A speech Jyri, murdered in Oaxaca in Tuesday, made a week ago. Hyökyaalto is
a Finnish grassroots network inspired by rising tide. Jyri is last speaker,
he starts at 20:40. Clip is in Spanish, no subtitres.Dialogo Climático de los Pueblos from J.P. Sipilä on Vimeo.
Dialogo Climático de los Pueblos
http://www.vimeo.com/11125300
kommunalismi.net
This text was distributed in Finland as a leaflet by the communalists. Jyri
worked with us in our workgroup phase, but chose not to get involved when we
decided to move on to our organization phase and instead started working on
Mexico solidarity.
Popular assemblies and confederations
Jyri Jaakkola
Communalism is an ideology and a political movement, which aims for a direct
democracy. It abandons capitalism as ecologically unsustainable and inhumane.
However communalists do not seek for an alternative from strengthening the
state or taking over state power for themselves, but to the contrary from an
social order that rises from taking part in local popular assemblies and
libertarian associations based on them. Communalism provides a clear and
practical proposal for political institutions and praxis that enable social
freedom.
Direct democracy
According to communalists al political power should belong to local popular
assemblies. True democracy can only be accomplished if people take part in
open assemblies, where they can meet each other face-to-face and create social
forms of action together. Every member of a community should have an equal right to
propose matters to their neighbourhoods popular assembly to decide upon and
also to voice their opinions on them.
No act is democratically justified if it is not directly proposed,
discussed and decided on by the people – and not any form of an
representative. Managing these jobs can however be left for comittees or other forms of
workgroups that execute the decisions of the assembly under their close
scrutiny. Membership in comittees and workgroups, and also other jobs and
responsibilities, can be rotated regularly so that power doesn’t accumulate
on omission to a few based on “expertise” or knowledge. All members of a
community don’t of course have to take part in all deciding about all issues,
but all will have an equal possibility to take part in matters that are
important to them.
Decentralizing cities
The size of cities and municipalities is crucial to fulfilling communalist
ideals of civic democracy and governance of cities and municipalities by their
members. Modern metropolitan cities have to be in the end decentralized to
smaller municipalities and communities. This also has sound ecological reasons
for it. Physical decentralization of cities will of course take a long time,
but they can be decentralized institutionally before that. Popular assemblies
can at first work as networks in block, neighbourhood and city levels.
Municipalization of the economy
Communalists propose that the economy should be municipalized and all
privately owned land and factories and other production facilities should be moved to
joint ownership by the municipalitys citizens. Decisions about economic
functions will be made by all members of the municipality in assemblies. This
would mean that economy as a whole will be brought amidst political
decisionmaking, and also that single factories or farms will no longer be
competing entities. In assemblies people would not only belong to their own
profession with their own conflicting interests, but they would work for the
benefit of the whole community. This way a basis could be created for an
economy purely ethical reasoning, where everyone would give according to their
abilities and receive according to their needs.
Confederalism
All economic activity or decisionmaking doesn’t need – or be possible – to be
limited to areas where people can congregate to meet in assemblies.
Communalists propose a confederation as democratical and libertarian municipal
alliances. It is a network of administrative councils whose members are
selected face-to-face in assemblies. The delegates can be recalled and changed
at any moment and they are responsible to the assemblies that have chosen
them. Assemblies also carefully regulate the delegates and give guidelines to their
action. In fact they are more messengers of assemblies rather then
representatives, since representatives make decisions for the communities that
they represent. Decision making and making policy decisions will be solely
the right of the assemblies. Only administration and coordination are
responsibilities of confederal councils.
If members of a confederation cannot get to a agreement through their
delegates, a confederation wide general election can be held, where the common
policy of municipalities will be decided. When creating a confederation there
can be an agreement among members that functions as a sort of a constitution
for the confederation and that defines every member community’s rights and for
example how they can resign from the confederation and what kind of issues can
be decided in whole confederation wide general elections.
An agreement like this would on one hand secure the rights of communities and
the people who live in them against the arbitrariness of the majority opinion
and also would make possible to take action for example in a case of a single
community polluting other communities areas. Also confederalism would
prevenhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/28/
AR2010042805382.htmlt local communities from relapsing to parochialism.
Also economic cooperation should be expanded to cover the whole confederation.
Ideally acommunities would combine their strengths in local confederal
networks that would join even larger – ultimately even worldwide – networks where
production and distribution is planned according to the needs of a community
and their possiblities for production.
Assemblies as a force for changed
Some of the most central methods when striving for communalism are starting
local assemblies, strengthening and making their power legally binding and
radically democratizing existing municipal institutions. Local assemblies
should also create confederalist networks with other communities, so that the
movement can rise to be national and even international. This way directly
democratic political institutions would exist already before abandoning old
social order and a new relapse to oligarchy would be unlikely after a
revolution. Also functioning of assemblies could create many needed reforms
in peoples life already when political power officially belongs to the state and
state-like municipal structures.
When they develop assemblies will most likely come to a conflict with state
institutions and capitalist economy, because power cannot exist simultaneously
belong to both the state and corporations that govern the economy and the
people in directly democratic institutions. This way a revolutionary tension
will form, that causes assemblies to take all political power to themselves
and their confederation.
In addition to starting assemblies communalists also favor coops and
other cooperative forms of educational alternative economy. However these
should be regarded as mostly educational, because staying alive in the market
and growing to challenge capitalism is quite unlikely. Rather alternative
economys islands must adopt ever more practices from regular companies and
they must adapt to existing economy according to it’s terms. True struggle is
fought over political power that must also be used to force economic
activity to assemblies direct governance.
By MORGAN LEE, Associated Press April 29, 2010
OAXACA, Mexico – An attack by masked gunmen on a convoy of about 40
Mexican and European human rights activists and journalists has left two
dead and at least four people missing in a remote area of this southern
Mexican state.
Targets of the assault included members of a radical movement that seized
control of the capital of Oaxaca state for five months in 2006, and there
were fears a long-standing conflict between the group and the state
government could be reignited.
The dead included a Finnish human rights activist, and a Belgian is one of
two activists missing, along with two journalists from the Mexican
magazine Contralinea. The Mexican victim was identified as activist
Beatriz Carino Trujillo.
At least one Italian activist also participated in the caravan, which was
traveling to the remote Triqui Indian mountain town of San Juan Copala to
support the town's fight for more autonomy from the state government.
Police on Thursday scoured the mountains above the capital, Oaxaca city,
for the attackers while survivors recounted their ordeal at a news
conference.
"They started to spray us with bullets," said activist Gabriela Jimenez
Ramirez, who was traveling inside a sport utility vehicle with a dozen
people, including the two who were killed.
"Trying to back up, they blew out the tires of the vehicle. We threw
ourselves on the floor. The vehicle was shaking because there were bursts
of gunfire."
State police said it took them a full day to recover the bodies after
traveling over remote and rough roads and amid reports that gunmen
surrounded the city.
Photos from the scene show a bullet-ridden SUV on a dirt road, and the
body of Jyri Jaakkola, 33, of Finland, who appeared to have been shot in
the head.
Jaakkola was a member of a small, Finnish civil rights group Uusi Tuuli
(New Wind), based in the southwestern city of Turku. Jaakkola, who
traveled to Mexico about two months ago on his own initiative, financed
the trip mainly with his savings and planned to stay a year advocating for
human rights, Uusi Tuuli spokesman Jani Nevala said.
"We shall continue this work even more vigorously than before," Nevala
told The Associated Press in Finland. "We are trying to help the
indigenous people of Mexico, where during the past few years human rights
have been trodden upon."
The Foreign Ministry in Helsinki withheld comment on the attack pending a
report from the Finnish Embassy in Mexico.
The bodies of Jaakkola and Carino Trujillo were transported to a nearby
city for autopsies.
The missing Contralinea staff, reporter Erika Ramirez and photographer
David Cilia, were accompanying the caravan to report on conditions in San
Juan Copala.
"We are really very distressed as we wait for more information," said
magazine spokeswoman Nancy Flores.
Also taking part in the caravan were representatives of the radical
movement known as the People's Assembly of Oaxaca, or APPO, which seized
control of Oaxaca city for almost five months in 2006 to push for the
ouster of Gov. Ulises Ruiz. More than a dozen people were killed in the
conflict, including a freelance independent journalist from New York.
Infoshop News April 28, 2010
Anarchists in Argentina have taken to some very direct action on behalf on
their comrades currently sitting in a Greek jail. They attacked the Greek
embassy in Argentina today with everything ranging from sticks to bombs.
Five suspected attackers are under arrest following Tuesday night's clash.
Two security guards are injured.
The anarchists were answering calls on the Internet for demonstrations
against Greek embassies worldwide ahead of Wednesday's appellate court
hearing in the case of Yiannis Dimitrakis, an anarchist convicted of
participating in a bank robbery in Athens. The following is from After
the Greek Riots which I think is part of the blog Occupied London, but I'm
just not sure.
#264 | Freedom for Yiannis Dimitrakis! International day of solidarity
Today is the day of solidarity with anarchist Yiannis Dimitrakis, ahead of
his court of appeals, which is tomorrow. Reports from the various
demonstrations and actions in Greece and beyond will follow later – for
now, we publish two texts translated by the solidarity assembly in Athens.
