INTERNATIONAL ANARCHIST MOVEMENT:

PROTEST THE NATO SUMMIT:

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This year marks the 60th anniversary of the the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Orginally founded as the 'foreard base" of the American Empire against the Soviet Empire in Europe, the organization has served other functions for the imperium over the years, including participation in the Korean War. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union and its empire, however, the alliance has been called increasingly into question, and despite participation in the American war in Afghanistan there is an underlying current of differing interests amongst the members.

On the 60th anniversary a summit is planned to be held jointly in the French city of Strasbourg and the German city of Kehl. Protests are being planned by a wide coalition of groups who feel that NATO should be abolished, that it existence does more harm than good in the modern world. Here is a statement from a coalition of anarchist communist groups about the upcoming summit. From the Anarkismo website...

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Anarchist-communist appeal against NATO summit:

In the current context of economic crisis and rarefaction of natural resources, tensions increase between powerful countries fighting for control over the world. So western countries strengthen their device of domination, NATO, and use it in their aggressive and imperialistic politics (Afghanistan, Iraq, Georgia, Ukraine, and so on). Sixty-year-old NATO will celebrate its birthday at its yearly meeting this April the 3rd and 4th on the border between France and Germany (Strasbourg and Baden-Baden), claiming to be representative of liberty, peace and democracy.

NATO was founded in 1949 in order to unite North America and Western Europe against the Soviet Union. It had to find a new legitimacy in 1989 after the collapse of the Eastern Bloc. According to Sarkozy and Merkel it should take into account “in addition to military issues, (…) the global financial situation, the supply of energy or migratory issues” (1). Thus NATO becomes the device of global domination of Western capitalism.

While NATO troops embody an imperialistic attack on Afghanistan, like American troops in Iraq, people suffer from the oppression of both foreign troops and puppet governments aimed to ensure the plundering of resources by Western companies. NATO’s aims conflict with downtrodden people’s interests and their democratic rights; in those countries NATO opposes the possibility of people’s self-organization to fight oppression and manage resources democratically.

We fight the domination of international organizations (NATO, UN, IMF, G8, G20, WTO…) which are the devices of capitalism to reinforce the exploitation of workers and people.

We appeal to demonstrate against NATO everywhere in the world and to get involved in the counter-summit, within the alternative anti-NATO village, from April the 1st to April the 5th, in order to counteract warmongering and imperialistic politics with demonstrations, actions, meetings and debates.
Against capitalism, imperialism and authoritarianism!

Withdrawal of NATO troops everywhere in the world!

Solidarity with oppressed peoples!

Freedom of movement for people!

Federazione dei Comunisti Anarchici (Italy)

Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Front (South Africa)

Alternative Libertaire (France)

Union Communiste Libertaire (Canada)

North-Eastern Federation of Anarchist Communists (United States)

Common Cause (Ontario, Canada)

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This appeal has been published io a number of different languages, including French, German, Italian, Greek, Spanish, Arabic and Chinese. Voice l'appel en français.

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Appel communiste libertaire contre le sommet de l'OTAN:

Dans le contexte actuel de crise, de raréfaction des ressources naturelles et énergétiques, les tensions s'accroissent entre les grandes puissances pour le contrôle de la planète. Pour répondre à cette nécessité les pays occidentaux développent leur bras armé, l'OTAN, afin de mener leur politique agressive et impérialiste (Afghanistan, Irak, Géorgie, Ukraine, etc.). L'OTAN, qui fête ses soixante ans d’existence, organise son sommet annuel les 3 et 4 avril sur la frontière franco-allemande (Strasbourg et Baden-Baden) sous la bannière de la liberté, la paix et la démocratie.

Fondée en 1949 pour rassembler l'Amérique du Nord et l'Europe de l'Ouest face à l’Union soviétique, l'Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique Nord (OTAN) doit trouver une nouvelle légitimité, dès 1989, à la chute du bloc de l’Est. Selon Sarkozy et Merkel, elle doit prendre en compte « …outre les questions militaires, (…) la situation financière internationale, les approvisionnements énergétiques ou les questions migratoires » (1). L'OTAN devient l'instrument de domination globale du capitalisme occidental.

Alors que les troupes de l'OTAN incarnent une intervention impérialiste en Afghanistan, à l’instar de la coalition américaine en Irak, les peuples subissent la double oppression des troupes étrangères et des gouvernements fantoches mis en place pour garantir le pillage des ressources par les multinationales occidentales. Les visées de l’OTAN sont à l’opposé des intérêts des opprimé-e-s, de leurs droits démocratiques ; dans ces pays dominés l'OTAN contrecarre la possibilité de s'auto-organiser pour combattre les oppressions et gérer démocratiquement leurs ressources.

Nous combattons la domination des institutions internationales (OTAN, ONU, FMI, G8, G20, OMC...) qui sont les instruments du capitalisme pour renforcer l’exploitation des travailleuses, des travailleurs et des peuples.

Nous appelons à manifester contre l'OTAN partout dans le monde et à participer au contre-sommet, au sein du village alternatif anti-OTAN, du 1er au 5 avril afin de contrecarrer les politiques bellicistes et impérialistes, par des manifestations, des actions, des rencontres et des débats.
Contre le capitalisme, l’impérialisme et l'autoritarisme !

Retrait des troupes de l'OTAN partout dans le monde !

Solidarité avec les peuples opprimés !

Liberté de circulation des personnes !
Federazione dei Comunisti Anarchici (Italie)

Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Front (Afrique du Sud)

Alternative Libertaire (France)

Union Communiste Libertaire (Canada)

North-Eastern Federation of Anarchist Communists (Etats-Unis)

Common Cause (Ontario, Canada)

(1) Déclaration de Nicolas Sarkozy et Angela Merkel, 4 février 2009.

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Et aussi, plus d'information de Alternative Libertaraire, une organisation platformiste français.

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Mobilisation contre le sommet de l’OTAN
Un sommet de l’OTAN se tiendra à Strasbourg début avril 2009. Alternative libertaire participe aux mobilisations contre ce sommet.
**Communiqué d’Alternative Libertaire du 17/03/09 : L’OTAN n’aura pas la paix !

**Appel communiste libertaire contre le sommet de l’OTAN

**Tract AL Alsace du 14/03/09 : Strasbourg occupée par l’OTAN

**Article du mensuel AL de Mars : Sommet de l’Otan : Strasbourg outragée, Strasbourg brisée, Strasbourg martyrisée mais…

**Carte du contre-sommet à Strasbourg

** Communiqué de la Coordination Internationale (ICC) « Non à la guerre Non à l’Otan » du 28/02/09

**le tract fédéral d’AL du 23/02/09 : Retour dans l’OTAN, La machine de guerre est prête !

**le bulletin de février d’AL Alsace : OTAN suspends ton vol

**Le tract de février de la coordination anti-OTAN : Retour dans l’OTAN… La France prépare de nouvelles guerres coloniales !

**le bulletin de janvier d’AL Alsace : Palestine, Géorgie, Irak, Afghanistan… L’empire contre attaque

**commander des autocollants AL pour le retrait de l’OTAN d’Afghanistan

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Finally, from the War Resisters International, one of the groups organizing against the summit, here is what this meeting means in terms of democracy and citizens' rights.

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NATO summit 2009: A democracy free zone:
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When the alliance of democracies meets, there is no space for democracy on the streets.

