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10-02-2006 20:00 | WSF 2006 | Indymedia | Migration | Sheffield | World
The first Social Forum on African soil took place in January in Bamako, Mali [Photos | Video]. Around 10,000 activists from Africa and Europe mainly discussed issues of global trade justice, migration and neo-colonialism during the four-day get-together. A large-scale demonstration marked the opening the WSF. The Youth Camp and some media activists participated with a soundsystem bus. Slight troubles were caused by clashes between Moroccan and Western Saharian nationalists at the end of the ceremony [Video].
Before this the stadium witnessed the opening talks of Malian associations, remembering the quest of WSF to tackle the poverty in the world and create solidarity among the people.
"We have to talk about why our young people dreams are all about leaving Africa, why do they want to go to Europe and prefer the risk to die?"
Migration related workshops played a major role in the WSF and several statements were published about the pressing issue.
World Social Forum 2006 opens in Bamako, Mali | World Social Forum 2006: Bamako (Mali) | Caracas (Venezuela) | Karachi (Pakistan)
05-02-2006 16:00 | Genoa | Globalisation | Repression | World
On 25th January the last out of eight British witnesses (and one from New Zealand) gave their testimonies about the bloody night time raid of the Genoa Social Forum and Diaz schools in Genoa during the 2001 G8 Protests. The trial of 29 police officers (including many senior ones) for various crimes of brutality and fabricating evidence has been running now since April 2005. The first witnesses gave evidence just over three months ago and it's expected that this phase of the trial will last until the early summer. In the raid on the Diaz school over 90 people were arrested. Over 60 people suffered injuries after police savagely beat people, some still in their sleeping bags - 31 people were taken to hospital, three of them in a critical state. Some are still receiving medical treatment. Running in parallel is also the trial of yet more police and others accused of beating protestors who were held at the Bolzanetto detention centre after the protests and the raid.
Reports of British Diaz Testimonies: [ one | two | three | four ]
Indymedia Global feature | BBC witness article | More4 News Video
Witness Video Interviews [ Sam Buchanan | Mark Covell | Hamish Campbell ]
Original Testimonies from Norman Blair, Sam Buchanan and Dan McQuillan
Supporto Legale (eng) | Indymedia Italy Genoa Pages
Meanwhile in Switzerland the trial of policemen accused of cutting the climbing rope of Martin Shaw during the Evian 2004 G8 protests will take place in Nyon on 13th-15th February, with several events focusing on G8 and repression taking place alongside (for more see www.aubonnebridge.net). February 4th saw an Activist Trauma Network Gathering in London. The network was formed as a positive response to repression, to provide support and advice.
21-01-2006 19:51 | Zapatista | World
On January 1 2006, twelve years after the Zapatista uprising in Chiapas (Mexico), a delegation of the EZLN departed from the Garrucha Caracol to San Cristobal de las Casas [Report and Pics]. This marked the first step in the new Zapatista political initiative known as The Other Campaign (or 'La Otra') - a proposal that aims to forge an anti-capitalist alliance "form below and to the left" in Mexico and beyond. The Other Campaign, timed to coincide with this year's Mexican presidential race, will take the delegation of the EZLN - which includes Subcomandante Marcos (or SubDelegate Zero as he is known in relation to this campaign) - throughout Mexico's 32 states, "so to meet, talk and decide together how fo build another way of doing politics. A programme of struggle that will construct democracy from below, with all these national and international organizations that resist neoliberalism and fight for humanity."
Photos: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Photo blog
Videos: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Video archive on YouTube
Audio: Speeches at the beginning of The Other Campaign (audio Sp) | Sub Marcos' speech (audio Sp) | Radio Insurgente | Radio Zapote | Radio Pacheco
Words: To the Alternative Media | To the National & Int’l Press | SubDelegado Zero on security issues | EZLN denounces harassment and threats | On the Intercontinental proposed in the Sixth Declaration | Revista Rebeldia (Sp)
Translations of EZLN's communiques 1 | 2.
Continuous updates of The Other Campaign: EZLN's blog | Chiapas Indymedia | Mexico Indymedia | NarcoNews Bulletin
20-01-2006 06:21 | G8 2005 | Education | Indymedia | Technology | London | World
18-01-2006 21:37 | Animal Liberation | Ecology | Ocean Defence | World
Japanese whalers have hired a New Zealand Public Relations firm to smear anti-whaling protestors. Greenpeace and Sea Shepherd are both campaigning seperately against the Japanese whaling fleet in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary. Images used in a media release by the Institute of Cetacean Research (ICR) "is deliberate, manipulative, misinformation designed to feed the idea that the two groups work together" said Jon Sumby. [Full Story]
Off the Mawson coast in the Australian Antarctic Territory, 2000 nautical miles south-west of Perth, Canadian Greenpeace anti-whaling activist, Texas Joe Constantine, was dragged overboard into the freezing Antarctic waters after the whaling harpoon was fired over his inflatable and the harpoon rope became entangled in the craft.