FREEDOM FOR GIANNIS DIMITRAKIS
It's been more than four years since the morning of January 16th 2006,
when the anarchist Giannis Dimitrakis was arrested, heavily wounded by
police fire, after a robbery at a branch of the National Bank in the
center of Athens.
From the very first moment a storm of constructed information broke out,
systematically supplied by the police and readily carried out by the mass
media. The police constructed "the gang of robbers in black," so that
other comrades could be named as members, to which was attributed a string
of robberies but also a close association to armed revolutionary groups,
and then it was proclaimed that the whole of the anarchist-
anti-authoritarian movement is closely connected to organized crime !!
Gianni's arrest, the slander and the manhunt unleashed against his three
supposed accomplices (which were later on declared wanted for astronomic
rewards) – four comrades known for their many years of political activity
– on the one hand aims for their legal annihilation and on the other,
promotes a holistic plan of stripping of meaning and criminalization of
anarchists, anti-authoritarians and class struggle.
Because of his political identity, the state moved with rage against him
from the first moment. Parallel to the crescendo of misinformation and
impression creating by the media, the district attorney tried to
interrogate him in the emergency room while he was bedridden and under
pharmaceutical influence. The categories against him were based on the
"anti-terror" law and enriched with six unsolved robberies and money
laundering (false charges which dropped in court,) and attempted
manslaughter (false witness of the cops who shot and arrested him, that he
had fired at them – despite no such bullets or shells ever having been
found – which allowed the judges to have their way.) He was probably the
first man in custody to be held at Malandrino maximum security prison,
which is intended to hold convicts only, while attacks by prison guards,
vindictive transfers and disciplinary sentences, the exhausting sentence
of the first trial (an unheard of sentence of 35 years) and the
provocative deprivation of basic rights for the preparation of his defense
at the court of appeals supplement the oppressive aggressiveness against
him.
In these extreme conditions, the comrade defended from the beginning his
choice to expropriate a bank, without statements of remorse and with
clarity as towards his motives and intentions. He gave meaning to his act
as a moment in his critique and action against the system of wage slavery
and exploitation, against the antisocial role of the banks and as a part
of the polymorphic social struggle.
Furthermore, in the wretched reality of the prisons, he stood dynamically
and with dignity from the beginning. He participated in all of the
prisoner's struggles happening the past years in Greece. Advancing to
hunger strikes and abstinence from the prison meals – despite the
permanent health problems given him by the cop's bullets – showing his
solidarity for his fellow prisoners and fighting for the terms of his
survival and existence in the difficult position of imprisonment. Along
with other imprisoned anti-authoritarians he was an interactive channel of
communication with the grandiose prisoner's movements in the fall of 2008.
All these reasons – and because Giannis Dimitrakis and the other three
wanted anarchists are some of us, comrades and co fighters in the
diversity of the struggles for freedom – fired off a mass of actions of
solidarity and political defense for them in many cities in Greece and
around the world.
His appeal trial will begin on April 28th, where the decision against our
comrade will be finalized. Four years after his arrest, four years after
the start of this particularly repressive undertaking, one year and some
months after the December revolt, the state's constant and manic attempt
to oppress, marginalize and criminalize the people of the struggle is
becoming all the more clear. Giannis Dimitrakis' trial is very important,
as much for the legal outcome of his case, as for if we will allow the
state's manipulations and experiments against us to flourish
Our key weapon against repression and the prison system is active
solidarity with all means possible.
Freedom for Giannis Dimitrakis
Freedom for all prisoners in struggle
Assembly for Solidarity
(Athens, Greece)
REGARDING THE CASE OF GIANNIS DIMITRAKIS
THE STORY OF A ROBBERY
On January 16th 2006, a group of four people rob a branch of the National
Bank, on Solonos St. in the center of Athens. A completely calm robbery,
as all eye witnesses there that day confirm, was in the end turned into a
record breaking, terror-crazed thriller of epic proportions, a breach in
time that dramatically overturned the lives of tens of people, a critical
point in the history of an entire political milieu. And that, thanks to
the unique "heroics" of that bank's security guard, who thought that he
must run and stop the doers at all costs, because in his code of values
the insured money of a bank is more important than anything. Even human
life… or otherwise, as Einstein had said, two things are infinite, the
universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the first.
The result of the overzealousness of that guard and a few other pigs who
rushed to help in his "pious" cause was the midday transformation of
Panepistimiou St. into a shooting range for cops on live targets, in
contrast with those being pursued who didn't use their weaponry… A nearly
dead street vendor and a blood soaked, dying bank robber on the ground
receiving kick after kick, close the curtains on act one.
Act two opens with the name and nature of the fallen wounded: Giannis
Dimitrakis, anarchist. The authority unleashes a frontal attack on the
anarchist milieu. Comrades are abducted from the streets, surrounded by
cops with weapons drawn, and lead to police headquarters. Giannis receives
the by no means friendly visits of the interrogator arch terrorist I.
Dioti in the hospital emergency room. The mass media slander and try to
devour him, his friends and family. Three of his friends and comrades are
carefully selected based on their profile (long-standing presence in the
antiauthoritarian space, continuous action against the enemies of freedom)
so as to fill in the puzzle. The comrades Simos and Marios Seisidis and
Grigoris Tsironis are propelled underground. The series "robbers in black
– terrorists in red" has just begun.
A year and half later, Giannis is tried as member of a criminal
organization for that and another six robberies. Although that scenario
collapses in court and Giannis is found innocent for all the other
robberies, the judges, wanting to raze the crystal-clear spirit of him who
stood before them defending his actions, and set an example for any future
Dimitrakis, convicted him with an exhaustive sentence of 35 years.
Four years have passed since the robbery of the bank on Solonos St. In
these four years, Giannis has been transferred from prison to prison, has
struggled against them, has survived under the worst conditions, has seen
his name featured repeatedly in the papers. On April 28th, he will be
tried in the court of appeals.
In these four years, he and we have seen the wanted comrades considered
suspect and being blamed for anything that happens, from bank robberies to
bomb placements and attacks on police stations, consistently targeted by
the media and finally declared as wanted with reward money by the
notorious villain M. Xrisixoidi in a new, wild and not so far west… We
however want and continue to believe that society will refuse to cooperate
and become an informant.
In these four years we have seen the arch-thieving capitalists in power
shamelessly and legally rob our freedom, the air we breath, our incomes
and of course the public funds, without EVER, not even ONE of them, the
same who sentenced Giannis to 35 years in prison, being held accountable.
In these four years we have seen and suffered the serial criminal activity
of authority against the impoverished, the workers and all those who
struggle, with persecutions, imprisonment, beatings, layoffs, pogroms and
murders. We have seen repression grow immensely and adopt the dogma of
zero tolerance and guilty until proven innocent. We see a terrified
authority, targeting and criminalizing the entire anarchist
antiauthoritarian milieu, trying to deter the linking to and diffusion of
its ideas and techniques in a society on the verge of… on what verge?
Because we are romantic, we want and continue to believe on the verge of a
new, even grander December. Perhaps March, perhaps June…
In these four years we have shown our solidarity for the wanted comrades
and of course for Giannis. We have stood beside him, with the absolute
respect which his steadfast fighting spirit and entire ethos have inspired
in us. However since besides romantic, we are also stubborn, WE DEMAND HIS
IMMEDIATE RELEASE.
NOT ONE MORE HOUR FOR GIANNIS IN PRISON
COURT OF APPEALS, APRIL 28th – WE WILL ALL BE THERE
PANHELLENIC DAY OF SOLIDARITY, APRIL 27th
ATHENS, MARCH, 18:00 PROPYLAIA
Assembly for Solidarity
Urgent ELP! Bulletin (28th of April 2010)
Dear friends
A couple of weeks ago three people (one Swiss, two Italians) were arrested in
Switzerland accused of possession of explosive materials. All three are vegan and
known eco-activists.
Below is a mailout from their supporters and ELP encourages everyone to support them.
On the 15th of April Costantino, Silvia and Billy were arrested in
Switzerland under the charge of transport of explosive material and of
having tried to use it.
We affirm our absolute solidarity with them. Their identity and their
struggle is the identity and struggle of all revolutionaries, because
they fought with passion, persistency and absolute will against the
state and capitalism, who has produced wars, death, environmental
destruction, exploitation, surpression and profit for those in power.
And the control and bio- and nanotechnological development are some of
the instruments in the hands of those in power, to preserve these
circumstances.
There are three kinds of people: those who stand at the window and
follow what happens; those who stand at the window and comment on what
happens; and then there are those, who make the things in front of the
window happen.
These people - who have understood the necessity to become active to
free themselves from the chains of this society – are the
irreplaceable ones and we stand on their side.
Solidarity is our weapon!
Solidarity with Costa, Silvia and Billy!
Solidarity with Marco Camenisch!
Solidarity with all political prisoners!
At the moment Costantino is in the prison 'Amtshaus Bern', Luca is in
the prison of Thun and Silvia is in the prison of Biel.