When NATO celebrates its 60th birthday in Baden-Baden, Kehl and Strasbourg on 3 and 4 April 2009, there will be a lot of nice speeches about the values of democracy, and the need to defend democracy against a multitude of threats. But while NATO might talk about democracy, democracy will be temporarily suspended in huge areas of Baden-Baden, Kehl and Strasbourg.
Security zones and “no-go areas”
The complete picture of “security zones” and controlled areas is not yet clear, but it is clear that the scale of this security operation and the restriction to freedom of movement, freedom of assembly and democratic protest will be unprecedented.

What is know so far is that in Strasbourg access to the old town will only be possible with special access passes. All street markets, schools, kindergardens, historic sights and more will be closed on 4 April. In addition, public transport will be severely effected, with trams not being able to enter the security zones, and the train line from Strasbourg to Germany will suspended from Friday afternoon until Saturday morning. Strasbourg's mayor Robert Herrmann did not rule out police searches of houses in the old city, and adviced tourists not to visit Strasbourg on 4 April.

In Kehl, 700 people who live near the Passerelle, a pedestrian bridge over the Rhine which will be the site of a symbolic handshake and photo opportunity for the heads of states and governments, will be severely effected. From Friday evening until Saturday morning (when all is over) they will not be able to leave their houses without prior consent from the police, and only accompanied by police. In addition, access to the Europa bridge, the main road connection over the Rhine, will be closed for several hours, and even traffic on the Rhine will be halted.

A similar concept will be in force in Baden-Baden, where German chancellor Angela Merkel will receive the heads of states and governments on 3 April at 17.30hrs, before they dine at the Kurhaus Casino in Baden-Baden. Details for Baden-Baden are not yet known, but it is expected that in Baden-Baden too there will be no-go areas.
Democracy suspended
All this security leaves little room for democratic protest. At the time of going to press, the authorities of Strasbourg halted the negotiations with the International Coordination Committee No-to-NATO 2009 about the route for the international demonstration, planned for 4 April 2009. While the organisers of the demonstration want a route which will bring the protest close to the summit itself, the authorities do not want to allow any demonstration in the centre of Strasbourg, and want to divert the demonstration to the outskirts, where it cannot be seen or heard by the presidents and prime ministers of the NATO countries. This in fact is contrary to the French constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights, as it will deny the citizenry to voice their protest close to the object of their protest. Thus, the way the NATO summit is organised turns all speeches and declarations of democracy that might be made at the summit into a farce.
Block-NATO
Nevertheless, preparations are well under way to confront NATO with our protest. War Resisters' International is part of a coalition of groups that plan to blockade the NATO summit. Within the framework of this coalition called “Block-NATO”, and founded at the Activist Conference in Strasbourg on 14/15 February, War Resisters' International works closely with its Belgian affiliates Vredesactie and a range of German nonviolent groups in organising a blockading point (see the call on page 1 and 2).

We will meet in the protest camp in Strasbourg-Neudorf (La Ganzau), to finalise the preparations for the action and to provide a last opportunity to take part in a nonviolence training. To make this blockade a success, we need your support. Come to Strasbourg from 1-5 April 2009, to reclaim democracy!
Andreas Speck
Published in The Broken Rifle, February 2009, No. 81

INTERNATIONAL ANARCHIST MOVEMENT-POLAND:

ANTI-NATO DEMONSTRATION IN KRAKOW:

Yesterday and the day before NATO held an informal meeting in the Polish city of Krakow(see previously on this blog). Several hundred people gathered to protest NATO and its policies. Here is a report from the English language section of the Polish anarchist news site Centrum Informacji Anarchistycznej.

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Anti-Nato Demonstration and Conference in Krakow:
On the 18-20 of February there was an informal meeting of defense ministers from NATO countries in Krakow. Anarchists prepared protest activities during that time.

On 18 of February there were anti-militarist films. The main events, a demo and counterball, were held on Feb. 19. A few hundred people demonstrated against NATO, mostly anarchists. They had slogans such as "The government to the front" "No war but class war" and "NATO - legal terrorists".

The situation was very tense since the city was like a police state. The cops were checking people at the borders, even though there weren't more than an handful of people from other countries there. Before the demo, the sound truck was stopped and police were stopping people and checking their bags. One guy who did not answer a call to go to the police in relation to the Nov. 11 demo in Warsaw was arrested as was somebody with a flare.

(Ironically, protesting police demonstrated in Krakow and Gdansk that day and they threw firecrackers. So only police are allowed to use "illegal" pyrotechnics.)

During the demo there were some speeches and a march to the location of the NATO meeting, although police tried to block this, people eventually got through.

In the evening there was a counterball across from the venue of the NATO ball. There was a much smaller crowd since most people left after the demo - a shame since the next day also had some events. The ball was however hard to notice because three times as many cops than anarchists surrounded it and blocked the view. It was extremely difficult to get to - basically it was only possible if you were a single person who managed to slide pass the cops. Afterwards, when everybody was going home, the police started harassing people again and arrested somebody for having a stick. At least a dozen people had sticks since people had flags with them, but this guy took his flag off, which apparently made the stick a weapon.

The next day there was a modest conference on NATO, militarism and responses to it. There were films, presentations and talks made by the Anarchist Federation Krakow and ZSP. There was also a guest from the Anarchist Federation of France who invited people to attend the anti-NATO demos in Strasbourg at the beginning of April.

More information on that can be found on the Dissent! page: http://www.dissent.fr/

Videos from Krakow: http://cia.bzzz.net/wideo_z_demonstracji_antynato

Photos: http://cia.bzzz.net/fotki_z_antyszczytu

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Here's another report on the demo from the A-Infos site. A note in passing-the Polish union movement is incredibly fractured and actually quite weak. The three main federations NSZZ Solidarnosc, OPZZ and FZZ together have only about 1.9 million members. There are another 200,000 nationwide in various local unions and smaller federations of which the 'August80' (Sierpien80) is one. Besides not representing a large percentage of the workforce (97% of workplaces have no union) the fragmentation means that there may be over 17 unions in a given workplace. It seems the Poles have outfrenched the French in this regard.

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Anarchists, trade unionists host anti-NATO summit:

Warsaw - Some 300 people held a largely peaceful anti-NATO protest in Krakow's main square as the alliance's defence ministers met in the southern Polish city.

--- The protests were organized by the Stop War Initiative, the August 80 trade union and the Anarchist Federation, as reported by the Polish Press Agency PAP.

--- 'We're against NATO's politics, and we demand pulling out forces from Afghanistan and a halt to the arms race,' protester Katarzyna Puzon told PAP. 'We find it equally absurd to be spending public money in the times of crisis.'

--- Demonstrators held signs saying, 'Stop NATO. Stop War,' and 'We don't want to be America's shield.' The crowd included Czechs who came to oppose a US anti-missile shield, which would be based in Poland and the Czech Republic, based on current proposals.

'Europe should play a role as guardian of democracy and peace in the world and not export war,' said Graziella Mascia of the European Left political party. 'Events in Iraq and Afghanistan prove that the politics of war don't pay off.'

Defence Minister Bogdan Klich said he thought protesters were voicing minority opinions, because it was 'hard to believe' Poles want to 'back out of international responsibilities, which in reality decide our security.

'Organizers are planning a slew of events for the 'NATO anti- summit,' reported PAP, including panel discussions, concerts and film showings.

A founding member of the Cold Era Warsaw Pact, Poland joined NATO along with Hungary and the Czech Republic on March 12, 1999, about 10 years after shedding its communist past.