Paul Watson for the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has said the Japanese whaling fleet is a criminal operation and Intends to Ram and Disable Pirate Whalers but has offered to withdraw from the current campaign against the Japanese whaling fleet if either the Australian or New Zealand Government agrees to take Japan to court over the whaling issue. In New Zealand Maritime workers have blackbaned the whaling fleet.
More Information:
13-01-2006 21:36 | Globalisation | Repression | World
Reports from Aaron Lakoff and Leslie Bragg on the situation in Haiti in the run up to the Elections .
Urgent Action Alert from the Haiti Action Committee As UN's Brazilian commander is found shot dead on his hotel balcony…New UN massacres in Cite Soleil could come any day now. Be on the alert. The situation in Haiti is dangerous and moving fast. There is the realistic fear that a repeat of the massacre which left 23 dead in July 2005 is imminent.
For background on the UN Massacre in July 2005.
Read a report from political prisoner So Anne Auguste, a Haitian folk singer imprisoned since the UN Massacres July 05.
Read about the UN oppression of the people of Cite Soley.
Listen to an audio report from Cite Soley of relatives of people murdered this week by the Ministuh.
09-01-2006 11:23 | Animal Liberation | Ecology | Ocean Defence | Repression | World
After three days of obstructing the whale hunt by placing inflatable zodiacs between whales and the harpoon, the Nisshin Maru rammed the Greenpeace ship, Arctic Sunrise. The whalers are counter claiming their ship was rammed by Greenpeace. The collision ocurred in the Australian Antarctic Territory in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary. The Nisshin Maru has continued north at full speed, with three conservationists ships in pursuit, including the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society vessel, the Farley Mowat.
Article with more photos: Japanese Whaling Ship rams Greenpeace vessel in Southern Whale Sanctuary
Links: Previous feature article on Global Indymedia | Melbourne Indymedia | Sea Shepherd website | Greenpeace website | Video of Greenpeace statement | Sea Shepherd News Release
08-01-2006 20:37 | Social Struggles | Sheffield | World
With over 3 million people homeless following the October Earthquake the winter disaster long predicted by NGOs [ 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 ] has now arrived.
Over Xmas a delegation from Sheffield visited the affected region helped by the JKLF. The daily hardships faced by survivors in Balakot, Muzaffrabad, Lagubura and Kamsar were plain to see as was the determination of the aid workers and victims of the quake. Despite the scale of the disaster and the incredible storys of survival, the mainstream media is giving little coverage to what is now a second catastrophe.
There is a screening of the film produced by the delegation on 11th Feb 2006 at SIF.
28-12-2005 16:37 | Palestine | Social Struggles | World
Peace workers denied access to Bethlehem
In the early hours of December the 20th the Israeli authorities at Tel Aviv airport stopped a group of international observers who were en route to a Christmas Non Violence conference in Bethlehem.
After lengthy interrogations, two UK citizens were allowed to enter the country but three were denied entry on ‘security grounds’. The three internationals, from South Africa, Italy, Australia, intend to challenge this decision in the Israeli courts. Now they have spent Christmas in jail, rather than in Bethlehem.
The group are experienced peace campaigners who were on their way to the “Celebrating Non-Violence” conference to be held in the Palestinian town of Bethlehem early next week. All five have worked previously as international observers in the Palestinian territories.
Spokesperson Charlotte Carson states: “Our colleagues are being stopped from attending a conference about non-violent activism because they are non-violent activists. Clearly, Israel is afraid of the power of non-violence.”
14-12-2005 16:18 | WTO Hong Kong 2005 | Globalisation | Social Struggles | Workers' Movements | World
The 6th Ministerial Conference of the WTO has been taking place from December 13th through 18th in Hong Kong. Negotiations have been continuing on key controversial issues such as agriculture, services, and market access for industrial goods and natural resources. The meeting hoped to shape the final agreement of the Doha Development Agenda, which members hope to complete next year.
The nations agreed to cut the agricultural subsidies by the end of 2013, and terminate any cotton subsidies by the end of 2006. This breakthrough is considered to be small but essential for the trading negotiation to be completed by the end of 2006.
