[Onthebarricades] Global civil and human rights protests
Andy
ldxar1 at tesco.net
Mon Apr 14 17:16:34 PDT 2008
* INDIA: Attack on academic freedom leads to rally
* PAKISTAN: Clashes and teargas as lawyers' rallies resume
[NOTE: This wave of protests has now been successful - the new government
has reversed Musharraf's attacks]
* PAKISTAN/UK: PPP holds protest in London
* PAKISTAN: Radical students protest arrests
* PAKISTAN: Students protest against police baton charge
* PAKISTAN: Protest against violence by political Islamists at Punjab
university
* PAKISTAN: Rawalpindi journalists protest against anti-journalist laws
* INDIA: Milk delivery workers protest against army ID requirement
* INDIA: Lucknow locals protest against arrest of local boy
* INDIA: Film artists protest gag order on racist actor
* NEW ZEALAND: Protesters rally at Tame Iti bail hearing
* NEW ZEALAND: Election finance reform silent protest
* URUGUAY/GLOBAL: Political prisoners on hunger strike; solidarity attack
on Goethe Institute
* ARGENTINA: Rally at prison in support of anarchist prisoners
* BOLIVIA: Cops lynched for attempted extortion
* INDIA: Sex workers protest against police raids, brutality
* CAMBODIA: Police squelch Mia Farrow genocide Olympics protest
* TAMIL EELAM/UK: British Tamils rally against Sri Lankan government
* PERU: Politicians chew coca to denounce UN agent's call for ban
* GLOBAL: Online protest denounces enemies of internet freedom
* UK, FRANCE: Olympic relay targeted
* INDIA: Maoists hold series of bandhs against encounter killings,
repression; seize police rifles in raid
* US: Rapper takes long walk against death penalty
Publicly Archived at Global Resistance:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/globalresistance
http://www.hindu.com/2008/02/23/stories/2008022360970300.htm
DUTA holds silent protest
Staff Reporter
NEW DELHI: Earlier in the day, the Delhi University Teachers' Association
organised a silent protest outside the institution against the serving of
show-cause notices on the two senior History lecturers of the college.
Teachers of various departments sat outside the college with their faces
covered with a black cloth as a mark of their "silent" protest against the
"blatant assault" on the academic freedom and freedom of expression of the
teachers.
The teachers were served show-cause notices for "abusing the teaching space".
The DUTA also noted with "utter disappointment and regret" that the
University, despite maintaining in an affidavit that the appointment of
Officer on Special Duty was illegal, had ignored the order of National
Commission for Minority Educational Institutions for replacing Mr. Thampu.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Islamabad
Clashes, tear gas at rally to greet CJ in judges enclave
1000 + people showed up. The rally was led by Imran Khan and Justice (r)
Tariq.
The Rally had participation from Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf, Student Action
Committee, Awami Jamhoori Itehad, Insani Haqooq Itehad and the lawyers
community.
Karachi
15,000 people at rally at Karachi Press Club. Ends at Supreme Court Building
(Karachi).
THIS IS THE LARGEST RALLY SO FAR IN THE MOVEMENT!
The rally was only possible by the untiring efforts of the People's
Resistance Group in Karachi ever since Nov 3rd.
The event had attendance from political parties, NGO's, lawyers, traders,
reform groups and the civil society.
Speeches were given by Fakhruddin Ibrahim, Rashid Rizvi and Munir Malik.
Awami Tahreek rally opposit to press club Karachi.
Lahore
Rally from Neher Ghar to Justice Ramday's House. The rally was led by Bushra
Ahsan and swelled to over 1000 outside justice Ramday's house. The police
was so overwhelmed by the numbers that they did not stop the protesters from
entering Justice Ramday's house.
Speeches were given by Aitzaz Ahsan and Justice Bhagwandas. The rally had
participation from Concerned Citizens of Pakistan, Student Action Committee,
lawyers, some political party workers and members of civil society.
Aitzaz welcomes joint statement of Nawaz Sharif and Asif Zardari to
reinstate all deposed judges within 30 days of Parliament. States that
countdown will begin. Political parties will be supported from tomorrow.
Focus should now be on Musharraf.
10th March Events
Karachi:
Complete BOYCOTT OF ALL THE COURTS.
Flag Hoistings:
3:00 pm >> Hotel Jabees, Saddar
Islamic Lawyers Movement (ILM)
People's Resistance and all other friends are invited to join
5:00 pm >> Iqbal Haider's House
D-25, Block 4, KDA 5, Clifton
Just after Abdullah Shah Ghazi's Mazar, off 26th Street
Behind Designers.
Lahore:
1. Black Flag will be hoisted 10:30 A.M.
2. Complete BOYCOTT OF ALL THE COURTS.
3. G.H. Meeting of L.H.C. 10:30 A.M.
4. Address of Mr. Aitzaz Ahsan (President SCBA ) 11:00 A.M.
5. Rally of LBA 11:30 A.M.
6. Black Flag Rally at Liberty Roundabout - 5.00 -5.45 pm
Islamabad:
Complete BOYCOTT OF ALL THE COURTS.
Car Rally with nearly 50 cars with black flags, taking a round of almost all
of the busiest areas of Islamabad, honking all the way, starting from
Suharwardy Road at Fire Brigade (4 pm), and going through Aabpara,then
welcoming Ali Kurd's arrival at the Rawalpindi International Airport at 5
15-5 30 pm and then going around Islamabad again. The rally will have a
public address system to also address public at busy intersections.
Fwd by:
Ayaz Latif Palijo Advocate
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008%5C02%5C29%5Cstory_29-2-2008_pg7_29
Aitzaz announces week-long protest from March 9
By AR Qureshi
KARACHI: Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) President Aitzaz Ahsan
announced on Thursday that lawyers would observe a week-long protest from
March 9-16 in support of the judiciary.
The SCBA president made the announcement over telephone while addressing a
general body meeting of the Karachi Bar Association (KBA). The first day of
the protest coincides with the completion of a full year of the judicial
crisis that started on March 9, when former chief justice of Pakistan
Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry was suspended and President Pervez Musharraf sent
a reference against him to the Supreme Judicial Council.
In his speech to the lawyers, Ahsan advised the president to quit and
transfer power to representatives elected by the people. He also urged
political parties to restore the pre-November 3 judiciary so that justice
could be dispensed to the people of Pakistan. Ahsan said, "Political parties
have shown their strength by securing a two-thirds majority in the
parliament. They should now take steps for a free and independent judiciary.
People voted them into power to acquire independence of all kinds, including
independent of judiciary, free media and freedom of speech."
http://www.dawn.com/2008/01/22/top11.htm
PPP's anti-Musharraf protest at 10 Downing Street
By M. Ziauddin
LONDON, Jan 21: The Pakistan People's Party staged a protest demonstration
here in front of 10 Downing Street for about two hours on Sunday afternoon
raising slogans against President Pervez Musharraf and his government
The demonstrators, some 300 strong and mostly of Kashmiri origin from London
and outside, carried placards demanding UN-led investigation into Benazir
Bhutto's assassination and asking Musharraf to step down.
The PPP UK presented a memorandum to Prime Minister Gordon Brown calling for
his cooperation in persuading Islamabad to seek UN help to unveil the actual
plotters behind Ms Bhutto's murder. The memorandum was received by an
official on behalf of the PM.
Later in the evening some 50 professionals of Pakistani origin, mostly
doctors staged another protest demonstration in front of the Pakistan High
Commission. They were demanding the restoration of pre-Nov 3 state of
superior judiciary and immediate release of incarcerated judges and lawyers.
Meanwhile, it is learnt that the PPP is planning an even bigger
demonstration on January 28 in front of 10 Downing Street when Mr Musharraf
is tentatively scheduled to meet Prime Minister Brown.
In another development, the Campaign Against Martial Law in Pakistan (CAML),
a group formed by students, lawyers, doctors, other professionals,
businessmen and civil society activists of Pakistani origin following the
March 9 confrontation between the president and the superior judiciary, has
also planned protest demonstrations against Musharraf during his three-day
stay here next week.
Asma Jahangir of Human Rights Commission of Pakistan and Imran Khan of
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf both of whom are expected to be here on Monday
next have agreed to join the demonstration at 10 Downing Street. Jemima Khan
with her two sons is also expected to be present at the demonstration on
Jan. 28.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008%5C02%5C22%5Cstory_22-2-2008_pg12_1
Lawyers get back on the protest beat
Staff Report
KARACHI: A Karachi Bar Association (KBA) rally carrying a coffin-clad dummy
of President Pervez Musharraf was stopped from going on to M. A. Jinnah
Road, resulting in hours of clashes and the disruption of traffic.