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Not everyone who participated in the demo was pleased with all the results, as the following, also from the A-Infos makes plain. There is also quite a lively debate following the article in Polish at the Centrum site. You can at least get a sense of it from a machine translation. The problem discussed below is a persistent one, but it is becoming less and less important as the anarchist movement grows and leftist sects shrink. Leninism only awaits the coroner these days to be declared officially dead. Social democratic reformulations, however, are a different matter entirely, and they still have a lot of life left in them in pretty well all countries.

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Poland, About anti-NATO in Krakow:

About 500 people came to protest against the informal NATO summit in Krakow on Feb. 19 organized mainly by the Anarchist Federation Krakow. There was an extremely heavy police presence and some problems with arrests and attempts by the police to block the demo, but in the end people protested across the city. In addition to local activists, a guest from France and the Czech republic spoke. In the evening a smaller group of people made their way to the location of the ball/banquet of the NATO bastards and had a counterball.

After the ball, again the police were acting up, surrounding people and searching them. One person was arrested but later released.

The next day there was a conference. There were talks and presentations by members of FA Krakow, ZSP and from AF from France who invited people to the anti-NATO protests in Strasbourg.

There are a couple of videos here:

http://cia.bzzz.net/wideo_z_demonstracji_antynato

photos: http://cia.bzzz.net/fotki_z_antyszczytu

Criticism of leftists:

There was some controversy in the weeks before the demo about inviting August 80 to co-organize or not. The leadership of the union also have a political party and the people from the union at demos are usually not rank and file activists, but professional unionists, who are often also party members. Usually it just looks that way that the leader gets people out of work, puts them on the bus using union funds, and gives them a flag to hold during the demo. There was a discussion with FA Krakow about what percent of party flags they should have in proportion to union flags before agreeing to co-organize with them. The main argument for this cooperation and allowing the party to come with their flags was that the union boss promised to bring 1000 people with him to the demo.

Nobody knows why some anarchists want to believe politicians. As some people predicted, only 100 of them showed up. Besides that, they invited, without previous discussion with the anarchists, the Stop War Initiative to be a co-organizer. FA Krakow at that time proposed to make a separate anarchist demo but the Anarchist Federation voted against this. Members of ZSP agreed with the idea not to have the politicians.

In the end, the party/union only dragged 100 people to Krakow. Anarchists were at least 300 of the 500 people. At least the Stop War Initiative made and put up posters and helped with information. In addition to the party/union, the careerist Young Socialists showed up and immediately started demanding that their left party sponsors from abroad be given the speakers' platform and complained when they were not allowed to dominate the whole event.

Nothing good of the leftist presence, they just were waving their flags and trying to promote themselves and their social democratic shit - but some anarchists like them. In general the anarchists could have done everything themselves with no lose of quality and a clearer message. Not that I think non-anarchist shouldn't participate, but the party and party wannabe leftists suck.

INTERNATIONAL ANARCHIST MOVEMENT-POLAND:

ANTI-NATO DEMONSTRATIONS IN KRAKOW:

As the defense ministers of NATO gather today in the Polish city of Krakow anarchists and their allies are gathering to protest this militaristic alliance. Here's a report from the A-Infos website. For further information (in Polish) see the Polish anarchist news site Centrum Informacji Anarchistyczej.

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Anarchists protest NATO meeting in Krakow:

As a two-day informal meeting of ministers of defence from NATO countries gets underway in the city of Krakow, southern Poland today, anarchists and other ‘anti-war’ organisations hope to use the occasion to protest against ‘NATO hypocrisy’. (photo: Anarchists and leftwing groups gather in market square, Krakow).

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In a darkened apartment in Kraków’s Kazimierz district, the Anarchist Federation invited members of the press, Wednesday, to explain what exactly they are planning for the “anti-summit”: a protest against the informal meeting of NATO defence ministers taking place in Poland’s southern city on 19-20 February.

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“I will make speeches, I will scream, I will sing: we will see what happens”, Artur, head of the anarchist march in Kraków, told thenews.pl

In conversation with the mild-mannered anarchist, Artur said that of course the Anarchist Federation “wants to see the destruction of capitalism and the state”, but for the NATO conference in Kraków the federation has more modest goals, wanting to voice their protest against what they call the “hypocrites from NATO”.

The informal NATO meeting in Krakow is an important one, even though no official declarations are to be made. It is Jaap de Hoop Scheffer’s last summit as head of the organisation before NATO’s 60th anniversary celebrations in Germany and France in April this year. United States’ defence secretary Robert Gates will also be in attendance and it will be the first such gathering since the new Obama administration took over the White House in January. And it is Poland’s 10 year anniversary in the Organisation.

The main topic of the meeting will be the multi force ISAF mission in Afghanistan. The gathering will be attended by representatives of all ISAF participants – the 26 member states that make up the Atlantic alliance and 15 countries outside NATO. The Afghani defence minister is also expected to appear.

The ministers will discuss the problem of securing presidential elections in Afghanistan, the struggle against the production of opium poppies which fund the Taliban insurgency,and training of the Afghani army and police.

The meeting in Krakow will also be a chance to hold numerous bilateral talks, as well assessions of the NATO-Georgia and NATO-Ukraine enlargement committees.

The defence ministers are also to deal with the draft of the Atlantic security declaration, which is being prepared for the official NATO summit which is to take place at the French-German borderland in Strasbourg and Kehl in April.

The gathering in Krakow will be accompanied by several demonstrations against the arms race and the war in Afghanistan. The organizers of the demonstrations - the “Stop War”Initiative, the “August’80” trade union and the Anarchistic Federation - expect around one thousand demonstrators.

The Mayor of Kraków has given the go-ahead for a march to be held on February 19, with protests to be staged on the Main Market Square at 4pm, and a “No Logo” street party to beheld by the National Museum at 7.30pm. As another anarchist told us: “The party is to show that we don’t need the government’s money to have a good time”, a response to unofficial reports that the Polish Ministry of Defence is forking out almost 9 million zloty for the NATO event.

The protest march hopes to attract many from the Czech Republic, where the radar

installation of the US-sponsored missile shield is to be based.

ROMANIA:

NEW REPORT ABOUT THE NATO SUMMIT IN BUCHAREST:

(FROM INDYMEDIA GREECE)

The following is a new story that has been published at the Indymedia Greece site. Once more the following has been slightly edited for English grammar (and to replace American spelling with Canadian spelling).

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New report about the NATO Summit in Bucharest

indy.gr
Repression and beating of protesters in Bucharest

The police entered the convergence centre of the anti NATO demonstrators yesterday and beat people.

The NATO Summit is being held in Bucharest from the 2nd to the 4th of April. The repression of any voice against it has gone wild. Right at the start of the Summit, the Romanian police entered the convergence centre that the anti NATO demonstrators had legally rented, in order to accommodate the workshops and the antimilitaristic sessions. It arrested around 50 people (photos and video). Some protesters were beaten by the police while being transported to the police station. One German activist is being held by the police.

In a solidarity movement, activists in numerous European countries organised actions to inform people about what's going on in Bucharest. In one of them, in Berlin, on the evening of April 2nd, around 60 activists demonstrated in front of the Romanian embassy . The police arrested 2 people there, because they... rang the bell of the embassy!