The Ministerial Declaration text can be found here. BRIDGES Last Issue of Daily Report is available now from ICTSD, on HK WTO MC6. Click: PDF | HTML
For more news on the draft agreements, visit Focus on Global South or Trade Observatory.
The protest of this conference turned out to be the closest protest to the venue of the conference in the WTO history, the police were forced to use tear gas to prevent the protester forced their way into the venue of WTO, the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. An estimated 10,000 protesters were present in Hong Kong during the meeting and the areas around the convention center, where the meetings took place were barricaded from 6pm on December 12. During the last days of the summit, the police arrested more than 1000 people, many of whom reported police brutality and ill-treatment of prisoners. Read the dispatches for more info.
>>> Latest news: (and more from outside and inside the WTO negotiations).
Tuesday December 20th:
(i) A South Korean vice foreign minister flew to Hong Kong on Monday to try to negotiate the release of hundreds of his countrymen arrested during anti-free trade demonstrations.
(ii) There are still several (numbers unconfirmed as of now) WTO protest detainees from Africa, Latin America, North America and Europe whose status remain in question. If you have any more specific information about these people, please contact legal support at 2831-9837.
(iii) There is a rally outside the Kwuntong Courthouse to support the fourteen WTO protesters who are being charged with 'Unlawful Assembly'. Their next hearing is set for Friday. Protesters in solidarity with the incarcerated continue to hunger strike and camp outside the courthouse until the remaining detainees are released.
(iv) Confirmed: ALL Thai, Indonesian and Koreans currently incarcerated will be released by late tonight, except for eleven Korean nationals who are being taken to court.
Photo:
13th: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7
14th: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
15th: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6
16th: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5
17th: 1 | 2 | 3
18th/19th: Photogallery
Also: Photo collage | Image Pool | View Slideshow
Video: Protests on the 15th: 1 | 2 | 3 | Protesters enter conference centre [download].
Video websites: 1 | 2 | 3 | videoblog
Audio: G-20 Challenges WTO in Official Meeting | Hong Kong New Media and Social Transformation Conference | WTO and biodiversity: interview with Simone Lovera (Friends of the Earth) | Openings speech by Pascal Lamy, Director General of the WTO
Radio: People's Radio Hong Kong | Media Culture Action | Real World Radio | Forum de Radios
Solidarity actions: Paris | Reading (Read report) | Germany (Berlin) | Portland (US) | New Delhi | Lahore, Pakistan | Online demonstration | New Zealand
From UK Indymedia newswire: Take Action: 100's of protesters still detained in Hong Kong | Stop the WTO Negotiations! Save Jobs! | Kong Yee Sai Mau (No to WTO): The Battle of Hong Kong | Police brutality and inhumane treatment of prisoners at WTO summit in Hong Kong | NO-WTO! REPORT OF READING SOLIDARITY DEMO | Migrant Workers Strike against Poverty Wages and WTO | Inspiring photos from the WTO summit in Hong Kong | Fisherfolks Murdered By Drowning, Suspect 6th WTO | pics from the WTO Hong Kong | Insurgent Zombies Occupy Paris Supermarket in WTO Protest | NO-WTO: DEMO SAT 17TH DEC, READING | WTO Protests – You Cannot Speak If You Wear Too Little | WTO - HK05 - Images of Resistance | WTO Protests in Hong Kong - Day One report | Report on the WTO Conference Day One Protect Actions | A list of sites with news on the WTO protests. (with links) | anti wto HK site | Philipinos protest WTO | KONG YEE SAI MAU! - Protest against the WTO! | Peaceful direct action violently oppressed by HK media | Free Trade Endangers Jobs Worldwide
Dispatches from Hong Kong
Dispatch 1: As The Tide Rushes In: Four Days Before the WTO in Hong Kong
Dispatch 2: Raids Target Migrant Workers as WTO Summit Nears
Dispatch 3: WTO 6, Day 1: Just The Beginning
Dispatch 4: WTO MC6, Day 2: Face-Off at the Barricades, Stand-Off at the Summit
Dispatch 5: Celebrating Resistance Art and Culture at the Peoples Camp
Dispatch 6: Hear the Silent Majority Speak!
Dispatch 7: “Toxic Hotspot” - Kerala Activist Challenges Industrial Pollution Exacerbated by Intensive Globalisation and WTO
Dispatch 8: Low Wage Workers and Migrants Lead Opposition to GATS and Imperialism
Dispatch 9: Farmers Procession Sways Hearts and Minds at WTO Protests in Hong Kong
Dispatch 10: Hong Kongers hunger strike in support of Korean farmers against the WTO
Dispatch 11: Respect the Rights and Dignity of Our People!
