UK Indymedia

Ipswich Reclaim the Night

30-12-2006 15:11

Following the murders of five women in Ipswich, a coalition of groups organised a Reclaim the Night event to remember them and to make the statement that they would not be staying indoors, afraid.

So on Friday the 29th of December, almost 300 people gathered outside Ipswich Town Hall, with candles on the steps. After two speakers there was a walk down to Handford Road (the red light district). In an adjacent park a minutes silence was observed and five white roses were laid in an adjacent park to commemorate those murdered. Chants ranged from "We're marching for the right, to walk alone at night" to "We don't need protection, we need a revolution".

More: Announcement of Reclaim the Night Ipswich | photos | blog report | EASF report

Herstory of Reclaim the Night | Reclaim the Night marches in 2006: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Reclaim the Night marches, 2005

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Happy New SOCPA

27-12-2006 21:15

The Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 (SOCPA) is a major piece of legislation, which established the Serious Organised Crime Agency, an FBI-like agency to tackle "serious organised crime", as it says on the box.

People-trafficking, drug wholesaling, violent armed robbery, torture, extortion and murder, is the kind of thing that might spring to mind. The bill, however, was used as an opportunity to deal with issues that might not be considered so serious. It introduced us to ASBOs, for example; outlawed animal activists' "interference with contractual arrangements" and, most pertinently, the right to protest in designated areas without prior permission.

Below is a comprehensive 'diary', put together by IMC UK activists, of events related to SOCPA since it came into force on 1 August, 2005. See also the SOCPA topic page for full coverage.

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Ipswich will Reclaim the Night

17-12-2006 18:44

Update (27/12): Accommodation details added.
Update (26/12): Transport details added for Portsmouth and Scotland - see below.
Update (19/12): The organisers are calling for volunteers to help steward the event.

Five sex workers from Ipswich have been murdered in ten days. The leader of the County Council, Jeremy Pembroke, has urged women not to go out alone. But as a response local people are organising a "Reclaim the Night" event to assert their freedom to go out at night (Press Release). The event will take place on the 29th December, starting at 7pm outside Ipswich Town Hall. There will be a few speakers and then a walk to the "red light district". The organisers are inviting both women and men to join them in showing their "love and solidarity for the friends and families of the murdered women and all the people of Ipswich".

People are expected to come from all over the country to show their support. Transport is being organised from Birmingham, Cambridge, Portsmouth and Scotland.

Links: [ Announcement of Reclaim the Night Ipswich | Reclaim the Night marches, 2005 | Herstory of Reclaim the Night ]
Reclaim the Night marches in 2006: [ 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 ]

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Animal Rights wronged

17-12-2006 17:27

The animal rights movement has been extensively vilified in press, radio, TV and even by Prime Minister Tony Blair. The general claim is made that animal rights demonstrators use methods which are too extreme. Demonstrators might argue though that recent legislation which seeks to criminalise common law behaviour leaves them no other option. Also, state sanctioned animal cruelty and its means of protection are even more extreme.

On December 19th Robert Cogswell and Mel Broughton are facing possible imprisonment, 'not for what they have done but for what they have said'.

In recent years the animal rights movement has had a number of successes in its attempts to minimise animal suffering in the UK, but this has provoked Goliath responses from government, corporations, police and the mainstream media. One of these successes was a ban on fur farming in 2003. Then there was the capitulation of Cambridge University in 2004 and its plans for a primate lab, despite strong backing for the lab from leading members of the government. The ban on fox hunting and the closure of the Newchurch Guinea Pig farm in 2005 followed hundreds of demos. Finally, animal testing on cosmetics is slowly being brought to a close. This still leaves other animal labs and their suppliers, food retailers and factory farming to mention a few examples of abuse. UK stores are allowed to sell fur from countries which skin animals alive, and there are videos to show it. Despite the government ban on hunting, it still goes on while police continue to turn a blind eye to the hunters but not to the hunt sabs.

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Victory For Fairford Coach Campaigners

13-12-2006 18:26

Campaigners have won a massive legal battle after they proved that the police violated their rights to protest when around 120 peace protestors were prevented from reaching USAF/RAF Fairford on the 22nd of March 2003. Three coaches full of protesters were first stopped and searched, then forcibly returned to London under police escort. At the start of the war with Iraq, Fairford airbase in Gloucestershire (and the B-52 bomber planes that were flying from it) had become a focus for anti-war protest and direct action.

The High Court and Court of Appeal had already ruled that the police acted unlawfully in detaining protesters on the coaches. But on Wednesday 13th Dec, in a judgement that has implications beyond the Fairford case, Law Lords ruled that the police also violated the right to freedom of expression and lawful assembly. See campaign Press Release.

Original coverage on Indymedia UK: Pics 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Reports: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Video: 1 | 2
July 03: Civil Liberties and Anti-war Protest Policing | Aug 03: Judicial Review Granted | Feb 04: High Court Victory [ruling] | Dec 04: Court of Appeal Outcome [ruling]

Links: Fairford Coach Action Campaign | Full judgement from the Lords | We fought the law and... eh... we won? Fairford coaches appeal victory

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Which Way The War Blows

12-12-2006 14:54

The reinvigoration of anti-militarism campaigns, with a renewed focus on direct and confrontational actions, continued this week as the first in a series of open public meetings were held in London and New York, building on calls (UK | US) to mark the fourth anniversary of the start of the war on Iraq (Monday, 19th March, 2007) with a "Global Day of Action for Iraq and Beyond".

In reaction to this, the Stop the War Coalition has called for Tuesday, 20th March 2007, to be "National Troops Out Day", with an afternoon demonstration in Central London ending with a mass die-in and Troops Out rally in Parliament Square, in place of their now traditional Embankment-to-Hyde Park march. Despite this nod to civil disobedience, past events suggest everything will be tightly stage-managed and agreed with the police in advance (reports: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4).

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Deaths in Custody

06-12-2006 14:05

The very mention of custody deaths brings to mind nasty foreign repressive regimes. But these deaths happen in Britain, too - on average, one a week in police custody alone. Then there are the deaths in immigration detention centres and in prisons, including children. Many of these deaths occur under dubious circumstances. Moreover, those in custody may not not have been convicted of any crime and are supposed to be presumed innocent.

The suicide rate is much greater in custody - as much as 18 times the UK average for young males, and disproportionately large among black people, especially as a result of "the excessive use of force by functionaries of the state", according to the group Inquest [example]. Deaths can also occur as a result of deliberate police inaction.

There is a lack of transparency in investigations into deaths in custody and very long delays before inquests (up to five years in some cases) as well as lack of accountability after juries return 'unlawful killing' verdicts. Of those verdicts since 1990, which the group Inquest is aware of, 18 police officers were prosecuted but all were acquitted. As far as is known, no police officer has ever been brought to justice for such killings.

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Oaxaca Uprising Continues as the Zapatista Other Campaign Ends

05-12-2006 20:01

"We are on the eve of either a great uprising or a civil war," the EZLN's Delegate Zero stated recently, referring to the current situation in Oaxaca in southern Mexico. Whilst the 45,000km-long Other Campaign tour around "the forgotten corners of Mexico", which the Zapatistas started on 1 January, 2006, ends in Mexico City, the repression in Oaxaca is worsening by the day. And this is why the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) is now calling for a global wave of active solidarity with the people of Oaxaca, to culminate with a "worldwide day of action" on 22 December to "say and to demonstrate that the people of Oaxaca are not alone" [Full communique | Words from Delegate Zero | APPO's response]. Closer to home, the Network of UK Zapatista Solidarity Groups called for a national week of solidarity actions from the 9 to the 17 of December, 2006.

Meanwhile, the popular uprising continues in and around Oaxaca city, and so do the illegal detentions of the so-called 'leaders' of the Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca (APPO), which have increased in the last few days, forcing many people into hiding. APPO is a grassroots movement organising for popular democracy, and it is currently at the centre of the Mexican government's latest wave of repression, which has already resulted in mass illegal arrests of more than 500 people [Flavio Sosa's arrest | more | Interview] and the 'disappearance' of up to 100 people [APPO Communique | APPO activist interview | Eyewitness report].

At the same time, there is also a concerted effort by the Mexican government to try to silence any independent media that is reporting the truth on what is happening in Oaxaca. Following the murder of Indymedia videographer Bradley Will, who was shot dead by paramilitaries whilst documenting an APPO barricade on the 25th of October, the attacks against international and national independent media have continued. Two documentary filmmakers and a translator were illegally detained on 3 December while they were eating at a restaurant in Oaxacxa city centre.

Oscar Beard is an independent journalist from London currently travelling in the southern estates of Mexico. He has regularly contributed text, video and photo reports to the Indymedia newswire. See a list of his reports from Mexico.

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Riot in Harmondsworth Immigration Prison.. Again

30-11-2006 16:58

Frustrated at being detained in awful prison-like conditions, often for long periods, the detainees of Harmondsworth detention centre, near Heathrow, have 'gone wild'. Around 10pm on 28 November, 2006, a group of detainees started a riot in Wing B after a guard switched off the TV preventing them from watching a report about Harmondsworth, and it soon spread to all 4 wings. Some detainees have reportedly been beaten up, while others were kept locked in, with fires and smoke all over the place [reports and updates]. 'Specialist officers' from prisons across the south of England were brought in to help the prison and immigration services 'contain the situation'. Everything is 'under control' now, according to the Home Office [John Reid Invokes Riechstag Fire Tactics For Detention Centre Fire]. For further information click at the Full article link above.

Several calls to protest have been made to show solidarity with those struggling inside the detention centres. On Friday, 1st of December No Borders London called for a solidarity demonstration outside London's headquarters of Kalyx, the private company that runs the detention centre. Around 80 people joined the protest [pics]. Barbed Wire Britain also called for a demonstration at Harmondsworth and Colnbrook detention centres near Heathrow airport on Sunday 3rd December, when over 80 people gathered near to the gates of the detention centres [Reports and Pics 1 | 2] London FRFI also staged a protest on Tuesday 5th December outside London's Communications House immigration reporting centre.

Links: NoBorders groups in UK | National Coalition of Anti-Deportation Campaigns | Barbed-Wire Britain

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Buy Nothing Day 2006

28-11-2006 00:00

First suggested by Canadian artist Ted Dave in the early 90's, Buy Nothing Day has become an annual global event. Using Direct action and culture jamming, activists use this day to challenge consumerism and capitalist way of life.

This year, on 25 November, the Space Hijackers decided to resurrect one of their favourite projects: the half-price sale". Many actions and activities took place in Bath, Birmingham, Manchester, Oxford, Redditch and York.