Sri Lanka: UK continues with mass deportation despite overwhelming evidence of torture on return

Activists mount blockade at detention centre

With little sign in a reduction of stop-and-search under PACE since the Met's supposed change in approach residents and campaign groups in east London are taking matters into their own hands by educating young people of their rights, encouraging the wider community to stop-and-monitor the police as they conduct their searches and orchestrating a culture of complaining everytime a victim is abused or litigating whenever possible.

DESPITE the Metropolitan Police Commissioner announcing a new approach to stop-and-search in January after a report linked its aggressive and repeated misuse to the riots last year, thousands of innocent people are being detained every week prompting concerns that the foundations are being laid for further unrest.

Police officers stop-and-search a thousand people a day in London, according to the Met's own statistics, arresting little over ten per cent. Figures on how many are actually charged are currently unavailable.

While Section 60s, where a stop-and-search can be conducted without suspicion of criminal involvement, have dropped significantly young people between the ages of 10 and 24 – particularly black males – are still being heavily targeted through PACE (the Police and Criminal Evidence Act).

Most are suspected of being involved with drugs or weapons, according to the Met's stats, although most of the young people I have spoken to say they are accused of matching the description of a burglar or robber.

While few are arrested, teenage victims of stop-and-search complain of being manhandled, treated like criminals, and humiliated in front of their friends, neighbours and even parents while hanging out or making their way home from school.

One teenager from Hackney said he missed a GCSE exam after being stopped on his way in to school.

Ondre Roach, who says he has been stopped about 30 times, said: “It affects your confidence. You're just going about being teenagers. We would go somewhere to chill and have a joke after school and then someone would be stopped by the police and it would just change your whole mindset and we would get annoyed and say something and they would say something back and that's when the problems start.”

International activists involved in the Indignato and Occupy movements have begun a campaign to create GlobalNoise, a worldwide cacerolazo, or casserole march, on Saturday, October 13th, 2012. The hope is that local Occupations and Collectives will take up the call to march, using the method of a casserole march to highlight whatever issues are the most important to their community.

Historically, banging on a pot has been a universally understood means to gain attention. From children to adults, we all know that a pot or pan can be easily used as a makeshift drum or an alarm. With #globalNOISE, it’s both. The casserole march has its origins as a means to call attention to problems facing the community that the power structure is not addressing, using a method that is hard to ignore. In the past, this form of activism has been used to draw attention to education reform, starvation, government corruption, inequality in resources, and more.

It has been revived recently in the international Occupy and Spanish Indignatos movements, and most notably by the Student movement in Canada. Since then, it has spread worldwide. It is from these historical references and recent examples that the idea of a coordinated worldwide cacerolazo emerged. An international showing of frustration and unrest on a global scale that would be hard to ignore. A GlobalNoise.

How to make noise with kitchen equipment

The basic idea behind potbanging is simple. Using any cooking spoon or utensil, you hit the bottom of an empty pot, a pan, or some similarly shaped non-glass kitchen equipment. In our experience, metal or wooden cooking spoons make the best drum sticks.

Alternative instruments

The goal of the GlobalNoise initiative is to draw attention to itself, indeed that is the very idea behind a casserole march. And while kitchen equipment may be the first choice, it is most certainly not the only choice. Remember, the goal is to draw attention. If you don’t have access to kitchen equipment, you can use whatever will make noise, even actual instruments, like whistles, horns, vuvuzelas, or even drums. DIY instruments or established noise makers don’t matter, just make noise. You can even encourage drivers to join in with their horns as you pass them on the march. In Spain, they call that “Pitodromo”.

As you can see there´s no limit to the imaginative way you choose to make some noise. And if you have any interesting and fun ways in mind, please share it with us. We love suggestions. post on our facebook page, tweet at us (@potbanging), or join the working group!

Size and Shape of a casserole march

A potbanging demonstration can be any size, from small to big. The bigger the group the louder the noise, but even one person banging on a pot makes a lot of noise.

The GlobalNoise working group encourages you to organize Cacerolazo actions in your own city for October 13th 2012. (Due to events already being planned and in progress in various assemblies, some groups and collectives will have GlobalNoise actions over the course of that week. So if the 13th is impossible for your group, try for another day in that week.