Members of the KBA held a silent rally after a protest general body meeting,
which was followed by token hunger strike and boycott of court proceedings.
The rally participants carried a dummy of Musharraf in a white coffin. When
it moved ahead towards the main road, hundreds of baton-wielding policemen
warned the lawyers and ordered them to go back to the KBA premises.
According to witnesses, the lawyers refused to go back and the policemen
pelted them with stones. The lawyer retaliated in the same manner. As the
tension escalated, the fully geared-up police started firing tear-gas.
Hundreds of shells were fired and the lawyers were taken by surprise.
According to KBA office bearer Muzaffar Iqbal Sufi, 21 lawyers were arrested
and detained at a number of police stations including Jackson, Risala,
Arambagh and SITE. According to lawyers present at the rally, 28 lawyers
were injured.
The arrested lawyers included KBA Honorary Secretary Naeem Qureshi, Managing
Committee members Waheed Baloch and Samad Baloch, Fateh Shah, Jehangir
Warejo, Zia Alam, Anwar Ahmed Yousuf Zai, Sathi Ishaq, Saeed Qureshi, Riaz
Affendi, Munsif Jan and a few unidentified younger members.
The lawyers dispersed at around 2:30 p.m.
KBA to hold 'black day' Monday: The defiant lawyers, encouraged by the
results of the general elections and angered by the police action against
Karachi Bar Association (KBA) members, resolved to observe Monday, February
25 as a Black day to protest brutality without any provocation.
As soon as reports of the police action against the KBA, including the
burning of the token-hunger strike camps, got out, the Sindh High Court Bar
Association (SHCBA) held an emergency meeting of its managing committee.
More than 21 lawyers were arrested while dozens sustained injuries in the
clashes.
13 lawyers released after 2 hours in custody: Thirteen lawyers, including
Karachi Bar Association (KBA) General Secretary Naeem Qureshi, were released
on orders of a district judge south after two hours in the police lockup.
They were arrested earlier for crossing their protesting limits after a
general body meeting in City Courts. The rally was led by KBA President
Mehmood-ul-Hassan.
The lawyers wanted to stage a sit-in on M. A. Jinnah Road, but, the police
started baton charging and firing tear gas shells in a bid to foil the
attempt. The lawyers then pelted stones at the police in retaliation, and
the police followed suit.
Some lawyers, including Nabi Bux, Ahsan Ali Rind, Sardar and Pervaiz, and
some police officers sustained minor injuries from the shelling and stoning.
Later, police cordoned off the area and arrested the lawyers. The clash
continued for over one-and-a-half hours.
Police arrested thirteen lawyers including KBA General Sectary Naeem
Qureshi, Saeed Qureshi, Jehangir Ranju, Raja Arif, Waheed Baloch, Munsib
Jan, Riaz Afandi, Tahir Rehman, Anwaar Ahmed, Syed Mohammad Zia Alam, Syed
Mohammad Hussain and Fateh Ali Shah.
The lawyers were shifted to the Risala police station lockup of Saddar Town
and FIR no. 15/08 (under sections 147, 148, 149, 427, 353) was lodged on
behalf of the government.
Judicial Magistrate Khawaja Ashraf Hussain went to the Risala police station
on the directives of District Judge South Arjun Ram Tilani and got the
lawyers released. "The arrests were bailable, so we had the authority to
release them," said Chaudhry Nazeer, the investigation officer.
DSP Salman Hussain was also present at the scene. Hussain told Daily Times
that the lawyers are authorized to protest outside the City Courts, and they
do this every Thursday and the police never bother them. However, this time
they tried to cross their limits and tried to go onto M. A. Jinnah Road.
"The police tried to stop them and asked them to get back within their
limits, but they didn't listen. Some of them then threw stones so we had to
use batons to disperse them. The lawyers got even more adamant and we had to
resort to tear gas and arrests," he claimed.
KBA President Mehmood-ul-Hassan told Daily Times, "We were just trying to
record our protest peacefully."
http://www.dawn.com/2008/02/24/top18.htm
Lawyers protest heats up
RAWALPINDI, Feb 23: Lawyers' post-election protest for reinstatement of the
deposed judges seems to gain momentum as they once again marched towards the
camp office of President Pervez Musharraf in a large number and protested in
front of the barriers laid near the army house on Saturday.
The members of the Rawalpindi Bar Association (RBA) took out a protest march
and gathered at Katchery Chowk and then moved towards Jinnah Park where they
were stopped by a heavy police contingent from going towards the army house.
But the angry protesters deceived the law enforcers and after passing
through the parking lot crossed the railway track and assembled on the road
leading to the army house. At this, the police men rushed towards the
barriers of the camp office where army soldiers already stood vigilant.
After protesting there for about 10 minutes and chanting pro-deposed judges
and anti-Musharraf slogans - the most repeated being "Quit the army house" -
the lawyers came to the busy Jhelum road and staged a sit-in for some time
before returning to the district courts. Before coming out of the courts,
the lawyers organised a token hunger strike against the removal of judges
and arrest of their leaders after the November 3 emergency.
Meanwhile, addressing a meeting of the RBA general body, a journalist from a
private TV channel said the results of February 18 elections vindicated the
power of ballot. Praising the struggle of the lawyers, he said the movement
of the legal fraternity had created awareness among the people about what
was right and what was wrong.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008%5C02%5C07%5Cstory_7-2-2008_pg7_27
Lawyers weekly protest, boycott continues
Staff Report
LAHORE: Following the call of the Pakistan Bar Council, lawyers will boycott
courts and hold their weekly protest rally, demanding the restoration of the
deposed judges and release of the detained lawyers.
The Lahore High Court Bar Association (LHCBA) and the Lahore Bar Association
(LBA) have given the call for the rally and the boycott. LHCBA Secretary
Sarfarz Cheema on Wednesday announced the call for the protest rally, saying
the lawyers would completely boycott the courts.
Both the bars will hold their general house meetings before taking out the
rally. The LBA rally will be taken out from Aiwan-e-Adal courts. The LHCBA
lawyers will join the LBA rally at the GPO Chowk, The Mall. The joint rally
will end at the Faisal Chowk.
LBA Secretary Latif Sarra told Daily Times that lawyers would continue their
movement till the restoration of the deposed judges and the removal of the
judges who took oath under the Provisional Constitution Order.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008%5C02%5C04%5Cstory_4-2-2008_pg13_1
People protest against Aitzaz's house arrest
* CCP members distribute pamphlets on Canal Road
* PGC denounced for thrashing SAC members
* People urged to participate in today's car rally to Islamabad
Staff Report
LAHORE: Lawyers, journalists, students and other civil society activists on
Sunday protested outside Supreme Court Bar Association President Barrister
Aitzaz Ahsan's house, demanding that the government should release him and
other detained lawyers and restore the deposed judges.
On the call of the Concerned Citizens of Pakistan (CCP), a non-governmental
organisation, the demonstrators thronged in front of Aitzaz's house where he
was detained on Saturday for another 30 days. The protestors, holding
national flags, posters and black flags, shouted slogans against the
government for detaining Aitzaz Ahsan, Justice (r) Tariq Mehmood and Ali
Ahmed Kurd, after the completion of their 90-day detentions.
Justice (r) Nasira Javed Iqbal, Dr Yasmin Rashid, Mrs Bushra Aitzaz,
Advocate Muhammad Azhar Siddique and many other renowned personalities
participated in the protest.
The protestors recited the national anthem and marched towards the Canal
Road. They stood alongside the road in a row, chanting slogans and waving
flags. Some members of the CCP distributed pamphlets - inscribed with poetry
and quotations to appreciate the deposed judges and the protesting lawyers -
among the passers by. After staying there for half an hour, the protestors
returned to Aitzaz's residence and then dispersed.
Before the march, some speakers addressed the protestors and urged them to
continue participating in the protests for the 'noble cause'.
CCP activist Hamid Zaman said the protest was necessary to create awareness
among the masses to initiate a decisive movement against the
'unconstitutional' government. He denounced the administration of the Punjab
Group of Colleges (PGC) for allegedly thrashing the members of the Students
Action Committee (SAC), and the police for not registering a case against
the accused.
Beena Qureshi of the CCP, addressing the protestors, urged them to maintain
the momentum of the movement for the deposed judges and detained lawyers.
She requested them to participate in a car rally, which would proceed to
Islamabad from Aitzaz's residence on Monday (today).
