[Onthebarricades] Uprisings, Jan 2009

[global resistance roundup]

* TRINIDAD: Police murder sparks protest, roads blocked
* NEPAL: Office relocation sparks local unrest
* YEMEN: Protests, police killings continue in South
* GUINEA: Junta supporters protest sanctions
* NIGERIA: Motorbike workers take over streets in protest over helmet law
* GERMANY: Clashes in three cities at New Year events
* SENEGAL: Repression follows December unrets over jobs





http://www.trinidadexpress.com/index.pl/article_news?id=161430453

Protest over police killing
Carolyn Kissoon South Bureau

Tuesday, January 27th 2009

hot spot: Rio Claro residents protest the police killing of George Ashby 
(inset) along the main road in San Pedro Village yesterday. Ashby was 
killed on Friday, after leaving a cook-out at his workplace. At right: 
Even this pensioner was part of the activity, as the villagers called 
for swift action and a probe into the killing. -Photos: DAVE PERSAD
POLICE were unable to remove burning debris which blocked the Guaracara/ 
Tabaquite Road in Rio Claro for several hours yesterday, as hundreds of 
angry residents formed a human barricade around the fire.
The protesters stood in the rain and refused to move, until officers 
threatened to arrest them.
The fiery protest was sparked by the shooting death of 52-year-old 
George Ashby. He was killed on Friday evening. He was shot in the chest 
by police.
The protesters, who came out around 4 a.m., used old vehicle parts and 
appliances to block the main road leading to San Pedro Village. Traffic 
backed up for miles and residents were unable to leave the village to 
get to work and school.
They held up placards which read: "Police Must Speak The Truth", 
"Innocent Killing" and "No Excuse For Killing Innocent Man-We Want 
Justice".
The protesters hurled insults and jeered at the policemen, who 
eventually removed the debris and allowed traffic to flow smoothly 
around midday.
"I was inside my house and I heard something dragging around 4 a.m. and 
when I looked outside I noticed people bringing out old cars and tyres. 
When I went outside I saw everyone coming outside for a protest," a 
villager, who asked not to named, said.
"This man is not anyone involved in drugs or crime. He is the sole 
breadwinner for his family and a father of four. I understand police was 
looking for a white Sunny car which was involved in a robbery and he had 
a car like that so they stopped him."
Ashby, a handyman attached to Tabaquite Comprehensive School, was shot 
by police around 7.30 p.m. He was shot three times.
Ashby had attended a cook-out at the school and was returning to his San 
Pedro home when police stopped his car. Police said they found a 
grass-cutting machine inside the car.
A Ministry of Education official said Ashby spent the evening with 
teachers at the school and was returning home.
"He was a good and genuine man and was not known to be involved in 
anything illegal. We are having a collection at the school to give to 
his family," he said.
The official said the grass-cutter which was found inside the car 
belonged to the school.
"He used this to do landscaping at the school," he said.
Ashby's brother-in-law, Peter Rolland, yesterday said if the authorities 
failed to respond, residents were taking the protest to Port of Spain.
"We want some answers and we want an investigation. We are not going to 
allow this to pass just so. He did not deserve to die like that. He was 
a good person and our investigation shows that George signed for the 
grass-cutter before he took it to his car. He borrowed it to do some 
work at home," he said.
Police said an investigation has been launched into the shooting.








http://www.nepalnews.com/archive/2009/jan/jan29/news16.php

Indefinite curfew in Jaleshwor after violent protests
The local administration in Mahottari has clamped indefinite curfew in 
the district headquarters Jaleshwor from 5 pm Thursday following violent 
protests by the locals against the government decision to shift the 
government offices there to Bardibas.
Earlier, there were frequent clashes between the protesting locals and 
the police in Jaleshwor. At least four dozen protesters and six 
policemen were injured in the confrontations, reports said.
Cadres of the Nepali Congress were also on the street in support of the 
protesting locals.
Meanwhile, Terai Madhesh Loktantrik Party enforced bandh (shutdown 
strike) in Sarlahi district amid preparations to move all government 
offices from district headquarters Malangawa to Hariwon.
The bandh badly affected transportation service and businesses, but 
there were reports of violence.
Protests erupted in some Terai districts soon after the government 
decided to shift the government offices from the district headquarters. 
nepalnews.com mk Jan 29 09