Remember, potbanging marches are particularly suited for spontaneous participation, especially if the attitude and tone of the march stays festive and positive. Spectators quickly realize that they don’t need anything more than a noise maker to join in.

There have been many potbanging-protests worldwide over the last year since the formation of the Ingdinado and Occupy movements. The reason for unrest has ranged from the student debt crisis to the shortage of resources, while the method of expressing the frustration has been the same.
There was a large casserole march against inflation in Argentina earlier this year. Reuters reported that “Several thousand Argentines protested against the government… by banging pots and pans in front of the presidential palace in Buenos Aires.” In Seattle, the “noise making” from the Student Debt Noise Brigade takes place once a week. In addition, as reported by Global Montreal, the Montreal casserole marches inspired solidarity demonstrations worldwide. Even back in October 2010 Oldenburg, Germany  held the ‘Krach schlagen statt Kohldampf schieben‘ demonstration demanding living wages and fair access to resources.

A worldwide globalNOISE is coming

In June of 2012, activists from many different countries, social justice movements, and networks began planning a nonviolent worldwide day of action connected solely by this most noticeable of protest methods, the cacerolazo. The collected activists formed a working group, and the following proposal was created.
Each collective or general assembly interested in participating is encouraged to identify what local or regional issues most adversely affect their communities and then join the world in a casserole march. We feel using the power of our collective mass can create a sound of our world population calling out for change that will be hard to ignore.  The globalNOISE working group has called for Saturday October 13th to be the day of action where we as flood the streets and towns with the distinctive noise of potbanging.

As of late August, members of the Indignado and Occupy movements from many cities, including London, Brussels, Chicago, Madrid, Paris, Hamburg, and Perth, have endorsed this proposal and/or begun planning a globalNOISE casserole action. And the list is growing daily.

Get involved!

It’s easy to help make globalNOISE a success. You can simply share the idea of globalNOISE with your family, your friends, on facebook, over twitter, and other social networks. Consider sharing the official facebook page and twitter account, or using the hashtag #globalNOISE.
Contact your local general assembly or activist collectives to begin planning creating an event in your area. And be sure to let us know about it!
If you’d like to help coordinate the global aspect, please feel free to join the working group meetings and listserve. As it’s a world wide global action, we have a need for translators, and other contributors. If you’re interested, we’d love to have you involved. More information can be found on our website: www.globalnoise.net

While we may be separated by physical space, we are all united in our struggle. Help us make sure that on October 13th, in every town, in every city, on every continent, the world will hear the sound of change.
We will make a globalNOISE!

—-

For questions, concerns, comments, suggestions, here’s some contact info and web resources:

Email: potbanging@gmail.com
Website: www.globalnoise.net
Twitter: @potbanging #globalNOISE
Facebook page: www.facebook.com/globalNOISE
Facebook  group: http://on.fb.me/PWb8L5
InterOccupy hub: http://interoccupy.net/globalnoise/
Occupii: http://occupii.org/group/globalnoise-international
Email list serve:  http://bit.ly/PWbQrI

—

[1] http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.315632515195933.71438.313040322121819&%3Cspan%20id=
[2] http://www.fmcapitalsalta.com/noticias/333/el-cacerolazo-se-hizo-sentir-en-salta.html
[3] https://www.facebook.com/StudentDebtNoiseBrigade
[4] http://www.globalmontreal.com/Pages/PhotoGallery.aspx?id=6442647837
[5] http://www.krach-statt-kohldampf.de/sites/index.html
[6] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cacerolazo
[7] http://blog.globalnoise.net/p/assemblies-join-us.html
[8] http://blog.globalnoise.net/2012/07/de-lasst-uns-mutig-sein-vorschlag-fur.html
[9] https://twitter.com/#!/search/realtime/%23globalNOISE

On the 5th of September Occupiers and members of the local community in North London reclaimed the Friern Barnet Library after it had its doors closed in April by the council this year due to public sector cuts. The library is now declared liberated, occupied and reopened to the public. Although today the council served an eviction notice.

Four days after squatting abandoned residential buildings became a criminal offence, [1] three squatters looking for an alternative home entered the closed Friern Barnet Library. Slipping in through an open window, they realised that the building held great importance to the community.[2]

Monday saw locals and the local councillors attend a meeting in which the council offered an alternative building. This offer by the Barnet Council was declined. Local campaigners were adamant that this building was built to be a library, used by the community alongside ten local schools.