She said, from Islamabad the rally would head for Peshawar, then to Sindh,
Balochistan and then back to Lahore. She said the rally was to mobilise the
people to join the movement for the independence of the judiciary. "The
rally will give a message of unity to the people of all four provinces," she
said and added that the CCP would continue its struggle till the restoration
of all the deposed judges.
Advocate Anwar Kamal said the lawyers' movement would be a success when the
chief justice and all the deposed judges were reinstated. Shoaibuddin, a
journalist, said the media was supporting the movement for the restoration
of the judiciary. He said the government had made bread and butter 'out of
reach' for the masses.
He said the revival of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry was
necessary for an independent judiciary and for the relief of the common
people.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008%5C03%5C05%5Cstory_5-3-2008_pg11_10
Lawyers protest sacked CJP's detention
Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: Civil society and lawyers on Tuesday protested against the
detention of sacked chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) Iftikhar Muhammad
Chaudhry.
The protesters gathered outside the Judges Colony, holding placards and
banners inscribed with anti-government slogans. They shouted 'go Mushrraf go'.
Heavy contingent of police ringed them but no violence was reported as the
protest broke up peacefully. The protesters said they would continue their
movement until the sacked judges were restored and the judiciary was made
independent. They also hanged an effigy of President Pervez Muharraf to
express their anger against his policies and actions.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008%5C03%5C07%5Cstory_7-3-2008_pg7_42
Weekly protest : Lawyers ask colleagues to boycott courts, attend rally
Staff Report
LAHORE: Lahore High Court Bar Association (LHCBA) representatives on
Thursday visited all court rooms of the Lahore High Court (LHC) by 10am,
when they observed that more than 60 percent of the lawyers were appearing
before judges. The LHCBA officials urged their colleagues to boycott the
court proceedings and join the weekly protest rally.
Later, the lawyers took out their weekly protest rally on The Mall. However,
the lawyers appeared before the judges for the election petitions, after
they had taken out the weekly rally on The Mall. The Pakistan Bar Council
(PBC) had called for a full-day boycott of the courts on Thursday, but
various 'prominent' lawyers were seen appearing before the courts.
LHCBA President Anwar Kamal, Vice President Mian Aslam, Secretary Rana
Asadullah, Finance Secretary Feroza Rubab and PBC member Khuram Latif Khosa,
besides ten other lawyers went in all court rooms and requested the judges
not to take up cases, and told them that the lawyers were on strike. The
judges, however, asked the lawyers' representatives not to interrupt the
court proceedings. The lawyers who appeared before the courts on Thursday
included PBC member Anwarul Haq Panoon, Pakistan People's Party Senator Dr
Babar Awan, Tayyeba Zameer Qureshi, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz elected
member of the National Assembly advocate Naseer Ahmad Bhutta and advocate
Tariq Aziz.
Supreme Court Bar Association President Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan, LHCBA
President Anwar Kamal and PBC member Muhammad Iqbal Mohal's petitions were
fixed for hearing on Thursday, but they did not appear before the court.
http://www.dawn.com/2008/03/10/top16.htm
'Black flag week' protest held in London
By Our Special Correspondent
LONDON, March 9: A group of 100-strong protesters held a vociferous two-hour
demonstration in front of the Pakistan High Commission here on Sunday in
solidarity with the black flag week being observed throughout Pakistan to
commemorate the day Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry refused to
accept General Pervez Musharraf's orders.
The demonstrators included lawyers, doctors, media person, civil society
activists, workers and leaders of the PPP, PML-N and students of Pakistan
origin with sprinkling of non-Asian sympathisers of the movement in Pakistan
to get the ousted superior judiciary restored.
The black flag waving demonstrators were being led by solicitor Sibghatullah
Kadri QC, Ghous Ali Shah of PML-N and Mr Munib of the lawyers' movement.
The demonstrators kept chanting 'Go Musharraf Go', Release the judges from
house-arrest and reinstate them.
Ghous Ali Shah and Mr Kadri in their speeches welcomed the signing of the
power-sharing accord between the PPP and PML-N.
They also paid rich tribute to Iftikhar Chaudhry and other incarcerated
judges and expressed complete solidarity with the ongoing movement of the
bar and the bench for independence of the judiciary.
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/001200804011550.htm
Pak. radical students protest outside Zardari's house
Islamabad (PTI): Students of a radical seminary in central Islamabad
protested outside the residence of Pakistan People's Party co-chairman Asif
Ali Zardari, and sought the release of Lal Masjid's former cleric Maulana
Abdul Aziz.
Dozens of female students of Jamia Hafsa protested outside the house of
Zardari, and sought the release of the radical cleric, who was arrested
during a major security operation against Islamist militants holed up inside
the Lal Masjid complex last year.
Led by human rights activist Khalid Khawaja, the students carried placards
and banners with slogans against President Pervez Musharraf, and called for
the immediate release of Maulana Aziz, the Daily Times newspaper said on
Tuesday. The security around Zardari House had been beefed up ahead of the
protest. Khawaja went to Zardari House but failed to meet the PPP leader.
They handed over their demands to party officials, the report said.
The students demanded the reconstruction of Jamia Hafsa, the seminary in the
Lal Masjid complex, in accordance with the judgment of Pakistan Supreme
Court. The angry students agreed to end their protest after PPP leaders
Fauzia Wahab and Zamurd Khan assured them that their demands would be
conveyed to the co-chairman, the report said.
Meanwhile, the Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) on Monday ordered the return of
seized jewellery, cash and other items to the wife and daughter of the
former chief cleric of the Lal Masjid. The security forces had seized these
items when the top cleric was arrested from the mosque last year. Judge
Chaudhry Habibur Rehman directed the police to submit a report on
implementation of the order, the daily reported.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008%5C02%5C11%5Cstory_11-2-2008_pg11_3
Students protest against police baton-charge
ISLAMABAD: Around 20 members of the Student Action Committee (SAC) on Sunday
staged a protest demonstration in front of the Rawalpindi-Islamabad Press
Club camp office to condemn the police baton-charge on lawyers and students
done here on Saturday evening.
SAC members raised anti-government slogans. They were carrying placards
inscribed with slogans such as 'no to oppression, ' no to dictatorship, and
'we condemn the baton-charge'. They said the police had attacked the freedom
of expression by roughing up the peaceful protestors. It is people's
constitutional right to raise their voice peacefully to get fundamental
rights, they said, adding that police baton-charge was unjustifiable. staff
report
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008%5C03%5C16%5Cstory_16-3-2008_pg13_5
SAC protest against IJT 'hooliganism'
By Adnan Lodhi
LAHORE: Dozens of Students Action Committee (SAC) members and others
protested on Saturday against the Punjab University (PU) Islami Jamiat
Talaba (IJT) activists for beating the three SAC members in the presence of
the PU vice chancellor and security guards on Friday.
Members of the Labour Party of Pakistan and Communist Mazdoor Kissan Party,
representatives of civil society organisations, political activists and
people joined the SAC protest that was held outside the Lahore Press Club.
The protestors raised slogans against the IJT and demanded strict action
against those involved in the beating. They were wearing black armbands and
held posters that read 'Stop hooliganism in the name of Islam' and 'Go,
Jamiat, Go'.
PU IJT Nazim Rana Zahid said that students were being pitted against each
other by some "hidden elements". He said, "There are only four PU students
who are SAC members. They are on the pay role of the government agencies. We
are all struggling together for the restoration of the judiciary, but they
want to 'create fuzz' in the university."
PU Resident Officer Dr Bashir Ahmed said that the initial enquiry had shown
that those involved in the beating were IJT activists. Most of them had
already been expelled from the university for such activities, but they were
still illegally residing in the PU hostels, he said, "IJT activists include
Usman Ashraf, Muazam, Imran Kiyani, the PU IJT media secretary and a
student, named Bhatti, of the Punjabi Department."
Dozens of PU IJT activists on Friday beat three PhD students after the
Friday prayers. Amir Jalal, Haroon Riaz and Sajjad Ahmad Sajal wanted to
protest in favour of the sacked judges when the IJT activists beat them.
Rafiullah, a PU Physics Department student, said that the IJT activists
Asif, resident of PU hostel number 3; Bilaal Ahmed from PU Chemistry
Department; Usman Ashraf and dozens of other IJT activists had beaten the
SAC members. "The IJT activists have set up torture cells in the PU hostels,
despite the administration's claims that the hostels have no influence of
the IJT," he alleged.
Pakistan Labour Party spokesman Farooq Tariq said that they were protesting
because the IJT activists had no right to beat students.
Sadiqa Sahib Daad Khan said, "It is the hypocrisy of the IJT activists that
they are using religion to muster support."