Dispatch 12: WTO Indicted for Crimes Against Humanity at Rural Peoples Tribunal
Dispatch 13: WTO Out of Agriculture !
Dispatch 14: WTO MC6, Hong Kong, Day 4: “We’re Hungry. We’re Angry.”
Dispatch 15: Agricultural Workers of the World Unite!
Dispatch 16: Asian Farmers Condemn TRIPS as One of the Worst Agreements this Century
Dispatch 17: Rice Farmers Want WTO Out Of Agriculture!
Dispatch 18: Why We Do This: One Story from the WTO Protests in Hong Kong, December 17
Dispatch 19: A statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) about police brutality.
Dispatch 20: Release Those Fighting to Save their Livelihoods from the WTO!
Dispatch 21: WTO FIASCO: Lamp Spins Deception Deal at Hong Kong
Dispatch 22: La Via Campesina Delcaration on Farmers Protest March
Dispatch 23: DRAFT Timeline of Events, Dec 17th - 18th 2005 Hong Kong WTO
Dispatch 24: Target: WTO condemns Police Brutality - Drop Charges NOW!
Dispatch 24: Kong Yee Sai Mau: The Battle of Hong Kong
Dispatch 25: Focus: Off the Hong Kong road and back on the streets Number 10, 19 December 2005
Dispatch 26: “The Struggle Continues: Protesting Around the Clock” – Report from Dec 17/18 Battle for Hong Kong
Dispatch 27: Human Rights Abuse by Police on WTO peaceful occupiers
View more dispatches here.
More links: No WTO Hong Kong Wiki | People's caravan aims for WTO and Hong Kong | Direct Action Against the WTO | Go Media (videos) | People's Radio Hong Kong | Indymedia.org article | Stop the New Round Coalition | Hong Kong People's Alliance on WTO | Transnational Institute: Beyond the WTO | Global Exchange's WTO Page | International Forum on Globalization | Peoples Global Action | Global Issues article | SEATINI - WTO and Africa | Media Culture Action (South Korea) | Stop WTO Video Blog | Hong Kong Independent Media | Vatican Releases Guidelines for WTO Summit
Monday December 19th:
(i) Some protesters have been released, but Korean activists are still being held. The first bus of 150 Korean women who are reportedly "released" has finally left the courthouse. Police say they’re taking them back to the camp they’ve been staying at. However, people are worried that the women might actually being taken to the airport to be deported. People are worried about what condition they are in.
(ii) 700-800 protesters (primarily Korean and Southeastern nationals) are still detained. Seventy-two imprisoned activists have declared a hunger strike inside the Kwuntong Jail.
(iii) Fifty activists and lawyers are visiting the 200-plus protesters who are still detained at the San Uk Ling Immigration Centre. Although more than 200 are inside, only the names of 40 are known. Legal Team: 28319827 (HK).
(iv) The 150 Korean women who were reportedly released last night have been released and were not deported. Some protesters have been released, but Korean activists are still being held.
(v) Back in the UK, in Reading, around 20-30 anti-capitalists, environmentalists, students and others marched to Starbucks to make a free cafe and anti-World Trade Organisation demonstration in the town centre. Read article.
(vi) As prisoners have started to be released, like 155 released women early in the morning of 19th, many are bearing witness of police brutality and inhuman treatment. Read the statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) and see the video. There is also a video of the pressconference.
Sunday December 18th:
(i)The police have started arresting the 1000 protestors held in the area of Wanchai. The arrests will continue throughout the morning.
(ii) All of our sources say that almost all of the people who were arrested early this morning are still waiting to be arraigned. According to a lawyer, as of now the charges they are facing are still unclear and may involve jail time and/or deportation for foreigners. Many of the detainees are Korean and some are Southeast Asian, and police are not providing them with information in the languagues they speak. In addition, police are not allowing interpreters to see the prisoners.
(iii) A rally is being held at the protest zone. See video. All the Hong Kong activists have now been released with $1,000 HKD bails. A march will leave from there heading for Kwuntong - where the incarcerated activists are being held. Activists will be running a relay hunder strike and camping outside of the detention facility, to demonstrate their solidarity with the Korean farmers and others who were arrested last night.
(iv) A crowd of 7,000 people took part in the march to mark the end of a week of anti-WTO Protests. Read article. There was a strong contingent of migrant workers, and lots of locals. At the conclusion of the march 200 Koreans and some of their local supporters sat down right outside a fence on the periphery of the legitimized protest zone. Later on a crowd of 400 people gathered.