"I think it's very important to keep this as a library, I was aware of it closing, but today I have enjoyed just dropping in with my son and meeting people." said Satbir Allman, local resident

Local resident Frances Briers of the Save Friern Barnet Library Campaign also agreed how important the library is to the community. She said; "After talks with the occupiers last week we decided to open the library on Saturday. Since, the occupiers and members of the campaign group [3] have been working together in scheduling workshops and organising rotas."

The occupiers state that the closure of the library is a part of a long list of public services that have been listed by Barnet Council as an unnecessary cost. Barnet council like many others are allowing market forces to determine the quality and quantity of public services.

Occupy supporter Leon Pike stated, "I believe that Occupy is about connecting local issues to global ones. We are here to help the community with their plight in any way we can. But it is important for us to make clear that similar struggles are taking place all over the world. Wherever profit is put before people in a system designed and orchestrated by the 1% we can expect to see the loss of public services like this one. We need to take direct action and reclaim our world."

As the Occupy movement gathers its strength for its one year anniversary, supporters in London are building on events and actions in the coming months and beyond, and linking with actions globally.[5][6]

[1] http://nottingham.indymedia.org/other_medias/2741
[2]http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/sep/13/squatters-occupy-society-barnet-library?commentpage=1#start-of-comments
[3]https://sites.google.com/site/savefriernbarnetlibrary/
[4]http://occupylondon.org.uk
[5]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qchClgAv4qw&feature=player_embedded
[6]http://occupylondon.org.uk/about/statements/initial-statement

Early morning on the 11th September 12 a group of 20 climate change activists calling themselves ‘Ice Bloc’ unloaded nearly two tonnes of ice into the main entrance of Shell HQ. The protest was timed to coincide with this week's impending announcement of the lowest sea-ice coverage ever recorded, a loss of about 50% more ice coverage than the summer ice minimum 30 years ago.  See video of the action by Small Axe films.

Report and video taken fron Reel News:

London Metropolitan University staff, students and other supporters attended a rally outside the Home Office at lunchtime on Wednesday September 5 to oppose the revocation of London Met’s international student license, which could result in 2,600 international students being deported.

Watch video of the protest.

All unions at London Met – UCU, UNISON and NUS – are calling for every university and college in the country to hold LUNCHTIME PROTESTS on Friday 14th September.

OPEN MEETING to discuss the next steps in the campaign:
5pm-7pm, Thursday 13th September,
North Campus – Tower Building, room TM1-83
166-220 Holloway Road, London N7 8DB
Nearest Tubes: Holloway Road & Highbury & Islington
Buses: 43, 153, 271, 393

STATEMENT FROM PEACE STRIKE “VIGIL FOR IRAN”

WHY WE NEED A NEW MODEL FOR THE PEACE MOVEMENT.

On Wednesday 12th of September, from Parliament Square, Peace Strike will launch the “VIGIL FOR IRAN” This is a pre-emptive campaign to prevent a war with Iran.

We welcome campaigners, concerned citizens and anyone who cares for peace and justice, to join us for the initial two hours from 5-7pm to establish a weekly peace presence that will build up and spread to other strategic locations in and around Westminster and Whitehall.

We welcome campaigners, concerned citizens and anyone who cares for peace and justice, to join us for the initial two hours from 5-7pm to establish a weekly peace presence that will build up and spread to other strategic locations around Westminster and Whitehall.

The aim of the campaign is to unite supporters, and bring together differenr diverse groups and individuals so that our presence will be peaceful, powerful and effective. We wish our presence to be felt by the political powers, in order that they will have no option but to listen to us and take on board our concerns.

As well as acknowledging our concerns, we want them to ACT on them and CHANGE any plans they have for war.

A PRE-EMPTIVE ATTACK ON IRAN WOULD BE ILLEGAL.

So far, to date, there is no evidence that Iran has nuclear weapons capabillity. Even if they were to have the ambition, this in itself would not be illegal. What would be illegal would be a pre-empt war of aggression that in no way could be legally justified.

DOES IT MATTER?

DOES ANYONE CARE ANYWAY?

It would seem at times, that many people in our communities are beyond caring obout anyone but themselves. We live in selfish times, we are all aware of that. We suffer the consequennces every day in our own lives. If we don't care about each other, why then should we care about others, especially if we don't know them.