Who wants to send them letters, postcards or telegrams should do so at
this address:
Costatino Ragusa
c/o
Regionalgefängnis Bern
22 Genfergasse
CH- 3001 Bern
Luca Bernasconi
C/o Regionalgefängnis Thun
Allmendstr. 34
CH-3600 Thun
Silvia Guerini
C/o Regionalgefängnis
Spitalstrasse 20
CH-2502 Biel
Let's not forget, that everything is translated to German and that the
state attorney, who is investigating, reads everything with great
interest.
For donations:
In Italy c.c.p. 93785582, heading: Benedetta Galante, IBAN
IT79T0760110700000093785582
Don't forget to mention 'For the prisoners Costa, Silvia and Billy'!
Statement signed by:
From Italy: Anarchici e Anarchiche Riminesi, Rimini HC, Equal Rights
Forli, Campagna gliZooBastardi, AIP-Romagna, Vascello Vegano, Giù Mura
Giù BOX – Forlì, La Biblioteca dell’Evasione – Faenza, La redazione di
ALT UN PAS –Ravenna, Soccorso Rosso Italia, Las Vegans, Individualità
anarchiche genovesi, Cassa di solidarietà Senza Gabbie
From Germany: Tayad, Büro gegen Rassimus und Militarismus, Wuppertal,
Revolutionäre Perspektive Berlinm Zusammen kämpfen Magdeburg ,Netzwerk
Freiheit für alle politischen Gefangenen, Hamburg
From Switzerland: Rote Hilfe, Revolutionärer Aufbau Schweiz,
Revolutionäres Bündnis Zürich, Soccorso Rosso Internazionale
(commissione), Anarchici e anarchiche ticinesi, Marco Camenisch,
Freunde und FreundInnen von Marco Camenisch, Individualità anarchiche
Losannesi
From Belgium: Secours-Rouge-APAPC Belgique
+++++++
Earth Liberation Prisoners Support Network
BM Box 2407
London
WC1N 3XX
England
www.spiritoffreedom.org.uk
Libcom.org April 28, 2010
A solidarity caravan travelling to the autonomous municipality of San Juan
Copala in the Triqui Region of Oaxaca has been attacked by UBISORT
paramilitaries. 2 are confirmed dead, with at least 15 injured and 3
missing.
Oaxaca: Paramilitary attack leaves two dead and three disappeared
Oaxaca de Juárez, Oaxaca
April 27, 2010
To the media
To the people of Mexico
To the people of the world
To the people of Oaxaca
Armed attack against the Caravan of Support and Solidarity with the
Autonomous Municipality of San Juan Copala, Oaxaca
CONTEXT:
Yesterday the realization of this caravan to the Triqui region, inside of
our state of Oaxaca, was announced to the media. In this caravan there are
comrades from the Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca (APPO),
Section 22 of the teachers' union, Oaxacan Voices Constructing Autonomy
and Freedom (VOCAL), CACTUS, members of MULTI (Independent Triqui Movement
of Unification and Struggle), as well as international observer comrades.
As was already announced, the caravan left today, April 27, 2010, at
approximately 11 AM from the city of Huajuapan de Leon, Oaxaca, with the
goal of breaking the siege that the Autonomous Triqui Community finds
itself in as a result of state and paramilitary repression against the
process of autonomy which it is building inside this community. Violent
paramilitary attacks have occurred at different moments during the
autonomous process of San Juan Copala and have been directed by the
paramilitary organization called UBISORT (Union for Social Well-Being in
the Triqui Region) which in reality is presided over by Rufino Juárez
Hernández and the MULT (Triqui Movement of Unification and Struggle
Movement.)
Before the departure of the caravan, the autonomous president of San Juan
Copala, Jesús Martínez Flores, placed responsibility for any attack on
Evencio Nicolás Martínez, Oaxaca State Attorney General, Jorge Franco
Vargas "El Chucky", State Interior Minister, and Carlos Martínez, local
PRI candidate for the state congress. Also, he urged UBISORT and MULT to
behave responsibly and with earnestness towards the peace negotiations for
the Triqui people.
EVENTS:
Approximately 100 kilometers before reaching La Sabana, the road was
blocked with rocks, and that is where the cowardly armed attack began, by
about 15 paramilitaries in the service of the murderer Ulises Ruiz Ortiz's
government (the type of weapon is unknown), leaving vehicles destroyed,
wounding a comrade, and leaving two people dead.
During the attack, some comrades escaped, hiding in the hill, and of those
who don't know their way we are worried that they have been captured by
the paramilitaries. Those comrades who as of now are disappeared are NOE
BAUTISTA JIMENEZ, DAVID VENEGAS REYES, and DANIEL ARELLANO CHAVEZ, all of
them members of VOCAL.
Regrettably, as information is coming in we know that two comrades lost
their lives in this paramilitary attack; they are BEATRÍZ ALBERTA CARIÑO
TRUJILLO, a member of CACTUS, and TYRI ANTERO JAAKKOLA, an international
observer comrade from Finland. Both died as a result of gunshots.
During the events, comrade MONICA CITLALI SANTIAGO ORTIZ was wounded in
the back by a gunshot and was attended to by medics in Juxtlahuaca.
Those who stayed in the area of the shooting were taken from the vehicles
and brought to the hill to be interrogated; some were threatened with
death and later were released on the highway. Comrade RUBÉN VALENCIA
NUÑEZ, a member of VOCAL, was detained by paramilitaries who took his
I.D., his cell phone, and threatened him with death, then let him go.
An ambulance came to the site of the events to attend to the wounded, but
was also cowardly shot at by the paramilitaries, which forced it to leave.
While they were leaving, they found a wounded comrade who they attended
to, and to whom they confirmed the death of the comrades previously
mentioned.
As a result of the confusion and uncertainty of the events, the location
of the previously mentioned comrades is unknown, as is their physical and
psychological condition.
WE ENERGETICALLY DENOUNCE:
That this armed attack is a product of the conditions of institutional
violence and impunity that paramilitary groups enjoy in this region of our
state. Institutional violence directed at the different manifestations of
social struggle in Oaxaca, and specifically against the construction of
autonomous processes.
This attack occurred in the context of the isolation and state of siege
that the municipality of San Juan Copala lives under, where since January
the children have not had classes, where the community does not have
electricity, potable water, doctors, and lives under permanent
paramilitary harassment as a result of the blockade they have established
there.
WE DEMAND:
That the murderer Ulises Ruiz's government end the paramilitary attacks in
the Triqui region. As well, that he end the financing, arming and impunity
that these paramilitary groups enjoy in our state.
The immediate return of our disappeared comrades.
WE CALL:
To the people of Oaxaca, of Mexico, to the international community and the
different social organizations, collectives, and groups, to visibly show
your solidarity and support with the demand for the return, alive, of our
disappeared brothers and for the punishing of those responsible. Also, we
fraternally call on you to demand an end to the violent conditions facing
the Autonomous Municipality of San Juan Copala.
The live return of the disappeared comrades!
Punishment for the murderers of our comrades!
End the attacks on the autonomous municipality of San Juan Copala!
End the paramilitary blockade that encircles this autonomous Triqui
community!
Oaxacan Voices Constructing Autonomy and Freedom
(VOCAL)
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Apr 28 2010 15:53
#1
Escarabajo
User offline. Last seen 1 hour 47 min ago. Offline
Joined: 30-03-08
conflicting reports coming in, some say 2 deaths, others say 5
Supposedly Police trying to get to the area are unable to because of being
fired on by UBISORT paramilitaries. this might be bullshit as i dont
expect they're to concerned about this.....except poassible international
issues after killing a foreign national. though didnt seem to worried
about brad will either......
Top
* Login or register to post comments
Apr 28 2010 16:08
#2
Escarabajo
User offline. Last seen 1 hour 47 min ago. Offline
Joined: 30-03-08
——————-
URGENT: The solidarity caravan that was en route to the Autonomous
Municipality San Juan Copala in the Triqui region, which was made up of
international observers, members of CACTUS, VOCAL, Section 22 of the
teachers union, the the APPO, was attacked with firearms in the La Sabana
community, which is controled by the organization Unidad de Bienestar
Social de la Region Triqui (UBISORT). This organization is impeding the
rescue of the wounded. Reports indicate that there are at least 15
wounded, it is unknown if there are any deaths. It is reported that
Alberta Cariño, director of CACTUS, is disappeared. We fear that this
action constitutes a provocation that could be used to justify the
militarization of the Triqui region.
Requested Action
Call the Government of Oaxaca and demand that the necessary conditions be
established so that the State Police and rescue teams can rescue them and
provide them with medical attention.
Governor of Oaxaca
Ulises Ruiz Ortiz
Tel. 5015000 ext. 13005
Fax. 5015000 ext. 13018
Background info:
Original post:
There is an extremely tragic and urgent situation developing in Oaxaca. On
Tuesday afternoon a caravan of between 40 and 100 people was ambushed in
an armed attack by paramilitaries.
The solidarity caravan is made up of VOCAL (an anti-authoritarian group),
CACTUS (a community radio group), SNTE Section 22 (the Oaxacan teachers
union), members of the APPO, and international solidarity activists from
Finland, Italy, Belgium and Germany.