(v) Fifteen people - mostly Hong Kong activists - are gathered outside the Kwuntong jail in solidarity with those locked up, drumming with the hope that the activists who are inside will be able to hear them.
(vi) Outside the Kwuntung jail nearly 20 people are still banging on the police barricades and otherwise being rowdy and cheerful as they continue to demonstrate their support for the WTO protesters who are in detention. Some police are setting up in the area with riot shields, and the police presence continues to grow.
(vii) 40-50 people are gathering outside the Kwungtung courthouse. See video. One woman announced that contrary to maintream news reports, no one really knows what is going on with the legal statuses of the prisoners. Some activists fear that police hold special antipathy for the male Korean protesters and will retaliate on them.
Saturday December 17th:
(i) Pakistan's Commerce Minister and facilitator Humayun Akhtar Khan has stated "no breakdowns or breakthroughs" had occurred during the WTO talks, although with news circulating that no new agreement may be signed, the International League of Peoples' Struggle (ILPS) are now preparing for a "celebratory mass action" tomorrow.
(ii) Big protests are expected, reports say people are confronted with a large police presence. The police are using a lot of pepperspray and rubber bullets to try and disperse people.
(iii) Hong Kong Police stopped the protest from approaching the conference center. Teargas and rubber-bullets are used. Some of the protesters are injured. 900 people are besieged in Wanchai near the conference center. Some protestors are charging police lines using metal barricades. No-one has been arrested so far.
(iv) It has been reported that hundreds of protesters from South Korean farmers' groups, have managed to brake through police lines, although were prevented from actually getting inside. Fifty riot police rushed inside the building. They are not allowing anyone out. Smoke could be seen rising from an area near the convention center and policemen could be seen preparing to use tear gas. Read article.
(v) Hong Kong has today been the scene of some very serious clashes between protesters and police. Forty-one people are reported to have been injured in the clashes, five of them police.
(vi) Hong Kong riot police began arresting activists after announcing by loudspeaker to the 900 cordoned-off demonstrators that they were going to take everyone into custody. Latest video's can be seen here (click on 'live cast'). There is also a live stream.
(vii) Back in the UK, in Reading, around 20-30 anti-capitalists, environmentalists, students and others marched to Starbucks to make a free cafe and anti-World Trade Organisation demonstration in the town centre. Read article.
Friday December 16th:
(i) Hong Kongers go on hunger strike in support of Korean farmers against WTO, starting 11am at the Protest Zone outside Conference venue. Read Declaration of Hunger Strike.
(ii) A text message circulated by activists this morning said that a Filipino activist was detained at an airport at 10am as he tried to enter the country.
(iii) Fifty Korean trade unionists stormed the Korean and US consulates in Hong Kong, spraypainting on the outside wall of the US consulate "Down, down WTO" and "No Bush." Reportedly, the unionists got into a scuffle with police officers. No one was arrested.
(iv) Hundreds of woman take part in the Women’s March Against the World Trade Organization (WTO) with the intent of demonstrating that worldwide—and certainly in Asia—peasant and low-income women suffer the worst effects of poverty, insecurity and displacement caused by WTO policies. See photos.
Thursday December 15th:
(i) About 500 Korean peasants are making very slow progress towards the convention centre while marching three steps and then lowering to their knees and bowing their heads to the ground. See photos.
(ii) Thousands march through Hong Kong - see photos - see video: 1 | 2
(iii) Fisherfolks marched down the Victoria Harbour, exchanging petitions to delegates.
(iv) Low Wage Workers and Migrants took action as part of a "consulate hopping" protest opposing the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). See article.
(v) Women Peasants lead march and parade to Conference protest zone.
(vi) Cultural Solidarity display lights, dancing, songs and chants outside convention centre.
Wednesday December 14th:
(i) Police threatened to raid a place where Korean farmers are staying and camping.
(ii) Police violence continues on protestors who demand right to protest at the conference
(iii) Indonesia migrants go to Indonesia Consulate to protest against government neglect of its people.
(iv) Korean farmers take over a road to hold a candle vigil for Lee Kyung-hae who commited suicide at WTO protests in Cancun.
(v) Girl protesting gets arrested for wearing 'too little'. See article and videoshots
Updates Dec 13th:
(i) Migrants, Farmers, Poor People, and Allies try to break police barriers who use pepper spray on demonstrators. One group tried to get closer to the WTO delegates by swimming towards the conference centre.
(ii) Police have raided office of Indonesian migrants two days in a row. [listen to audio].