YES, OF COURSE IT MATTERS!

YES, WE DO CARE!

If we knowingly allow injustice to occur and go unchallenged, in our own lives and communities then we are allow ourselves to become 'part of the problem'. We have to, at some point take responsibility and work for change for the greater good. It is easy to see why young people in the UK are so frustrated and isolated within communities. The governments of the world spend so much time and energy exploting and killing defencless people simply because of geographic location and resouces. We ourselves become victims, as knowledge of the truth hurts. Being aware oof these problems in itself is not enough. We have to do something positive to make the change. Its up to us the ordinary grass roots citizens to unite and 'BE A PART OF THE CHANGE YOU WANT TO SEE'

If a pre-emptive attack was launched on an Iranian nuclear site, then the very minimum amount of people to be killed initially would be in the region of 100,000. Iran would retaliate.

After this, no one would know when it would end.

This action would effect the whole of the Middle East and have major repercussions globally. The media propoganda would have us hating anyone who looked Iranian, even though they were attacked and would have been forced to defend themselves. There would be retaliation in this country and we would see communities turn against each other. At some point we would have to rely on the authorities to save us from each other. The irony would be that we would then be grateful to a government for saving us and our communities, even though they ignored our wishes not to go to war! The governments fear an uprising so would manipulate the situation so that we would turn on each other!

MILITARIZATION

Endless war would mean that young people would eventually be called up to do their duty for our country. Patriorism would be called for and those not willing would be seen as disloyal and untrustworthy.

IRAQ /AFGHANISTAN PEACE MOVEMENT 2002....2012.....

We have been down this road before, Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Gaza, Libya, Syria.....

Pakistan is being being continually bombed and is not mentioned as a counrty at war, we just go ahead unchallenged. To date, we have not stopped any wars. The will of the people has never been strong enough to succeed. Our weakness is that we are easily divided.

PRE-EMPTIVE PEACE ACTION TO PREVENT WAR

The “Vigil for Iran” plan is to start small and get bigger each week. It is grass roots lead and is non-partisan. We are not affilliating ourselves with any Iranian political parties. As concerned citizens our duty is to the famillies and civilian population that would be victims if such action were undertaken.

PREVENTION IS BETTER THAN A CURE.

We are not prepared to accept war as the answer to making peace and establishing freedom and democracy!

THE LINE IS DRAWN.

We refuse to be complicate in any more war. We demand an end to war and our troops brought home.

The “Vigil for Iran” promotes peaceful action and is peaceful in its intent.

Please join us every Wednesday between 5-7pm either at Parliament square in London or in a solidarity action of your own organizing.

We need to establish now to be effective in rallying the masses. We have to influence and inspire people to promote confidence so that we are strong in our movement. We will not be deceived again nor will we be divided by properganda.

If all else fails and we are ignored we will go on STRIKE.

www.peacestrike.org.uk

facebook: Peace Strike Parliament Square

Diggers2012 and ‘Persons Unknown’ (meaning anyone in the known universe) have been served with court papers.  Despite the fact that there are no tents, structures or other items on their land, The National Trust is seeking an order for possession and an injunction prohibiting trespassing from a large area of land (over 200 acres) including parts of the ‘Runnymede’ and ‘Ankerwycke’ Estates (which is managed by the National Trust).  The case will be heard in Slough County Court this Thursday, 13th September at 12 Noon.

We currently have no tents or structures on any National Trust land.  Our Eco-village is situated on the disused land on the ex-Brunel university Runnymede campus owned by a private housing developer.  As such the possession order requiring vacant possession of the land where the NT claim seems pointless.  We have no tents on the piece of land that the NT are referring to.  What carries greater ramifications is the fact that the NT are also requesting a ‘perpetual final injunction’ (meaning forever) to prevent Diggers2012 and ‘Persons Unknown’ from ‘trespassing further on the Runnymede Estate and the National Trust’s land at Ankerwycke’.  The Runnymede Estate is home to the Magna Carta monument, marking the sealing of the Magna Carta in 1215.  Consequently Runnymede is regarded as the birthplace of modern democracy.  If granted this injunction would allow the National Trust to use ‘reasonable force’ to remove anyone deemed to be trespassing on or around the historic site of the Magna Carta.  This is ironic when considering the association of this location with ideals of democracy, limitation of power, equality and freedom under law.