In Skopje, Macedonia, around 50 people demonstrated against NATO in front of a government building .See also: http://indy.gr // Ιndymedia Romania // http://contra-doxa.com // summitnato.wordpress.com/

ROMANIA:

ANTI-NATO WEEK IN BUCHAREST 2008:

Molly has blogged previously on this subject. See our article on the 'Projectile Anti-Nato Events' on March 15th on this blog. Right now here in Canada our dearly beloved comrade leader Stevie is brushing his teeth, gargling with Listerine and rechecking his lipstick collection, all in the vain hope of seeming to be important as he sets to shining George's shoes. The US sees this meeting to be held on April 2-4 as quite important in terms of getting further agreement on Afghanistan from the "alliance of the half-convinced" and also in its hopes of continuing its encirclement of now oil-rich Russia. Pundits expect Croatia, Albania and Macedonia to be admitted to NATO at this meeting. The possibility of admission of Ukraine (where the majority of people oppose such membership) and Georgia will also be on the list of subjects for discussion. The official NATO press release on this conference can be seen HERE.

In preparation for the summit the Romanian government has gone all out to eliminate stray dogs, beggars, mud puddles, traffic jams and April Fools jokes (literally!!!) from their capital. An amusing report of their efforts can be found HERE. As Molly can attest from visiting Athens soon after their Olympics such efforts rapidly fall to pieces once the event is over. In the case of Romania expect the woofers to be back on the streets by the morning of April 5th.

The Romanian anarchists haven't been idle in opposing this gathering. Please refer to their site Contra-Doxa for news of the events as they develop. In addition to what Molly has previously blogged on this matter here is a little guide to the NATO summit provided by the Romanian comrades. The following has been slightly edited for grammar.

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Anti – Nato Week Bucharest 2008


By anarcha_erinye, on 28-09-2007 00:59

Published in : Documentation, Nato

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is a military alliance, established by the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty on 4 April 1949. With headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, the organization established a system of collective defense whereby its member states agree to mutual defense in response to an attack by any external party.

“ The Parties of NATO agreed that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all. Consequently they agree that, if such an armed attack occurs, each of them, in exercise of the right of individual or collective self-defence will assist the Party or Parties being attacked,individually and in concert with the other Parties, such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area. ”

The initial treaty was signed by Belgium, Netherlands,Luxembourg, France, United Kingdom, the United States of America, Italy, Norway, Denmark and Iceland which were followed after 3 years by Greece and Turkey. In 1954 Russia wanted to join NATO but was rejected by the NATO countries. In 1955 West Germany was incorporated into NATO, shortly after the Warsaw Pact was signed. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact in 1991 removed the de facto main adversary of NATO. At the moment NATO includes the following countries: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, United Kingdom, USA, Greece, Turkey, Germany, Spain, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia.

With the re-evaluation of NATO’s purpose in post-Cold War we could see a still ongoing expansion of NATO to Eastern Europe, as well as the extension of its activities to areas that had not formerly been NATO concerns. On 28 February 1994, NATO took its first military action, shooting down four Bosnian Serb aircraft violating a U.N.-mandated no-fly zone over central Bosnia and Herzegovina. At the end of 1995 the war in Bosnia resulted in the Dayton Agreement, with the help of air strikes by NATO. On 24 March 1999, NATO saw its first broad-scale military engagement in the Kosovo War, where it waged an 11-week bombing campaign against what was then the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. A formal declaration of war never took place. The conflict ended on 11 June 1999, when Slobodan Milošević agreed to NATO’s demands. NATO then helped establish the KFOR, a NATO-led force under a United Nations mandate that operated the military mission in Kosovo.After September 11th NATO confirmed on the 4th of October 2001 that the attacks on one were an attack against the entire group of members.

On 16th of April 2003 NATO agreed to take command of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan, which was the first time in NATO’s history that it took charge of a mission outside of the North Atlantic area. But most people do not realize that there are approximately 49,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan, about one-third the number in Iraq. Of those troops, 28,000 are from the United States: 15,000 operate under NATO and 13,000 are part of the Pentagon’s Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF). The U.S.-NATO dichotomy is misleading, however, because the largest contingent of NATO troops is from the United States (the second-largest contingent from the UK is much smaller, only 7,700 soldiers). In addition, the military head of NATO operations, U.S. General Dan K. McNeill, is also the chief of OEF. In other words, America dominates all foreign troop operations in Afghanistan.In fact, U.S. and NATO troops are doing the same things in Afghanistan and Iraq: bombing civilian areas, invading villages, rounding up people without evidence, torturing detainees, causing deaths in custody, and shooting into crowds. At the 9th of May 2007 the NATO secretary general met with the North Atlantic Council in Brussels and had discussions on the subject of civilian deaths. But the conversation was less about how to reduce casualties, than about how to explain them to European governments. To most officials, the criminality and injustice of the civilian deaths alone are not enough to condemn them. But when they undermine the support base at home or in the host country, and threaten the crucial “winning hearts and minds” portion of NATO’s counterinsurgency campaign, they become a strategic problem.

The facts are also clear, that there were secret prisons, certainly in Poland and Romania; and that people who were suspected by the CIA of involvement in terrorism were interrogated and sometimes tortured in these prisons. NATO was also involved in the system of secret prisons and transports. After the US had, in 2001, issued a call for mutual support under Article 5 of the NATO treaty, NATO became a platform where the United States received the go-ahead and protective measures necessary in order to be able to begin the secret operations in the "war against terrorism". But of course NATO refuses to reveal details of the agreements concerning its involvement in the CIA Operation. But well who can be surprised if remembering that NATO also had a long held covert policy of training paramilitary militias such as ‘Gladio’, known as ‘stay-behind’ armies, for a possible Soviet invasion of Western Europe, whose role would have been to wage guerrilla warfare behind enemy lines.After September 11th Romania has expressed its willingness to join the USA in the war on terror and offered to help by sending military forces into Afghanistan and Iraq. In 2002 Romania was invited to the summit in Prague and began the accession process. In March 2004 Romania became a NATO member, as a ‘gratitude for it’s loyalty’. Romania now has military troops in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq. There are 4 US military bases in Romania, hosting more than 2.000 American soldiers.

20th NATO SUMMIT BUCHAREST

"We are here to thank the Government of Romania and the Romanian people for the support they have offered to us on several occasions. We are allies in the fight on terror, generally, in Afghanistan and Iraq. We are allies in promoting democracy and we appreciate the support of Romania’s President"

Stephen Hadley, Bush’s National Security Advisor, October 23, 2005

On 21st of September the Romanian Vice Foreign Minister Victor Micula and North-Atlantic Council Secretary Berndt Götze signed the memorandum for hosting the NATO summit in Bucharest in April next year. This 20th NATO summit will be the largest one in the history of NATO, as all the 23 member states of the NATO Partnership for Peace will attend, besides 26 member states of the alliance. Approximately 3.000 high-ranking officials are expected to participate in the summit, whose security will be guarded by some 9.000 Romanian troops, officers of the Special Guard and Protections Service, police officers and gendarmes. The expenses of the event are estimated at 30-35 million euro.Where to find a better place to hide than in the Palace of Parliament in Bucharest, the summits venue?

The building known as Casa Poporului (the house of the people) was build during Ceausescu’s regime. It is 84 meters tall with 12 floors, being one of the top 5 tallest buildings in Romania. Its area surface (64.800 square meters) makes it the second largest after the Pentagon Building; its underground floors, measuring down to 92 meters below the ground (more that over the ground); it's volume (2,55 billion cubic meters), third largest in the world (after Cape Canaveral and the Quetzalcoatl pyramid in Mexico).

