UK UK Feature Archive
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SOCPA Anti-demo Laws Should be Repealed, Not Extended
14-01-2008 15:52
One of Gordon Brown's first announcements when he became prime minister, was that the state would 'look again' at the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 (SOCPA) clauses which affect the right to protest within a kilometer of the Houses of Parliament. Since then, a consultation has been launched by the Home Office, and the closing date for responses is 17/01/08.
Anti-SOCPA campaigners who have studied the proposal are concerned that, rather than leading to a repeal of the relevant clauses of the act, the consultation could lead to an extension of the powers, meaning that any demonstration anywhere in the country would be required to seek police authorisation in advance.
On Saturday, January 12th, in response to a callout from campaigners, demonstrations took place around the UK.
Milton Keynes and Cambridge saw demonstrations in support of the right to protest. In Liverpool civil liberties protesters marched through the town centre and held a demonstration outside the town hall. Welsh activists handed out copies of the consultation paper and held a series of mini protests with locals in Aberystwyth. The monthly peace camp at Aldermaston staged a solidarity 'Freedom of Assembly' demo outside the Atomic Weapons Establishment.
A demonstration in Oxford against a proposed new shopping centre took place in solidarity with the other anti-SOCPA actions as locals took impromptu direct action to prevent the fencing off of the square. In London, where protest is banned within a kilometre of parliament, a procession demonstrated outside several key sites with the SOCPA zone, including the Home Office, New Scotland Yard and MI5. People were arrested for lying down in the road outside Downing Street and at Parliament Square activists were violently removed from the sit in and Brian Haw was assaulted and arrested.
Links:
SOCPA topic | Liverpool: Photos | London: Video 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | London Photos 1 | 2 | Cambridge: Montage | JNV model answers for consultation
Other Sites
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'Clean' Coal On Trial
14-01-2008 00:03
The trial of the eleven climate change activists who disrupted operations at Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station on April 10th 2007 has started today at Nottingham Bridewell Magistrates Court. They have pleaded not guilty to charges of aggravated trespass and arguing that it was necessary to take such action in order to prevent the imminent threat that climate change poses to the human population. They are arguing that the threat of climate change on human life is so imminent & serious that it is a proportionate and reasonable response to commit aggravated trespass to try to reduce carbon emissions from England's 2nd largest CO2 emmiter, Ratcliffe on Soar power station.
This is the first time that the defence of necessity in relation to climate change has been used in a court of law. The defendants will call an expert witness; a climate scientist, and Royal Society Research Fellow, to prove to the court the scale and imminence of the threat that climate change poses.
Reports: Ratcliffe Power Station Court Case : Nottingham Magistrates [day 1] | Ratcliffe Power Station Court Case : Nottingham Magistrates [day 2] | Ratcliffe Power Station Court Case : Nottingham Magistrates [day 3] | Climate Change Trial Opens
Previous feature: Climate Activists Bring Powerstation Operations To A Halt
From the newswire: Climate change on Trial! | E.ON irony & hypocrisy in market square | Climate activists in court - report | Climate Change On Trial: Call for support demo | Evening Post depicts Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station as 'cutting edge technology' | E-on climate greenwash in Market Square | Rattcliffe 11 to face courts | Activists needle shareholders over E.ON nuclear power | Climate change activists target power station - photos from inside | Photo reports from the action: [1] | [2] | [3] | [4] | [5]
Audio: Concerned about Climate Change? Spring Into Action Now! - an audio piece
Links: E.On | Eastside Climate Action | Indymedia Climate Chaos page | Wikipedia on Ratcliffe On Soar | Ratcliffe On Soar (photo portrait by Alan Lodge).
rampART on the defensive
29-12-2007 17:25
The rampART social centre in London is finally facing eviction after almost 4 years of providing a non-commercial venue for a wide range of activities. On the 12th of December, the social centre and the squatted houses in the street were all served with notice of court proceedings. On the 20th, the case was heard and a possession order granted from the 3rd of January 2008. However, the occupation has continued and the social centre is open as normal. An appeal has been lodged and evcition held off until a decision about the appeal has been made.Meanwhile, there have been various meetings to organise opposition to the threat and open a new space. There was also an assembly on the 6th Jan to look at setting up a group to support London social centres and maintain continuity.