On Saturday, December 10, three days before the 6th Ministerial World Trade Organization summit, Hong Kong police raided the offices of the Indonesian Migrant Worker's Union (IMWU). Although no one was injured or taken away, activists see the raid as part of a general build-up of state repression on activists. In an interview, Revitriyoso, an Indonesian artist and organizer with Institute for Global Justice, speaks about the raid.
Conferences, cultural events, mass mobilizations, and direct actions are being planned for the dates between December 11th and 18th. Organizations that are mobilizing to protest the WTO meeting and corporate globalization, and to present alternative proposals, include peasants and small farmers from the Philippines, Indonesia, Taiwan, Thailand, and Korea. Events: A new media and social transformation conference and workshop will take place in early December. Global Exchange will bring a delegation/reality tour to Hong Kong and parts of China in December.
More video: From SWTOP:
Video Stream: March and Parade (A), Sun Dec 11
Video Stream: March and Parade (B), Sun Dec 11
Video Stream: Funeral at Conference Centre, Mon Dec 12
Video Stream: Day 1 MC6 - Rally, Protest, Direct Action, Tue Dec 13
Video Stream: Day 2 MC6 - Asian Rally and Candle Vigil, Wed Dec 14
Torrents: A collection of 20 videos from http://radiohongkong.de/ and http://swtop.no-ip.org/ has been posted as a single torrent to http://indytorrents.org - [download].
More articles: Lamy's "Development Package" Lies Unfurled | Its Always Christmas for the Big Service Corporations! | Asia Pacific Peasant Women Denounce the WTO | A Swimming Lesson from the Koreans | Aid for Trade : Poor Washing Abounds at the Sixth WTO Ministerial in Hong Kong
02-12-2005 21:11 | Ecology | Globalisation | London | World
29-11-2005 15:56 | Anti-militarism | Iraq | Workers' Movements | World
Organising over 23,000 workers in Iraq's oil and gas industries, the Federation of Oil Unions in Iraq (IFOU) is struggling against both the US/UK military occupation and the corporate-led privatisation of Iraq's industry. The president of the federation, Hasan Jumaa Awad, is touring the UK and addressing public meetings during November and December.
The Union has stated that ‘The privatisation of the oil and industrial sectors is the objective of all in the Iraqi state/government. We will stand firm against this imperialist plan that would hand over Iraq's wealth to international capitalism such that the deprived Iraqi people would not benefit from it ... we are taking this path for the sake of Iraq's glory even if it costs us our lives.’
Ewa Jasiewicz, Co-Convenor of the IFOU Support Committee ‘Naftana’ (meaning ‘Our Oil’) said, ‘Hassan’s second visit to the UK is a wake-up call. Iraq’s oil has not yet been privatised, and the IFOU are in a position, physically, strategically and historically to make sure that it never will be. This union needs our maximum support’.
[ Itinerary | Oil Union website | Announcement of Tour | Appeal for Funds | Denied Entry to Germany | Background Info ]
20-11-2005 16:47 | Indymedia | Birmingham | Cambridge | Liverpool | London | Oxford | Sheffield | South Coast | World
You may notice we have changed the way comments to articles are displayed. If you want to know why and how, please read the full article.
18-11-2005 18:27 | Ecology | World
Since November 19, yet another transport with twelve containers of radioactive waste (called 'Castor') from the plutonium plant La Hague (France) is on its way to the so called interim storage in Gorleben in the Wendland region, an area ( Map ) well known for 20 years of resistance to nuclear power. The transport is scheduled to arrive in Gorleben monday evening. The police announced that they will send at least 11,000 local and federal cops into the region.
After the death of the French activist Sébastien Briat during the protests in 2004, both police and activists expect a more heated atmosphere for this transport.
Update Tuesday November 22, 06.30: Between 4:00 and 5:00 in the morning, thousands of police have finally managed to clear a small corridor for the transport ("north route"). At 6:00 the transport reaches the interim storage at Gorleben, moving not faster than 15km/h on the last 20km. See the timeline for updated infos and pictures of the protest.
Monday November 21: at 8.15am the transport reaches Lüneburg while thousands of protestors in the area are on the roads to welcome it on the last 70km. All over the day, blockades and other actions prevented the transport from reaching its destination. See the timeline for details.
Sunday November 20: Hundreds of people spread into the woods along the railway tracks, setting up barricades [pictures 1 | 2] on roads to sabotage police logistics for tonight when the transport is expected in the region. Tractors are being used to block the special police forces. Farmers blocked the tranport route close to Gorleben with 120 tractors ( picture ), later in the night they were cleared by police forces. On its way through Southern Germany, the train was stopped several times by blockades. An unknown number of people are arrested.