http://mypetjawa.mu.nu/archives/195837.php

January 13, 2009
Yemeni Government Slaughters Protesters in Aden
Five seriously injured from gunfire, dozens ill from tear gas and over 
50 arrested.
IHT: Riot police in Yemen wounded five demonstrators in the southern 
city of Aden when they opened fire to disperse a crowd of thousands of 
army veterans demanding their old jobs back, said Yemeni hospital 
officials....After Yemen's 1994 civil war, many soldiers from the 
southern part of the country fled to neighboring Saudi Arabia, returning 
only when the government issued an amnesty and promised to readmit them 
to the army — a promise southern Yemenese say has not been kept.
That's not actually what's going on. Since the civil war, southerners 
allege they have been treated like a vanquished enemy. Protests in the 
south broke out a year ago calling for an end to the discrimination and 
theft of property. The Yemeni regime, dominated by President Saleh's 
family and northern tribal allies, responded with violence and arrests, 
further inflaming tensions. Public opinion developed a strong separatist 
sentiment in light of the fact that the government is unable and 
unwilling to reform. Yemen is in the bottom five for poverty globally, 
largely a result of massive corruption, and child hunger is at a 
critical level. The following video shows people being shot in the 
street earlier today and is graphic. This happens at nearly every protest.






http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gKEbdGekMpjZTfAXy6i5hprbpc8A

Guinean youth protest sanctions
Jan 30, 2009
CONAKRY, Guinea (AFP) — Up to 3,000 young supporters of Guinea's 
recently installed junta took to the streets of Conakry on Friday to 
protest economic sanctions imposed on the West African country.
The protestors -- 3,000 according to organisers, up to 2,000 according 
to local journalists -- rallied in support of the junta, the National 
Council for Democracy and Development (CNDD).
Young people, many wearing tee-shirts emblazoned with the image of junta 
leader Captain Moussa Dadis Camara, brandished banners and pickets with 
"No to sanctions" and "With CNDD, transparent elections are guaranteed".
In reaction to the December 23 coup, the United States earlier this 
month said it would suspend foreign aid to Guinea, but would continue to 
send humanitarian aid and aid aimed at democracy-building programmes.
The Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS) then announced it 
would suspend Guinea from all of high-level meetings until it restored 
constitutional order.
The International Organisation of the Francophonie followed suit by 
temporarily suspending Guinean representatives.
The military junta, which seized power following the death of president 
Lansana Conte, announced a 29-member government in which soldiers will 
hold the defence, security, finance and justice ministries.






http://allafrica.com/stories/200901050188.html

Leadership (Abuja)
Nigeria: Okada Riders Stage Protest Over Helmet
Bernard Tolani Dada
5 January 2009

Uyo — There was pandemonium across the city of Uyo, Akwa Ibom State 
capital yesterday as hundreds of commercial motorcyclists known as 
alalok took to the streets protesting the use of crash helmets.
The protest, which started at about 7.am Saturday, saw the Okada riders 
chanting war songs, carrying green leaves and forcing motorists to 
scamper for safety.
At Udo Umana Street , opposite the newly refurbished township stadium, 
protesters blocked the road with all sorts of objects but they did not 
make any burn fire but they were shouting and decrying the imposition of 
the crash helmet.
This reporter followed the trend of events to Oron road where another 
set of protesters, who were on rampage, caused panic by burning used 
tyres and other objects, thereby forcing innocent citizens to abandon 
the streets and shop owners closing their shops to avoid looting. 
However, the protesters later dispersed on seeing a lorry load of mobile 
policemen coming toward them.
Akaniyene Obot, who claimed he has been operating Okada for close to 
five years on the streets of Uyo, told our correspondent that the non 
availability of the helmet in the state coupled with the short notice 
given by the road safety commission was the reason for their protest.
Another cyclist, Imoh Iwok, who converted a craftily carved calabash 
painted in yellow colour as his own crash helmet, said the state 
government should have procured the crash helmets in large quantity so 
as to make it available for them.
According to him "what we buy in the market now is only the industrial 
safety head protector which is out of reach of most operators because 
they could not afford the price and not the type FRSC approves." He 
therefore, appealed to the authorities concerned to flood the market 
with the approved helmets.
When contacted over the issue, Akwa Ibom State sector commander of the 
Nigeria Road Safety Commission, Mr.Osas Osadebenwem, told our reporter 
that the protesters were only acting out of ignorance





http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/248566,clashes-in-three-german-cities-mars-new-year-celebrations.html

Clashes in three German cities mars New Year celebrations
Posted : Thu, 01 Jan 2009 15:45:10 GMT
Author : DPA