RampART legal battle: appeal lodged | court case notes | possesion order granted | court papers served
Background : Audio: Eviction is a comin' | developers make move on Rampart Street | Developments at rampART | The rampART and its evolution
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Dawn raids stopped on UN International Migrants Day
18-12-2007 15:16
On Tuesday 18/12/07, activists from the No Borders Network, marked UN International Migrant's Day, by blockading immigration reporting centres in Glasgow, Bristol, Newcastle and Portsmouth. Arriving at the centres in the early hours of the morning, the activists aimed to prevent Immigration Enforcement Officers from staging dawn raids, in which families are often rounded up in preparation for removal to countries from which they have been forced to flee.
In Bristol, activists arrived in time to lock onto vehicles, and a police officer wasoverheard confirming that a dawn raid had been planned. In Portsmouth, activists were locked onto the swing barrier and gates by 4.30am and believe that another dawn raid from that site was thwarted. Glasgow activists were in place by 5.30am when Immigration Enforcement Officers arrived and were unable to leave the car park with their vehicles due to a tripod, and people d-locked to the gates. Newcastle activists dressed in Santa outfits locked onto the gates and used arm tubes to prevent vehicles from leaving the car parks. 2 of the Glasgow activists were cut free from their D-locks and arrested, whilst a tripod continued to ensure that vehicles could not leave the car park. Activists at the other sites were able to leave without any arrests taking place.
In Manchester, the local Immigration Reporting Centre Dallas Court had its gates locked with a motorcycle chain, and a banner reading "Caution snatch squads – we are watching you” was hung. Later, at 10 am, the Home Office in Marsham Street SW1, London was disrupted after activists blocked the entrance and unfurled a large banner declaring "No Child is Illegal: Child Detention is a Crime".
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Protest against secret Nato summit on Afghanistan
12-12-2007 22:05
About thirty committed activists protested against the NATO meeting at the Craigiehall Army Barracks near South Queensferry in Edinburgh. The demonstrators blocked the main road to the meeting, which is attended by defence ministers from eight NATO countries, and other senior political and military officials who discuss the current situation in Afghanistan.
Protest:
[ report of early morning actions | report and pics | leaflets in NATO hotel | Indymedia Scotland feature | details of protest | announcing article ]
Background links:
[ The Senlis Council | RAWA on US worsening human rights situation | Taliban control more than half of Afghanistan: IMC Germany | Womankind: Taking Stock | Canadian Peace Alliance | Imc Germany: There is no end to Afghanistan | Le Monde Diplomatique french/german/english | icasualties | Why are we in Afghanistan? | Just Foreign Policy]
UK Takes Action While World Leaders Continue To Produce Hot Air
10-12-2007 14:48
Over 10,000 climate campaigners took to the streets to take part in marches in London and Glasgow over the weekend, despite pouring rain. Protesters braved the weather in one the biggest demonstrations calling for climate justice the UK has ever seen. The marches coincided with the wheeling and dealing at the 2007 United Nations Climate Change Conference, currently taking place in Bali, Indonesia. Protests calling upon the world leaders for action on climate change have taken place across the world. The last week has seen many actions across the UK on various aspects of the climate change agenda.
Multimedia: Video and audio from climate change rally, London
Photos and reports: Global Climate Change March, London | Pictures from Campaign against Climate Change march in London | Glasgow Climate March - pics | Global Climate Campaign march in Central London | Campaign against Climate Change - London Rally
Links: Campaign Against Climate Change | UK Indymedia Climate Chaos page | Climate March flickr group
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Indian court orders 'arrest without bail' of Dutch activists
05-12-2007 20:36
A court in Bangalore has issued an order for the 'arrest without the possibility of bail' of seven campaigners over their websites postings about labour conditions of an Indian supplier of fashion label G-Star. The activists are from the Clean Clothes Campaign and the India Committee of the Netherlands; the director of their Netherlands based ISP, Antenna, is included.
The case could have implications for activists posting anything on the web, with the court using the Convention on Cyber Crime to call for extradition. It all happens with the backdrop of the continuing campaign about labour conditions and particularly the huge number of child workers in India coming up against the religion of 'free trade'.
