Oxford Newswire Archive

One could be forgiven for thinking that the spoof press release below was written by an animal rights campaigner. However, people might be surprised to learn that the press release was written not by someone who opposes vivisection but by one of the solicitors acting on behalf of Oxford University; the same solicitor who is currently trying to imprison SPEAK's founders Robert Cogswell and Mel Broughton. SPEAK have been given a copy of the press release that tells us so much about the university and those working on behalf of the university. Read more >>

April the 3rd, 1999

11 min video chronicle of the march and occupation of St. George's Hill in Surrey on the 350th birthday of the Diggers occupation of the same area.

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Has free speech been outlawed in the UK? Well, if not, why are the activists in this article facing possible imprisonment for a web posting regarding the builders of the Oxford animal laboratory?

This story concerns not just animal rights activists, but everyone concerned with keeping the channels of free expression open.
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With the Government White Paper on the future of Britain's nuclear weapons due out on Monday 4 December, this is your chance to show your opposition to further development of Britain's WMD capacity, such as the laser facility being built at Aldermaston. You are welcome to come and get involved in a wide variety of ways, you don't need to risk getting arrested. Check out Block The Builders website for comprehensive coverage of the background to the action and practical info for protestors. Read more >>

Around seven hundred people today joined a protest in Carterton, Oxfordshire, to say end the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan, bring the troops home now. Read more >>

Today, four people from Oxford Student Action for Refugees (STAR) group and a random singer (me!) went to facilitate a singing workshop at Campsfield House Detention Centre.

Here's a personal account of the session.
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A merry band of Oxford pixies full of the joys of the season visited many, many shops - including Miss Selfridges, Topshop, Gap, HMV and Dixons - placing thought-provoking stickers in dressing rooms and on products. Read more >>

A national anti-war demonstration will take place at RAF Brize Norton on Sat., Dec. 2nd. Assemble noon on Carterton Rd near Brize Norton village for a 1 pm march past the main gate of the base to the Carterton Rec where there will be a rally with speakers. Bring your own signs and flowers to lay at the main gate of the base in remembrance of the dead of all nationalities. Read more >>

Demonstrators demand the physical return of Aristide, the exit of MINUSTAH, rehabilitation of all civil employees illegally dismissed, and freedom for all political prisoners Read more >>

Mr. Bashir was quoted in todays papers as saying that things were much better in Sudan than internationals were claiming so i asked a friend of mine who is working for the UN there for his views. They are understandably to the point Read more >>

Anne Owers HM Inspector of Prisons (HMIP) has published today a report on Harmondsworth Immigration Removal Centre (IRC), the UK's largest immigration removal centre, stating that it was not performing satisfactorily against ANY of the Inspectorate's tests of a healthy custodial environment and that poor relationships between custody officers and detainees were "worse than had been seen at any other detention centre" and was "Undoubtedly the poorest report" issued by HMIP of any IRC to date.
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The Rev. E. Littlehelps, Lord High Purchaser of the Cult of Consumerism, explains in his own words what happened when a group of activists pretending to be corporation-worshippers descended on Oxford City Centre for International Buy Nothing Day. Read more >>

Speakers:
Richard Newfarmer, Team Leader, Economic Advisor and GEP co-author, World Bank
Andrew Burns, Lead Economist, Prospects Group and author of GEP chapter one, World Bank
Discussant: Simon Maxwell, Director, ODI
Chair: Dr Ian Goldin, Director, James Martin 21st Century School, University of Oxford

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Oxford University Student Union is organising a Reclaim The Night march on the 28th November, protesting against violence against women and demonstrating for the right of women to walk the streets at night without fear. All women from Oxford and the local area are warmly invited to join the march- we want to unite the local community of Oxford for this march.

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Buy nothing day; day of anti-consumerist action. Read more >>

Campsfield is an immigration removal centre on the outskirts of Kidlington, North of Oxford. Read more >>

Barbed Wire Britain, a network to end refugee and migrant detention, has produced a second volume of testimonies from immigration detainees, Voices From Detention II.

Amidst the political and media clamour about how many asylum seekers have been or need be deported, the voices of the system's victims are necessarily stifled. Would-be refugees are mere statistics, objects in a disgusting Dutch auction as to which political brand can wash whitest. And this why such a collection is an important tool in the struggle for rights and justice.

The volume is a collection of accounts by detainees in Tinsley House, Campsfield House, Rochester (HMP), Liverpool (HMP), Belmarsh (HMP), Lindholme, Harmondsworth, Yarlswood, Dungavel, Dover and Haslar. These are people for whom the unthinkable has happened. They have been imprisoned in the UK without charge, without conviction, without time limit. They have been imprisoned by the UK government, which boasts its democratic institutions.

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published below, a letter to the Greek Prime Minister from Tim Wilson who works in Oxford with his partner, torture victim Necati Zontul. Their second film, "A TRAVESTY OF JUSTICE" is now in production and charts the failure and bias of the Greek Courts. Yesterday, the Government's apology to Greek activist Avgoustino Dimitrou, important though it is, demonstrates that there is one law for Greeks and another for foreigners. Necati has waited 6 years fro an apology and has received none. Neither has he been offered compensation, or a statement of non-recurrence. Instead, he has been denied access to court and seen 3 of his assailants acquitted. It is time that the racist agenda is challenged, and the mindless corruption and cronyism that sees convicted men still in uniform years after their trial, must stop -before more innocent foreigners are hurt in Greece. Read more >>