SAC Media Advisor Halima said that the protest would continue as the IJT had
no right to beat the SAC members. "The SAC students, who they beaten last
Friday, are not Shia, and the IJT activists only wanted to incite sectarian
hatred to achieve their ends," she said.
PU Resident Officer Dr Bashir said that they had held a preliminary inquiry
into the incident and it had been ascertained that students who beat the SAC
members were IJT activists and most of them had already been expelled from
hostels due to their illegal activities.
Deep, a human rights activist, said that the beating of the SAC students was
a violation of their fundamental right to protest against what they believed
to be wrong.
The SAC announced a protest on the coming Friday at the place where the
three SAC students were beaten.
http://www2.irna.com/en/news/view/line-16/0802058754152020.htm
Protestors clashed with riot police in Islamabad
Islamabad, Feb 5, IRNA
Pakistan-Police-Clash
Hundreds of supporters of Pakistan's Jamaat-e-Islami clashed with riot
police in Islamabad as they tried to proceed to the residence of deposed
Chief Justice, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry who has been under house arrest
since November 3rd.
Police fired tear gas shells and used batons to disperse the demonstrators
who insisted on moving towards the judges colony where Mr Chaudhry is under
house arrest.
Mr Chaudhry was sacked and put under house arrest when President Pervez
Musharraf proclaimed emergency and sacked those judges who refused to show
allegiance to the President.
The government has blocked main road to the residence of Mr Chaudhry and has
so far not allowed opposition leader to visit the deposed chief justice.
Jamaat-e-Islami staged a rally in Islamabad to observe Kashmir Solidarity
Day but when its Chief Qazi Hussain Ahmed addressed the participants, they
started marching towards the residence of the former Chief Justice.
But the police stopped the demonstrators while erecting barbed wire and
cemented blocks but the demonstrators removed the hurdles and started moving
towards the residence of the deposed justice.
The police fired tear gas and started baton charge to disperse the
demonstrators near the judges colony.
Jamaat chief Qazi Hussain Ahmed appealed to his workers to remain peaceful.
The angry demonstrators removed all hurdles and threw them at the police.
The demonstrators also pelted stones at the police.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008%5C01%5C28%5Cstory_28-1-2008_pg7_22
Journalists protest media curbs
Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: The Rawalpindi Islamabad Union of Journalists (RIUJ) held a
protest rally on Sunday to condemn media curbs.
The protest rally was held in front of the Rawalpindi Islamabad Press Club
camp office. The protesting journalists raised slogans against restrictions
imposed by the government on media Speaking on the occasion, RIUJ President
Muhammad Afzal Butt urged the government to remove the anti-press freedom
ordinance and lift restrictions on media. He said the journalists would
continue their protest until their demands were accepted.
He alleged that as a result of the ban on media, injustice, corruption and
lawlessness had increased in the country. "Cases would be registered under
terrorism act against the institutions responsible of introducing black laws
against media," he added.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Chandigarh/Milkmen_protest_Army_move/articleshow/2799833.cms
Milkmen protest Army move
21 Feb 2008, 0318 hrs IST,TNN
Print Save EMail Write to Editor
JALANDHAR: Piqued by the recent decision of Army officials to debar them
from entering Jalandhar cantonment without identity cards, the milkmen
staged a dharna against the order on Wednesday. They were later joined by
local Akali MLA Jagbir Singh Brar.
The fracas began when some milkmen, who supply milk to civilians residing in
the Cantonment, were denied entry on Wednesday. Protesting this, the milkmen
staged a dharna at the Sansarpur check point around 6 am. Addressing the
dharna, local Congress leader Uma Vashist criticized the attitude of Army
officials.
Meanwhile, ruling SAD MLA from Jalandhar Cantonment Jagbir Singh Brar joined
the protesters. Later, he entered into heated arguments with some senior
Army officers present there. Thereafter, the protesters moved towards NH
where they blocked traffic. All shops in the cantonment market remained
closed.
Jalandhar ADC (Development) Ashok Sikka pacified the protesters, asking them
to lift the blockade after which the protesters gave a time limit of five
days to the district administration to solve the issue.
Meanwhile, defence spokesperson Naresh Wig said I-cards were a must due to
security reasons. "The Army has never refused IDs to anybody but the milkmen
have to come forward to claim them," he said. He denied any high-handedness
on the part of the Army.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Lucknow/Protest_against_arrest_of_boy/articleshow/2768729.cms
Protest against arrest of boy
9 Feb 2008, 0541 hrs IST,TNN
LUCKNOW: Traffic movement in Shahadatganj area in the state capital was
thrown out of order on Friday morning when a boy was arrested by the police
on charges of possessing a 32-bore revolver.
According to the police the arrested has been identified as Farooq alias
Farru a resident of Bhola Nath Kua in Shahadatganj police circle.
According to the family members and neighbours of Farooq, he was arrested on
Thursday night. According to the police Farooq was involved in illegal
supplying of revolvers. Police have also arrested another friend of Farooq
identified as Sarvesh.
Police are also alleging that Farooq was also the friend of one Santosh Sahu
involved in a kidnapping case. The police are interrogating Farooq and
Sarvesh.
http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20080043195&ch=3/6/2008%208:49:00%20AM
Film stars protest gag order on Raj Thackeray
Samriti Grover
Thursday, March 6, 2008 (Mumbai)
After his controversial hate campaign, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS)
president Raj Thackeray has made his debut on the big screen, taking up the
cause of the film artistes.
Big names like Nana Patekar and Suneil Shetty, among others, have signed a
petition to protest the gag order imposed by the state on the politician.
''How can I support what he says about north Indians leaving Mumbai. Me and
my family are from the north. I find his stand completely unreasonable, but
at the same time I also find this gag completely unreasonable,'' said Salim
Khan, script writer.
With the support of the biggies signed and sealed, Thackeray's next move is
a cine-artistes' union. It will be a smart work by an ambitious politician
widening his vote-bank, a year ahead of the Assembly elections.
''But it is obvious that if one political party steps in, others will not be
far behind. So your backyard would be full of all kinds of political parties
fighting each other, saying that my kind of help is the best kind of help,
which inevitably leads to war,'' said Mahesh Bhatt, filmmaker.
Raj Thackeray is a politician, whose friendship with the film stars goes
back a long way. And, it is this camaraderie with the industry that
Thackeray is leveraging, an industry interestingly not dominated by
Maharashtrians.
http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/411365/1618737
Protest peaceful as Iti wrangles bail
Mar 5, 2008 7:51 PM
Despite a strong police the protest outside the Auckland District Court on
Wednesday was noisy but peaceful.
Dozens of protesters gathered in support of 18 people arrested after
nationwide police raids in 2007.
The accused appeared on various charges including unlawful possession of
firearms.
Following the raids in October, the Solicitor-General ruled out laying
terrorism charges because of insufficient evidence that those arrested
intended to create terror.
While all of those arrested are currently out on bail ahead of a depositions
hearing, prominent Tuhoe activist Tame Iti was after more favourable
conditions, ostensibly to pursue his acting career.
Police currently hold Iti's passport. Since his arrest his movements have
been restricted and he now wants remaining limitations lifted so he can
follow his thespian pursuits offshore.
Iti's lawyer Annette Sykes explains that her client had a number of theatre
obligations including cultural festivals in Japan and Europe.
"We are in negotiations with the police and the court that will enable him
to meet his contractual obligations," says Sykes.
Those obligations first arose in 2007 when Iti, moonlighting as an artist
and actor, took to the stage for the AK07 Auckland Festival in Samoan
choreographer Lemi Ponifasio's The Tempest, the story of Tuhoe.
Iti's role has already taken him to Vienna and he says more international
venues beckon including Spain, Belgium, and the United Kingdom.
Sykes says she hopes to persuade both the district court and police of his
role as an ambassador in taking the piece overseas.
Iti remains optimistic about more favourable results.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4398415a6160.html
Anti-election finance reform campaigner in silent protest
NZPA | Tuesday, 12 February 2008
Anti-election finance reform campaigner John Boscawen has used the opening
day of Parliament to protest about the Electoral Finance Act.
Mr Boscawen, former ACT MP Stephen Franks and several others sat in
Parliament's public galleries today with masking tape across their lips in a
protest against the Act they say restricts freedom of speech.
They moved off quietly when asked to leave by Parliamentary security.
Mr Boscawen said it was fitting to use the first day of Parliament to mount
the protest, given that it had been the last sitting day of Parliament last
year when the Electoral Finance Bill was passed into law.