But even if you are not able to catch a guarded or even better ‘unguarded’ tour through Casa Poporului, or you are not even able to get any closer to the area,because of suddenly appearing stable or moving fences during your visit in April 2008, don’t worry there is much more to explore (still watch out for the local teams, who might be willing to take you on a tour).

Since you are in the capital, with an estimated 1.862.930 (2006) residents, many other institution, worth a visit, are located here. So for example Casa NATO, which promotes Romania as a reliable member of NATO as well as free market institutions and enterprises. Casa NATO is located in Bucharest’s Primaverii Palace, headquarters to Romania’s Euro-Atlantic Center and activities since 1992.

If you want to continue your travel a bit further east, you might want to stop by the Mihail Kogalniceanu airbase near Constanta. Not only known for the US troops heading towards Afghanistan and Iraq, but also as a CIA detention center for Iraqis and Afghans.Surely you will find a worthwhile target, to make the ANTI-NATO-WEEK in Bucharest as disruptive, creative and long-lasting as possible.

FORCES OF REPRESSION

As activists in Romania have never experienced protest against an event of this scale in the country, it is hard to draw from former experiences in regard to state repression.

So here will follows an introduction to the different forces you might be confronted with during your visit.

The main forces of repression in Romania are the National Police (Politia Română), the Romanian Gendarmerie (Jandarmeria Română ) and the Border Police. The Romanian police is devided into two forces, the Politia Română (the civil branch) and the Jandarmeria Română (the military branch).

Romania also has a paramilitary structure, besides a police force and a military force. The Jandarmeria is the structure that should really keep order, as the Police is meant only to investigate crime, while the military is meant only to defend the country from outside threats.
Politia Română
The Romanian Police is divided into 41 territorial inspectorates, corresponding to each county (judet), and the General Directorate of the Police in Bucharest. Each county inspectorate has a rapid reaction unit (Detaşamentul de Politie pentru Interventie Rapidă, Police Rapid Intervention Squad). The similar unit attached to the Bucharest Police is called Serviciul de Politie pentru Interventie Rapidă (Police Rapid Intervention Service).Before 2002, the National Police had military status and a military ranking system. In June 2002 it became a civil police force and its personnel was structured into two corps:.

Corpul ofiterilor de politie (Police Officers Corps) -corresponding to the commissioned ranks of a military force..

Corpul agentilor de politie (Police Agents Corps) -corresponding to the non-commissioned ranks of a military force.Politia Comunitară is the name for the local police in Romania - on city or commune level. They are subordinated to the mayors and their main duties are to enforce the local ordinances and to assist the National Police and the Gendarmerie.

Also worth mentioning:

*DIAS Detasamentul de Interventii si Actiuni Speciale[Police rapid intervention (local)] The Special Intervention and Action Detachments are the special units of municipal police in Romania. DIAS are called whenever a Police operation may encounter severe problems.

*SPIR Serviciul Special al Politiei pentru Interventie Rapida [Police rapid intervention (Bucharest)] The Special Rapid Intervention Service is the name of the much-expanded structure in Bucharest.

*SIIAS Serviciul Independent de Interventii si Actiuni Speciale[Police Special Forces]The Independent Special Interventions and Actions Service is an elite unit under the command of the Romanian Police.

*Politia de Frontieră Between 2001 and 2005, the Romanian Border Police has undergone four stages of reform of its internal structure, in order to bring it into compliance with similar structures of the European Union.

*SASI Serviciul Actiuni Speciale si Interventie[ rapid intervention force ] SASI was created on October 1st, 2005 and represents the rapid intervention unit of the Border Police.

*Jandarmeria Română The Romanian Gendarmerie(Jandarmeria Română) is the state’s specialized institution, with military status. The Romanian Gendarmerie is divided into 41 territorial inspectorates, corresponding to each county (judet), and the General Directorate of the Gendarmerie in Bucharest. Additionally, eight Gendarmerie Mobile Groups (Grupări Mobile) operate on a territorial basis, with headquarters in Bacău, Braşov, Cluj Napoca, Constanta, Craiova, Ploieşti, Târgu Mureş and Timişoara. The Romanian Gendarmerie was re-established on July 5, 1990. Starting in 2006, the corps abandoned conscription and in 2007 it became an all-professional military force.

The Romanian Gendarmerie is for example tasked to:

• ensure public order during meetings, marches, demonstrations, processions, strikes, and also other similar activities carried out in public areas and involving large crowds;

• re-establish public order when it has been disturbed by any kind of illegal actions;

• maintain public order during official visits or during other activities in which Romanian or foreign high officials take part, on Romanian territory, in the competence area and in the places where the activities are carried out.

The Romanian Gendarmerie has two brigades, the 11th Mobile Brigade ‘Baneasa’ and the Special Brigade ‘Vlad Tepes’, as well as the Batalionul 1 Interventii Speciale(anti-terrorist force) and the Batalionul 2 Misiuni Speciale (special missions).

The Brigade is divided in two units:Brigada Specială de Interventie a Jandarmeriei (Gendarmerie Special Intervention Brigade, BSIJ) is a special operations force belonging to the Romanian Gendarmerie. The unit carries the name "Vlad Tepeş".

• 1st Battalion "Actiuni Specifice şi Antitero" (Specific Actions and Counter-terrorism)

• 2nd Battalion "Misiuni Speciale" (Special Missions)

POLICE ARMS

Well the usual stuff: you can find crowd control paddy wagons, water canons, as well as the use of horses and dogs. Water canons, tear gas and rubber bullets have been used by the Romanian police before, for example at the Gay Parade in Bucharest.

GETTING TO THE ACTIONS

People from following countries are able to enter Romania without a visa for up to 90 days: Andorra, Argentina, Austria, Australia, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Canada, Czech Republic, Chile, Cyprus, South Korea, Costa Rica, Croatia (30 days), Denmark, Switzerland, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, Hong Kong, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macao, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, United Kingdom, Monaco, Nicaragua, New Zealand, Norway, Holland, Panama, Paraguay, Poland, Portugal, San Marino, Holly See, El Salvador, Singapore (30 days), Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, United States of America, Sweden, Hungary, Uruguay, Venezuela. Since January the 1st 2007 people from the Republic of Moldova can travel with a free issued visa. If you come from a country which is not listed above, you need an entry visa (if you are not intending to pass the green border, swim through the Danube river or overrun the border control with a huge crowd of other people protesting against the fortress Europe).

The law bans:

• the possession of narcotic substances, even if for personal use

• bearing arms, hunting or sports weaponry must be mentioned in your passport.

Bear in mind that the time difference to Central Europe is + 1 hour.In 2005 the new leu (RON) was introduced, phasing out the old leu (ROL) in 2006. The new Leu (plural: Lei) is 100 Bani (notes in 500, 100, 50, 10, 5 and 1 Lei, coins in 50, 10, 5 and 1 Bani). The exchange rate is something around 3.4 lei for 1 €. Romanian is the official language, with parts in the border regions where also Hungarian, German, Bulgarian and so on, is widely spoken.