They were heading to break the siege of the autonomous municipality of San
Juan Copala, a Triqui town of around 700 people in eastern Oaxaca near the
border with Guerrero. During the Oaxaca uprising in 2006, the town
declared itself autonomous and has fought to maintain its autonomy ever
since. In response, the Oaxaca state government, ruled by the PRI, has
been funding two paramilitary organizations, MULT and UBISORT. These
groups have been carrying out numerous assassinations against individuals
and members of MULT-I (not to be confused with MULT), a group which
supports the San Juan Copala's autonomy.
On April 17, after assassinating teacher and activist José Celestino
Hernández Cruz, UBISORT installed a blockade around the town and cut off
the electricity and water. The municipality then called for a solidarity
caravan to break the siege. That caravan left this morning and was
attacked by UBISORT paramilitaries outside of San Juan Copala in the town
of La Sabana.
The human rights groups Nodo de Derechos Humanos states that 15 people
have been wounded and the director of CACTUS, Alberta Cariño has been
disappeared. The blog Oaxaca en Pie de Lucha states that reliable sources
have told them that one woman brought to the hospital to be treated says
there were two bodies brought with her.
Nodo de Derechos Humanos also said that UBISORT was preventing the
evacuation of the wounded and that the state police refused to intervene
because they had not been ordered to by the governor. Oaxaca en Pie de
Lucha now states press reports claim that the police have been sent to the
area.
I will try to keep this updated, but also check out El Enemigo Común and
My Word is My Weapon, where much of this information comes from. If you
speak Spanish, Oaxaca en Pie de Lucha is updating frequently.
Most of this info from angrywhitekid.blogs.com
Top
Apr 28 2010 15:59
#3
Escarabajo
text in Spanish of various organisations' response to the attacks.
Includes that of Section 22 of the Teachers' Union and the Spanish CGT
Union
Sección XXII del SNTE repudia agresión contra Caravana
Ante los hechos ocurridos esta tarde en el municipio autónomo de San Juan
Copala , donde resulta herida de bala Mónica Citlalli Santiago Ortiz y
trasladada a la clínica del IMSS de Juxtlahuaca, la Sección 22, Repudia
enérgicamente tales hechos y las agresiones contra las organizaciones que
participaban en la caravana motorizada que iba con el firme propósito de
apoyar a una más de las comunidades de nuestro estado y lograr que las
condiciones de desarrollo en el aspecto educativo fueran las mejores.
En la asamblea estatal del 24 de abril el magisterio oaxaqueño resolvió
respaldar a las organizaciones de ayuda humanitaria que se trasladarían
hasta este municipio, para coadyuvar en el restablecimiento de la
estabilidad, contribuir en la defensa de las garantías individuales, y
observar las condiciones para el restablecimiento del servicio educativo
que desde hace 4 meses están suspendidas por la situación que prevalece en
la zona y garantizar la seguridad de los compañeros trabajadores de la
educación.
El movimiento Magisterial de la sección 22, responsabiliza al gobierno
estatal de las agresiones y hechos violentos contra la caravana a través
de grupos encargados de desestabilizar la zona Triqui generando un
escenario de sometimiento.
Por lo anterior la Sección 22 de Oaxaca exige: Castigo a los responsables
por los hechos tan lamentables
La presentación con vida de los compañeros desaparecidos
El total respeto al proceso de Dialogo y paz de esta zona Triqui.
Salida pacífica Civilizada a los problemas internos entre habitantes de
estas comunidades
El restablecimiento de la tranquilidad y paz social en la región
Informacion de PRENSA Y PROPAGANDA de la sección 22-Oaxaca
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CGT ante el ataque paramilitar en San Juan Copala, Estado de Oaxaca, México
Desde la Confederación General del Trabajo (CGT) del Estado Español
queremos mostrar nuestra más enérgica repulsa por el asesinato de Beatriz
Alberta Cariño Trujillo , integrante de CACTUS y Jyri Antero Jaakkola ,
compañero observador internacional originario de Finlandia, por la
desaparición hasta el momento de los compañeros Noe Bautista Jimenez,
David Venegas, la reportera Érika Ramírez y el fotógrafo David Cilia, de
la revista Contralínea, y por el elevado número de heridos . De momento
este podría ser el saldo tras las agresiones realizadas por los
paramilitares a los habitantes del Municipio Autónomo de San Juan Copala,
en el estado mexicano de Oaxaca, aunque según diversas fuentes podríamos
estar hablando de 5 personas muertas y más de 22 desaparecidas.
Desde hace meses los paramilitares mantienen al citado Municipio Autónomo
en estado de sitio, resultando imposible el desarrollo normal de la vida,
pues no hay luz eléctrica, ni agua, ni médico, las clases están
suspendidas desde enero y las mujeres son acosadas cuando salen a buscar
agua y comida por los paramilitares que forman un retén permanente en la
comunidad.
Debido a esta situación se puso en marcha una Caravana de Solidaridad en
la que participan observadores internacionales, integrantes del Centro de
Apoyo Comunitario Trabajando Unidos (CACTUS), de Voces Oaxaqueñas
Construyendo Autonomía y Libertad (VOCAL), de la Sección 22 del Sindicato
Nacional de Trabajadores de la Enseñanza (SNTE), de la APPO y del
Movimiento de Unificación y Lucha Triqui- Independiente (MULTI). El
objetivo era brindar un apoyo activo a la autoorganización del Municipio
Autónomo, detener cualquier tipo de agresión, romper el cerco mediático y
documentar la situación.
Es en este contexto y ante la iniciativa pacífica promovida por
organizaciones sociales y populares , en forma de Caravana Solidaria, cuyo
objetivo es defender los derechos como pueblos indígenas, donde se produce
una respuesta bélica, que a través de grupos paramilitares respaldados por
los poderes gubernamentales ha provocado, de momento, el lamentable
resultado descrito anteriormente.
Por todo lo expuesto anteriormente desde la Confederación General del
Trabajo (CGT) del Estado Español consideramos responsable de los hechos
sucedidos al gobierno de Ulises Ruiz Ortiz por fomentar las disputas entre
la población y permitir a los grupos paramilitares hacer uso de la
violencia. Y le exigimos a ese mismo gobierno el cese de los ataques
paramilitares en la región Triqui.
Presentación con vida de los compañeros desaparecidos
Castigo a los asesinos
Fuera paramilitares del Municipio Autónomo San Juan Copala
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
El FPDT condena la agresión a Caravana humanitaria en San Juan Copala
Como Frente de Pueblos en Defensa de la Tierra condenamos enérgícamente la
cobarde agresión de la que fueron víctimas diversos compañeros que se
dirigían hacia el pueblo triqui de San Juan Copala en Oaxaca, estaremos
pendientes de la información que se vaya generando, lamentamos las muertes
de compañeros que según reportes de medios alternativos fallecieron en el
lugar a consecuencia de la emboscada que fueron objeto.
Exigimos la presentación con vida de las personas que se encuentran
desaparecidas, exigimos también como FDPT el repliegue de las fuerzas
represoras, que se ayude en la atención a los heridos que hasta este
momento se encuentran en el lugar de dicha emboscada.
Recordamos que meses atras durante la visita del FPDT a dicho municipio
durante la gira "12 presos 12 estados" no se pudo llegar a dicho lugar por
las amenazas de agresión hacia el Frente, esperamos que haya una solución
pacifica y que el Gobierno de Oaxaca se responsabilice de dicho acto.
Desde aquí nuestra solidaridad y apoyo a las organizaciones y compañeros
victimas de este ataque cobarde, seguiremos al tanto de la información más
reciente. Compartimos la alerta para que sea difundida en más medios,
blogs y organizaciones sociales.
ACCION URGENTE
· Sufre emboscada la caravana que se dirigía a la Agencia Municipal de San
Juan Cópala, Oaxaca. hay muertos y heridos.
El día de hoy 27 de abril de 2010 salió de Huajuapan de León la Caravana
de Observadores Internacionales de Derechos Humanos venidos de
Europa:(Finlandia, Italia, Bélgica y Alemania) acompañados de integrantes
del colectivo VOCAL; integrantes de Centro de Apoyo Comunitario Trabajando
Unidos,(CACTUS), de la Red de Radios y Comunicadores Indígenas del Sureste
Mexicano, Maestros/as de la Sección 22 y algunos concejales de la APPO. Se
trasladaban en 3 camionetas para dar cobertura a los maestros que regresan
a impartir clases en este municipio. Además, fueron a documentar las
violaciones a los derechos humanos que sufren las comunidades indígenas
Triquis.
Según información preliminar, sufrieron una emboscada en el lugar
denominado “La Sabana”, un pueblo antes de llegar a San Juan Cópala. De
acuerdo al informante hay muertos y heridos de gravedad pero se desconoce
la cantidad y los nombres de los defensores víctimas de este atentado.
Ante estos hechos de violación EXIGIMOS.
AL GOBIERNO FEDERAL:
1. Información sobre los hechos ocurridos el día de hoy donde se presume
la emboscada en contra de observadores internacionales y nacionales.
2. Garantizar la salida y atención de los heridos, que aún se encuentran
en el lugar de a emboscada.
3. Actuar de manera inmediata para atender de fondo la violencia que viven
las comunidades Triquis.