Mr Boscawen, who has been accused by the Government of being an ACT
"bag-man", told NZPA he was organising a series of protest marches against
the new law starting with one in Auckland on March 9.
That march would leave Auckland Town Hall in Queen St at 2.30pm that Sunday.
Others would be held in major cities and provincial towns throughout the
year to allow people to voice their objections to the law which came into
effect on January 1.
While he had not succeeded in stopping the law being passed, he would
continue to protest against it, Mr Boscawen said.
He would not be breaking the law because he was campaigning against a
particular issue rather than urging people to vote for or against a
particular political party, he said.
But his concerns included that Parliament had ignored the Electoral
Commission and the Human Rights Commission, government organisations which
had made submissions against the bill, particularly with the spending limit
of $120,000 on third parties.
Those organisations had said the spending limit should be $250,000 to
$300,000.
http://uruguay.indymedia.org/news/2008/02/65523.php
Solidarity Action in Uruguay With European Political Prisoners on Hunger
Strike
On the morning of February 27, 2008, there was an attack on the Goethe
Institute of Montevideo, an organization connected to the German state,
resulting in all of its windows being totally destroyed. This attack
represents a show of support and solidarity with the hunger strike that is
taking place from February 18 to 29 by insurgent and anarchist prisoners in
diverse countries of the world, between Germany, Spain, Switzerland and
Argentina.
This hunger strike involves a mobilization against prisons and repression,
the isolation regimes, torture and perpetual imprisonment, and for the
freedom of all sick prisoners. Those behind this inititative of struggle are
the anarchist prisoners Marco Camenish (Switzerland), Rafa Martínez Zea "Jon
Bala" (Puerto III, Spain), Joaquin Garces (CP Castellon, Spain), Gabriel
Pombo "Musta" and Jose Fernández (Germany), Petrissans (Argentina) and
Thomas Meyer Falk (Germany).
Solidarity with the prisoners in struggle in every part of the world. Down
with the walls of the prisons.
*http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/02/26/18481930.php*
Americas <http://www.indybay.org/americas> | International
<http://www.indybay.org/international> | Global Justice and
Anti-Capitalism <http://www.indybay.org/globalization> | Police
State and Prisons <http://www.indybay.org/police>
*Argentina: Anarchist demonstration in front of the prison of Devoto*
by anarchists
/Tuesday Feb 26th, 2008 3:30 PM /
This Sunday, February 24, 2008, a group of companions demonstrated
in front of the prison of Devoto in solidarity with the anarchist
prisoners on hunger strike and for the destruction of all the prisons.
Argentina: Anarchist demonstration in front of the prison of Devoto
This Sunday, February 24, 2008, a group of companions demonstrated in
front of the prison of Devoto in solidarity with the anarchist prisoners
on hunger strike and for the destruction of all the prisons.
During this activity, flags with anti-prison markings were used and
leaflets were given out to the people leaving the prison after visiting
and were read to the prisoners who listened from the windows of their
cells. We reproduce the leaflet here:
International Hunger Strike of February 18 to 29
Between the days of the 18th and 28th of February 2008, a series of
revolutionary anarchist individuals incarcerated in Germany,
Switzerland, Argentina and Spain have called for a hunger strike and
mobilization against prisons and repression, isolation regimes, torture,
life sentences, and for the freedom of all sick prisoners. Those who
took this initiative of struggle are the anarchist prisoners Marco
Camenish (Switzerland), Rafa Martínez Zea "Jon Bala" (Puerto III,
Spain), Joaquin Garces (CP Castellon, Spain), Gabriel Pombo "Musta" and
Jose Fernández (Germany), Diego Petrissans (C.P.F.-N2- Marcos Paz,
Argentina) and Thomas Meyer Falk (Germany). Thomas is not sharing in the
method of the hunger strike.
In Argentina, in the prisons and the police stations of progressivism
there is torture, and the only function that all the prisons have is not
to re-socialize but only to punish, isolate, subjugate and denigrate the
human being.
The only thing made by incarcerating a person and depriving a person of
their freedom is the worst torture. We make present our solidarity and
extend the struggle of our companions, for the freedom of all prisoners.
Long live freedom, death to the prisons!!!
Anarchists.
http://cnabsas.blogspot.com
http://www.libertyforum.org/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=news_crime&Number=296098755&t=0#Post296098755
Three police officers lynched in Bolivia
Category: News & Opinion (General) Topic: Crime & Corruption
Synopsis:
Source: Reuters
LA PAZ, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Three off-duty policemen were stoned, beaten and
hanged to death in a central Bolivian town after residents said they tried
to extort money from a man driving without license plates, local media said
on Wednesday.
Including the three policemen, 10 people have died so far this year in
Bolivia in lynchings. Most of the victims were thieves caught in the act, as
frustration over official corruption and the slow justice system boils over.
Deputy Interior Minister Ruben Gamarra called the lynching a "cowardly
assassination" and said there would be an investigation into the possible
participation of local authorities in the town of Epizana, in the province
of Cochabamba, 600 km (373 miles) southeast of La Paz.
According to local media reports, enraged residents said the policemen had
stopped a driver and were trying to get money out of him because he did not
have license plates, which is common in Bolivia.
A journalist with Bolivision television network, who saw the lynching, said
the three policemen were beaten with sticks and stones.
"The three officers asked for help and were begging for their lives," the
reporter, Limbert Sanchez, said in a report on Bolivision.
Sanchez said he and his cameramen were also beaten, and his camera was taken
away after they filmed the lynching.
Gamarra said the policemen were not on duty at the time and that authorities
would investigate what they were doing in Epizana.
President Evo Morales backs a proposed new constitution that would more
reflect the traditions of the indigenous majority. It includes a
controversial judicial reform allowing communities to mete out justice
according to local customs, rather than through the courts.
But Gamarra said community justice has nothing to do with lynchings. "It's
to resolve minor disputes between neighbors. In no way does it mean physical
punishment, much less an assassination," he said.
"Nobody can take justice into their own hands. Community justice should be a
culture of life, not a death culture," Gamarra said.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Ahmedabad/Sex_workers_protest_against_raids/articleshow/2830323.cms
Sex workers protest against raids
2 Mar 2008, 0341 hrs IST,TNN
AHMEDABAD: A group of sex workers, supported by an NGO, moved in a
procession to the office of the police commissioner in Ahmedabad on Saturday
to submit a representation against police brutality.
The submitted an application seeking humane treatment from the women police
cell, headed by ACP Usha Rada, that has carried out several raids and
arrested sex workers from guest houses and beauty parlours.
Rada had conducted seven raids in last two months and arrested several
proprietors of beauty parlous and guest houses. According to police
officials, more than 50 women were nabbed, questioned and later released
after the raids.
"They are earning their bread by working with beauty parlours or as call
girls. They have every right to follow their choice of profession," said a
member of Sakhi Jyot Sangathan, working closely with unorganized sex
workers. tnn
Gaurang Jani, advisor, Sakhi Jyot Sangathan told TOI that 30 members were
detained when they went to the police commissionerate and later released.
Four members were allowed to meet the commissioner.
"We conveyed the problems of the sex workers to the commissioner and he was
very considerate. He said that he will take necessary action," said Joshi.
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/world-news/article3356477.ece
Police halt Mia Farrow's genocide protest
Monday, January 21, 2008
By Andrew Buncombe
The Hollywood actress Mia Farrow has been prevented from holding a rally at
a former Khmer Rouge prison where thousands of Cambodians were held and
tortured before being dispatched to their deaths at nearby "killing fields".
Cambodian police prevented the activist and fellow campaigners from lighting
an Olympic-style torch outside Tuol Sleng prison in Phnom Penh. There was
some pushing and jostling before Ms Farrow and her group left the scene.
"My heart - our hearts -are breaking for what happened in Cambodia today,
especially for the survivors of genocide," she said.
Ms Farrow is part of a group called Dream for Darfur that is calling for
China to use its influence on the government of Sudan to end the atrocities
and killing in Darfur. China, the next Olympic host, is one of Sudan's major
trading partners.
To raise awareness, the group is visiting seven countries that have
witnessed genocide. During the latter part of the 1970s, up to 1.7 million
people in Cambodia were killed either as a result of forced labour,
starvation or execution after the extremist Khmer Rouge seized power and
held power for four years. Both China, and later the US, supported the
Maoist-inspired group.
Tuol Sleng, built on the site of a school, is notorious as the place where
thousands of people were brought and tortured by the regime. Today,
preserved as a museum, black and white photographs of the people brought
here are posted to the walls. Some of the rooms contain the bare steel beds
to which victims were chained. Of the estimated 17,000 people taken to Tuol
Sleng, there are only a dozen known survivors.