The case has been running for some time now. As the legal threats get worse the campaign are asking for solidarity. As G-Star is the only remaining buyer from the jeans manufacturer at which the CCC and ICN have highlighted the labour rights violations they are asking people to make demands of them listing things you can do [cleanclothes.org]. In the UK No Sweat! have called a picket of G-star [nosweat.org] focusing on their Covent Garden store. There are lots of outlets around on their store locator [g-star.com].
Rossport: Another Season of Resistance
22-11-2007 09:09
Since 2000 the small rural community of Rossport, County Mayo, Ireland have been engaged in an epic battle trying to prevent Shell from building a potentially devastating onshore gas refinery and high pressure pipeline in their remote and environmentally sensitive region. Despite Shell’s status as one of the world’s largest multinationals and it’s enjoyment of the full support of the Irish state, the spirited and effective resistance of the local community means that four years after the refinery was intended to be fully operational, the project is still in its infancy.
For many different reasons the struggle is truly inspiring. The Shell to Sea campaign is fought on a multitude of levels, from the international political arena, to on the ground at the daily picket at the proposed refinery site. It has been an eventful seven years and this autumn has been no exception. Over the past few months direct action against the development has included national days of action attended by hundreds of people from around Ireland, community led direct action preventing preparatory pipeline work and regular blockading of trucks entering the refinery site by those attending the daily picket. Also during this period, campaigners were ordered to leave the two year old Rossport Solidarity Camp. Meanwhile the project has met renewed opposition from NGO’s, including the Irish National Trust, who recently spoke out publicly against the project and outlined their intention to challenge its legitimacy in the European courts.
And of course, where there is resistance, repression follows shortly after. The local court sessions have become increasingly dominated by Shell to Sea cases and protesters have been subject to dubious convictions and excessively harsh sentences, including one woman being sentenced to three months in prison for her part in a peaceful lock-on blockade. As winter sets in resistance continues. The rest of the article outlines the significant events of the last few months in more detail…
Recent Indymedia articles: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | IMC UK Rossport Solidarity Topic
Other links: Shell To Sea | Indymedia Irelend Mayo Features
Films: Policing The Pollution: "Don't Mention The Water." | Stopping Shell from drilling the SAC | Rossport Shell site storming | Shell gas refinery blockade at bellanaboy
Preserving disorder: freedom to protest and the future of SOCPA
16-11-2007 20:14
The Home Office has recently published a consultation paper which hints at what was really meant by Gordon Brown's promise to look again at the law which restricts demonstrations near parliament, far from repealing this legislation the consultation indicates that the government wants to extend the restrictions on demonstrations to cover the whole country.
The current law on demonstrations around parliament bans spontaneous protests, requiring demonstrators to seek advance police permission, which allows the police to impose arbitrary limits on numbers and effectively act as political censors. See a timeline of its effects.
A public meeting challenging the new proposal will be held at the London School of Economics on the 2nd December.
Links: SOCPA the movie | ASBOwatch | Repeal SOCPA | State of Emergency | schNEWS article | the Consultation Document | SOCPA topic page
Developments at rampART
13-11-2007 09:22
Breaking News December 12th: rampART gets eviction papers. The rampART social centre in London today received court papers for repossesion on the grounds of Tresspass. The hearing date is the 20th Dec. A meeting of all the effected groups/individuals to discuss a response and plan what will happen over the next month or so, will take place on Monday December 17th at 7pm
The rampART social center in East London has been open for over three and a half years, hosting thousands of meetings, screenings, performances, exhibitions and benefit gigs. During that period the building and resources have steady evolved to adapt the demands of its users. Now gentrification approaches with property developers planning to partially demolish the squatted houses next to the social center and build three new properties at the back.
The rampART itself is under no immediate threat and regular activities continue as normal with Food Not Bombs, Rhythms Of Resistance, Radical Theory Group, Dissident Island Radio, WANC, and a new homeopathy clinic among the regular users. Coming up are a benefit for 'Papers For All' and an indymedia training session. Meanwhile the rampART collective is taking stock of its past and looking to the future with a special users meeting taking place on the Sat 17th Nov. All groups that have used the space or might like to use the space are invited to take part in discussions about how the social center is being run and the direct it should take in the coming year.