4. Su inmediata intervención en la investigación de los hechos violentos
suscitados el día de hoy y la pronta reparar del daño conforme a los
principios internacionales de derechos humanos.
5. Garantizar la protección de Defensores/as de Derechos Humanos.
6. Asumir su responsabilidad al no aplicar los mecanismos adecuados para
los defensores/as que se ven obligados a intervenir en situaciones de
riesgo para cumplir con su labor.
DENUNCIAMOS:
Ø Al Gobierno del Estado de Oaxaca por su nula intervención para
garantizar la seguridad de las personas y defensores de derechos humanos
que iban en la caravana de observación de derechos humanos a la Agencia de
San Juan Cópala.
Ø A las instituciones estatales de Procuración de Justicia por su
negligencia y aplicación de la justicia ante los hechos violentos que vive
la comunidad indígena Triqui.
SOLICITAMOS A LAS ORGANIZACIONES SOCIALES, CIVILES, DE DERECHOS HUMANOS
NACIONALES E INTERNACIONALES.
Enviar cartas a:
Presidente Constitucional de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos
Lic. Felipe Calderón Hinojosa.
Residencia Oficial de los Pinos, Casa Miguel Alemán, Col. San Miguel
Chapultepec, C.P. 11850, México DF. Tel: +52 55 27891100; Fax: +52 55 527
72 376. E-mail: felipe.calderon@presidencia.gob.mx
Secretario General de Gobernación.
Lic. Fernando Gomez Mont.
Bucareli 99, 1er. piso, Col. Juárez, Delegación Cuauhtémoc, México D.F.,
C.P. 06600, México, FAX +52 (55) 5093 34 14. Email:
secretario@segob.gob.mx
Licenciado Eduardo Medina-Mora Icaza
Procurador General de la República,
Procuraduría General de la República, Paseo de la Reforma nº 211-213, Piso
16, Col. Cuauhtémoc, Del. Cuauhtémoc, México D.F., C.P. 06500, Fax: +52 55
53 46 09 08; + 52 55 27 89 11 13 (si responde una voz, digan: "tono de
fax, por favor"), Correo Electrónico: ofproc@pgr.gob.mx /
wmaster@pgr.gob.mx
Presidente de la Comisión Nacional de Derechos Humanos
Dr. Raúl Plascencia Villanueva.
Lic. Mauricio E. Montes de Oca Durán,
Unidad para la promoción y defensa de los derechos humanos SEGOB, Av.
Paseo de la Reforma 99 Piso 19 Tabacalera, Cuauhtémoc, Distrito Federal,
06030, Tel: (55) 51-28-00 Ext: 11863, Email: mmontesdeoca@segob.gob.mx
Alto Comisionado para los Derechos Humanos en México.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CACTUS: Ataque paramilitar a la Caravana de Paz en el Municipio de San
Juan Copala
Huajuapan de Leon Oaxaca a 27 de Abril del 2010
El dia de hoy, martes 27 de Abril partió hacia el Municipio Autónomo de
San juan Copala una caravana de observación de derechos humanos; integrada
por observadores nacionales e internacionales. Dicha comisión partió
alrededor de las 13 horas, el objetivo de la caravana era el cese al
hostigamiento, represión y asesinato de que son víctimas los y las
integrantes del Municipio Autónomo de San Juan Copala, Oaxaca, además de
llevar víveres. ya que la comunidad fue cercada, sin contar con el derecho
a la alimentación; al libre tránsito, todo esto es resultado de un
política represora que ejerce el gobierno del estado; a través de su grupo
paramilitar denominado Unidad de Bienestar social de la región Triqui
(Ubisort).
El gobierno estatal ha hecho caso omiso de las denuncias que se han hecho
sobre lo que acontece en la región triqui.
Sin embargo, hoy esta caravana que partió con este firme propósito fue
recibida a balazos por el grupo paramilitar UBISORT en el centro de la
población denominada la Sabana. Los resultados de este terrible y
condenable ataque sobre la caravana aun son incuantificables. Se nos ha
informado que Mónica Santiago procedente de la ciudad de Oaxaca se
encuentra hospitalizada en Juxtlahuaca, de la misma manera lamentamos
informar que al parecer nuestra compañera Bety Cariño se encuentra herida,
en el lugar de los hechos. EL ataque fue perpretado alrededor de las 14:
30 horas.
Hasta este momento no estamos seguros sobre la integridad física y
psicológica de nuestra compañera, ni de los demás participantes en la
caravana.
Es por ello que responsabilizamos al C. Ulises Ruiz Ortiz, a la Unidad de
Bienestar Social de la Región Triqui (UBISORT) y quien resulte responsable
de tan terribles actos.
Exigimos que el gobierno del estado, a través de la Policía Estatal entre
a la zona para poder saber en que estado se encuentra nuestra compañera
Bety Cariño y demás participantes de la caravana.
Alto a la represión contra el Municipio Autónomo
Respeto a los Derechos y Cultura Indígena.
Rescate y presentación de todos y todas las participantes de la caravana.
ATT:
Centro de Apoyo Comunitario Trabajando Unidos; CACTUS
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
El COL.LECTIU ZAPATISTA "EL CARAGOL" de València (Estado Español) CONDENA
el atentado armado sufrido el 27 de abril, contra la caravana de Apoyo y
Solidaridad con el Municipio Autónomo de San Juan Copala, Oaxaca.
El Col.lectiu Zapatista "El Caragol" de València (Estado Español) CONDENA
enérgicamente el atentado paramilitar contra la caravana de solidaridad
con el municipio autónomo de San Juan Copala, Oaxaca, en el que han
asesinado a BEATRÌZ ALBERTA CARIÑO TRUJILLO integrante de CACTUS y TYRI
ANTERO JAAKKOLA, observador internacional finlandés. A estas muertes, y
según otras fuentes radicadas en la zona, el número de asesinadxs
ascendería a cinco.
Asimismo, el número de desaparecidos, según las fuentes, estaría entre 8 y
22.
Desde el Col.lectiu "el Caragol":
Responsabilizamos de este atentado a las fuerzas paramilitares apoyadas
por las estructuras gubernamentales del estado de Oaxaca, así como al
gobierno federal que invisibiliza la represión a la que están sometidos
los municipios autónomos indígenas, así como todo el movimiento nacional e
internacional que los acompañan.
Lamentablemente este ataque no es aislado, sino que forma parte de todo el
ciclo de violencia estructural y guerra "preventiva" implementada por el
estado mexicano contra la lucha de los pueblos indígenas por su
autogobierno, y por tanto, por poder gestionar el territorio que habitan.
Nos solidarizamos con los y las compañeras de Oaxaca que han visto atacada
su acción de solidaridad con el municipio autónoma de Copala. Así mismo,
acompañamos el dolor por la muerte de la compañera Bety de CACTUs ,así
como el compañero anarquista Finlandés, Tyri Jaakola.
Solicitamos la aparición con vida de todxs lxs desaparecidos así como el
castigo de los responsables materiales e intelectuales de la brutal
agresión aramada. Asimismo, avisamos que desde aquí seguiremos luchando
contra la impunidad y por la autodeterminación de los pueblos indígenas de
OAXACA.
Col.lectiu Zapatista "El Caragol" de València (Estado Español)
Top
Apr 28 2010 16:03
#4
Escarabajo
At a rally Tuesday evening in the city of Oaxaca, the head of the
teachers' union, Azael Santiago Chepi, called on the federal government to
step in to determine what happened and for the ten people reported
disappeared to be released alive. He also placed responsibility for the
ambush on the government. Another union leader called for the one
confirmed injured person, Mónica Citlalli Santiago Ortiz, to be moved from
the hospital near San Juan Copala to a hospital in the city of Oaxaca.
Chepi stated that many things remain unclear and that the union will be
meeting to decide a plan of action.
The news outlet Contralínea, which apparently was the only one to have
reporters with the caravan, has stated that as of 2 AM Wednesday, their
two journalists remain "disappeared."
Florentino López Martínez, a member of the APPO and the FPR, told El
Universal that there are five injured caravan members in the Juxtlahuaca
public hospital, but that the hospital is surrounded by police and they
are unable to determine what their condition is. Where Florentino got this
information is not clear.
The state government (which backs the group that attacked the caravan)
released a statement "lamenting" the attack, claiming it didn't have
"formal knowledge" of the caravan and indirectly placed the blame for the
ambush on the caravan for "not taking into account the conditions" in the
area which "are not favorable for this type of action." Those
"conditions", created by the government, are exactly what led to the need
for a caravan in the first place.
The paramilitary group supported by the PRI government of Oaxaca that
ambushed the caravan, UBISORT, released a bizarre, rambling statement,
eventually claiming that MULT-I and the autonomous municipality - who
called for the caravan - were actually the ones to attack the caravan and
are trying to make themselves look like martyrs. Needless to say, that is
complete nonsense.
www.reprieve.org.uk April 28, 2010
Former British resident Ahmed Belbacha today requested that his case be heard by all nine active judges in the Washington circuit court, citing issues of crucial constitutional importance and the highest human stakes.