The Cambodian government banned the Dream for Darfur ceremony several days
ago, calling it a political stunt to smear China. Its spokesman, Khieu
Kanharith, accused Ms Farrow's group of trying "to exploit the bones of the
dead Cambodians [to further a political cause]". He added: " Why don't they
just go to China to do that?"
When Ms Farrow, 62, arrived at the site , dozens of police pushed back the
group, who had linked arms.
Ms Farrow, holding a bunch of white lotus flowers, a traditional offering
for the dead in Cambodia, said: "Our goal today was to deliver these flowers
in deepest respect."
http://www.hindu.com/2008/02/06/stories/2008020652801900.htm
U.K. Tamils protest outside Downing Street
Hasan Suroor
LONDON: Britain's pro-LTTE Tamil groups on Monday used the 60th anniversary
of Sri Lanka's independence to launch a high-profile campaign to highlight
the "sufferings" of Tamils in the island nation, with a protest outside
Downing Street.
The protest, organised by the Tamil Youth Organisation (TYO) was condemned
by the Sri Lankan authorities here with a spokesman of the High Commission
describing it as "LTTE propaganda".
He expressed concern that although the LTTE was banned under Britain's
terror laws its "front organisations" were operating freely.
Organisers said the protest was intended to mobilise world opinion against
"state terrorism in Sri Lanka".
Protesters carried banners and raised slogans demanding "justice" for Tamils
in Sri Lanka.
"Let us all unite together to save our relations, to ask for our rights," a
leaflet distributed at the rally said.
Barely a few yards away, the British Tamil Forum organised a photo
exhibition depicting what it described as the "history of the past 60 years
of oppression, ethnic cleansing and discrimination" faced by Sri Lankan
Tamils.
"The aim is to educate the second generation Tamils who live in the U.K. and
the general public about the plight of Tamils in Sri Lanka. We also intend
having this exhibition in other major cities here in the U.K. and in Canada,
Australia, United States of America and South Africa during the year," said
Suren Surendiran, a Front spokesman.
He claimed that several public figures, including MPs, were expected to
visit the exhibition.
Meanwhile, the Sri Lankan authorities claimed that two London-based LTTE
activists were arrested in Canada on suspicion of stealing "thousands" of
credit cards of British customers.
"Toronto Police said two Londoners, Kirubakaran Selvanayagam Pillai (38) and
Sethukavalar Saravanabhavan (35), connected with Tamil Tigers and arrested
there may have stolen information of thousands of credit cards of U.K.
customers," the Sri Lankan High Commission spokesman Walter Jayawardhana
said.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/mar/15/drugstrade.unitednations
Peruvian politicians in coca protest
Rory Carroll, Latin America correspondent
The Guardian,
Saturday March 15 2008
This article appeared in the Guardian on Saturday March 15 2008 on p28 of
the International section. It was last updated at 00:09 on March 15 2008.
The drug war has been condemned, ridiculed and lamented, and now, in a more
original critique, it has been masticated.
Dozens of members of Peru's congress chewed the coca leaf in protest at a UN
recommendation to criminalise traditional uses of the Andean plant. The
politicians munched on the raw ingredient of cocaine during a boisterous
session this week to defend the plant's medicinal and cultural value. "The
coca leaf has existed for thousands of years," one congresswoman, Hilaria
Supa, told Reuters. "It's part of our agriculture, our food and our
medicine. It's sacred. The UN doesn't know our culture."
This month the UN's International Narcotics Control Board urged Peru and
Bolivia to ban coca chewing, which is especially popular among indigenous
people in the highlands, as part of a crackdown on cocaine production. The
US has argued that coca growers exploit the ancient habit of leaf chewing as
legal cover for crops destined for the illegal laboratories of drug cartels.
Critics say the drug war, funded largely by the US and Europe, has been
costly and ineffective.
http://voanews.com/english/2008-03-12-voa48.cfm
Online Protest Denounces 'Internet Enemies'
By Brian Wagner
Miami
12 March 2008
Press freedom group Reporters Without Borders is organizing an online
protest to denounce Internet censorship in 15 countries around the world.
VOA's Brian Wagner reports the protest aims to raise attention to at least
62 people jailed as cyber-dissidents.
Reporters Without Borders Web site promotion about the campaign
Reporters Without Borders is holding the online protest to raise pressure on
governments that it lists as Internet enemies, including China, Cuba and
Eritrea. The Paris-based group said this year it added Ethiopia and Zimbabwe
to the list of countries that tightly restrict Internet use and monitor Web
traffic for dissident activity.
The protest at the Web site of Reporters Without Borders (www.rsf.org)
allows people around the world to take part in a virtual demonstration which
the group says would not be possible in many of the targeted countries.
Clothilde Le Coz, director of the group's Internet freedom desk, says users
at the site can join with others around the world to send a message to the
targeted governments.
"Pick a slogan, for example 'Free all the cyber-dissidents' or 'Free our
Internet' and you will be virtually demonstrating with other demonstrators,"
she said.
The watchdog group says at least 62 people are in jail around the world
because of online dissident activity, and more than 2,600 Web sites were
shut down or blocked in the past year.
Le Coz says Reporters Without Borders also publishes a guide to help
bloggers and dissidents avoid Internet censorship and publish their
information online. But she says security officials, especially in some
Asian countries, are increasing their efforts to track banned activity.
"The Chinese government for example knows how people are circumventing the
censorship and is trying to find new ways to censor," said Le Coz.
Despite the dangers, many journalists and informal online reporters continue
to use the Internet to distribute information. Le Coz points to August
protests in Burma, where dissidents and others were able to upload pictures
and videos of a police crackdown for use by news organizations abroad.
In Cuba, Internet access is restricted to Web sites on the island, while the
use of computers that connect to other countries is limited to foreign
tourists.
The restrictions make it very difficult for reporters and dissidents to
communicate with rights groups off the island, such as the Cuban Democratic
Directorate in Miami.
Janisset Rivero-Gutierrez, the group's national secretary, says says
reporters and activists still use the Internet despite the dangers,
including laws that impose 20-year prison terms on people who report on
certain events in the country.
http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30100-1311912,00.html?f=rss
Olympic Torch Finishes Chaotic Relay
Updated:01:19, Monday April 07, 2008
The Olympic torch has completed a chaotic relay through London after the
event was disrupted by organised bids to extinguish the flame and the arrest
of 37 protesters.
The O2 Arena in Olympic colours
Demonstrators waving Tibetan flags and shouting "shame on China" congregated
all along the 31-mile route as they staged protests at the Chinese
government's record on human rights.
Despite scuffles and a fire extinguisher attack, the Olympic flame remained
lit and was passed to double Olympic middle-distance gold medallist Dame
Kelly Holmes for the final leg.
She then concluded the relay by using the torch to light the cauldron at the
O2 Arena in Greenwich, one of the venues for the 2012 Olympic Games.
Hundreds of members of the public turned out to see the conclusion of the
day-long relay.
But alongside their cheers were protesters' chants of "free Tibet".
Demonstrators struck as soon as the torch arrived at Wembley on a
double-decker bus.
Two others were detained after an incident in north-west London involving
former Blue Peter presenter Konnie Huq.
She was carrying the flame from Lancaster Road to Blenheim Crescent when
protesters rushed forward and grappled with her.
Elsewhere two activists were taken away by police after attempting to put
out the torch with fire extinguishers.
Martin Wyness and Ashley Darby were waiting to pounce on the corner of
Holland Park Avenue and Ladbroke Grove in west London.
Anger spills over
In a statement, the pair claimed the relay was a propaganda campaign by
China to cover its "appalling human rights record".
Around 2,000 Metropolitan Police - including airborne, mounted and river
units - were mobilised for the eight-hour event.
A mobile protective ring remained around the torch, including a team of
police cyclists in a convoy of security, VIP and media vehicles.
Olympics Minister Tessa Jowell denied the relay amounted to an "endorsement"
of the Chinese government's repressive policies in Tibet.
Protesters surround Konnie Huq
She also defended Gordon Brown's decision to welcome the torch in Downing
Street, where it was handed to former Olympic gold medallist Denise Lewis.
"It is absolutely not an endorsement of any of the aspects of the Chinese
government that in this country we find completely unacceptable," she told
Sky News's Sunday Live programme.
"This is an an endorsement of the Olympics, what the Olympics mean to
athletics, to sport around the world, the principles that the Olympics stand
for."