Links : The rampART and its evolution | Developers make their move on Rampart Street | Rampart Update in Indymedia Offline #21 (oct07) | Free food criminals | Reclaim Your Health | Load of WANC | Indymedia training session - be the media |
Events : Thursday - bands and distros | Friday - Papers for All fundraiser | Saturday - rampART user meeting, plus party
Grassroots Solidarity Against the Occupation
24-10-2007 20:36
The Jordan Valley, part of which is situated in Tubas region, has been de facto annexed by Israel. The Israeli occupation forces using land expropriation, house demolitions, militarisation of vast swathes of land and enforcing a system of pass laws reminscent of apartheid South Africa are attempting to make life impossible for the Palestinians. The aim is to bleed Palestinians out of the valley, leaving those who remain there to provide a workforce to serve the needs of the Israeli agricultural companies who profit from land stolen from the indigenous Palestinian population.
Daily Reports from the delegation in Palestine: This is Life in the Jordan Valley| Day 2 - Al Jiftlik| Nowhere to go |Ein Al Beide women’s group: ‘To exist in this region is resistance!’ | Settlers shoot at Internationals and Children | Life in the Women's Prison | Education in Violence | A Tale of Two Worlds | Life, Birth and Death in the Jordan Valley | Settlement Slavery | Settler Violence, Army Collusion and Justice| Palestinian Farmers Under the Occupation
Press Releases from the Delegation: Collective Punishment in Al Masra'a | British Citizen Arreted in Al Masra'a Now Released Three Brighton Residents On Trial in Jerusalem tonight for ‘Taking Part in an Illegal Demonstration’| Israeli Military and Settlers Shoot Live Ammunition at Brighton Delegation | Palestinian Farmers Denied Access to their Olive Trees| Brighton Delegation Marches in Solidarity with Imprisoned Hunger Strikers| Brighton Residents Visit Palestine|
Brighton-Tubas Friendship and Solidarity Group| Stop the Wall in Palestine | Boycott Israeli Goods Campaign |
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Biofuels Conference Disrupted At Concerns Over Multi-National 'Greenwash'
20-10-2007 14:52
This week Europe’s largest Biofuels event took place in Nottinghamshire amid growing concerns about severe impacts on climate, biodiversity and food production. The exhibition, featuring over a hundred trade stands, ran alongside a conference which opened on Wednesday with a key note speech from BP Biofuels’ Europe & Africa Director Oliver Mace, but was quickly thrown into chaos when a number of people dressed in suits marched onto the stage and pied the BP’s CEO for the ‘dangerous and dishonest’ greenwash and protest at the catastrophic effects of replacing climate-stabilising ecosystems with arable crops for biofuel feedstocks.
Throughout the afternoon, people held a very visible protest outside the conference which was held at the Newark Showground, north of Nottingham. To coincide with the national Biofuels Conference, protestors from No Agrofuels UK blockaded the D1 oils refinery and offices in Middlesbrough to raise awareness of the detrimental impact of agrofuels. 18 Protestors chained the 3 gates to the refinery shut and 2 protestors were D-locked to the main gates. No vehicles were able to enter or leave the site and all work appeared to have been stopped. Several banners were tied over the gates including "No Agrofuels, Land 4 People, Food, Biodiversity" and "Climate Change Profiteers".
Listen to audio: Biofuelwatch Talk | Activists crash biofuel party | Interview with Richard Price: Conference Organiser
On the newswire: Activists crash biofuel party 2 [afternoon] | Activists crash biofuel party 1 [morning] | Photos from Bio-Diesel Expo banner demo | Banner Protest outside Biodiesel Expo in Newark | Blockade of D1 Oils - anti-agrofuel demo | BP Executive pied as Europe's largest Biofuels Event disrupted | Biofuelwatch talk at the Sumac Centre, Nottingham
Anti-fascists successfully blockade BNP meeting venue
17-10-2007 20:17
Nick Griffin, leader of the BNP, was scheduled to speak at Kimberley Parish Hall on Tuesday 16th Oct. The hall was surrounded by anti-fascists from well before the event was scheduled to take place. The anti-fascists massively outnumbered the police as well as the BNP and their supporters. Anti-fascists were responding to a callout from Nottinghamshire Stop the BNP for a mass demonstration against the planned meeting.
Police numbers were very low though and they did not really have the resources to make arrests. There were 3 arrests though, mainly around the chaos of a particular scuffle or other. All this resulted in was 2 cautions and 1 released uncharged. The evening ended with the anti-fascists agreeing to leave. It was only this gesture that allowed Nick Griffin to leave the building. No more than about 10 people managed to pass through the lines over a period of more than 2 hours.