Saturday, November 19: 4000 people demonstrate in Hitzacker, where the transport will pass on Monday. [Pictures 1 | 2 ] Meanwhile, at 17.30, the transport has left the plutonium plant in France. [video] In the evening, 350 people blockaded the main road from Lüneburg to Dannenberg at the village Metzingen, setting barricades on fire [ pictures].
Friday November 18: 600 pupils demonstrated (en) in Lüchow throwing a "rain of eggs" at the police. Police forces tried to clear the demonstration later and injured several pupils.
Indymedia (en): one | two | three | Videos at KanalB | French News Ticker | Chronology of the Resistance(en)1977-1999 | Village of Resistance Metzingen (de)15-11-2005 19:57 | Anti-racism | Culture | Repression | Social Struggles | Workers' Movements | World
Project "Freedom for Mother Earth" was started this year on October 12th, when indigenous communities occupied idle farms in Cauca, southwest Colombia, accusing the far-right government of breaking promises to provide them with land. The State responded by refusing to negotiate until they leave and for over a week now have been attacking the occupied El Japio farm with hundreds of troops and at least ten tanks. 16 year-old Belisario Camallo Guetoto was killed on November 10th and many more have been wounded and arrested. Solidarity emails have been called for to help prevent further violent attacks.
12th October is traditionally celebrated in Colombia as "Columbus Day," but has been renamed "Day of Indigenous Resistance" by social movements across the continent. This year there were massive mobilisations across the country against President Uribe and his proposed "Free Trade" agreements, and solidarity actions also happened internationally, including a picket in London. Naomi Klein recently wrote about the Cauca indigenous communities (who reject both sides of Colombia's long-running civil war), describing the land occupations and how they are protected by the Indigenous Guard, who "patrol their territory armed only with sticks."
15-11-2005 17:24 | WSIS 2003 | Education | Technology | World
The choice of place for the second part of WSIS - Tunis - is more than hypocritical for a summit on information society: While Tunisia is catching up economically with the capitalist North, it is far from any information society if you are talking about the freedom of information (report). Furthermore - and different to 2003 - it seems almost impossible to express protest against this summit. Nevertheless some initiatives and organisations called for alternative meetings. Some Human Rights Groups take part in the "Citizens Summit on the Information Society (CSIS)". Others try to bring in their ideas within the WSIS itself.
Free access to knowledge for everybody is not the goal of WSIS, and the summit organizers' plan is to concentrate on governmental and corporate use of information and communication technologies. This approach fits the choice of place. Yet, the summit does not only give legitimacy to a repressive regime, its focus also ignores the social and technological situation in the Magrebh region. The majority of people in this part of the world do not have access to communication tools and the authoritarian regimes in the region are reliable allies to the european governments in supressing freedom of movement.
Update 16 November:It is reported that Tunesia is blocking unofficial websites related to the WSIS. People said that they could not access Websites as wsisblogs.org or the CSIS Website from hotels or other places outside the official media centre. ( study on Tunesian internet filtering ). Furthermore there were reports of repressiv actions by Tunesian authorities against groups claiming freedom of speech in the days before the conference started.
2005:'Tunisia and WSIS' dedicated page of the WSIS CS Human Rights Caucus| CSIS Website | IP Justice | from the region(fr):tunezine |nawaat | reveiltunisien | Wikipedia On WSIS | IFEX Tunisia Monitoring Group | Some Blogs: one | two | three | four | five (de) |
2003: Feature on the WSIS 2003 at Indymedia UK | World Forum on Communication Rights in Geneva 2003 | Some IMC UK articles on 2003:one | two | three | four | five
14-11-2005 20:00 | World
“Those who do not understand today the causes of the riots are amnesiacs, blind or both. It has in fact been 30 years that the suburbs have struggled for justice. 25 years that the revolts, the riots, the demonstrations, the marches the public meetings, the cries of anger with precise demands have been formulated." (MIB, Mouvement de l’immigration et des banlieues)
Paris. On Thursday 27 October 2005 two teenagers allegedly ran and hid when police officers arrived to conduct immigration-ID checks. Bouna Traore, a 15-year-old of Malian background, and Zyed Benna, a 17-year-old of Tunisian origin died from electrocution in the electrical relay substation where they tried to hide.
