the other is in the southern Israeli city of Dimona, a desert town that is home to the African Hebrew Israelites, a group of African-Americans who have encountered antipathy and concern over their 30-year attempt to settle permanently in Israel. The SCLC's mission is part of the Atlanta-based organization's goal to spread King's goal of peace and reconciliation across America and in international hot spots as well. Lafayette and his associate Charles Alphin, a Decatur resident and former head of education at the King Center, have played starring roles in both efforts. Since King's death in 1968, Lafayette has devoted his life to conflict resolution and spreading King's ideas of a beloved - all-inclusive, caring - community. Alphin, a retired deputy police chief in St. Louis, worked with King's widow, Coretta Scott King, to implement lessons in nonviolence for inner-city youths across America. Over 15 years the two men have traveled to Haiti, Colombia, India and the former Soviet Union to reconcile former fighters and teach those seeking political and social justice the philosophy of nonviolence. Their focus on the Mideast was a much-needed boost to the dozen or so Palestinian organizations whose own work in this area has been overshadowed by the upsurge of violence between Israelis and Palestinians in recent years. "It's an inspiration for us to have such a famous person come to help us in our struggle. We remember that we aren't alone," said Lucy Nusseibeh, who runs the Middle East Nonviolence and Democracy center in Jerusalem. Since 2000, the Palestinian fight for independence from Israeli military occupation of the West Bank and Gaza has become synonymous with suicide bombings and fighting. But the tactics of civil disobedience have also been used as part of the struggle for statehood. Labor strikes, consumer boycotts and the refusal to pay taxes were common during the 1980s in the first Palestinian intifada, or uprising. Campaigns of nonviolence lost credibility among a large swath of Palestinians, however, when such work didn't yield an independent state. In the five-day seminar held in Bethlehem last week, Lafayette told his Palestinian students about historic moments in the U.S. civil rights movement such as the Montgomery bus boycott and the 1963 Birmingham church bombing that killed four girls attending Sunday school. He said they would have to convince their society that King's beliefs needed patience as well as courage to bear fruit. "God is on the side of justice. You have to keep believing that and you have to be determined to suffer for this belief," he said. "The key is how you react to conflict, whether you decide to escalate it or not." Awni Jawad, 36, was one of the Palestinians who studied with Lafayette during the last year. Jawad co-founded Holyland Trust eight years ago as a group dedicated to conflict resolution. That was after he spent his youth as a fighter affiliated with Yasser Arafat's Fatah Party. He was jailed by Israel for the first time when he was 15, injured in gunbattles with Israeli soldiers and watched two of his best friends die. He said he didn't know of another way to live his life or work for his national goals - except for fighting. "We needed a Lafayette when I was young, but we didn't have one. Now, I'm trying to teach our youth the lessons of love that he taught me, and that I didn't know earlier," Jawad said. http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article8993.shtml Turning our tongues: Journals from Dheisheh Dina Awad, The Electronic Intifada, Sep 17, 2007 "Palestinian girls have a lot of power," said 17-year-old Haneen Owdeh on a hot summer day in the Dheisheh refugee camp near the West Bank city of Bethlehem. She then added, "but they don't know how to use it. They need someone to point them to ways on how to use it, to show them what to do." Haneen Owdeh and her friends, 18 young Palestinian women in total, aged 16-19, form a grassroots girls' art collective in the Dheisheh camp, where over 10,000 refugees live on one-and-a-half square kilometers of land. It is not very far from here to their original homes in the villages of the Jerusalem and Hebron districts that were destroyed in 1948 when the Israeli state was established by expelling these youths' grandparents. The girls of Dheisheh produce audio journals about their lives. They work under the mentorship of 6+, an American women's collective whose goal is to empower female artists from different cultural backgrounds. Their audio journals have been exhibited by the 6+ collective around Europe and the US under the title of Turning our Tongues: Audio Journals from the Young Women of Dheisheh refugee camp. Haneen explains that the themes the girls cover in their recordings vary from love, life, politics and school. However, every subject occurs against the backdrop of the Israeli occupation. "Every girl speaks about the occupation in a personal manner. It's unavoidable, it's impossible not to touch upon it, it envelops our lives," says Haneen. The conditions in the camp have been strained recently, especially in light of the siege imposed on the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza since the election of Hamas in January 2006. The ensuing poverty as well as the political tensions have meant that girls in the camp have very little to do after school in terms of social and artistic activity. Seventeen-year-old Zahra Salem, another member of the Dheisheh collective, explains that the project drew her in precisely because it offered an opportunity for the girls in the camp to socialize and carve out a niche for themselves amidst continued social upheaval. "This is the first time that there has been a project like this for girls in Dheisheh camp," she says. "I like this project because we can speak about our lives without restriction, we can express ourselves regardless of what is happening outside. These are our personal journals." There were multiple steps to putting together the journals. First, the American women from 6+ taught the young women of Dheisheh how to make paper journals. After each girl wrote out her narrative, she then picked an excerpt to record. Then the girls were taught how to use audio equipment to edit and mix sounds. They worked together to create background sounds to go with each girl's entry. The finished product is a recording which tries to bring the listener into the girl's world, to demonstrate how she felt at the moment of the experience. There were some difficulties involved with setting up the collective, as Haneen explains with a giggle. "When the American women came and said they wanted to do this project with us, it was hard to convince some of the girls to participate. Their parents had their reservations. But after they saw how the girls in the collective were able to work together and work so well and do this, now all the girls ask to participate in the future if we are to do this again!" Haneen and Zahra say that they and the rest of the Dheisheh collective now want to start up a similar project with a younger generation of women in the camp. They want to take the skills that they learned and use them to help a group of 15-year-old girls produce their own audio journals, which they hope will also be exhibited on the 6+ site. "This project helped us express ourselves, but it also taught us how to work together and how to be good figures for girls in the camp," said Haneen. Currently based in Arizona, 6+ member and cofounder Sama Alshaibi, an artist with Iraqi and Palestinian roots, explained that her collective's main goal in Dheisheh was to empower the young women of the camp. "We wanted to do something on a community level, as teachers and as artists for a demographic that has become completely undeserved," she said. Sama says that the interest in Turning our Tongues has been paramount. The journals were recorded last September and were then put on exhibit at a national conference two weeks later. The exhibit has been presented multiple times since then in the US and in Europe. It most recently showed in New York City. It is quite an accomplishment for the girls from Dheisheh to have their reflections play out around the world through a creative medium whose production they have control over. While 6+ taught the young women in the camp how to create the audio journals and how to function as a collective, Sama is humbled by the experience, explaining that, "in reality, we learned so much more from these girls than we taught them." The young girls of Dheisheh would be proud to hear Sama's assertion. Perhaps their audience from around the world feels that they have as much to learn from them as the women of 6+ did. Such an audience would have been brought one step closer to understanding what it means to be a teenage girl living under occupation, a teenage girl full of power just waiting to be actualized. Dina Awad lives in Toronto, Canada. Her grandparents hail from Palestine, where she feels most at home. This article was originally published by Al Wattan and is republished with permission. http://blogs.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/a_view_from_palestine/2007/09/taybeh_or_not_taybeh_that_is_t_1.html Taybeh, or not Taybeh; that is the question I'M WRITING this not having samped the curious delights of a Palestinian beer festival. (Yeah, unlikely I know, but this is in the Christian village of Taybeh, near Ramallah; home of some pretty impressive Crusader Church ruins, and . the only brewery in the Palestinian territories.) I was really looking forward to going, but having spent half-an-hour moving no more than two yards towards the front of the queue to go through Huwarra checkpoint, I decided life was too short and gave up for the day. Above you can see the scrum ahead of me just before I gave up. At the top of the picture you can just see the turnstiles that all men aged between 18 and 35, 40 or 45 (depending on the mood of the soldiers) have to queue to pass through - followed by metal detectors and intensive questioning by soldiers sometimes half their ages. The people in front of me were the women, children and older men who are exempt from going through the turnstiles; it's supposed to be a quicker, easier process, but it certainly didn't feel that way to me this afternoon. One of the most annoying aspects of my wasted half-an-hour was having rock-all else to do other than watch four soldiers supposed to be inspecting incoming and outgoing vehicles propping up a roadblock and chatting and laughing amongst themselves because there were no cars for them to inspect. (I didn't get a picture because I didn't want to risk getting my head kicked in.) Perhaps if I'd asked them why they didn't open another "lane" of the checkpoint for humans - the women, children and older men - they would have told me they couldn't "for security reasons". But to me it looked like a complete lack of respect for the Palestinians (aka fellow human beings). And, in fact, sheer bloody bad manners. According to the UN's OCHA (Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the oPt), as of April this year, Huwarra was one of 71 checkpoints proper in the West Bank. In addition to the checkpoints, there were 13 "partial" - ie "flying" or occasional - checkpoints; 93 road gates; 60 road blocks; 210 earth mounds; 16 earth walls, 12 trenches and 73 road barriers - a total of 549 "closures" in all - in the way of any Palestinian with the audacity to try to move about the West Bank. According to my (admittedly usually pretty crappy) reckoning, the West Bank is around 88 miles long and 38 miles wide at its longest and widest points, and, according to the Palestinian Authority the West Bank covers a total area of 2,305 square miles. If you realise that the United Kingdom of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland covers 93, 638 square miles, maybe then you get an idea of how locked-down the West Bank is. And this list of closures doesn't even include the number of "settler roads" that Palestinians are banned from using. The Israeli authorities say these closures are necessary for "security reasons". I presume by this they mean the "security" of the Jewish settlers, who shouldn't even be here anyway. Because, to be honest, I can't really see (despite what the more articulate readers of Haaretz have to say if you follow the link close to the end of this post) how they ensure security inside Israel proper. I'm not an expert on such things, but I reckon you must be able to get pretty much everything you would need to make a bomb inside Israel itself, (especially when, as we learned at Glasgow Airport this Summer, even Calor Gaz bottles can be turned into a bomb) so all any potential bomber would have to do is get themselves inside Israel, and then go shopping. So, it might not be exactly a breeze getting from the West Bank (or Gaza) into Israel, but it's not impossible - plus there are people inside Israel itself who might want to make a bomb: disgrunted Palestinians from the 48 territories, say, or perhaps, even-nuttier-than-usual settlers (especially those evicted from their settlements). So surely, if the Israeli authorities wanted to be as close to 100 per cent certain as possible that their cities were "safe" they would subject everyone entering them to the same sort of "security" measures that they impose on the Palestinians within the West Bank? Or would that inconvenience and humiliate ordinary (Jewish) Israelis???? Some people might accuse me of being ungrateful. After all, it was only last December when the Israeli Government announced (to any international media that would listen) that it was lifting 59 checkpoints throughout the West Bank. Trouble was, though, that it turned out that hardly any of these "checkpoints" actually existed: they'd actually been created solely to be "lifted" in this grand gesture. The Israeli authorities have been talking again about lifting checkpoints as a contribution to the peace process. Sounds good. But, as the brave (Jewish) Israeli journalist Amira Hass pointed out this week in the newspaper Haaretz, these checkpoints are redundant anyway, because the Israeli authorities have drastically reduced the number of roads accessible to Palestinians, and if the Palestinians can't actually travel on a road, what's the point of having a checkpoint on it? http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/901373.html (It's worth visiting that page if only to read the reader responses to Amira's piece. Especially delightful is the contribution from one John Ryan from Paris who urges everyone to email Amira to encourage her to blow herself up.) As for me, well, I will probably spontaneously human combust (without a bomb!) if I don't make it to the second - and final - day of the Oktoberfest tomorrow. Fingers crosed that there's just a handful of teenage conscript (Israeli) soldiers to greet me at Huwarra. Posted by Clare Simon on September 8, 2007 11:50 PM | Permalink *If you long for za'atar, pickled green olives, Nabali olive oil.. * Canaan Fair Trade is a Jenin-based Palestinian firm committed to practicing 'Fair Trade' along its supply chain. Established in 2004, Canaan markets "Products of Palestine" that are produced by the now more than 1,700 small farmers, organized in informal cooperatives and represented in the Palestine Fair Trade Association (PFTA www.palestinefairtrade.org). http://www.canaanfairtrade.com/products -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ldxar1 at tesco.net Fri Oct 5 16:24:31 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Sat, 6 Oct 2007 00:24:31 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] PALESTINE: Protests Sept-Oct 2007 - anti-wall, anti-incursion etc Message-ID: <020f01c807a6$e1cb1ed0$0802a8c0@andy1> * Anti-wall protests in Bilin, Walaja * Protest in Qusin * Army incursion resisted al Al-Aym near Nablus * Anti-wall protest in Walaja * Bilin vows to continue struggle * Qusin protesters oppose roadblocks, march through checkpoint * Tens of thousands rally at Egyptian border demanding reopening - 1 killed * Peace activists arrested for blocking roadblock * Peace activists abducted at mobile checkpoint protest * Human rights activists act on Israeli inaction over settlement * Successful roadblock removal in Sarra * "Victory demonstration" in Bilin * Bilin "a victory for the anarchists" - Haaretz * Jayyus village protest land grab * Palestinians resist incursion in Jenin * Four injured in new (October) protest in Bilin http://www.palsolidarity.org/main/2007/09/30/anti-wall-protests-army-violence-in-bilin-relative-restraint-in-walaja/ Anti-wall Protests: army violence in Bil`in, relative restraint in Walaja September 30th, 2007 | Posted in Reports, Bil'in Village, Video, Bethlehem Region By Ghassan Bannoura/John Smith IMEMC September 28, 2007 www.imemc.org/article/50679 www.imemc.org/article/50677 Video coverage Bil`in at mishtara.org/blog/?p=250 Nine injured in the weekly non violent protest at Bil`in At the weekly non violent protest at the village of Bil`in, located near the central West Bank city of Ramallah, nine civilians were injured due to Israeli army attacks on the protest. Villagers, Internationals and Israelis marched after conducting the Friday prayers in the village towards the wall which Israel is building on the stolen village land. Regardless of the fact that the Israeli high court of Justice, at the beginning of the month, ruled that the section of the wall built in Bil`in is an illegal structure and should be removed. The Israeli army nevertheless attacked the civilian protesters with batons, sound bombs and tear gas injuring nine of them. Among those injured were Mustafa Al Khatib, Abdullah Abu Rahmah and Mohammed Khalil. ============================================================== Peaceful demonstration at al-Walaja village One hundred Palestinian villagers, alongside Israeli and international supporters, on Friday conducted a non-violent protest at the construction site of the illegal Israeli Wall that is destroying the village lands of al-Walaja. At Friday mid-day, the protestors gathered for prayers, shortly after which the demonstrators marched towards the wall`s construction site, holding flags and banners calling for the Wall to be torn down. Israeli soldiers surrounded the demonstration, marching with it, but not intervening in protest`s progress. Protestors remained at the site for one-and-a-half hours, while speeches were delivered by local organizers, shortly after which the demonstration peacefully dispersed. http://www.palsolidarity.org/main/2007/09/19/action-alert-non-violent-demonstration-in-qusin-on-friday-despite-previous-army-repression/ Action Alert! Non-Violent Demonstration in Qusin on Friday despite previous Army repression September 19th, 2007 | Posted in Press Releases, Nablus Region, ISM Media Alerts, Action Alert FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 21, 2007 The villages around Nablus have recently seen a rise in demonstrations against roadblocks. In Sarra, and now in Qusin, people are standing up to the bars and cages the Israeli army has erected around the villages. It has not been easy: people have been arrested, gassed, and shot. Despite this, the villagers of Qusin refuse to give in to this assault on non-violent protest. Villagers from Qusin along with Israeli and international activists will meet at the village mosque, in Qusin, before 12 noon. They will leave after the noon prayer and demonstrate at the site of the roadblock. Also, following a recent victory in their own battle in the Israeli High Court, the Popular Committe Against the Wall in Bil'in and other Palestinian activists from that village will join the Qusin struggle this week. The roadblock in Qusin turns a simple five minute trip to Nablus into nearly an hour's journey. This situation is mirrored in the villages around. Following demonstrations in the nearby village of Sarra the military has invaded, shooting at water tanks and shop fronts, entering houses and harassing the people inside, including stealing their possessions. The Israeli army has also responded to the non-violent demonstrations with extreme levels of violence and repression. Last Saturday, the 15th of September, five Israelis, six internationals, and two Palestinians were taken prisoner after a non-violent demonstration against the roadblock in the village. Five Palestinians and two internationals were injured from the soldier's brutality. One of the internationals had the end of her finger shattered from a rubber bullet. For more information on the Sept. 15 demo., including video see here: www.palsolidarity.org/main/2007/09/15/urgent-media-alert-demonstrators-shot-and-arrested-in-qusin/ Or contact the ISM Media Office at: 02 2971824 or 0599943157 http://www.palsolidarity.org/main/2007/09/15/urgent-media-alert-demonstrators-shot-and-arrested-in-qusin/ Qusin Demo Video and Report September 15th, 2007 | Posted in Press Releases, Reports, Nablus Region, Video Saturday, September 15th, at 12pm, international and Israeli activists joined Palestinian activists and villagers in the village of Qusin to protest the system of control imposed upon them by the Israeli army. The region has seen a rise in demonstrations of this sort recently, with roadblock removal demonstrations happening also in the nearby town of Sarra. There is a road that connects both of these towns, and others, to Nablus, and to the Nablus-Tulkarem road. This road has been deemed usable only by Israelis, it turns what is normally a five minute journey to Nablus into at least one hour. This constitutes daily harassment for people going to work, going to school, or even just visiting family. People gathered together in the village of Qusin and marched towards the roadblock that prevents them from accessing this road, in Qusin it takes the form of a yellow gate chained shut. Villagers with international and Israeli support rallied at the gate, singing, chanting, and opened it for general use. After some celebrations at the newly opened gate this non-violent demonstration decided to return to the village, but soldiers from an army base nearby spotted them and ran down the hill, preventing them from going back peaceably to their homes. Soldiers began to push the people gathered there, threatening them all alike. The press were threatened and assaulted as much as the demonstrators, with one journalist saying the commander told him "stop filming or I will break your camera!". The soldiers did not want any evidence of what was going to happen next. Tear gas and rubber-coated metal bullets began to shoot off into the crowd, the demonstrators scattered, unable to reach their home and faced with extreme army violence. People ran down a hill into a field, trying to find an alternative way of reaching their village. The army stood on the road, firing more tear gas and rubber-coated metal bullets at moving targets below. Some of the soldiers chased people into the fields, and were seen beating Palestinians. They were also caught pointing their guns at people at point-blank range and threatening to fire. One international was shot in the hand at a distance of 10 meters by a rubber-coated steel bullet and required medical attention, with blood shooting from her hand "like a geyser" as one witness reported. Under Israel's own military law, it is illegal to fire rubber coated steel bullets from a distance closer than 40 meters. The soldiers were therefore in direct violation of their own military law when undertaking these actions today. Another international and five Palestinians were also shot but did not need to go to the hospital. While most people had scattered, many international and Israeli observers were on the road asking the military to calm down and use less violence. After it was clear the demonstration was over, these people were all arrested. In the end six Israeli activists, five international activists, and two Palestinians were arrested. The Palestinians were handcuffed and blindfolded and no information about their status has been confirmed. Three of the international activists and one Israeli are being charged with the false allegation of assaulting an officer while being arrested. Although these claims are entirely baseless lies, journalists were kept away from the scene of the arrest to prevent demonstrators from having proof of their innocence and it will be a case of one person's word against the other. ***UPDATE*** As of September 19th, all the demonstrators have been released. Those injured and hospitalized have returned to their homes and are recovering. We are still trying to raise money for the Palestinian demonstrators, 8,000 shekels (around 2,000 dollars) are urgently needed to pay for the bail costs for both men. It is extremely important to support the villagers of Qusin who have only begun to wage nonviolent struggle against an illegal and brutal Israeli occupation. Checks of any amount may be made out to "ISM-USA" and sent to: ISM-USA PO Box 5073 Berkeley, CA 94705 If you wish to make a tax-deductible donation, please make your checks of $50 or more payable to ISM-USA's fiscal sponsor: A.J. Muste Memorial Institute, (with "ISM-USA" on the memo line of the check), and send to the same address above. You may also use your credit or debit card and use our PayPal account through www.palsolidarity.org/main/donations/ Donations sent through PayPal are not tax-deductible. http://www.palsolidarity.org/main/2007/09/21/army-incursion-in-al-ayn-refugee-camp-nablus/ Army Incursion in Al Ayn refugee camp, Nablus. September 21st, 2007 | Posted in Reports, Nablus Region, Video, Photos Tuesday, September 18th:Israeli occupation forces (IOF) assaulted Al Ayn refugee camp in Nablus. The IOF attacked the camp and were met with fierce resistance from inside the camp. One soldier and one resistance fighter was killed. The camp was closed off and a curfew was put in place. A road block of earth was set up to stop people and vehicles from entering the camp. Ambulances gathered on Jamal Abdel Nasser street, the main entrance to the camp. They then dropped tear gas upwind of the ambulances, causing the crews to leave the area or seek shelter in their vehicles. An injured 17 year old was taken to the roadblock and put into an ambulance. The soldiers took the keys out of the ignition, forcing the ambulance to wait until an army medic had declared 'whether he was dead or not'. The family of the gunshot victim were forcibly removed from the ambulance. Nervous soldiers were very aggressive with the press throughout. An ISM Human Rights Worker (HRW) was filming an army jeep when the soldier in the back of the jeep attempted to throw a tear gas grenade at the HRW. He set it off in the back of his own jeep instead. Soldiers piled out of the jeep choking on their own tear gas. It seemed they threw a sound bomb at the HRW and ambulance crews who had witnessed the mistake out of embarrassment. Excessive repression was carried out all day against youths throwing rocks at army jeeps, humvees and bulldozers. HRWs and Palestinian ambulance crews repeatedly tried to enter the camp. Urgently needed water, bread and medical supplies were not allowed in by the army. All negotiations with the IOF failed, both with the soldiers on the ground and the local DCO "humanitarian office". Wednesday, September 19th: The lock down of Al Ayn refugee camp continued. After two nights of curfew and no medical teams entering, ambulance crews were anxious to get in and tend to the wounded. The IOF responded to the requests of the medics by firing rubber coated steel bullets at them. The ambulances were hit repeatedly, and after sustaining damage to windscreens and the vehicle bodies, were made to leave the area. At 10:20am ambulance crews and two ISM HRWs tried to gain access to the medical clinic but were forced back by concussion grenades and rubber coated steel bullets. At mid-day a large, colourful, non-violent protest march approached the camp. There were around 200 Palestinians waving flags and chanting songs. The army fired tear gas at the back of the procession, into a large group of women. They then fired tear gas and rubber bullets into the rest of the protesters. In the ensuing chaos people were hit by grenades and rubber bullets. The army fired indiscriminately into the crowd to create as much pain and havoc as possible. One HRW and an ambulance crew bravely broke the curfew. They ran past soldiers taking desperately needed medical supplies into the camp. They stayed for the rest of the evening giving out food and medicine to the trapped occupants of the camp. At around 6pm one ambulance with medicines supplied by an ISM HRW was allowed into the camp, bringing much needed relief to families trapped in the nightmare of the IOF invasion. During the curfew on this day, a 38 year old handicapped man in a wheelchair was shot while he was looking out his window. The situation continues with ambulance crews and HRWs on stand-by all through the night waiting for the next opportunity to gain access to the terrified inhabitants of the camp. Thursday, September 20th: ISM HRWs came to the camp at 8:30am and saw the UN and the Red Cross among other NGOs on the scene for the first time. A couple of ambulances were allowed into the camp at 9:00am to bring much needed relief and aid to the camp inhabitants. At around 10:30am two people were arrested and taken from the mosque in handcuffs, into an armoured personnel carrier. One medic was arrested from the clinic on Jammal Abdel Nasser street. The IOF entered the clinic and checked everyone's IDs. The medic was released late in the evening after being badly beaten with sticks during his incarceration. A peaceful demonstration was held in solidarity with the besieged camp. After speeches were made in the centre of Nablus the march began at 11:10am. There were colourful banners waved as the city's people showed their support for the inhabitants on the streets for the second day running. As the marcher approached the camp, they were subjected to a hail of sound grenades and tear gas. The tear gas turned the crowd of peaceful demonstrators into a scene of fear and chaos. Along with a Palestinian medical crew three ISM HRWs gained access to the inside of the camp. After sneaking over rough ground, the group stopped when faced with an IOF jeep standing in their way. The group gathered their courage and had the internationals in the front as they walked past the jeep. Around the corner were three or four more IOF vehicles forcing the medics and HRWs to dash down an alley and into the camp. Urgently needed medical supplies were distributed to the grateful residents in their homes. Danger was always wearing a uniform as the medics moved around the camp. HRWs led the way calling out 'volunteer' so any trigger-happy soldiers knew they were a medical crew. A student from Tulkarem had been trapped in the camp since Tuesday morning. One HRW gave her his high-visibility jacket so she could leave with the team and return home. While exiting the camp the medics and activists were attacked by the IOF with sound bombs. All they wanted was to bring more supplies in to the needy people but were threatened with being shot by soldiers. At 5pm a building which housed around fifty children, recently visited by the medics and activists in the camp, was blown up by the IOF. This illegal act of collective punishment was because a cousin of one of the residents was wanted by the Israeli Army. Later in the evening the IOF set off a series of large explosions in the camp. The explosions lasted for around 20 minutes and many homes were destroyed. The city shuddered as the IOF continued its operations in Al Ayn refugee camp. . Friday, September 21st: After a three day siege of Al-Ain Refugee camp, IOF left the camp around 5am this morning. Residents were able to leave their homes for the first time since it began. At least two Palestinians were killed and an unknown number of people are injured. 49 residents of the camp were also arrested. Many homes in the camp showed signs of extensive damage. The IOF blew many doors off their hinges and bullets and tear gas canisters could be found on the ground in many places throughout the camp. At least one house, which had been the residence of fifty children, was completely destroyed by explosives. Several other houses had gaping holes in walls and showed signs of attempted demolition. Today, children sat in the rubble where their house once stood. International activists spoke with several residents of the camp, who described experiences of being without food, water and medicine. One woman spoke of being beaten by IOF soldiers outside of her home. A member of a Palestinian relief organization told activists that three medics had been arrested over the course of the invasion, with one still being held captive. The bodies of the two Palestinians killed during the invasion were carried through the streets by hundreds of mourners who remembered with rage the brutal treatment they have endured by the IOF. *Non-violent protest near Bethlehem* On Friday at midday, the residents of Al Walaja village to the north of the southern West Bank city of Bethlehem, joined by International and Israeli supporters marched against the building of the illegal Israeli wall on village land. http://www.imemc.org/article/50542 http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0924/p06s02-wome.html Nonviolent protest gains in West Bank A Supreme Court decision in favor of one protesting village has inspired others. By Joshua Mitnick | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor from the September 24, 2007 edition Al Walajeh, West Bank - "All those who love the prophet should lend a hand!" Ten shouting Palestinians were pushing against one boulder, but the primitive Israeli roadblock cutting off the tiny Palestinian village from Bethlehem was not budging. Then, with the help of two giant crowbars, an Israel protester, and a Japanese backpacker, the group heaved the stone aside, opening the road for the first time in three years. "Tomorrow they'll bring a bulldozer and move it back," sighed Sheerin Alaraj, a village resident and a demonstration organizer. "Then next week we'll come back again to protest." Inspired by the experience of other Palestinian villages, the Al Walajeh demonstrators are part of a small but growing core of protesters combining civil disobedience with legal petitions to fight Israeli policies. Earlier this month, the village of Bilin, which has held weekly protests since 2004, garnered widespread attention and praise in the Palestinian press when the Israeli Supreme Court ordered a part of the military's separation barrier near Bilin to be dismantled. Increasingly, other Palestinian villages are following Bilin's lead, though it remains to be seen whether this kernel of nonviolence will grow into a full-fledged movement. "Before Bilin, people never had faith it would achieve anything, neither nonviolence, nor the legal system," says Mohammed Dajani, a political science professor at Al Quds University. "Maybe this will be a response to the skeptics, that, 'Look, it works.' " Nonviolence means more attention While Palestinian militants dominate international headlines through suicide bombings and firing rockets on Israeli towns, residents of Bilin and a handful of other tiny farming villages like Al Walajeh have eschewed the armed struggle. Instead, they have linked arms with Israeli peace activists and chained themselves to trees to delay Army bulldozers cutting a swath for an electronic fence severing the villagers from their land. Though Palestinians glorify the armed militiamen and those killed in battle with Israel, protest leaders say the nonlethal tactics have one crucial advantage: it attracts Israeli and international peace activists, who in turn bring sympathetic media coverage. The leaders sound like a Palestinian version of Martin Luther King Jr., and their voices have become more prominent in the ongoing debate about whether peaceful or military actions will win their statehood. "We use nonviolence as a way of life.... We learned from many experiences: like India, Martin Luther [King], and South Africa," says Samer Jabber, who oversees a network of activists in the villages surrounding Bethlehem. Every Friday in Bilin for the past three years the protesters have faced tear gas, rubber bullets, and beatings that have caused hundreds of injuries. Demonstrators sometimes threw rocks, one of which caused a soldier to lose an eye. (While leaders say they're against such violence, followers don't always hold the line.) "The belief in one's rights is more important than anything else. If I am confident about my rights, nothing will make me despair," says Iyad Burnat, a Bilin resident and one of the protest leaders. "When you resist an Israeli soldier by peaceful means, their weapons become irrelevant." The strategy paid off when the Supreme Court ruled that the current path of the fence around Bilin offered no security advantages. Villagers will now be able to reach their crops without having to pass through gates in the fence manned by soldiers. In Al Walajeh, Ms. Alaraj says the protests would be meaningless without a challenge in the Israeli courts. Villagers fear that the construction of the separation wall - set to be more than 400 miles long total, affecting 92 Palestinian communities - will leave the hamlet completely surrounded. Praise from the Palestinian press Even though the Bilin ruling was not the first time the court ordered a portion of the barrier moved, it has resonated widely among Palestinians. "It has become obvious that popular civil resistance has become the best way for national resistance from the occupation," wrote Waleed Salem in an Al Quds newspaper op-ed. The civil disobedience taps into Palestinian nostalgia for the first intifada in the late 1980s, marked by grass-roots participation and stone-throwing.The current uprising is led by a network of underground militias, most of which have ties to political parties. A way to heal Palestinian rifts, too Just three months after Palestinians watched Hamas's violent takeover of the Gaza Strip from the Fatah-run militias, nonviolent protest against Israel is being seen as a way to heal rifts among Palestinians. "Armed struggle has a side effect on the occupied people. Palestinians start to use this tool against the occupation, but in the end they use it against themselves," says Jabber. "Violence has become part of the culture. We realize that we have to reform." In 2002, an open letter by Palestinian intellectuals against the use of suicide bombing failed to trigger a change in the uprising. Now, the demonstrations draw, at best, several hundred protesters - possibly because the protests are taking place in poor and isolated villages.Last Friday, only several dozen came out to move the boulders in Al-Walajeh. Palestinians say that after seven years of daily conflict, people are exhausted. "It's because of frustration," says Alaraj. "There's been real poverty in the last two years. And when you're not eating, then you don't think of anything else." The opening of the road, organizers hope, will encourage more people to join the protests. "If everyone moves forward toward that objective it will be most effective," says Abdel Hajajreh, a demonstrator. "Don't forget, Gandhi liberated an entire country." http://www.palestinechronicle.com/story-092207142352.htm Our West Bank Village Will Continue the Struggle Our achievements are due to our persistence, the worldwide media attention we attracted, and the support we gained from committed Israeli activists. By Mohammed Khatib On September 4, after nearly three years of nonviolent protests by our village of Bil'in, the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that Israel's wall here must be moved further west, returning 250 acres of our farmland. In Bil'in we celebrated, along with our Israeli and international supporters. But Israel's Supreme Court demonstrated both the power of nonviolent resistance to Israeli occupation, and its limits. On September 5 the court rejected our petition to stop the construction of another Israeli settlement, Mattiyahu East, on our land even further to the west. Israel, with US support, appears determined to retain major West Bank settlement blocs, including one west of Bil'in, that carve the West Bank into bantustans. Bil'in is a West Bank agricultural village with 1600 residents located just east of "the Green Line", the pre-1967 border between the West Bank and Israel. In Bil'in, as in tens of Palestinian villages, Israel exploited security justifications to build a wall deep inside the West Bank and seize Palestinian land for illegal settlements. Israel trapped 60% of our land behind the wall, mostly olive groves that we depend on. In December, 2004 when the Israeli army started bulldozing our land and uprooting olive trees to build the wall, we went to our fields to protest. We learned from other West Bank villages that nonviolently resisted the wall, and we studied Gandhi, King and Mandela. We developed creative activities for our weekly protests. One Friday, activists locked themselves inside a cage, representing the wall's impacts. Another time, we built a Palestinian "outpost" on our village's land located behind the wall and next to an Israeli settlement, mimicking the Israeli strategy of establishing outposts to expand settlements. Another Friday we handed the Israeli soldiers a letter saying, "Had you come here as guests, we would show you the trees that our grandfathers planted here, and the vegetables that we grow. There will never be security for any of us until Israelis respect our rights to this land." We hosted two international conferences on nonviolent resistance, and many Israeli and international activists responded to our call to join us in a "joint struggle." Palestinians, Israelis and foreigners suffered patiently together as the soldiers met our nonviolent actions with teargas, rubber-coated steel bullets, and clubs. Over 800 activists were injured in 200 demonstrations. An Israeli attorney and a Bil'in resident both suffered permanent brain damage from rubber-coated steel bullets shot from close range. Another Palestinian lost sight in one eye. 49 Bil'in residents, including some protest leaders, were arrested. Some spent months in prison. Our achievements are due to our persistence, the worldwide media attention we attracted, and the support we gained from committed Israeli activists. We never expected much from the occupier's courts. The Israeli official who planned the wall told the Washington Post last month that he lost only three legal challenges to the wall's path, out of 120 appeals filed, this though the wall isolates 10% of the West Bank and was ruled illegal where it is built inside the West Bank by the International Court of Justice. All Israeli settlements are illegal under international law. Still, Israel's Supreme Court legalized the settlement of Mattiyahu East on our land, even though Mattiyahu East appeared to violate even Israeli law because it lacked an approved building permit. The rush to build followed President Bush's April, 2004 letter to then Israeli Prime Minster Ariel Sharon stating that, "new realities on the ground, including already existing population centers" make it unrealistic to expect Israel to withdraw completely to the Green Line. Israel responded by expanding "existing population centers", building huge apartment complexes, like Mattiyahu East, for hundreds of thousands of people, and calling them neighborhoods in existing settlements. These expanding settlement blocs fall conveniently on Israel's side of the wall. Strategically situated, the settlement blocs divide the West Bank into four isolated regions. Therefore, their annexation to Israel will render any Palestinian state unviable. Yet annexation of the settlement blocs is reportedly central to new Israeli government peace proposals to Palestinian President Abbas. We will continue to challenge these expanding settlements because they threaten the futures of Bil'in and the Palestinian people. And we will put our experience at the service of other communities struggling against the wall and settlements. From Bil'in, we call on Israeli and international activists to join us as we renew our joint struggle for freedom. -Mohammed Khatib is a leading member of Bil'in's Popular Committee Against the Wall and the secretary of Bil'in's Village Council. http://www.palsolidarity.org/main/2007/09/22/five-children-targetted-after-non-violent-demonstration/ Five children targetted after non-violent demonstration September 22nd, 2007 | Posted in Reports, Nablus Region Today, the 21st September, on the outskirts of Nablus at Qusin village, a demonstration against their roadblock took place. The roadblock makes a simple five minute journey to Sarra a minimum one hour ordeal through Beit Eva checkpoint. Similarly the barrier blocks travel from Qusin to Nablus. This forces residents, workers, students through a unnecessarily more arduous journey. Despite last week's violent outcome by part of the IOF where the demonstration ended in mass arrests, approximately 75 local Palestinians joined by a dozen ISM activists marched peacefully through the roadblock. Additionally 5 members of the Bil'in committee joined the demonstration to show their support. Unfortunately a large number of Israeli activists were followed by the IOF, police, and Shabbat; thus preventing them from attending the peaceful demonstration. The march started at 1 pm with the participants waving flags and chanting in good humor. The demonstration crossed the roadblock in the absence of any incident due possibly to the imminent Jewish festivity of Yom Kippur and the gate already having been smashed at last week's demonstration. Once the march reached Sarra, symbolically joining the two villages, the participants headed back towards Qusin. Throughout the march's return an IOF jeep followed the procession attempting to provoke rock-throwing from the large number of youth attending the demonstration. In the proximity of the village the jeep was reinforced by two military vehicles. Their aggressive stance reached the extent of driving at an ISM activist. The IOF then speeded through the village once again attempting to provoke rock-throwing from the children. Nevertheless the children restrained themselves; therefore making the demonstration as a whole truly nonviolent. At the end of the march the mayor of Qusin invited the ISM activists to the municipal hall and truly thanked them for their strong presence throughout the demonstration. The positive outcome of the march has encouraged the villagers of Qusin to pursue a continuous nonviolent campaign to remove the infamous roadblock. Later that day at around 5:30 pm, once the ISM activists had left the village, the IOF invaded the village of Qusin. The IOF went to the municipality and threatened to arrest every man of the village between 18 to 40 years old unless two under 18 youths were handed over. Even after apprehending the two youths, the IOF returned to the village using live ammunition. On this occasion the IOF directly arrested three more youths at around 9:30 pm. Still today 22nd September 2:30 pm they haven't been released or been charged. http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/899609.html Teenager killed in Hamas protest at Rafah crossing By Haaretz Service and News Agencies Hamas gunmen opened fire at pro-Hamas protesters at a rally on the Gaza-Egypt border Saturday, killing a teenager, hospital officials said. Tens of thousands of flag-waving Hamas supporters gathered at the Rafah border crossing with Egypt to demand it be reopened. The border, Gaza's only gateway to Egypt, has been shut since Hamas' bloody takeover of the Gaza Strip in June. Hamas charges that the government of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas does not want the crossing opened because that would help the Islamic group hold on to power in Gaza. Hamas gunmen fired in the air as hundreds of protesters tried to rush the border terminal and attempted to infiltrate into Egypt. Mohammed Qdaih, 17, was hit by a bullet, pronouned brain dead by doctors and died soon thereafter. Advertisement "This is a peaceful protest to voice our message that we are looking for freedom," said Issa Mashar, a top Hamas leader in Rafah. "We came to send a message from the people who are suffering." But when hundreds of Hamas supporters tried to storm the crossing, Hamas militiamen staved them off by firing in the air. Ashraf Abu Daya, one of the rally's organizers, appealed for calm from the crowd. "There is no need to break into the crossing. The crossing is no longer under the occupation. The crossing is under the control of the Hamas Executive Committee," he said. The Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip in June triggered the closure of the border crossing, which had been run by Palestinian security with European supervision and Israeli security in the background. Ihab al-Ghusain, a Hamas security spokesman, said its forces tried to prevent a few of the demonstrators from approaching the border with Egypt. "A child was injured and he is in critical condition. We are investigating the incident to determine where the shot came from," he said. http://www.palsolidarity.org/main/2007/09/01/peace-activists-under-arrest-for-preventing-the-rebuilding-of-military-roadblock-in-palestinian-village/ PEACE ACTIVISTS UNDER ARREST FOR PREVENTING THE REBUILDING OF MILITARY ROADBLOCK IN PALESTINIAN VILLAGE September 1st, 2007 | Posted in Press Releases, Nablus Region, Video PEACE ACTIVISTS UNDER ARREST FOR PREVENTING THE REBUILDING OF MILITARY ROADBLOCK IN PALESTINIAN VILLAGE For Immediate Release Contact Molly, ISM Media 059943157 September 1, 2007 Yesterday in Sarra village near Nablus, four human rights defenders from Germany, the United States, The United Kingdom and Canada were arrested for blocking Israeli military bulldozers from rebuilding a roadblock between the village and the city of Nablus. Israeli activists were also arrested at the same demonstration. The activists spent the night at Ariel police station and are currently awaiting arraignment. Two of the activists, women from the UK and Canada, were forced to spend the night handcuffed and shackled at the ankles in the hallway of the police station. The protest was held after Israeli authorities had broken their promise to remove the roadblock permanently. Israeli soldiers arrived at the village last Saturday, forcing a Palestinian villager to use his tractor to close the roadblock, despite Israeli promises that the roadblock would be permanently opened. When residents removed the roadblock once again, soldiers returned during the night, retaliating against them for having taken non-violent direct action. The soldiers shot out water tanks, roughed up residents and interrogated them. This incident comes only days after Defense Minister Ehud Barak told Haaretz newspaper haaretz.com/hasen/spages/898487.html that he plans to replace roadblocks in the West Bank with mobile checkpoints to ease restrictions on Palestinian daily life. The Sarra roadblock is one of hundreds of barriers that the Israeli authorities have erected to prevent travel between Palestinian communities. According to Btselem, the Israelis have constructed 217 dirt piles at entrances to villages or to block roads, 86 fences along roadways, 12 trenches that prevent vehicles from crossing, 93 locked gates at entrances to villages, with the keys held by the army. These physical barriers accompany the hundreds of permanent and surprise checkpoints which the Israeli army maintains inside the West Bank, limiting freedom of movement for the occupied Palestinian population. According to a May report released by the World Bank, "freedom of movement and access for Palestinians within the West Bank is the exception rather than the norm.the restrictions arising from closure.create such a high level of uncertainty and inefficiency that the normal conduct of business becomes exceedingly difficult and stymies the growth and investment which is necessary to fuel economic revival." Full World Bank report HERE: siteresources.worldbank.org/INTWESTBANKGAZA/Resources/WestBankrestrictions9Mayfinal.pd The village plans to continue to use non-violent means to resolve this issue. ### * Israeli army kidnaps seven Israeli peace activists * as they protested against a flying checkpoint placed at the entry of a Palestinian village in the northern West Bank city of Nablus on Friday afternoon. Palestinian sources reported that the army set a flying checkpoint at one of the entrances to Surra village. The village's main entrance was closed five years ago. This protest was managed by Surra village residents and has ran for two consecutive weeks. http://www.imemc.org/article/50185 http://www.palsolidarity.org/main/2007/09/01/international-human-rights-workers-try-to-enforce-israeli-court-order-when-the-military-will-not/ International Human Rights Workers Try to Enforce Israeli Court Order When the Military Will Not September 1st, 2007 | Posted in Reports, Hebron Region Shortly after 8:00am an international human rights worker (HRW) rode his bicycle past an area where three settlers were working. The area in question was declared a closed military zone by the army on August 18th which forbade all but one settler man, Musi Doyts, from entering, or working on the property. The international took some pictures until another HRW arrived with a video camera and began to film the settlers as they worked. The settlers, Musi Doyts, one Thai worker, and one 16-17 year old boy, were busy erecting a fence on the land, and digging the ground in order to keep the fence level. They also attempted to move large stones that were in the way of the fence off the land, but the internationals intervened by entering the property and sitting on these large stones. The international human rights workers also intervened by sitting on the fence, which was unrolled on the earth, so that the settlers could not erect it. At 8:46am a military jeep of soldiers arrived, and first began to speak with Musi Doyts and were then approached by the internationals who told them that the settlers were not allowed to work on the land as it was declared a closed military zone some time before. The soldiers however did not even leave the jeep, and remained inside until the police arrived some time later. The soldiers told the internationals that they knew nothing of the closed military zone order, instead