Reports: tonight in Kimberley | Stopping the BNP in Kimberly
Previous feature articles: BNP wins seat in Broxtowe | Campaign against racism in Lincoln is gaining ground | Founder of British fascist gang stabbed to death | BNP Action in Loughborough
From the newswire: Stop the Nazi BNP in Nottinghamshire! | BNP Standing in Notts. Griffin Speaking | Anti-BNP demo in Beeston | BNP councillor's neighbour | Sadie Graham shoots straight | BNP morons hold 'national demo' | Griffin in court
Day of Local Action against 'The Oil and Gas Bank'
16-10-2007 17:47
On 15th October, local groups which formed to mobilise for this year's Camp for Climate Action, took action against the Royal Bank of Scotland, a major backer of the aviation industry and the world's self-described ‘Oil and Gas Bank’. Over 25 protests and actions took place, with Headquaters being targetted, local branches occupied, and many banners displayed letting the public know about the banks role in Climate crimes [Actions round up]
A Sheffield based group wrote; "RBS is helping force open the carbon frontier, financing controversial projects in Nigeria, the Caucasus and Wales. Its involvement in Angolan and Nigerian oil fields encourages corruption and conflict, while gas projects from the Arabian Gulf to the Gulf of Mexico threaten environmental destruction. The thirty oil and gas finance deals RBS signed between 2001 and 2006 locked us all into 655 million tonnes of emissions over the next 15 years, more than the UK’s entire annual emissions."
London report and photos: 1 | 2 | Manchester report and photos: 1 | 2 | Audio | Sheffield: report | Norwich: report and photos | Cambridge: report and photos | Oxford: report, photos and video | Edinburgh report and photos: 1 | 2 | 3 | Bristol report and photos: 1 | 2 | Aberystwyth: report | photos | Cardiff: report | Bath: report | Bradford: report | St. Andrews: report | Birmingham: report and photos.
Report (pdf): 'The Oil and Gas Bank: RBS and the financing of climate change'
Video: Fight the Pipe about the Wales gas pipeline part financed by RBS.
Links: Rising Tide UK | Network For Climate Action | Camp for Climate Action
Singers Arrested Outside Arms Factory.
10-10-2007 21:03
5 people were arrested after singing 'We Are the Champions' at a karaoke themed demo at EDO MBM's Brighton arms factory. The police reacted to the cringe-worthy songs by arresting some demonstrators under noise byelaws and then imposing conditions to prevent the warmongers hearing an encore. Those who didn't move along were nicked, while the sour-faced managing director looked on. | Video
This major police response to a bit of a sing-song follows a successful blockade of the factory last week. All doors into the building were glued shut and two people locked themselves to the front doors with D-locks. This forced the managing director to smash his own window to get in and delayed the manufacture of deadly bomb components, which loses the company both profit and popularity with clients. | Video | Update: 5 Protestors have been charged with 'Conspiracy to cause Criminal Damage', and face a jury trial.
As EDO's profits slide, the campaign against them is building. Campaigners are looking forward to the traditionally lively Haloween demo on the 31st October, when the ghosts of EDO' s victims (and a host of weird and wonderful beings) come to haunt them.
smashEDO protestors have observed that the police are using increasingly repressive measures to deal with the protests, and one compared police behaviour that was common prior to the attempt to injuct protests in 2005. At the hearings, it became apparent that the police had urged EDO MBM to seek the injunction. The case collapsed, costing EDO MBM much money. Since then the company's fortunes have taken a number of knocks. Campaigners have vowed to keep up the pressure until the arm's manufacturer closes the factory.
Links:
Peace Camp 2005 | Peace Camp 2007 | Student Blockade | Campaigners breach security | Court Victory for Right to Protest |
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Manchester Climate Change Activists Blockade Domestic Flights
10-10-2007 15:25
Activists from Manchester Climate Action and Manchester Plane Stupid blockaded the security check-in of terminal 3 of Manchester Airport.
Passengers were denied access to the departure lounge by seven activists locked together using arm-tube devices. Two banners were unfurled reading, “Manchester City Council...supporting climate chaos” and “Domestic flights cost the Earth”. Other protesters leafleted passengers with information about aviation and climate change as well as handing out train timetables for route destinations.