An en banc hearing is requested only in the most serious of cases, where the legal system has otherwise failed to produce justice or resolve key questions of constitutional law. The question in Ahmed's petition is whether "the United States may transfer an unwilling Guantánamo detainee to another country where the detainee is likely to face torture".
Ahmed is just such a prisoner. As the motion baldly states: "The rack and the screw will be the least of Mr. Belbacha's worries if he is transferred to Algeria."
Ahmed would be the first Guantánamo prisoner to be heard en banc and, if granted, such a hearing may be his lifeline. Recently, one federal judge refused to block Ahmed's forced return to torture in Algeria, after the district court dissolved a 2008 injunction prohibiting the transfer.
40 year-old accountant Ahmed remains a tragic figure in Guantánamo. Cleared of all charges by the Bush Administration, he has consistently chosen to stay imprisoned rather than face his fate in Algeria, a country he originally fled after threats on his life by the terrorist group Group Islamique Armé (GIA).
Ahmed’s fears were confirmed by an alarming ‘conviction’ delivered in absentia by an Algerian court last November, condemning him to 20 years in prison on mysterious charges. Ahmed was not represented at the 'trial', which produced zero evidence and appears to be retaliation for speaking out about Algeria.
In that context, Reprieve was deeply disturbed by the US Attorney General Eric Holder’s recent visit to Algiers to sign a ‘mutual legal assistance treaty’ with the Algerian Minister of Justice. Ahmed's legal team will seek protection from the Supreme Court if necessary and Reprieve is appealing worldwide – to the governments of Britain, Ireland and Luxembourg - for help.
Ahmed's attorney Cori Crider of Reprieve, said:
“Mr. Belbacha's plea to the Court is simple. All he asks is the right to be heard about the torture awaiting him in Algeria. If the Court is no more than a rubberstamp for the government in such a case, where torture is at stake, what is left of the Torture Convention? What remains of the principle that it is judges--not the President and his officials--who say what the law is?"
BACKGROUND:
Ahmed Belbacha lived for years in the seaside town of Bournemouth, UK, where he studied English and worked; during a Labour conference he was responsible for cleaning the hotel room of Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, from whom he received a healthy tip and note of appreciation. He is now in his eighth year of imprisonment without charge in Guantánamo Bay.
Ahmed’s fears about Algeria were confirmed by an alarming ‘conviction’ delivered in absentia by an Algerian court last November. In a disgraceful show trial, where no lawyer was appointed to defend Ahmed, the court sentenced him to 20 years in prison for belonging to an ‘overseas terrorist group’. Despite repeated requests and extensive investigation, Reprieve’s lawyers have been unable to discover what exactly Ahmed is supposed to have done. No evidence has been produced to support his ‘conviction’, which appears to be retaliation against Ahmed for speaking out about the inhumane treatment he would be subjected to if sent to Algeria.
Ahmed had been protected by an injunction barring the US government from repatriating him against his will, but a US judge dissolved the injunction in February. Reprieve immediately requested the decision be reversed, citing the US Supreme Court’s ongoing consideration of a related case, Kiyemba v Obama (Kiyemba II), in which it was decided that US courts could not prevent the Obama Administration from forcibly repatriating prisoners to countries where they face persecution. Worryingly, on Monday 22nd March, the Supreme Court decided not to review Kiyemba II; Reprieve then submitted another plea to DC’s federal district court on 24th March, followed by an emergency motion over the Easter weekend following Attorney General Holder’s announcement of a treaty with Algeria. Those pleas were denied.
Ahmed’s plight, together with his gentle nature, has attracted private offers of help. He has been given a room in a flat by a Bournemouth resident, and two Massachusetts towns have offered him refuge in defiance of Congress. So far, however, no government has come forward to help.
Ahmed's full petition for an en banc hearing is available below. For more information please contact Katherine O’Shea at Reprieve’s Press Office: katherine.oshea@reprieve.org.uk 020 7427 1099/ 07931592674 or go to www.reprieve.org.uk/ahmedbelbacha.
Notes for Editors:
Reprieve, a legal action charity, uses the law to enforce the human rights of prisoners, from death row to Guantánamo Bay. Reprieve investigates, litigates and educates, working on the frontline, to provide legal support to prisoners unable to pay for it themselves. Reprieve promotes the rule of law around the world, securing each person’s right to a fair trial and saving lives. Clive Stafford Smith is the founder of Reprieve and has spent 25 years working on behalf of people facing the death penalty in the USA.
Reprieve’s current casework involves representing 33 prisoners in the US prison at Guantánamo Bay, working on behalf of prisoners facing the death penalty, and conducting ongoing investigations into the rendition and the secret detention of ‘ghost prisoners’ in the so-called ‘war on terror.’
Reprieve
PO Box 52742
London EC4P 4WS
Tel: 020 7353 4640
Fax: 020 7353 4641
Email: info@reprieve.org.uk
Website: www.reprieve.org.uk
By Richard B. Muhammad -Editor-in-Chief The Final Call
Updated Apr 25, 2010
New report calls for justice for U.S. political prisoners and takes human rights case to the United Nations
(This is part one of an occasional series that will run in The Final Call newspaper.)
CHICAGO (FinalCall.com) - When it comes to the United Nations and countries charged with rights violations, the United States is usually the chief accuser of others and remains a self-ordained defender of human rights.
But a recent report filed with the world body raises the ugly issue of political prisoners and repression in America and her human rights violations.
“The United States is very, very concerned when its citizens begin to raise questions in these international forums, because the United States still prefers to posture itself, including the Obama administration, as still the leader of the free world and that they don't have any human rights violations and they certainly don't have any political prisoners, and we have to dispel that notion in the international community,” said Stan Willis, of the National Conference of Black Lawyers.
Atty. Willis filed the report April 14 as part of a process in which the United Nations reviews the status of each country and its human rights record. The U.S. is currently under review and will respond in November during a gathering in Geneva, Switzerland.
The United Nations' Universal Period Review process was introduced in 2006 and community-based, non-governmental and other organizations are allowed to point out human rights issues within their countries and where they feel violations of international law or UN treaties have been committed.
For Black America, the process is another way to hold the U.S. government accountable and to demand the release of Black Power era leaders and members of organizations whose political views are objectionable, said Mr. Willis, in an interview.
Beyond freeing an aging population of some 100 former Black Panthers, members of the MOVE organization and other revolutionary-oriented groups, taking the issue to the United Nations puts America and her dirty laundry on front street, said the longtime activist and lawyer.
“They (American officials) do not want to have these issues reach the world's people. How do you go into Iraq or Afghanistan telling people about their democracy when you got Black people that are locked down in prison for 30-40 years as political prisoners?”
Whether the problem was leftist ideology, nationalists and those calling for a Black homeland, demands for a new economic order or Native American rights and anti-Vietnam War efforts, government security agencies infiltrated dissident groups.
The security activity went hand-in-hand with crackdowns on Black, Latino, Native American and even some White groups demanding a more just and peaceful society—and greater demands for respect for rights and opposition to police violence.
“Such repression resulted in murders, injuries, false arrests, malicious prosecutions and lengthy imprisonments of scores of political activists,” the report said.
The continued incarceration and mistreatment of these prisoners violates UN treaties and conventions that guarantee human rights, forbid torture and outlaw racial and political targeting by government, the report charges.
Surveillance and destroying organizationsThe plight of political prisoners is largely rooted in the 1960s-1970s era surveillance against Black groups, which included respected civil rights organizations as well as so-called Black radicals, according to Mr. Willis. About two-thirds of the jailed dissidents are Black, he said.
The FBI teamed with local law enforcement to attack, disrupt and destroy groups like the Black Panther Party and the Nation of Islam, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), which was admitted during congressional hearings in 1976 empanelled to probe these secret domestic wars.
The covert Counterintelligence Program run by then-FBI director J. Edgar Hoover, and approved by the White House, focused in specially on the Black Panther Party, and most political prisoners are either former Panthers or from MOVE, a radical “back-to-nature” group whose homes were bombed by the Philadelphia Police Department in 1985.
“U.S. political prisoners have languished in U.S. prisons for decades under cruel and inhumane conditions. Several have died in prison; others have endured years of solitary confinement, poor medical health care, various other forms of abuse, and perfunctory parole hearings resulting in routine denial of human rights,” the report noted.
The report calls for the unconditional release of political prisoners jailed as a result of the government's Counterintelligence Program, an executive review of all cases related to the covert operation, a murder probe into the deaths of Panthers Fred Hampton and Mark Clark and actions to repair and redress harm done and to prevent similar acts in the future.
While Atty. Willis is pushing the plight of political prisoners, he said the impact of the government wrongdoing went beyond the heavy price young activists paid at the time.
“Movements move forward with masses of people but they move forward with a certain kind of leadership,” said Mr. Willis.
During the revolutionary times of the 1960s and 1970s, youth and students were influenced by the efforts of the Nation of Islam, Congress of Racial Equality, and NAACP as well as the African liberation movement on the continent and Cuba's revolution, he continued.
A type of leadership was developing that America had never seen before and the government moved to crush that leadership, Mr. Willis said.
The Panthers and SNCC were wiped out and law enforcement and government sent clear signals that if others persisted in demanding progressive action they would also be destroyed, he said.