One reason the witness on behalf of the NT gives for requesting an injunction concerns an extract from our website from minutes of a ‘Diggers discussion’ that took place at the Magna Carta Memorial on Saturday 30th June 2012 (page viewable here).  The witness statement states:  ”On their website, the Defendants have set out plans for a three year occupation campaign to mark the 800th anniversary of the signing of the Magna Carta.”  What the minutes actually said was:  ”strategic planning to build over the next three years towards 2015 and creating a massive event for the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta (which has inspired ‘democracy’ and civil rights across the world).”  This was an idea to create a grass roots gathering at the Runnymede site in 2015 to celebrate the idea of freedom and civil liberties. It contained no specific reference to use of tents or occupation.

One only has to glimpse at the website setup by the Magna Carta Trustto see that the authorities wish to shape the commemoration of the sealing of the Magna Carta in their image.  The website states: ”The 800th anniversary of the sealing af Magna Carta will be a commemoration of national and international significance… a large number of high-profile events are being planned.”  Last year it was announced the Queen has agreed to become patron of the Magna Carta Trust for the commemoration of the 800th anniversary of the sealing of the Magna Carta at Runnymede on 15th June 2015.  Perhaps the prospect of a rabble of common people turning up at the same time as dignitaries to commemorate the same event has irked the authorities and lead to this legal action.  Whatever the reason, the effect of such an injunction if authorized will be to grant the National Trust the power to forcibly remove anyone who they do not want on the land at Runnymede forever.

In the Magna Carta Lecture which took place this year at Royal Holloway University, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, defined law as ”as all those protocols that stop society being run exclusively in the interests of whatever group happens to be dominant at any
moment, and that thus guarantee fairness and redress independently of status or power.”    Here in Runnymede, where the notion of modern law, justice and equality are said to have sprung from, you could be forgiven for thinking that the law may reflect Rowan William’s definition. And yet the reverse appears to be true.  Instead we find a minority of land owning elites hold almost total power of over access to the thing whose life we all depend on: the land.

Those of us here at Runnymede Eco-Village have become quite used to breaking the laws as a by-product of simply trying to live on disused land in a low impact and harmless way.   We will carry on doing what we think is just as the primary guide over and above these laws.  Stay tuned 8)

Today Climate Siren activists scaled Tower Bridge to drop a massive banner above the Paralympic symbol which read "Climate Change our Next Challenge". Their blog contains 'an open letter to the world' (see below) where they ask us all to focus on the "changing climate and the threat it poses to our civilisation’s very existence on this beautiful planet" After the drop Tower bridge was evacuated for "safety reasons" the activist arrested and taken to Bishopsgate where their supporters followed.  

Dear People of the World,

The 2012 Olympics were a huge inspiration as to how we can come together to overcome challenges and achieve success – at many levels; as participants, as spectators, as competitors, even as a host nation. No doubt the Paralympics will equal or surpass this.

But these Games can be an inspiration for us to confront the biggest challenge our species has ever faced – perhaps will ever face: The changing climate and the threat it poses to our civilisation’s very existence on this beautiful planet.

Climate change is happening now. Don’t be fooled by those whose vested interests ensure that they would have you think otherwise. Or by colder winters. Climate change unfolds unevenly over time and is not uniform across all areas of the globe. Think of the stock market:

“Any competent financial advisor will tell you that the road to secure retirement is paved with market drops. Any competent climate scientist will tell you that our road to a hotter planet will be paved with cold snaps, even record-breakers.” – Prof. Laurence Smith

Even those formerly sceptical come round to the irrefutable evidence eventually, as Prof. Muller has recently shown. We may not understand the physical science of the Earth well enough to accurately predict how the climate will change over long periods, particularly at the regional level, but then we don’t understand meteorology well enough to determine whether it will be raining or not in Chicago next 15th April. Doesn’t mean that it will not be raining in Chicago come 15/04/13!

But our models are getting better. Twenty years ago, scientists had to ‘write-in’ complex, irregular climate variability events such as El Niño/La Niña cycles. Nowadays, they arise spontaneously within our models: a clear indicator that we are getting more and more accurate in our predictions.