Video | Photos | Press release
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"Wonderful Copenhagen"
06-10-2007 16:24
Six months ago, the 25-year old Ungdomshuset (Youth House) occupied social center in Copenhagen, Denmark was evicted by police so that it could be handed over to the new owners, a Christian fundamentalist religious sect. This led to three days and nights of rioting in the city, with observers calling it the most serious internal security disturbance in Denmark since the end of the Second World War. 750 demonstrators were arrested.
This past weekend saw dramatic street actions in Copenhagen, as activists attempted to squat a replacement social centre named "G13." On Saturday 6th, between 3,000 - 10,000 people took part in a co-ordinated day of non-violent confrontation, which was met with heavy police repression. A total of 436 arrests resulted according to Danish mainstream media - a new record for a single police operation. Later in the evening, the G13 press group issued a statement declaring an end to the day's action. Demonstrators made it through police lines into the G13 site, but were cleared from the building by police after several hours of occupation. Despite this, many in the Danish scene believe the day was a success. As one participant said:
Last summer we couldn't do anything as a movement. Whatever we did we couldn't do it together and the police and the media hated us. Then last fall we learned to throw rocks. The movement rediscovered militant tactics. Then for half a year since the eviction that tactic has played out its usefulness. So now, we've developed a new tactic [non-violent confrontation]. As a movement we are now able to do anything.
Although they remain highly suspicious of city council, G13 representatives will negotiate with mayor Ritt Bjerregaard on Thursday.
Timeline of events | Photo Galleries: [1][2]
English background on http://english.indymedia.dk
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Indymedia UK Facing Legal Censorship… again!
06-10-2007 07:25
Indymedia UK has been issued with a takedown notice [10th of September & 21st of September] from lawyers acting for Alisher Usmanov. The notice served to Indymedia charged Indymedia with publishing allegedly libellous accusations about Usmanov, one of the richest men in Russia, recently linked to a possible hostile takeover of Arsenal FC.
The author of the posting, Craig Murray, is a former UK ambassador to Uzbekistan and claims to have inside knowledge of the businessman’s allegedly illegal dealings. Murray was sacked by the UK government for exposing the Uzbek government’s use of torture to attain ‘intelligence’ information, and for exposing and criticising UK-US support for a vicious dictator in pursuit of resources.
Murray’s allegations are that Usmanov “is a criminal”, “a gangster and racketeer”. Allegations of criminality seem partly to have been inferred from his connections to “Uzbek mafia boss and major international heroin overlord Gafur Rakimov”. However, Murray also suggested that Usmanov has a criminal past, having been charged with “various offences” in the Soviet Union.
Usmanov’s lawyers minded Murray that Usmanov was pardoned, and all charges against him were removed from police records. However, in response to what seems an inaccurate statement from Usmanov’s lawyers, Murray alleged that "Usmanov is a criminal. He was in no sense a political prisoner, but a gangster and racketeer who rightly did six years in jail. The lawyers cunningly evoke 'Gorbachev', a name respected in the West, to make us think that justice prevailed. That is completely untrue". Furthermore, Murray implies that the pardon was spurious because the real source was the Dictator of Uzbekistan, Islom Karimov.
Karimov himself is an unsavoury character. On completing his investigation into allegations of torture in Karimov’s Uzbekistan, the United Nations Special Rapporteur noted that the use of torture was ‘pervasive and persistent’. He also reported that he had ‘no doubt that the system of torture is condoned, if not encouraged, at the level of the heads of the places of detention where it takes place or of the chief investigators’
Though evidence to support Murray’s allegations has not yet been presented directly to Indymedia UK (but has been collected in his book "Murder in Samarkand"), the Daily Mail informs us that, ‘[r]eports years ago claimed Britain's National Criminal Intelligence Service was monitoring him for alleged links — never proven — to suspected mafia figures.' More recently, the allegations have been repeated by Tom Wise MEP in the European Parliament
Indymedia UK is now waiting for Usmanov’s lawyers to confirm exactly what information posted on the web site is defamatory, and it looks like they have resolved to remove any defamatory material. Indymedia, as with other small non-commercial media groups, has very limited options available to them due to the UK’s archaic and elitist libel laws.
