UK UK Newswire Archive
Week 7, Runnymede Eco-Village.
03-08-2012 16:55
Its been 7 weeks since we arrived on the disused land at the ex-Brunel university, Runnymede Campus. Since then we have been busy building an eco-village community based on sustainable methods. This is our latest regular report.
Take action:15 min trial, 15 yr sentence in Iraq
03-08-2012 10:55
Caught up between the excitement of the London Olympics and the upcoming tenth anniversary of the Iraq war, the mainstream media has largely failed to note that on 20 June, a London pensioner was handed a 15-year prison sentence in Iraq for "funding terrorist groups" in a trial that lasted all of 15 minutes.
Please take action for Ramze Shahib Ahmed: sign Amnesty's petition/ write to your MP & Foreign Office/ write to the Iraqi government
Record Breakers: British Pensioner Sentenced to 15 years in 15-minute trial in Iraq
By Aisha Maniar
Caught up between the excitement of the London Olympics and the upcoming tenth anniversary of the Iraq war, the mainstream media has largely failed to note that on 20 June, a London pensioner was handed a 15-year prison sentence in Iraq for "funding terrorist groups" in a trial that lasted all of 15 minutes.
Having been acquitted in each of his previous eight trials since last year, Ramze Shihab Ahmed, 70, a pensioner of Iraqi origin from north London, was sentenced to 15 years for "funding terrorist groups" following a 15-minute trial on 20 June 2012. Part of the evidence against him was obtained through torture, of Mr Ahmed and others, and his lawyer was unable to challenge the prosecution's arguments.
Ramze Shihab Ahmed travelled to Iraq in late 2009 to find his imprisoned son and was himself arrested in December that year. He then "disappeared" in detention and his family did not know where he was being held until March 2010 when he called his wife briefly and told her he was being held at Muthanna Airport, a secret detention facility near Baghdad. Shortly after this, in April 2010, he was transferred to Al-Rusafa Prison. Human Rights Watch published a report later that month on allegations of abuse they collected from prisoners who had been held at Muthanna: "Detainees in a secret Baghdad detention facility were hung upside-down, deprived of air, kicked, whipped, beaten, given electric shocks, and sodomized." One of them was Ramze Shihab Ahmed:
"Detainee D, a formal general in the Iraqi army and now a British citizen, who is in a wheelchair, was arrested on December 7, after he returned to Mosul from London to find his son, who had been detained. His jailers refused him medicine for his diabetes and high blood pressure. "I was beaten up severely, especially on my head," he told Human Rights Watch. "They broke one of my teeth during the beatings. ... Ten people tortured me; four from the investigation commission and six soldiers. .... They applied electricity to my penis and sodomized me with a stick. I was forced to sign a confession that they wouldn't let me read."
The confession obtained in this way has been partly used in his trial and conviction.
His case has been supported by Amnesty International since 2010 which has obtained and examined the court documents and described the proceedings as "grossly unfair". Kate Allen, Amnesty UK director, said ""This is deeply disturbing news. Ramze seems to have been convicted partly on the basis of a confession that was allegedly beaten out of him.
"The sentence comes on the back of what has already been a living nightmare for Ramze - of secret detention, alleged torture and then a prolonged trial that was itself grossly unfair.
"We need to see this dubious verdict set aside and Ramze either given a proper appeal or for him to be released and allowed to return home".
More than 6000 people have written to the Foreign Office through Amnesty's campaign over the past two years, demanding Mr Ahmed be lawfully charged or released and an investigation into the allegations of torture. The Foreign Office has also been supportive of the case; it has raised it on numerous occasions with Iraqi officials, most recently last month, when William Hague met Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari on his visit to London.
Amnesty International believes that his detention is politically motivated, particularly following the arrest of a number of Iraqi Sunnis, including officials and the trials of former army officers; Ramze Shihab Ahmed is Sunni and ex-army. Following his continued detention after his eighth acquittal in May this year, Kate Allen said, "This is looking more and more like a politically-motivated effort to persecute Ramze, a Sunni and a former military man [...] Unless the prosecution can demonstrate a legitimate reason to detain Ramze, they should put an end to his ordeal and release him."