Anyway, in good old ‘tradition’ some useful words and phrases:

please, thanks, sorry = te rog, multumesc, imi pare rau

where is… = Unde este

fuck off = Du-te naibiicome

with me = vino cu mine

move on = continua

the cops are coming = vine politia

cops are attacking = politia atacato

piss off = dispari

to attack = atac

attacking the cops = ataca politiaI

need help = ajutor

good, bad = bine, rau

I am not guilty = nusunt vinovat

I want to call my lawyer = vreau sa sun avocatul

BE AWARE….

also the nationalists, nazis and neo-legionaires are for sure mobilizing actions against the NATO summit in Bucharest. The main nationalist actor is ‘Noua Dreapta’ (New Right). You can check them out at http://www.nouadreapta.org/ also easy to identify by their T-Shirts with the face of Corneliu Codreanu.

The ‘usual’ nazis-scum are dressed like neonazi-skinhead, mainly with boots, shaved heads and even using openly signs like swastikas, celtic crosses or hate-bands. Also the football clubs are full with nazis, the most known are Steaua and Dinamo, both from Bucharest. Be aware of that and get informed at the actions in Bucharest, where the nazis might make a march or usually gather.
ACCOMODATION and ACTIVITIES

There will be a range of events in Bucharest and others place. Those coming from the north, can for example stop by at the ANTI-NATO info-point in Iasi (at the Ukrainian nd Moldavian border) before continuing their way to Bucharest. The city also held for a week in July the first squat ‘Rebil’ in Romania (an English report can be found at ttp://de.indymedia.org/2007/07/188166.shtml).

If you are coming from the south you might be interested in joining the preparation for the ANTI-NATO bike tour and the critical mass, to be contacted over

katarzis@riseup.net.


This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it


In Bucharest are plenty of opportunities to join into the ANTI-NATO week: a legal march, direct actions, probably the NoBorder from Timisoara seeking exile in Bucharest and many more.Still you should keep in mind, especially if coming from the west, that the ‘scene’ is not as big and equipped as you might be used to. So try to be as self-organized as possible: bring a sleeping bag, try to organize food (dumpster diving is not so common, but you can still find some stuff) or even join the local FNB group (or bring in your local group for joint actions). Organizing legal sleeping spaces en mass still requires money, so every soli-action is welcome. But also you might want to check out one of the plenty of abandoned houses in Bucharest, waiting for a better use.

EASTERN EUROPE:

'PROJECTILE'- ANTI NATO WEEK PROGRAM BUCHAREST:

Early next month, from April 2 to April 4th the 20th NATO summit will be held in Bucharest, Romania. About 3,000 of the "movers and shakers" of this military alliance, whose claws now reach as far afield from Europe as Afghanistan, will be there to have a good time and to plot further military adventures. But they will not be without opposition ! Anarchists in Romania are planning an "Anti-Nato week" around this summit. Some of them are already on an 'info-tour' throughout Europe to spread the word. The following is their callout. For more information see the Romanian anarchist site Contra-Doxa.

A N T I - N A T O W E E K B U C H A R E S T 2 0 0 8 (critical movies,documentaries,exhibitions and workshops)


"A projectile is any object thrown, shot or otherwise directed to a person or object. It can cause damage to a person or object it hits, depending on factors including size, shape, speed and hardness."Accordingly we also see critical information as weapons/projectiles. Projectile is an invitation to common reflexion, participation and a forum for critical discussion as well as preparation for actions during the anti-NATO week in Bucharest.

20th NATO Summit 2nd till the 4th of April 08 in Bucharest / Romania
This 20th NATO summit will be the largest one in the history of NATO, as all the 23 member states of the NATO Partnership for Peace will attend, besides 26 member states of the alliance. Approximately 3.000 high-ranking officials are expected to participate in the summit.
In the name of security - making their own rules?
Since September 11, 2001 the US declared a "War on Terror", as it had done earlier with regard to poverty, crime and drugs. With this torture has been resurrected as a course of action and subject of debate. The history of torture points to several possible reasons for its resurrection in a more open form since 9/11. The designation of certain peoples as of lesser status, or as not fully human; the priority given to the security of the state; the types of conditions under which evidence is acquired which influences the means adopted for determining guilt; and the necessity to be seen to punish in order to demonstrate overwhelming power and to deter opposition to those in power have all played roles in keeping torture alive over the millennia.
Torture, power and reputation
A new and valued reputation is one of effectiveness in dealing with suspected terrorists, including the ability to pass regulations that strengthen the central authority of the state, police air, sea and land borders, arrest terrorist suspects, focus on their interrogation, and investigate more fully those seeking asylum or to migrate.
Global consequences
There is a growth in this rhetoric and behaviour, on the part of a number of governments. For example, Uzbek security forces in May 2005 used indiscriminate force against civilians in Andijan, killing possibly between 200 and 700 people, on the grounds that these were groups linked with international Islamist terrorism. Torture and other forms of abuse become commonplace in different regions of the world.
Us versus Them’
We hold ourselves to humane standards of treatment of people no matter how evil or terrible they may be. We stand for something more in the world - a moral mission, one of freedom and democracy and human rights at home and abroad . . . The enemy we fight as no respect for human life. They don’t deserve our sympathy.’Such a statement might have one effect in that it reinforces the ’us versus them’ argument. On 6 September Bush acknowledged for the first time the existence of a secret CIA prison network. The same in the case of extraordinary rendition of detainees to locations where not too many questions will be asked about the conditions of their detention and interrogation.
Exhibitions and discussion workshops planned for the counter-summit in Bucharest will focus on several of these sections:
If you want to take part or organize a workshop get in contact:

request@contra-doxa.com



Updates and material can be found under http://www.contra-doxa.com

WORKSHOPS
*Violent Conflict / War
- post cold war NATO

- sexualized violence in war and conflict
*The War on Terrorism
- paragraph 129a, terrorist association and criminalization of the left

- us military bases in Romania- us radar bases in Czech Republic
*Fortress Europe / Migration
- migration / trafficking / ethnicity Deprivation of Rights

- church / state / army
*Fight and Hope
- April 2008 - squat fortress Europe with updates on Berlin and Poland

- unmarked categories and dominance in autonomous spaces

- d.i.y. self-defense for women- d.i.y. electricity out of recycled material

- d.i.y. basic car-repair for women

- indymedia

*Preparation for direct actions
- street theatre play on war- rebel army



OVERVIEW OF MOVIES AND DOCUMENTARIES
*Land of the Blind

2006 / 101 min / UK, USA
Land of the Blind is a satiric political drama about terrorism, assassination, and the power of memory. The film is set in an unnamed place and time, where an idealistic soldier named Joe strikes up an illicit friendship with a political prisoner named Thorne. Through their conversations in the high-security military prison where Thorne is held, Joe slowly begins to question his allegiance to the country’s brutal but clownish dictator and his Machiavellian life. Eventually Thorne succeeds in recruiting Joe to the rebel cause, leading to a bloody coup d’etat with echoes of countless tyrannies, revolutions, and counter-revolutions throughout history. But in the post-revolutionary world, what Thorne asks of Joe leads the two men into bitter conflict, spiraling downward into madness until Joe’s co-conspirators conclude that they must erase him from history.
*No Plan No Peace BBC documentary of Iraq’s descent into chaos

2007 / 108 min / UK
For the first time on British television it is looked at what became of the Bush-Blair dream of turning Iraq into a stable, democratic, human rights-respecting showcase for the Middle East. BBC asks how the American and British Governments undertook the biggest occupation of a foreign country in modern times without a coherent plan. It reveals, with testimony from British and Americans who were there, how the drumbeat to war drowned out the repeated warnings of the "black hole" in American post-war planning. One General, seconded to work with the Americans, recalls their position: "The long-term plan was - we do not need a plan." Almost five years after the occupation began, nearly 4,000 American troops and 170 British soldiers have been killed. Conservative estimates put the total of civilian deaths at 90,000, with four million Iraqis displaced, and the cost so far of trying to win the peace at almost $450b
*Sometimes in April

2005 / 140 min / Rwanda
A clear-eyed look at the Rwandan genocide in 1994 that claimed the slaughter of 800,000 lives upwards. It pieces together the past tragedy from the perspective of a decade-later war-crimes tribunal. It’s hard to know which is less bearable--the depiction of atrocities, such as mass murder at a girls school, or the second-guessing of the international community, which largely stood by while the horror was unfolding. The film zeroes in on the U.S. government’s distinction that "acts of genocide" occurred in Rwanda rather than "genocide".