Indymedia hopes, however, to avoid the forms of complete censorship that other web hosts have pursued.
For further information on this case, see Bloggerheads | Chicken Yoghurt | Moscow Times.
For further information on Murray’s research on UK-US (at least tacit) support for terrorism in Uzbekistan, see
Legality, Morality and the War on Terror: [ video | audio | report ].
No to Torture - former British ambassador to Uzbekistan speaks out against UK/US torture collaboration [ audio 1 | audio 2 | report ]
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Burma Solidarity Actions
02-10-2007 17:32
The military in Burma (Myanmar) has been unleashing its troops on unarmed demonstrators in a bid to stamp out mounting protests against the junta’s stifling rule, and price rises that have made life for broad layers of working people unbearable. The country's military junta continues to escalate its attacks against the area's ethnic minorities. The All Burma Monks Alliance, supported by the National League for Democracy and the Burmese people in general, have vowed to continue protests.
There are ongoing daily protests outside the Burmese and Chinese embassies in London, where 200 or so protesters rallied on September 27th. Meanwhile a Total petrol station, the largest supporter of the Burmese military regime, was blockaded in Bradford for over an hour. Students there also mandated their Students Union to investigate alternative suppliers after learning the union has an account with Total. The oil company's HQ has also been targeted with a die-in on October 2nd and another Total petrol station, this time in Oxford, was targeted on Saturday.
There have also been calls to petition the UK government to boycott the Chinese Olympics due to China's support of the military regime in Burma, a call to wear red shirts in solidarity.
On September 30th, an emergency national demonstration took place with around a thousand people gathering in Trafalgar Square before marching down Whitehall and on to the Buddhist pagoda in Battersea Park. In Sheffield the Karen community protested on Monday 1st October.
Ongoing protests in solidarity are expected to continue, both in the UK and around the world. Burma's generals appeared to have cut public internet access today to prevent more videos, photographs and information about their violent crackdown getting out.
While the repression of protests in Burma are condemned by the UK government, a protest against the Iraq war that has killed 1.2 million called for the 8th October is banned.
Full article | 3 additions | 23 comments
The Gatwick No Border Camp
17-09-2007 19:20
2007 is witnessing a resurgence of No Border Camps around the world as three Camps have been announced. The first one took place in Ukraine in mid August [Pics] and another one is announced at the US/Mexico border for November. But close to home, this week the UK sees the first No Border camp near Gatwick airport. Despite weeks of constant harassment of local farmers by the police, the Camp got under way as planned with several hundred people attending workshops and discussions, and taking part in actions and demonstrations throughout the week.
The No Border Camp sought "to try and stop the building of the new detention centre, and to gather ideas for how to build up the fight against the system of migration controls". The Camp progaramme consisted of four days of workshops, protests and discussions. Various actions were announced for the week, including a Transnational Demonstration on Saturday 22nd from Crawley to the site of Brook House attended by around 500 people. Brook House is planned to be Britain's largest detention centre for migrant people, and it is being build next door to Tinsley House. Another solidarity march took place in Newcastle. There were several actions also happening during the camp on Thursday and Friday. These included the occupation of Virgin Atlantic tour operator offices and a blockade outside Group 4 near Crawley, a welcoming event in Crawley as well as demonstrations outside Lunar and Electric houses reporting centres in Croydon.
Reports
Saturday 22nd: Timeline of Events | Reports: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | Pics: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | Video | Press Releases: 1 | 2
Friday 21st: Timeline of Events | Reports: 1 | 2 | Pics 1 | 2 | Video | Press Releases: 1 | 2 | 3
Thursday 20th: Reports: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Pics | Video
Wednesday 19th:: report | report and pics | pics
International Reports: Holland IMC 1 | 2 | Liege IMC 1 | 2 | Switzerland IMC | Barcelona IMC | Germany IMC 1 | 2 | Estrecho IMC | CMI Galiza
Practical Info: How to get to the Camp | Local contacts for travelling | Camp's programme | Workshops | Frequently Asked Questions | Legal infos for migrants coming to the camp
For more information see the Camp's website and IMC-UK Topic Page
Links: London No Borders | Nottingham No Borders | noborder.org | Map of European migrant camps | Migrating University | Groups Endorsing the UK's Camp