Even without the models, the field of paleoclimatology gives us irrefutable and chilling evidence of how rapidly and enormously the global climate can and has changed. Ice cores tell us that around 11,500 years ago, surface temperature in Greenland increased by 8.3°C in a single decade. In the Pliocene, when sea levels were 25 metres higher than they are now, the C02 content of the atmosphere was just 100 parts per million (ppm) more than they are now. Our annual rate of increase is currently about 2.07ppm and rising.

We are already committed to a 0.6°C rise on 1990 levels, simply from the long-term warming effects of what we’ve already put in the atmosphere. Even the IPCC (notorious for underestimating global climate change to achieve scientific consensus) in its most optimistic SRES scenario – known as ‘B1’ – sees us approaching close to a 2°C rise in global temperature by 2100. In this model, northerly latitudes, including the Arctic, would see rises anywhere between 3.5 – 6°C by century’s end. That might not sound like so much until you realise that the temperature difference between a giant ice sheet covering Edinburgh, Berlin, Moscow and New York was only 5°C lower than now, during the last Ice Age. 

The biggest challenge is not in physically doing what is necessary – we have the technology and skills to transition to a sustainable society without a huge amount of difficulty. The challenge is in overcoming the doubts and confusion sown by those with vested interests in preventing change. To overcome our fears and take that first step into new territory. It is the challenge of confronting the forces of demography, globalisation and climate change and asking serious questions about the way we organise our economies, societies and local communities, the way we use our Earth’s natural resources, how we distribute them and how we preserve them for future generations. 

In truth, our biggest challenge is a moral challenge. 

And we face it now.

clisir 

400 protestors joined Paralympic ceremony performers, Dpac and UK Uncut at their "Closing Atos Ceremony" outside the Atos HQ in Paton Square, Euston today. Later 12 activists, both abled and disabled occupied and locked on at the Department of Work and Pensions and other held banners outside protesting against next April's disability cuts and the Atos tests.

Some CM participants have been emailed by Met police.

Recently some participants in London Critical Mass have been receiving emails from Liaison.team@met.police.uk in which the police have attempted to influence the route of the ride and confer with what they seem to regard as CM organisers. All of which is contrary not only to the Law Lords ruling but is impractical as no one can influence the CM ride in advance of the day and even then attempts to do so on the day cannot be guaranteed. This has been pointed out to the police more than once but they seem to have difficulty in understanding it.

Here is one such email.

"Dear Sir/Madam

I am a police officer and work at New Scotland Yard and previously attempted to make contact with you re your Critical Mass rides. I am emailing again in the hope that someone may speak with me regarding future cycle rides by Critical Mass so that, jointly, we can work together to avoid the events the 27 July when large numbers of cyclists were arrested.

It was clearly a challenging night for all. It appears that people, not normally involved in the ride, may have taken part and disrupted what is normally a peaceful and lawful event and in the name of Critical Mass. I also know that there is concern from Critical Mass participants that the event will now become 'criminalised'.

There is no intention or want to stop Critical Mass cycling and I firmly believe it would be beneficial if we could speak together to talk about future rides so there is dialogue and understanding about what you do and how and also about what the MPS is trying to achieve.

I would be grateful if someone could contact me as we do want to work with you on future planned rides.

Kind regards..."

*********************************

This is the Law Lords Judgement...

Maria Montessori

Former gold-medal winning Paralympian to join UK Uncut and Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC) at ‘The Closing Atos Ceremony’. The two groups have vowed to shut down Atos’ HQ at Triton Square in Central London during the Paralympic Games; promising direct action, creative protest and ‘plenty of surprises’. The action will be taking place on Friday 31st August at 12:45pm.

Tara Flood, a gold-winning former Paralympian [3] has come out in support of the campaign against Atos, saying: 

“It is a shocking irony that Atos is a main sponsor of London 2012 whilst destroying disabled people’s lives on behalf of the government.”

‘The Closing Atos Ceremony’ is the culmination of a week of protests organised by disabled activists targeting Paralympic sponsor Atos. The week of action, dubbed the ‘Atos Games’, will also include protests at Atos centres around the country [4], and disabled activists will be delivering a coffin full of messages to Atos from people affected by their much criticised Work Capability Assessments (WCA). 

Atos have come under fierce scrutiny for their handling of the Department of Work and Pensions £100 million a year contract, assessing whether claimants for incapacity benefits are ‘fit for work’. Last year 1,100 claimants died while under compulsory work-related activity for benefit [5]; and a number of those found ‘fit for work’ and left without income have committed or attempted suicide [6]. A recent episode of Dispatches [7] revealed Atos staff being pressured into unfairly declaring people ‘fit for work’ in order to fulfil targets. 