Ramze Shihab Ahmed's lawyers are appealing his conviction, seeking that the evidence obtained through torture be disqualified. The appeal process can take up to one year. Amnesty UK is continuing to support Mr Ahmed and his family and has started a petition on its website: www.amnesty.org.uk/ramze for which it is seeking at least 5,000 signatures, to be delivered to the Iraqi Embassy in London later this summer. Please add your name to the petition. Please also write to the Foreign Secretary William Hague (address and e-mail address below) and your own MP (find them at www.theyworkforyou.com) raising similar points, that the UK must press for a fair appeal for Mr Ahmed, press for his release to this country and an investigation into his allegations of torture.
You can write to William Hague at:
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
King Charles Street,
London, SW1A 2AH
E-mail: private.office@fco.gsi.gov.uk
You can also e-mail the Human Rights Committee of the Iraqi Council of Representatives (COR) at hrc@parliament.iq and
humanrightscom2007@yahoo.com asking for a fair appeal hearing for Ramze Shihab Ahmed. The Committee chair is Dr Salim Abdulla Al-Jabouri.
Arbitrary and unlawful arrests are not uncommon in Iraq, nor are secret prisons and the use of torture within the prison system. Overcrowding and detention of children is also common. Amnesty International believes that as of 2010, over 30,000 prisoners were being held without trial in Iraqi jails.
Please read pages 34-36 of this Amnesty International report for more information about Ramze Shihab Ahmed's case: http://www.amnesty.org.uk/uploads/documents/doc_20724.pdf
The abuse of prisoners following the handover of power back to the local authorities has been a concern in both Iraq and remains one in Afghanistan.
News source: Amnesty International UK. Many thanks to Amnesty International UK for its assistance. The author does not in any way represent Amnesty International UK.
{crowdsourced} Noir / Love Beyond Recognition
03-08-2012 10:42
Please join us for a drop-in ‘clipsourcing’ workshop led by Swedish artist Josefina Posch in collaboration with artist and new media developer Mike Blackman (UK).Using online tools specifically created for the project, participants will identify who the speakers are, contribute keywords, and rate short Film Noir movie clips. The contribution will help shape the final interactive piece that will be streamed live at Futherfield Gallery in December 2012.
Libya and Syria: When Anti-Imperialism Goes Wrong
03-08-2012 10:03
Crass: Capitalist traitors using copyright laws against Anarcho-Punk.Net
02-08-2012 20:06
The Return Of The King – Tony Blair And The Magically Disappearing Blood
02-08-2012 19:43
How many war crimes does a western leader have to commit before he is deemed persona non grata by the corporate media and the establishment? Apparently there is no limit, if we are to judge by the prevailing reaction to Tony Blair's return to the political stage.
Take Back the Land! - short action film
02-08-2012 19:12
Bail conditions and Critical Mass on 10th August
02-08-2012 16:55
A cyclist was killed yesterday 1st of August as he negotiated the roads next to the Olymics complex, by a bus hired by LOGOC to shuttle Olympics press around.
There has been a call for a vigil and a mass ride to get to the site of the crash starting on 10th August at 6.30 under Waterloo Bridge.
Those who were arrested and bailed in the last Critical Mass may want to continue reading or seek independent advice.
Should you ignore police bail conditions? (pre-charge)
Many people arrested on the student protests have had conditions imposed by the police when given bail, usually “not to attend protests” or to “stay out of Westminster”. There are legal methods of challenging these conditions on the grounds that they breach the European Convention on Human Rights in particular Article 10 “Freedom of Expression” and Article 11 “Freedom of Assembly”. However, these can be expensive and time consuming. So we say- just ignore them. Here’s why.
Why the cops put everybody on bail.
In the good old days if the police nicked you they would charge you with the most serious offence they could think of and either take you to court in the morning or let you out with a court date a few days or at most a couple of weeks later. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) got fed up of this as they were always having to reduce the charges to something more realistic. So now, the cops aren’t allowed to charge anything except really minor stuff e.g. drunk and disorderly. Instead, they prepare a file of evidence that is sent to the CPS who then decide what the appropriate charge is. Aside from laziness, incompetence and inefficiency both cops and CPS have positive reasons to slow the process down. The cops like keeping people on bail because it’s a punishment in itself, especially if there are conditions attached, while the CPS get paid however long it takes. This leads to people being on bail for months and even years with disruption to their lives and ongoing psychological pressures. We need to resist this individually and collectively.
Breaching Bail Conditions is not a criminal offence!
What many people don’t know is that breaking bail conditions is not the same as failing to surrender to bail (turning up on the date given on your bail sheet whether to a court or to return to a police station). Failure to surrender is a crime (Section 6 Bail Act 1976). Although it should be said, the courts take failure to surrender to the cops far less seriously than skipping court and CPS guidelines state that failure to answer police bail should not be prosecuted at all where the substantive case is dropped.