“Our community suffered. Our community deserves reparations just on that issue because it set us back in the 1960s and we see where we are now, we haven't recovered from that,” he said. “It's not just those in prison that suffered, and they certainly suffered mightily because they have been locked down and some of them are dying in prison. Fred Hampton and Mark Clark were murdered. But the community suffered,” he said. Young leaders Hampton and Clark headed the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party. They were shot and killed in a police raid on a west side home in 1969.
U.S. power vs. the power of the peopleWhile the U.S. wields considerable power at the United Nations, in particular with its veto power on the Security Council, Atty. Willis rejects the notion that holding the superpower to international standards is a futile effort.
The General Assembly is largely made up of delegates from around the world, and public opinion and moral authority is bigger than U.S. power, he said.
The lawyer pointed to fighting in Chicago for two decades for Blacks tortured in a police precinct and officers under former police commander John Burge. It was only after the case, which involved hundreds of suspects coerced into making confessions because of torture, was put before international bodies that U.S. law enforcement officials moved against Mr. Burge. He will go on trial May 10 in federal court and is accused of obstruction of justice and perjury.
“It was only after the United Nations mentioned torture in the context of Abu Grahaib, Guantanamo Bay and Chicago, in the same paragraph, that John Burge was indicted within months of that,” Mr. Willis said. The Justice Dept. reached out about the case after the world body noted the violations, he said.
International forums and broader remediesMore involvement is needed in international forums, where violations of basic rights to education, health, employment, housing, and abuses of discrimination and police brutality can be brought out, Mr. Willis argued.
Essentially the forums provide a way to call attention to government failures or misdeeds and ask that the UN or other bodies where the U.S. holds membership to investigate and demand America comply with international law or treaties. The forums can also be highly embarrassing for the world's greatest democracy.
“We can have a mighty voice because when we speak in the international context it resonates with African people all over the world, unlike anybody else, and they look for us to speak because they know we are in the lion's den,” said Atty. Willis.
The U.S. civil rights laws also say what government can't do, while the international standards stress what countries must do, Mr. Willis explained. Under the United Nations standards, countries must educate children and localities could not argue that because of a lower tax base Black children get a lesser quality or failing education, he explained.
Remedies are much broader in the international context, which include reparations as a common remedy, but civil rights laws don't provide for reparations, Mr. Willis added.
It's not just going to Geneva but confronting local entities, like school districts, and being able to redefine education and press districts to come in line with international standards, he said. Blacks have also tried to take their struggle to the United Nations in the past, Mr. Willis said.
“We have a history of trying to get there, but we haven't got there because I think we got so focused on civil rights we forgot there is a remedy out there and we can draw on the collective sentiments of the world community by trying to take our case into a more international forum,” he said. “We don't have to rely on who is the president, we can force the president because the president and the administration is very, very sensitive to world opinion. There is no question about that,” he said.
Concerns about the arrest and targeting of Arab and Palestinian communities and Muslims after 9-11 and 23-hour-a-day lockdowns make government abuses relevant today, Atty. Willis said.
Political prisoners have traditionally been locked down, not because they violated prison policy or disrupted prison but because officials don't want disruption based on ideas, he said.
The Obama administration, unlike its predecessors, has taken the position that they support human rights and the U.S. has a member on the Human Rights Council, said Mr. Willis.
His goal is to get the political prisoners on the agenda, but filing a report isn't enough, he said.
It will take more awareness and education of the Black community, activism and lobbying for political prisoners at the United Nations, town hall meetings to explain where the issues are, and getting the academic and faith communities to weigh in on the problem, he said.
“It's a way of organizing our people and encouraging them to take these international forums seriously and adding that to their tools of raising issues related to various problems we have in the United States. It doesn't mean you stop doing anything else.
“The fact that I am trying to raise issues in the international forum doesn't mean I am stopping suing police,” he said.
“It just means this is an additional weapon that we have to try to get this country in compliance with international human rights laws.”
MR Zine
by CUNY 4 Fahad, Theaters Against War, and Educators for Civil Liberties
On Tuesday April 27, Fahad Hashmi took a government plea bargain. He pleaded guilty to 1 count of conspiracy for allowing an acquaintance to store waterproof socks, ponchos, and raincoats in his apartment. The government dropped the other 3 charges. Fahad made this decision after having served 3 long years in solitary confinement and one day after Judge Preska approved the government's recent request for an anonymous jury with extra security measures. In addition to the use of secret evidence and indefinite solitary confinement in Fahad's case, the move to have an anonymous jury raised already heightened concerns as to whether a fair trial was even possible. With sentencing to happen on June 7, Fahad faces a maximum of 15 years, as opposed to the 70 years he might have faced if he had been convicted on all 4 counts. With time already served (4 years total) and considerations for good behavior, Fahad could be out in less than 10 years. It is of note that on the eve of the trial the government was willing to shave 55 years off the potential sentence.
Today's decision does not in any way detract from the importance of the work we've been doing and the civil rights and human rights issues that Fahad's case has raised. The government's use of Special Administrative Measures and the attacks on due process in "terrorism" cases like Fahad's continue and cast a pall on the US justice system. For that reason, we plan to hold our usual vigil on Monday night outside the Metropolitan Correctional Center. We hope you will spread the word and join us.
We will be posting further thoughts and analysis on Fahad's case and the attendant issues in the coming week.
CUNY 4 Fahad
Theaters Against War
Educators for Civil Liberties
Patricia Adams
Probe International
Monday, April 26, 2010
Violence erupts at Pubugou dam in China’s Sichuan province as authorities
try to move people; homeowners threatened to blow themselves up if police
move in to demolish homes.
In a last ditch effort to fill the controversial Pubugou dam reservoir in
China’s Sichuan province, armed police and firefighters, riot vehicles and
excavators were called to the scene in Hanyuan County to force holdout
homeowners to evacuate houses slated for demolition.
According to first hand reports, on the evening of April 24, a large
number of police arrived and surrounded homes owned by Luo Qihui and two
other households. The owners of the houses refused to leave and issued
desperate threats they would ignite gas cylinders and blow themselves and
their homes up if forced out. Hundreds of villagers gathered to show their
support, shouting in protest, insisting that the government should deal
with their neighbours justly.
The confrontation between villagers and the police lasted until 6 a.m. the
next day, April 25. The houses owned by Luo Qihui and two other households
were dismantled. Mr. Luo was detained and charged with "violence against
the law." Three other families involved in the stand-off were sent to
Liping village for resettlement.
One day earlier, in another incident, Yang Sijiang, a villager from nearby
Maiping Village, shut the door of his home when demolition officials and
police from a local authority arrived, and then retreated to his roof,
carrying a gas tank. Yang Sijiang warned authorities he would ignite the
gas if anyone dared touch his house.
According to local villagers, homeowners have had no choice but to respond
with drastic measures to the coercive demolition of their life’s
belongings by the authorities. Some migrants were also injured after
violent clashes with police as a result of these incidents, and several
villagers remain hospitalized.
Since the beginning of this year, forced migrants unhappy with the
compensation offered for their homes, have refused to move. Nevertheless,
the demolition of houses has escalated, leaving hundreds of people
displaced.
The Pubugou dam has been the scene of violent public opposition from the
get-go. In 2004, a 10,000-strong demonstration against the dam was brought
to a halt by the People’s Liberation Army after protesters were fired on.
Many protesters were arrested and one executed.
Due to the level of resistance, and in an attempt to fill the Pubugou
Reservoir to its normal level of 850 metres above sea level, Hanyuan
County authorities in Sichuan Province have resorted to more and more
coercive measures in an effort to force those remaining from their homes.
The Pubugou dam is on the Dadu River, a Yangtze tributary. The dam stands
186 meters tall, boasts a storage capacity of 5.39 billion cubic meters
and an installed capacity of 3.3 million kilowatts. The dam reservoir’s
normal water level of 850 meters above sea level and maximum water depth
of 180 metres, marks the Pubugou as the largest hydro dam in a roster of
24 forming a cascade along the Dadu valley. The Pubugou will flood 15
towns or townships, 48 villages, including the county seat of Hanyuan,
50,000 mu (1 mu=1/15 ha) of farmland, and more than 100,000 people from
their homes.
The area upstream of the dam that is being flooded is not only good
farmland, but also contains numerous Paleolithic cultural sites, known as
"Fulin Culture," discovered in the 1960s. Other sites of significant
archeological value unearthed in recent years will also be flooded,
including Neolithic cultural sites at Maiping Village, Majiashan, among
others. Both experts and local people have called on authorities to
protect these precious cultural relics.
China is seeing more and more in the way of desperate standoffs between
citizens and authorities, as public and private developers—using corrupt
means, and the absence of property rights and the rule of law—eject people
from their homes. According to a 2008 report in the Chinese news weekly
magazine Outlook Weekly, social mass incidents, such as the standoff at
Pubugou, have risen from 8,700 in 1993, to 87,000 in 2005, to more than
90,000 in 2006. “And the number keeps climbing," says the magazine.
The filling of the Pubugou dam reservoir began in 2009 and reached 790
metres above sea level by the end of last year, powering two generating
units. Authorities planned to fill the reservoir to its normal water level
of 850 meters and put all of its generating units into operation this
year.