asking them arbitrary questions like "where are you from," and "why are you here." The internationals then gave up with speaking with the soldiers and resumed filming the settlers who were still working. After twenty more minutes, with the internationals continuing to intervene, an older settler man with a white beard arrived and immediately approached the internationals: yelling at them to leave the land. He attacked one of the internationals, and tried to break the video camera. The soldiers present did nothing during this attack, which lasted about four minutes. Finally the violent settler left because the internationals refused to let him intimidate them and a police jeep finally arrived. The internationals told the police of the military order, but the police said they knew nothing about it and refused to intervene and remove the settlers from the land. A Palestinian man who works with the internationals began to film the encounter as he had documents from B'tselem allowing him to film without police or military harassment. He was able to translate much of what was said by the police, soldiers, and settlers. The police began to take the statement of Musi Doyts who accused the internationals of damaging property, trespassing, and throwing stones. He also accused the Palestinian man of trespassing though he had never entered the land. http://www.palsolidarity.org/main/2007/09/03/succesful-road-block-removal-ends-in-arrests/ Succesful Road Block Removal ends in Arrests September 3rd, 2007 | Posted in Reports, Nablus Region 31.08.2007, Sarra - Nablus Region On Friday, 31.08.2007, International and Israeli Human Rights Activists joined the people of Sarra village in another demonstration against a roadblock that for years has obstructed direct access into Nablus city. For the last five years the people of Sarra have had a trip of five minutes from their town to Nablus turn into circuitous journey taking nearly an hour. The Israeli Occupation Forces have closed their road with the help of one meter squared cement blocks. There have been repeated attempts by the town to get this roadblock removed, as it needlessly damages the lives of the people inside, when they need to go to work, or to school, or to visit family. Though they have tried to work through government channels, speaking to the DCO and lawyers, it has come to no avail. Last week they were told that the army would open the roadblock, what the army did was invade and shoot up their village. Members of the village have become frustrated and impatient waiting for the government to act. Nothing has been done to help their situation and they have been lied to or ignored when they voice their complaint. In the end it has come to this; the people have taken their situation into their own hands, they are waiting for no one. They gathered on friday to demonstrate non-violently against the continued presence of a cage around their town, part of the cage around Nablus. Around 300 people came together at the village mosque after friday prayer and made their way down the road towards the road closure. People's spirits were high while marching down, waving Palestinian flags, chanting, cheering each other on. When they arrived, several soldiers could be seen with sniper rifles hiding behind trees on the hill right behind the roadblock. People were standing around the stone blocks, chanting slogans for some time. As the sprit of the people increased they began to drag barbwire, left on the side of the road by soldiers, across the road which leads to an army watchtower. People found old tires on the side of the road also, dragging them into the middle of the road and setting fire to them. Soon after a couple of army and police vehicles approached. Part of the group then walked towards the jeeps on the military road, attempting to prevent them from reaching the roadblock. They sat down in a row right in front of the vehicles and managed to stop them where they had parked. Some people from the group went to try and talk to the soldiers, negotiating about the presence of the roadblock. Several times the army drove closer towards the people blocking them in and attempting to threaten them. The Israeli military managed to capture and detain two of the Israeli activists, for being in a closed military zone, taking them away in a jeep. The people who had stayed around the roadblock then started to move the stones off the road with the help of ropes. Soldiers increased their harrassment of the village, throwing several sound bombs and tear gas canisters into the crowd. Nonetheless, after dispersing for a moment, the people regathered, and continued to move all of the concrete road blocks out of the way. People were cheering and continued chanting slogans, no more violence was at this point used by the army. The activists who had blocked the army vehicles then started retreating towards the other group around the roadblock. Some more discussions between the villagers and the DCO followed, another promise to look into the matter of the roadblock followed, which proved to be an empty promise once again. The villagers and activists retreated back into the village, the internationals gathered in a house right next to where the roadblock was placed. All the people seemed to be very satisfied about the course of action that day. Approximately two hours later however, the Israeli army came back with a bulldozer to re-close the just opened road. As the internationals saw them arriving, they rushed to the place and sat down on the cement blocks on the side of the road to prevent the army from moving it back in place. They were able to stop them for some time, and soldiers approached them and tried to make them leave the area. The internationals however refused, insisting on defending their just accomplished success. Unfortunately they were only five, as Palestinian and Israeli activists had already left the area. Like this they could not resist being taken away and arrested by the soldiers. The army with its bulldozer closed the road again, putting the stones in place and after tore up the village's land nearby, covering the cement blocks with a mound of dirt. The street is closed once again, but the people of Sarra don't talk of giving up. The two Israeli activists captured by the Israeli army were held until 10 pm, until they signed conditions stating they would not enter Sumeria for 15 days. The international human rights workers arrested that day stayed in jail two more days. The men were given dingy cells and denied food beyond a few pieces of fruit the first night, the women were chained to a bench in a room with a television blaring all night. The women were not given blankets, and were ignored or mocked by the policemen on duty. They were forced to use the toilet chained to each other, and watch movies which bordered on pornography, while the policemen laughed at them. One was released the next day after nearly 24 hours in detention, the further three were dragged into court to be charged. The first activist released was made to sign a condition forbidding her from entering Sumeria for 15 days. The police wanted to ban the others from the West Bank for 30 days. The judge however simply asked them where they had friends in the West Bank; they replied Bethlehem, Ramallah, and Nablus. The judge then banned them from entering those cities for 30 days, fining them a total of 7,500 NIS each if they break their conditions. The other three activists could not readily find identification and so were thrown back in jail another night. The next day they returned to court, at which point their passports arrived in Tel Aviv and conditions of their release were confirmed. All activists detained that day have all now been released, they would like to say a big thank you to everyone that supported them during their ordeal and assisted in obtaning their release. For additional information relating to Sarra including video footage of the documented events please click onto Nablus Region Reports for a full outline of history and footage. http://zope.gush-shalom.org/home/en/events/1189205371 Saturday 08/09/07 VICTORY CELEBRATION IN BIL'IN photo gallery "A demonstration without tear gas and stun grenades is no demonstration," joked one of the demonstrators. And indeed, for a long time Bil'in has not seen such a relaxed demonstration. The Border-policemen stood at readiness along the fence. Their commander stood on the roof of an armored jeep, arms folded on his chest, not moving for more than two hours - at one meter's distance from the demonstrators, who were waving Palestinian flags in his face. The demonstration had a double purpose. First of all, it was a victory celebration. The veteran demonstrators felt that their 135 consecutive demonstrations in the village have achieved their purpose and had an impact on the decision of the Supreme Court to move the "separation fence" to the west, returning to the village a part of its stolen land. But the demonstration was also designed to express the resolute determination to continue the struggle until the fence will be removed altogether or moved to the Green Line. About 250 Israeli demonstrators from all over the country came to celebrate the victory together with the villagers and international solidarity activists. After the Friday prayers, the demonstration started on its way towards the fence, in the blazing sun, headed by a car carrying ear-splitting loudspeakers playing merry tunes and struggle songs. A sea of Palestinian flags were waving over the heads of the marchers, and among them could be seen the two-flag emblem of Gush Shalom. Among the marchers were the Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayad and several of his ministers. When the procession reached the fence, its way was barred by a large unit of the Border Police, which was waiting behind razor wire barricades. Apparently, the policemen had received strict orders to abstain this time from violence and stood by passively while some demonstrators waved flags a few centimeters in front of them. Only once violence threatened to break out, when a boy threw a stone at the policemen. The local leaders stopped him before the police could respond with fire. The demonstrators greeted each other with "mabruk" ("blessed"), the traditional Arab greeting on joyful occasions. In front of the stone-faced policemen, they started to dance happily, carrying the leaders of the struggle on their shoulders. Many of the villagers were accompanied by their wives and festively dressed children, who waved their flags with much enthusiasm. Many smiles and embraces were exchanged between the Israelis and Palestinians, comrades in the struggle. http://zope.gush-shalom.org/home/en/channels/video/1189589929 VIDEO OF THIS EVENT http://www.palsolidarity.org/main/2007/09/07/tear-gas-and-sound-grenades-replaced-with-music-and-dancing-bilin-celebrates/ Tear Gas and Sound Grenades replaced with Music and Dancing: Bilin Celebrates. September 7th, 2007 | Posted in Press Releases, Reports, Bil'in Village To view the CNN report on the BIl'in victory celebration see: www.americanhummus.com On Friday, September 7th, the villagers of Bil'in were joined by international and Israeli comrades. Normally they come together every Friday to express their outrage of the unacceptable Apartheid Wall. Normally the day is filled with military violence, tear gas, sound bombs, and billy clubs are common. Once the military begins to fire gas into the crowds, the non-violent protesters tend to back off eventually leaving only the Palestinian children throwing rocks in anger. A mild response in comparison to the rubber coated steel bullets used against them. This day was different, one can say it was not a demonstration, but a celebration. There was still a reason to demonstrate, the Israeli Occupation Forces were still standing en masse behind the gate, guns ready and cameras recording. The wall was still there and though due to be moved, it will still be re-located onto Palestinian land, blocking the area to the illegal Matityahu East settlement, also on Palestinian land. There is also the knowledge that though this is a clear victory, it is also a rare victory. Around 120 cases have been brought to court about the Apartheid Wall and the its devastating effects on Palestinian land, water, economy, and culture, but only four have not been rejected. But this was a victory, and a day to be victorious. Of the now four cases of success in Israeli courts, three of them have been fought with joint non-violent struggle. Activists, demonstrators and participants gathered at the International House in Bilin where baklava, a traditional Palestinian sweet, was served to the guests passing through. At the entrance was an arrangement created out of tear gas canisters collected over the many demonstrations laid out to acknowledge the brutality that has been faced by the village and the demonstrators over the three years it has been going on. The villagers and their supporters marched towards the wall today, committed to non-violence, stopping people before the gate and telling them not to speak, provoke, or argue with the soldiers. This was not a day to run from tear gas, but to speak, listen, and dance freely. During the celebrations speeches were given, songs sung and music and dancing ensued. In the midst of this, the appointed Palestinian Prime Minister, Salam Fayyad made an appearance, undertaking a speech and further walking up to the gate where Israelis held their position on the other side. The celebration lasted around two hours, at the end of which a couple of children threw a few stones. The organizers, keen to ensure the demonstration would not escalate into aggression and violence, quickly called off the celebrations and told everyone to return to the village. They stopped the children they could while the army gathered to pass through the gate once more into the village land. Only a few stones were thrown and the villagers put a stop to it as quickly as they could. Celebrations continued back at the village. http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/901786.html A victory for the anarchists By Meron Rapoport "I remember the moment I marched among a crowd of Palestinians," said one of the Israeli activists who participated in the ongoing demonstrations near the village of Bil'in, this week. Those demonstrations led to a High Court decision a few days ago ordering the rerouting of the separation fence near the village. "I served in the army, and my first instinct was to look for the signal operator and to check if we were marching properly spaced. The Palestinians shouted 'Allahu Akbar,' which is supposed to be the nightmare of every Israeli soldier, but I suddenly realized that I was with them, that they weren't my enemies." One must understand. Anyone who went to demonstrate in Bil'in knew that he stood more than a small chance of getting hurt somehow by "his" army: by clubs, tear gas, rubber bullets. Undoubtedly, there were a few who sought out this violence, but it also befell those who did not seek it out. It was part of the deal. The violence that the soldiers and Border Police officers employed against the Israeli demonstrators on an average Friday in Bil'in surpassed that used against the settlers during the entire evacuation of Gush Katif. Nevertheless, a few hundred Israelis made this trip every Friday, without fail, for the last two and a half years. Not all of them at once. Sometimes five, sometimes 50, sometimes 100. But they came. Most of these people were young, sometimes very young, and they gathered under the rubric of "Anarchists Against the Fence." The Zionist left had no presence there. Not Peace Now and not Meretz (some Meretz MKs sometimes assisted the arrestees, but no more than that) - and certainly not Labor. Older organizations from the non-Zionist left were supportive, and provided logistical assistance, but the initiative still came from the anarchists. They led the struggle. Without question, it was a rather small group. Not everyone, even the most devout leftist and vigorous opponent of the occupation, is prepared to come and take a beating, to run up and down hills, to breathe tear gas, to be arrested. But it wasn't an insignificant number either, this group of people prepared to come to blows with the establishment. In Bil'in their goal was simple and tangible: to restore the lands to the Palestinians. It will be interesting to see what their next goal is. http://www.palsolidarity.org/main/2007/09/10/jayyus-village-demonstrate-against-theft-of-land-life-and-culture/ Jayyus Village Demonstrate Against Theft of Land, Life, and Culture September 10th, 2007 | Posted in Reports, Qalqilya Region Jayyus, September 8th On Saturday, the 8th of September, 50 villagers from Jayyus and the surrounding area met together with an equal number of Israeli and international activists to demonstrate non-violently against the Apartheid Wall. They gathered at one of the gates in the wall which local farmers have to go through to reach their land. Only those farmers lucky enough to have permits are allowed to reach their land, and as demonstrators learned later from the speeches given, often times the permits are issued for members of family who are not able to work, or are not in the country, or are dead, or are under the age of 15, or older than 50. In a village of around 4,000 people, 85% of which depend on their farmland for survival, only 90 are today able to access their land with permits. When permits are given, farmers are allowed to enter one of three gates to access their land. The gate that a farmer is allowed to enter from is usually the gate farthest from his land, making his work more arduous and time consuming. Gates are officially open only for one hour in the morning and one hour in the evening, sometimes an hour around midday. However, in practice this depends more on the whim of the soldiers, who can open the gates only for fifteen minutes if they wish, and turn all others away for being late. Villagers spoke about the lack of available water resources to the land on the other side of the wall. One farmer said the people of the village are able to take tanks for water to a reservoir, which is situated on his land, however they are unable to bring those tanks back to their houses. Attempts to bring water tanks back to the village have been halted by the army and the locals now see it as a waste of time and resources to attempt to collect water in this way. Additionally he stated that there was a court decision to allow pipes to be built connecting the reservoir on this farmer's land, to the reservoir in Jayyus. However despite this order being given in 2003, the army has failed, to this very day, to give the needed permits to actually build the pipes, thus leaving the reservoir on this farmer's land inaccessible. The villagers are tired of waiting for the army to carry through the decisions of the court, they are tired of waiting while more and more of them are unable to reach their land, unable to continue the work of their fathers, and their father's fathers. They came together to demonstrate, non-violently, that they would not be quiet while the Israeli military forced them into starvation as a tactic to encourage emigration and further establish the myth of Israel stealing a land without a people. Though the villagers were angry, and justly so, the demonstration ended without violence. Though the army stood at the gate to the land of Jayyus village with guns ready, the farmers did not respond to their provocation. People went back to the village, without arrests, without injuries, with the knowledge that they would return. http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=25620 Invading Israeli forces clash with Palestinian activists near Jenin Date: 30 / 09 / 2007 Time: 12:12 Jenin - Ma'an - More than twenty Israeli military vehicles on Sunday invaded the town of Kafr Dan, west of the northern West Bank city of Jenin, and stormed several homes allegedly in search of 'wanted' Palestinians. Palestinian activists attempted to block the invading forces. Local resident Nadir Salah told Ma'an's reporter that the Israeli troops ordered Palestinians, through loudspeakers, to evacuate their homes and gather in the streets. The soldiers separated men from women and interrogated the men about the location of so-called 'wanted' Palestinians. Eyewitnesses reported that the Israeli troops besieged the home of Islamic Jihad activist twenty-two-year-old Ala' Mas'ud and seized him. Confrontations erupted between Palestinian youths and the invading soldiers. Palestinians pelted Israeli troops with stones and the soldiers retaliated with sonic bombs, tear gas and rubber bullets. One Palestinian youth was reported to have choked on the tear gas. A spokesperson of Fatah's Al-Aqsa Brigades announced that its fighters clashed with the Israeli forces. No casualties were reported. http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=25706 Four injured at demonstration against Israeli separation barrier in Bil'in Date: 05 / 10 / 2007 Time: 15:57 Ramallah - Ma'an - Four people were injured during a demonstration in the West Bank village of Bil'in, near Ramallah on Friday. After the noon prayer, a large group of Palestinian, Israeli and international protesters marched to the Israeli separation barrier. Isareli forces prevented them from reaching the barrier, deploying tear gas. In early September the Israeli Supreme Court ruled against the route of the barrier, which currently separates Bil'in residents from their farmland. Weekly demonstrations have continued in the village, demanding a swift and complete implementation of the decision. Demonstrators have taken to the streets in Bil'in every Friday for over two years. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ldxar1 at tesco.net Sat Oct 6 18:01:32 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Sun, 7 Oct 2007 02:01:32 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] IRAQ: US patronage and ethno-religious conflict, Sept-Oct 2007 Message-ID: <258d01c8087d$99e53a10$0802a8c0@andy1> * Signing up former insurgent Sunnis to US-led forces * Kurdish troops used in Baquba * Summary execution as US allies with tribal leaders http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/03/AR2007090301470.html Signing Up Sunnis With 'Insurgent' on Their R?sum?s By Joshua Partlow Washington Post Foreign Service Tuesday, September 4, 2007; A11 NASR WA SALAM, Iraq -- Naiem al-Qaisi was imprisoned for four months, beaten, shocked with electric probes and, he said, forced to witness fellow Sunni male prisoners being raped by Shiite soldiers of the Iraqi army. Now he wants to be a policeman. The American military recruited Qaisi and thousands like him to fight the Sunni insurgent group al-Qaeda in Iraq, but Qaisi's most feared enemies are soldiers in the Iraqi army's Muthanna Brigade, and his allegiance does not lie with the government he is now being trained to serve. "We don't trust this government. This government belongs to Iran," said the 29-year-old former security guard for a soft-drink company. "The Iraqi government knows we are innocent guys, but they want to kill us." In the villages around the Abu Ghraib district on the western outskirts of Baghdad, American commanders have achieved their goal of enlisting more than 1,000 of these local Sunni recruits into the Iraqi security forces. For the past few months, the recruits have operated checkpoints, pointed out al-Qaeda in Iraq fighters and located caches of weapons. On Aug. 20, several hundred of the Sunnis -- given the name "Volunteers" by the Americans -- lingered in a parking lot guarded by U.S. tanks, waiting for Chinook helicopters to fly them to eastern Baghdad for their month-long training course to become policemen. One of their leaders, a bearded, beige-robed fighter who goes by the nickname Abu Zaqaria, looked out over the crowd of young men, some with machine guns, and estimated that 50 percent of them used to be insurgents who battled the Americans. "We started feeling there was another occupation of Iraq, and it was coming from Iran, not from the U.S.," he said. "That led us to the situation we're in now, where we decided to negotiate with a strong force like the Americans." The American soldiers who have coordinated this effort -- members of the 1st Cavalry Division's 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment -- do not ignore the pedigree of their new allies. "Some of my soldiers want to line them all up and shoot them. But that ain't how we are," said Sgt. 1st Class Anthony Pluhar, 37, a 19-year Army veteran from Miles City, Mont. "Because we also see, back then we had [roadside bombs] left and right, small-arms fire, grenades being thrown at us when we were in the villages and towns. But now, hardly anything." Most of the soldiers focus on these tangible benefits: Since the unit deployed in November, violent attacks in their area have dropped by two-thirds -- from about 80 a month to about 25 a month -- before rising recently as the unit pushed into new territory in the western desert. They have captured more suspected insurgents, found more weapons caches and are inundated with intelligence provided by the Volunteers. "You all ready to get trained?" Lt. Col. Kurt Pinkerton, the battalion commander, asked a bleary-eyed classroom full of Volunteers on their first day of training at the police academy. "It's time to change, and start treating everybody with dignity and respect, and you're going to start right now." "Inshallah," the men said in near-unison. "God willing." The Volunteers have already been accused of being overzealous. In early August, a group of them acting on a faulty tip broke into the home of a leading Shiite tribal leader. "They came, they broke our doors, beat our women and beat even a crippled guy who lost his leg. They beat them over the heads," Muhsin Ali al-Tamimi told a recent meeting of tribal leaders. "We have lost four cars and weapons and money and none of that has been returned to us." Pinkerton said Tamimi has since vowed to cooperate with the Volunteers, and the group's leaders have disciplined those responsible for the raid. In all, Pinkerton marshaled 2,400 men willing to become policemen, but the Interior Ministry agreed to accept 1,700 of them, at a salary of $600 a month. When it came time to enroll, Pinkerton realized that 23 percent of the names he had submitted had been changed by the Iraqi government -- raising his suspicion that officials want to disrupt his efforts. "Who are they?" he wondered. "And where'd they come from?" Pinkerton acknowledged that real animosity lingers between the Volunteers and the Muthanna Brigade, which patrols Abu Ghraib. More than 1,000 citizens nearly rioted against the Muthanna Brigade in April when it came to arrest members of the Volunteers. The U.S. military intervened -- Pinkerton called in a British Tornado fighter jet to disperse the crowd -- and freed the detainees. "If the American Army wants this area to be safe, they have to abolish the Muthanna Brigade," Qaisi said. Iraqi army officers say they will arrest unofficial bands of gunmen on the street regardless of who they are or whether they are partners with the Americans. "There is some sensitivity within the army about this subject," said Brig. Gen. Falah Hassan, a brigade commander in western Baghdad. "There are no orders to cooperate with the Volunteers. Some of them have hurt the army or the people." Senior American military commanders often say they do not arm these groups. But two soldiers in Pinkerton's battalion said that when they find weapons caches, they often let the Volunteers keep AK-47 rifles and ammunition. "We do that as a means to benefit them and to curry favor," one soldier said, on condition of anonymity. The soldier agreed that security had improved greatly in the area since the Volunteers began cooperating, but asked what would follow the defeat or ouster of al-Qaeda in Iraq: "I think there is some risk of them being Volunteers by day and terrorists by night." http://news.monstersandcritics.com/middleeast/news/article_1357913.php/Kurdish_Peshmerga_forces_deployed_in_Baquba__Extra_ Middle East News Kurdish Peshmerga forces deployed in Baquba (Extra) Sep 20, 2007, 11:06 GMT Baghdad - An Iraqi security source said Thursday that Kurdish Peshmerga forces had been deployed in Gulaa area in Baquba to chase armed groups and restore security in the city. The deployment of the forces followed coordination with the US forces to maintain security in Gulaa area, which is near the Kurdish autonomous region, the source added. On June 19, joint Iraq-US forces had launched in Diyala province a security operation targeting al-Qaeda militants in Iraq. Baquba, the capital of Diyala province, is 60 kilometres north-east the Iraqi capital Baghdad. http://ca.today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=oddlyEnoughNews&storyID=2007-09-04T104143Z_01_L03769714_RTRIDST_0_LIFESTYLE-IRAQ-JUSTICE-COL.XML Harsh justice where U.S. relies on Iraq tribes Tue Sep 4, 2007 6:41 AM EDT Printer Friendly (Page 1 of 3) By Peter Graff AL QAIM, Iraq (Reuters) - Seated between his police chief and a U.S. Marine battalion commander, the Iraqi mayor opened his weekly security meeting by explaining how he had authorized one of the local tribes to carry out a summary execution. The police had caught two men who had killed another policeman. "As you all know, the Iraqi court system is still weak," said Mayor Farhan Ftehkhan, while an interpreter translated for the benefit of the Americans. "Yesterday I met the sheikhs, and they decided to kill them as soon as possible. So the tribes took their decision and they killed those criminals." The sheikhs carried out their summary execution in the district of al Qaim in Iraq's vast western desert province of Anbar, where Sunni Arab tribes once hostile to U.S. forces have now joined the Americans to drive out al Qaeda militants. The area, once one of the most dangerous in Iraq, is now one of the quietest. Rows of houses reduced to rubble by heavy fighting are being rebuilt. The U.S. commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, is expected to cite the changes in Anbar when he testifies to Congress on September 10 about the impact of U.S. President George W. Bush's decision to send more troops to Baghdad and Anbar. Bush himself made a surprise visit to the province on Monday, showcasing what he said was one of the main success stories of his military strategy. But the summary execution is a sign of the compromises that U.S. forces still have to make. "We are working hard to get the rule of law stood up here," said the Marine battalion commander, Lieutenant-Colonel Jason Bohm, speaking after the security meeting at a border outpost overlooking the Euphrates river as it pours in from Syria. "We still have a way to go." NEW COURTHOUSE Across the street from Mayor Ftehkhan's office is a courthouse, newly reconstructed with American aid, gleaming with fresh yellow paint. The Americans have helped train judges. They recruited and trained bodyguards to protect them. They have put in place a brand new team of investigative policemen. But the new court is authorized to hear criminal cases only if the maximum sentence is five years or less. Murder cases must be tried in the provincial capital Ramadi, where the court is not yet fully functioning, Bohm said. According to Bohm, the two killers had lured a policeman to a meeting after they learned he was engaged to marry one of their relatives, and bludgeoned him to death. The victim and the killers were from the same tribe. The tribe's elders feared that if they waited for Iraqi justice to reach its verdict, there would be tit-for-tat revenge killings and many more tribesmen would die. The mayor and police agreed to turn the suspects over. The elders had them shot. The execution of the two suspects without a proper trial would clearly be a crime, Iraqi legal experts said. Iraq does have capital punishment for murder, but executions may only be carried out legally by the Maximum Crimes Office in Baghdad after a proper trial, said criminal law expert Ahmed Abid in Baghdad. "We live in a country with courts, and the actions of this mayor and the sheikhs send the wrong message to the world," he said. U.S. forces said they learned about the summary execution only after it had taken place. Bohm said they did what they could to make clear that they did not approve. "I met with the mayor. I met with the judges. I met with the Iraqi police. I told them we did not condone this," he said. "In their mind they had done nothing wrong. That's the way it was done for centuries." The sheikhs made no effort to deny they had carried out the summary execution. In fact, they provided Bohm with meticulous documentation of their "verdict," bearing their signatures and stamps, as well as a video showing the killers' confessions. In an interview later in his office, Mayor Ftehkhan acknowledged the execution might cause difficulty for his American guests but said he had no choice but to ensure the men were executed before a vendetta could erupt. "Yes, it is embarrassing for the Americans. But if we did not resolve this issue this way, there would be more bloodshed in the town," he said. (Additional reporting by Ahmed Rasheed in Baghdad) -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... 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Name: clip_image002.gif Type: image/gif Size: 43 bytes Desc: not available URL: From ldxar1 at tesco.net Sat Oct 6 18:02:44 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Sun, 7 Oct 2007 02:02:44 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] IRAQ: Repression and human rights, Sept-Oct 07 Message-ID: <259901c8087d$c5171e60$0802a8c0@andy1> * Sectarian roadblocks: wrong ID, wrong turn can mean death * Wounded Iraqis allege massacre by mercenaries * Blood for oil: helicopters will shoot to kill near pipelines * Millenarians sentenced to death, long jail terms in vicious crackdown * Soldiers caught breaking rules in ACLU inquiry * Sunni patients fear hospitals, death squads * Iraqis held for long periods without charge * Jim Crow reaches Iraq: Iraqis at US bases must use segregated toilets * Fallujah abuses, killings, totalitarian regime provoke anger * Civilians killed in US air strike near Barquba * Basra Islamists wage terror campaign against women Note regarding millenarian movement: this mass sentencing is vindictive and probably based on simple affiliation in most cases. It's pretty absurd that a millenarian movement is being charged as "terrorism" - still more so the violation of international standards by passing death sentences. Millenarian movements arise periodically in history wherever people are in conditions of desperation; their membership is typically driven by an urge for change. In this case the targets were all military. http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,2166597,00.html A wrong ID, a wrong turn can mean death Ghaith Abdul-Ahad Tuesday September 11, 2007 The Guardian At a checkpoint leading on to the airport highway in west Baghdad yesterday, a policeman blocked the traffic. Dressed in a blue checked-uniform, Kevlar helmet, a Kalashnikov slung on his shoulder and a whistle in his hand, the last button of his uniform was missing, exposing a hairy stomach that hung over his military belt. The sun was setting quickly and the policeman shouted, blew his whistle and pointed his gun at a queue of impatient drivers ordering them to stay in line. Something was happening but none of the drivers of the dozens of cars waiting in the early evening heat knew what it was. About 30 gunmen milled around the checkpoint. Two young men in Iraqi army uniforms sat on the front of an armoured personnel carrier. Three men, wearing blue shirts and dark blue trousers stood next to a green SUV. A further dozen gunmen wearing camouflage uniforms, red berets and carrying the insignia on their shoulders of the Ministry of Interior commandos stood in the shade of concrete blast walls that make the checkpoints. The commandos are accused of being nothing but a Shia death squad, so when one of them, wearing weight-lifting wristbands, passed between cars looking at faces the drivers' heads sunk into their chests and they looked away. One driver suggested that others join him in driving on a parallel road that passed through west Baghdad neighbourhoods, assuring others that the area had become safe. "Ami [my uncle] do you want to kill us," one driver said, raising his two hands. "The roads are filled with fake checkpoints killing people on the haweya [ID card]." "And what do you know about this checkpoint," answered the man and nodded towards the gunmen. "Look at them, they are militiamen." In that exchange lies the lottery of life in Iraq today. A wrong turn, a wrong checkpoint, a wrong ID card can sometimes be the difference between life and death. Baghdad was never a beautiful city but as cars whizz through its emptying streets negotiating their way around concrete blocks and checkpoints, the city looks more than ever like a battle zone. But despite those indicators of a city at war, the question many Iraqis have been asking is whether the surge of troops brought in to protect them has made any difference to their lives. With that in mind the Guardian has spent the past two days travelling the city, gauging that mood. In the Yarmouk district, like many areas, wrecks of trucks and cars mingle with collapsed metal and sand barriers by the sides of roads. Some people have improvised their own security plan by placing tree trunks in front of shops to stop suicide bombers parking their cars there. "Of course, there has been progress," said Ahmad, a taxi driver from Qadissya in west Baghdad. "They [the Americans] are painting murals on the blast walls now." Concrete walls and checkpoints have divided Baghdad into isolated neighbourhoods ostensibly to prevent militia attacks. On the surface they appear to have brought some stability and better security. But in many neighbourhoods it has come only through a process of sectarian cleansing - Shia driving out Sunni and Sunni driving out Shia. In Dora, in the south of Baghdad, Sunni extremists have fought street battles against Shia militias and have now cleansed the area of its Shia residents. The American security plan has divided the northern part of the district into fenced neighbourhoods with checkpoints at all the entrances. "Bodies piled in the street outside my house every morning," said one resident, a shopkeeper, remembering the fighting. "We live in an isolated area, but at least we have peace ... we don't leave our area because once we are on the highway, we have to pass though the commandos' checkpoints and we will be killed." Another resident, a father-of-three, who lives in the south section of the divided Dora, in the Mechanik district, says gunmen still roam the streets freely. "I see them in the streets all the time; the American and the Iraqi army don't dare to come into our areas, the gunmen only hide when they see US planes ... they drive in cars with no windows so they can attack easily. "Most of them are fighters from other areas who have settled here. I just saw two gunmen kidnap a man this morning from the highway; it's my morning routine. I have to leave this area, I have to leave but where do I go." Another area mentioned as an example of progress is Ameriya, a once secular neighbourhood in west Baghdad that had become a base for Sunni al-Qaida insurgents. Laith, in his mid-20s, his three brothers and two uncles are working with Ameriya Revolutionaries, a local militia that is cooperating with US forces to drive al-Qaida gunmen out. "We can walk in the streets now, we have shops reopening," he said. "All the al-Qaida fighters have fled into neighbouring Khadra'a area." But just like Dora the sense of security is accompanied by a ghetto arrangement. "When we wanted to bring trucks to clean the area, we had to bring them from Ramadi (100km away). Do you think we can bring trucks from Shu'ala [a neighboring Shia area] of course not, they are Mahdi army." The frontlines between Jihad, once a Sunni area and now totally Shia, and Ameriya are sealed with blast-walls but mortars are still falling. "When I leave my area, I have another ID card," say Laith. "Do I dare to come with my own? No." He pauses for a second and then says: "But as long as I can stand in front of my house, that's fine for me." Mahmoud, who lives in Karrada, now a Shia neighbourhood, says: "The kidnapping is less these days, but the sectarianism is all the same. We are strangers in our own city. Baghdad has been divided; I can't cross to the west, and I can't cross the canal into Sadr City to the east, this bit of Baghdad is my city now." At the checkpoint on the airport highway the portly policeman was still holding up traffic. Ahmad chatted with another driver. "It's too late now; where do we get petrol from now?" "For now?" asked the other driver as he leaned on his old, red Toyota. "No, for tomorrow," said Ahmad. "Let's live till tomorrow," said the driver, "and then worry about petrol." ? Ghaith Abdul-Ahad won the James Cameron award for foreign reporting earlier this year for his coverage of Iraq http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/09/19/iraq.fateful.day/index.html?section=cnn_topstories Wounded Iraqis: 'No one did anything' to provoke Blackwater * Blackwater guards shot people in the back, Iraqi lawyer says * Everyone, whether on foot or in a vehicle, was a target, laborer says * Street strewn with bodies, including children and elderly, man says * "It was every man for himself," wounded man says BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- It was last Sunday in western Baghdad. Helicopters circled overhead while armed guards, privately hired by the U.S. government, were conducting an ordinary mission to protect U.S. State Department employees. But within minutes there was an explosion, a hail of gunfire, and bodies in the streets. The Iraqi Interior Ministry says at least 10 Iraqis were killed and 10 wounded. Another government spokesman, Ali al-Dabbagh, told CNN that at least 20 people died, with 35 wounded. So what happened on that day on a square in the Mansour district of Baghdad? It depends on whom you ask. Blackwater USA, the private security firm at the center of the controversy, says its employees simply defended themselves against armed attackers. Two men hospitalized with gunshot wounds disagree. They say the guards fired on people for no reason. Hasan Jaber Salman lies in Yarmouk Hospital, bandages covering gunshot wounds in his back. Salman says he is a lawyer who was headed from a courthouse to the Ministry of Justice when he found his route blocked by four armored Blackwater SUVs. The roadblock soon caused a traffic snarl, so armed Blackwater guards began waving at the drivers, telling them to turn around and leave the area. "So we turned back, and as we turned back they opened fire at all cars from behind," Salman said. "All my injuries, the bullets are in my back. "Within two minutes the security force arrived in planes -- part of the security company Blackwater. They started firing randomly at all citizens." Blackwater, in a statement issued after the incident, denied that gunfire came from aircraft. "The helicopters providing aerial support never fired weapons," it said. The firm also said its employees "acted lawfully and appropriately in response to a hostile attack." But Salman claims the attack was unprovoked. "No one fired at them, they were not attacked by gunmen, they were not targeted by an explosion," he said. VideoWatch the survivors describe what happened > The firing continued until Salman's car crashed into a police checkpoint and flipped over, he said, adding that eight bullets struck his car and four struck him. "My left shoulder is broken ... and my arm is broken. I had a surgery. ... They opened up my stomach," he said. "I swear to God no one did anything to them at all." The lawyer said he intends to sue Blackwater, which he already did in 2005 after his son was involved in a similar incident outside al-Muthana Air Base near Baghdad's international airport. That lawsuit has not yet been resolved, he said. Laborer Abul-Raheem Amir said he was on his way to a job when the minibus he was in got caught in a traffic jam caused by an explosion. "A security company called Blackwater, they got out and kept on firing randomly at people, starting with the people walking or working the street -- even the traffic policeman, even the people who work in the area," Amir said. "People at first thought we were safe in the minibus, but when they realized they were not, they started getting out and went to other places to save themselves," he recounted. "Unfortunately that did not work. As they got out, people were shot and killed." He said he tried to make a run for it after the driver and two women next to him on the minibus were shot. "I ran about 50 meters [about 55 yards] and then was shot, the first bullet. Still I kept running, but the second bullet dropped me to the ground. ... It broke my bones, and the third one made me start crawling." Some people helped get him off the street and away from the carnage. The shooting lasted for about a half-hour, and there were some 30 bodies in the street, he said. "I remember people strewn on the streets, children, elderly, young men, elderly women. ... The street turned into the street of the dead, a graveyard," he said. "There was nothing I could do. Every man was for himself." Amir wonders what the Blackwater employees were thinking. "Is this some kind of a show of force for them to flex their muscles?" he said. "Are they doing this to us, the victims, so they can advertise and promote their abilities through the Western media? ... Is their mission to protect one person by killing 10 unarmed people? And if they are protecting two people, then they shoot 100 unarmed people. ... Is this Vietnam? ... "Enough, enough," he said. "Enough of all that's happening. God's fury is coming. Enough of this. Enough." http://www.upi.com/International_Security/Energy/Briefing/2007/09/18/choppers_shoot_to_protect_iraq_oil_power/6157/ Choppers shoot to protect Iraq oil, power BAGHDAD, Sept. 18 (UPI) -- The Iraqi Defense Ministry has issued a shoot-to-kill order to helicopter gunners guarding Iraq's vulnerable oil and power infrastructure. Azzaman reports the Ministry of Defense has brought in armed helicopters, possibly Russian, to protect the power and fuel supply to Baghdad. Iraq as a whole suffers from drought of fuels and electricity, and Baghdad is especially targeted by insurgents looking to choke the country's capital. The newspaper reports pilots are to shoot at anyone approaching the oil pipelines or power lines and towers. http://www.metimes.com/storyview.php?StoryID=20070902-101914-7503r 10 Iraqi cult members sentenced to death AFP September 2, 2007 NAJAF, Iraq -- Ten members of an Iraqi doomsday cult were sentenced to death Sunday, and 394 jailed for their roles in a January rebellion against Iraqi and US troops that left hundreds dead, police said. "The criminal court passed judgement on 458 accused," Najaf police chief Brigadier General Abdel Karim Mustapha said. "It sentenced 10 leaders of the Soldiers of Heaven to death, and decided to release 54 of them," he said. "The rest were sentenced to jail terms ranging from 15 years to life." In January, the militant sect, dubbing itself the Jund Al Samaa or "Soldiers of Heaven," clashed with US and Iraqi forces outside the holy city of Najaf, three days ahead of the Shiite Ashura festival. The fighting left 263 sect followers dead, including their messianic leader Dhia Abdel Zahra Kadhim Al Krimawi, also known as Abu Kamar, who believed himself to be a descendant of the Prophet Mohammed. The Iraqi security forces reportedly lost three soldiers and three policemen. After the battle, police rounded up hundreds of sect members and put them on trial. "With today's sentencing, the curtain has fallen on the Soldiers of Heaven group," Mustapha said. Abu Kamar has also claimed to be a descendant of the Imam Mehdi, an 8th-century imam who vanished as a boy and, who, Shiites believe, will return to bring justice to the world. At the time of the attack, Najaf deputy governor Abdel Hussein Attan said that the well-structured group planned to attack senior Shiite clerics and seize control of religious sites in Najaf, in a sign the Mehdi was about to reappear. http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L03349199.htm Iraq judge convicts 400 over cult clashes in Najaf 03 Sep 2007 10:39:09 GMT Source: Reuters By Khaled Farhan NAJAF, Iraq, Sept 3 (Reuters) - An Iraqi judge sentenced 10 people to death and 390 others to between 15 years and life in jail over clashes near the city of Najaf early this year that killed hundreds, local officials and a lawyer said on Monday. They said the verdicts were handed down on Sunday in the holy Shi'ite city, making it one of the biggest mass sentencings in Iraq since U.S. forces ousted Saddam Hussein in 2003. The government had said members of a messianic Muslim cult who were plotting to kill top Shi'ite clerics fought battles with Iraqi and U.S. forces near Najaf in late January. Hundreds of people were killed, mostly members of the so-called "Soldiers of Heaven". Hundreds more from the group were arrested at the time. A dozen Iraqi security forces were also killed while a U.S. attack helicopter was shot down, killing its two crew. Ahmed Duaibil, spokesman for the local government in Najaf, told Reuters the trials took place over three months at the Najaf police academy where the defendants were being held. A criminal judge was sent to the academy and tried the defendants in groups given the large numbers, he said. They were tried on charges related to terrorism, he added. Witnesses were called, the defendants had lawyers and court officials attended the hearings, Duaibil added. A court official in Najaf confirmed that 10 people had been sentenced to death and another 390 given jail terms. One of the lawyers, who declined to be identified for security reasons, said he had represented a group who were released for lack of evidence. He also confirmed the number of convictions. The January clashes turned out to be one of the largest battles since the U.S.-led invasion but also one of the strangest episodes of the war. The government said the leader of the group, who claimed to be the Mahdi, a messiah-like figure in Islam, had been killed. They said his "Soldiers of Heaven" had planned to assassinate top Shi'ite clerics and had to be stopped. Film footage from the scene of the fighting at the time showed a score or more bodies dumped in a large room and dozens of others scattered about a compound. All were wearing civilian clothes. A large group of survivors including women and children were shown surrounded by U.S. and Iraqi troops. The compound was littered with burnt-out vehicles, including pickup trucks mounted with machineguns, an armoured Humvee and a troop-carrier. Buildings had been sprayed with machinegun fire. http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/09/04/3612/ Published on Tuesday, September 4, 2007 by the Associated Press Documents Show Troops Disregarding Rules by Ryan Lenz New documents released Tuesday regarding crimes committed by U.S. soldiers against civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan detail a troubling pattern of troops failing to understand and follow the rules that govern interrogations and deadly actions. The documents, released by the American Civil Liberties Union ahead of a lawsuit, total nearly 10,000 pages of courts-martial summaries, transcripts and military investigative reports about 22 incidents. They show repeated examples of soldiers believing they were within the law when they killed local citizens. The killings include the drowning of a man soldiers pushed from a bridge into the Tigris River as punishment for breaking curfew, and the suffocation during interrogation of a former Iraqi general believed to be helping insurgents. In the suffocation, soldiers covered the man's head with a sleeping bag, then wrapped his neck with an electrical cord for a "stress position" they insisted was an approved technique. Chief Warrant Officer Lewis Welshofer was convicted of negligent homicide in the death of Maj. Gen. Abed Hamed Mowhoush following a January 2006 court-martial that received wide media attention due to possible CIA involvement in the interrogation. But even after his conviction, Welshofer insisted his actions were appropriate and standard, documents show. "The simple fact of the matter is interrogation is supposed to be stressful or you will get no information," Welshofer wrote in a letter to the court asking for clemency. "To put it another way, an interrogation without stress is not an interrogation - it is a conversation." Welshofer said in the same letter that he was "within the appropriate constraints that both the rules of law, and just as importantly - duty, imposed on me." The documents were obtained through a federal Freedom of Information Act request the ACLU filed with the military more than a year ago asking for all documents relevant to U.S. military involvement in the deaths of civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan. Only the Army responded. Considered against recent cases, including soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division convicted of killing detainees in Samarra, Iraq, last year and the ongoing courts-martial of Marines accused of killing 24 civilians in Haditha, these new examples shed light on the frequency soldiers and Marines may disregard the rules of war. Nasrina Bargzie, an attorney with the ACLU's National Security Project, said the documents also show that theres an abundance of information being withheld from public scrutiny. "The government has gone out of its way to hide the human cost of this war," Bargzie said. Releasing the documents now "paints at least a part of that picture so people at least know what's going on," she said. The lawsuit seeks to compel the military to produce all documents related to all incidents of civilian deaths at the hands of U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan since January 2005. The ACLU contends the materials are releasable under federal law. The Defense Department declined to comment on the lawsuit until it could review its claims. Among the files released to the ACLU were the court-martial records for two soldiers convicted of assault in the drowning of a man pushed into the Tigris for violating curfew and three soldiers convicted in the "mercy killing" of an injured teenager in Sadr City. The teen had been severely injured; one soldier explained that he shot and killed the teen "to take him out of his misery." Other killings included: - A man shot after a search of his home near Balad uncovered illegal weapons and anti-American literature. Immediately after the shooting, according to testimony, Sgt. 1st Class George Diaz, who was convicted of unpremeditated murder, said, "I'm going to hell for this." Diaz also was convicted of mistreating a teenage detainee when he forced the youth to hold a smoke grenade with the pin pulled as Diaz questioned him at gunpoint. - A suspected insurgent in Iraq by Staff Sgt. Shane Werst, who said the man appeared to be reaching for a weapon. Werst was acquitted of murder despite acknowledging he had fired and then planted a chrome Iraqi pistol on the suspect to make his claim of self defense more believable. In a previously unreported case, Pfc. James Combs was convicted of involuntary manslaughter for shooting an Iraqi woman from a guard tower in what he claimed was an accident, though court documents and testimony indicate his weapon was set to fire multiple shots despite a regulation advising against such a setting. Another previously undisclosed case involved Sgt. Ricky Burke, who was charged with murder for killing a wounded man alongside the road following a firefight. Staff Sgt. Timothy Nein, a member of Burke's military police company, testified he heard Burke say before the shooting, "It's payback time." Burke, a member of the Kentucky National Guard, was found not guilty of the charges that stemmed from the same battle that led to the first woman since World War II being awarded the Silver Star. In closing arguments, Burke's attorneys asked the jury to recommend that soldiers be trained better for handling detainees. "They are not trained to standard," said an attorney not identified in the transcript. The attorneys also insisted that the rules of engagement are clear and in favor of soldiers, contending that the perception of hostility merits deadly action. Michael Pheneger, a retired Army intelligence colonel who reviewed the materials for the ACLU, said the documents suggest many allegations of war crimes in Iraq are not being made public. "Wars are messy by their very nature. These are dangerous circumstances, and the fog of war is out there," said Pheneger, who served in Vietnam. "But it's perfectly obvious that there is no rule of engagement that would authorize someone to kill someone in custody." ? 