Sports stars and celebrities were among the 80 people who were carrying the
torch from Wembley Stadium to the O2 Arena.
First away was Britain's greatest Olympian, five-times rowing champion Sir
Stephen Redgrave, who passed the flame to 16-year-old Cheyenne Green at
Wembley.
The flame is on an 85,000-mile journey round the world to Beijing where this
summer's Games are being held.
http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30200-1311970,00.html?f=rss
Olympic Torch Snuffed Out In Paris
Updated:12:15, Monday April 07, 2008
The Olympic torch has been extinguished by officials in Paris amid protests
by anti-China demonstrators.
A protester in Paris
Reports from the French capital say the flame was snuffed out and the torch
put on a bus.
It was not immediately clear why the step was taken, but it is likely to
have been prompted by protests taking place as the relay made its way
through the streets.
Thousands of police were sent out to try to make sure there was no repeat of
chaotic scenes seen when the Olympic flame was carried through London.
A very tight security cordon was kept around the torch as it made its way
through the streets of Paris.
Sky News Europe correspondent Greg Milam said the flame's loss was
significant because the torch was supposed to be kept alight on its journey
around the world.
"It's supposed to symbolise peace between nations," he said.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7334545.stm
Protests cut short Olympic relay
Hundreds of protesters were on the streets of Paris
Paris protests
French security officials have been forced to cut short the Paris leg of the
Olympic torch relay following anti-Chinese protests along the route.
The torch was extinguished three times due to the protests before being
taken on a bus to the relay's end point.
It comes after 37 people were arrested in London as protesters disrupted the
torch relay there on Sunday.
The Olympic flame is being carried through 20 countries before arriving for
the Beijing Games in August.
The Paris relay started to go wrong almost from the start, despite the
presence of 3,000 police along the route, riding motorcycles, jogging or on
skates.
A member of the French Green party was restrained by police after attempting
to grab the torch from the first of Paris's 80 torch bearers, former world
400 metres hurdles champion Stephane Diagana, Reuters news agency said.
"Nothing's happening as it was meant to," Mr Diagana told French TV.
"It's a shame. It's sad because of what this symbol represents but it can be
explained by the context we're aware of."
See the Paris route
Police were forced three times to put out the torch and carried it onto a
bus, as police cleared protesters from the route.
On the second occasion, the flame was being relayed out of a Paris traffic
tunnel by an athlete in a wheelchair when it was taken onto a bus because
protesters booed and began chanting "Tibet", the Associated Press news
agency reported.
The flame itself has been kept alight the whole time in a safety lantern.
The International Olympic Committee has expressed its serious concern and
calls for a rapid peaceful resolution in Tibet
Jacques Rogge, IOC President
How is the flame kept alight?
Long history of Olympics protests
Send us your comments
Later, Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe cancelled a ceremony to welcome the
torch relay after Green party activists hung a Tibetan flag and a black
banner depicting the Olympic rings as handcuffs from the Hotel de Ville
(city hall).
Activists have hung Tibetan flags or the black banners from several other
Paris landmarks including the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame cathedral.
Several hundred protesters have been involved in the demonstrations, near
the Eiffel Tower and along the torch's zig-zag route through Paris to a
stadium in the south of the city.
Finally, after several delays, security officials decided to put the torch
on a bus to take it to Stade Charlety, where it arrived 30 minutes late at
1530 GMT).
Olympic appeal
The Paris relay was meant to be a colourful advertisement for the Beijing
Games, instead it has turned into a grotesque embarrassment, says the BBC's
Hugh Schofield in Paris.
Speaking in Beijing earlier on Monday, IOC President Jacques Rogge said he
was concerned over both the recent unrest in Paris and the torch protests.
"The International Olympic Committee has expressed its serious concern and
calls for a rapid peaceful resolution in Tibet," Mr Rogge said.
China has expressed disgust at the torch protests in London
In pictures: Paris protests
He condemned the attempts to disrupt the torch relay, saying violent
protests, "for whatever reason," are "not compatible with the values of the
torch relay or the Olympic Games".
China said the protests during London's Sunday torch relay were the work of
"a few Tibetan separatists" attempting "to sabotage" the event, AP reported.
London's relay saw protesters trying to douse and even snatch the Olympic
flame as athletes and celebrities carried it through the city.
The demonstrations have been sparked by China's security crackdown in Tibet
following a series of protests against Chinese rule which swept the region
last month.
Tibetan exile groups say Chinese security forces killed dozens of
protesters. Beijing says about 19 people were killed in rioting.
The torch was lit in Olympia, Greece, on 24 March and will go through 20
countries before being carried into the opening ceremony at the Beijing
Games on 8 August.
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080222/jsp/frontpage/story_8933828.jsp
JHARKHAND
Rebel strike affects rural areas
OUR BUREAU
Ranchi/Jamshedpur, Feb. 21: The Maoist bandh in Jharkhand was
peaceful but the strike hit business and other activities in rural
areas, driving home the point that the rebels hold sway there.
Police spokesperson DIG R.K. Mallick confirmed that no untoward
incident was reported.
Traffic and other activities were on as usual in urban areas.
Traffic on the national highways was light, though.
Naxalites called the one-day bandh after seven of their comrades
fell to police bullets in Ghatshila. The rebels had warned people
against defying the bandh.
Areas affected by the bandh included the Dhanbad division of East
Central Railway, which suffered a loss of more than Rs 4 crore as no
loading of coal happened at 12 places - all Naxalite strongholds.
"We did not take the risk of operating coal-laden goods trains in
Naxalite bastions. Goods trains are always a soft target for the
rebels," said a senior railway official posted at Dhanbad .
Officials of South Eastern Railway (Chakradharpur division) said no
trains were detained or cancelled. Some trains were diverted, though.
Public transportation on roads came to a standstill.
In Ranchi, the long-distance bus terminus wore a deserted look.
In Jamshedpur, cancellation of the bus service caused inconvenience
to some students set to write their matriculation and intermediate
examinations tomorrow.
Those pupils whose examinations centres are far from home - not
reachable by travel the next morning - had to bank on auto-rickshaws
to reach their destinations.
Taking advantage of the situation, three-wheeler drivers charged
high rates. From Mango to Chandil and Chowka cost a student Rs 100
while those wishing to reach the capital were asked to pay between
Rs 200 and 250.
"I have to reach the examination hall by 9.30am tomorrow. I had no
other alternative but to travel to Chowka today," said Shyamlal
Mahto, an examinee who had to travel by an auto-rickshaw.
State bus owners' association claimed that the day's loss for the
members was over Rs 2 crore. "If you include the business that the
petrol pumps across the state lost, then the amount would increase
by another two crore," said a senior member of the association,
Krishna Mohan Singh.
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080307/jsp/jharkhand/story_8990672.jsp
JHARKHAND
Red bandh peaceful
OUR CORRESPONDENT
Giridih, March 6: The 24-hour bandh called by the Naxalites to
protest the killing of two "innocent" farmers passed off peacefully
today with police staying on their toes.
Rebels had called the Giridih bandh to protest against the police
gunning down two suspected Maoists on February 8 on Parasnath hills.
The Naxalites claimed that the two victims - Rati Murmu and 60-year-
old Mane Marandi - were farmers.
During the bandh, the rebels pasted posters in several areas,
including Giridih-Dumri road, Chainpur, Harladih, Bander-Kuppi and
Parasnath railway station.
The railway station was the first place the rebels pasted their
posters, said sources.
Hundreds of Maoists took out a torchlight march at Chainpur, they
added.
At Bander-Kuppi, the Naxalites hoisted the organisation's flag.
Yesterday, the Maoists had put up posters at Topchanchi (in Bokaro)
asking people to bring the Giridih superintendent of police and his
deputy to a jan adalat to punish them for killing the two farmers.
Traffic on the four main roads at Giridih was minimal throughout the
day and no long-route buses and passenger vehicles plied today.
Understanding, the sensitivity of the situation, the deputy
inspector-general of police (Hazaribagh range), Ajay Kumar Singh,
camped at Dumri to ensure that the strike was peaceful.
Giridih police force, led by superintendent of police M.L. Meena,
additional superintendent of police Kuldeep Divedi and deputy
superintendent of police A. Kishpotta, were on high alert.
http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=9&theme=&usrsess=1&id=192264
ORISSA
Petition against `harassment'
Statesman News Service
BHUBANESWAR, Feb 24: Expressing grave concern over the post-Nayagarh
operations, civil rights activists have decided to submit a petition
to the National Human Rights Commission to examine the reports of
alleged harassment of innocent villagers and whether all prescribed
legal procedures were bei-ng followed.