Breaking conditions imposed when you are give bail is not a crime. If you break bail conditions you can be arrested (Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 section 46A (1A)). BUT and here’s the good bit, they can only release you on bail again with the same conditions or charge you, and then either bail you or take you to Court the next day. Now some people may be afraid that the Court will remand them. BUT the Courts can only remand people who’ve been charged with an offence. And that is what the cops don’t want to do because if you’re charged you have to be told what you’re suspected of doing and what the evidence is against you. This will help your defence by enabling you to gather information and witnesses to the incident and demand disclosure of the police’s own misconduct. We suspect that the cops are not planning to arrest anyone for breaching bail just hoping to put people off demonstrating. In any case it’s almost unheard of for people to be remanded just for breaking police bail conditions.
Time to fight back.
Being on bail also results in people feeling they cannot comment or campaign about the case. Defence lawyers are by training cautious about their clients saying anything that could harm their defence, and given the daft things some folk say you can see why. However a robust defence campaign that firmly puts the blame on the police (as with the Trafalgar Square Defence Campaign for the Poll Tax demonstration in 1990) is a vital part of everyone’s individual cases and defying police attempts to prevent future demonstrations by bail conditions is an important step towards this. Moreover, keeping up the pressure with more demonstrations and broadening them to link with other struggles will increase the political and logistical pressure against this police victimisation of protesters.
2011
EDO Boss Hills Gets Grilled In Court
02-08-2012 15:59
http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/9851767.EDO_boss_gets_grilling_at_Brighton_protest_trial/ EDO MBM Paul Hills faced difficult questions in Brighton Magistrates this wee
Critical Mass - Some good news
02-08-2012 13:35
Man convicted for attacking cyclists on Brighton Critical Mass last year.Update in tunnel boring machine saga - community resistance strong
02-08-2012 12:10
March for Justice for Kingsley Burrell
02-08-2012 11:53
Saturday 18th August 2012Assemble 12:00 Noon:
Summerfield Park, Icknield Port Rd Birmingham B16 OBT
March to Centenary Square, Broad Street, B1 2EA
A year after the death of Kingsley Burrell no one has been charged and his body has still not been released to his grieving family for burial.
Calais Migrant Solidarity: Birmingham info-talk Sunday 5th Aug
02-08-2012 11:29
Peer 2 Peer Production as the Alternative to Capitalism: A New Communist Horizon
02-08-2012 09:15
The current crisis of capitalism has provoked protests, revolts and revolutions in major parts of the planet that include 3 billions of inhabitants. Even the mainstream Time Magazine made “The Protester” the person of the year. The caption on Time’s cover reads: From the Arab Spring To Athens, from Occupy Wall Street to Moscow. China, Chile, Spain, England, Italy, India, Israel, Iran and France, among many other places, can be added to Time’s hotbeds of recent social protests.The protest movements have put alternatives to capitalism on the historical agenda (Hardt and Negri, 2011). This article argues that a section of knowledge workers have already created a new mode of production termed Peer to Peer Production (P2P) which is a viable alternative to capitalism. Although still in its emerging phase and dominated by capitalism, P2P clearly displays the main contours of an egalitarian society. The very fact that sections of P2P activists and ICT workers are also actively involved in the current protests may work as a good catalyst in connecting P2P to these movements.
In P2P production, producers collectively produce goods through voluntary participation in a de-centered, network-based production system. Volunteers choose the tasks they perform; the amount of time they spend on collective production; the place and time of their productive activity. In term of distribution, anyone in the world can use the products for free according to their own needs, regardless of their contribution (Benkler, 2006). This mode of production is very similar to what Marx (1978 a, 1978b) described as advanced communism. Therefore, it has also been called cyber communism (Kleiner, 2010; Barbrook, 2007; Moglen, 2003).
suka war
02-08-2012 08:41
Art exhibition . collaberation with john bowden . @ old street 6-9 pmtonight 2/08/2012
Full article | 1 addition | 4 comments
All out on the streets
02-08-2012 00:39
Half moon Critical MassArrests in Critical Mass during Olympics ceremony
01-08-2012 22:55
My personal experience during the mass detentions of cyclists the las 27th July, during the Olympic Games opening ceremony.
Occupation of French consulate in Brussels: Justice for Noureddin
01-08-2012 21:05