Riots began in Clichy-sous-Bois on 27 October, and spread throughout Seine-Saint-Denis and beyond to other parts of the Île-de-France region during the following five days. On 31 October provocation turned into outrage as the women's prayer room at de Bousquets mosque was teargassed by police. As people stumbled out gasping for air, the policemen called the women "whores", "bitches" and other insults. On 3 November, first arson attacks were reported from beyond the Île-de-France, in Dijon and Rouen.
On 11 November the French government declared "state of emergency" for the first time since 1968, using an anti-colonial law from 1955, last used during the Algerian uprising. Since the riots began, more than 8,500 cars have burned and police have arrested more than 2650 people. The French government announced that they are going to deport all foreigners involved in the riots, whatever immigration status they have (fr) [1] | [2].
Links: Reports from Paris IMC (fr) [1] | [2] | [3] | [4] | Timeline and Overview (en) on Wikipedia | Eyewitness accounts (en) [1] | [2] | Video evidence of police brutality: rubber bullets | explanation | beating | Demonstration in Calais (en) | Incidents in other cities around Europe
Indymedia Groups in France: Nantes | Nice | Marseille | Grenoble | Toulouse | Paris | Lille
Statements: from MIB [en] | [fr] | Anarchist Federation [en] | [fr] | FSE | RAS
07-11-2005 12:10 | Anti-militarism | History | Iraq | World
A month of events in November 2005 to remember what happened in Fallujah and other cities in Iraq and to demand justice for those attacked.
One year ago this month the US, with the support of the British, began its second major assault on the Iraqi city of Fallujah. This massive and unprecedented offensive killed many hundreds of civilians, destroyed much of the city's housing and created tens of thousands of refugees. An earlier attack in April 2004 had killed at least 600 civilians. See Jo Wilding’s report of riding an ambulance inside the city during the siege. Report
US forces committed major war crimes during the assaults including: bombing residential areas and killing many civilians; imposing a 'shoot-to-kill curfew' and using snipers to fire on unarmed civilians; targetting and shutting health facilities; and, using phosphorus weapons. See the Italian documentary showing use of phosphorus weapons, background to film.
Over twenty UK Remember Fallujah events are taking place including: non-profit film screenings; a national speaking tour with US author and activist Rahul Mahajan (in Fallujah during the April 2004 siege Report); an international teach-in, Voices from Occupied Iraq organised by Iraq Occupation Focus; vigils to mark the attacks on Fallujah last year; a screening in Manchester of 'Caught in the Crossfire' about the second seige of Falluja 'Jo Wilding's Diary from Iraq' by Manchester Indymedia.
See www.rememberfallujah.org for more information on all the events, on what happened in Fallujah and the ongoing attacks on Iraqi cities.
03-09-2005 12:19 | Ecology | Social Struggles | World
In possibly the biggest natural disaster of US history, hurricane Katrina has left devastation in New Orleans and surrounding areas. Things have gone from bad to worse. Martial law is declared in New Orleans City. The National Guard is deployed, with the order to 'Shoot To Kill' in an attempt to 'stop looting'.
Updates on the hurricane disaster on New Orleans Indymedia | Coverage of the refugee situation on Houston Indymedia
Houston Indymedia Coverage: Video: 1 | 2 | 3 | Reports from New Orleans: 1 | 2 | 3
How to help: Donate: Red Cross | Second Harvest | Katrina Help Wiki
More Links: Weather Warning (28th August) | Democracy Now! reports (Aug. 30) (Aug. 31) (Sept. 1) (Sept. 2) | Explanation about Hurricanes (MP3) | Further analysis: 1 , 2 , 3 | Insane looting? - Not at all! | An analysis of the 'anarchy' in New Orleans' streets Commentary from the Newswire: Katrina open letter to radical/progressive community (From Houston) | In Praise of Looting | American Genocide in New Orleans | Michael Moore's open letter to Bush
01-09-2005 01:10 | Analysis | Ecology | World
Reports from New Orleans state that "things were so crazy: it was all poor black people and old white people - the people who couldn't afford to get out." William Quigley, a Law Professor at Loyola University has said that " They are estimating that it may take several days to evacuate these people - water, electricity, food, security all will be gone by then." Indeed, enforced evacuations began yesterday - following a mass exodux from the city in advance of the hurricane - but initial estimates that expected them to be complete by the evening of August 30th were overly optimistic. And, while outside agencies struggle to help, thousands remain stuck - including inside hospitals [ 1 | 2 ].
[New Orleans Weather Warning (28th August) | Democracy Now! reports (Aug. 30th) | Explanation about Hurricanes (MP3) | Further analysis: 1 , 2 , 3 | Insane looting? - Not at all! ]
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