2007 The Associated Press http://www.iwpr.net/?p=icr&s=f&o=338789&apc_state=henpicr Sunni Patients Fear Baghdad Wards Sunnis stay clear of hospitals for fear of being targeted by Shia death squads. By IWPR reporters in Baghdad (ICR No. 233, 19-Sep-07) For Sunni Arabs in the capital, getting medical treatment can be a death sentence. Public hospitals here are operated by Iraq's Shia-run health ministry and allegations are common that hospital staff have helped militia members abduct and kill Sunni patients. Omar Othman, 24, a Sunni who works in a car parts shop, was hit by a bus on his way home from work in December 2006, badly injuring his leg. His father believes he only narrowly escaped a worse fate. On admittance to the al-Kindi hospital in a Shia region of the capital, Omar's surname - typically Sunni - marked him as a target. "The staff started looking at me suspiciously. I felt I was threatened. No one approached me or treated me," said Omar, who called his father to say where he was. "I went into the hospital like a madman," his father, Abdullah, a retired police officer, recalled, describing how he rushed from one ward to another before a security guard called him by name. "Aren't you Abu Othman?" the security guard asked. "Yes, I am," he replied. "Who are you, and how do you know me?" "You were my boss when I was a police officer before you retired," said the security guard. The father told the guard he was looking for his son. The guard said one of the doctors had written on a small piece of paper "a virus is here", and believed it was in reference to Omar. "These sons of bitches will kill him," the guard told Omar's father. The security guard asked Abdullah not to move or speak to anyone until his son was moved out of the emergency ward and into an isolated room. From there, Omar's father transferred his son to a hospital in a part of the city with a strong Sunni majority. "He had surgery there and survived," said Abdullah. "If I had been late, my son would have definitely died." The ministry of health refused to answer questions about the alleged incident. But other media have described similar cases. In November last year, Britain's Channel 4 television broadcast a documentary about the death squads. The programme showed photos of 14 Sunnis abducted from a hospital in Baghdad, then forced into a rubbish container and shot dead. Last December, a Sunni surgeon was quoted in The Sunday Times as saying that in some hospitals porters and cleaners who support the Mahdi army, a militia loyal to the Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, offered doctors 300 US dollars to identify Sunni patients. "I found that many patients were dying. Most were well and ready to walk out of the hospital. Instead, they left in wooden boxes," the surgeon told the newspaper. According to him, most of the support staff in the hospitals comes from the Shia slums of Sadr City, a stronghold of the Mahdi army, a group which has been accused of leading Shia death squads. In one case, he said, two patients from the mainly Sunni Diyala province were placed on trolleys to be taken to the x-ray department. The patients were never seen again. Such stories are common, and several Sunni officials accuse Iraq's health system of having links to Shia militias or death squads. Shatha al-Abbusi, a member of parliament from the Sunni Iraqi Accord Front, said, "There is organised terror by militias [who are] assassinating Sunni Arabs in hospitals." Health personnel from other hospitals in Baghdad confirm such incidents. A number of doctors in al-Yarmuk hospital, who requested anonymity for security reasons, confirmed that their hospital witnessed several killings of Sunnis in November and December of 2006. One doctor said two died as a result of insulin overdoses. "When I checked the treatment papers, this injection was missing," said the doctor. A female doctor working in a health centre in the al-Dakhiliyyah neighbourhood of Baghdad said that armed militias stormed the facility in civilian clothes and took a Sunni patient and a medical assistant. The numerous and detailed accounts of relatives, doctors and nurses appear to corroborate a US intelligence report from December 2006, which said hospitals had become command centres for the Mahdi army, and Sunni patients were being dragged from their beds. The report was denied by Iraq's health minister, Ali al-Shamari, who is a Sadr loyalist. In February 2007, US and Iraqi forces raided the health ministry in Baghdad's al-Rasafa district and arrested Hakim al-Zamili, the deputy health minister from the Sadr movement. He was charged with funneling money to Mahdi fighters who allegedly used the ministry's cars and ambulances to kidnap and kill Sunnis. A statement issued by the US army maintained that health ministry officials were involved in the killing of Sunnis with the help of a Shia militia. Since then and thanks to a crackdown on militias in Baghdad, the activities of death squads have been restricted. Several leaders of the Mahdi army are believed to have fled to Iran. And those who stayed behind went into hiding, avoiding any media contact out of fear that they would be arrested or targeted by American forces. http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/KHA038247.htm FEATURE-Frustrated Iraqi teenagers rue long detentions 01 Oct 2007 11:54:16 GMT Source: Reuters By Haider Salahudeen BAGHDAD, Oct 1 (Reuters) - Teenager Ali Mohammed has been in an overcrowded Iraqi youth detention facility for five months. He says he has no idea what led him to be considered a security threat and struggles with a speech impediment as he tells his story. "They told me they would only question me for five minutes and I have been here since the 25th of April," the lightly-moustached and bare-footed Mohammed stuttered. "I suffer from epilepsy, a weak spine and a speech defect." Mohammed's case is just one of thousands of prolonged detentions that underline the Iraqi judicial system's struggle to sift through the large number of detainees held in Iraq. Tareq al-Hashemi, Iraq's Sunni vice president, visited western Baghdad's Ahdath youth detention centre last week in an effort to highlight the woeful state of detainees. Expressing surprise at Mohammed's detention, he asked what information he was likely to provide under questioning given his speech defect. "How are they going to interrogate him?" he told a group of journalists as he toured Ahdath where alleged security detainees are kept with all the others. Cases of lengthy detention without charge are an embarrassment to a government that says it promotes human rights and whose members, exiled or persecuted under Saddam Hussein's rule, criticised abuses carried out by his security forces. GOVERNMENT PROMISE OF ACTION One boy, an orphan barely in his teens from the city of Falluja, was detained after he stole a mobile phone in a busy area of central Baghdad where he collected scrap aluminium cans. "I've been here for three months and I don't know why I am here," the young boy said. Midhat al-Mahmoud, head of the Supreme Judicial Council, said the system was working hard to reduce the long delays for some detainees to receive a trial. "We had a problem with (detainees in) Baghdad, but now we have 44 investigative judges and five criminal courts who are all working beyond their hours," Mahmoud said. Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih told a news conference on Saturday after holding a meeting to tackle the detainee issue that the government is serious in speeding up legal procedures to ensure innocent people are released soon after detention. Government figures show 2,661 detainees have been sent to court since a security crackdown in the capital began in February. The figures also show that more than 4,000 have been released from Iraqi prisons in the same period, though it was not clear if those releases were all in Baghdad. "We want to cooperate with this humanitarian and legal issue through legal procedures only. We don't want this issue to be politicised because it would oppress the citizens who for one reason or another ended up in these prisons," Salih said. "There is a problem in Iraqi prisons. It's not shameful to acknowledge a problem, it's shameful to ignore it." (Additional reporting by Mussab Al-Khairalla) http://www.azzaman.com/english/index.asp?fname=news/2007-09-04/kurd.htm U.S. holding 22,000 Iraqi prisoners By Laith Jawad U.S. invasion troops detain more than 22,000 Iraqis in their prisoner camps across the country, senior government officials say. The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said many of those languishing in U.S. jails are innocent and have been incarcerated for long periods without trial or charges. Most of the prisoners come from central Iraq where an anti-U.S. rebellion is raging. The region is predominantly Sunni. Vice-President Tareq al-Hashemi is leading the campaign to free the prisoners and see to it that U.S. prisoner camps meet international standards and that the jailers respect prisoner rights. Hashemi is determined to have all the innocent Iraqis in U.S. jails freed as quickly as possible, one official said. The officials said there are currently more jails in Iraq than under former leader Saddam Hussein. The Iraqi government has no jurisdiction over U.S.-administered jails and has no say in U.S. troops' military operations which normally result in arbitrary and summary arrests. The U.S. has agreed to release 50 Iraqi prisoners a day during the holy month of Ramadan. But the number falls short of Hashemi's expectations who wanted to see most of the prisoners released. Hashemi is said to have demanded U.S. troops pay reparations to prisoners arrested without charges. Hashemi's adviser, Omer al-Jibouri, said the government has reached what he called 'a working paper' with U.S. occupation troops under which U.S. jailers violating human rights will be persecuted. Jibouri did not say how the government will punish U.S. troops at a time they are immune from prosecution and trial by Iraqi courts. Azzaman, September 4, 2007 AT U.S. BASE, IRAQIS MUST USE SEPARATE LATRINE Mike Drummond McClatchy Newspapers http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/18685.html FORWARD OPERATING BASE WARHORSE, Iraq - The sign taped to the men's latrine is just five lines: "US MILITARY CONTRACTORS CIVILIANS ONLY!!!!!" It needed only one: "NO IRAQIS." Here at this searing, dusty U.S. military base about four miles west of Baqouba, Iraqis - including interpreters who walk the same foot patrols and sleep in the same tents as U.S. troops - must use segregated bathrooms. Another sign, in a dining hall, warns Iraqis and "third-country nationals" that they have just one hour for breakfast, lunch or dinner. American troops get three hours. Iraqis say they sometimes wait as long as 45 minutes in hot lines to get inside the chow hall, leaving just 15 minutes to get their food and eat it. It's been nearly 60 years since President Harry Truman ended racial segregation in the U.S. military. But at Forward Operating Base Warhorse it's alive and well, perhaps the only U.S. military facility with such rules, Iraqi interpreters here say. It's unclear precisely who ordered the rules. "The rule separating local national latrines from soldiers was enacted about two to three rotations ago," Maj. Raul Marquez, a spokesman for the 3rd Brigade Combat Team of the 1st Cavalry Division, from Fort Hood, Texas, wrote in an e-mail. That was before his brigade or the 3rd Stryker Combat Brigade of the 2nd Infantry Division, from Fort Lewis, Wash., the other major combat force here, was based at Warhorse. There's also disagreement on the reason. Marquez cited security. "We are at war, and operational security (OPSEC) and force protection are critical in this environment," Marquez wrote. "We screen all our local nationals working and living in the FOB, however, you can never know what's in their mind." Other soldiers traced the regulations to what they called cultural differences between the Iraqis and the Americans. "We've had issues with locals," said Staff Sgt. Oscar Garcia, who mans Warhorse's administrative hub. "It's not because we're segregating." Garcia said some Iraqis squatted on the rims of unfamiliar American-style toilets or had used showers as toilets, forcing private contractors who maintain the facilities to clean up after them. Another soldier at the administrative hub who declined to give his name or rank cited conflicts over hygiene habits. "We can't accept people washing their feet where I brush my teeth," he said. "It's to keep problems from happening," said Army Capt. Janet Herrick, a public affairs officer. "It's a preventive measure . . . so no one gets belittled." But the Iraqis who're paid $80,000 to $120,000 a year for their interpreting services are offended. "It sucks," Ahmed Mohammed, 30, said of the latrine policy. He called the signs - in English and Arabic - "racist." He's worked as an interpreter for the U.S. military since 2004. He's college educated and well versed in the ways of Western plumbing. He said Warhorse was the only American base where he'd encountered U.S.-only signs on latrines and country-of-origin restrictions on dining hours. "I live in the same tent with 80 Americans," he said. Mohammed works for L-3 Titan Group, a unit of New York-based L-3 Communications. He declined to have his picture taken for publication. He fears for his life. He said his brother was killed last year in Baghdad for working for an American company. Mohammed has sold his house and has squirreled away enough money to buy visas for his family of four. He said he intended to quit soon and emigrate to Germany. The latrine policy is part of the reason, he said. L-3 officials didn't respond to a request for comment. "On one hand we're asking Iraqis to help us," often at great risk, said Laila al Qatami, spokeswoman for the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee in Washington. "But at the same time we're saying, 'We want to keep you at a distance.' It's a mixed message we're sending. "I don't understand having separate bathrooms. It seems to go against everything that the United States stands for." IRAQ: ANGER BUILDS IN BESIEGED FALLUJAH Ali al-Fadhily Asia Times http://atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/IF06Ak07.html FALLUJAH, Iraq - The city that was mostly destroyed by the US military operation Phantom Fury in November 2004 has been under curfew for more than two weeks, with no signs of relief. Located 70 kilometers west of Baghdad, the city made headlines when four Blackwater security mercenaries were killed and their bodies horrifically mutilated on March 31, 2004. That April the city was attacked by the US military, but resistance fighters repelled occupation forces. That set the stage for the November siege that left about 70% of the city destroyed and turned a quarter of a million residents into refugees. A recent spike in attacks against Iraqi and US forces in and around the city has prompted harsh measures by the US military, including imposing curfews, limiting movement in and out of Fallujah, and setting up more checkpoints throughout the city - moves which have greatly angered residents. On May 19, most of these measures, perceived by many people here as a form of collective punishment, began to be more strictly enforced. "Americans and their Iraqi collaborators are blaming us for their failure in controlling the city and the whole country," Ahmed Alwan of a Sunni religious group, the Muslim Scholars Association, told Inter Press Service (IPS). "This kind of collective punishment only means slow death to the people of the city and is adding to their agonies that have continued since April 2003." As the US occupation continues with no end in sight and the level of violence and chaos increases daily, more and more people believe that violence against the occupation is the solution. "Day by day we find more people believe in violence as a best solution to face American war crimes," said a human-rights activist in Fallujah, speaking on condition of anonymity. "To impose a curfew in a city that was already destroyed more than once is indeed a major crime against humanity." Many people in Fallujah believe the harsh tactics are revenge by US troops and the George W Bush administration for the city's attitude against the occupation. "We know what they are doing and why they are doing it," said a local community leader, also speaking on condition of anonymity because he feared US reprisals. "They hate this sacred city because it was the first to stand against their dirty occupation since it started." On a side street of Fallujah, a man with his face covered by a kefiyeh , commonly worn by resistance fighters to hide their identity, stopped an IPS reporter and said he wanted to "deliver a message to the sleeping world". "Fallujah City has become a symbol for all Iraqis and all good people in the world who decided to fight this monstrous American occupation, and no siege will stop the great victorious resistance that represents the voice of all Iraqis who believe in Allah and in the dignity of Iraq," he said. "We can see the world is sleeping while America is conducting a dirty plan to enslave all the human beings on earth." Residents told IPS how their lives are being affected by the ongoing US-Iraqi government crackdown. "They [Iraqi security forces] are dividing the city into sections in a way that does not allow people to move and make their living," said Jabbar Amir, a shopkeeper in the main market area. "It takes me four checkpoints to reach my shop, and most of the week I cannot make it there. This new security force is worse than the Americans - who give them full support regardless of what they do to people." The US military brought in members of the Shi'ite Badr militia and the Kurdish Peshmerga militia to run patrols and checkpoints throughout the city after the devastating November 2004 siege. Many residents believe that this was an act of provocation and an attempt to foment sectarian conflict. Concrete walls have been set up by the US military to partition the city into small areas, possibly in advance of a new wave of raids by occupation forces. The US military is now supported by an Iraqi security force known as the "Anbar revolutionary force", which is accused of carrying out dozens of executions during the past months, as well as detaining hundreds of young men for no obvious reason. "Human life is worth nothing in Fallujah these days," said Jameel Nassir, a 21-year-old university student. "The government soldiers executed so many young men, just like what happened in Haditha, and the new security force conducted massive killings against us while Americans pay both armies millions of dollars to do the dirty work for them." This sentiment is common now in Fallujah. "All army and security forces in Fallujah are monsters," Bilal Ibrahim, a journalist in training in Fallujah, told IPS. "I watched one of their inhuman acts today and realized how brutal they really are. A young man jumped in the river for a swim near the hospital, but he was swept by the current and he was screaming for help. We were ready to save his life, but soldiers started shooting at us and they were laughing at the drowning guy until he died." IPS learned that the young man's name was Mohammed Hikmet and he was a member of a well-known family in the city. "They know this will fail in stopping armed attacks against them just like all their failures, but they want to plant the seed of division among people in the city and Anbar province," said a city councilman, speaking on condition of anonymity. "Now our sons are killing each other in vain while Americans dream of moments of peace that they will never get as long as they do not show clear signs of intentions to leave the country for its people." The man was referring to the numerous attacks against US and Iraqi forces during the curfew. Many US and Iraqi soldiers have been killed by car bombs, suicide bombers and mortars that appear to underscore the failure of imposing more drastic security measures. Last Thursday, a suicide bomber attacked a police recruiting center in Fallujah, killing at least 25 people and wounding 50. As has become the norm in Fallujah, civilians continue to pay the highest price despite the security measures that are supposed to be protecting them. Ali al-Fadhily, the IPS correspondent in Baghdad, works in close collaboration with Dahr Jamail, IPS's US-based specialist writer on Iraq who travels extensively in the region. http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,22537835-5005961,00.html Women, children 'killed in US strike' Article from: Agence France-Presse >From correspondents in Baghdad October 05, 2007 08:08pm WOMEN and children were among 25 Iraqis killed and 40 wounded in a US air strike on a village near the central city of Baquba today, police spokesman Khudhayir al-Timimi said. "Twenty-five people were killed and 40 others wounded, including women and children, in the US air strike that targeted al-Jayzani village," Mr Timimi said. http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/20234.html In Basra, vigilantes wage deadly campaign against women By Jay Price and Ali Omar al Basri | McClatchy Newspapers Women in Basra are targets for self-styled religious enforcers. | View larger image BASRA, Iraq - Women in Basra have become the targets of a violent campaign by religious extremists, who leave more than 15 female bodies scattered around the city each month, police officers say. Maj. Gen. Abdel Jalil Khalaf, the commander of Basra's police, said Thursday that self-styled enforcers of religious law threatened, beat and sometimes shot women who they believed weren't sufficiently Muslim. "This is a new type of terror that Basra is not familiar with," he said. "These gangs represent only themselves, and they are far outside religious, forgiving instructions of Islam." Often, he said, the "crime" is no more than wearing Western clothes or not wearing a head scarf. Before the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, Iraqi women had had rights enshrined in the country's constitution since 1959 that were among the broadest of any Arab or Islamic nation. However, while the new constitution says that women are equal under the law, critics have condemned a provision that says no law can contradict the "established rulings" of Islam as weakening women's rights. The vigilantes patrol the streets of Basra on motorbikes or in cars with dark-tinted windows and no license plates. They accost women who aren't wearing the traditional robe and head scarf known as hijab. Religious extremists in the city also have been known to attack men for clothes or even haircuts deemed too Western. Like all of southern Iraq, Basra is populated mostly by Shiite Muslims, so sectarian violence isn't a major problem, but security has deteriorated as Shiite militias fight each other for power. British troops in the area pulled out last month. Khalaf, who has a reputation for outspokenness in a city where that can get you killed, scoffed at the groups, calling them no better than criminal gangs. He said he didn't care if some were affiliated with the militias, he planned to crack down on them. "If there is a red line related to the insurgents and militias, we will pass it over, because it's one of the factors that destroy the society," he said. The violence is displacing the few members of religious minorities in the area. Fuad Na'im, one of a handful of Christians left in the city, said Thursday that the way his wife dressed made the whole family a target. "I was with my wife few days ago when two young men driving a motorbike stopped me and asked her about her clothes and why she doesn't wear hijab," he said. "When I told them that we are Christians, they beat us badly, and I would be dead if some people nearby hadn't intervened." That was enough, he said. "I'm about to leave the city where I was born and where my father and grandfather were buried, because I can't live in a place where we're asked about our clothes, food and drink." Elsewhere in Iraq on Thursday, Mua'awia Jibara, a leader in the tribal movement to fight the group al Qaida in Iraq in concert with U.S. troops, was fatally injured when a roadside bomb exploded near his convoy southwest of Samara. He died in a hospital. Three of his guards also were killed. Around 10 a.m., the deputy governor of Iskandariyah, about 30 miles south of Baghdad, was killed by a roadside bomb that targeted his convoy. Three guards also were killed. There were several incidents of violence in Baghdad. In the eastern part of the city, a bomb planted in a minibus exploded about 9:30 a.m., killing four people and injuring seven. Around noon, a car bomb exploded in the Wihda neighborhood of east Baghdad, killing three people and injuring eight. A roadside bomb exploded in the Waziriyah neighborhood in north Baghdad, killing one person and injuring two. (Price reports for The News & Observer in Raleigh, N.C. Basri is a McClatchy Newspapers special correspondent. Special correspondent Hussein Kadhim contributed to this story.) McClatchy Newspapers 2007 From ldxar1 at tesco.net Sat Oct 6 18:03:45 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Sun, 7 Oct 2007 02:03:45 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] US: Iraq war protests and veteran issues, Sept-Oct 07 Message-ID: <25a001c8087d$ea0b9160$0802a8c0@andy1> * Protesters greet Iraq general Petraeus, disrupt speech * Protester attacked at Petraeus hearing * Thousands demand end to Iraq war in Washington march * Stanford University in uproar about Rumsfeld award * Traumatised veteran murdered by American police * War veterans: heroes die, guilt lives on http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N10354096.htm Noisy protesters, doubting Democrats greet Petraeus 10 Sep 2007 20:45:26 GMT Source: Reuters By Susan Cornwell WASHINGTON, Sept 10 (Reuters) - Anti-war protesters in pink shouted at him to tell the truth. Democrats were doubters even before he spoke. His microphone failed to work for several tense minutes. And a full-page newspaper ad portrayed him as "General Betray Us." Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, is accustomed to taking flak and he got plenty of the political kind when he appeared before Congress on Monday. Testifying in uniform with a chest full of ribbons and sitting on a raised platform in the cavernous hearing room under two chandeliers, Petraeus told lawmakers: "There are no easy answers or quick solutions." The West Point graduate who holds a doctorate from Princeton University, recommended a drawdown of the extra forces President George W. Bush sent to Iraq earlier this year. Even before Petraeus got to make his case, the leaders of two powerful committees went on the attack, suggesting that he and his co-witness the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker, were either mouthpieces for Bush or "beating a dead horse," in in the words of Rep. Ike Skelton, the Missouri Democrat who heads the Armed Services Committee. "This is not a knock on you, General Petraeus, or on you, Ambassador Crocker," said Rep. Tom Lantos, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. "But the fact remains, gentlemen, that the administration has sent you here today to convince the members of these two committees that victory is at hand," said the California Democrat. "With all due respect to you, I must say ... I don't buy it." While the 54-year-old Petraeus waited to make himself heard, several demonstrators filled the void and were instantly ordered removed. One was Cindy Sheehan, a well-known figure in the anti-war movement whose son was killed in Iraq. The microphone mess began when Petraeus leaned forward to open his testimony. His lips moved but his words were lost. An exasperated Skelton asked repeatedly for it to be fixed and then ordered a five-minute recess to rectify it. "General Petraeus, the American people don't believe you any more!" shouted a protester from the Code Pink anti-war group. As police officers dragged her out, she howled, "No! No! No! I have a right to be heard!" Some lawmakers arrived at the hearing with copies of a full-page ad by the Moveon.org liberal activist organization that asked "General Petraeus or General Betray Us?" It accused him of "cooking the books for the White House." But Petraeus found some defenders. Rep. Duncan Hunter of California waved the ad in the air, telling lawmakers he was "irritated" by it and other criticism by Democrats. "I think its an outrage that we spent the last week bashing the credibility of a general officer whose trademark is integrity," said Hunter. The White House also came to Petraeus' defense over the ad. "It is a boorish, childish, unworthy attack," said White House spokesman Tony Snow. http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070910/pl_afp/usiraqpolitics Fur flies as Petraeus and pink protestors enliven Congress by Jitendra Joshi Mon Sep 10, 6:19 PM ET WASHINGTON (AFP) - The screams of pink-clad female protestors could be heard but General David Petraeus could not. The US commander in Iraq had a dud microphone. What was billed as the most electrifying day of testimony in Congress for many years lurched into farce Monday as Petraeus struggled to be heard and members of the anti-war group Code Pink were dragged kicking from the room. "I'll bet (Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-) Maliki's sitting there watching this and thinking, 'at least my mike works'," one congressional staffer was heard to grumble. The audio failure seemed all too apposite for anti-war campaigners who accuse President George W. Bush of turning a deaf ear to the groundswell of US opinion that wants the Iraq adventure to come to an end. At least seven hecklers, including prominent anti-war campaigner, Cindy Sheehan were hustled out of the committee room and arrested by police, with one Code Pink woman screaming "I have a right to speak out! This is not Russia!" The technological gremlins eventually fixed and order restored, the US military's top counterinsurgency expert got down to business explaining why Congress should give him more time to pacify the bloodstained nation. But his message was already at risk of being drowned out as opposing camps square off over what is probably the most emotive debate to engulf the United States since the Vietnam War. Before she was evicted, Code Pink co-founder Medea Benjamin said that Petraeus was "nothing but a messenger for the White House," echoing the left-wing group MoveOn.org's denunciation of "General Betray US." "We've had the wool pulled over our eyes right from the start of this war. We're sick of the lies and want our troops home," she said, proudly leading Code Pink's self-confessed contingent of "rabble rousers" into battle. But the cerebral Petraeus, who has a doctorate in international relations from Princeton University, remained unflappable as he laid out the "devastating consequences" that would erupt from an abrupt US exit from Iraq. Like the meticulous soldier he is, Petraeus entered the room a full hour before the hearing was due to start for a quick survey of the impending field of combat. "I'm here on recon," he told startled photographers who rushed to grab a shot during his brief look-see. The excitement surrounding the rare joint session of the House of Representatives Armed Services and Foreign Affairs committees threatened to drown out the dispassionate tones of Baghdad envoy Ryan Crocker. When it was the US ambassador's turn to speak after Petraeus, fidgeting set in and Blackberries came out among the 200-plus people present for the hearing in the Cannon House Building's richly decorated Caucus Room. It was the most hotly anticipated appearance in Congress by a US commander since General William Westmoreland addressed a joint session of the House and Senate in 1967 to argue that his strategy in Vietnam was "producing results." Other parallels in history were invoked in defense of US strategy today in the infant democracy of Iraq. Republican Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen said the enemies of Iraq's government were "enemies of democracies everywhere," with whom it was impossible to compromise. British prime minister Neville Chamberlain had tried to appease Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, but "only ensured that an immensely larger threat was unleashed," she said. Geoff Millard, a 26-year-old former sergeant with the army's 42nd Infantry Division who served in Iraq in 2004 and 2005, insisted that Vietnam and not World War II was the relevant analogy as he spoke out against the war. "Westmoreland came to Congress and said 'we need more troops and more time.' Well, we don't have more troops or more time for Iraq," he said. "Petraeus isn't here to represent the soldiers. He's here to represent the Bush administration agenda. They talk about progress in Iraq. Well here's the progress: we're pissing people off and creating more terrorists." CodePink Disrupts Petraeus Hearing Submitted by Lydia Vickers on September 12, 2007 - 2:08am. http://www.tnjp.org/images/Petraeus-disruption.jpgReport on Monday CodePink disruption of the Petraeus hearing in the House. Led by Tallahassee's own Lydia Vickers (that's her standing on the chair shouting down the 'good' general... What a fabulous start in D.C. CODEPINK (Desiree, Barbara, Lelsie A., Medea B., Mona, Arizona Liz, and myself), IVAW, Col. Wright, David Swanson and others waited almost four hours this morning to go into the Petreaus Report hearing. CODEPINK co-founder Gael Murphy was refused entrance and tried in vane to get in the room. One of the Capitol officers had his panties in a wad and decided only 7 of us could go in. Even Medea couldn't change his sorry mind. Cindy Sheehan and her sister DeDe arrived about 30 minutes before the hearing started and were refused entrance. The up-tight cop actually gave us little blue pieces of paper with numbers on them 1-7. CPer Debby gave up her number so Col. Wright could get in. In the mean time, The Honorable Rev. Yearwood had been in line with us for about 2 hours. Just as we started to go in he was pulled from the line for "cutting in" - it's sooooooooooo high school. Full report below the fold.... NOTE: Cindy, DeDe and Rev. Yearwood were arrested, in the hall, for absolutely nothing more than raising their voices. Unfortunately Rev. Yearwood had pissed off the "hallway cop" who was bothering us earlier and, after a little posturing he was thrown to the floor, 8 cops jumped on him and he is in the hospital getting x-rayed for a broken ankle. Back to the hearing, when we got into the hearing we were warned immediately to sit still, no standing, no signs, no banners blah, blah, blah. Deseriee decided she wasn't going to sit down. The "hallway" cop was hovering, asking her to sit down. She refused, he grabbed her and she started yelling "WAR CRIMINAL, WAR CRIMINAL, WAR CRIMINAL" at the top of her lungs as he drug her from the room. First one arrested! Not long after that, when Petraeus was just absolutely lying, Leslie A. stood up and said "that's not true. That's a lie. I've been to Iran. The people are lovely". She was escorted out (they didn't arrest her???). Let me note here that we had planned to upset the meeting, one at a time, so we were each waiting for our cue. About this time Ray McGovern yells "SWEAR HIM IN". The chair asked him to leave, he refused for a time but was escorted out. We continued to listen to the "report" just shaking our heads at the lies. I heard Gen. P. mention Iran 4-5 times and was starting to get a little sick of him. Medea, behind me start yelling "General Petraeus, the American people don't believe you any more....." and was taken away. Today is Medea's birthday and she will surely spend the night in jail. Then, Mona started yelling "???? (I couldn't hear what she said because the whole place started standing up to see what was going on.) Keep in mind that by this time we had been warned by the chair to be quiet. Duncan Hunter was besides himself with wanting to get us kicked out. He didn't realize his mike was on and was saying something like "we need to get them out of here - that group in the back - CODEPINK - they are going to keep interrupting the meeting....." someone came and shut off his mike. So, Mona is yelling and I had my cue. I stood on my chair and started yelling "General Petreaus, you're just like Colin Powell, you're ruining our military, you're going to bankrupt our country, you've betrayed military families, you'll go down in history, just like Colin Powell". At this point the police are grabbing Mona and she decides to resist. She said "don't touch me, NO, NO, No, let go of me, I'm 70 years old.....No, No.....". I jumped off of my chair and said "leave her alone" and saw an opportunity to walk out. An officer got behind me. Mona is still hysterical as I'm being escorted from the hearing. Within minutes, and after a stern warning and threat of prosecution, Arizona Liz stood up to say her piece (again, I couldn't hear her 'cuz I was out the door by this time). When we got in the hallway the officer behind me realized he needed to help the other cops with Mona. He told four officers in the hall to "hold her (me) and turned around to go help with Mona. I don't think the hallway cops heard him. As I walked toward them it was obvious that only one of them was coming to me. I saw my opportunity and started to walk, really, really fast. I passed the cops, said hi to Tiffany Burns (dear friend, Cindy Sheehan's personal assistant - who got arrested shortly thereafter) and kept on walking. I passed a group of cameras in the hall, turned the corner and pressed the elevator button. About this time an officer was coming up the stairs, not knowing what was going on, and said "use the stairs, it's faster!!!!!". You never saw a pink cape fly down the hall and stairways so fast. I kept myself from running and within minutes was out the door, headed home. The coolest part is that all of this made it onto the C-Span. It's great because they had a 45 second delay (just for this kind of stuff) and it made it anyway. Cactus Pat just called to say Wolf Blitzer started The Situation Room (at 5:00 PM) with a clip and I am attaching the MSNBC video link for your enjoyment. Peace, Lydia in DC Corporate media report at www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20689394/ or click here for direct link to MSNBC video... If anyone has a better copy of the video, contact us . Full info at www.betrayusreport.com ... http://www.tnjp.org/CodePink-Disrupts-Patraeus-Hearing Rev. Yearwood Attacked and Beaten in Halls of Congress by Police WASHINGTON - September 10 - Rev. Lennox Yearwood, Jr., president of the Hip Hop Caucus, was attacked by six capitol police today, when he was stopped from entering the Cannon Caucus Room on Capitol Hill, where General Petreaus gave testimony today to a joint hearing for the House Arms Services Committee and Foreign Relations Committee on the war in Iraq. After waiting in line throughout the morning for the hearing that was scheduled to start at 12:30pm, Rev. Yearwood was stopped from entering the room, while others behind him were allowed to enter. He told the officers blocking his ability to enter the room, that he was waiting in line with everyone else and had the right to enter as well. When they threatened him with arrest he responded with "I will not be arrested today." According to witnesses, six capitol police, without warning, "football tackled" him. He was carried off in a wheel chair by DC Fire and Emergency to George Washington Hospital. Rev. Yearwood said as he was being released from the hospital to be taken to central booking, "The officers decided I was not going to get in Gen. Petreaus' hearing when they saw my button, which says 'I LOVE THE PEOPLE OF IRAQ.'" Capitol Police are not saying what the charges are, but an inside source has said that the charge is assaulting a police officer. Rev. Yearwood is scheduled to be transferred to Central Processing to be arraigned tomorrow morning. http://spidel.net/blog/2007/09/10/rev-yearwood-attacked-and-beat-in-halls-of-congress-by-police http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070915/ts_alt_afp/usiraqdemo Protestors in Washington demand end to Iraq war Sat Sep 15, 6:34 PM ET WASHINGTON (AFP) - Thousands of angry protestors including the families of dead US soldiers marched in Washington Saturday demanding an end to the war in Iraq, the return of US troops, and the impeachment of President George W. Bush. A crowd of protesters some 4,000 to 6,000 strong gathered outside the White House before marching under a clear sky to the US Capitol building. Many waved placards that read "Support our troops, stop the war," and "Impeach Bush." Several dozen demonstrators stretched out on their backs in front of Congress, which was not in session, in what they termed a "die-in," drawing attention to the rising death toll in insurgency-stricken Iraq. US television networks broadcast pictures of scuffles between protestors and police and reported that several people were arrested, but police could not confirm to AFP how many arrests were made. Phil Aliff, 21, marched wearing his camouflage uniform jacket as part of a group called Iraq Veterans Against the War. He first arrived in Iraq in July 2006. "I stayed there for a year, in Abu Ghraib and outside Fallujah. When we arrived, we were told we were here to bring stabilization to the country," said Aliff. "But we were not rebuilding anything. The Iraqis had only two hours of electricity. And I saw the atrocities committed by the Americans there." Aliff spoke days after the top US general in Iraq, David Petraeus, testified before Congress, giving an optimistic report on conditions in Iraq and the effectiveness of the US president's "surge" strategy of adding more US troops to the fight. "General Petraeus's report is incredibly far from the reality on the ground," said Aliff. Another marcher, Diane Santoriello, held a photograph of her 25-year-old son Neil, lost in Iraq on August 13, 2004. "I am here to get Congress to defund the war," she said. "The vast majority of Iraqi people want the US and other foreign forces out of the country," said Brian Becker with the ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War End Racism) coalition, the group organizing the march. "The vast majority of the people in the US want the war ended and the troops brought home now," he added. Speakers also included activist Cindy Sheehan, who lost her US soldier son, Casey, in Iraq and became a figurehead for the anti-war movement. The highest percentage ever of Americans -- 62 percent -- now believe the war was a mistake, while 59 percent believe it is not worth American lives, according to a poll published last week. Americans trust US military commanders over President George W. Bush or the Democratic-controlled US Congress to successfully end the Iraq war, according to the New York Times/CBS News poll published Monday. When asked to choose who could best end the war, 68 percent said they most trusted the military commanders, 21 percent said Congress, and just five percent said the Bush administration. http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article2987807.ece Stanford campus in uproar over fellowship for Rumsfeld By Andrew Gumbel in Los Angeles Academics and students at California's prestigious Stanford University have launched a vigorous protest against the appointment of Donald Rumsfeld as a visiting fellow to a right-wing campus think-tank, saying the former defence secretary and architect of the Iraq war offends their ideals of truth and tolerance. Mr Rumsfeld's appointment as a one-year visiting fellow to the Hoover Institution was announced two weeks ago. Since then, more than 2,300 people on campus have signed a petition calling for the appointment to be revoked - among them an eminent professor of psychology who specialises in the wellsprings of bestial human behaviour. The professor, Philip Zimbardo, lambasts Mr Rumsfeld in his most recent book, arguing that the defence secretary established the conditions that allowed low-ranking US military personnel to abuse Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib. Explaining his support for the petition, Professor Zimbardo told The New York Times: "It is unacceptable to have someone who represents the values that Rumsfeld has portrayed, in an academic setting." The petition, drafted by a history professor, Pamela Lee, reads: "We view the appointment as fundamentally incompatible with the ethical values of truthfulness, tolerance, disinterested enquiry, respect for national and international laws and care for the opinions, property and lives of others to which Stanford is inalienably committed." The university has defended its choice, saying Rumsfeld's experience at the very pinnacle of government makes him a desirable presence on campus regardless of people's opinions of him. Assuming the appointment goes ahead, he is expected to visit Stanford no more than five times over the year-long lifetime of the fellowship. He may give lectures but he won't do any classroom teaching. The furore is part of an old pattern at Stanford. The Hoover Institution is a well known haven for right-wing ideologues and former Republican politicians, among them Newt Gingrich, the former speaker of the House, and George Shultz, Ronald Reagan's secretary of state. That, in turn, pits the Institution against the more liberal leanings of Stanford. Condoleezza Rice, the present Secretary of State, was provost of Stanford before being called to Washington by President Bush and endured bitter criticisms from campus liberals during her stormy six-year tenure. She has indicated her intention to return to Stanford when the second Bush term ends in 2009, but some faculty members have said she will not be welcomed back. In the late 1980s, a campus protest successfully sabotaged a plan to house Ronald Reagan's presidential library on the Stanford campus. More recently, campus protesters forced President Bush to cancel plans for a dinner with Mr Shultz at the university. Professor Zimbardo, most famous for conducting the so-called Stanford prison experiment in the 1970s, in which students asked to play the role of prison guards quickly became sadistic and students asked to play their prisoners became passive and depressed, has been particularly outspoken about Mr Rumsfeld's role in prison abuse scandals. Mr Rumsfeld, he writes in his latest book, The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Become Evil, created the conditions for troops to commit war crimes and torture by sidelining and disparaging the Geneva Conventions. Published: 22 September 2007 http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2007/09/05/james_dean/index_np.html [I call this murder for several reasons - one that the police escalated conflict which may have been avoided otherwise; two that they failed to handle negotiations effectively; third that they used human rights abuses against him, such as cutting off supplies; and fourth that they flushed him out at a time when his reaction was predictably likely to be violent] The killing of Jamie Dean Police in rural Maryland staged a military stakeout and shot a troubled Army vet. As his family plans to sue, they are asking how a soldier being treated for PTSD could be shipped to Iraq. By Julia Dahl Photo: Muriel Dean Jamie Dean, Dec. 17, 2006. Sept. 5, 2007 | Jamie Dean had been holed up in his childhood home for six hours when the tear gas canisters came crashing through the windows. It was a little after 4 a.m., the day after Christmas 2006, and Sgt. James Emerick Dean, 29, formerly of the 25th Infantry Division, knew he was surrounded. The white farmhouse was tucked beside a grove of trees in Leonardtown, a rural hamlet in southern Maryland, where Dean's family once raised tobacco. Now, from behind the blinds, Dean could see cops with flashlights creeping around his backyard. He could see police cars on the dirt road outside the house. He could hear the sirens and the shouting and the buzz of the police radios. It had been a month since Dean had gotten word he'd have to go back to war. He had already served a year in Afghanistan. He'd done and seen things over there he couldn't talk about, and now they were sending him to Iraq. Like tens of thousands of soldiers fighting the post-9/11 wars, Dean was being treated by the Department of Veterans Affairs for post-traumatic stress disorder -- but the Army didn't know that because the Army and the V.A. don't typically share medical records. Before joining the Army, Dean was a merry prankster with a contagious smile. But the terror he felt clearing caves in Afghanistan followed him home to Maryland, and despite having a loving family, a new wife and a good job, when Dean got called back up, he began to crack. On Christmas night, he snapped. The outcome would be tragic. The Maryland State Police would be cited for flawed and overly aggressive military tactics. And the whole sorry state of America's need for fighters in Iraq would be exposed. Christmas Day began with a fight between Dean and his wife, Muriel Dean. It was about his drinking again. Ever since he had received the notice he was being shipped to Iraq, it had gotten heavier and heavier. Late in the afternoon, Jamie fled for Toots, the bar in Hollywood, Md., where he and Muriel had met a year before. The outgoing Muriel, who worked in the personnel department of a computer company, adored her husband. But she was frustrated and angry. She called Jamie at the bar and he came storming home. "If you wanna be at the bar, be at the bar," she told him. "But if you're gonna get drunk tonight, don't come home." Jamie threw a box of wine onto the kitchen floor and started beating the cupboards with his fists. Glasses shattered and shards fell to the floor. Muriel was scared; she'd never seen him like this before. She went into the bedroom and started putting clothes into a bag to leave for the night. If you leave, Jamie told her, "I'm going to burn the fucking house down." He went out back and got a gas can and lighter. When he came back, Muriel managed to get the gas away from him. "Why would you wanna burn something down we've worked so hard for?" she asked. "You don't know how much I love you," Jamie said, standing in the doorway. "The next time you see me I'll be in a body bag." Dean fled the house and drove his Chevy Silverado eight miles to his family farm. His father, Joey, lived there alone -- he and Jamie's mother, Elaine, had separated while Dean was in Afghanistan -- but his father wasn't home. Dean started drinking again. He took a shotgun from one of the gun cabinets in the back of the house, and called his mom's house. His sister Kelly, an Air Force medic who has served in Germany and Iraq, answered the phone. To her, Dean didn't sound like himself. He was agitated and then his voice got scarily calm. "I just want to go home," Dean told her over the phone. "Everything will be easier then." He shot off the gun and then there was silence. Kelly screamed but he didn't answer. Later she would say she thought Dean was dead. "I freaked," she says. "I couldn't get him back on the phone. I couldn't hear any movement on the other end. So I did what any person would do and I called 911." Police dispatched a car to the house to check on Dean's welfare. When he refused to come out, more police cars rolled up, and officers with guns and flashlights surrounded the property. At 10 p.m., an officer from the St. Mary's sheriff's department got on the phone with Dean, who was drunk and clearly depressed. He was slurring his words. The officer prattled on, filling the long silences between Dean's mostly monosyllabic answers by trying