Olyblog.net Mon, 04/26/2010
(This is written by an attendee and does not reflect the opinions or positions of those who were arrested on April 8th.)
On Friday, April 23rd, over two hundred people attended a communal potluck at the “Free Wall”. Hotdogs and hamburgers were grilled on three barbecues. A table with chips, soda, fruit, vegetables and cake was placed in the alley, along with a table holding literature about the negative role the police play in our society and possible alternatives to their violence. The event lasted for three hours, ending just as the rain started. For those three hours, the alley was packed with people. The purpose of this event was not to collect money as much as it was about bringing those who dislike the police together.
While the sanctioned vendors were setting up for Artswalk, this unsanctioned gathering brought together much of the street community. The ages of those in attendance ranged from 13 to 60. Many of those who were arrested on April 8th during the march against police brutality also attended. Anyone curious about what happened during the march was free to talk to the people who were actually involved, this time without masks on their faces.
The event brought together people in opposition to the police and in celebration of a healthy, robust community of defiance. Those arrested on April 8th were able to see the amount of support they had on the streets of Olympia. Those who are harassed, beaten, jailed and ticketed every day were also able to see the amount of support they have on those same streets.
The event was a complete success. An anonymous antagonist reported the gathering to the Thurston County food inspectors who attempted to fine the attendees. Luckily, all the guidelines had been followed and the authorities were unable to sour the positive energy of the potluck. Although this event was heavily advertised, most of the State Street 29's detractors did not come to the event, preferring to rely on the lies of The Olympian and the police rather than talk to their fellow community member face to face.
We would like to thank everyone who contributed to the event and encourage others to ignore police propaganda and support those who resist police violence.
April 25, 2010…
URGENT UPDATE ON CHIP FITZGERALD!
CHIP ON HUNGER STRIKE!
Chip is demanding a transfer out of the hole at
Corcoran State Prison where he has been for over a year.
In response to his unfair housing in
Administrative Segregation (“the hole”) Romaine
“Chip” Fitzgerald is currently refusing food. In
support of Chip we ask that you call Warden Raul
Lopez to DEMAND that Chip be transferred out of
Ad Seg and into general population immediately.
PASS THIS CALL FOR SUPPORT WIDELY!
CALL WARDEN RAUL LOPEZ TODAY!!!
FAX WARDEN RAUL LOPEZ TODAY!!!
DEMAND THAT ROMAINE FITZGERALD #B-27527 BE
TRANSFERRED OUT OF AD SEG and INTO GENERAL POPULATION! End his hunger strike!!!
559-992-8800 (phone) Extension #5008
559-999-4636 (fax)
************************************************
Monday, April 26, 2010
Dear New York Jericho: According to one of
Romaine "Chip" Fitzgerald's reliable supporters,
Mr. Fitzgerald (ONE OF OUR LONGEST SERVING
POLITICAL PRISONERS) is on about the seventh day
a hunger strike at the Corcoran State Prison in
California. From what I understand, he has
refused to eat food or drink water for at least
seven days. Mr. Fitzgerald undertook the hunger
strike to protest against prison officials
locking him away in solitary confinement for the
last two years. From what I understand, Mr.
Fitzgerald believed that he should have been
released on April 8, 2010. When the warden, Mr.
Raul Lopez, refused to release Chip Fitzgerald
from solitary confinement on April 8, Mr.
Fitzgerald threatened to go on a hunger strike --
and to remain on the hunger strike until
death. After some debate about the issue, Mr.
Fitzgerald started the hunger strike about seven days ago.
According to Emani Bey (Mr. Fitzgerald's
supporter in Oakland, California), Warden Raul
Lopez threatened to force feed Mr. Fitzgerald
tomorrow, on Tuesday, April 27, 2010. However,
the humane way to arrange for Mr. Fitzgerald to
eat food and to drink water would be to release
him from solitary confinement and into the
general prison population. After doing so, Mr.
Fitzgerald would willingly eat food and drink
water. In the meantime, Mr. Fitzgerald strongly
implies that he will kill himself with this
hunger strike. In recent letters, he told his
supporters "good bye". If I am not mistaken, he
also expressed regret that he would not see them again.
At this time, the activists organizing a campaign
to save Romaine "Chip" Fitzgerald's life plan the
following: (1) to persuade Mr. Fitzgerald to
drink water so that he will live for a much
longer period than he would if he continues to
refuse water and other forms of nourishment; (2)
call and write Governor Arnold Scwharzenegger at
the address and telephone number listed below
(and by email and Twitter through his web site)
for the purpose of demanding that Romaine "Chip"
Fitzgerald be released immediately from solitary
confinement and into the general prison
population, that Mr. Fitzgerald not be force fed,
and that Mr. Fitzgerald be treated humanely; and
(3) call and write Warden Raul Lopez of Corcoran
State Prison, Secretary Matthew Cate of the
California Department of Corrections &
Rehabilitation ("CDCR"), and the ombudsman for
CDCR for the purpose of making the same demands.
Since Chip Fitzgerald has forsaken food and water
for up to seven days, he could die in the next
few days or be force fed as early as
tomorrow. In either case, we need to recognize
that Chip may be suffering from depression. We
need also to recognize that he needs to see his
family, his friends, and good lawyers, all of
whom need to encourage him to live, but all of
whom also need to work with him if he chooses to
continue his hunger strike. On this point, these
people need to persuade Mr. Fitzgerald to drink
water, no matter what else he decides to
do. Fasting without water could result in death
in from seven to ten days. On the other hand, a
person who fasts while drinking healthy water
could live for as long as sixty or more
days. Hence, if Chip drinks water, he would give
us more time to work on his behalf.
I write this email as an emergency notice about
this tragedy. I have yet to research Secretary
Matthew Cate's address and telephone
number. However, we need to act immediately. In
other words, we need to pressure Governor Arnold
Schwarzegger, Warden Raul Lopez, and the
ombudsman for the California Department of
Corrections & Rehabilitation to free Mr.
Fitzgerald from solitary confinement. I suspect
that locking Mr. Fitzgerald in solitary
confinement for two or more years straight at
sixty-one years of age (his birthday was April
11), and doing so to a man who has lived in
prison for the last forty years, constitutes a
form of emotional and physical torture. I
suspect that this torture has seriously
compromised Mr. Fitzgerald's emotional well-being
and judgment. At the least, he must be
emotionally and physically exhausted from
prison. Unless we act now and show Mr.
Fitzgerald that the liberation movement will save
him from solitary confinement and other forms of
mistreatment, we may well lose this brother. For
this reason, I send this email to you on an
emergency basis. I also copied below the email
from Ms. Emani Bey, the sister who alerted me and others about the crisis.
Thomas Ruffin
Black August Planning Organization & Nat Turner Rebellion
P.S. Romaine "Chip" Fitzgerald's identification
number in the California prison system is #B-27527.
Raul Lopez, Warden Governor Arnold Schwarzegger
Corcoran State Prison State Capitol Building
(559) 992-8800 Sacramento, California 95814
(559) 999-4636 (fax) (916) 445-2841 (office)
(916) 558-3160 (fax)
http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8vd3d3LmZyZWVjaGlwLm9yZw==www.freechip.org
occupiedlondon.org April 24, 2010
A few days ago, the headquarters of the ruling PASOK party
in Chania, Crete were occupied in solidarity with the six anarchists
arrested in relation to the revolutionary struggle case. A translation of
the communique of the occupiers follows:
Occupation of PASOK Headquarters at Chania, by those in solidarity to the
persecuted
Today, Tuesday 20th April at 10 am we occupied PASOK offices at Chania,
Crete, in order to declare our objection on the one hand to the
criminalization of the anarchist/ anti authoritarian movement effected by
the recent arrests of the 6 fighters, and, on the other, to the targeting
of many more and, thus, to state’s attempt to hold back any feelings of
rebellion that develop among broader parts of society.
Neither the forced accusations issued by minister Chrisochoidis nor the
spectacle of terror constructed by journalists under the dictates of the
anti terrorism state office can erase the poverty, unemployment, firing
and annulment of salaries and pensions, the wealth of the few against the
welfare of the many and the debts that they cynically cast upon us, or
even the suffocating control and inspection of every single aspect of our
lives.
On the contrary, this performance presenting the assuming ‘unmasking of
terrorism’ serves for the state and the capital as an ideal platform on
which they both materialize their sophisticated attack against society, an
attack that is becoming all the more barbaric as it is realized with the
contribution of their ‘international’ partners and the monetary fund. And
all that so as to shut people’s mouths, so as to achieve their consent in
their even harsher exploitation.
However, criminals and society’s enemies are to be found in parliament, in
luxurious villas and administrative bureaus, in banks and bourses, in
media news and in the uniformed man hunters. As to those who are fighting
for freedom, these are the 6 persons under arrest, who have been marching
along our side towards social class struggles for years and, thus, in
public. We will be next to them every single moment offering our
solidarity, our self organised and uncompromising action so as to prevent
their physical and political annihilation.
We are calling every repressed man/ woman to offer zero tolerance against
this novel orgy of lies and suppression.
Counter Attack from the masses and from below!
Freedom to the arrested fighters!
Solidarity is our weapon!
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