The British Medical Association [8], disabled groups, and MPs [9] have all demanded the work capability assessments end with immediate effect. The High Court also recently granted permission for two disabled people to bring a claim for judicial review against the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, challenging the operation of the WCA [10].

Paddy Murphy, a spokesperson from DPAC said:

‘By sponsoring the Paralympics, ATOS is trying to give the impression of supporting disabled people. Don't be fooled. They receive hundreds of millions of pounds while many disabled people are being forced to live in abject poverty because of their decisions. This is just another opportunity for them to ‘cash-in’. But we aren't going to let them off the hook. We will make sure everyone knows what they are about.

We are challenging Atos in the courts, in parliament, online, on the streets and now at the Paralympics. The work capability assessment must end now.’

Lisa Cunningham, a UK Uncut activist said:

‘People directly affected by Atos assessments are making their anger and fear heard through an act of creative and disruptive civil disobedience. UK Uncut will be joining them to demand an end to Atos’ inhumane tests. The Government's cuts are killing the economy, and in the case of the cuts to welfare enforced by Atos, they are killing people. 

We’re not against the Paralympics. We are against the hypocrisy of Atos’ involvement, when they may soon be removing disability benefits from the people winning medals for Britain.’

ENDS

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Notes to editors:

Disabled people who have undergone Atos’ WCA are available to talk to the media, please contact the UK Uncut media phone for details. 

Please contact UK Uncut or DPAC for more details about other events and actions during the week.

[1] UK Uncut is a grassroots anti-cuts direct action network, well-known for targeting corporate tax avoidance: ukuncut.org.uk

[2] DPAC is a volunteer campaign network of and for disabled people campaigning for equality and human rights for all disabled people: dpac.uk.net/about

[3] After representing GB at three Paralympic Games, Tara retired from competitive swimming in 1992 when she achieved a World Record in 50m Breaststroke at the Barcelona Games – a record that still stands. Tara will be available to speak to media at the event on Friday, and at another on Monday 27 August, please contact DPAC for details.

[4] http://ukuncut.org.uk/actions

[5] http://blogs.mirror.co.uk/investigations/2012/04/32-die-a-week-after-failing-in.html

[6] http://poultonblog.dailymail.co.uk/2012/03/people-are-choosing-suicide-to-escape-poverty-is-this-the-states-final-solution.html

[7] http://www.channel4.com/programmes/dispatches/articles/britain-on-the-sick-reporter-feature

[8] http://bma.org.uk/news-views-analysis/news/2012/june/scrap-work-capability-assessment-doctors-demand

[9] http://www.parliament.uk/edm/2012-13/295

[10] http://atosvictimsgroup.co.uk/2012/07/26/judicial-review-of-work-capability-assessment-granted/

Using the Olympic ticketing website run by monopolistic Ticketmaster (owned by Live Nation Entertainments in California) has been described as USABILITY HELL.

Article is a work in progress

Once again the Olympic / Paralympic tickedting system has FAILED to world-wide condemnation.

As remaining tickets for the Paralympics are released for sale intending purchasers have experienced a whole gamut of frustrations with what should have been a Rolls Royce - all signing - all dancing - user friendly system.

After all Live Nation / Ticketmaster / LOCOG has had SEVEN years to build the system. Instead it appears that the Olympics system has been cobbled together by amateurs without any real appreciaiton of the basic concepts of good online selling practices. And it is obvious that no-one 'stress tested' it. Actually did anyone test it at all? It appears not.

Indeed it has been opined by many web professionals and hapless users around the world that the Olympics ticketing system is not and never was: FIT FOR PURPOSE. 

Despite international condemnation when the Olympics tickets were on sale, there was two weeks between the Olympics and Paralympics. Yet even during this time NOTHING WAS DONE TO IMPROVE THE SYSTEM. 

Links below are only a few of the websites describing the deficiencies of the system.

Also Google search Wiki using search terms "ticketmaster wiki" and "ticketmaster wiki talk" - the Olympics are not the only issues with this monopolistic organisation.