*Life in Peace

2004 / 45 min / Chechnya
As of December 11, 1994, the war in Chechnya continued. Sultan’s wife was killed and their home was plundered. The husband and the son flee to the Russian countryside, where they are trying to start a new life ...

*Turtles can fly

2004 / 95 min / Iraq
Turtles Can Fly was the first film to be made in Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein. The film is set in a Kurdish refugee camp on the Iraqi- Turkish border on the eve of the US invasion of Iraq. Thirteen-year-old Kak Satelite is known for his installation of dishes and antennae for local villages who are looking for news of Saddam Hussein. He is also organizing the dangerous but necessary sweeping and clearing of the minefields. The devastation to this land and its inhabitants is revealed in the matter-of-fact perspective of the children and is equally displayed with every poignant detail of its unbearable nature.

*Esma’s secret - Grbavica

2006 / 90 min / Austria, Bosnia, Germany
Esma lives with her 12-year-old daughter Sara in Sarajevo’s Grbavica neighborhood, where life is still being reconstructed after the 1990s Yugoslav wars. They are close, but when Sara’s school requires a certificate to prove her absent father died a hero in the Balkan War, Esma’s avoidance is futile and the increasingly troubled Sara is determined to prise Esma’s secret from her. Painful and brutal yet honest and hopeful, this superbly acted revelation of Esma’s secret re p resents the first step of a damaged nation towards dealing with the profound consequences of war and rebuilding its shattered identity.

*The wind that shakes the barley

2006 / 124 min / France, Ireland, UK
Two brothers are caught on differing sides of the battle for Irish freedom in 1920. While the IRA is a poor and ill-equipped fighting force, their willingness to give their lives for their cause is taken very seriously by the British, who step up their reprisals against the locals; the black and tans even begin directing their violence and torture against women and children. In 1921, Britain attempts to end the violence in Ireland by creating the Irish Free State, a compromise government which will give the Irish greater autonomy while Great Britain still retains final political control of the nation.

*The secret life of words

2005 / 115 min / Spain, Ireland
Hanna works in a plastics factory, talks to no one, lives in a shoe box apartment, and dines on prepared cubes of chicken, packets of white rice, and sliced apples. Her steady, silent presence at the factory causes such discomfort that her manager sends her on a forced vacation. Hanna, however, has no idea how to have a holiday. She goes to the cold, rocky coast of Ireland, and after overhearing a conversation in a restaurant, offers her professional services as a nurse to an injured man who is stranded on an oil rig in Finland. Hanna, a scarred survivor of a forgotten war, finds unexpected camaraderie and reveals her profoundly disturbing history.

*The road to Guantanamo

2006 / 95 min / UK
In September 2001 Asif and three of his friend go to the Punjab to meet the woman Asif is to marry. After an exhausting journey they arrive in Kandahar at night. It is the night of the first US bombing raid on Afghanistan. When they are finally arrested, after weeks of detainment they are flown out to Guantanamo. The secret service believes the young men to be somehow associated with Mohammed Atta and Osama Bin Laden. Although it soon transpires that there is no truth in these allegations, it is two years before Shafiq, Asif and Ruhel are able to return to Tripton. To this day there is still no trace of Monir, whom the friends lost in Afghanistan. This film makes use of archive footage, interviews and dramatised scenes to recreate the authentic story of their odyssey.

*Chechny: The Dirty War

2005 / 48 min / UK
Following the Dispatches on the Beslan school siege, reporters Mariusz Pilis and Marcin Mamon travel to neighbouring Chechnya, one of the most dangerous places on earth, to report on what life is like after more than a decade of Chechen terrorism and Russian repression. Filmed over the course of nine months, the film reveals that what started as a separatist movement in 1994 has now become synonymous with terrorism.

*Taxi to the dark side

2007 / 79 min / USA
The documentary focuses around the controversial death in custody of an Afghan Jitney taxi driver named Dilawar. Dilawar was beaten to death by American soldiers while being held in extrajudicial detention at the Bagram Airfield. Taxi to the Dark Side also goes on to examine America’s policy on torture and interrogation in general, specifically the CIA’s use of torture and their research into sensory deprivation. There is description of the opposition to the use torture from its political and military opponents, as well as the defence of such methods; the attempts by Congress to uphold the standards of the Geneva Convention forbidding torture; and the popularisation of the use of torture techniques in shows such as 24. An in depth look at the torture practices of the United States in Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantanamo Bay.

*Fool me twice

2007 / 117 min / Australia
The documentary is exposing the Australian government’s lies about the East Timor massacres, the cover-up of the Bali bombings and finally the subsequent anti-terror laws forced through parliament. "Fool Me Twice" examines well-known examples of False Flag terror, and adds an excellent new sequence about the 1993 World Trade Center bombing that leaves the viewer with no doubt that Emad Salem was a controlled asset. Utilizing audio that features Salem covertly recorded while talking with FBI agent John Anticev, "Fool Me Twice" cuts to the chase regarding the 1993 bombing, and goes deeper, examining the CIA’s links to this milieu. The Bali bombings are dissected with a healthy dose of newly gathered evidence that shows what the real effects of ANFO car bombs are, what they do, and what they don’t do, like leave massive craters. The film argues that this is from high-intensity military-grade explosives, which the authorities declare were not used. At least not anymore. The film closely examines the Jemaah Islamiyah and it’s links to the CIA and other intelligence agencies that used this radical group. This film reveals extensive connections between JI, the Bali Bombings and military and intelligence circles.

*Route Irish

2007 / 88 min / Ireland
This film is firstly an indymedia documentation of the emergence between 2002 and 2004 of a broad popular opposition to the US military use of Shannon Airport in the buildup to, invasion of, and occupation of Iraq. It follows a loose network of politicians, activist groups and individuals through the story of the rise, fracturing and sudden decline and disappearance of this movement and retraces the way in which their combined efforts, energies and strategies served to effectively tear away the Irish States’ veneer of neutrality and non-alignment in the post September 11th era of the ’War on Terror’. Secondly it is a reflection asking, why the international pre-war wave of opposition to the invasion of Iraq appeared so suddenly, peaked so quickly, and failed to sustain itself.

*Showdown with Iran

2007 / 56 min / USA
As the United States and Iran are locked in a battle for power and influence across the Middle East -- with the fear of an Iranian nuclear weapon looming in the background - this FRONTLINE documentary shows Iranian hard-liners shaping government policy. In this report the focus is on the tumultuous U.S.-Iran relations since 9/11, it examines how U.S. invasion in Iraq have served to strengthen Iran’s position as an emerging power in the Middle East.