to assure Dean they didn't want to arrest him, they just needed him to come outside and tell them everything was all right. Dean alternated between despondency and bravado. One minute he whispered that no one understood or respected what he did in the war, and the next, he said that if the police didn't back off it was "gonna get ugly. Over police radios, information began trickling in: He has guns in the house. (Like most area families, the Deans were hunters.) He has had a fight with his wife. He's a veteran and he's headed back to war. Around 11 p.m., Dean's family came rushing to the house, but police wouldn't let them up the driveway. "We'll call you if we need you," one officer told Dean's uncle Rob Purdy curtly. By midnight, two different sheriff's departments had deployed emergency response teams to the scene, surrounding the farmhouse with police vehicles and more armed men. At just after 4 a.m., those SWAT-like teams began firing tear gas into the house. The canisters smashed through the windows and penetrated the walls. Police fired between 40 and 60 rounds into the house, 10 times the amount needed to incapacitate a person. Dean came out the back door, raised his shotgun and fired. For 15 minutes, he paced around, walking in and out of the house, until he finally retreated inside. Late the next morning, the Maryland State Police rolled up with an armored vehicle. Five minutes later, one of the Charles County snipers accidentally discharged his weapon. Two minutes after he heard the sniper fire, Dean fired his gun from the back of the house, though the shot did not seem to be aimed at anyone. For the next 30 minutes, negotiators attempted to get Dean back on the phone. When they finally did, he told them, once again, to get out of his family's yard or he'd shoot. Officers stepped back toward one of the two "Peace Keeper" armored vehicles that was parked just outside the house. Dean fired again, this time at the ground. At 12:45 p.m., officers cut power to the house. Dean was surrounded. There was an armored vehicle in the back of the house and one just a few feet from the front door. Both were firing tear gas at him. Finally, Dean stepped out of the front door. As he raised his gun and pointed it at the armored vehicle, a sniper located 70 yards away shot him. The bullet entered his side and pierced his ribcage, heart, liver and stomach. Blood spread over his white T-shirt. One expert shot and Dean was dead. The Maryland state's attorney's office launched an investigation into Dean's death and ruled it a justifiable homicide. But it harshly criticized the actions leading up to it: "The tactics used by the Maryland State Police were overwhelmingly aggressive, and not warranted under the circumstances," stated its report. "As certainly as [Dean's] death is in part a consequence of his own actions, it is also in large part due to the unfortunate choice of tactics employed by the commanders of the State Police [emergency response team] unit." One criminal justice expert who reviewed Dean's case, Eastern Kentucky University professor Peter Kraska, said Dean's death epitomized the increasing militarization of law enforcement. He said the aggressive tactics used by the Maryland State Police to "pacify" Dean could only end one way: his being "neutralized" by a sniper's bullet. The state's attorney's ruling is cold comfort to the Deans. Dean's parents and Muriel have hired a lawyer and plan to sue the agencies involved in the standoff. But the case is moving slowly and has thus far served mostly to erect a wall of silence between the law enforcement officers and the family. St. Mary's County Sheriff Tim Cameron said he thought the Deans deserved some explanations, and that he looked forward to sitting down with them, but now that lawyers are involved, he has to hold his tongue. The Maryland State Police declined requests to comment on the case. Today, Muriel Dean, 38, hardly sleeps at night. She is distraught by the legal case and the fact that Jamie was recalled by the military. How could the Army have not known that he suffered from severe psychological stress after returning from Afghanistan? Sitting in her neat little house in Hollywood, Md., Muriel rubs her fingers over her forehead constantly, as if she has a terrible headache and is trying to massage it away. The carpet in her living room is well vacuumed and there is a pretty wallpaper border in her dining room, but the house has a ghost. Whole walls are adorned with photographs of Jamie. The unity candle they lighted at their wedding sits between two champagne glasses on a shelf above the couch, and there are two La-Z-Boy chairs upholstered in "real tree" camouflage facing the big-screen TV Jamie loved to watch. Muriel, who was eight years older than Jamie when he died, has a daughter, 17, and a son, 13, from a previous marriage. Although she had known Jamie only a year before he was killed, she and Jamie had a lot in common, having both grown up in the rural St. Mary's County. Until the mid-1990s, many residents of St. Mary's made their living working either the land or the water. Dean worked both. Mostly, he helped out on the farm, where every year until 1993, the family harvested 30 acres' worth of tobacco, plus truckloads of corn and other vegetables. The work was hard but Dean enjoyed it. "He loved to get on that tractor and just plow," says his mother, Elaine. "He said he loved the smell of the fresh dirt turning over. He was just in his own little world, nobody bothering him." Elaine's father, Jamie's grandfather, began crabbing in the late 1970s. He pulled several hundred crab pots a season from the Chesapeake Bay and called his one-man outfit Captain Bob's Seafood. On the weekends, Dean went crawling with him. Dean, his mother says, would rather fish or hunt than just about anything else. And though he was an average student, he was popular, especially with the girls. He had a wide smile and older women giggled to his mother about his "bedroom eyes" and his "cute butt." He played on the high school football team and by senior year was working part time on a construction crew. In early 2001, Dean's younger sister, Kelly, joined the Air Force. "Jamie said, 'You can have the military,'" says Elaine. "He didn't want anything to do with it." But a broken engagement that spring left Dean unmoored. He started partying every night, coming home near sunrise, hanging out with people who did drugs. His mom worried, but before she even got a chance to sit him down, he sat her down. "Mom, I joined the Army," she remembers him saying in July 2001. "I leave in two weeks." Elaine was floored. She didn't want him to go, but Jamie had made up his mind. "I've been partying too much," he said. "You worked too hard to raise me right. Now I need to get away from here." In April 2004, Dean's unit shipped out for a 12-month tour in Afghanistan. Dean, who'd risen to the level of sergeant, led a team of scouts, clearing caves and houses in remote villages. But service overseas wasn't what Dean had expected. He told his Uncle Rob that sometimes the Army wouldn't provide shelter for his team, and they'd have to force villagers to let them sleep in their homes. He also said he routinely got in trouble with his commanders because instead of sending the younger guys into dangerous situations, he'd choose to just go in himself. "It was typical of Jamie to want to take responsibility," says Rob Purdy, a veteran of the Gulf War. When Dean returned, he moved into the family farmhouse with his dad. He was distant, says Purdy, and he didn't want to do the things they'd always loved, like hunt and fish. Meeting and marrying Muriel seemed to be a godsend. Dean could be compassionate and loving and was learning to be a good stepfather, Muriel says. Her daughter, Tanya, had quickly grown fond of him. There were problems, however. Most nights, Muriel says, Jamie would come home from his job servicing electrical units for a local air-conditioning repair shop and drink the equivalent of a six-pack of beer. "I'd ask him, 'Why do you need to drink all the time?'" Muriel says. "And he'd say, 'To forget.' I'd ask him, 'Forget what?' But he wouldn't talk about what he did over there. All he said was: 'It takes the pain away.'" Dean's drinking wasn't the only thing that worried Muriel. He didn't sleep much, and when he did, he had vivid nightmares, and sometimes she'd wake up soaked in his sweat. He had wild mood swings; some days he'd sing "Twinkle, twinkle little star" to her over the telephone at work, and some days he'd tell her that if she ever cheated, he'd kill her. She was never sure what would set him off. Jamie didn't say much about the war to Muriel or to his mother -- just that they didn't understand, or that they didn't want to know. Jamie did admit he had seen his friends die violently. He also told vague stories about kids with bombs strapped to them who would approach the soldiers. Muriel and Elaine don't know for sure if Jamie ever shot children, but they suspect he may have. "When Jamie did something wrong as a kid," Elaine says, "his conscience would eat him up." And whatever he'd done or seen in Afghanistan seemed to be eating him alive. For weeks in late 2005, Muriel encouraged Jamie to seek help at the V.A. clinic in nearby Charlotte Hall, Md. Finally he relented. At his first appointment, he screened positive for depression, alcohol abuse and PTSD. According to his V.A. medical records, Dean was having "recurrent intrusive thoughts," as well as pervasive feelings of numbness, anger, anxiety and detachment from others. He told a doctor, "I'm tired of feeling bad." About six weeks after his first visit, doctors at the V.A. clinic started Dean on medication: fluoxetine (generic Prozac) and trazodone for the depression. But Dean's local V.A. clinic didn't offer counseling; if he wanted talk therapy (an essential part of treatment for PTSD), he'd have to visit the V.A. hospital in Washington, D.C., a 90-minute drive from St. Mary's. Muriel says he tried once, but got lost and so frustrated he turned around and never went back. Vincent Tomasino, a V.A. psychiatrist who saw Dean a few times in Charlotte Hall, remembers him as charismatic. Tomasino says that traveling into an urban area like Washington can be a frightening experience for a combat vet, especially one suffering from PTSD. "You look around and you feel like you wanna carry a 9 millimeter," he says. In February 2006, Tomasino upped Dean's antidepressant dose, and added Abilify, an antipsychotic medication sometimes used to treat schizophrenia. To that, he added amantadine, which counters some of the potential side effects of Abilify. In May, the doses went up again, and though the V.A. called and sent letters informing him of counseling options, Jamie never made it to a session. What's more, he was not disciplined about taking the medication, which made him feel foggy and strange. In August, Muriel began to worry that Jamie might have to go back to war. He'd been honorably discharged after completing nearly four years of service, but she'd been watching the news, seeing stories about how the Army needed bodies, and was extending tours and calling up Individual Ready Reserve soldiers like Jamie. Jamie worried, too. That month, he and Muriel mailed forms to the V.A. to have Jamie ruled disabled because of his ongoing mental health problems. An official disability label, they hoped, would keep Jamie from getting redeployed. But the process was slow and in the middle of September, the V.A. sent the couple a letter saying they had a backlog of claims and a ruling on Jamie might be delayed. Nonetheless, making the effort seemed to calm Jamie a bit, and Muriel says that by the fall of 2006, he was getting better. The couple had moved into a new house, which Jamie called his "happy little home." He cooked -- spicy foods like chili were his favorite -- and helped out with the grocery shopping. Muriel wasn't able to have any more children, but the couple started talking about a surrogate. They made an appointment to see a specialist in Baltimore in January. Then, on Nov. 28, 2006, five days after Thanksgiving, Jamie got the letter they'd both feared. "Pursuant to Presidential Executive Order of 14 September 2001, you are relieved from your present reserve component status and are ordered to report to active duty." This time, he was going to Iraq; and he had to report in less than two months. Muriel and the rest of Jamie's family were devastated, but they tried to stay positive; Muriel called to find out about Jamie's disability application and was told it was still being processed. Dean seemed to shut down. He started drinking more. He'd come home at night and tell Muriel they needed to talk, but then he'd sit silently for half an hour, unable to get whatever he had inside him out. Dean's boss, Tommy Bowes, who says Dean was a model employee, saw that the couple were struggling to prepare themselves for his deployment. He offered to give Dean the month off with full pay, but Dean declined the offer. "I don't want time off," Bowes remembers him saying. "I wouldn't know what to do with myself." Dec. 23 was Dean's 29th birthday, and the family took him out to Olive Garden for dinner. The next night, Christmas Eve, Jamie and Muriel went to his grandpa's house, as was tradition. Jamie had promised Muriel he wouldn't drink too much, but on the way he asked her to stop for a six-pack, and once he'd finished that, he started throwing back glasses of wine. Near the end of the night, Purdy, his uncle, found Jamie outside on the deck, crying. He'd been having nightmares about dying in Iraq. "I can't concentrate on my medicine," Purdy remembers him saying. "I can't be like this over there. I gotta be ready to go. I gotta get ready to go." Purdy tried to calm him down, saying maybe he wouldn't have to go once the Army found out he was undergoing treatment for PTSD. But Jamie was despondent. "No, I'm going," said Jamie. "You know once they get me, that's it." Jamie hugged his uncle tight -- a real hug, Purdy says, not a guy hug -- and said, "I love you, man." It was the last time Purdy saw his nephew. Muriel doesn't remember much about the days after Jamie's death. She says she knew that once he'd holed up in the farmhouse and been surrounded, he probably wouldn't come out. "He was stubborn," she says, "and he would have rather stayed in there than come out and have people think he was crazy." Eight months later, the Deans continue to grieve, each aiming their anger at a slightly different target. Jamie's sister Kelly can't help blaming herself. Calling the police that night, she says, was the biggest mistake of her life. In Purdy's mind, if the Army had known about Dean's diagnosis, they might not have sent the letter. Both Purdy and Kelly have tried to get answers from the Army about why it recalled a veteran undergoing treatment for PTSD. Wasn't there a system in place that flagged veterans with disabling illnesses from being deployed? The Army's human resources office says that no such system exists; it's up to the soldier to prove his or her condition after receiving deployment orders. It's impossible to know whether Dean would have been spared redeployment had he gotten all his paperwork in order after he received his orders. (There was no guarantee he would be exempted. Reports have shown that soldiers with severe mental illness have been ordered to duty in the post-9/11 wars.) But then, Kelly says, after her brother received the letter, his pride took over and he didn't want to protest. "He was afraid of looking weak." Today, despite the state's attorney's ruling that shooting Jamie Dean was "justified," Muriel Dean and Jamie's parents still want answers. They want to know why two police vehicles designed for heavy combat were deployed to the isolated farmhouse. They want to know why police found it necessary to launch more than 50 tear gas canisters through the windows and walls of the family's house. Why the escalation? Why force a man they knew to be a veteran into a combatlike situation? Pacifying the inebriated Jamie could have been so easy. "If they'd just left him alone and let him pass out," Muriel says, "he'd be alive today." http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070920/NEWS01/709200372/1001/NEWS01 War: Heroes die, guilt lives on By Gregg Zoroya USA Today Army Staff Sgt. Ian Newland spotted the enemy grenade inside the Humvee. Almost simultaneously, he saw Spc. Ross McGinnis, 19 - a gunner standing in the turret of the vehicle - lower himself onto it. "I saw him jam it with his elbow up underneath him," says Newland, who was sitting inches away. "He pressed his whole body with his back (armor) plate to smother it up against the radios." The heat and flash of an explosion followed, and McGinnis was killed. Hours later, after surgery for shrapnel wounds, Newland realized the enormity of what happened: McGinnis had sacrificed himself to save four other soldiers in the Humvee on Dec. 4. "Why he did it? Because we were his brothers. He loved us," Newland says. Since the Iraq war began, at least five Americans - two soldiers; two Marines, including one stationed at Kane'ohe; and a Navy SEAL - are believed to have thrown themselves on grenades to save comrades. Each time, the service member died from massive wounds. Heroic acts mark every war; among the most remarkable involve self-sacrifice. "What a decision that is," says Frank Farley, a Temple University psychologist who studies bravery. "I can't think of anything more profound in human nature." Survivors, while deeply grateful for their lives, find the aftermath complicated. According to interviews with a dozen surviving soldiers, sailors and Marines, there remains an overpowering sense of guilt and an unspoken feeling that they need to be worthy of the sacrifice. "There's always talk (in the Army) about being the hero," says Newland, 27, now in Schweinfurt, Germany. He has been diagnosed with mild traumatic brain injury from the December blast and post-traumatic stress disorder. In the military, "everyone always tells their friends, 'I'd take a bullet for you,' " Newland says. "I've read books and seen plenty of movies about it. But to actually live through a situation like that, have someone do that, is just - there's nothing else more courageous that a person can do in their entire life. ... So basically, I try not to live my life in vain for what he's done." Such heroic acts almost always lead to a military review for the Medal of Honor, the highest U.S. military decoration. The medal was awarded posthumously in the first instance of such heroism in Iraq to Marine Cpl. Jason Dunham, 22, of Scio, N.Y. He covered a grenade with his helmet on April 14, 2004, and saved the lives of two Marines in western Iraq. Dunham died eight days later. A HEAVY BURDEN Anyone who wraps himself around an explosive charge cannot block all of its destructive power. Survivors caught nearby describe intense heat, a shattering pressure wave, dazed awareness, ears ringing or even burst eardrums and a world around them that sounds for several seconds as if it's underwater. Then there's the blood, from muscles, nerves or arteries slashed by shrapnel. That's just the physical harm. Emotional damage surfaces later when a survivor tries to square his life with his friend's death, says Navy Lt. Cmdr. Shannon Johnson, who counsels frontline combat soldiers in Baghdad. "The guilt that those left behind have is sometimes compounded by a sense of unworthiness," she says. "They cannot accept that their lives were worth more than the life of their loved comrade. They are left with the heavy burden of trying to measure up to the great sacrifice so that they could live on. For some, the burden is too much." On the battlefield, the military tries to provide counseling for survivors whenever lives are lost. At home, therapists with the Department of Veterans Affairs say survivor's guilt is among the common issues soldiers and Marines bring home from war. "Being saved by someone from heroics could lead to a sort of (emotional crisis)," says Ira Katz, head of mental health for the VA. " 'He died for me. I really have to prove myself worthy.' And that's probably a very natural response." Last September, Petty Officer Michael Monsoor, 25, of Garden Grove, Calif., fell on a grenade that landed on a rooftop in Ramadi, where he and two other Navy SEALs were stationed as part of a sniper team. Monsoor saved the lives of the other two. "You think about him everyday. And everything pretty much revolves around what he did," says a 29-year-old Navy lieutenant with the SEALs, married and the father of one. He declined to be identified as a matter of department policy. "You'd like to tell yourself that you'd do what Mikey did. But until you're faced with that situation, you really don't know." Marine Sgt. Nicholas Jones still questions his own worth after a nearly identical experience two years before in Fallujah. Jones entered a house defended by insurgents when his best friend, Sgt. Rafael Peralta, a Kane'ohe Marine, fell in front of him with a gunshot wound to the neck. Seconds later, an enemy grenade landed near Peralta, who grabbed it and pulled it underneath his chest. The blast killed Peralta immediately. Four other Marines, including Jones, were wounded. Peralta, 25, was born in Mexico, graduated from high school in San Diego and became a U.S. citizen in 2000, when he joined the Marines. He was a member of the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, which arrived in Iraq just one month before he was killed. "It's weird to think you get a second chance on life because of someone's unselfishness," says Jones, 24, of Ontario, Calif., who suffered shrapnel wounds in the explosion. "It almost makes you feel less, you know? Less of a person. It's like: Why did somebody go out and do something so unselfish just so that I could have the rest of my life?" 'SELF-DESTRUCTIVE MODE' Some survivors have nearly been destroyed in the wake of being saved. Former Marine Cpl. Kelly Miller, of Eureka, Calif., survived because Dunham, the Medal of Honor winner, fell on that grenade in 2004. As part of Dunham's patrol that day Miller, 24, has agonized endlessly in the intervening years over blame, guilt and whether he should have died, rather than Dunham. He became introverted and angry, says his mother, Linda Miller. "He went into the self-destructive mode," she says. Last September after a night of drinking, he flipped his Nissan sports car. He suffered a broken arm and his girlfriend, Kellyn Griffin, was severely injured. Felony driving charges are pending. Deborah Dunham, mother of Jason Dunham, wrote a letter on Miller's behalf to the court, explaining that "Kelly has been chasing his personal demons since Jason gave him the gift of a second chance of life." A similar struggle consumed Staff Sgt. Jeffery Gantt. A member of the Virginia National Guard, Gantt was driving a Humvee on Oct. 26, 2005, when the gunner of the vehicle, Sgt. James "Ski" Witkowski, apparently tried to block a grenade from falling inside the vehicle and died in the blast. "It's almost like time stops. It's like you're outside of your body and you're looking at what's going on," says Gantt, 37, of Fredericksburg, Va. Gantt is on medical leave from his civilian job as a corrections officer, and has been diagnosed with PTSD and a mild brain injury. Gantt fights the anger he feels for not having done enough - in his view - to keep Witkowski from sacrificing himself on the grenade. "I remember one day I asked myself, 'Why are you so mad? Why can't you let this go?' And I could feel my chest tighten and I was so (angry)," Gantt says. His girlfriend of six years, Sheila Ward, says that having his life spared has changed Gantt completely. "I don't know anything about him (anymore)," she says. JUST AN ORDINARY GUY The families of men who gave their lives also struggle with emotional crosscurrents. Tom McGinnis felt a surge of different emotions over losing his only son: the overpowering grief, pride over the Medal of Honor nomination and wariness about the heroism hoopla. He knew Ross could have rolled out of the gunner's turret and escaped the blast; he felt guilty for nearly wishing his son had done just that. McGinnis also understood the potential for survivor's guilt when he buried his son at Arlington National Cemetery early this year. After the ceremony, the elder McGinnis met Newland and two other soldiers saved by his son's heroism, and he consoled them. "I tried to emphasize to them that they can't continue living thinking they're indebted to Ross for what he did," the father says. "They can't go on for the rest of their lives thinking, 'I'm here because of Ross.' I wouldn't think Ross would want them to feel that way. "Things just happen." McGinnis says he does not want his son depicted as larger-than-life. The father says his son loved rebuilding car engines, worked at McDonald's and had a gift for making people laugh. But he was a disinterested student and barely graduated from high school. "He wasn't exceptional. He was just like you and me," Tom McGinnis says. "He just made a split-second decision (to fall on the grenade). He did what he thought was right. That doesn't make him extraordinary. He just did an extraordinary thing." -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: clip_image002.gif Type: image/gif Size: 73 bytes Desc: not available URL: From ldxar1 at tesco.net Sat Oct 6 18:04:20 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Sun, 7 Oct 2007 02:04:20 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] IRAQ: Migration and refugees, Sept-Oct 2007 Message-ID: <25a701c8087d$fe3094b0$0802a8c0@andy1> * Iraqis top asylum figures for west * Migration reshapes Iraq's ethnoreligious demographics * Leaving Home by Riverbend http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/news/opendoc.htm?tbl=NEWS&id=46f3b2652 Iraqis top latest asylum figures for industrialized countries This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesperson Ron Redmond - to whom quoted text may be attributed - at the press briefing, on 21 September 2007, at the Palais des Nations in Geneva. The number of Iraqis applying for asylum in industrialized countries went up by 45 percent in the first half of 2007 compared to the previous six months, according to our latest quarterly statistical report on asylum trends in industrialized countries. The information is based on official information provided by governments. Iraqis made some 19,800 asylum claims during the first six months of 2007 in the 36 industrialized countries included, an increase of 45 percent compared to the last six months of 2006, when 13,600 applications were received. The Iraqi number for the first six months is already approaching the total figure for all of 2006 - 22,200. Iraqis were the No. 1 nationality applying for asylum in industrialized countries in the first half of the year. This latest figure, which reflect continuing violence in Iraq, are more than double those for the first six months of 2006, when a total of 8,500 asylum applications were submitted by Iraqis. If this trend is maintained, by the end of the year the number of Iraqi asylum seekers might reach over 40,000, the highest number since 2002. Almost half of all Iraqi applications (some 9,300), were submitted in Sweden. The large Iraqi community in that country and its strong social network might account for the high number of Iraqi asylum seekers there. Greece registered some 3,500 asylum claims by Iraqis in the first half of this year, while Spain and Germany recorded 1,500 and 820 applications respectively. When all nationalities applying for asylum are taken into account, the United States was by far the largest recipient of new asylum claims during the first six months of 2007. It had an estimated 26,800 applications, some 1,200 more than during the second semester of 2006. Sweden remained the second largest recipient of new asylum claims from all nationalities throughout the same period, with a total of 17,700 people applying for asylum. Greece became the third most important destination for asylum seekers, with a record-high of 14,700 new asylum applications. In addition to reflecting an increase in new arrivals (particularly of Iraqi nationals), the figures also reflect special procedures introduced in late 2006 by the Greek authorities to clear a backlog of asylum applications. France ranked fourth among the 36 industrialized countries with some 14,000 claims, followed by the United Kingdom (12,700), Canada (11,400), Germany (8,200), and Austria (5,700). Over the past few years, the overall number of new asylum claims submitted in the 36 industrialized countries covered by UNHCR's report has decreased continuously. This trend, however, was reversed in the second half of 2006, when numbers started to rise. Assuming that current patterns remain unchanged, it can be expected that the total number of asylum claims lodged in industrialized countries in 2007 might be between 290,000 and 320,000, the first increase since 2001. The main countries of origin of asylum applicants in the first six months of this year were Iraq (19,800), China (8,600), Pakistan (7,300), Serbia and Montenegro (7,200) and the Russian Federation (6,500). You can find a press release with more information, as well as copies of the full report at the back of the room. The report ("Asylum Levels and Trends in Industrialized Countries, Second Quarter 2007,") can be found in our website. Story date: 21 September 2007 UNHCR Briefing Notes http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/09/19/africa/19displaced.php?WT.mc_id=rssfrontpage Migration reshapes Iraq's sectarian landscape By James Glanz and Alissa J. Rubin Published: September 18, 2007 BAGHDAD: A vast internal migration is radically reshaping Iraq's ethnic and sectarian landscape, according to new data collected by thousands of relief workers, but displacement in the most populous and mixed areas is surprisingly complex, suggesting that partitioning the country into semiautonomous Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish enclaves would not be easy. The migration data, which are expected to be released this week by the Iraqi Red Crescent Organization but were given in advance to The New York Times, indicate that in Baghdad alone there are now nearly 170,000 families, accounting for almost a million people, that have fled their homes in search of security, shelter, water, electricity, functioning schools or jobs to support their families. The figures show that many families move twice, three times or more, first fleeing immediate danger and then making more considered calculations based on the availability of city services or schools for their children. Finding neighbors of their own sect is just one of those considerations. Over all, the patterns suggest that despite the ethnic and sectarian animosity that has gripped the country, at least some Iraqis would rather continue to live in mixed communities. The Red Crescent compiled the figures from reports filed as recently as the end of August by tens of thousands of relief workers scattered across all parts of Iraq who are straining to provide aid for an estimated 280,000 families swept up nationwide in an enormous and complex migration. A bird's-eye view of the data suggests that since the bombing of a revered Shiite mosque in February 2006 triggered severe sectarian strife, Sunnis generally have been moving north and west, Shiites south, and Christians to the far north. But the picture in the mixed and highly populous center of the country is, if anything, becoming more complicated. It is this mixed population center, the often violent interface between more homogeneous Sunni and Shiite regions, that some advocates of partition have suggested would separate into more homogeneous areas as Iraqis seek safety among members of their own sects. But the new figures show that the migration is not neatly dividing Baghdad along the Tigris, separating Sunnis who live predominantly on the west bank from Shiites, who live predominantly on the east. Instead, some Sunnis are moving to the predominantly Shiite side of the river, into neighborhoods that are relatively secular, mixed and where services are better, according to Red Crescent staff. Just last week within Baghdad itself, a Sunni tribe of 250 families that lived in Dora, one of the most violent neighborhoods, was forced to flee. Rather than going to an area where they would be with others of their sect, they went to their neighbors to the south, in Abu Dshir, a Shiite area. They were welcomed by the local tribe and given places to stay in people's homes, according to field staff both for the Red Crescent and the International Office for Migration, an intergovernmental agency. Still, some poor Iraqis, for example those fleeing ethnic cleansing by Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia in villages in the eastern province of Diyala, make the only choice available to them: head for Baghdad and stop in one of the refugee camps on the fringes of the city amid the other desperately poor. The size and scope of the migration has elicited deep concern on the part of aid officials. Relief workers "have a mammoth task to alleviate the sufferings of this vast number of Iraqis," a draft report on the Red Crescent figures says. Although Iraqis of every income level, sect, ethnicity and region of the country have been caught up in this migration, perhaps the most tragic consequences turn up where enormous numbers of poor Iraqi villagers have collected in camps, shantytowns and urban slums after leaving behind almost everything they owned, said Dr. Said Hakki, a physician who is the president of the Red Crescent. "It's tragic, absolutely tragic," Hakki said. "I have been a surgeon all my life, and I have seen death many times; that never scared me, never shook me. But when I saw the toll here in Iraq," he said, referring to the groups of displaced people, "that definitely shook me." "How could a human let human beings suffer so much for so long?" Hakki said. A jump in the recorded number of displaced people toward the end of the summer led the Red Crescent to delay releasing the report for about 10 days as the organization checked and double-checked the figures, Hakki said. But he said that the figures, based on data collected in 130 branch offices, including 43 in Baghdad, by about 95,000 Red Crescent volunteers and a smaller number of regular employees, survived the scrutiny. The Red Crescent figures, which are collected periodically, have broadly been consistent with data assembled by the International Organization for Migration, which is affiliated with the United Nations and collects its data from the Iraqi government and other sources. But when contacted about the politically delicate findings in the latest Red Crescent report, a spokesman for the Ministry of Displacement and Migration, which tracks internal displacement for the government, said he believed that the figures were too high. "The Red Crescent Organization, and even other international organizations, we don't consider their statistics to be official," said the spokesman, Sattar Nowroz. Nowroz repeated the government's oft-stated claim that thousands of families have returned to their homes after the start of a new Iraqi security plan that is running concurrently with an American troop increase. But figures at both the Red Crescent and the Organization of Migration have previously shown that the numbers of internally displaced Iraqis has soared since the troop increase began. Nowroz conceded that the migration ministry had just 600 employees nationwide to track displaced people. The ministry tracks only displaced people who come forward voluntarily and pass a series of bureaucratic hurdles involving paperwork at a minimum of three different government offices, Nowroz said. Red Crescent workers point to a number of trends during the summer that contributed to the increased numbers that their organization is seeing in Baghdad. Fighting in Diyala set people on the roads, fleeing the ongoing military operations by the American military against extremist Sunni Arab fighters. People who had fled to Jordan and Syria began to return because both countries began to enforce visa requirements for Iraqis who wanted to stay. Sunnis also began to flee their homes because of the clashes between the Awakening movements, groups of Sunni Arab tribesmen who banded together to fight Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, a homegrown extremist group which American intelligence sources believe has foreign leadership. Iraqis considering just when to return from abroad may also have chosen the end of summer because school was approaching and some neighborhoods have seen reduced violence with the increased American troop presence. But when the Iraqis return, they often find that their homes have been looted or occupied, and they join the rolls of displaced people. "Not all of this is because of the unsecure situation," said Mazin Salloum, secretary general of the Iraqi Red Crescent Organization. In Baghdad, many of the displacements measured by the Red Crescent are secondary or tertiary. Many people have already moved once and the statistics are reflecting their second or, in some cases, their third move. While the fear of sectarian violence or of being caught in ongoing military operations motivates people to make their initial move, it is the desire for better living conditions that drives them to make subsequent ones. Some people first go to relatives in areas outside Baghdad, but then migrate back into the city as they search for jobs, and for more access to electricity, water and schools. "It's like sea waves, tides that come in and out," said Laith Abdul Aziz, the Red Crescent's disaster manager for Iraq, who has been displaced himself. "All this data will be reversed," he said. "Winter is coming and those who have migrated to villages will come back to where there is good shelter, roofs that don't leak, fuel, food." But some of the poorest displaced do not have even those choices. The Boob Sham camp, run by the Red Crescent Organization, sits forlornly on a swath of scrub desert that was once the site of an Iraqi Army barracks bombed by the Americans in 2003. Opened in northeastern Baghdad in June for 17 Shiite families of the Anbekia tribe who were fleeing Diyala, it now has 52 families, and two of them just arrived Monday. Most live in tents but a few families have one room shelters made of mud mixed with hay. Farmers and village tradesmen, they fled when gunmen from Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia began a systematic sweep of their area. Hadi Hassan, 39, who came here with 13 family members, said six villages of the Anbekia tribe had already been emptied, including his. He heard from neighbors that Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia blew up his house after he left. Now the militants were continuing their cleansing, and another four villages of the tribe were under pressure. The families were poor before they fled, but because most of them had no time to pack their belongings, they are even poorer now. Hassan's family was one of those. He loaded his wife and children into his car and drove to Baghdad because he has two sisters living here, but when he arrived he found that each had a one-room house for their families; there was no room for his. Since he arrived he has had to sell his car - he got $1,500 for it - because he needed to feed his family of six and he wanted to help the other seven relatives who fled with him, who are all women and children. Three of his sons stared shyly at the Red Crescent staff members; a fourth was nursing at Hassan's wife's breast. "Please help our men find a job," she said. The children traced designs with their plastic sandals in the shelter's earthen floor and then stood in silence in the doorway staring at the open scrubland. "They remember their home, they remember climbing our date palms and eating the fruit right from the tree," Hassan said. "But here. ..." His voice trailed off, and he gestured at the scrub that lay just outside and shook his head. "No trees." http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/2007_09_01_riverbendblog_archive.html#828763212765794127#828763212765794127 Leaving Home... Two months ago, the suitcases were packed. My lone, large suitcase sat in my bedroom for nearly six weeks, so full of clothes and personal items, that it took me, E. and our six year old neighbor to zip it closed. Packing that suitcase was one of the more difficult things I've had to do. It was Mission Impossible: Your mission, R., should you choose to accept it is to go through the items you've accumulated over nearly three decades and decide which ones you cannot do without. The difficulty of your mission, R., is that you must contain these items in a space totaling 1 m by 0.7 m by 0.4 m. This, of course, includes the clothes you will be wearing for the next months, as well as any personal memorabilia- photos, diaries, stuffed animals, CDs and the like. I packed and unpacked it four times. Each time I unpacked it, I swore I'd eliminate some of the items that were not absolutely necessary. Each time I packed it again, I would add more 'stuff' than the time before. E. finally came in a month and a half later and insisted we zip up the bag so I wouldn't be tempted to update its contents constantly. The decision that we would each take one suitcase was made by my father. He took one look at the box of assorted memories we were beginning to prepare and it was final: Four large identical suitcases were purchased- one for each member of the family and a fifth smaller one was dug out of a closet for the documentation we'd collectively need- graduation certificates, personal identification papers, etc. We waited. and waited. and waited. It was decided we would leave mid to late June- examinations would be over and as we were planning to leave with my aunt and her two children- that was the time considered most convenient for all involved. The day we finally appointed as THE DAY, we woke up to an explosion not 2 km away and a curfew. The trip was postponed a week. The night before we were scheduled to travel, the driver who owned the GMC that would take us to the border excused himself from the trip- his brother had been killed in a shooting. Once again, it was postponed. There was one point, during the final days of June, where I simply sat on my packed suitcase and cried. By early July, I was convinced we would never leave. I was sure the Iraqi border was as far away, for me, as the borders of Alaska. It had taken us well over two months to decide to leave by car instead of by plane. It had taken us yet another month to settle on Syria as opposed to Jordan. How long would it take us to reschedule leaving? It happened almost overnight. My aunt called with the exciting news that one of her neighbors was going to leave for Syria in 48 hours because their son was being threatened and they wanted another family on the road with them in another car- like gazelles in the jungle, it's safer to travel in groups. It was a flurry of activity for two days. We checked to make sure everything we could possibly need was prepared and packed. We arranged for a distant cousin of my moms who was to stay in our house with his family to come the night before we left (we can't leave the house empty because someone might take it). It was a tearful farewell as we left the house. One of my other aunts and an uncle came to say goodbye the morning of the trip. It was a solemn morning and I'd been preparing myself for the last two days not to cry. You won't cry, I kept saying, because you're coming back. You won't cry because it's just a little trip like the ones you used to take to Mosul or Basrah before the war. In spite of my assurances to myself of a safe and happy return, I spent several hours before leaving with a huge lump lodged firmly in my throat. My eyes burned and my nose ran in spite of me. I told myself it was an allergy. We didn't sleep the night before we had to leave because there seemed to be so many little things to do. It helped that there was no electricity at all- the area generator wasn't working and 'national electricity' was hopeless. There just wasn't time to sleep. The last few hours in the house were a blur. It was time to go and I went from room to room saying goodbye to everything. I said goodbye to my desk- the one I'd used all through high school and college. I said goodbye to the curtains and the bed and the couch. I said goodbye to the armchair E. and I broke when we were younger. I said goodbye to the big table over which we'd gathered for meals and to do homework. I said goodbye to the ghosts of the framed pictures that once hung on the walls, because the pictures have long since been taken down and stored away- but I knew just what hung where. I said goodbye to the silly board games we inevitably fought over- the Arabic Monopoly with the missing cards and money that no one had the heart to throw away. I knew then as I know now that these were all just items- people are so much more important. Still, a house is like a museum in that it tells a certain history. You look at a cup or stuffed toy and a chapter of memories opens up before your very eyes. It suddenly hit me that I wanted to leave so much less than I thought I did. Six AM finally came. The GMC waited outside while we gathered the necessities- a thermos of hot tea, biscuits, juice, olives (olives?!) which my dad insisted we take with us in the car, etc. My aunt and uncle watched us sorrowfully. There's no other word to describe it. It was the same look I got in my eyes when I watched other relatives and friends prepare to leave. It was a feeling of helplessness and hopelessness, tinged with anger. Why did the good people have to go? I cried as we left- in spite of promises not to. The aunt cried. the uncle cried. My parents tried to be stoic but there were tears in their voices as they said their goodbyes. The worst part is saying goodbye and wondering if you're ever going to see these people again. My uncle tightened the shawl I'd thrown over my hair and advised me firmly to 'keep it on until you get to the border'. The aunt rushed out behind us as the car pulled out of the garage and dumped a bowl of water on the ground, which is a tradition- its to wish the travelers a safe return. eventually. The trip was long and uneventful, other than two checkpoints being run by masked men. They asked to see identification, took a cursory glance at the passports and asked where we were going. The same was done for the car behind us. Those checkpoints are terrifying but I've learned that the best technique is to avoid eye-contact, answer questions politely and pray under your breath. My mother and I had been careful not to wear any apparent jewelry, just in case, and we were both in long skirts and head scarves. The trip was long and uneventful, other than two checkpoints being run by masked men. They asked to see identification, took a cursory glance at the passports and asked where we were going. The same was done for the car behind us. Those checkpoints are terrifying but I've learned that the best technique is to avoid eye-contact, answer questions politely and pray under your breath. My mother and I had been careful not to wear any apparent jewelry, just in case, and we were both in long skirts and head scarves. Syria is the only country, other than Jordan, that was allowing people in without a visa. The Jordanians are being horrible with refugees. Families risk being turned back at the Jordanian border, or denied entry at Amman Airport. It's too high a risk for most families. We waited for hours, in spite of the fact that the driver we were with had 'connections', which meant he'd been to Syria and back so many times, he knew all the right people to bribe for a safe passage through the borders. I sat nervously at the border. The tears had stopped about an hour after we'd left Baghdad. Just seeing the dirty streets, the ruins of buildings and houses, the smoke-filled horizon all helped me realize how fortunate I was to have a chance for something safer. By the time we were out of Baghdad, my heart was no longer aching as it had been while we were still leaving it. The cars around us on the border were making me nervous. I hated being in the middle of so many possibly explosive vehicles. A part of me wanted to study the faces of the people around me, mostly families, and the other part of me, the one that's been trained to stay out of trouble the last four years, told me to keep my eyes to myself- it was almost over. It was finally our turn. I sat stiffly in the car and waited as money passed hands; our passports were looked over and finally stamped. We were ushered along and the driver smiled with satisfaction, "It's been an easy trip, Alhamdulillah," he said cheerfully. As we crossed the border and saw the last of the Iraqi flags, the tears began again. The car was silent except for the prattling of the driver who was telling us stories of escapades he had while crossing the border. I sneaked a look at my mother sitting beside me and her tears were flowing as well. There was simply nothing to say as we left Iraq. I wanted to sob, but I didn't want to seem like a baby. I didn't want the driver to think I was ungrateful for the chance to leave what had become a hellish place over the last four and a half years. The Syrian border was almost equally packed, but the environment was more relaxed. People were getting out of their cars and stretching. Some of them recognized each other and waved or shared woeful stories or comments through the windows of the cars. Most importantly, we were all equal. Sunnis and Shia, Arabs and Kurds. we were all equal in front of the Syrian border personnel. We were all refugees- rich or poor. And refugees all look the same- there's a unique expression you'll find on their faces- relief, mixed with sorrow, tinged with apprehension. The faces almost all look the same. The first minutes after passing the border were overwhelming. Overwhelming relief and overwhelming sadness. How is it that only a stretch of several kilometers and maybe twenty minutes, so firmly segregates life from death? How is it that a border no one can see or touch stands between car bombs, militias, death squads and. peace, safety? It's difficult to believe- even now. I sit here and write this and wonder why I can't hear the explosions. I wonder at how the windows don't rattle as the planes pass overhead. I'm trying to rid myself of the expectation that armed people in black will break through the door and into our lives. I'm trying to let my eyes grow accustomed to streets free of road blocks, hummers and pictures of Muqtada and the rest. How is it that all of this lies a short car ride away? -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: clip_image001.gif Type: image/gif Size: 43 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: clip_image003.gif Type: image/gif Size: 73 bytes Desc: not available URL: From ldxar1 at tesco.net Tue Oct 9 12:39:16 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Tue, 9 Oct 2007 20:39:16 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] Prison unrest in Nigeria and globally Message-ID: <002201c80aac$13f8bc20$0802a8c0@andy1> Prisoners in Nigeria have engaged in a massive uprising during an attempt to break out, in a prison where half the inmates are on remand. A vicious repressive response left a number of prisoners dead - figures vary from eight to forty - and have prompted investigations by human rights groups. The Nigerian press put the revolt, and broader issues of prison unrest, down to continued human rights violations against inmates. Several overlapping reports indicate there may have been other incidents including an uprising at a prison earlier in the month. More prison revolts: * Unrest, barricades at Hamilton (US) "justice centre" * Riot police attack hunger protest after unrest in Trinidad prison * Crownsville (US) young offenders revolt * Small uprising at Hamblen (US) jail over food conditions * Youths revolt at Saudi prison, demand amnesty * Unrest at DeKalb (US) mental hospital * Death of inmate sparks revolt at Filipino refugee detention centre * Russia: Teen inmates revolt at Kresty prison * Unrest at Spartanburg (US) http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6990411.stm Last Updated: Tuesday, 11 September 2007, 22:37 GMT 23:37 UK Eight die in Nigeria 'jail-break' Eight inmates have been killed and at least 18 people were wounded after hundreds of prisoners tried to break out of a jail in Nigeria, police said. Riots broke out at Agodi jail in Oyo state as inmates protested against poor medical services, a jail official said. Armed inmates held jail wardens hostage for an hour. Police opened fire after hundreds of prisoners attempted a mass break-out amid the rioting. None of the prisoners managed to escape, jail officials said. Overcrowding State controller of prisons Mauren Omeli told Nigeria's NAN news agency she believed prisoners at the jail in Ibadan were rioting over fears of inadequate medical care. "They thought one of them, who was hospitalised at the weekend, was dead and that was why they revolted this morning and damaged properties and attempted to escape after overpowering the officials," she said. There are about 45,000 inmates in Nigeria - a low figure for Africa's most populous country, which has a population of more than 130 million. But prison riots are relatively common in Nigeria's overcrowded jails, says the BBC's Alex Last in Lagos. Most inmates have never been convicted, languishing for years in jail awaiting trial by the country's inefficient legal system, our correspondent says. And many have already served more time in prison than if they had actually been found guilty of the crime of which they are accused. http://www.vanguardngr.com/articles/2002/viewpoints/vp720092007.html The prisoners' revolt By Onyia Elochukwu Posted to the Web: Thursday, September 20, 2007 Sorry, your browser does not support floating frames THE literary icon, J.P Clark in his masterpiece, The Wives Revolt dramatized how the elders of oil-rich Erhuwaren village in the Urhobo area prodigiously apportioned to themselves the lump side of the oil windfall supposedly meant for the benefit of the entire community. While the women folks were left to their own fate, Clark also tried to capture male chauvinism and how