Berlin - Clashes in three German cities marred New Year celebrations, 
with police facing their toughest challenge from a crowd of mostly young 
revellers in the capital Berlin in the small hours of Thursday. One 
small breakaway group from that crowd, which numbered 1,000 at the peak, 
tried to fire a skyrocket inside a police station and invade it, police 
spokesman Frank Millert said.
The rocket lodged in a broken window and burned itself out, but several 
police were injured by the flying glass. Police arrested three on arson 
charges.
Earlier, elements from the same crowd in the Prenzlauer Berg district 
had smashed the windows of a passing tram and bombarded a police patrol 
car with firecrackers. The trouble abated about 3 am.
In the northern city of Hamburg, 150 youths first attacked firefighters 
trying to save a blazing wooden hut during the night, then hurled stones 
and bottles at riot police called to subdue them.
In the eastern city of Leipzig, seven police were injured in running 
battles with about 150 drunken youths.
Germany's most tragic accident on the sole night of the year when the 
general public are allowed to set off fireworks was the near blinding of 
a 12-year-old girl who had already lost one eye in an accident earlier 
in her life.
A firework exploded in her face in the northern city of Hamburg, causing 
facial burns and damaging her remaining eye.








http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/LA545532.htm

Senegal jails young rioters who protested overjobs
10 Jan 2009 14:48:44 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Diadie Ba
DAKAR, Jan 10 (Reuters) - Eighteen young Senegalese have been jailed for 
between five and 10 years for taking part in riots triggered by 
unemployment and anger over local mining projects, officials said on 
Saturday.
At least one person was shot and killed and 35 wounded in street 
protests in the southeastern town of Kedougou on Dec. 23, when crowds of 
mostly young demonstrators attacked public buildings and clashed with 
armed police and gendarmes.
Local officials and human rights activists said the youths were 
protesting the impoverished southeast region of the West African state 
was not seeing benefits in terms of jobs or wealth from multiplying, 
mostly foreign-run gold mining projects there.
A court in Tambacounda late on Friday found 18 out of 29 accused guilty 
of public order offences, including damage to state property.
Eight of those convicted were sentenced to 10 years in jail, two to 
seven years behind bars, and eight more to five years. The rest were 
acquitted.
Defence lawyers, who said several of the accused were beaten while in 
police custody, criticised the offences as excessively harsh and said 
they would appeal.
The Dakar-based, Pan-African human rights organisation RADDHO accused 
police of waging "state terror" in Kedougou after the unrest, saying 
suspects and their families were subjected to beatings, torture and 
harassment.
Authorities denied any abuses.
Mining companies exploring in southeast Senegal near the Mali border 
include Australia-based Mineral Deposits Limited, Toronto-listed IAMGOLD 
<IMG.TO> and Randgold Resources <RRS.L>.
RADDHO called the exploitation of Kedougou's mineral resources by mining 
companies a "time bomb".
"Instead of contributing to the well-being and prosperity of 
populations, they become a real nightmare by despoiling land and failing 
to provide significant benefits to the people of that region, which is 
among the poorest in Senegal with massive youth unemployment," the 
rights organisation said.
ECONOMIC SQUEEZE
Senegal, a mostly Muslim former French colony, has since independence in 
1960 preserved a reputation for political and social stability in a West 
African region convulsed by decades of unrest, coups and civil wars.
But discontent under the rule of octogenarian President Abdoulaye Wade, 
who was elected in 200O and re-elected in 2007, has been on the rise as 
high food, fuel and electricity prices increasingly squeeze the 
livelihoods of ordinary people.
Wade and his government have also been accused by opponents and human 
rights activists of displaying an increasingly inflexible attitude 
towards dissent and criticism.
Senegal's justice system also came under fire this week for eight-year 
prison sentences recently handed down by a court to nine suspected 
homosexuals who were arrested in December at the home of a prominent gay 
rights and anti-AIDS activist.
The men were convicted of "indecent and unnatural acts" and "criminal 
association" in a case which U.S.-based Human Rights Watch said revealed 
an anti-homosexual bias that undermined efforts to educate people about 
the dangers of AIDS.
"These charges will have a chilling effect on AIDS programs," said Scott 
Long, director of Human Rights Watch's lesbian, gay, bisexual, and 
transgender rights program.
"Outreach workers and people seeking HIV prevention or treatment should 
not have to worry about police persecution ... Senegal's sodomy law 
invades privacy, criminalizes health work, justifies brutality, and 
feeds fear," Long added. (For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have 
your say on the top issues, visit: http://africa.reuters.com/) (Writing 
by Pascal Fletcher; Editing by Sophie Hares)