*Lord of War

2005 / 117 min / USA„
You know who’s going to inherit the world? Arms dealers. Because everyone else is too busy killing each other.“

*In this world The Journey to Freedom has no borders

2004 / 86 min / UK
Inspired by the refugee plight in Europe and the virulent strain of xenophobia that accompanied it, the movie sets out to detail the dangerous journey migrants from the "Third World" make to find a better life in the more prosperous West. The movie narrows its focus to two refugees, but their story is clearly meant to be emblematic of the larger narrative of desperate migration and border crossings of Central Asia, on the run from Pakistan to London.

*Le Heim

2007 / 16 min / Germany
How does Germany welcome refugees? According to the EU’s Reception Directive, EU countries should ensure a dignified and comparable standard of living for asylum seekers in their care. Closely linked to the way in which refugees are received when they first arrive is how soon and in what way they are supported in their integration into their new country. Access to language training, employment and adequate medical care, are some of the factors that can determine whether a person is able to adapt successfully or is alienated from society. The documentary Le Heim shows how refugees have to live hidden and isolated in old barracks in the forests in Brandenburg, on the example of the refugee camp Waldsieversdorf.

*Lilya 4 Ever

2002 / 109 min / Sweden, Denmark
It’s a story of the downward spiral of Lilya, a girl in the former Soviet Union, whose mother abandons her to move to the United States. The story is based on the life of Danguole Rasalaite and examines the issue of trafficking in human beings and sexual slavery.

*Cruel and Unusual

2006 / 66 min / USA Women, transgender women such as Ashley, Linda, Anna, Yolanda and Ophelia, are incarcerated in men’s prisons across the U.S. from Wyoming to New Jersey and Florida. Denied medical and psychological treatment, victims of rape and violence, the documentary Cruel and Unusual asks if the punishment for their crime is indeed cruel and unusual? Prisons decide where to place inmates based on their genitalia, not their gender identity. Shot over three years, this documentary film challenges the basic ideas about gender and justice.

*The Other Side of the Burka

2004 / 52 min / Iran
On the southern Iranian island of Qeshm in the Persian Gulf, women wear a headscarf, but also a "burka," a pinching mask of black bands pressing against the eyebrows and nose, and ending in a point just above the mouth. Interweaving interviews with both men and women of the island, with images of daily life (the island is regularly plagued by draughts and other catastrophes), the documentary shows an extreme examples of face-veiling and makes every effort to give these bullied women a voice back.

*Pretty Dyana

2003 / 45 min / Serbia
An intimate look at Rroma refugees in a Belgrade suburb who make a living by transforming Citroën’s classic 2cv and Dyana cars into Mad Max-like recycling vehicles, which they use to collect cardboard, bottles and scrap metal. These modern horses are much more efficient than the cart-pushing competition, but even more important -- they also mean freedom, hope and style for their crafty owners.

*It’s always late for Freedom

2006 / 53 min / Iran, Iraq
This documentary looks at the social problems of addiction, poverty and violence that face Iranian society, through the stories of three boys in the Teheran House of Correction. These young men, hardly more than boys, seem more like victims than perpetrators. Entirely immersed in the everyday life of the prison, the filmmaker won the young men’s trust, and they hold nothing back of their hurts, frustrations, hopes and confusion.

*Flowers don’t grow here

2006 / 51 min / Ukraine
In Ukraine, an estimated 1,000,000 children are homeless. They form a troubling underworld, governed by their own rules and haunted by crime, prostitution, drug abuse and murder.

*The Source

2005 / 75 min / Czech Republic
Baku in Azerbaijan is once again becoming a focus for foreign investors eager to exploit thecountry’s vast oil riches. "Source" traces the pipeline from our commuter highways back tothis surreal and sinister landscape on which our way of life depends, where cows graze onpolluted land and children play in toxic gunge. With three quarters of the population livingunder the poverty line, the country’s post-Soviet government is promising oil will returnAzerbaijan into a real country, a prosperous and flourishing "New Kuwait". But between bigoil companies like British Petroleum and the corrupt government lining their pockets, whatdoes this mean for ordinary people of Azerbaijan? Is this "liquid gold" more of a curse thana blessing for this troubled country?

*Dead in the WaterHow poverful companies try to privatise a pulic resource around the world

2004 / 51 min / USA
There’s a problem with the world’s water supply. One in four people on earth doesn’t have access to clean drinking water. Water and sanitation infrastructures are crumbling. We keep using more of it, yet continue to degrade and deplete it. Powerful companies spotted a crisis and saw a business opportunity. From Moncton, New Brunswick to Atlanta, Georgia and Buenos Aires, Argentina to Soweto, South Africa, the documentary investigates the results of the effort to privatize what many consider a public trust.

*Power Trip

2006 / 95 min / Georgia
One of the advantages of living in the Soviet Union was that you didn’t have to pay for electricity. The state provided it. When the Soviet republic of Georgia declared independence in 1991 (shortly before the Soviet Union fell), regulated, reliable electricity was one of the first casualties. Freedom meant living in the dark, at least for a while. "Power Trip" tells the story of AES Corp., the American company that came into Georgia in 1999 to provide power to the people and faced myriad problems in doing it. When you’re used to paying utility bills, paying for electricity sounds reasonable. But when it’s always been free before, and when the average residential electrical bill is $24 -- compared to the average Georgian monthly salary of $15-$75 -- you’re probably not going to like it.

*The new rulers of the World

2002 / 53 min / USA
The New Rulers of the World is a 2001-2002 documentary film on the consequences of globalisation, taking Indonesia as the primary example of the serious problems with the new globalization. The central thesis is that the "New Rulers" are, in fact, the old rulers in new clothes. The focus, however, is on the human side, and the victims of violence and injustice, as well as critiques of national policies, along with the media response.

*On The Edge: The Femicide in Ciudad Juárez

2006 / 58 min / Mexico
On The Edge is a documentary covering the brutal murders of hundreds of poor young women in the border town of Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, murders that have been repeatedly ignored and unresolved by police and governments since 1993.

*What to do in case of fire?

2002 / 102 min / Germany
It tells the story of six former creative anarchists who lived as house squatters in Berlin during its heyday in the 80s when Berlin was still an island in the middle of the former eastern Germany. At the end of the 80s they went their separate ways with the exception of Tim and Hotte, who have remained true to their ideals and continue to fight the issues they did as a group. In 2000, with Berlin as Germany’s new capital, an event happens forcing the group out of existential reason to reunite and, ultimately, come to grips with the reason they separated 12 years ago.

*Dust Games / Hry Prachu

2000 / 86 min / Czech Republic
A film about coincidences about the Prague IMF and World Bank meeting in September 2000. The organism of the city as a ground of different ideological conceptions and grotesque situations. In September 2000 a meeting of two global financial institutions - the International Monetary Fund (managing international finances - ensuring free trade) and the World Bank (fighting poverty through loans) - took place in the middle of Europe, in Prague. At the same time people were gathering to prepare demonstrations expressing their disagreement with the existence of these two institutions. Dust Games documents these events over the course of 14 days with one film camera and one digital camera.

*Catch a Fire

2006 / 98min / South Africa
Catch a Fire tells the story of Patrick Chamusso, a South African wrongly accused, in 1980, of sabotaging the oil refinery where he worked. After both he and his wife are tortured by agents of the Boer government, Chamusso becomes a radicalized guerilla for the MK, or military wing, of the African National Congress. The story is filmed on the actual locations where its events took place.