BTW Ticketmaster Entertainment, Inc. is an American ticket sales and distribution company based in West Hollywood, California, USA, with operations in many countries around the world. In 2010 it merged with Live Nation to become Live Nation Entertainment. Live Nation was the organisation accused of dumping food and water at the Olympic BTLive Events in London. See separate Indymedia London article.

[In 2008] Ticketmaster has also been criticized from those who claim its fees are excessive, with forty British MPs signing an early day motion criticizing the company for overcharging and for the lack of transparency in its pricing structure - see link below.

How on earth did this company get the Olympic / Paralympic contract from LOCOG?

FOOD AND WATER BANNED FROM BTLIVE EVENTS FOR OLYMPICS / PARALYMPICS

Live Nation's profile on Twitter states:

"Live Nation is the future of the music business" - GHU!!

Live Nation Entertainments (based in California, USA) was given the contract to arrange the entertainment events at the London Olympics. They also own Ticketmaster which handled the ticket sales with a system that has been described by professional web designers as 'not fit for purpose.'

Over the last few weeks Live Nation have reportedly upset numerous members of the public with its draconian rules for attendance at events especially BTLive with the banning of ALL home-produced or shop-bought food, and ALSO water.

The photos of the signs surrounding the Live Nation compounds in Victoria Park and Hyde Park leave visitors in no doubt as to how welcome they will NOT be, and the numerous draconian rules that they will be subject to.

The many large bins can be clearly seen in the phots into which perfectly good food has to be dumped, and water bottles emptied. This is at a time when there are raging famines and starvation throughout the world in Africa, the USA and elsewhere.

The security staff have also been reported as abusing festival goers in bodily searching for prohibited items, and rifling though bags. In many cases non-professional DSLR cameras were prohibited, however owners were told that they could leave them at the entrance but that they would not get them returned. In one case on Twitter a woman was told to delete images from her camera.

Here are some tweets from Twitter that are circulating around the web:

===

R... T...‏@rt...

Not sure I'm @ best place 2b - #BTLive #London2012 site at Hyde Park; like a festival; raucous, popular & scuzzy rather than nice & boutique

A... L...‏@al...

#BTlive should be ashamed of themselves allowing vendors to charge such outrageous found & drink prices

A... B...‏@ab...

#BTLive fuming after encounter with heavy handed security n marketing scam. Been frisked, searched for water n food, asked to delete photos

n... k...‏@nl...

#btlive. Biggest scam ever. Security gone mad and shameless commercialism. I thought we are celebrating the Olympics. Thanks Boris.

Ö... Ö...‏@oo...

How come btlive is not allowing people to bring in food at Victoria park when you can take anything into the Olympic park?

J... H...@TopTVCameraman

#BTLive Your morons barred my wife from entry at Hyde Park as she had a DSLR. No measurement, just a thicko's guess, stopped her seeing it.

C... M‏@cm...

Can somebody explain why you aren't allowed liquids over 100ml into #BTlive?! It's not a bloody plane!

S... B...‏@SB...

Live Nation bans food & drink at BTLive events yet LOCOG allows reasonable amounts to be taken into Olmpic venues. Why the difference?

S... B...‏@SB...

@TopTVCameraman#BTLive - HydePark - banned from entering w. DSLR. Could leave @ entrance, but no I wouldn't get it back.

===

Due to a draconian anti-disabled policy LOCOG is BANNING families with wheelchair users from sitting together in Paralympic venues. 

Beth says:

"Like millions across the UK, I was inspired by the London 2012 Olympic Games. I decided I wanted to take family to the Paralympics to sample the once in a lifetime showcase of disabled sport in London.

"I am a wheelchair user, with a four-year-old autistic son and a nineteen-month-old baby. Naturally we wanted to sit together and, particularly as it’s the Paralympics, I assumed there would be adequate provision for this to happen.

"I was stunned to hear that there was no way that this could happen as there is a [LOCOG] policy that wheelchair users can only be accompanied by one other person. I cannot believe that this event, designed to inspire a new generation of athletes, has a discriminatory ticketing policy.

"It’s essential that my husband sits with me as he helps me with things I need to do and clearly my kids can’t sit separately. Quite apart from these practical considerations, I want to share this special occasion with my family, but I’m being prevented from doing so just because I am in a wheelchair.

"Please join my campaign to get the organisers of the Paralympics to change this ticketing policy for these and future Games - so every family may share the Paralympics together."