men's insensitivity of the plight of the women elicited an unprecedented reaction that almost cost the entire village more fortune than they could imagine. The time frame of the drama is contemporaneous with the present situation in Nigeria. The playwright as though anticipated a repeat of similar protest in our society however, never envisaged that such protest could in fact have emanated from the four walls of a prison yard. At this time the angry Agodi prison inmates however appear not to be asking for anything too much just like their women counterpart in the JP Clark's drama piece. They are not even asking for their own share of the oil money from the oil revenue, neither are they demanding for equal rights with free citizens like myself. Funnily, they appear to be merely asking for a better condition of living in their prison quarters. The Agodi prison riot which claimed the lives of about eight inmates in Ibadan is no doubt a shameful reflection of the deplorable state of many of the Nigerian prison facilities. At any rate, this incident simply amplifies the obvious fact that the sorry state of the prisons underscored the very intention for which the prison system was in the first place designed. The secluded nature of the prison environment was meant to rehab individuals' moral deformities and revive personality disorder of inmates with psychological alteration within the period of incarceration. Unfortunately, Nigerian inmates have continued to be subjected under severe human indignations almost similar to what obtains in the Guantamania Bay. Many prisoners suffer hard beatings and psychological trauma in the hands of the police who are supposedly the very custodians of the inmates' rights. As if that is not enough the new comers usually receive severe hard knocks from the old inmates who will always vex their anger on the new comers as a way of saying welcome. It is to this extent that the prisons have become a place of making people even more criminal and hardened than they actually were before being imprisoned. The prisons therefore, instead of rehabilitating inmates have turned out to cause even more harm on their entire moral nomenclature. One may then ask whether becoming an inmate totally eliminates one's status of citizenship. Don't prisoners deserve to be treated at least with minimum civility, courtesy and respect? It will be a sheer cynicism of the authorities concerned to continue to claim ignorance to the plight of these inmates. Again, one may want to know: Don't the inmates deserve the right to better condition of living or even ask for a retouching of their prison quarters as Madam Speaker would graciously ask for? By the way, how much does it cost to build new prison facilities of international standard? At worst this will only gulp just about 10 per cent of Madam Speaker's N628 million stupendous house renovation contract. Be that as it may, the critical point is that the nation's prisons are presently in dire need of attention. There is an urgent demand for the overhauling of the nation's entire prison system. First of all, the Police should be made to define the limit of their severance offensives on suspects. Prison staff and other prison agencies should be made to respect the basic principles of prison operations and the rights of inmates even while in custody. The era of 'salute the kodo' and other forms of man inhumanity to man within the prison confinement should be stopped. Also problem confronting the prison system is not far separated from the enormous problems within the judiciary system. The court should also help matters by treating all court cases with most deserved despatch. In addition the court should also find an alternative way of punishing accused persons and persons found guilty of criminal charges rather than incarcerating them for a long time since this appears the only means of decongesting the prisons of human over-flow. http://allafrica.com/stories/200709140800.html Nigeria: Journalist Beaten Senseless By Police And Guards While Covering Prison Riot Reporters sans Fronti?res (Paris) PRESS RELEASE 14 September 2007 Posted to the web 14 September 2007 Reporters Without Borders condemns a violent assault on Tope Abiola, the deputy editor of the privately-owned Nigeria Tribune daily newspaper, who was beaten unconscious by prison guards and police at Agadi prison in Ibadan (in the southwestern state of Oyo) on 11 September while trying to cover the aftermath of a riot by inmates. "Nigerian journalists are often subjected to violence on the least pretext, without anyone ever being punished," the press freedom organisation said. "We call on the government to put an end to this impunity by ordering investigations that result in those responsible being identified and punished, regardless of whether they are political party activists or police officers." An estimated 40 inmates were killed when guards put down a riot in Agadi prison on 10 September in which many detainees tried to escape. Oyo comptroller of prisons Maureen Omeili said no journalists would be allowed to visit the scene of the riot as it was an internal matter that did not concern the press. Abiola was one of many journalists who nonetheless went to the prison the next day, arguing that such a large death toll in one of the country's oldest prisons could not be ignored. He was taking photos of bodies and trying to count them as they were being removed from the prison when police and guards beat him until he lost consciousness. Fellow journalists who went to his aid were also beaten. Abiola was hospitalised but his life is not in danger. Violence against journalists also marred the 11 September inauguration of a new road near Ibadan by the governor of Oyo. When the ceremony was over, political activists blocked the road and demanded money from the governor. They turned on other people present, including journalists, after the governor fled. Gbenga Abegunde of the privately-owned Daily Independent newspaper was hit by several stones in the chest and a vehicle owned by African Independent Television, a privately-owned TV station, was destroyed but none of the journalists was seriously injured. Reporters Without Borders defends imprisoned journalists and press freedom throughout the world. It has nine national sections (Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland). It has representatives in Bangkok, London, New York, Tokyo and Washington. And it has more than 120 correspondents worldwide. http://story.malaysiasun.com/index.php/ct/9/cid/b8de8e630faf3631/id/281365/cs/1/ Nigerian police stop prison riot Malaysia Sun Tuesday 11th September, 2007 Nigerian police have been busy settling prisoners after a riot broke out at Agodi jail in Oyo state, as inmates protested against poor medical services. Eight inmates were killed and at least eighteen were wounded after hundreds of prisoners tried to break out of the jail. Police opened fire during the rioting to prevent the escapes. Armed inmates held jail wardens hostage for an hour after a rumour broke out that a prisoner had died in medical care over the weekend. There are about 45,000 inmates in Nigeria, a low figure for a country with a population of more than 130 million. Prison riots are relatively common in Nigeria's overcrowded jails where most inmates have never been convicted, waiting for years for trial by the country's inefficient legal system. http://www.suntimes.co.za/News/Article.aspx?id=553578 Inmates killed and injure in Nigerian prison riots AFP Published:Sep 01, 2007 KANO, Nigeria - At least two prison inmates were killed and at least 20 injured yesterday in the northern Nigerian city of Kano following violent clashes with wardens and police over a foiled jail break, police and health officials said. "There was an attempt by inmates of the central prison to scale the walls and escape but wardens were able to crush the attempt and two prisoners were killed and some others injured", Baba Mohammed, Kano police spokesman told AFP, declining to give figures for the injured. "We have received 20 inmates from the central prison who are being treated for various injuries", Rabiu Musa, a nurse at Kano general hospital told AFP. Musa did not specify the nature of the injuries. Baba Mohammed said the prisoners took advantage of the muslim Friday prayers. "When they were brought out of their cells they started rioting, pelting wardens with stones and other objects but the prison officials called us and our men were sent in to help restore order," he continued, adding: "Some inmates resisted and our men had to use some measure of force to subdue them". Nigerian prisons are usually squalid and overcrowded. Earlier this month the human rights watchdog Amnesty International published a highly critical report and urged the government to urgently improve inmates' living conditions. http://www.onlinenews.com.pk/details.php?id=117447 Wolesi Jirga panel launches probe into jail riot KABUL: The Lower House of Parliament has appointed a seven-member body to probe a recent uprising at the Pul-i-Charkhi Prison on the eastern outskirts of Kabul. The riot that erupted in the third block of the jail two days back was allegedly put down by law-enforcement officials using intoxicating gases. For an assessment of the incident, the Wolesi Jirga speaker appointed a panel comprising members of the five house commissions. The commission appointed by Younus Qanuni is headed by Attaullah Ludin, chairman of the justice panel of the lower house. Before leaving for the jail at 10am, he told journalists they would look into allegations that prisoners had been tortured. Certain inmates, declared innocent by courts, were still languishing in the jail, claimed Ludin, who slammed the use of intoxicating gases as illegal. He promised the commission would dispassionately look into the charge levelled against the jail administration. Word on the prison riot got out on Saturday, but details of the incident remain sketchy. A jail warden told Pajhwok Afghan News prisoners held at the third block gave prison officials poisonous food. About 400 prisoners later started rioting and chanted Allah-o-Akbar (God is Great), he said, alleging the inmates wanted to escape but 100 Afghan National Army (ANA) and police personnel frustrated their attempt. Major-General Abdul Salam Esmat, head of prisons at the Justice Ministry, said some prisoners on the first floor of the third block planned to go on strike. Police went in to maintain security, but the prisoners sprinkled the policemen with oil and torched blankets and cushions. He added ANA soldiers then used anesthetic gases to put down the riot, Esmat explained, saying the situation was calm at the prison, housing approximately three thousand prisoners. Three inmates were killed and 30 others wounded in a similar riot in February this year. http://www.tribune.com.ng/14092007/news/news12.html NHRC to investigate Agodi prison riot 14.09.2007 THE National Human Rights Commission will investigate the Agodi Prison riot in Ibadan, Oyo State, which claimed some lives. The Executive Secretary of the commission, Mrs. Kehinde Ajoni, said this in Abuja on Thursday when she visited the Comptroller General of Nigeria Prisons, Mr. Olusola Ogundipe. Mrs. Ajoni expressed concern at the incessant jail breaks across the country, leading to loss of many lives and destruction of property. She said the commission was alarmed by the loss of lives and property at the Agodi Prison riot, saying she would be in Ibadan to assess the situation. Mr. Ogundipe said what happened in Agodi Prison was like a time bomb. The prison, he said, had a capacity for 390 inmates but that as of September 11, it was being occupied by 680 inmates with over 612 of them awaiting trial. The comptroller general disclosed that a panel had been set up to look into the remote and immediate causes of the incident. Meanwhile, no fewer than six prison inmates are now on danger list at the Casualty Department of the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, following the gun shots wounds they received from prison warders on Tuesday. A male doctor in the hospital told the Nigerian Tribune that the inmates were abandoned by the prison officials. He said some of the inmates needed to be operated upon but there was no money to carry out the process and the hospital management could not do it free of charge. It was also gathered at the hospital that the state Comptroller of Prisons, Mrs. Maurine Omeili, had not visited the hospital to know the state of health of the injured inmates. http://www.wcpo.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=0aac58d3-3aed-4f54-80b4-a00840698aa5 Four Face More Charges After Riot Situation At Justice Center Reported by: Laura Hornsby Email: laura.hornsby at wcpo.com Last Update: 9/09 8:24 pm Four inmates at the Hamilton County Justice Center are facing more charges after a riot situation on Friday. Reports from the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office said the inmates were all engaged in disorderly conduct after one flooded a cell leading to at least one other inmate barricading himself inside a cell. One of the inmates also threatened a corrections officer and his family. Copyright 2007 The E.W. Scripps Co. http://www.trinidadexpress.com/index.pl/article_news?id=161201725 Riot cops quell hunger protest Richard Charan South Bureau Wednesday, September 12th 2007 Riot control officers were called out to crush a hunger protest by ten men charged with kidnapping businesswoman Samdaye Rampersad and burying her alive. The crackdown came shortly after the men appeared in the Couva Magistrate's Court, where the preliminary enquiry into the murder is almost complete. The men became violent and abusive, and action was taken when Court and Process officers asked for back-up to prevent an attempt to break out, police said. Last week two murder accused prisoners escaped from the courthouse. Relatives said the men banged on the walls of a high-security holding cell within the court building, begging and crying for home cooked meals. The mother of one prisoner said: "The police are saying they tried to escape but it is two years now they in jail and the case almost over. Why would they escape now? They were just trying to get food. They didn't eat since breakfast." CSU officers reported that prisoners broke the bulbs in the cell during a rampage, and fought other prisoners while being herded into trucks to take them to the Golden Grove, Arouca prison. The protest ended when about 20 Crime Suppression Unit officers, called in from San Fernando, went into the cells. A protest last November by the same prisoners triggered a response by riot squad officers. Eleven men are charged with the murder of businesswoman Samdaye Rampersad. One of them, Steve McGilvery, 24, escaped in June while being treated at the Mt Hope Hospital. The kidnap/murder accused are Pernell Martin, Phillip "The Boss" Boodram, Kervin Williams, Vivian Clarke, Mario Grappie, Subhash Harryman, Ricky Singh, Bobby Sankar, Cooper Mootoo and Christopher James. They allegedly snatched Rampersad from her shop at Petit Bourg in November 2005. Her body was found in a shallow grave in a sugarcane field at Claxton Bay in January 2006. The men are being defended by attorneys Prakash Ramadhar, Brian Dabideen, Selwyn Ramlal, Keith Beckles and Ian Brooks. State attorney Aden Stroude is prosecuting. The enquiry was adjourned to Monday. Two men charged with an unrelated murder escaped the Couva Court the Couva Magistrate's Court last week Monday, and there has been a heightened security presence since. Three officers on duty at the time of the escape, have been suspended pending the outcome of an internal investigation. http://www.hometownannapolis.com/cgi-bin/read/2007/09_14-65/TOP Officer swung at, teen hit with Taser in riot last month County police called frequently to behavioral treatment center By HEATHER RAWLYK, Staff Writer Published September 14, 2007 A riot erupted at a behavioral treatment facility in Crownsville late last month, resulting in a teenage boy being zapped with a Taser, a staff member's neck getting sliced by glass, and a county police officer being nearly knocked out by his own baton. Capt. Ed Bergin, commander of the county police Western District, mentioned the incident at a community meeting Wednesday night. Officials didn't issue a news release after the riot took place and media aren't allowed to see reports involving officers' injuries, police said. Just after 10 p.m. Aug. 26, the staff at the Potomac Ridge Behavioral Health Care residential treatment center called police and said, "These kids are out of control," according to court documents. It was the 41st time county police had been called to assist staff members at the facility in a year, said Sgt. Sara Schriver, a county police spokesman. At least six officers went to the center, at 15 Romig Drive, and found 28 juvenile residents of the facility attacking staff members, yelling, and running through the hallways. Police walked upstairs and headed to the east wing of the two-story brick building off Generals Highway, but couldn't get through - a 17-year-old girl was standing in their way and refused to move, police said. Officer David Stallings tried to move the girl aside, according to court documents, and the teen came back in a "fighting stance" and yelled, "Don't push me!" The officer grabbed her and tried to take her to the ground, but he lost control of the girl and dropped his baton in the process. The teen grabbed the baton, which was extended and locked in "striking position," and tried to take a swing at the officer's head. But before she could make contact a second officer jumped in and knocked the weapon from her hands. The girl kept fighting, kicking and punching at Officer Stallings before she was handcuffed, said Sgt. Schriver. The teen, identified as Shantay Allen, was charged as an adult with first-and second-degree assault and disorderly conduct, said Sgt. Schriver. A few minutes after police arrived at the center, the riot began to slow down, according to documents. The staff gave the residents their medications and sent them to their rooms. Police said all was quiet until a 17-year-old boy ran out of his room with a large glass cologne bottle in his hand. He yelled something that officers couldn't understand and then threw the bottle at the staff and police. The bottle missed the group and smashed against a wall, sending pieces of glass through the air, according to court documents. The glass hit staff member Vanessa Graham and sliced her neck and face. It's not clear how seriously she was injured. Staff members ran at the teen, who had his fists raised and was ready to fight back, according to the documents. The crew held him down, but the boy refused to calm down. Officer T. Baldwin said he was standing by and was afraid officers and staff members would be injured in the struggle. He said he pulled a Taser out of his holster and projected a red dot onto the teen, documents show. He ordered the boy to calm down, but the teen kept fighting. So Officer Baldwin used the Taser on him, causing the teen to stop fighting and lie still on the ground. After being subdued with the Taser, the boy followed police orders and rolled over onto his stomach. He was taken by ambulance to Anne Arundel Medical Center in Parole, as is police protocol for anyone subdued by a Taser, said Sgt. Schriver. He was released and charged as an adult with first-and second-degree assault, use of a dangerous weapon with intent to injure, and resisting arrest. He's being re-charged as a juvenile, said Kristin Riggin, a spokesman for the State's Attorney's Office. Two 17-year-old girls and a 16-year-old girl were issued juvenile citations after the incident for assault and disorderly conduct, Sgt. Schriver said. She said the incident was over within 10 minutes, which "seems like a lifetime" to officers in such a situation. She said that luckily no officers required medical attention. During the meeting Wednesday, Capt. Bergin showed concern for the residential treatment facility. "It looks like they have some problems down there," he said. "The safety of our staff and patients is of utmost concern for Potomac Ridge Health Care and myself," said Marie McBee, vice president of Potomac Ridge Behavioral Health. Ms. McBee said about six of the 28 residents at the residential treatment center were causing a "significant disturbance" that night. "Some of our children are quite traumatized," she said. "Occasionally certain things and behaviors will set them off. It was certainly one of those evenings - a series of small things occurred that culminated to a larger incident." Ms. McBee said staff members had gotten residents to calm down, but police had already been called. Some of the children have "law-enforcement issues" from incidents in their lives. They saw police and began to act aggressively. "It escalated from there," she said. The health care facility's residents are "seriously challenged" from psychiatric, behavioral and educational perspectives and participate in an integrated school and residential program at this facility, the Web site says. http://www.volunteertv.com/home/headlines/9807717.html Small Riot At Hamblen Jail Posted: 12:17 AM Sep 16, 2007 Last Updated: 12:17 AM Sep 16, 2007 Reporter: Nick Bona Morristown, Hamblen County (WVLT) -- It has been a tough week at the Hamblen county jail. Corrections officers had to put one of the felony cell blocks into lock down this morning when a small riot broke out. Deputies say it started just after 9:00 AM when an inmate hit a guard who refused to give him a second breakfast. Hamblen County officials say about 19 inmates stomped around and attempted to flood the block. They shut off water flow to the block and called in the Morristown SWAT team. The disturbance ended when the SWAT team went into the block 3:00 PM. Jailers consider the disturbance to be minor and no one was injured. Four days ago, seven inmates over-powered a guard and escaped from the cells housing misdemeanor offenders. http://www.wate.com/Global/story.asp?S=7080809&nav=0RYv Inmate's unhappiness with breakfast leads to Hamblen jail riot September 15, 2007 By KRISTYN HENTSCHEL 6 News Reporter MORRISTOWN (WATE) -- A dispute over what was served for breakfast led to an inmate uprising Saturday morning in the Hamblen County Jail. It started when an inmate was upset that he couldn't have two servings of breakfast. Officials say he punched a jailer. From there it escalated into other inmates getting involved, venting their anger by flooding their jail cells by repeatedly flushing the toilets. That's when Hamblen County Sheriff's officials called in about 50 people from various law enforcement agencies, including the Morristown SWAT team, Tennessee Highway Patrol and K-9s. The inmates threatened to throw a heavy metal object and feces at officers, but backed off when the SWAT team and dogs arrived. Five men identified as the ringleaders of the uprising, all who are being held on felonies, have been transported to jails in neighboring counties. This is the second incident at the jail this week. Seven inmates escaped on Tuesday after overpowering and beating a jailer. All seven of those prisoners are back behind bars. Both of the jailers involved in the incidents were not injured, just sore, but back at work. Officials say it could take them well into the early hours of Sunday morning to clean up the mess. http://www.metimes.com/storyview.php?StoryID=20070916-082517-7254r Youths riot in Saudi jail AFP September 16, 2007 RIYADH -- Saudi security forces used tear gas to quell a riot at a rehabilitation center for youths in the Muslim holy city of Medina, newspapers reported Sunday. Inmates aged 13 to 18 rioted Saturday in protest at their exclusion from a royal pardon granted to a number of prisoners by King Abdullah, to mark the Muslim holy month of Ramadan that started Thursday, Al Watan and Al Medina said. Al Medina said seven youths were slightly hurt while smashing equipment at the center, which houses a total of 109 inmates held for various offenses. Two of the youths were accused of inciting others to stage the riot, Al Watan said. Pardons to limited numbers of prisoners are often granted by Muslim leaders on major religious and other occasions, notably Ramadan during which Muslims abstain from food, drink, smoking, and sex from dawn to dusk. http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/health/stories/2007/09/18/mental_0919.html Mental unit needed cops to end teens' 'riot' Takeover at state hospital occurred days before Justice Department investigators visited. By ALAN JUDD, ANDY MILLER The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Published on: 09/19/07 Teenage patients broke furniture, smashed windows and attacked staff members while taking control of the adolescent unit at the state mental hospital in DeKalb County on Sept. 8. DeKalb police carrying nightsticks quelled the uprising after breaking through a barricade erected by the psychiatric patients, according to people familiar with the episode, which also was described in state records and police reports. One patient received minor injuries, authorities said. Staff members at Georgia Regional Hospital/Atlanta, vastly outnumbered, wrestled with several patients, and an officer on the facility's internal police force was almost hit in the head with a chair. The episode occurred as hospital officials prepared for a visit by investigators for the U.S. Justice Department. The agency is investigating whether conditions at Georgia Regional and at the six other state-run psychiatric hospitals violate patients' civil rights. The investigators arrived at Georgia Regional on Monday. The federal investigation began in response to articles in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution detailing questionable deaths and dangerous conditions in the state hospitals. The initial article in the series, "A Hidden Shame," focused on 14-year-old Sarah Elizabeth Crider, who died last year on the same adolescent unit where the recent disturbance occurred. The newspaper reported that from 2002 through 2006, at least 115 patients at the seven hospitals had died under suspicious circumstances, including from neglect, abuse or poor medical care - situations exacerbated by chronic overcrowding and understaffing. Those conditions also apparently contributed to the incident at Georgia Regional, four hospital employees said. "Riot may be the most accurate way to describe what happened," a Georgia Regional physician said this week. Like others who had reviewed the episode, the physician asked not to be identified by name because officials had not authorized hospital employees to speak publicly. Gwen Skinner, director of the mental health division of the Georgia Department of Human Resources, which operates the state hospitals, disputed the physician's characterization. Skinner also said hospital workers did not lose control of the unit during the episode. However, she said state officials are conducting an investigation. The evening of the disturbance, a Saturday, the adolescent unit housed two dozen patients, employees said: 17 boys and seven girls, segregated on parallel halls. Two technicians worked on each hall, and two nurses supervised both the boys and the girls. Two boys, both of whom had been committed to the hospital for psychiatric evaluation to determine their competency to stand trial, got into a fight, hospital employees said. One technician tried to restrain the assailant; the other held the victim. With the two nurses working inside a locked, glass-enclosed office, the other 15 boys were left unattended. In a spree that lasted at least 50 minutes, six patients engaged in "aggressive destructive behavior," according to an internal report prepared by the hospital's risk management director. State officials released the report Tuesday after the Journal-Constitution filed a request under the state's Open Records Act. "Tables and chairs were thrown across the room" in an effort to break into the nurses' office, the report said. Then, in an escape attempt, three patients "kicked and body slammed" a secure door that leads into a lobby that separates the boys' and girls' halls, the report said. In the lobby, the patients broke tables and cabinets and tried to burst through an exterior door. Unable either to get outside or into the girls' hall, the patients used broken furniture to barricade the exterior door, trapping the two nurses and two technicians inside, employees said. "At this point," the physician said, "the unit was under the control of the kids." At least two hospital employees dialed 911, DeKalb police records indicate. One reported the staff could not handle "uncontrolled juveniles" and that the lone facility police officer was "unable to detain all the juveniles." The other caller said patients were trying to escape and that one had scaled a fence surrounding the hospital campus. Over six tense minutes, the first caller gave the 911 operator a picture of escalating turmoil. At 6:26 p.m., patients were "attempting to break down door," the operator recorded. At 6:28, there were "17 male patients in the halls" and "doors busted open." At 6:29, "lobby is not contained." At 6:32, "patients running in the lobby throwing tables," and the hospital "does not have staff to contain them." Police officers burst through the barricaded exterior door, employees said, and rounded up the patients. Wielding nightsticks but without drawing their firearms, the officers forced the patients face down on the floor. Officials moved one patient to a state juvenile justice facility and another to a different unit at the hospital, Skinner said. The others remained on the adolescent unit. With the Justice Department investigation intensifying, officials have been moving state hospital patients to two private facilities in Atlanta - Anchor and Peachford hospitals - to ease overcrowding. Under a temporary contract, the private hospitals will be paid $620 per patient, per day. Matt Crouch, Peachford's chief executive, said Tuesday that the two hospitals, both operated by Pennsylvania-based Universal Health Services, together are accepting an average of about two state patients a day, both adults and adolescents. The patients have come from two hospitals: Georgia Regional/Atlanta and West Central Georgia Regional in Columbus, he said. http://globalnation.inquirer.net/news/breakingnews/view_article.php?article_id=90422 Discovery of dead female Vietnamese in BI jail sparks riot By Julie M. Aurelio Inquirer Last updated 07:09pm (Mla time) 09/24/2007 MANILA, Philippines -- Inmates at the Bureau of Immigration (BI) detention facility on Monday morning staged a short riot, throwing rocks and bottles after a female Vietnamese national was found dead in an isolation cell, a police official. The naked body of Teh Min Lee Dien, a Vietnamese national, was found at 10:45 a.m. Monday without signs of any injury, bruise, hematoma or any foul play. Chief Inspector Celso Rodriguez, chief of the Taguig City police investigation division, said the victim was detained at the isolation cell for apparent misconduct. Dien was last seen alive by a catering helper, Loreta Abacial, at 7 a.m. Monday. The victim even asked for her usual supply of cigarettes. Initial investigation showed Dien was formerly detained at the Bureau of Corrections in Muntinlupa City but was granted parole in May 2007. However, she was committed to the BI detention facility in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City for lack of valid immigration papers. Upon discovery of the body, the foreigners detained at the facility grew restless and violent, throwing rock and stones. Some of the glass panels and jalousies were broken during the short-lived riot as policemen from the Regional Special Action Unit were eventually able to control the inmates. Rodriguez added that since Dien was in isolation, no one was able to see how she died on Monday. The victim's body is currently at the Veronica Funeral Homes pending an autopsy. http://www.sptimes.ru/index.php?action_id=2&story_id=23112 Teenage Inmates Stage Riot in Kresty Prison By Irina Titova Staff Writer Alexander Belenky / The St. Petersburg Times A riot among juvenile detainees broke out on Friday at Kresty prison, pictured from the opposite shore of the Neva River. A riot of teenage inmates in the city's remand center Friday was a so-called "test of strength" for new authorities at the center, known colloquially as Kresty, the city's Federal Correctional Service Department or FCSD said on Monday. "Criminal structures wanted to check the new head of Kresty for strength," Interfax quoted Eduard Petrukhin, deputy head of FCSD, as saying. A criminal case under article 321 of the Russian Criminal Code has been opened, Petrukhin said. He said the FCSD managed "to calm down teenagers with the help of words" because the FCSD doesn't have the right to use weapons against them. A group of 17 teenagers held in Kresty started the riot to demand a relaxation of rules, particularly rules about the examination of parcels. The riot began unexpectedly when a group of teenage inmates went for a walk. Suddenly two young men began breaking the locks in the yard. Others followed their example and also began breaking locks in other yards, Fontanka.ru reported. Two inspectors tried to calm down the teenagers. However, stones and pieces of bricks were thrown and an inspector sustained a head wound. The rioters climbed the roof and waved linen that other inmates passed them from the cells. The FSCD called for OMON special forces officers who then arrived. However, the FSCD did not use them as they had then managed to peacefully solve the problem after 2 hours of negotiations. Meanwhile, Vladimir Malenchuk, head of the city's FCSD, said "the demands of the teenagers were absolutely illegal," Interfax said. They demanded permission to play soccer, have dumb-bells and barbells in their cells, and receive unchecked parcels with cigarettes. Malenchuk said Kresty's new authorities have tightened the center's regime. During the last three weeks officers seized about 200 mobile phones from parcels containing canned food, Malenchuk said. He said five of the 17 teenagers that took part in the riot are being kept in Kresty for very serious charges. The three of them are skinheads, and one of them is charged with the murder of a 10-year-old boy, he said. He added that four of the most active protesters might be taken to a different remand center. Adult criminal leaders provoked the riot, Malenchuk said. Sergei Khudorozhnikov, head of Kresty, said the actions were provoked by criminal leaders at large. "Someone was trying to attract attention to himself," Khudorozhnikov said. He said Kresty authorities have information that a hunger strike is being prepared in Kresty. However, he said the hunger strike would not take place on a large scale. "From our information, only adults will take part in the action but not all of them," he said. He said if needed Kresty will use force and special means, as well as special forces units, to prevent the hunger strike. http://www.goupstate.com/article/20070925/NEWS/709250328/1051/NEWS01 31 inmates charged in riot at crowded county jail By Rachel E. Leonard Published: Tuesday, September 25, 2007 | Updated: 8:55 am Thirty-one inmates were charged with inciting a riot Saturday at the Spartanburg County Detention Facility. Jail Director Larry Powers said no one was injured in the disturbance, which occurred about 7:50 p.m., except for one inmate who was pepper-sprayed. Four inmates remained in holding cells Monday. The remaining 27 are being confined to their cells 24 hours a day, for now, and being fed only sandwiches to prevent food from being thrown throughout the cells or trays being turned into makeshift weapons, Powers said. Dinner served too slow The activity took place inside inmates' cells in Pod 3, an all-male unit. A review of the incident showed inmates began complaining that a detention officer unfairly confined them to their cells and was slow in serving dinner, Powers said. They began cursing at the guard and threatening to beat him, beating and kicking doors and stopping up commodes and sinks, causing flooding, according to an incident report. The Spartanburg County Sheriff's Office's SWAT unit was called in to help calm the situation, Powers said. Officers overwhelmed Powers said overcrowding at the jail was a contributing factor to the disturbance. Pod 3, which has 48 cells designed for a maximum of 88 people, housed 166 inmates Saturday. Officers are overwhelmed, and inmates are frustrated about having to sleep on mattresses placed on the floor, longer waits for meals at the jail's canteen and reduced telephone time, he said. "The officers are doing the best they can to keep up, but it's just real difficult for them," he said. According to grievance forms, multiple inmates complained they were placed on lockdown for no reason and that the guard in charge of the pod was "teasing" inmates and taking cigarette breaks instead of feeding them dinner. The detention facility and annexes, designed with a capacity of 586 inmates, housed 951 men and women Monday. At one point this summer, it topped 1,000. From ldxar1 at tesco.net Tue Oct 9 13:26:26 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Tue, 9 Oct 2007 21:26:26 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] Uttar Pradesh anti-union crackdown prompts student unrest Message-ID: <007001c80ab2$ab1e3840$0802a8c0@andy1> Attacks on student political rights have provoked mass protests in Uttar Pradesh, India. The ruling party has launched a massive attack on freedom on campus, banning student unions. Police deployed on campus to create police state environment so as to end pro-democracy "agitation", including measures such as ID checks, bans on processions. The party in power in Uttar Pradesh, Bahujan Samaj, is a socialist-inclined party but has overseen attacks on the poor. Samajwadi Party, mentioned in the reports, is an opposition party formerly in charge in the state, also socialist. The attack on student unionism and attempt to create politics-free universities has been met with mass unrest. A Muslim university in Lucknow has also been closed down indefinitely after unrest following a murder; it is not clear to me from the coverage if the incidents at AMU in the same city is related to the wider unrest. Ditto another protest on student fees. These stories are attached at the bottom. http://sify.com/news/fullstory.php?id=14523738&vsv=SHGTslot2 Students go on a rampage in Uttar Pradesh Saturday, 08 September , 2007, 22:38 Lucknow: Students went on a rampage across Uttar Pradesh on Saturday to protest Chief Minister Mayawati's decision to ban student union elections. Angry students organised protest marches and set several vehicles on fire. A police spokesperson said that over 150 students had been taken into custody during the protests. Students torched three vehicles and damaged a bus in the town of Ballia. Over two dozen students were taken into custody in Basti town while they were holding a demonstration to protest the government's decision. A large number of students protested at Ayodhya and Faizabad. In Varanasi, incidents of stone pelting were reported from several places and students even damaged buses. Over 40 students were detained at Ferozabad after they participated in a procession to protest the decision. Security personnel were deployed across the state to prevent any untoward incident, said official sources. In Gorakhpur, a bandh call by students evoked a mixed response with a majority of shops and other business establishments remaining shut. Students burnt Mayawati's effigy at several places and shouted anti-government slogans demanding immediate withdrawal of the order. Tension also gripped the Lucknow University campus where students sat on a dharna to register their protest. Police in riot gear were deployed in and around the varsity campus and at the vice-chancellor's residence to prevent any untoward incident, police sources said. http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/002200709081822.htm Students react sharply to ban on student union elections Lucknow, Sept. 8 (PTI): Students demonstrated at several places and torched vehicles today to register their protest over the Uttar Pradesh government's decision to ban student union elections. They set ablaze three vehicles besides damaging a state roadways bus in Ballia town where educational institutions have been closed till further orders as a precautionary measure, official sources said. Over 24 students were taken into custody at Basti town while they were holding a protest demonstration, the sources said. A large number of students also held protest demonstrations at Ayodhya and Faizabad where at least one degree college - Saket Degree College - had been closed fearing unrest. Security personnel in strength had been deployed in the twin cities to prevent any untoward incident, the sources said adding that over 12 students had been taken into custody. In Gorakhpur town, protesting students had given a call for bandh which evoked good response with a majority of shops and business establishment remaining closed, they said. Protestors burnt Chief Minister Mayawati's effigy and shouted anti-government slogans demanding immediate withdrawal of the order. Tension also gripped the Lucknow campus where students sat on a dharna to register their protest. Police in riot gear had been deployed in and around the varsity campus and before the Vice-Chancellor's residence to prevent any untoward incident, police sources said. http://cities.expressindia.com/local-news/fullstory.php?newsid=255281 Students protest ban on polls *Allahabad: Roadways bus torched *Ballia: Two Roadways buses pelted with stones, two government jeeps torched *Lucknow: Students hold up traffic, put up road blockades *Varanasi: Students raise anti-government slogans Express News Service Lucknow, September 08: A day after the Uttar Pradesh government banned all students' union polls, students in the Ballia, Allahabad, Varanasi and Lucknow districts carried out a series of protests on Saturday. In Ballia, angry students barged into the office of the Excise department and the chief medical officer and torched two government jeeps. Students of various degree colleges also pelted stones at two Roadways buses and roughed up the drivers. As many as 106 students were detained at different police stations in Ballia for 'indulging in criminal activity'. Educational institutions have been closed for three days in the district. In Allahabad too, angry students torched a Roadways bus near the Medical College under George Town police circle. According to reports, around 3 in the afternoon three unidentified students stopped a Roadways bus, which was on its way to a workshop, and set it ablaze. Earlier, students of the Kulhaskar Ashram Degree College had taken out a silent procession. The police have detained six students. In Varanasi, agitated students protested outside the Kashi Vidhya Peeth and the Harish Chandra Degree College, raising slogans against the government. 29 students have been detained. In Lucknow, students observed a "Black Day" to protest against the ban. University students wore black bands and shouted anti-Mayawati government slogans. Agitated LU students also burnt an effigy of the CM. Students also scuffled with university employees when they tried to record a video of the students' demonstration. Students of various LU affiliated colleges took to the streets. Students of the Vidyant, Dayanand Anglo Vedic, Kalicharan and Kanya Kubja Vocational colleges disrupted traffic by blocking roads. Members of the Samajwadi Party's student wing - Samajwadi Chhatra Sabha - supported LU students and threatened to intensify their agitation. "We will carry out statewide protests if Mayawati does not consider our demand," said Sunil Yadav, Samajwadi Chhatra Sabha state president. He said that on September 10, activists would carry out statewide protests. http://newspostindia.com/report-14337 Parents Welcome Ban On Students' Union Elections Monday 10th of September 2007 Even as students went on rampage and resorted to arson in several parts of the state to mark their protest against the Uttar Pradesh government's ban on students' union elections, serious students and a large number of parents welcomed the decision. Meanwhile, taking serious note of the protests that culminated into tearing and defacing of her posters and hoardings that dot the skyline all over the state, Chief Minister Mayawati has ordered a crackdown on protestors. 'I will not allow lawlessness and vandalism on the university and college campuses. Those indulging in violence will be dealt with severely,' she declared in an official statement. What has come as a shot in her arm was the opposition to unions by a large chunk of students, who consider unions a 'major source of nuisance on the campuses'. However, owing to the fear of the muscle-power of students' union leaders, rarely is anyone willing to go on record. 'What a relief it is going to be sans unions on the campus', remarked a 20-year-old undergraduate student of Lucknow University. 'At least it will keep alive the academic environment that the present vice chancellor R.P. Singh had really taken pains to restore after years,' a student of M.Sc. (Physics) told IANS on condition of anonymity. 'I was reluctant to even think of seeking admission in Lucknow University essentially because of the badly vitiated campus atmosphere but sadly I failed to get admission elsewhere so I had no option,' said Sandeep Rastogi, a post-graduate studentin humanities. Ashish Pandey was yet another student who dared to condemn the students' unions openly. 'All the union leaders are interested in is to get the votes of common students to win elections which do no good to those who join universities and colleges to pursue academics,' said the research scholar. On being contacted, several parents too welcomed Mayawati's move to ban union elections in colleges and universities. 'Nothing could have been better than banning unions in universities and colleges that have turned into nurseries of vandalism and politics,' said V.K. Yadav, the father of a Lucknow University student. Santosh Sharma, whose son has just joined a well known local college, said: 'Mayawati has kept her word about bringing an end to the goondagardi let lose during the previous regime under Mulayam Singh Yadav who was largely responsible for encouraging lawlessness on the campuses.' A large number of Lucknow University teachers too were in favour of the ban. 'The ban is being opposed only by those who have vested political interests. The present vice chancellor had to really fight it out to restore an academic environment on the campus and the ban on union elections will help to establish a real semblance of order,' observed Nishi Pandey, a professor of English and member of the university's proctorial board. She claimed that most teachers had welcomed the government's decision. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Lucknow/LU_to_expel_agitating_students/articleshow/2354078.cms LU to expel agitating students 10 Sep 2007, 0542 hrs IST,TNN LUCKNOW: Even as a few students on Sunday evening took out a candlelight procession in protest against the ban on students' union elections, the Lucknow University authorities geared up to take strict action, including expulsion, against student leaders who led Saturday's protests. As many as 23 students have been identified, who led the mob which tried to create disturbance on the campus. An FIR has already been lodged against these students. They might now face expulsion from the university, sources said. Student protesters, however, argued that they only took part in peaceful protests against chief minister's diktat which is also against Supreme Court's order directing universities to hold students' union elections as per Lyngdoh committee recommendations. The students named in the FIR are: Tarun Chandra Patel, Maan Singh, Mohammed Danish, Shoab Siddiqui, Digvijay Singh, Awdhesh Kumar Verma, Sanjay Singh, Shahi Bhushan Singh, Anshul Yadav, Nihal Singh, Ravindra Singh Yadav, Ashish Dixit, Atul Singh, Ajit Yadav, Rajesh Yadav, Awdesh Verma, Kayant Tiwari, Manoj Singh, Vinod Tiwari, Ashutosh Tiwari, Raja Bhaiyya, Ashish Singh and Vinay Shukla. The list surprised many as it contained name of Tarun Chandra Patel who is known for "constructive student politics" on the campus. The list also includes names of students 'planted' in the university by student leaders who were expelled in January this year. Through these 'implants', the expelled student leaders were planning to gain foothold in the union politics. Meanwhile, heavy police force was deployed on the campus. On the directions of vice-chancellor Prof RP Singh, university proctor issued Instructions to ensure academic environment and peace on the campus. All students have been instructed to carry their identity card or fee receipt as a proof of being a student. They must produce it on demand otherwise they would be forced to leave the campus. Besides, anyone trying to disrupt the academic work would be taken to task and could also face expulsion. Suitable police action would be taken against outsiders found loitering on the campus without any work. No organisation, student leaders or any group of persons would be allowed to indulge in slogan shouting, taking out a procession or making provocative speeches. Strict disciplinary action would be taken against any such person. Students of science should enter the campus from Gate No. 3 and 4; education and arts' students may enter from Bhaurao Deoras or Gate No. 2; commerce, social work and MBA students or students whose department is close to MBA/PG Block should enter through MBA gate or PG Block Gate. All teachers and employees would enter the campus after parking their vehicles at the stands at Gate No 2 or 4. Students have been advised against crowding on the campus. Besides, they should not indulge in a behaviour which violates the good conduct or may fall under the definition of ragging. Any such activity would invite strict disciplinary action. Students have been advised to ensure peaceful environment on the campus. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Lucknow/Stir_against_students_polls_ban_/articleshow/2403287.cms Stir against students' polls ban 26 Sep 2007, 0247 hrs IST,TNN LUCKNOW: The Samajwadi Party, on Tuesday, held a statewide demonstration against the ban on students union polls and also other anti-democratic policies being pursued by the Mayawati government. The demonstrators were led by senior party leaders in all the districts. Later, a memorandum was handed over by each of them to the respective district magistrate to be forwarded to the President. In Lucknow, the SP student leaders and workers assembled at the city office from where they proceeded to the collectorate. The rains played a spoilt sport as a result of which not many activits came to the spot. They were led by Rajya Sabha member, Bhagwati Singh. Addressing the workers, Singh slammed the present government for pursuing anti-people policies and for putting a ban on the students union elections. He said these elections were a stepping stone for those who intended to make politics their career. It proved to be a learning school for many full time politicians. Despite this the government chose to ban it. Singh also referred to the scraping of unemployment allowance by the present dispensation as also the lawlessness prevailing in the state. He said 'goonda raj' has gained ascendancy and anti-social elements are roaming freely. A memorandum was handed by him to be forwarded to the president. Among the demands mentioned in the memorandum was lifting the ban on students elections, paying of arrears to the cane growers, stopping the sale of sugar mills, repealing of VAT, taking back the cases filed against the SP workers, giving back employment to such police and PAC constables whose services had been annulled by the present government. Later addressing a joint press conference, state president, Ram Sharan Das and Bhagwati Singh said the demonstrations were a success all over the state. They claimed that SP workers had turned up in large numbers in all the districts. The demonstrators were led by Ram Gopal Yadav and Shivpal Yadav in Etawah, Azam Khan in Rampur, Mata Prasad in Basti, Akhilesh Yadav in Kannauj, Ashok Bajpai in Kanpur, Naresh Agarwal in Hardoi, Brij Bhushan Tewari in Varanasi, Rewati Raman Singh in Allahabad etc. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Lucknow/Union_poll_ban_protest_fizzles_out/articleshow/2360336.cms Union poll ban protest fizzles out 12 Sep 2007, 0148 hrs IST,TNN LUCKNOW: The agitation launched by the Samajwadi Party Chhatra Sabha (SPCS) to protest against the ban on students union has fizzled out in the city with most of the university and degree colleges' student leaders behind bars presently. Not a single protest, barring one by the students of Shia College, was reported from the city on Tuesday. While the police crackdown landed many student leaders in jail, the remaining have gone underground. Some of the jailed student leaders were reported to have gone on hunger strike to protest police "high-handedness" and "Maya government's assault on democracy". SPCS leaders said that they were lying low and regrouping for a fresh movement. However, contrary to their claims, common student was least in the agitation. Lucknow University campus was under police siege for the third consecutive day but there were no protests at all. Similar reports were received from other degree colleges having students union in the city. However, few SPCS activists said to be students of Shia Degree College burnt effigy of the chief minister at Victoria Stree http://sify.com/news/fullstory.php?id=14533068 SP workers stage protest against BSP in Etah Wednesday, 26 September , 2007, 01:05 Etah: A large number of Samajwadi Party (SP) workers today staged a protest here against the policies of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) government in the state. They protested the BSP's government decision to ban student elections in the state. Protestors also alleged that the BSP government has foisted fake criminal cases against SP workers. SP district president S Singh alleged that there was no law and order in Etah. "People live under constant fear of loot, murder, rape, robbery and kidnappings," said Singh. http://www.hindu.com/2007/09/18/stories/2007091850190100.htm AMU closed after murder, violence Special Correspondent ALIGARH / LUCKNOW: Aligarh Muslim University has been closed indefinitely following violence and arson on the campus in Aligarh on Sunday night in protest against the murder of a B.Sc. II Year student, Mazhar Naeem. All the students staying in the university's hostels have been ordered by the authorities to vacate the premises within two days. The young victim belonged to Baghpat district of Uttar Pradesh. He was killed by unidentified persons with a sharp-edged weapon when he was returning to the hostel after "taravih" prayers (answered during the month of Ramzan) in a local mosque around 10-45 p.m. on Sunday. More forces deployed A spokesman of the State Home Department said in Lucknow on Monday that the Special Task Force of the U.P. Police has been asked to investigate the killing. Additional police force has been deployed on the AMU campus, the spokesman added. No arrests have been made so far. Mazhar Naeem had stopped at a restaurant, Caf? D'Fus, located near Aftab Hall on the campus, after finishing his prayers when he was murdered. He was hit in the head with a huge knife. He collapsed and died on the spot. He was an inmate of Mumtaz Hostel in Aftab Hall. Students returning after the "taravih" prayers took the body to the residence of Vice-Chancellor P. K. Abdul Azis. As he was not available, the students went on the rampage. They burnt the Vice-Chancellor's lodge, the Teachers' Association Staff Club and the Proctor's Office. The cause of the murder is not known but the Students' Union reportedly has not ruled out the possibility of a conspiracy to vitiate the atmosphere in the university. Aligarh is among the sensitive towns in Uttar Pradesh. Third incident This is the third such incident to have rocked the AMU since April this year. On the night of April 7, a B.Com. student, Mulla Mohammad Sabit Ali, was shot dead by unknown assailants on the campus. He belonged to Orissa. This was followed by the murder of a B.Tech. final year student, Kausar Salig, on April 25. He was from Bihar. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Lucknow/Students_protest_fee_hike/articleshow/2367098.cms Students protest fee hike 14 Sep 2007, 0149 hrs IST,TNN LUCKNOW: Students of the department of journalism and mass communication on Thursday protested against the fee hike by the Lucknow University. They said that the increased fee structure should not be implemented in the middle of the session. Majority students were of MA semester III. They argued that fee hike should be charged from the first year students and not from those who had taken admissions in the previous session. University had recently increased the fee of these students by Rs 5,000 per annum. Earlier, the fee was around Rs 17,000 to 18,000. University authorities, however, rejected the demand saying that fee hike has been implemented across all the courses in the university. "We cannot give exemption to students of a particular course when all the students in various courses have been asked to pay the hiked fee," said senior university officers. From ldxar1 at tesco.net Tue Oct 9 13:47:31 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Tue, 9 Oct 2007 21:47:31 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] MALAYSIA: Police attack opposition rally, sparking clashes Message-ID: <008301c80ab5$9cf09530$0802a8c0@andy1> Malaysia is a rather despotic state which though formally democratic, has been ruled mainly by the same party since independence. Opposition parties have started holding discussion meetings called ceramahs as part of an attempt to open up the political climate, but the police have taken to interfering with these meetings. Basically the police seem to have instigated clashes at a public meeting in order to create a pretext for suppressing such gatherings. In this incident, police repression caused a backlash including property damage, clashes with police and burning of the national flag. Some reports suggest undercover police may have instigated some of the incidents, specifically the flag-burning, which has been used by the regime to attack the opposition. Also, two protesters were injured by gunshots from a police officer; and dozens have been rounded up in a crackdown after the event, including two preachers who risk losing their jobs. Notice the irrationalist police demand that protesters obey the law right or wrong, or else there will be "anarchy"... Notice also the differences in coverage between sources - pro-regime Malaysian papers concentrate on the damage caused, critical Malaysian and foreign sources tend to blame the regime and police and discuss implications for democracy. http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90777/6258956.html 7 injured in Malaysia's riot September 10, 2007 Seven people were injured, two with gunshot wounds, when opposition supporters clashed with police trying to disperse an illegal political gathering in Kuala Terengganu, capital city of northern Terengganu state in Malaysia on Saturday night, local media reported on Monday. The riot was sparked when police ordered the crowd of 500 people gathering to disperse peacefully at 10 p.m. Despite 5 verbal warnings, the crowd became aggressive and verbally abused the Federal Reserve Unit personnel. Soon they became even more aggressive and started hurling stones, homemade bombs and Molotov cocktails at police. Police retaliated with tear gas and water cannons and in the melee, shots were fired injuring 2 opposition supporters, aged 21 and 38. The 2 have been hospitalized. One is in serious condition with a neck injury at the Kubang Kerian Hospital in Kelantan, northern state of Malaysia. Four policemen were also injured. One was warded at the Sultanah Nur Zahirah hospital, Kuala Terengganu. By 12.35 a.m, 23 people were detained and the situation was brought under control. Police have obtained a remand order against 4 men believed to be members of opposition parties to facilitate police investigations into the clash. One of the remanded men is being investigated for having dangerous arms during the riot while 2 others are being investigated under the Explosive and Dangerous Weapons Act. Police later released 19 men on police bail. Several police wagon and public vehicles were damaged in the clash. Kuala Terengganu Municipal Council's decorative lights, flower pots, motorcycles, Umno (United Malays National Organisation) flags and Barisan National banners were also damaged. Damage was estimated at about 1 million ringgit (285,714 U.S. dollars). State police chief Ayub Yaakob said 20 rioters attacked a policeman at a car park. "One of the injured policemen had no choice but to fire at 2 of his attackers," The Star quoted Ayub as saying. The Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) was summoned to the speech after the organizers who invited Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR, means the People's Justice Party) secretary-general Khalid Ibrahim to speak at the gathering failed to turn up to discuss the issue of obtaining a permit, Ayub said. It was learnt that the venue was not suitable for a speech as it was a tourist area and the road leading to the venue was often congested while top government officials also stay there. Police had suggested to the organizer to hold the speech at another venue but no one turned up to discuss the matter. Source: Xinhua http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSKLR7932020070909 Malaysia police fire on opposition rioters Sun Sep 9, 2007 8:05am EDT KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysian police fired live rounds to quell a riot in Malaysia's Muslim heartland, wounding two men, after trying to break up an opposition rally with water cannon and tear gas, local media said on Sunday. Local police declined to comment to Reuters on the riot, which broke out late on Saturday night in the northeastern state of Terengganu after a group of opposition parties, including the main Islamist party, held an illegal rally, the reports said. State news agency Bernama quoted Terengganu's police chief, Ayub Yaakob, as saying that a policemen had fired two shots from a pistol, injuring one man in the shoulder and another in the neck, after he was set upon during the riot. An eyewitness told Reuters by phone the crowd of about 500 had attacked police with stones after they set up road blocks around the rally and then moved in to break it up. The two groups fought each other until the early hours of Sunday. In Malaysia, opposition parties must get police approval to stage rallies. "It was police who attacked the civilians," said Kamarudin Jaffar, a leader of Islamist party Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS), saying the rally had been staged by PAS, other parties and non-government bodies to call for free and fair elections. "It was a peaceful rally... Police set up all the road blocks around the area with water cannons. Then suddenly in the middle of the night they started using water cannons on people." Malaysia's prime minister is widely expected to call for an early general election late this year or early next year. State news agency Bernama said on Sunday that 23 people had been detained and that seven, including four policemen, were injured. Bernama said the protesters had also hurled pieces of metal and wood and a molotov cocktail at police. The riot is another sign of rising social tensions in Malaysia as the nation moves into election mode. The country is governed by a multi-racial coalition which is dominated by Muslim ethnic Malays and includes parties aligned with large minorities of ethnic Chinese and ethnic Indians. Many Malay Muslims feel the coalition gives too much ground to the other races, while many ethnic Chinese and Indians feel the government discriminates against them through a decades-old affirmative-action agenda aimed at helping Malays. Opposition parties are split along racial lines but are united in complaining that the electoral system is rigged against them and that the mainstream media pay them little attention. http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSKLR122742 INTERVIEW-Muslim leader likens Malaysia to police state Mon Sep 24, 2007 3:00am EDT By Jalil Hamid KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 24 (Reuters) - An Islamic opposition leader has likened Malaysia to a police state and said a bloody riot this month was a symptom of outrage over eroding democratic rights. On Sept. 8, police opened fire to disperse rioters at a rally demanding electoral reform in the northeastern state of Terengganu, wounding two members of the opposition Parti Islam se-Malaysia (PAS) The rally, hosted by a coalition of five opposition political parties and 26 civil society groups, was the largest in a series of such events this year to demand free and fair elections. "The tragedy has smeared Malaysia's democractic process," PAS President Hadi Awang told Reuters in an interview. "Malaysia is now lagging behind Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines in terms of democracy and freedom." "We can't hold rallies. The police use intimidation and threats against our supporters. The people are not free, as if we are still under the emergency rule," said Hadi, a burly and bearded Muslim cleric who studied at Egypt's Al-Azhar University. "Even the Election Commission is taking sides. This will undermine efforts to create a clean and transparent democracy," said Hadi, a father of 14 from his two marriages. MORE CLASHES FEARED The 60-year-old said his party would not boycott the country's next general election, widely expected by early next year, but would continue to press for electoral reforms including tackling "phantom" voters. The riot has raised fears of more clashes ahead of the polls as the opposition fights curbs on rallies. Malaysian law requires a police permit to hold an assembly of more three people. Malaysia's opposition parties are split along racial lines, but are united in complaining the electoral system is rigged against them and struggle to get their message across to the voters. PAS, a major opposition force in Malaysia's northeast until it fared miserably in the 2004 general election, wants to turn the multi-religious country into an Islamic state. Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has called the riot a desperate attempt by the opposition to gain political mileage and discredit his 14-party ruling coalition. During the riot, the national flag was burned, an act the mainstream media has seized on to accuse opposition members of being unpatriotic. Hadi, whose party ruled Terengganu state between 1999 and 2004, said he was confident PAS would return to power there and retain the neighbouring Kelantan state in the next polls. "The riot will lead to the people's uprising and anger. It will have a very positive impact on PAS in the coming polls due to growing voters' sympathy." http://www.bernama.com.my/bernama/v3/news.php?id=284415 September 11, 2007 15:49 PM Motion To Debate Terengganu Riot Rejected KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 11 (Bernama) -- The Dewan Rakyat today rejected a motion to debate the riot in Kuala Terengganu on Saturday night in which seven people, including four policemen, were injured. Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Ramli Ngah Talib dismissed the motion on the ground that although the issue was of public interest, it was not urgent. "What happened was the police were quelling a riot," he said. When tabling the motion, Salahuddin Ayub (PAS-Kubang Kerian) said the Internal Security Ministry should explain why live bullets had been used against unarmed civilians. "There are question marks over police integrity in this episode as it appeared that there was a `trigger-happy' attitude vis-a-vis civilians without giving a second thought to people's lives and public safety," he said. Salahuddin claimed that such an incident would not have happened if police issued permits to those wishing to organise peaceful gatherings. The riot was sparked when police instructed the crowd of hundreds at an illegal political gathering at Jalan Sultan Mahmud, close to Batu Burok in the Terengganu capital, to disperse. -- BERNAMA http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/9/11/nation/20070911174129&sec=nation Siblings of warded rioters lodge police reports KUALA TERENGGANU: The siblings of two hospitalised men who were inadvertently shot during a riot on Saturday night, have lodged separate police reports, here. The reports were made on Monday, one at 4.15pm and another at 6.35pm, at the district police headquarters. State Deputy CID chief Supt Khairi Ahrasa said the two rioters were recuperating at Hospital Sultanah Nur Zahirah and Universiti Sains Malaysia hospital in Kubang Kerian, Kelantan. He said the two reports would be probed, adding that police were also in the midst of completing their investigation papers on the riot before submitting them to Deputy Public Prosecutor. One of the injured rioters is reportedly being investigated under Section 307 of the Penal Code for attempted murder. The riot took place when police tried to disperse an illegal gathering of more than 500 at a political gathering organised by Bersih, a coalition of 60 non-governmental organisations pushing for electoral reform. The gathering was supported by opposition parties PAS, Parti Keadilan Rakyat and DAP. Seven people were injured in the melee and 23 arrested, of which 19 were later released. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/9/17/nation/20070917172155&sec=nation 37 more sought over Batu Burok riots KUALA TERENGGANU: Police are looking for 37 more people who were at the scene of the Batu Burok riot on Sept 8.and have released pictures of them. State Deputy CID chief Supt Khairi Ahrasa said the individuals should come forward to assist in the investigations. "We have details of all 37 but we are giving them a grace period to voluntarily come forward to record statements or else we will be knocking on their doors," he said here, Monday. Supt Khairi said probe into the riot was almost complete, adding that investigations were being continued under Section 27(5) of the Police Act to fully conclude the issue. He also asked eight individuals whose pictures appeared in the media recently, to immediately contact the police headquarters. "We believe that the issue of burning Jalur Gemilang could a be solved when the eight have been interrogated. Supt Khairi said so far only one of those sought to help in the police probe has surrendered. He said d the 16-years-old student who gave himself up on Sunday after his picture appeared in the media, has been released on police bail, Monday. He said police recorded the statement of the student of a religious school here and granted a police bail after found that his involvement in the riot was minimal. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/9/13/nation/20070913172209&sec=nation Nation Thursday September 13, 2007 Imam identified in Saturday's riot, faces action By R.S.N. MURALI KUALA TERENGGANU: The Imam of a mosque has landed himself in trouble for participating in Saturday night's riot at Batu Burok here. The Imam, who is in his late 40s, was caught on police's video and was said to have acted violently during the melee. His name was released by the police on Thursday. State Islam Hadhari Development and Welfare committee chairman Datuk Rosol Wahid said the Imam could face disciplinary charges and subsequently risk being fired for his involvement in the riot. "We will not tolerate this ... he should be the one setting a good example, this is sheer hypocrisy," he said. Meanwhile, State police chief Senior Asst Comm Datuk Ayub Yaakob said police are in the midst of gathering statements from 22 of the rioters. A report of its probe will be submitted to Deputy Public Prosecutor. He said the probe on the riot would be carried out transparently without any prejudice. "If my men were at fault then they would have to face the consequences," said SAC Ayub, who earlier briefed civil servants at Wisma Darul Iman here on what actually transpired on that day. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/9/12/nation/18860486&sec=nation Police reports lodged over shooting during riot KUALA TERENGGANU: Family members of two men who were inadvertently shot during a riot on Saturday night have lodged police reports over the incident. The reports were made at 4.15pm and 6.35pm at district police headquarters here on Monday. State Deputy CID chief Supt Khairi Ahrasa said the reports were made by the siblings of the men who were recuperating at Hospital Sultanah Nur Zahirah and Universiti Sains Malaysia hospital in Kubang Kerian, Kelantan. He said police would start investigations into the two reports while probes into the riot were being conducted. One of the injured men is being investigated for attempted murder under the Penal Code, he said. The riot started when police tried to disperse an illegal gathering of more than 500 people at a gathering organised by Bersih, a coalition of 60 non-governmental organisations pushing for electoral reform. The gathering was supported by opposition parties PAS, Parti Keadilan Rakyat and DAP. Seven people were injured and 23 arrested, of whom 19 were later released. PAS said it would hand a memorandum to Bukit Aman alleging police brutality and the use of live bullets during the riot. PAS deputy president Nasharudin Mat Isa said the party lodged a complaint with the National Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) on Monday. "We plan to take this all the way up to the United Nations Human Right Commission," he said after the launch of the PAS For All campaign at its office in Jalan Raja Laut, Kuala Lumpur. He said the party did not believe that the man photographed wearing a helmet and burning the national flag was a PAS member. He said PAS would be holding another ceramah at 9.30pm on Sept 14 in Rusila, Terengganu. Asked if they had a police permit for the gathering, he said: "We do not need one because it is within our own vicinity (compound)." http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/9/13/nation/20070913154341&sec=nation Nik Aziz expresses regret over riot KOTA BARU: Mentri Besar Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat has expressed regret over the rioting in Terengganu on Saturday which resulted in two PAS members being inadvertently shot. Speaking after visiting one of them, Suwandi Abdul Ghani at Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (HUSM), he said the incident should not have occurred especially during the 50th Merdeka celebrations. Suwandi underwent an operation to remove a slug embedded in his right lung. "The nation is celebrating a sense of independence or freedom from the tyranny of colonialism when this incident surfaces," Nik Aziz said. He added that people should be given the opportunity to attend such gatherings as many were eager to know about the state of affairs in the country. The riot was sparked when police tried to disperse an illegal gathering of more than 500 people, which was organised by Bersih, a coalition of 60 non-governmental organisations pushing for electoral reform. It was supported by opposition parties PAS, Parti Keadilan Rakyat and DAP. http://www.bernama.com.my/bernama/state_news/news.php?id=286291&cat=et September 21, 2007 19:45 PM Another Imam Likely To Be Sacked Over Rioting KUALA TERENGGANU, Sept 21 (Bernama) -- An imam from a village in Marang may be sacked for his alleged involvement in the Sept 8 rioting in Jalan Sultan Mahmud, Batu Buruk here. Terengganu Welfare and Islam Hadhari Development Committee chairman Datuk Rosol Wahid said it had video and pictorial proof of the man's involvement in the incident. The State Religious Affairs Department was withholding his allowances pending investigation of the case, he told reporters here today. "And it seems that he's being boycotted by his congregation," he said. The state government has sacked the imam of Kampung Kebun Air in Manir for taking part in the rioting in which seven people, including four policemen, were injured. The riot was sparked off when police tried to disperse an illegal gathering of more that 700 people, believed to be opposition supporters. Rosol also said that a Universiti Darul Iman Malaysia student might have been involved in the incident. -- BERNAMA http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=39301 POLITICS-MALAYSIA: Calls for Electoral Reforms Met With Violence By Baradan Kuppusamy KUALA LUMPUR, Sep 18 (IPS) - Political tension is rising in Malaysia as the demand by a coalition of opposition political parties and some 26 civil society groups for a clean and fair election is increasingly being met with violence by the ruling, 13-party National Front coalition. Earlier this month police fired tear gas and shot at protestors, injuring two opposition supporters in the chest, while breaking up a massive opposition rally in Terengganu state where opposition and government are equally matched in strength. The Sep.8 rally, organised by BERSIH, acronym for a coalition of five opposition political parties and 26 civil society NGOs, was the biggest one organised so far to press the demand for free and fair elections. BERSIH (the word means clean in the Malay language) has been touring the country mobilising and winning public support ahead of a general election that is widely expected to be called in November, when police began using excessive force adding a new and violent dimension to electoral politics in the country. "The use of such hard force and firing weapons, injuring opposition supporters, is unprecedented in recent history," said parliamentary opposition leader Lim Kit Siang. Police said the assembly had no permit and was therefore illegal, but opposition leaders insist on their right to peaceful assembly to demand change. During the melee the national flag was burned, an act the mainstream electronic media has taken advantage of by repeating the scene over and over again, accusing opposition members of being unpatriotic -- a serious accusation in a year when the country is celebrating 50 years as an independent nation. Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi himself accused the opposition parties of starting a riot in order to blame the government and discrediting his 13-party National Front coalition government. For their part, opposition leaders have charged that cleverly disguised "agent provocateurs" had burnt the flag and put the blame on them. "The incident strongly suggests that police harassment has reached new heights against gatherings deemed unfavorable to the government," Anwar said in an interview with Malaysiakini, an independent online news agency this week. "This is cause for grave concern," he said. Whatever the case, tension is mounting as opposition political parties and civil society groups go on a road show demanding major changes in the way the country has conducted 11 general elections since independence in 1957. The campaign for electoral reforms is a major effort by the long suffering opposition political parties and civil society leaders to level the playing field to ensure free, fair and clean election. Among the changes they want is abolition of the 'first-past-the post' polling system inherited from the departing British colonial authorities that allows the winner with a simple majority to dominate parliament. Opposition political parties often poll 40 to 50 percent of the national vote but end up with a paltry number of seats in parliament as is the case now. (The opposition together controls only 18 of the 219 seats in parliament although they polled over 40 percent of the national vote in the 2004 general elections) "This is an outdated system that shuts out minorities, women and indigenous people...their voice is drowned out by majoritarian rule," said Lim. "It does not reflect the national vote that opposition won in the elections." "With the outdated system the government virtually gives itself a huge majority every election," he told IPS. "We have elections but not representative rule nor democratic practices.it is a camouflage," he said. "It is time major changes are made to the election system to make it truly representative." Other BERSIH demands include an end to gerrymandering of electoral constituencies that takes place once every 10 years and to make the Election Commission an independent authority and end its subservience to the ruling coalition. Critics also want the government to allow in domestic and international observers and the removal of the discretionary powers of the Registrar of Societies to deny registration for new political parties. (An example is the Socialist party of Malaysia which has been denied registration for over a decade on grounds that it poses a threat to national security.) "We also want the high cash deposits for candidates to be reduced," said Lim Guan Eng, secretary general of the Democratic Action Party or DAP, the largest opposition party in parliament. "It is ridiculous to impose high cash barriers for contesting and still claim we are a democracy. Such methods block off poor people from seeking elected office, leaving the rich to dominate parliament." The fees just to contest a parliamentary constituency is Malaysian Ringgit 8,000 (2,293 US dollars). Another demand is to end the extremely short eight-day campaign period -- arguably the shortest of any democracy in the world. "Such a short eight-day campaign period is ridiculously inadequate to convince voters to back the opposition," said Sivarasah Rasiah, human rights lawyer and vice-president of the National Peoples Party of de-facto opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim. "On the other hand the ruling coalition has all the advantages. It keeps the polls date secret but prepares heavily in the meantime and then springs a surprise by suddenly dissolving parliament," Rasiah told IPS. ''During the short, eight-day campaign period it (ruling coalition) unleashes the government machinery and mainstream media on us. This is unethical and a serious violation of democratic principles.'' "Worst the blitz is paid for by public resources that should rightly be also made available to us in equal measures," Rasiah said. "While we are hounded, refused permits and shot at they are free to assemble and preach directly and over the government controlled mainstream media. It all makes for a sham election and democracy.'' These are however only some of the more 'benign' demands BERSIH is making to ensure a level playing field level for all stakeholders. Worst of all, some election expert say, is that the electoral roll itself is faulty with the commission failing to remove dead voters and clean up, what opposition party leader's claim are, thousands of 'phantom voters'. "There is a need to completely revise and overhaul the electoral roll because it is heavily compromised," said Yap Swee Seng, executive director of SUARAM, leading human rights NGO and BERSIH member. "We need a roll that is clean, transparent and one that inspires confidence. Until then elections are just a sham." As the pressure mounts the commission suddenly conceded to one of BERSIH's many demands -- use of indelible ink to prevent multiple voting. Opposition political parties and NGOs under the BERSIH umbrella have upped the ante by announcing a mammoth rally in October to press their case for reforms setting the stage for a major tussle with the ruling National Front coalition. (END/2007) http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Saturday/National/20070922082018/Article/index_html 2007/09/22 Suhakam completes probe into Batu Buruk riot Email to friend Print article KUALA LUMPUR: The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) has completed its fact-finding mission into the Sept 8 rioting incident in Kuala Terengganu. Suhakam commissioner Datuk N. Siva Subramaniam said its results would be handed to Suhakam chairman Tan Sri Abu Talib Othman. "A decision will be made on Oct 8 whether a public inquiry should be held." Siva Subramaniam, who led the five-man team on the visit, said they had "made a few discoveries". "If there is something that can be learnt from the Kuala Terengganu incident, we hope everyone, no matter which side, will refrain from using students to further their political agenda. Students should be in schools," he said. He, however, declined to elaborate on his statement, saying that the case was still being investigated by police. Dr Syed Azman Syed Ahmad Nawawi, steering committee member of the Coalition for Free and Fair Election, organiser of the ceramah, denied the involvement of any students at the gathering. "Even if there were students, they were probably from the sekolah pondok (religious schools) or passers-by. I don't think there were that many of them there," Syed Azman said. Some 50 people were interviewed in the course of the two-day Suhakam investigation. Among them were 30 opposition members, including gunshot victim Suwandi Abdul Ghani. Another 20 police and Federal Reserve Unit officers were also interviewed, including the police constable who discharged his firearm. Also interviewed was Terengganu police chief Senior Assistant Commissioner I Ayub Yaakob. Suhakam, however, did not meet the second gunshot victim, Muhamad Azman Aziz. The riot broke out on Sept 8 at 10.15pm in Kuala Terengganu after police attempted to disperse a crowd of 600 who turned up for a ceramah. The riot, which lasted till after 1am, saw at least four policemen and three rioters injured and some RM1 million in damages. In Kuala Terengganu, a 50-year-old welder turned himself in to the police yesterday. He was the eighth person wanted in connection with the Sept 8 riot in Batu Buruk to be detained by police. The man, from Kampung Durian Burung here, surrendered at the district police headquarters at 10.15am. Meanwhile, the two people who turned themselves in on Thursday were released on police bail the same day. The duo, aged 22 and 25, hailed from Kampung Kolam in Kuala Ibai. They were among 46 people wanted by police to assist investigations into the riot. State CID deputy chief Supt Khairi Ahrasa urged those who had their photographs published in the newspapers to come forward to help close this case. http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/09/10/asia/AS-GEN-Malaysia-Rioting.php Malaysia's opposition demands probe into police shooting of two protesters at rally The Associated Press Published: September 10, 2007 KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia: Opposition leaders demanded a full inquiry Monday into Malaysia's worst political violence in years, accusing authorities of planning a confrontation that led police to shoot and wound two anti-government protesters. Police said they were forced to fire tear gas and chemical-laced water late Saturday to disperse hundreds of opposition supporters who allegedly hurled rocks and homemade explosives at security officers after being ordered to abandon an illegal assembly in northeastern Terengganu state. However, on Monday opposition and human rights activists gave a conflicting account of the incident. They insisted that plainclothes policemen instigated the violence, and fired bullets into the crowd that gathered for an outdoor forum on electoral fairness. "This is the first time that the police used live bullets against people at a peaceful rally," Mustafa Ali, the opposition Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party's chief in Terengganu, said at a news conference. "There must be a thorough investigation by an independent body, because we believe what happened was planned and premeditated by the government and the police," Mustafa said. "They will find any avenue to stop our message from reaching the masses." Government authorities say the police acted to preserve law and order. "The government did not give any instruction to the police," Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak said Sunday. "Anyone ... must obtain a permit from the police to hold any event. ... Disregard for the law can lead to anarchy." Terengganu Police Chief Ayub Yaakob said over the weekend that authorities had ordered the crowd to disperse because the event organizers had failed to secure a police permit required by law for such public gatherings. Ayub said a policeman fired in self-defense against demonstrators who beat him with a stick. One Islamic party member was shot in the chest while another suffered a neck injury. Both are in a stable condition at separate hospitals. Four police officers and a third opposition supporter were also injured. Police detained 23 people for rioting and other offenses, but most of them have been freed on police bail, which means they could be charged later. Opposition and human rights groups involved in Saturday's forum vowed not to let the matter rest, saying they would continue with similar rallies and were planning to sue the police and debate the issue in Parliament. "What happened was a bad sign for democracy," said Khalid Ibrahim, an official of the People's Justice Party. He said it was important for opposition leaders to address the public ahead of general elections that are widely expected before mid-2008. http://www.dailyexpress.com.my/news.cfm?NewsID=52648 'Plainclothes cop caused it' claim 12 September, 2007 Kuala Lumpur: Opposition leaders called for an investigation into the shooting of two protesters at a political rally. Police, who also used tear gas and water cannon when a riot broke out at the rally in Terengganu on Saturday defended the action by a plainclothes officer who they said acted in self-defence. Two members of the fundamentalist Pan-Malaysia Islamic (PAS) were injured in the incident, with a 37-year-old man wounded in the lungs and a 21-year-old in the neck, but both are now in stable condition, the party said. Terengganu PAS head, Mustapha Ali, called on Umno to hold a royal commission into the shooting. "People recognised that the policeman in plain clothes was trying to instigate the violence. So they tried to catch him," he told a press conference. "It has been planned. And it happened due to provocation. I call on the government to investigate the matter." "What frightened me most was the use of bullets to disperse the crowd who came to attend a peaceful gathering," said Abdul Khalid Ibrahim, Sec-Gen of the fellow opposition Keadilan. Mustapha claimed the Government was attempting to sideline PAS, which lost control of Terengganu to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's ruling Umno in the 2004 elections. "We are optimistic of regaining Terengganu so they are trying to stop our influence. They do not want our message to get across," he said. Terengganu police chief Ayub Yaakob said that both the police officer and the 37-year-old victim were under investigation for attempted murder. "Both sides are being investigated. We want to know what really happened," he told AFP, insisting however that the officer had not intended to wound anyone. "He was with the protestors when they turned on him. They started beating him. He fell down and in self-defence drew his gun and fired a warning shot into the air," he said. "Unfortunately, two people were shot. I want it to be clear that we did not use a gun to disperse the crowd." http://www.bernama.com.my/bernama/state_news/news.php?id=284945&cat=et September 13, 2007 18:39 PM No Permit, No 'Ceramah', Say Police KUALA TERENGGANU, Sept 13 (Bernama) -- Terengganu police will no longer compromise with political parties holding "ceramah" (talks) without a permit to prevent untoward incidents, like the riots in Batu Buruk and Jalan Sultan Mahmud on Saturday. State police chief Datuk Ayob Yaakob said the police had been lenient all this while by not taking action against the opposition parties for holding their ceramah in various parts of the state despite them not having the permit to do so. "There is ceramah every night and not all are issued permits, but we have been tolerant. This will stop because from now on, all ceramah must have a permit," he told reporters after briefing government officers at Wisma Darul Iman here today, on the riots. Among those present were State Secretary Datuk Mokhtar Nong, and state executive councillors and elected representatives. Ayob said police had rejected an application for a permit from the organisers of Saturday's gathering because the venue was inappropriate since it was in an area where there were government quarters and was also near the palace. In that incident in Jalan Sultan Mahmud, more than 600 people, believed to be supporters of the opposition parties, rioted after police ordered them to disperse from the illegal gathering. Four policemen were injured in the ensuing clashes, during which the Jalur Gemilang was set ablaze. Two people were also admitted to the hospital due to gunshot wounds. One of them, a 21-year-old man, who was admitted to Sultanah Nurzahirah Hospital for injuries on the neck, was discharged today. The other man, aged 38, who was injured on the chest, is still at the Universiti Sains Malaysia Hospital (HUSM) in Kubang Kerian, Kelantan. It is learnt that police today recorded statements from a Kuala Terengganu PAS leader on the riot. Ayob said police were trying to identify the person who burned the national flag during the riot, adding that police had obtained pictures of the incident. He denied allegations by the opposition that it was a policeman who had set fire to the Jalur Gemilang. Following the incident, police detained 22 people, who have all been released on police bail. -- BERNAMA http://news.monstersandcritics.com/asiapacific/news/article_1353745.php/Gun_shots_fired_as_Malaysian_cops_clash_with_opposition_supporters Asia-Pacific News Gun shots fired as Malaysian cops clash with opposition supporters Sep 10, 2007, 2:48 GMT Kuala Lumpur - Malaysian police fired tear gas, chemically-laced water cannons and fired gun shots to disperse a gathering of hundreds of opposition supporters at an illegal rally, news reports said Monday. Members of the opposition Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS), along with several other supporters of opposition parties, had gathered late Sunday at an outdoor location in the north-eastern state of Terengganu for a public forum. However, police arrived at the scene and tried to break up the crowd of some 500 people, saying that the gathering was illegal as it did not have a permit for public gathering. The presence of the police and riot cops resulted in some of the opposition supporters hurling stones and Molotov cocktails at the authorities, said the Star daily. A riot broke out when police retaliated with firing tear gas and chemically-laced water at the crowds. Gun shots were also released into the crowds. Two opposition supporters, aged 21 and 38, were seriously hurt in the scuffle. Both have been sent by heavy police escort to a local university hospital, the report said. Four police officers also suffered light injuries. A total of 23 people were detained for rioting, said state police chief Ayub Yaakob. 'The situation only calmed down about 2 in the morning, and 23 people aged between 20 to 30 were detained for rioting,' Ayub was quoted as saying by the Malay-language Berita Harian daily. Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak defended the police action, saying they were enforcing the law. 'If we do not obey the law, then there will be anarchy in our country, with nobody respecting the law,' Bernama quoted Najib as saying. Opposition activists in Malaysia often organize small-scale public demonstrations and gatherings over issues such as alleged government corruption, but they usually disperse peacefully. ? 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Monday/National/20070910083254/Article/index_html 2007/09/10 Shot victim stable Email to friend Print article KOTA BARU: One of the two people shot during a riot at an opposition ceramah in Kuala Terengganu was transferred to Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (HUSM) yesterday under heavy police escort. The man, in his 30s, identified as Swandi Ghani, of Kampung Binjai Rendah near Marang, Terengganu, was transferred from the Sultanah Nur Zahirah Hospital in Kuala Terengganu. The self-employed father of six was conscious when he arrived at HUSM in an ambulance accompanied by his family and police personnel. The man, who was shot in the chest, is expected to undergo an operation. Sultanah Nur Zahirah Hospital deputy director (clinical) Dr Asari Abdullah said Swandi was in stable condition after doctors removed a blood clot. His brother-in-law, Che Seman Yaakub, said they were in the dark over the incident. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/9/11/nation/18844319&sec=nation Nation Tuesday September 11, 2007 CPO: Cop was protecting women, kids By R.S.N. MURALI KUALA TERENGGANU: The police constable who shot at rioters who attacked him at an illegal gathering here on Saturday night was trying to protect a group of women and children. State police chief Senior Asst Comm (II) Datuk Ayub Yaakob said Kons Azmi Husin, who was in plainclothes, was directing the women and children to leave the area as the situation in Jalan Sultan Mahmud was unsafe. About 20 men armed with sharp weapons and sticks then spotted Kons Azmi and shouted "This man is Special Branch!" before assaulting him. SAC Ayub said Kons Azmi, 29, was beaten until he collapsed, bleeding from the head. "Lying on the ground, he took out his gun and fired four shots," said the police chief yesterday. Two assailants were hit, one in the neck and the other in the shoulder. They have been warded at the Sultanah Nur Zahirah Hospital here and Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia in Kelantan, and are reported to be in stable condition. The riot was sparked off when police tried to disperse an illegal gathering of more than 500 at a political gathering organised by Bersih, a coalition of 60 non-governmental organisations pushing for electoral reform. The gathering was supported by opposition parties PAS, Parti Keadilan Rakyat and DAP. Following the melee, seven people were injured and 23 arrested, of which 19 were later released. In Parliament yesterday, Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang called for a public inquiry, saying that the incident could have been avoided if the police had not disregarded the Royal Police Commission's recommendations to "respect the right to hold assemblies, meetings and processions", ELIZABETH LOOI reports. Datuk Mohd Aziz (BN - Sri Gading) countered that Bersih should not have held the gathering because it did not have a permit. At a press conference in Kuala Lumpur, Terengganu PAS commissioner Datuk Mustafa Ali said the gathering was part of Bersih's programmes to educate the public on the need for fair elections, LISA GOH reports. When asked about homemade bombs and Molotov cocktails that were reported to have been hurled at police, he replied: "We didn't know about that. That claim was made by the police." http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/003200709091522.htm Malaysian police fire tear gas to disperse gathering Kuala Lumpur, Sept. 9 (AP): Police fired tear gas and chemical-laced water to disperse hundreds of Malaysian opposition supporters who staged an illegal rally, activists and news reports said today. The crowd gathered to listen to opposition leaders speak at an outdoor forum about electoral fairness in northeastern Terengganu state late yesterday, the People's Justice Party said in a statement on its website. The violence occurred after authorities ordered the people to return home because the event organizers had not secured a police permit as required by law for such public gatherings. People began throwing stones, bottles and homemade explosives at the police, injuring one officer and damaging several police vehicles, Terengganu Police Chief Ayub Yaakob told the national news agency, Bernama. "The police retaliated with tear gas and water cannons," Bernama quoted Ayub as saying. At least 13 people were arrested for rioting, the report added. The People's Justice Party condemned the incident, calling it "the abuse of power by the police to violate the public's right to obtain alternative information." Political violence has been rare in Malaysia in recent years. Opposition activists sometimes hold demonstrations over issues such as alleged government corruption, but they usually disperse peacefully. http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Monday/National/20070910083138/Article/index_html 2007/09/10 RM1m damage, 23 held in riot By : Sean Augustin and Azura Abas KUALA TERENGGANU: The rioters at the Parti Keadilan Rakyat ceramah here on Saturday night caused RM1 million in damage. State police chief Datuk Ayub Yaakob said 23 people were arrested for rioting in the incident, adding that three were injured along with four policemen. He said two of the rioters who were injured had been shot by a policeman when he was attacked. He said the constable had fired twice in the air after being pushed to the ground, somehow hitting the two suspects. Ayub said the two men and the constable were warded at the Sultanah Nur Zahirah Hospital, but the policeman was discharged yesterday. Also warded was Federal Reserve Unit personnel Lance Corporal Azmi Hussein, who was assaulted with sticks by a group of about 20 men. The others injured were given outpatient treatment at the same hospital. The 23 suspects, in their 20s and 30s, will be charged under Section 148 of the Penal Code for rioting and for other offences. The incident on Saturday saw 350 police and Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) personnel quelling about 600 rioters. A crowd of 200, which had been waiting for a ceramah by Keadilan treasurer Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim in Jalan Sultan Mahmud, Batu Buruk, turned unruly after the police Light Strike Force asked them to disperse. The crowd later swelled to 600 and began attacking the Light Strike Force, forcing it to call in the FRU. The FRU then used tear gas and water cannon to disperse the crowd, which became even more aggressive and began hurling Molotov cocktails and burning sticks. The FRU started to retreat around 1am, three hours after the incident, hoping that the crowd would become less aggressive. However, the mob pursued the police and FRU personnel. Three bonfires were lit using plastic road dividers, tree branches and construction material. Several flags were thrown into the bonfires. Commenting on the incident in Petaling Jaya, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said he felt police had acted according to the law. He said everyone, including Umno and other Barisan Nasional component parties, were required to get police permits before holding functions. "Such laws apply to all and not just to the opposition parties. "The police acted accordingly. They have the responsibility of enforcing the law." Asked to comment on the rioters' refusal to disperse, Najib said they had to obey the law. "If we don't follow them, there will be anarchy in the country with no one respecting the rules and regulations." Earlier, Ayub said he ordered the police and FRU to retreat to prevent the situation from turning ugly. "Our main priority is to restore public order. We would have preferred it if no confrontation had taken place, but at the same time, we had to take action to show that we are not weak," he said. Ayub said police had invited organisers of the ceramah to the police station here for talks over the permit but up to 6pm on Saturday, no one had turned up. The permit for the ceramah, he said, was rejected on safety grounds as it was being held at a residential area and near government quarters. Meanwhile, Umno Youth chief Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said opposition supporters who were at the incident on Saturday had gone overboard in their actions by rioting and burning flags, including the Umno flag. From ldxar1 at tesco.net Tue Oct 9 14:38:55 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Tue, 9 Oct 2007 22:38:55 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] Repression stories - Australia, UK, US, France, Hungary, Spain Message-ID: <00bf01c80abc$cc4fa440$0802a8c0@andy1> * AUSTRALIA: Vindictive sentence for Fijian resister at Australian refugee prison * UK: Protest over long jail terms for graffiti * FRANCE: Riot police on trial for gang-raping prostitutes * US: Cop goes on shooting rampage, kills six * US: Dozens protest racial profiling, excessive force * HUNGARY: First cop sentenced for protest "excesses" gets probation * AUSTRALIA: SLAPP against eco-warriors begins * SPAIN/EUSKAL HERRIA: Protest planned as anti-Basque purge intensifies [Poor little "terrified" screws hiding behind riot helmets and shields. what about the terrified refugees persecuted by the state? Notice how the judge here performs a classic disavowal - recognizes the causes of revolt in frustration and anger but refuses their performative significance, the legitimacy of revolt - while on the other hand the emotions of the system's agents are accorded excessive importance] www.fijitimes.com.fj/story.aspx?ref=archive&id=70529 Fijian man jailed for part in riot Friday, September 14, 2007 A FIJIAN man has been jailed by an Australian court for his involvement in rioting at the Baxter detention centre in the outback of South Australia in 2005. Jeremaia Tuivuya, 29, has been jailed for four years and fined $F108,081. According to the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper, Tuivuya, Benjamin Reed of the United States and Gregory Oswin of South Africa were found guilty of arson, acts to endanger life, and harming and obstructing a commonwealth official at the immigration detention centre in November 2005. Reed was convicted of setting fire to a building and throwing a pool ball at a staff member. In sentencing at the Port Augusta District Court, Judge Michael Boylan said officers caught up in the rioting were terrified. Judge Boylan, when sentencing the men last Friday, said he accepted they had been frustrated and angry but it did not excuse their behaviour. "There was great damage to the property. You physically injured a number of officers and you terrified many of them," he said. Judge Boylan said the men's psychiatric reports "made for very sad reading". He jailed the men for four years, with a minimum term of three years and fined them $80,000 each. He said it was a "near certainty" they would be deported on release. The court heard the rioting left a damage bill of more than $F2million. The judge set three-year non-parole terms. Judge Boylan also noted the men's actions may have resulted in harsher treatment of other detainees. Last month a Fiji-born man escaped from Sydney's Villawood detention centre. Ricardo Fisher, 22, scaled the centre's wall and warded off security guards who tried to apprehend him. Immigration authorities and NSW police are searching for the man, a police spokesman said. It is believed Fisher was assisted in the escape. Fisher's uncle Raymond Fisher, who lives in Suva, declined to comment when contacted. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/6994679.stm Protest over graffiti jail terms The parents of two graffiti artists jailed for spray painting trains and railway bridges are protesting at the length of their sentences. Thomas Dolan, 20, and Thomas Whittaker, 18, both from Macclesfield, Cheshire, caused about ?13,000 damage. Both admitted criminal damage at Manchester Crown Court and were jailed for 15 and 12 months respectively. Denise Dolan said she knows her son did wrong but insists the punishment does not fit the crime. More than 500 people have also signed a petition on the social networking website Facebook after the pair were sentenced last month. The men were traced after British Transport Police (BTP) tracked website postings of their work. Dolan used the graffiti name, or tag, of Krek and Whittaker went by the name of Mers. They were responsible for graffiti on trains, stations and railway property in Gatley, Bury, Buxton, Wigan, Macclesfield, Stockport and Longsight. Denise Dolan has even offered to pay for the damage caused by her son. Sentence a 'deterrent' She said: "As parents, we offered to pay the money just to keep them out of prison, so that my son could go to university which he should have started this week. "The British Transport Police just dismissed it. "What they've done is against the law but the punishment should fit the crime. "I've spoken to Tom and he said the prison wardens and officers all agree, they said they shouldn't be there." A BTP spokesman said: "The nature of the punishment and the length of sentence were matters for the court and the judge to decide. "The role of British Transport Police is to investigate the offences and gather the evidence. "The fact that these two individuals received custodial sentences reflects how seriously the courts view graffiti damage and should serve as a deterrent for any potential offenders." http://www.expatica.com/actual/article.asp?subchannel_id=25&story_id=43662 French riot police on trial for gang-raping prostitutes PARIS, Sept 7, 2007 (AFP) - Seven former riot police officers from the northern Paris outskirts went on trial Friday accused of gang-raping local prostitutes over a two-year period. According to prosecutors, the officers used to stop the prostitutes -- many of them illegal immigrants -- for identity checks, promising to turn a blind eye to their situation in exchange for sexual favours. The rapes were reported to the police's internal inspectorate in 2003 by an association campaigning for prostitutes' rights. Romaric Leclercq, 28, Yohann Mahe, 29, and Cyril Dussart, 31, are charged with aggravated collective rape and abuse of authority, while four of their former colleagues are accused of complicity. The three main suspects have been expelled from police ranks, while the others have been temporarily suspended. Only one of the alleged victims, a 28-year-old Albanian woman, was present at the opening of the trial in Paris. In an anonymous interview Friday with Europe 1 radio, one of the accused said he and his colleagues saw their dealings with the prostitutes as a "joke", and that their behaviour was tolerated in police ranks. "Most of the time, we were under the influence of alcohol, it was a group thing. It was known and tolerated by our superiors," he said. "We used to go there for a bit of fun... We would ask: 'How much is it for police then, what's your name, where are you from'. Maybe they didn't think we were joking, but that was our frame of mind." AFP http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/policeman-goes-on-shooting-rampage/2007/10/08/1191695771212.html Policeman goes on shooting rampage Ian Munro in New York and Edmund Tadros October 8, 2007 - 9:25AM All I heard, it was a jealous boyfriend and he went berserk. He took them all out.'' An off-duty deputy sheriff has shot and killed six people in a small logging town in the United States. The man, identified as Tyler Peterson, was later shot dead by a police sniper. It is understood Peterson had been in the job for only one week. The shooting was the result of a love triangle involving the deputy, a young woman, and another police officer, said Ray Statezny jnr, township supervisor of the north-west Wisconsin town of Crandon. Police have confirmed in a press conference that Peterson, of Crandon, was a Forest County deputy sheriff and also a part-time officer with Crandon Police. "He was brought down by a sniper," said Crandon Mayor Gary Bradley. The original shooting occurred at a home in Crandon about 3am on Sunday local time (6pm AEST). Peterson, 20, had first targeted his former girlfriend, and then shot at least four others who were at a party. Bud Evans, 46, an elder at Praise Chapel Community Church, which some of the victims attended, said the police chief told people gathered there that seven people were shot, and that one person was still alive. One of the dead was 14-year-old Lindsey Stahl, said her mother, Jenny Stahl, 39. She said her daughter called her on Saturday night and asked whether she could sleep over at a friend's house. Jenny Stahl agreed. "I'm waiting for somebody to wake me up right now. This is a bad, bad dream,'' the weeping mother said. "All I heard, it was a jealous boyfriend and he went berserk. He took them all out.'' The small community is facing a trying time but is pulling together, Bradley said. "We are a strong community. We always have been," he said. "This is agonising, but we will prevail." WJFW reported that two of the victims were students at Crandon High School and the other four were recent graduates. A witness told the station that 10 people, aged between 17 and 20, were at the party at the time. Karly Johnson, 16, told WJFW she knew Peterson and he had helped her in a tech education class. "He graduated with my brother," she said. "He was nice. He was an average guy. Normal. You wouldn't think he could do that.'' Crandon, which has a population of 1950 people, is about 160 kilometres north-west of Lake Michigan's Green Bay. The north-east Wisconsin town is about 360 kilometres north of Milwaukee. The area is known for logging, and fishing, hunting and snowmobiling. Until recently it supported several summer holiday resorts on Lake Lucerne, but most resorts had shut down. www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_5907100 Dozens protest San Jose cops' use of force, allege family victims of racial profiling By Rodney Foo Mercury News Article Launched: 05/16/2007 01:32:25 AM PDT Dozens of people protested outside the Santa Clara County Hall of Justice on Tuesday afternoon, rallying in support of a Filipino-American family who they allege are the victims of racial profiling and excessive force by San Jose police. "We have gathered here to show support and solidarity for the family," said Rowena Tomaneng, a member of the Justice for Custodio Family Campaign. "The Filipino community is outraged at the behavior of the San Jose Police Department." Assistant Police Chief Tuck Younis said there has been nothing to indicate the officers did anything wrong. "This is the first we heard of any allegation of excessive force against the officers," Younis said. "We checked with our internal affairs division and have not received any complaints and that would also include the independent police auditor." Younis declined to discuss the criminal case facing the family because it is pending in court. Marlo Custodio, an 18-year-old Evergreen High School student, said an officer "threw" him out of a parked truck during an arrest two months ago. "He just violated my rights," Custodio said before an attorney stopped him from saying more. At a news conference, Custodio thanked a crowd of about 70 vocal supporters who staged the noontime demonstration. Some held placards reading "Drop the Charge!" and "Charge the Offending Officers." Custodio and his 50-year-old mother, Marilou Alvarado, a county employee, and his -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- brother, Romel, a 25-year-old Valley Medical Center worker, are charged with resisting arrest related to a Feb. 5 incident in the Evergreen district. Marlo Custodio has also been charged with a drug violation. All three have pleaded not guilty. According to family supporters, Marlo Custodio was sitting in a parked truck with a friend when an officer came by and asked him to step out. Custodio asked what was wrong and then reached down to put on his shoes when he was dragged out by the officer, Tomaneng said. Custodio managed to call his mother, who arrived with Romel and another brother, 16. The youngest brother was not arrested, Tomaneng said. During the incident, Tomaneng and others allege an officer slammed Marilou Custodio's head into a police car three times; Marlo was kneed in the face; and Romel was jolted with a Taser. While he did not directly address the Custodio case, Younis said officers only resort to force "to overcome resistance or to affect arrest or prevent escape." "Officers do not want to use force," he said. "It is the suspect or the subject who determines whether force is used by their behavior." The incident with the Custodio family has injected a new issue into the consciousness of the local Filipino community, which has primarily focused on immigration and worker rights, Tomaneng said. After the news conference, Alvarado and her sons appeared in court for a pre-trial conference that was delayed until next month so defense attorneys could inspect reports, statements, and other documents. http://news.monstersandcritics.com/europe/news/article_1355087.php/First_Hungarian_police_officer_sentenced_for_riot_excesses First Hungarian police officer sentenced for riot excesses Sep 12, 2007, 16:18 GMT Budapest - A Budapest court on Wednesday sentenced a policeman to a 20-month suspended sentence in the first case of an officer being found guilty for using excessive force during anti- government riots last October. The police officer was found guilty of breaking the fingers of a demonstrator who had already been subdued and handcuffed during clashes on October 23, 2006. Violence first broke out late last September after a tape on which Socialist Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany admitted lying about the economy was leaked to the press. Hundreds were injured in the sporadic clashes that followed, and anti-government demonstrations lasted for months. The main opposition party Fidesz has accused police of using heavy-handed tactics on October 23, when violent protestors got mixed in with peaceful Fidesz supporters at a rally commemorating the failed 1956 Uprising against occupying Soviet forces. Other officers are still facing charges, although President Laszlo Solyom on Monday said he feared most of the guilty officers would escape punishment due to obstruction from the police force. Right-wing groups are planning demonstrations on September 17 to commemorate the release of the tape, raising fears of renewed violence. http://abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/10/04/2051289.htm Forestry Tas begins court bid to recoup 'angel' protest costs Posted Thu Oct 4, 2007 7:02pm AEST Forestry Tasmania's attempt to sue an anti-logging protester for damages has begun in the Hobart Magistrates Court. About thirty people, some dressed as angels, gathered outside the court this afternoon, in support of protester Alana Beltran. In March this year Beltran dressed as an angel and perched on top of a five-metre tripod, blocking access to the Tahune Airwalk in the state's south. Forestry Tasmania is seeking damages for lost revenue and for the cost of bringing in a crane to remove Ms Beltran from her tripod. Tasmanian police had also planned to sue the protester, but today their lawyer officially withdrew from the proceedings. The matter has been adjourned until early November. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7030678.stm Last Updated: Friday, 5 October 2007, 18:15 GMT 19:15 UK Basque protest urged over arrests Basque separatists have called for street protests over the arrest of more than 20 top members of the banned political party, Batasuna. Almost the entire alleged leadership of Batasuna was detained in a Thursday night raid in the town of Segura. The raid, in Spain's northern Basque region, was ordered by top anti-terror judge Baltasar Garzon. Mr Garzon led moves to outlaw Batasuna five years ago, accusing it of being a front for the armed separatists, Eta. The Basque militants of Eta called off a 15-month ceasefire earlier this year. The raid in Segura is said to have targeted a Batasuna meeting where the party's old guard was transferring control to new leaders. The operation was the latest in a four-month crackdown against Basque separatists that has included the arrest of Batasuna's leader, Arnaldo Otegi, on charges of "glorifying terrorism". Among those detained on Thursday was Joseba Permach, who has acted as Batasuna's main spokesman since Mr Otegi's arrest. He and his colleagues from the Segura meeting are expected to be transferred for questioning to Madrid, a judicial official told the AFP news agency. The agency quoted the official as saying the group of 23 would face charges stemming from Mr Garzon's investigation into allegations that Batasuna financed Eta's activities. Tough line Spain's Attorney General, Candido Conde Pumpido, welcomed the latest arrests, saying some of those held were accused of co-operating with an armed group. "These activities cannot be tolerated, so if the police find out about them, as they did in this case in Segura, it seems prudent that they be ordered to intervene," he told Spanish public radio RNE. However, Basques have been urged to protest against the arrests. Posters appeared in Basque villages on Friday calling for demonstrations and the pro-Batasuna newspaper, Gara, called the Segura arrests "a declaration of war". A senior member of Batasuna, Pernando Barrena, criticised the arrests as an attempt by the governing Socialist party to bolster its standing ahead of elections next March. Mr Barrena also told AFP the government was pursuing "revenge" against Batasuna because the group had taken a "firm line" in peace talks last year. Before Batasuna was banned in 2003, it represented about 15% of the people in the Basque region on local councils and in the regional government. The separatist militants of Eta are blamed for the deaths of more than 800 people during a four-decade campaign to set up an independent Basque state in northern Spain and south-western France. Spain's socialist government has been quick to take a hardline approach against Eta to maintain electoral support. The group is considered a terrorist organisation by Spain, the European Union and the United States. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ldxar1 at tesco.net Tue Oct 9 14:39:44 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Tue, 9 Oct 2007 22:39:44 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] Confronting Globalisation by Shelley Walia Message-ID: <00c801c80abc$e85345c0$0802a8c0@andy1> http://www.hindu.com/mag/2007/09/09/stories/2007090950080400.htm Confronting globalisation SHELLEY WALIA When everything from seeds to genes are being patented and corporatised, we need to snatch back our past and the future. Photo: AFP Voicing dissent: A protestor at a G8 summit. The Western history of violence has scarred the deep-seated liberal philosophy prevailing in Europe and now the dismal state of affairs in the world: mafia-style politics in Russia and China, nationalism in North East Asia with rivalries growing between Japan, China and the two Koreas and, most of all, the unrestrained voracity and blitz of the United States' military-industrial complex. Fall and rise David Harvey, the political historian, remembers in his recent book on imperialism, the picture of the British monarch on stamps from India, Sarawak, Rhodesia, and Jamaica, which was enough to make evident the history of imperialism, the idea of the British Empire and Western hegemony. However we saw the empire fast crumbling with the Indian independence signalling its demise. The Suez Canal crises of 1956 led to the British and the French entering into a military conflict with Nasser, only to receive, a "rap on the knuckles" by the U.S., which wanted a peaceful containment to the conflict. It is here that we see the fall of one empire and the rise of another. A further blow to Europe came with the rise of American capitalism; international capitalism was no longer controlled from Europe. From now on, international politics and economic dominance would be in the hands of the U.S. rather than with Europe which previously enjoyed the supremacy in international commerce and politics. In the words of Michael Ignatieff, it is clear from the recent upheavals in West Asia that "America's entire war on terror is an exercise in imperialism." Interestingly, a Philippines government advertisement in Fortune magazine in 1975 reads thus: "To attract companies like yours. we have felled mountains, razed jungles, filled swamps, moved rivers, relocated towns. all to make it easier for you and your business to do business here." Enough evidence is obvious here of the power exercised by global economics on "third world" nations. Novel situation The forces of globalisation have created a novel situation, taking on a rather different charm. The worry at the moment is globalisation with an American face underpinned by the overwhelming impact of American brands. In this context, it is interesting to take into consideration Thomas Friedman's The World is Flat, where he discusses how globalisation has reached a scenario from 2000 onwards when the individual becomes all powerful in contributing to the world. Here, at this stage there are no walls and each individual is powerful in his own right. At least he thinks he is, existing as he does in a world where it is difficult to separate illusion from reality. This is the fallout of neoliberalism, the embodiment of free market economy that lays out the rules of the world we live in. We are restricted by transnational corporations, the World Bank, the IMF, symbols of the hegemony of a corporate-led global trade. But as economies are liberalised, democratic forces gradually take a beating and the client States are engaged to reign in the hostility of the masses. Standing on the fringes, the "third world" becomes an onlooker of the steamrolling effect of the juggernaut of Western capitalism. The people of the developing world, in the words of the "Notes from Nowhere" collective, remain "disconnected from what they produce and what they consume, from the earth and from one another", living in an "arid homogenised culture". Corporate globalisation pushes farmers off their land; crops, water, patents are corporatised with no respect for human rights or ecology or justice. Using the false message of prosperity and progress from the West is one form of strategic dominance. If this does not work, the alternative of "economic muscle" is ruthlessly employed. It is a known fact that "between 1990 and 1997 developing nations paid out more in servicing their debt than they received in loans - a transfer of $77 billion from South to North, through the machinery of the IMF and the World Bank, organisations which ensure the continued dominance of the rich nations. Meanwhile, ironically, those rich nations are being 'structurally adjusted' too, as the World Trade Organisation rolls back democracy in the name of trade, unravelling decades of social progress." All the institutions behind the global economy, like the WTO, the World Bank, the IMF, the G8, and the World Economic Forum represent deep-rooted and often imperceptible interests. Strands of resistance Opposed to such an overwhelming control of "third world" economies and life at large, the cries of rebellion by the Zapatista movement have inspired activism manifested in various movements around the world. I saw this tangible resistance a couple of years ago at Gleneagles in Scotland, where the G8 met to confer on the hunger and poverty in Africa and the rest of the developing world. Amusingly, this luxurious site was in stark contrast to the meagre contribution that the world's elite group of rich nations spends on international development. An estimated 2,00,000 people converged on the hotel for a rally organised by Make Poverty History, a coalition of about 450 non-governmental organisations. The protest was intended to draw attention to more than 12, 000 children who die every day from poverty-related diseases; if the millennium targets are not met by 2015, sub-Saharan Africa will be burial ground for two in every three child deaths in the world. Such a reaction also highlighted that AIDS and other major epidemics like malaria, which kills one child every minute, are all related to the overwhelming shroud of poverty and malnutrition. The lack of clean drinking water and the absence of any national health services or supply of medicines together multiply the burdens of a society that now looks towards the West for some tangible aid programs to avert one of the biggest tragedies of the human race. Similar demonstrations at Genoa saw 3,00,000 protestors which got the impetus from the Zapatista uprising in Chiapas in Southern Mexico. The agitation gradually spread to many other cities around the world. Walled worlds These meetings of the rich are surrounded by fences; seeds, medicines and genes are patented, and "democracy turned into purchasing power". To oppose these free market strategies, the protesters in Quebec City tear down the fences surrounding the summit meeting of the Free Trade Area of the Americas. The radical guerrillas in South Africa break the fence of privatisation that keeps the poor from having electricity by installing illegal connections themselves. Peasant women in Asia freely exchange seed, defying the restrictions of market logic that would have them go into debt to buy commercial seed. Emma Goldman, the anarchist philosopher, forcefully wrote almost a century ago, "And you, are you so forgetful of your past, is there no echo in your soul of your poets' songs, your dreamer's dreams, your rebels' calls?" These were the sentiments behind resistance movements from the days of Columbus when the indigenous people of the Americas resisted him. We have seen it in the anti-slave movement in the U.S. and in the working class revolutionary demonstrations all over the world. We are now seeing the encouraging move by nations in Latin America putting an end to the interventions of neoliberalism or the eye-catching challenges to the neo-liberal agenda as in the Asian uproar to the financial crisis in 1998, and the South's antagonism to the "Singapore conditions". Languages of resistance Time is ripe now to counter the oppression of globalisation with a new "language of resistance - of land, poetry, indigenous culture, diversity, ecology, dignity". In this great globalisation debate, we have to ask the pertinent question: "Who rules, and in whose interests and to what ends?" We have to snatch our past, our present and our future from the stranglehold of the powerful and the rich. Apparently, hostility towards the weaker sections, manipulation of the global media and double speak has led to a deep-seated global antipathy. All discourses on pluralism and multiculturalism stand interrogated and suspect. The intellectual at this juncture needs to self-reflect and strive to counter the blatant support given to the neo-conservative agendas of global supremacy and regional control. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: clip_image001.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 23648 bytes Desc: not available URL: From ldxar1 at tesco.net Tue Oct 16 11:15:54 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Tue, 16 Oct 2007 19:15:54 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] CHILE: Mass protest by Mapuche Message-ID: <00b801c81020$98afb8f0$0802a8c0@andy1> News & Views for Anarchists & Activists: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/smygo http://tinyurl.com/2zxnoe MAPUCHE PROTEST IN CHILE DRAWS THOUSANDS Marchers In Santiago Aim To Confront "500 Years Of Denial" (Oct. 16, 2007) Thousands of supporters of Chile's indigenous Mapuche population peacefully took to the streets of Santiago on Monday to demand government recognition of their grievances and the liberation of imprisoned Mapuche activists throughout the country. While most Chileans enjoyed a day off in commemoration of the annual Indigenous Peoples' day holiday (D?a de la Raza), protesters at the annual march loudly and vibrantly filled large portions of Central Santiago's foremost avenue - the Alameda - for several hours throughout the morning and afternoon. The crowd of approximately 4,000 marchers included hundreds of Mapuches in traditional dress, supporters from left-wing and anarchist political organizations, and brightly-costumed dancers and musicians. Gathering at the center of the Plaza Italia at the east end of the Alameda, the Mapuche commenced the day's events with a traditional prayer. Press photographers present at the event largely respected the request by organizers to not photograph the prayer ceremony. Mapuche activists then led a highly-organized procession several kilometers west down the Alameda to the Santa Lucia hill. The annual march has been held since 1990 to call attention to the issues of concern for the Mapuche rights movement in Chile. Organizers said the purpose of this year's march is to highlight the failures of the current government to recognize the territorial rights of the Mapuche to land in southern and central Chile, and the government's refusal to grant Mapuche communities some degree of self-determination. "The government is denying the existence of a people. They are denying one of the most fundamental rights of life, and we are demonstrating against this," Felipe Curivil of the Mapuche organization Meli Wixan Mapu told the Santiago Times. "We have had no response from the state at all, and this confirms how the repressive Chilean state is denying Mapuche rights." Under Chile's current constitution, indigenous groups such as the Mapuche have no official recognition or status, and none of the nation's legislators are of indigenous origin although most official estimates suggest the Mapuche and other indigenous groups account for about 10 percent of Chile's population. Meanwhile, much of the land originally belonging to the Mapuche is owned by large-scale businesses or threatened by energy development. The continued plight of the Mapuche and the mistreatment of their ancestral lands, say activists, is a blight on the nation's history. "There has been 500 years of denial and 500 years of the confiscation of our land and the abuse of our people. We want to condemn this and we want to condemn the Chilean state which represses our communities," said Jorge Huenchullan of Meli Wixan Mapu. "The Chilean state continues to repress the communities that are struggling and fighting legitimately." Many at the march loudly called for an autonomous Mapuche state. The cries of "Liberty for the Mapuche!" were frequently heard throughout the day's events and displayed on numerous banners hoisted by marchers. Organizer Felipe Curivil echoed the sentiments of the protesters' chants by calling for Chile's government to allow Mapuche-run governments to form. "Our communities have every right to organize themselves autonomously," Curivil told the Santiago Times. "We want to tell the state to leave us in peace and to let us carry on as a Mapuche people." Earlier in the week, Mapuche activists in the southern town of Araucania seized and occupied property there, claiming it originally belonged to their ancestors. After police intervention, 39 of the activists were arrested and detained. This is just the latest in incidents that have continued for years. In May, 14 Mapuche occupied offices belonging to a top foresty industry executive, arguing that he had invaded Mapuche land. Protesters on Monday also loudly demanded freedom for these detained Mapuche activists, which they called "political prisoners." The turnout for Monday's protest was noticeably larger than earlier public demonstrations this year, such as the August 29 labor union protest and the marches commemorating the September 11 anniversary of the 1972 military coup. Still, the Mapuche march received little coverage from Chile's three predominant daily newspapers - El Mercurio, La Nacion, and La Tercera - which previously gave extensive minute-by-minute coverage of the August 29 and September 11 events. While the August 29 and September 11 demonstrations were marred by significant violence and police crackdowns, Monday's march was peaceful, with police and protesters interacting cordially. Police officials told the Santiago Times that Monday's demonstration was entirely peaceful, and no arrests were reported. The presence of the Mapuche people in the territory now recognized as Chile predates the 16th century. Organized Mapuche groups offered fierce resistance to Spanish colonization, but in the mid 18th century the Mapuche fell under the rule of the Chilean Republic. Thousands of Mapuche were killed and nearly all their territory seized. Approximately one million Mapuche presently live in Chile and Argentina, many clustered in Chile's Regions VII, VIII, and IX. By Trey Pollard and Rob Bartlett (editor at santiagotimes.cl) -- -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ldxar1 at tesco.net Sun Oct 21 19:26:50 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Mon, 22 Oct 2007 03:26:50 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] US: Anti-IMF protests in Georgetown Message-ID: <009e01c81453$020b8690$0802a8c0@andy1> http://tinyurl.com/3df5fu Scuffle but No Arrests at Protest Small Crowd Gathers Day After Violence in Georgetown By Mary Beth Sheridan Washington Post Staff Writer Sunday, October 21, 2007; C03 White-helmeted D.C. police briefly scuffled with protesters yesterday during a demonstration outside the World Bank, but no one was seriously injured or arrested, officials and protesters said. The confrontation came after violence erupted Friday during a protest in Georgetown. Objects were thrown at store windows, newspaper boxes were overturned and a police officer was pushed from a scooter, authorities said. Yesterday was quieter. About 500 demonstrators marched from Franklin Square, near the White House, to World Bank headquarters, at 18th and H streets NW. The protesters, a mix of students, community activists and black-clad anarchists, denounced the policies of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, which are holding meetings this weekend. The event was peaceful except for a tense moment in Edward R. Murrow Park, across from the bank, where the march ended. As delegates arrived for the meetings mid-afternoon, several anarchists charged the police line, according to officials and two demonstrators. Baton-wielding police raced in, shoving protesters and snatching their signs. A crowd massed, shouting "Our streets! Our streets!" "They charged the police line," said D.C. Assistant Police Chief Patrick Burke, head of the homeland security bureau. "Police lines cannot be broken." A protester who identified himself as Bob Exe, 20, said police struck him on the shoulder and nose with batons. The District resident, who had stuck a tissue into his bloodied nose, said no one charged the line but there "might have been some pushing." He acknowledged that the demonstrators had been trying to block delegates from reaching the World Bank. Yesterday's event was a faint echo of the anti-globalization protests that brought huge crowds to the city in past years. In 2000, about 20,000 demonstrators converged on Washington, disrupting parts of downtown and clashing with police. At protests two years later, D.C. police came under strong criticism for arresting hundreds of peaceful demonstrators without warning. The District has since paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal settlements and adopted new protocols to prevent abuse of police power. Two protesters were arrested Friday night and charged with assaulting police officers. Hundreds of D.C. police were on the streets for yesterday's protests, including SWAT teams. Some protesters yelled insults at police, but others said they had decided not to use violence. "We've got immigrants and others we don't want to put in danger," said Luke Kuhn, 42, a self-described anarchist from Montgomery County. Other protesters warily eyed the anarchists, who wore bandannas over their faces and waved black flags. "This is not the usual environment to see us in, surrounded by people in balaclavas," said Ben Margolis, 27, a British demonstrator with the group Global Call to Action Against Poverty. "We're here to demonstrate the passion of civil society. We call on the Bank and Fund to become more transparent and promote good governance and end the negative conditions they put on their loans." This weekend's demonstrations were organized by the loose-knit October Coalition and drew people critical not only of the international institutions but also of gentrification, U.S. immigration policies, D.C. school vouchers and consumption of meat. An organizer, Sameer Dossani, acknowledged that the crowd was small compared with past years. He attributed the turnout to the scheduling of a variety of antiwar and other demonstrations this month in the District and other cities. "It's good a lot of things are happening. But we do take away from one another a little bit," he said. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ldxar1 at tesco.net Sun Oct 21 21:19:36 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Mon, 22 Oct 2007 05:19:36 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] ITALY: Campaign of repression launched against left unions and parties Message-ID: <00bf01c81462$c3069c40$0802a8c0@andy1> - ----- Forwarded message The Italian imperialist state, the Prodi/Bertinotti government launched a repressive campaign against the vanguard workers in several factories and work places and against the Italian Maoists, their press, their mass activities, in a number of cities in Italy. The charge is "subversive association with purpose of terrorism", the aim is to hinder and suppress the presence of the Maoists in Italy. The searches took place in Taranto, Potenza, Palermo, Ravenna, Milan, Bergamo, Venice, Neaples, Siena, Perugia, in the offices of union and the houses of workers activists. The imperialist press speaks about subversives, terrorists, connections with the international terrorism, but the particular feature of this operation is that it is focused on the criminalization of the activities in the big factories: the Fiat -- the Fiat Sata in Melfi, site of the great 21-days-long struggle in the 94, is the true epicentre of the operation -- the Ilva, the petrochemilcals, the shipyards, etc., at the aim to directly hit the working class, the class organization, the communist Marxist-Leninist-Maoist press. proletari comunisti and the Slai Cobas for the class union are vigorously responding in the different cities and work places to defend the comrades hit by the repression, continuing and intensifying their activities in the fire of the class struggle and closely linked with the masses. proletari comunisti, together with other Italian communist organizations in our, also carries forward a political national campaign in occasion of the 90th anniversary of the October Revolution, with a central final initiative that will take place in Rome, the 10th of November, at 4 P.M. at the Villaggio Globale proletari comunisti 20.10.2007 Please address your declaration to: ro.red at libero.it -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ldxar1 at tesco.net Mon Oct 22 15:42:57 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Mon, 22 Oct 2007 23:42:57 +0100 Subject: [Onthebarricades] WEST BENGAL, INDIA: "Ration Strike agaist Ration Riot" Message-ID: <01c401c814fc$e57f04c0$0802a8c0@andy1> Ration Strike agaist Ration Riot Palash Biswas Contact: Palash C Biswas, C/O Mrs Arati Roy, Gosto Kanan, Sodepur, Kolkata- 700110, India. Phone: 91-033-25659551 Email: palashbiswaskl at gmail.com Watch: Kolkata bids adieu to Goddess Durga http://www.ibnlive.com/videos/50912/watch-kolkata-bids-adieu-to-goddess-durga.html Known for its magnificent illuminations on innovative themes, the College Square Puja Pandal in Kolkata has been a big draw for cricket lovers during the Durga Puja festival this year. Cricket is mixed with Hegemony Carnival. What a remix!Five-days of celebrations of Durga Puja finally ended as West Bengal bid a tearful adieu to the goddess and her children Sunday, marking another yearlong wait for her autumnal homecoming. "We will continue the strike until we are satisfied our people are safe. We cannot do business in the present kind of atmosphere," said Mukshed Ali, vice-president of the West Bengal Ration Dealers Association. Nearly 5,000 dealers - out of a total of some 20,370 dealers - have also given their licenses back as part of the protest. The "rations shops" are the backbone of the public distribution system in Indian states.Analysts say the incidents are a source of major embarrassment for West Bengal's left-wing coalition government which usually prides itself on the issue of food security in rural areas. Mamata Bannerjee, challanger to Marxist Capitalist Chief minister Buddha Deb calls it Second Food Movement reminding sixties, paradoxically, with Congress Rule. The food movement caused Vote Bank mobilisation in favour of the Marxist which reflected in 1967 general election. It was the beginning of Change! Ironically Mamata fails once again to lead the masses in agitation! The Congress today said the food riots in Left-ruled West Bengal were a matter of serious concern and reflected the enormous deficiencies in the availability, distribution, pricing and regulatory systems in that State. In West Bengal, more than 20,000 ration shops were closed on Monday.It was the first day of an indefinite strike called by the West Bengal Modified Ration Dealers Association and the All Bengal Ration Shop Owner Association. Ration dealers facing public ire for corruption in the Public Distribution System have also demanded better security from the state government. They have even offered mass resignations and will meet Chief Minister Buddhadab Bhattacharya on Tuesday. At least 50 ration shop owners were assaulted in the last few weeks.It was alleged that they were selling off PDS grains in the open market at higher prices. 'At least one third of the total 20,370 ration dealers have resigned Monday. The rest would resign tomorrow (Tuesday) since owing to holiday not everyone could put in their papers today (Monday),' West Bengal Modified Ration Dealers' Association (WBMRDA) state committee general secretary Jagannath Koley told IANS. 'We will call off our protest only if the chief minister takes proper action and protects us from the people's ire. The system should be immediately revised with the formation of a high level committee with our representation,' Koley said. 'The system is itself full of errors and we are facing the peoples' wrath because of the government's bogus rationing system. The age of the consumers has also not been updated for the past 10 years and so many of them receive lower quantity of rations,' he added. 'The bogus cards of the APL (Above Poverty Line) should be scrapped and the BPL (Below Poverty Line) people should be given cards afresh. Why should we take the slur of government failure?' asked Koley. 'The government should also ensure that a dealer can earn at least between Rs.10,000 and 15,000 a month. We are meeting the food minister on Tuesday and hopefully the chief minister would also meet us and take suitable action,' he said. Reacting to the resignations, N.K. Saha, a district controller of food and supplies, said: 'We cannot accept such a mass resignation letter because it is completely illegal. There is no provision of such mass resignation in the contract of licensing system between the government and ration dealers.' 'If they do not take food materials and disturb the public distribution system, the government can take action against them,' he said. The ration dealers' association had earlier sent a notice to Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya informing hin that they would resort to mass resignation Oct 22 onwards. Making a counterattack on Left, the Congress today suggested it to concentrate more on ration riot facing West Bengal and leave the nuke deal for the time being, Sahara Samay sources said.Interacting with newsmen, the Congress spokesman Abhishek Manu Singhvi said in New Delhi that the Left should not give priority to Indo-US nuke deal issue, which has been raised by the Left saying that it would hit common man. The Left should first look into the food crisis which is directly hitting the common man in a more intense way that the nuke deal, they added. On the other hand, the West Bengal government is blaming the Centre for the ration riots that spread across the state in the last one week. Singhvi also dismissed as "baseless" the speculation that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has threatened to quit over the nuclear deal controversy, they said. The assertion came amid reports that the Prime Minister had told the meeting that he had felt let down by the allies over the nuclear deal and was feeling embarrassed. A major chunk of the 20,370 ration dealers in West Bengal Monday resigned en masse demanding protection from violent mobs and a thorough revision of the state's public distribution system (PDS).The Socialist Unity Centre of India (SUCI) has called a 12-hour statewide shutdown on Oct 30 to protest against the deteriorating PDS in West Bengal. Dealers of government-licensed "fair price shops" have begun an indefinite strike in India's West Bengal state in protest against attacks on them. Ration dealers across West Bengal ~ facing public ire for over a month for corruption in the Public Distribution System ~ launched an indefinite strike Today in demand of better security. Thousands of dealers in the state, including in Kolkata, were suffering from a sense of insecurity since the beginning of the agitation by the people in Bankura district on 16 September, West Bengal Ration Dealers' Association vice-president Mr Mukshed Ali said.More than 50 dealers have been attacked by mobs complaining of corrupt practices. One dealer took his life. Others have been forced to pay up for allegedly selling subsidised grains meant for the poor in the black market.The outlets, commonly known as ration shops, are licensed by the state to sell subsidised grain to India's poor. Tens of thousands of ration shop dealers downed their shutters on Monday in protest against the attacks. But they have been accused of large scale pilferage of food grains meant for the poor into the black market. The government subsidises the cost of rice and wheat for the poor.West Bengal's has the worst record on the theft of public grain after the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, authorities say. According to data released by the federal government, wheat and rice meant for rural poor worth more than $800m was stolen in Uttar Pradesh in the last financial year. West Bengal came next, with stolen rice and wheat worth $467m. Mob violence first erupted against dealers at Sonamukhi in Bankura district on September 15. It has now spread to at least six districts and sporadic attacks have been reported from a few more districts. Federal agriculture minister Sharad Pawar blamed the West Bengal government for alleged failure to check the pilferage of food grains - a large part of which, he alleged, was finding its way across the border into Bangladesh . The West Bengal government denied the charge and said the present crisis is because the federal government has not been supplying enough. Statewide Rallies Call For Further Strengthening Of The Ration System A rally in Siliguri in defence of Public Distribution System B Prasant http://pd.cpim.org/2007/1021/10212007_bengal_1.htm FOR a week now, rallies are organised all over Bengal at the behest of the different units of the CPI(M) and the Left mass organisations on the rousing call for a strengthening as opposed to the attempted decimation of the system of rationing. The rallies called for punishing the few corrupt ration dealers (perhaps less than 5 per cent of the total number of such men and women). The people have also demonstrated clearly their deep and burgeoning fury at the planned attack on the public distribution system and the foray at causing anarchy to raise its ugly head on a sensitive issue concerning essential commodities. The towns and villages of the affected districts in particular have witnessed rallies and marches. Nalhati in Birbhum saw marches and rallies by tens of thousands of people throughout the past week as did Rampurhat, Mallarpur, and adjacent rural areas. Addressing the rallies and leading the marchers were the comrades of the district secretariat of the Birbhum unit of the CPI(M), including Dilip Ganguly the secretary. A large protest rally was held at the Sitala village where Trinamul Congress, Pradesh Congress, and Maoists had forced a ration dealer to commit suicide in front of his family who pleaded for mercy. The Jaipur block in adjacent district of Bankura saw similar rallies and marches. Largest of the rallies were held at Moynapore and Shyamnagar where planned attackers had pounced on ration shops and on hapless ration dealers, looting and pillaging. Strong deputations were made at the offices of the food department, block development secretariat, and the local police stations, lodging protests against the attacks on the public distribution system and on the score of misinforming people about a purported shortage of essential commodities in the ration shops. In south 24 Parganas the local units of the CPI(M) organised rallies in demand of keeping the ration system going strongly as before. The supply of essential commodities must be made more coordinated and prompt. The distribution of 'blue dyed' unadulterated kerosene oil available in the ration shops has always been in great demand, in this district as elsewhere in Bengal. The CPI(M) units have insisted in their deputation to the administration that the earlier regularity in the distribution of kerosene oil (one litre per head) should be reinstituted as quickly as possible. The south 24 Parganas unit secretary of the CPI(M) Santimoy Bhattacharya reports that such deputations have been presented before administrative offices of the district at places like Kultali, Mathurapur-1, Canning, as well as Gosaba, Basanti, Kakdwip, Sagar, Namkhana, and Patharpratima deep into the Sunderbans area. Mass conventions have been held at Nadia, Jalpaiguri, Murshidabad, and Maldah districts. ROLE OF THE UPA GOVT In a signed front page article in the daily organ of the Bengal CPI(M), Ganashakti, state secretary of the Bengal unit Biman Basu has written at some detail explaining the ills that plague the ration system all over the country. He also dealt on the role of the incumbent Congress-led UPA government in the entire sad episode of giving handle indirectly or otherwise, to anti-socials in the pay of the Bengal opposition, in disrupting the public distribution programme itself, and causing panic amongst the people of the state through a persistent lie campaign. It is a well-known fact that Bengal is one of the very few instances where the public distribution system flourished under the aegis of the Left Front government over the past three decades. That the attack on the ration offices and on ration dealers in general should be organised by the scions of the opposition and the goons in their pay is hardly in need of any explanation. He said the ongoing mass initiative in defence of public distribution system is greatly needed to keep the mass distribution system of essential commodities going. Biman Basu has sharply attacked the clear unwillingness of the Congress-run UPA government in Delhi to conform to the more popular aspects of the Common Minimum Programme or CMP. He says that included in the union government's dislike is the call for augmentation and proper running of the PDS all over the country. Bengal under Left Front governance has fought off the attenuating supply of ration shop commodities from the central allocation and has bravely kept the ration system going, despite this severe handicap. Biman Basu has cited statistics to delineate the picture as it exists in the ration system. For some time now, the union government has cut down and drastically, the allocation of wheat for those above the poverty level (APL) from just over 1,02,000 metric tonnes (MT) to just 49,000 MT. The per head wheat allocation has come down to 250 grams. Similarly, in rice, another staple cereal, the central allocation has been reduced from just under 2,30,000 MT to a whisker over 7000 MT. The percentages in wheat and rice currently represent 3.36 per cent of the average offtake. The union government has also apportioned a price differential on the kisans. Foreign firms are allowed to enjoy a commissioned price of Rs 1600 per quintal in wheat with the Indian kisan having to languish at Rs 850 per quintal. The union government has also ignored the repeated exhortations made by the Bengal LF government to increase the quota for kerosene oil. SEVEN-POINT PROGRAMME The squeezing out of the supply line has certainly been made use of by the Bengal opposition. Wild rumours about a widespread hoarding and black-marketing by ration shop owners have been assiduously spread, a willing and anti-communist media ready to oblige to help propagation of the vilest of untruths. Alongside the burgeoning mass movement against all attempts at disruption of the public distribution system, a seven-point programme has been devised by CPI(M) to keep the rationing system going strong. Ration cards are personal possessions and must not be transferred Ration shops and offices must display the quantum of essential commodities in stock every day and the Panchayat bodies kept informed Per head apportionment of rationed goods under the various projects like APL, BPL, Annapurna, Antyodaya, and Annayojana etc must be clearly displayed and propagated A strong campaign movement must be launched all over the state against the union government's anti-people step in the planned reduction of the supply of rationed commodities to Bengal The campaign-movement must also highlight the discrimination from which the kisans suffer because of differentiated procurement prices Every effort shall be made to keep the ration system going and to strengthen it wherever needed Ration goods dealers must ensure 100 per cent supply of essential commodities LOOTED GOODS RETURNED A welcome development recently has been the streaming in of people to return the looted goods and this happened in an increasing number of districts where such looting had taken place. The people have also brought in the criminals who perpetrated the evil deeds including inducing and forcing ration shop owners to commit suicide. As the days go by and the state enters into the festival season, the attackers have made to become isolated and the people are no longer willing to tolerate the attacks made on the ration system by clutches of motivated anti-socials egged on by the worthies of the Bengal opposition and the media. From ldxar1 at tesco.net Sat Oct 27 19:52:58 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Sun, 28 Oct 2007 02:52:58 -0000 Subject: [Onthebarricades] UK: Fathers for Justice march on judge's house Message-ID: <006b01c8190d$a6128540$0802a8c0@andy1> NOTE: Peaceful yes, but technically not lawful, since home demos have been illegal in Britain since SOCPA or thenabouts. It's kinda good that the police don't squelch EVERYTHING that comes their way, but reeks of double standards given how they act if animal rights, anti-corporate, or ecological protesters do the same. http://uk.news.yahoo.com/pressass/20071027/tuk-fathers-march-to-judge-s-home-6323e80_1.html Fathers march to judge's home About 60 members of the campaign group Fathers4Justice marched on a senior Appeal Court judge's country home. Leading the demonstration was Mark Harris, 48, whose 10-year battle for access to his three children was heard by a total of 33 judges, including family specialist Lord Justice Mathew Thorpe. Mr Harris, from Plymouth, said he intended to ask Sir Mathew for "the same rights as mum's latest boyfriend". He also wanted drop off a wheel barrow containing 6,000 pages of documents relating to his legal fight and a copy of his book about the case, Family Court Hell, but the judge did not answer his door. About 10 police officers monitored the march, which began at a pub in the village of Seend in Wiltshire. Mr Harris, outside Sir Mathew's house, said: "We are here to ask Lord Justice Thorpe for the same rights as mum's latest boyfriend. "A mum can bring home a man from the pub on Friday night and he can then move in with her and the kids, no questions asked, but in many cases the children's own fathers are not allowed to see them. "We are not after anything special - just the same rights as mum's latest boyfriend, that's all. The judge did not come the door today. Perhaps we'll catch him next time." Mr Harris' case to secure access to his children - now aged 20, 18, and 16, - after splitting from their mother involved 133 court appearances, two spells in jail and cost the tax payer a reputed ?1 million. He claims Lord Justice Thorpe once described his case as "a very simple contact dispute". His book claims it is "Britain's worst ever access case." A spokeswoman for Wiltshire police said the protest was "noisy but lawful and peaceful". Sir Mathew was on the receiving end of a F4J protest six years ago. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: 173147;0.397977041050723? Type: application/octet-stream Size: 43 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: b?P=VnDxr1f4aisRRkxCReF7qgAWUhMNkkcj99gAC8MT&T=145g303jn%2fX%3d1193539544%2fE%3d2022435296%2fR%3dukie_news%2fK%3d5%2fV%3d2.1%2fW%3dHR%2fY%3dUKIE%2fF%3d4154611399%2fQ%3d-1%2fS%3d1%2fJ%3dD76BF857&U=13kvoej0l%2fN%3dwaqWh1f4axA-%2fC%3d200096907.201483696.202753549.200493719%2fD%3dLREC%2fB%3d200681019 Type: application/octet-stream Size: 43 bytes Desc: not available URL: From ldxar1 at tesco.net Sun Oct 28 03:41:01 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Sun, 28 Oct 2007 10:41:01 -0000 Subject: [Onthebarricades] TIBET: Monks clash with police over firecracker crackdown Message-ID: <00be01c8194f$089f0850$0802a8c0@andy1> Press Release - 17th October 2007 Firecracker crackdown in Tibet http://www.freetibet.org/press/pr231007.html Chinese stop celebrations of Dalai Lama award [London] Free Tibet Campaign has learned that recent clashes in Lhasa between monks and police (as reported by Hong Kong newspaper Ming Pao on Sunday) were not limited to Lhasa and that the Chinese authorities had also cracked down on Tibetans celebrating the award in various locations throughout the Amdo region (the Chinese provinces of Gansu and Qinghai). Ming Pao reported that monks at Lhasa's Drepung Monastery had clashed with Chinese police for four days following a US Government award to the Dalai Lama on October 17. The clashes were sparked after armed Chinese police entered Labrang Monastery to stop special prayers being held for the Dalai Lama. After speaking by telephone to eyewitnesses in Amdo, a highly trusted Tibetan source in India told Free Tibet Campaign that people in Labrang had been buying firecrackers with which to celebrate the award. According to the eyewitness, the authorities in Labrang ordered all shops selling firecrackers to close on October 13. Monks who travelled from Labrang to Linsha to buy firecrackers in defiance of the ban were stopped by Chinese police who confiscated approximately Chinese Yuan 8,000 worth of firecrackers. The eyewitnesses also reported seeing four truckloads of military personnel outside Tso monastery on October 17, whilst other eyewitnesses reported a large military presence outside Labrang Monastery on the same evening. The eyewitnesses in Amdo also reported that they had heard that the authorities in Chentse County had confiscated satellite dishes that local people had put on rooftops to help them receive reports of the award ceremony from Voice Of America. Free Tibet Campaign says: "The determination of Tibetans in Lhasa and Amdo to celebrate the US Government's award to the Dalai Lama demonstrates clearly that, after 57 years of occupation, the Chinese Government has failed completely to win the hearts and minds of the Tibetan people who still see the Dalai Lama as their legitimate leader. The severity of the crackdown on Tibetans' peaceful celebrations of the award is a powerful reminder that China's rule in Tibet remains highly repressive, whatever China may claim about harmony in Tibet in the run up to the Olympics." -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ldxar1 at tesco.net Mon Oct 29 03:24:46 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Mon, 29 Oct 2007 10:24:46 -0000 Subject: [Onthebarricades] US: California fires started as attack on the rich? or is the state seeking scapegoats? Message-ID: <000901c81a15$f0602f90$0802a8c0@andy1> Not quite sure what to make of this... When disturbing things happen, people often look for scapegoats. There have been wildfires in California probably for centuries. Some previous fires have turned out to have been started by individual firefighters and other emergency workers seeking hero status. Some are human-caused but accidental. On the other hand, class/anti-poverty anger is very sharp in a polarised society like America, and this kind of nihilistic mass revenge is not entirely unthinkable. I've been told by a California resident that the San Bernardino fire started inbetween a very poor and a very affluent area, threatening the latter. Certainly a drastic action if true, and one I find almost unthinkable, but worse things have come out of the rage of the oppressed before now. There have been a number of deaths from the fires, thousands left homeless, and large areas of forests burnt down. Yesterday the news reported that police had murdered a "suspected arsonist" who they had "flushed out" of the forest before being shot. As usual with such cases it isn't clear why he was "suspected" and whether this is just a case of wrong place wrong time. The police could easily have carried out an extrajudicial execution and then made up a plausible-sounding story. http://www.dailybulletin.com/ci_7262697 Human causes suspected in blazes Officials unsure of fires' origins Robert Rogers, Staff Writer Wind-fanned flames scorched more than 6,500 acres across San Bernardino County in the past few days. Fire officials prodded some residents into evacuation. About 150 to 200 houses and other structures were lost. Many not busy saving lives and homes harbored a wary concern: Are the origins of the fires natural or intentional? Given the absence of lightning in the area in recent days, a short list of possible causes exist for the ignition of the rabid flames, often kicked up by gusts exceeding 80 mph. And they all lead to one place - human actions. "These fires are going to be human caused, yes," said San Bernardino City Fire Chief Mike Conrad, whose department has knocked down two blazes in the city's northern foothills since Monday. "Unfortunately, we do sometimes have arsonists, and carelessness," Conrad added. The most common human causes of fires include down or crossed power lines, discarded cigarettes, exhaust backfires from diesel trucks and hot catalytic converters coming into contact with dry, roadside brush, Conrad said. Bill Sapp, an official with the fire information hot line, said late Tuesday the Slide Fire may have been started by a downed power line. Sometimes fires are started by highly improbable events. Conrad said he's seen cases where birds were exploded by power lines, their burning bodies falling and igniting fuel below. He's also seen one case where non-lightning, non-human-related events caused a fire. "About 15 years ago an earthquake caused a fire in the San Gorgonio wilderness area by triggering a slide," Conrad said. "Flinting rock sparked a fire." But no earthquakes corresponded with these fires. Conrad said no determination had yet been made on the Little Mountain or Martin Ranch fires, and added that some of the possible human causes of fire are unintentional and unpreventable, such as downed power lines. But, Conrad noted, the two fires in San Bernardino were started amid somewhat suspicious circumstances. The Little Mountain Fire was touched off on the side of Little Mountain Road, Conrad said. "It could have been a cigarette, or somebody could have stopped and flicked their BIC," Conrad said, using a phrase to indicate deliberate arson. "We just don't know at this time." Altogether, as of Tuesday night, four fires either burned or still smoldered: The Grass Valley Fire encircling Lake Arrowhead, the Slide Fire reducing homes to rubble in Running Springs, the Cajon Fire, which blackened foothills just north of the 215 Freeway, and the Martin Ranch Fire, which prompted the evacuation of 45 homes. County headquarters of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection had no explanation as to the cause of county fires on Tuesday. "We have no information on the cause of these fires," said Annette Avila, a department spokeswoman. "They are all in stages of investigation." In San Bernardino, fire officials are already calling the Martin Ranch Fire "suspicious and under investigation." Conrad said it appears to have been ignited in the early morning hours Tuesday, at the remote head Meyers Road in the foothills. Martin Ranch eventually consumed 75 acres, while the Little Mountain blaze charred 600 and snarled traffic throughout the area. As for the larger fires still terrorizing the mountain communities, Conrad said only an investigation will tell, but he's got an idea of how the investigation is going. "We always look real close at the possibility of down or crossed (power) lines," Conrad said. "I'm sure their investigators are looking at that now." http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,22646860-5005962,00.html?from=public_rss Suspected California arsonist shot dead Article from: AAP By Peter Mitchell in Los Angeles October 25, 2007 02:55pm US authorities have shot dead a suspected arsonist as wildfires continue to burn across southern California. Residents are holding their breath for a favourable weather change. More than 9000 weary firefighters are still battling 15 fires still burning out of control after four days of blistering heat, low humidity and winds in excess of 100km/h. Arson is being blamed for many of the fires. Authorities, including teams of FBI agents and helicopters using infrared cameras, have been scanning bushland for suspected arsonists, with police arresting one suspect and shooting another dead. Police said the shooting took place last night when when San Bernardino University police spotted a man in a rural area near the campus. University police chased after the man, a 27-year-old from Arizona, but he jumped into a car and fled. Police chased him and he began ramming their car so they fired at him, killing him. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ldxar1 at tesco.net Tue Oct 30 12:37:37 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Tue, 30 Oct 2007 19:37:37 -0000 Subject: [Onthebarricades] SOMALIA: Ethiopian troops shoot protesters Message-ID: <00ea01c81b2c$53af2f80$0802a8c0@andy1> http://tinyurl.com/2mh7h8 Three dead as Ethiopian troops open fire on protesters in Mogadishu By Agence France Presse (AFP) Monday, October 29, 2007 MOGADISHU: Ethiopian forces opened fire on demonstrators protesting against their presence in Mogadishu on Sunday, killing at least three, witnesses said, as fresh violence engulfed the Somali capital. A crowd of hundreds of protesters chanting "Allahu akhbar" (God is great) and wielding sticks had been marching in the streets of southern Mogadishu in reaction to the latest Ethiopian crackdown on the insurgency when the deaths occurred. "A young boy and two other civilians died when Ethiopian forces in Suqaholaha area opened fire on us. We were demonstrating against them and they opened fire to disperse the crowd," witness Hussein Adan Suley told AFP. "We ran away when the Ethiopians opened fire. I know that one child was killed," said another protester, Asma Wardhere. There was no immediate confirmation of the casualty toll from medical sources following the protest, the first to be staged by disgruntled Mogadishu residents in several months. But a police official speaking on condition of anonymity confirmed that three people had died during the demonstration, and added that two other people had been killed Sunday in separate incidents. One man was shot dead in the volatile Bakara market area. Relatives said the motives of the killing were not known. Police also said that one of their members was killed but declined to reveal the location and circumstances of the incident. For the second day running, violence pitting Ethiopian and Somali forces against Islamist insurgents rocked the city in broad daylight. On Saturday, Ethiopian troops fanned out into the streets following fighting near the stadium that left at least six civilians dead. The latest clashes prompted a fresh wave of displacement, as civilians could be seen across entire neighborhoods loading pick-up trucks and donkey carts with household items. "No one can endure what is happening in Mogadishu, it's non-stop violence and it's taking hundreds of lives every week," said southern Mogadishu resident Abdurahman Nure, speaking to AFP from the back of a Land Cruiser as he left the city with his children. The Ethiopian Army came to the rescue of Somalia's embattled government last year to defeat fundamentalist Islamist militia that briefly controlled large parts of the country. Since the Islamist movement was ousted earlier this year, its militia and allied tribal fighters have waged a guerrilla-style war, carrying out hit-and-run attacks, mainly by night and in Mogadishu. "The insurgents are attacking the government and Ethiopian forces almost everyday now," said Fartun Adan Mohammad, a single mother, as she left the city with her three children. "Whenever this happens, we civilians are the target for the Ethiopian Army as well as the Somali forces, so fleeing is the only option we have," she said. Residents are saying that daytime fighting is making the city even more dangerous for civilians than it was before. Mogadishu residents have been fleeing the city in several major waves in recent months, arriving in droves in neighboring towns already plagued by dire food shortages. While the capital was engulfed in violence, the country's transitional government was also on the brink of disintegration. In the town of Baidoa, about 250 kilometers from Mogadishu, President Abdullahi Ahmad Yusuf was pushing Parliament to oust Prime Minister Ali Mohammad Gedi. The two leaders are from the country's two main and rival tribes and the president accuses his premier of failing to bring an end to the insurgency. Saudi King Abdullah has invited top leaders in a bid to reconcile them and press on with rebuilding state institutions. Somalia has lacked a functional government since the 1991 ouster of dictator Mohammad Siad Barre which set off a deadly power struggle that has defied at least a dozen peace initiatives. ***** http://tinyurl.com/2wjkck Mogadishu hit by fresh fighting Fighting between Ethiopian and Somali government troops and Islamist forces has continued in the Somali capital Mogadishu for a second day. Gunfire echoed through the streets and angry residents demonstrated in protest at the presence of Ethiopian troops in their battle-damaged city. Three people were reported to have been shot dead when Ethiopian troops opened fire during one demonstration. The unrest came a day after 10 people were reported killed in gun battles. Somalia has seen a surge in violence since Ethiopian-backed government troops ousted Islamists last December. Residents angry The AFP news agency reported that a young boy and two other people died when troops opened fire at a demonstration. The firing began after crowds threw stones and set tyres ablaze. "They have started firing again and I have no way to move my family," said Sahra Osman, a widow with five children, quoted by Reuters as clashes erupted earlier on Sunday. The BBC's Africa editor Martin Plaut says the latest clashes began after Ethiopia moved reinforcements and a convoy of 20 tanks and armoured cars into the city late on Friday. One of the vehicles was hit by a landmine and exploded. On Saturday, Ethiopian troops moved out of their barracks and started fanning out across the city. Government units control the east of the city, but the Council of Islamic Court, which was ousted in December's fighting, continues to hold some western parts of the city, from where it launches guerrilla attacks. The latest fighting has forced schools and business to close. Some 1,600 Ugandan troops are also in Mogadishu as part of a planned 8,000-strong African Union force to support the interim government. Somalia has been without an effective government since civil war began in 1991. The UN says some 400,000 people have fled the violence in Mogadishu in the past four months. ***** http://tinyurl.com/2nobfu Heavy Fighting Shakes Somali Capital Published 10/27/2007 - 3:16 p.m. (AP) By SALAD DUHUL Associated Press Writer Insurgents and government-allied forces battled with machine guns, mortars and rocket-propelled grenades Saturday in the heaviest fighting to hit Somalia's capital for months, leaving at least seven people dead and dozens others wounded, witnesses and health officials said. Islamic fighters briefly occupied a police station in south Mogadishu, before heading back out of the area, chanting 'God is great,' witnesses said. Witnesses said at least seven people including a woman had died in the heavy fighting between insurgents, government troops and government-allied Ethiopian forces. At least 35 people wounded in the fighting were being treated at Mogadishu's Medina Hospital, said Tahir Mohammed Mahmoud, an administrative assistant. He said it was the worst fighting, and heaviest day for hospital admissions, for at least four months in the war-scarred city. Another witness to the fighting, Hassan Hussein, said he saw two dead Ethiopian troops. Ethiopian officials were not immediately available for confirmation. On the political front, Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi was in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, for consultations. He has been locked in a power struggle for months with President Abdullahi Yusuf, who wants to push through a no-confidence vote this week and form a new government -- presumably without Gedi. On Friday, Gedi told local media that he was not planning to resign, contrary to widespread speculation. Twenty-two ministers and deputy ministers have threatened to resign unless the no-confidence vote is held, exposing deep rifts in the administration largely along politicians clan lines. Analysts say the Ethiopian government primarily wants stability in Somalia so it can withdraw its troops, who still patrol Mogadishu and other parts of the country. It is unclear which of the two leaders it backs. Mogadishu has been plagued by fighting since government troops and their Ethiopian allies chased out the Council of Islamic Courts in December. For six months, the Islamic group controlled much of southern Somalia, and remnants have vowed to fight an Iraq-style insurgency. Thousands of civilians have been killed in the fighting this year. Some 1.5 million Somalis are now in need of food and protection -- 50 percent more that at the start of the year -- due to inadequate rains, continuing internal displacement and a potential cholera epidemic, the U.N. says. _____ Associated Press Writer Mohammed Sheikh Nor contributed to this report. ***** -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ldxar1 at tesco.net Tue Oct 30 13:12:07 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Tue, 30 Oct 2007 20:12:07 -0000 Subject: [Onthebarricades] WEST PAPUA: Indigenous peoples fight deforestation Message-ID: <014701c81b31$260cce20$0802a8c0@andy1> http://www.modernghana.com/GhanaHome/NewsArchive/news_details.asp?menu_id=1&id=VFZSUk1rMXFZM2M9 Native Papuans fight against deforestation Asia Pacific - Mon, 29 Oct 2007 Papua New Guinea men The central government, investors in palm oil plantations and timber companies need to know that deforestation is and will be rejected by indigenous Papuans from 252 different tribes living in the western half of the island of New Guinea. If the Papuans were consulted, they would say: "Don't cut down our trees." Under Soeharto's regime, Papuans protesting against the destruction of their ancestral forests by government-authorized companies were simply accused of being separatists or against national development. Protesters were always silenced violently by the military and police, who seemed to love protecting timber companies. However, the 2001 law on special autonomy for Papua province gives more freedom for Papuans to raise their voices. Papuans, then, have begun to protest against deforestation within their ancestral forests. The latest example of the rejection of deforestation was demonstrated in September 2007 by indigenous Papuans of the Wate tribe in Nabire regency (Cenderawasih Pos, Sept. 20, 2007). It was reported members of the Wate tribe strongly opposed a plan by PT Harvest Raya, in collaboration with PT Jati Dharma Indah, to clear thousands of hectares of their ancestral forest to make way for palm oil plantations. The protesters have demanded the local government of Nabire regency revoke the permission already given to the companies. The Papuans' rejection of deforestation raises some questions. Why do indigenous Papuans courageously reject deforestation? Is the rejection a reflection of what the central government calls "Papuan separatism"? Is it a manifestation of being anti-government or anti-development, the accusations made by the central government in Jakarta for more than four decades? Is it sign of not wanting to better their future? The reasons behind the rejection are related to their culture. Their rejection is rooted in and guided by the life-giving values of local culture. Papuans never see their virgin forests simply as a sea of trees that can be cut down in order to make millions of dollars. The forest, for indigenous Papuans from all tribes, has multi-dimensional meanings. Indeed, Papuans never consider the forest as an enemy that has to be eradicated from the surface of the earth. Rather, it is first and foremost a member of the community. Papuan community is composed not only of living people, but also the dead, the spirits and nature. That's why each community, both as a tribe and a community within a tribe, always has its own forest within a clearly defined territory. So, culturally speaking, a Papuan can never be separated from the forest. It would also be a mistake if Papuan forest was seen as a isolated thing from the Papuans themselves, because the forest and the people form one community. For Papuans, a forest can mean a living pharmacy that provides all the necessary natural medicines. In times of need, Papuans go to the forest to collect natural medicine. The forest is also considered a food store or a living supermarket, for it provides vegetables, fruits, fish and animals. People used to get the necessary materials for houses, traditional boats, firewood and fences in their own forest. It is a Papuan's belief that their ancestors and deceased members of the community reside in the forest. They are the guardians of the forest, including plants and animals, owned by the community. The forest, for Papuans, is a living temple, chapel or mosque, where people come and pray. It is the place where all rituals are conducted by a community or individually. Papuans go into their ancestral forest if they want to communicate with the ancestors or the dead. The deeper sense of forest is expressed in the Papuan saying "Hutan adalah mama" (the forest is our mother). The forest is respected as a mother who tirelessly cares for, protects and sustains all of the members of the community, including the animals. Papuans cannot imagine life without the forest. Emphasizing the deeper meaning of forest, they say "Hutan kita, hidup kita" (our forest, our lives). It is for the sake of life that every Papuan is educated from childhood the importance of maintaining a correct relationship with the forest. We can now understand that deforestation, for Papuans, means destroying a living pharmacy, damaging the living supermarket, destroying the place of worship, expelling the ancestors and the dead and committing adultery against the mother forest. Deforestation, then, will bring about suffering, disaster and chaos for Papuans. That's why indigenous Papuans reject deforestation. Papuans learned the importance of the forest for life neither from the Dutch nor the Indonesian government, but from Papuan cultural tradition. The cultural concept of forest is handed down from one generation to the next. The central government should respect Papuan culture, including the cultural understanding of forest, and utilize it to protect the Papua's forests. By doing so, the government and Papuans could jointly prevent Papua's forests from being lost to deforestation. Otherwise there will be war between Papuans preserving Papua's forests and the central government proposing deforestation. The writer is a lecturer at the Fajar Timur School of Philosophy and Theology, in Abepura, Papua. Source/Credits: Neles Tebay, Abepura, Papua -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: clip_image002.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 14348 bytes Desc: not available URL: From ldxar1 at tesco.net Mon Oct 29 03:50:27 2007 From: ldxar1 at tesco.net (Andy) Date: Mon, 29 Oct 2007 10:50:27 -0000 Subject: [Onthebarricades] INDIA: Coca-Cola plant protested over water theft, pollution Message-ID: <003e01c81a19$84821000$0802a8c0@andy1> http://www.indiaresource.org/news/2007/1054.html Community Protests Coca-Cola Plant in India Community Files Police Report Accusing Coca-Cola of Water Theft and Pollution For Immediate Release October 25, 2007 Contacts: Baliram Ram, Coca-Cola Bhagao, Krishi Bachao Sangharsh Samiti +91 94507 79325 (Hindi) Nandlal Master, Lok Samiti +91 94153 00520 (Hindi) Amit Srivastava, India Resource Center +91 98103 46161 E: info at IndiaResource.org Ballia, Uttar Pradesh, India (October 25, 2007): Over 600 people marched and rallied against the Coca-Cola bottling plant in the village of Sinhachawar in Ballia district in India yesterday, demanding that the plant be shut down permanently. March to Coca-Cola Plant in Sinhachawar The community has accused the bottling plant of pollution and also illegally occupying land held by the village assembly. A visit by community members to the factory premises in May 2007 found the bottling plant indiscriminately dumping its hazardous waste inside and outside the factory premises. In 2003, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) of India assessed the sludge at eight Coca-Cola bottling plants, and found them all to contain excessive levels of lead, cadmium or chromium. As a result, the CPCB ordered the Coca-Cola company in India to treat its waste at all its bottling plants as industrial hazardous waste, and deal with it accordingly. Four years later, the Coca-Cola bottling plant in Sinhachawar has failed to follow the orders. In particular, the dumping of such hazardous waste violates the Hazardous Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules, 1989 from the Ministry of Environment and Forests of India. "We are demanding that the Coca-Cola bottling plant cease its operations permanently because they are destroying our land and water, the very source of our livelihoods," said Mr. Baliram Ram of the Coca-Cola Bhagao, Krishi Bachao Sangharsh Samiti, the main organizer of the protest. The Coca-Cola bottling plant in Sinhachawar has also built its boundary walls encompassing some land that is owned by the village assembly. In December 2005, villagers noticed that the Coca-Cola bottling plant had blocked access to a public road that went through the bottling plant. The villagers forcibly removed the gates placed by the bottling plant on either side of the road. The community is alleging that the Coca-Cola bottling plant illegally occupies another 1.5 acres of village assembly land. The community is also concerned about water shortages in the area as a result of the extraction of water by the Coca-Cola bottling plant. The area is already experiencing water shortages, and the villagers point to other communities in India around Coca-Cola bottling plants where the water crises have been severely exacerbated as a result of Coca-Cola's operations Rally at Coca-Cola Plant in Sinhachawar The bottling plant in Sinhachawar is a Coca-Cola franchisee owned unit operated by the Brindavan Bottlers Limited, which is owned by India's largest bottler of Coca-Cola, the Ladhani Group of Companies. The bottling plant is in the process of being bought by the Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Private Ltd, the subsidiary of the Coca-Cola company. The protest at the Coca-Cola bottling plant came a day after another demonstration at the District Magistrate's office in Balia on October 23 where community members presented their demands to the District Magistrate. The bottling plant has come under increased scrutiny after the community visit to the plant which confirmed that Coca-Cola was carelessly and illegally dumping its waste around the factory premises and into the surrounding fields. The head of the village council, Ms. Chinta Devi, has led the campaign to permanently shut down the plant. Last month, the union of village council heads in the district passed a resolution against the Coca-Cola bottling plant, insisting that it be shut down. The protest at the Coca-Cola bottling plant ended after community members lodged a police report accusing the plant of pollution, illegal land occupation and theft of water. The Coca-Cola company's operations in India have been challenged by various communities across India who are experiencing severe water shortages as well as polluted water and land as a result of the company's practices. The Coca-Cola bottling plant in Plachimada, one of the company's largest in India, has been shut down since March 2004. Rally at Coca-Cola Plant in Sinhachawar The local campaigns to challenge Coca-Cola in India have found tremendous support internationally, and particularly among college and university students in the US, UK and Canada. Over twenty five colleges and universities have taken actions against the Coca-Cola company. The full report of the May visit to the Coca-Cola bottling plant with images can be found at http://www.indiaresource.org/campaigns/coke/2007/cokebaliafact.html, in Hindi at http://www.indiaresource.org/campaigns/coke/2007/baliahindireport.pdf For more information, visit www.IndiaResource.org -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: balliamarch1.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 133405 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: balliamarch4.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 110074 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: balliamarch3.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 107577 bytes Desc: not available URL: From lccresistance at lebanonview.com Tue Oct 23 02:37:07 2007 From: lccresistance at lebanonview.com (lccresistance) Date: Tue, 23 Oct 2007 09:37:07 -0000 Subject: [Onthebarricades] =?windows-1256?q?THE_19TH_INTERNATIONAL_CALL_?= =?windows-1256?b?x+Hkz8fBIMfh1NrI7SDH4drH4ePtIMfhysfT2iDa1NE=?= Message-ID: <015a01c81557$f6f77650$df0b6e0a@pc> ?????? ???????? ??????? ??????? ???????? ????????? ?????????? French Arabic - English ???? ?????? ?????? ??????? ???? ??????? ?????? ?? ??????? ????????? ??????? ????? ?????? ?????? ???????? ??????? ??????? ????? ??? ?? ??????? ?????? ??????? ???????? ???? ?? 100 ??? ????? ????? ????? ?????? ??? ???? ????? ???????? ?????? ???? ?????? ???? ????? ?????? ??????? ???????? ?? ??????? ???????? ???????? ?????? ??????? ????????? ? ?? ????????? ?????? ????????? ???????? ?? ??????? ??????? ??????? ??????????? ?????????? ???? ?? ??? ????? 26 ????? ?????? 2008 ???? ????? ?? ?????? ????? ???????? ????? ???????? ?????? ????? ????? ????? ????????? ?????? ?????? ??????? ???????? ?? ?????? ?????? ?????? ?????? ???? ???????? ??????? ??????????? ?????????? ??? ???? ???? ????? ????? ??????? ????????? ???????????? ???????? ????? ???????? ???? ?????? ???????? ?????????? ???? ????? ??????26 ?27 ?? ????? ?????? 2008 ?? ????? ???????? ???????? ????? ???? ?????? ??????? ?????? ????? ????????? ?????????? ???? ?????? ????????? ????? ???????? ?? ?????? ?????? ??????? ??????? ??????????? ?????????? ????????? ????????? ?????????? ???????? ???????? ???? ???? ??????? ????? ??????? ?? ???? ????? , ?? ????? ?? ?????? ??????? ?? ?????? ?????? ????? ????? ????? ????? ??????? ???????? ???????? ???????? ?? ????? ?? ???????? ????? ????? ?????? ?????? ??? ????? ??? ?????? ??????? ??? ????????? ??? ?????? ??? ????? ?????? ??? ??? ??????? ?????? ??? ?? ???? ???? ?? ???????? ???????? ??????????? ?????????? ?????? ????????? ????? ??? ?????? ??????? ?????????? ??? ????? ???????? ?????? ???? ?????? ????? ??????? ?? ?????? ?????? ?????? ???? ??? ????? ???????? ?????????? ?? ???????? ??? ????? ?????? ?? ????? ??????? ???? ??? ????? ???????? ???????? ?? ?????? ??? ????? ????? ????? ?????? ???? ?????? ???? ????? ???????? ??????? ???? ??? ????? ???????? ?????? ??????? ?????? ??????? ???????? ????????? ????? ??????? ???????? ?? ???? ?????? ??????? ???? ?????? ??????? ?????? ???? ??? ??? ?????? ??????? ??? ???????? ????? ?? ?????? ?????? ?????? ????? ???????? ???????? ???? ?????? ?????? ?? ?????? ?????? ??????? ???????? ??????? ?????? ???????? ??????? ???? ????? ???????? ??????? ??????? ???? ??????? ??????? ????? ????? ??? ????? ?? ???? ??? ??? ?????? ??????? ????? ?????? ???????? ??????? ??????? ???????? ????????? ?????????? ??????? ??? ???????? ??????? ????????? ?? ??? ???????? ??????? ?? ?????? ???????????? ?? ??? ?????? ???? ?????? ???? ?? 140 ???? ????? ????? ?????????? ??????? ??????? ??????? ??????? ???????? ????????? ?????????? ????? ???? ???????? ??????? ???? ??????? ?? ???? ??????? ?????????? ??????? ????????? ???? ?????? ????????? ?????????? ??????? ???????? ??????? ??? ????? ?? 26 ????? ?????? 2008 ?? ???? ??????? ????????? ??????? ?????? ??????? ??????????? ????????? ???? ?????? ?? ?????? ???????? ????????? ???????? ??????? ??????? ??????? ???? ?? ???? ????? ??????? ????? ?? ????? ?????? ???????? ???????? ???? ????? ?? ?????? ??????? ????????? ?????????? ??????? ??? ???? ???? ??? ???? ???? ????, ??? ?????? ?????? ????????? ??????????? ????? ??? ??? ?? ?? ???? ???? ?? ??????????? ???????????? ???? ???????? ??????? ??? ????? ???? ?? ??? ???????? ???? ???? ?????? ?? ?????? ?????? . ?? ??????? ???????? ?????? ???? ?????? ??? ??? ???? ????? ????? ???????? ????? ???? ??????? ??????? ?????? ??????? ??? ????? ????? ??????? ??? ??????? ??????? ???????? ????? ????? ????? ??? ????? ??????? ????? ??? ????? ????? ?????? ????????? ?????????? ???? ?????? ????? ??? ?????? ?????? ?????? ?? ????????? ???????? ???????? ?????? 26?????2008 ?? ???? ????? ?????? ?? ???????? , ????? ????? ????? ????? ?????? ??? ??? ?????? ???? ?????? ??? ??????? ?? ???? ??????? ????????? ???? ???? ??????? ?????? ???? ???????? ???? ???????? ?? ????? ????? ????????? ?????? ?????? 1_????? ???? ??? ???????? ??????? ??????????? ??? ?? ??????? ????? ???? ???? ????? ????? ?????? ?????? ????? ???????? ?????? ??????? ??????????? 2: ???????? ?????? ????? ?????? ?? ????? ????? ????????? ?????? ?????? ????? 3: ???????? ??? ???? ?? ???? ?? ???? ??????? ?????? ????? ??? 4: ??? ????? ??????? ???????? ????????? ???????? ???????? ?? ?? ???? ?????? ?? ??????? ?? ?????? 5: ???????? ??? ????? ?????? ??? ????? ???????? ????? ????? ?????? ??????? ????? ??? ??????? 6: ??? ???? ???????? ??????? ???????? ?? ???????? ????? ?????? ???????? 7: ??? ?????? ????????? ???????????? ????? ????????? ??????? ?????? ???? ??????? 8: ????? ??? ???? ???? ??????? ??????? ??????? ???????? ????? ????????? ????? ????? ???????? ??? ???? ????? ?????? ????? ??? ???? ?????? ???? ??????? ??????? ??????? ????????, ????? ?? ???????? ??????? ???? ?? ??? ????? ??????? ????? 9: ???? ?????? ???????? ?????? ?????????? ????? ??? ?? ??????? ? ?? ???? ??? ?????? 10: ???????? ????? ????? ?????? ?????? ???? ?????? ??????? ??????? ??????? 11: ???? ????? ???? ????? ????? ?????? ?????? ?????? ?????? ??????? ??? ??? ?? ??? ????????? ????? ??? ??????? ???? ?? ??????? ??????? 12: ???? ????? ????????? ??????? ?????????? ???????????? ??? ???????? ??????? ????? ?? ???? ????? 25 ?????? 2007 A call for the Conference of BEIRUT LEBANON 26 OF JANUARY 2008 A call to the nation, to the country and to the Arabs and globe world Under the auspices of the WSF AND AUAIGAHIM WORLD SOCIAL FORUM ANTI -US & ISRAEL GLOBALIZATION AND HEGEMONY INTERNATIONAL MOVMENT The Arab and all Worlds and the whole humanity are suffering under hatred, under catastrophes, under bloody massacres and under occupation and oppression since the installation of the first Zionist settlements of occupation over the ground of Palestine since the end of the 19-th century Instead of reaching liberty and self determination and living in peace the struggle is still going on between the part of right and good constituting of the Arab people in occupied Palestine, in occupied Lebanon, in occupied Iraq and in occupied Syria, and the part of injustice, of occupation and of aggression against the peaceful towns and villages as well as against people, civilization and heavenly religions. The colonial countries steadily assisted this aggression, first of all by the USA and the Zionist entity that is violating the ground and the whole rights of the people in a genocide war of total annihilation. The last chain in this barbaric aggression lies in the offensive against the resistance movement that is defending the bare existence of the people in their countries and abroad. The resistance movement is carrying with the international community the principle and the goal of life in freedom independence and self-determination The whole world is carrying and facing a historic responsibility in the defense against occupation, oppression, aggression and injustice We declare the constitution of our Conference in the city BEIRUT LEBANON No to colonialism, - no to slavery, - no to Zionism and racism, - no to imperialism, no to American hegemony, - no to forest law, no to the globalization of death and aggression, - no to the destruction of moral and virtues, no to the commerce of slaves and countries, no to the American Zionist terror Yes to the world?s popular and general resistance for the sake of freedom, independence and just peace For the realization of these goals we propose the constitution of A broad popular globally coalition to face American and Zionist terror Sending a clear message To Whom It May Concern that we are deeply related to our countries of origin and that we are well concerned with the daily suffering of our people and its pleas and its disrespected rights All of you are called to contribute, assist and attend the works of the second constituting international BEIRUT resistance social forum Communities in globe world: Parties, organizations, societies, syndicates, politicians, thinkers, people of culture and literature, all among the broad parts of society in the different parts of the Arabs and all World, We call for the days of support of the resistance and its people in Palestine, Iraq and elsewhere in the Arab countries and all over the world For the support of the right of peoples to offend aggression, war and occupation For the right of people in independence, freedom, sovereignty and peace BEIRUT international resistance social forum 26JANUARY /02 FRBRUARY /2008 FADI MADI BEIRUT International Conference on Resistance against Imperialist Occupation and War?. For more details- applications -donnations-informations lccpress at yahoo.com moqawama at lebanonview.com lccpress at lebanonview.com TEL: 009613858055 00961136823 LONG LIFE TO OUR Lebanese and IRAQI RESISTANCE LONG LIFE TO OUR ENTIFADAH AND RESISTANCE IN PALESTINE Call for day of action / mobilization January 26th 2008 We are millions of women and men, organizations, networks, movements, trade unions from all parts of the world; we come from villages, regions, rural zones, urban centers; we are of all ages, peoples, cultures, beliefs, but we are united by the strong conviction that ANOTHER WORLD IS POSSIBLE With all the richness of our plurality and diversity and our alternatives and proposals, we struggle against neo-liberalism, war, colonialism, racism and patriarchy which produce violence, exploitation, exclusion, poverty, hunger and ecological disaster and deprive people of human rights. For many years we have been resisting and constructing innovative processes, new cultures of organization and action from the local to the global, in particular within the processes and Charter of Principle of the World Social Forum from which this call emerges. Aware of the need to set our own agenda and to increase the impact of these thousands of expressions and manifestations, we are committed to strengthening the solidarity and convergence amongst our struggles, campaigns, and constructions of alternatives and alliances. We commit ourselves to a week of action which will culminate in a Global Day of Mobilization and Action on January 26, 2008. With our diversity which is our strength, we invite all men and women to undertake throughout this week creative actions, activities, events and convergences focusing on the issues and expressed in the ways they choose. ACT TOGETHER FOR ANOTHER WORLD! First signatures (from WSF International Council Berlin meeting - May 30th, 2007) APPEL ? une journ?e mondiale de mobilisations et d?actions 26 janvier 2008 Nous sommes des millions de femmes et d?hommes, d?organisations, de r?seaux, de mouvements et syndicats de tous les coins de la plan?te, r?gions et villages, zones rurales et urbaines, de tous les peuples, de tout ?ge, culture et croyances unis par la ferme conviction que UN AUTRE MONDE EST POSSIBLE Riches de nos diversit?s, de notre pluralisme, de nos alternatives et propositions, nous luttons contre le n?olib?ralisme, la guerre, la colonisation, le racisme et le patriarcat qui g?n?rent violence, exploitation, exclusions, pauvret?, faim, d?sastres ?cologiques et n?gations des droits humains. Depuis de nombreuses ann?es, nous r?sistons et construisons des processus innovants, de nouvelles cultures d?organisation et d?action allant du local au mondial, en particulier au travers du processus et de la Charte de principes du Forum social mondial dont est issu cet appel. Conscients de la n?cessit? de construire notre propre calendrier de mobilisations et soucieux d?amplifier l?impact de ces milliers de formes d?expressions et de manifestations, nous nous engageons ? renforcer la solidarit? et les convergences entre nos luttes, nos campagnes, ainsi que la construction d?alternatives et d?alliances. Nous nous engageons ? organiser une semaine d?actions qui culminera le 26 janvier 2008 avec une journ?e mondiale de mobilisation et d?actions. Nous vous invitons toutes ET tous, dans la diversit? qui est notre force, ? construire de mani?re cr?ative des actions, manifestations, ?v?nements et convergences sur des th?mes et selon des modalit?s pratiques que chacun choisira. Agissons ensemble pour un autre monde! ??? ???? ???? ????? ???? ????? ???????? ??????? ??????? ???? ?????? ????? ??? ????? ???????? ????? ???????? ????? ??????? ???? ??? ???? ????? ???????? ???? ?? ???? ??? ??? ??? ?? ???? ???????? ??? ???????? ????????? ?? ??????? ??????? ????? ??? ?????? ????? http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LEBANONVIEW ???? :03858055\\\\01377769\\\\\\\01368238 EMAIL: lccpress at yahoo.com lccpress at lebanonview.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: pic05e.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 10908 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: ShowLetter.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 9930 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... 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Name: wsfworld.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 42707 bytes Desc: not available URL: From lccresistance at lebanonview.com Sun Oct 28 01:15:36 2007 From: lccresistance at lebanonview.com (lccresistance) Date: Sun, 28 Oct 2007 10:15:36 +0200 Subject: [Onthebarricades] =?windows-1256?q?INTERNATIONAL_ACTION_CALL_=CF?= =?windows-1256?b?2ubJIMfh7CDj5MrP7CDI7dHmyiDH4ePex+bjIObH4ePUx9Hf?= =?windows-1256?b?ySDd7SDH4cfkyt3H1skgx+Hax+Hj7ckgx+HUx+PhyQ==?= Message-ID: <032e01c8193b$8f0e8f00$df0b6e0a@pc> ?????? ???????? ??????? ??????? ???????? ????????? ?????????? ???? ?? ???? ?????? ?????? ?????? ????????? ???????? ??????? ???????? ???????? ???? ?? ??? ????????? ??????? ???? ?? ??? ??? ?????? ??????? ??? ???? ???? ???? ???? ?? ??? ???????? ???????? ?????? ??? ????? ?????? ???????? ???? ?????? ?????? ????????? ??? ????? ??? ????? ??? ?? ??? ????? ?? ?????? ?????? ????? ???? ????? ????? ?? ???????? ????? ???? ???? French - Arabic - English ???? ???? ?????? ????? ???? ?????? ?? ?????? ?? ??????????? ?????????? ???????? ???? ?????? ??????? ????????? ???????? ?????????? ???????? ??????? ?? ????? ?????? ???????? ???? ?????? ????? ??? ?? ??????? ???????? ??????????? ????????? ???????? ???????? ????????? ?????? ??????? ?????? ???? ????? ?????? ?????? ?????? ???????? ?????? ???????? ?? ??? ????? ??????? ??????? 26????? ?????? 2008 ??? ??????? ????????? ??????? ??????? ?????? ???????? ??????? ??????? ???????? ????????? ?????????? ???????? ????????? ??????? ?????? ?????? ?? ???????? ???????? ???????? ????????? ?????????? ???????? ???????? ?????? ??? ??????? ??????? ??????? ??????? ??????? ??????????? ?????????? ???? ?? ??? ????? 26 ????? 2008 ???? ??? ???? ?? ??????? ?????? ?????? ????? ???????? ???????? ????????? ?????? ?????? ???????? ???? ?????? ????? ?????? ?????????? ??????? ??????? ????????? ???? ????? ???????? ??????? ?????? ???????? ?????? ?????? ??????? ?????? ??????? ??????????? ?????????? ?????? 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???????? ???????? ?????? ??????? ????????? ? ?? ????????? ?????? ????????? ???????? ?? ??????? ??????? ??????? ??????????? ?????????? ???? ?? ??? ????? 26 ????? ?????? 2008 ???? ????? ?? ?????? ????? ???????? ????? ???????? ?????? ????? ????? ????? ????????? ?????? ?????? ??????? ???????? ?? ?????? ?????? ?????? ?????? ???? ???????? ??????? ??????????? ?????????? ?? ????? ???????? ???????? ????? ???? ?????? ??????? ?????? ????? ????????? ?????????? ???? ?????? ????????? ????? ???????? ?? ?????? ?????? ??????? ??????? ??????????? ?????????? ????????? ????????? ?????????? ???????? ???? ???? ??????? ????? ??????? ????????? ???????? ?? ????? ??????? ?????? ?? ???? ????? , ?? ????? ?? ?????? ??????? ?? ?????? ?????? ????? ????? ????? ????? ??????? ???????? ???????? ???????? ?? ????? ?? ???????? ????? ????? ?????? ?????? ??? ????? ??? ?????? ??????? ??? ????????? ??? ?????? ??? ????? ?????? ??? ??? ??????? ?????? ??? ?? ???? ???? ?? ???????? ???????? ??????????? ?????????? ?????? ?????? ?????? 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???????? ?????? ??????? ??????????? 2: ???????? ?????? ????? ?????? ?? ????? ????? ????????? ?????? ?????? ????? 3: ???????? ??? ???? ?? ???? ?? ???? ??????? ?????? ????? ??? 4: ??? ????? ??????? ???????? ????????? ???????? ???????? ?? ?? ???? ?????? ?? ??????? ?? ?????? 5: ???????? ??? ????? ?????? ??? ????? ???????? ????? ????? ?????? ??????? ????? ??? ??????? 6: ??? ???? ???????? ??????? ???????? ?? ???????? ????? ?????? ???????? ??????? ????? ??????? ?? 50 ???? ??????? ?100???? ????????? ???????? ?20???? ?????? 7: ??? ?????? ????????? ???????????? ????? ????????? ??????? ?????? ???? ??????? 8: ????? ??? ???? ???? ??????? ??????? ??????? ???????? ????? ????????? ????? ????? ???????? ??? ???? ????? ?????? ????? ??? ???? ?????? ???? ??????? ??????? ??????? ????????, ????? ?? ???????? ??????? ???? ?? ??? ????? ??????? ????? 9: ???? ?????? ???????? ?????? ?????????? ????? ??? ?? ??????? ? ?? ???? ??? ?????? 10: ???????? ????? ????? ?????? ?????? ???? ?????? ??????? ??????? ??????? 11: ???? ????? ???? ????? ????? ?????? ?????? ?????? ?????? ??????? ??? ??? ?? ??? ????????? ????? ??? ??????? ???? ?? ??????? ??????? 12: ???? ????? ????????? ??????? ?????????? ???????????? ??? ???????? ??????? ????? ?? ???? ????? 25 ?????? 2007 ????? ?????? ???????? ??????? ??????? ???????? ????????? ?????????? ??????? ??? ???????? ??????? ????????? ?? ??? ???????? ??????? ?? ?????? ???????????? ?? ??? ?????? ???? ?????? ???? ?? 140 ???? ????? ????? ?????????? ??????? ??????? ??????? ??????? ???????? ????????? ?????????? ????? ???? ???????? ??????? ???? ??????? ?? ???? ??????? ?????????? ??????? ????????? ???? ?????? ????????? ?????????? ??????? ???????? ??????? ??? ????? ?? 26 ????? ?????? 2008 ?? ???? ??????? ????????? ??????? ??????? ???????? ??????? ??????? ???????? ????????? ?????????? ??? ???? ?????? ???? ?????? ??????? ??????????? ????????? ???? ?????? ?? ?????? ???????? ????????? ???????? ??????? ??????? ??????? ???? ?? ???? ????? ??????? ????? ?? ????? ?????? ???????? ???????? ???? ????? ?? ?????? ??????? ????????? ?????????? ??????? ??? ???? ???? ??? ???? ???? ????, ??? ?????? ?????? ????????? ??????????? ????? ??? ??? ?? ?? ???? ???? ?? ??????????? ???????????? ???? ???????? ??????? ??? ????? ???? ?? ??? ???????? ???? ???? ?????? ?? ?????? ?????? . ?? ??????? ???????? ?????? ???? ?????? ??? ??? ???? ????? ????? ???????? ????? ???? ??????? ??????? ?????? ??????? ??? ????? ????? ??????? ??? ??????? ??????? ???????? ????? ????? ????? ??? ????? ??????? ????? ??? ????? ????? ?????? ????????? ?????????? ???? ?????? ????? ??? ?????? ?????? ?????? ?? ????????? ???????? ???????? ?????? 26?????2008 ?? ???? ????? ?????? ?? ???????? , ????? ????? ????? ????? ?????? ??? ??? ?????? ???? ?????? ??? ??????? ?? ???? ??????? ????????? ???? ???? ??????? ?????? ???? ???????? A call for the Conference of BEIRUT LEBANON 26 OF JANUARY 2008 A call to the nation, to the country and to the Arabs and globe world Under the auspices of the WSF AND AUAIGAHIM WORLD SOCIAL FORUM ANTI -US & ISRAEL GLOBALIZATION AND HEGEMONY INTERNATIONAL MOVMENT The Arab and all Worlds and the whole humanity are suffering under hatred, under catastrophes, under bloody massacres and under occupation and oppression since the installation of the first Zionist settlements of occupation over the ground of Palestine since the end of the 19-th century Instead of reaching liberty and self determination and living in peace the struggle is still going on between the part of right and good constituting of the Arab people in occupied Palestine, in occupied Lebanon, in occupied Iraq and in occupied Syria, and the part of injustice, of occupation and of aggression against the peaceful towns and villages as well as against people, civilization and heavenly religions. The colonial countries steadily assisted this aggression, first of all by the USA and the Zionist entity that is violating the ground and the whole rights of the people in a genocide war of total annihilation. The last chain in this barbaric aggression lies in the offensive against the resistance movement that is defending the bare existence of the people in their countries and abroad. The resistance movement is carrying with the international community the principle and the goal of life in freedom independence and self-determination The whole world is carrying and facing a historic responsibility in the defense against occupation, oppression, aggression and injustice We declare the constitution of our Conference in the city BEIRUT LEBANON No to colonialism, - no to slavery, - no to Zionism and racism, - no to imperialism, no to American hegemony, - no to forest law, no to the globalization of death and aggression, - no to the destruction of moral and virtues, no to the commerce of slaves and countries, no to the American Zionist terror Yes to the world?s popular and general resistance for the sake of freedom, independence and just peace For the realization of these goals we propose the constitution of A broad popular globally coalition to face American and Zionist terror Sending a clear message To Whom It May Concern that we are deeply related to our countries of origin and that we are well concerned with the daily suffering of our people and its pleas and its disrespected rights All of you are called to contribute, assist and attend the works of the second constituting international BEIRUT resistance social forum Communities in globe world: Parties, organizations, societies, syndicates, politicians, thinkers, people of culture and literature, all among the broad parts of society in the different parts of the Arabs and all World, We call for the days of support of the resistance and its people in Palestine, Iraq and elsewhere in the Arab countries and all over the world For the support of the right of peoples to offend aggression, war and occupation For the right of people in independence, freedom, sovereignty and peace BEIRUT international resistance social forum 26JANUARY /02 FRBRUARY /2008 THE ANTI US & ISRAEL GLOBALIZATION AND HEGEMONY INTERNATIONAL MOVMENT PRESISDENT FADI MADI BEIRUT International Conference on Resistance against Imperialist Occupation and War?. For more details- applications -donnations-informations lccpress at yahoo.com moqawama at lebanonview.com lccpress at lebanonview.com TEL: 009613858055 00961136823 LONG LIFE TO OUR Lebanese and IRAQI RESISTANCE LONG LIFE TO OUR ENTIFADAH AND RESISTANCE IN PALESTINE Call for day of action / mobilization January 26th 2008 We are millions of women and men, organizations, networks, movements, trade unions from all parts of the world; we come from villages, regions, rural zones, urban centers; we are of all ages, peoples, cultures, beliefs, but we are united by the strong conviction that ANOTHER WORLD IS POSSIBLE With all the richness of our plurality and diversity and our alternatives and proposals, we struggle against neo-liberalism, war, colonialism, racism and patriarchy which produce violence, exploitation, exclusion, poverty, hunger and ecological disaster and deprive people of human rights. For many years we have been resisting and constructing innovative processes, new cultures of organization and action from the local to the global, in particular within the processes and Charter of Principle of the World Social Forum from which this call emerges. Aware of the need to set our own agenda and to increase the impact of these thousands of expressions and manifestations, we are committed to strengthening the solidarity and convergence amongst our struggles, campaigns, and constructions of alternatives and alliances. We commit ourselves to a week of action which will culminate in a Global Day of Mobilization and Action on January 26, 2008. With our diversity which is our strength, we invite all men and women to undertake throughout this week creative actions, activities, events and convergences focusing on the issues and expressed in the ways they choose. ACT TOGETHER FOR ANOTHER WORLD! First signatures (from WSF International Council Berlin meeting - May 30th, 2007) APPEL ? une journ?e mondiale de mobilisations et d?actions 26 janvier 2008 Nous sommes des millions de femmes et d?hommes, d?organisations, de r?seaux, de mouvements et syndicats de tous les coins de la plan?te, r?gions et villages, zones rurales et urbaines, de tous les peuples, de tout ?ge, culture et croyances unis par la ferme conviction que UN AUTRE MONDE EST POSSIBLE Riches de nos diversit?s, de notre pluralisme, de nos alternatives et propositions, nous luttons contre le n?olib?ralisme, la guerre, la colonisation, le racisme et le patriarcat qui g?n?rent violence, exploitation, exclusions, pauvret?, faim, d?sastres ?cologiques et n?gations des droits humains. Depuis de nombreuses ann?es, nous r?sistons et construisons des processus innovants, de nouvelles cultures d?organisation et d?action allant du local au mondial, en particulier au travers du processus et de la Charte de principes du Forum social mondial dont est issu cet appel. Conscients de la n?cessit? de construire notre propre calendrier de mobilisations et soucieux d?amplifier l?impact de ces milliers de formes d?expressions et de manifestations, nous nous engageons ? renforcer la solidarit? et les convergences entre nos luttes, nos campagnes, ainsi que la construction d?alternatives et d?alliances. Nous nous engageons ? organiser une semaine d?actions qui culminera le 26 janvier 2008 avec une journ?e mondiale de mobilisation et d?actions. Nous vous invitons toutes ET tous, dans la diversit? qui est notre force, ? construire de mani?re cr?ative des actions, manifestations, ?v?nements et convergences sur des th?mes et selon des modalit?s pratiques que chacun choisira. Agissons ensemble pour un autre monde! ??? ???? ???? ????? ???? ????? ???????? ??????? ??????? ???? ?????? ????? ??? ????? ???????? ????? ???????? ????? ??????? ???? ??? ???? ????? ???????? ???? ?? ???? ??? ??? ??? ?? ???? ???????? ??? ???????? ????????? ?? ??????? ??????? ????? ??? ?????? ????? http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LEBANONVIEW ???? :03858055\\\\01377769\\\\\\\01368238 EMAIL: lccpress at yahoo.com lccpress at lebanonview.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: wsfworld.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 42707 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: pic05e.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 10908 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: ShowLetter.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 9930 bytes Desc: not available URL: