World Repression Newswire Archive

(a personal account of what happened on June 15th at Syntagma sq in Athens)

Today, in Syntagma Square, the people have exceeded themselves. Facing the violence of the MAT [=riot police force], of tear gas and molotov cocktails, they responded with drums, dancing and singing.

PRESS RELEASE: JORDAN VALLEY SOLIDARITY

21/6/2011 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

For further information and pictures contact:
 contact@jordanvalleysolidarity.org or Emma Potter 00972 (0)595510814
www.jordanvalleysolidarity.org

Sectarianisim in the North Of Eire, EDL on the streets of England. Ever noticed that in times of economic strife there is always a group who wish to "blame" another section of society, whether it be religious hatred(Catholic/Muslim) economic, or other excuses which detract from the real problem; Government. It is by these divide and rule tactics that they regain strength and power, weakening the masses and our movements. No to loyalisim,no to the EDL/Casuals united. These are lackeys af the state, street thugs. Time for resistance, reclaim the streets!!

A demonstration is to be held outside the Italian Embassy, London this Wednesday afternoon in response to what the organisers of the protest have labelled ‘an outrageous attack on the human rights of not just so-called legal and illegal immigrants, but all European and non-European citizens’.

Dashboard cams in police cars are ubiquitous. Yet police are pushing back against Americans capturing them at work on cell phone cameras. Arresting people filming arrests. Is that right?

You see police arresting someone. Maybe it looks right and by the book. Maybe it doesn’t.

You pull out your cell phone and start to record. To make a video. And the next thing you know, you are arrested. The video-making bystander, in handcuffs. Facing charges.

It’s happening all around the country. Cell phones and their cameras are now everywhere. Police often don’t like to be recorded doing their work. It’s not always pretty.

But in the era of the citizen journalist, should making a video mean an arrest? Who’s the watchdog then?

This hour On Point: the battle over citizens videoing police.

- Tom Ashbrook

26 June is UN International Day in Support of Victims of Torture. In spite of laws to protect them, men, women, children and entire communities all around the world have to live with the consequences of torture meted out by state authorities. Torture is illegal. Join us on this day to show solidarity with victims. Also the final day of Refugee Week 2011, it should not be forgotten that many refugees have fled torture.

Australia could be landed with a dependent NZ if we become part of Australia. In my view, we will be like 'an anchor their your neck'. Our collectivist bill of rights, Australia is also seriously considering a bill of rights, is reducing the population to a state of dependency. I consider, if we join with Australia it should be a matter of mutual choice and not out of our desperation by our being reduced to 'third world status' and the 'begging bowl'. But I do think God is defending New Zealand so the people can have a choice.

They say a week is a long time in politics. How about almost eight years, and counting, in the criminal “justice” system, with no end in sight. For Babar Ahmad, last Friday (3 June) saw the end of the trial of four police officers accused of assaulting him.

Civil liberties advocates are raising alarm over news the FBI is giving agents more leeway to conduct domestic surveillance. According to the New York Times, new guidelines will allow FBI agents to investigate people and organizations "proactively" without firm evidence for suspecting criminal activity. We speak to former FBI agent Mike German, who now works at the American Civil Liberties Union, and Texas activist Scott Crow, who has been the focus of intense FBI surveillance from 2001 until at least 2008. Using the Freedom of Information Act, Crow received 440 pages of heavily redacted documents revealing the FBI had set up a video camera outside his house, traced the license plates of cars parked in front of his home, recorded the arrival and departure of his guests, and observed gatherings that Crow attended at bookstores and cafes. The agency also tracked Crow’s emails and phone conversations and picked through his trash to identify his bank and mortgage companies. “It’s been definitely traumatizing at different points,” says Crow. “But if we don’t come out and be open about this, then they’ve already won, and the surveillance and the ‘war on terror’ wins against us.”

In Franz Kafka’s short story “Before the Law”  http://records.viu.ca/~johnstoi/kafka/beforethelaw.htm a tireless supplicant spends his life praying for admittance into the courts of justice. He sits outside the law court for days, months and years. He makes many attempts to be admitted. He sacrifices everything he owns to sway or bribe the stern doorkeeper. He ages, grows feeble and finally childish. He is told as he nears death that the entrance was constructed solely for him and it will now be closed.

In a frightening example of how the state is tightening its grip around the
free Internet, it has emerged that You Tube is complying with thousands of
requests from governments to censor and remove videos that show protests and
other examples of citizens simply asserting their rights, while also
deleting search terms by government mandate.

Int'l Petition urging that the 10 Vietnamese Migrant Workers be found Not Guilty and Released (effective 2011.6.07)

P.s.... this is highlighting the situation in South Korea, not North Korea, as there is lots on North Korea , most people think they know..via amnesty etc. Lots of people think the south is paradise...but its not....

There may be no better proof of the rupture that is brought about by the “movement of the squares” other than its open, participatory, directly democratic way of organising and functioning. Within a single week it has given birth to a political culture of a different type, one that literally overcomes all known models of organising and struggle to date.

Even if the issue of its procedures is incomplete, it comes up again and again and comprises the most important legacy already left to the political and social life of the country. This does not mean there are no issues with disorganisation, inefficiency, delays. Taking into account however the explosive rhythm of its development, the lack of previous experience on the side of those who created it, along with the need to compile, step by step, heterogeneous and different opinions of all participants through open procedures, all this is to be expected. Even if time-consuming, its procedures are flexible and are altered by the day; they are self-criticised, adjusted according to mistakes, comments and suggestions deriving from them being tested in practice.

British government's outrageous new "counter-terrorism" measures are receiving a public relations backlash because of their extreme, fascist overtones.

Dear Noam

I am writing to you and a number of other friends mostly in the US to alert you to the extraordinary banning of my film on war and media, 'The War You Don't See', and the abrupt cancellation of a major event at the Lannan Foundation in Santa Fe in which David Barsamian and I were to discuss free speech, US foreign policy and censorship in the media.

video, photos, texts on revolution in south europe

Meet outside Santander opposite Churchill Square today FRIDAY JUNE 10
BETWEEN 4-6PM

There is an interesting article in the WSJ about how documents found in Egypt prove the security services were listening to activists conversations which were conducted via Skype, now owned by Microsoft, extracts follow.

"... We, the undersigned, are calling upon the UK Border Agency and the British Government to give Betty Tibikawa leave to remain in the UK, with refugee status, and to stop deporting people persecuted for their sexual orientation... "

Europe just witnessed one of the largest piracy-related busts in history with the raid of the popular movie streaming portal Kino.to. More than a dozen people connected to the site were arrested after police officers in Germany, Spain, France and the Netherlands raided several residential addresses and data centers. Kino.to hosted no illicit content itself, but indexed material stored on file-hosters and other streaming services.