Addressing a Press conference here today a fact finding team
comprising activists of People's Union for Democratic Rights (
PUDR), People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), An-dhra Pradesh
Civil Lib-erties Committee (AP-CLC), Centre for Protection of Civil
Liberties (CPCL) and All India Students Federation (AISF) also urged
upon the government to enter into a dialogue with the Maoists and
other Naxal organisations.
They emphasised that the current law and order approach, which is
guiding the government response should be replaced by a
comprehensive socio-economic-political and legal response.
They said that Gosama village where combing operations had led to
recovery of arms and ammunition remained tense and the tribals were
scared a lot, . Mr Manoranjan Mohanty, Prasanta Jena and others
claimed that they had met innocent people who alleged that they were
picked up by the security personnel and interrogated. "We even met
people who have been beaten up to coerce them to giving information,
charged the human rights activists.
"Everybody keeps referring to `several casualities' on the Maoists'
side but no specific figures are being given. None of the villagers
told us that they had seen bodies being carried away by fleeing
Maoists and yet the government claims it had received such reports
from villagers.
The entire question of dead bodies remains `open' both for the
government and us because once someone is killed in an encounter
several prescribed legal procedures of preserving and handing it
over to relatives should be followed,"Mr Mohanty said.
Replying to a question Mr Mohanty said the fact-finding team had not
received any complaint of missing or dead villagers. He also said
the team had had a discussion with the Home Secretary Mr T K Mishra,
the DGP Mr Gopal Nanda and other officials.
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080312/jsp/jharkhand/story_9008984.jsp
JHARKHAND
Cops lose rifles in rebel sting
OUR CORRESPONDENT
Jamshedpur, March 11: Maoists today used chilly powder to attack
Jharkhand Armed Police jawans at Chowka and steal three rifles from
them.
Two of the rifles taken away from the Jharkhand Armed Police (JAP)
jawans were Insas while the third was a self-loading rifle.
The incident occurred this afternoon under Chandil police station
jurisdiction in Seraikela-Kharsawan district, triggering a sensation
in the area.
The rebels then reportedly fled into the forests in Dinai hills near
Urmal, about 5km from Chowka police station. Police and paramilitary
forces have circled Dinai hills. When this report was being filed,
heavy exchange of fire between the police and rebels was reported.
The superintendent of police (Seraikela-Kharsawan), Laxman Prasad
Singh, confirmed that rebels had stolen three sophisticated rifles.
The attack occurred around 3pm, sources said, when the three JAP
jawans were sitting on a bench under a tree in front of a dhaba at
Chowka More.
The trio were on patrolling duty. They were watching vehicles
travelling from Chandil to Chowka. The stretch had lately become a
hotbed of Naxalite activities.
Police said a group of "seven to eight youths" suddenly pounced on
the jawans.
"While two rebels sprinkled chilly powder on the jawans' eyes, four
overpowered the paramilitary personnel and snatched their rifles.
One or two Maoists fired in the air to create panic and keep passers-
by away," said an officer. A larger group of rebels, "about 30",
were standing some distance away.
The gangs consolidated and the group disappeared into the jungles.
The superintendent of police said: "The Naxalites were headed
towards Tamar and took refuge in Dinai hills after the attack."
The residents of Chowka wanted to mobilise forces against the rebels
but were dissuaded from doing so because the rebels had opened fire
in the air, Singh said.
The senior police officer said he has asked for more police and
paramilitary forces to be deployed at Dinai hills.
The jawans who lost the Insas were identified as Chamru Oraon and
Dutaraj Kunkal, and the one who lost the self-loading rifle has been
identified as Chamru Tigga.
http://www.hindu.com/2008/03/22/stories/2008032257440300.htm
ANDHRA PRADESH
Maoists call for AOB bandh
VISAKHAPATNAM: The Communist Party of India (Maoist) has given a call to
observe an AOB (Andhra Orissa Border) bandh on March 24.
In a statement AOB Special Zone Committee secretary Bhaskar, said that the
bandh was being observed to protest against the murder of Maoist leaders in
'fake encounters'.
-Staff Reporter
http://www.hindu.com/2008/04/01/stories/2008040152340300.htm
ANDHRA PRDESH
Maoist bandh peaceful
Staff Reporter
KHAMMAM: The Maoist sponsored bandh against the Darelli encounter killings
was peaceful in Khammam well as in South Bastar. According to reports
reaching here, the bandh was partial in all the mandals of Bhadrachalam and
Palvancha divisions.
The bandh was total in Charla and its adjoining areas. So was the case with
Pamedu area in Bijapur district of Chhatisgarh. No autos could ply in
Charla - Pamedu forest route in the day. The RTC also suspended some of its
night services to the remote areas in the district.
The power supply to many villages in Bijapur and Narayanpur districts of
Chhattisgarh was affected as some of the transmission towers were blown up
by the Maoist squads.
The chilli trade was suspended by the traders for some time. It was
attributed to anonymous caller who wanted the bandh to be a success.
http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=23&theme=&usrsess=1&id=192762
WEST BENGAL
Maoists protest against Somen's arrest
Statesman News Service
PURULIA/KRISHNAGAR, Feb. 26: The first day of the Maoist sponsored
four-day bandh in Purulia passed off peacefully without any untoward
incident being reported. The bandh has been called in protest
against the arrest of the CPI (Maoist) state secretary, Himadri Sen
Roy alias Somen.
Meanwhile, the Maoists have given a bandh call in Nadia and
Murshidabad on 28 February, protesting against Somen's arrest.
Maoists leaflets, informing about the bandh in the two districts
read: "Under the leadership of Rajiv Kumar, a police officer and an
eminent follower of the CPI-M party, Tathagata, Pallab, Koushik,
Arijit and Joy have formed a special anti-naxalite force to demolish
our party. They are spending a lot of money to know our whereabouts
and then are attacking our party members. We strongly oppose these
activities of the administration." Few posters were also found in
Purulia town on the bandh day today. The leaflets found in Nadia
also read: "The CPI-M government does not have the courage to ban
our party in this state. They have arrested our leader and have
harassed him both physically and mentally. We strongly protest
against these tarnished activities of the police and CPI-M
government."
----------------------------------------------------------------
March 31
NEW JERSEY/TEXAS:
Ex-con rapper walks from Trenton to Texas to protest capital punishment
How far would you go to protest against the death penalty? For Andre
Latallade, he'll walk 1,700 miles to advocate abolishing capital
punishment.
Latallade, a Newark native who raps under the stage name Capital-"X," will
start his "Walk 4 Life" journey about 5:30 this morning at the statehouse.
Over 54 days, Latallade will head south toward the nation's capital then
cut westward until he ends up at the governor's mansion in Austin, Texas
the highest executing state in America.
"Being an ex-prisoner and being an ex-prisoner that changed," Latallade
said last week, "I just believe that prisoners can change. I think that we
are incredible beings, and I think we should focus more on trying to
preserve life instead of taking it away."
Latallade served 2 stints in the slammer, the 1st time on drug charges and
the 2nd for resisting arrest. He said being in prison "is no joke" and
that life imprisonment without parole is a sufficient replacement for the
death penalty.
"Just being taken away from your existence, from your family, it's just
really tough," Latallade said. "When you walk by and you see the prisoners
playing checkers it looks like, 'Oh, that's nothing. They're coddling the
prisoners.' But it's an inner torment that these guys ain't gonna show you
out in the open."
As Capital-"X," Latallade kicks rhymes advocating changes to the American
criminal justice system. He'll be joined by an entourage that includes a
diverse group of people. "I have families of murder victims walking with
me also," he said.
Latallade has researched capital punishment extensively over the years,
even visiting several of the 27 European Union nations the EU bloc has
long prohibited capital punishment.
"I made numerous trips to Italy, Germany, Austria," he said. "I went into
the prisons there. They value life so much over there, and their
communities are so much closer."
Latallade said it's unacceptable for the United States to have capital
punishment on the books when most advanced democracies have already
abolished it.
"All of these other countries have abolished the death penalty, and they
do just fine," Latallade said. Latallade will travel through roadways in
10 states during his 54-day walking journey. There could be some delays,
he admitted, but he said he hopes to make it to Austin, Texas, before the
U.S. Supreme Court makes its ruling on the constitutionality of lethal
injection.
"I just want to kind of do my part to stop the killing," the prison rights
activist said. "I want to let people know that these are human beings in
there."
Go to www.myspace.com/capitalxaka305375 for updates on Latallade's
anti-death-penalty walking tour and to listen to his music.
(source: The Trentonian)
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