Category: torture


“Femicide is an act of fear, of hate, of incompetence, omission, of cowardice and abuse. Not one more.”

Agnes Torres, a transsexual psychologist and gay rights activist, left her home in the central Mexican state of Puebla on her way to a party. The next day, her body was found in a gully, naked from the waist down. Her throat had been slit.

“Agnes’s case had major repercussions because she was an activist involved deeply in the struggle for our rights. But there are many other cases that no one has ever heard about,”

Torres was 28 years old and in the process of changing her identity in Mexico City, the only part of Mexico that has passed progressive laws such as the decriminalisation of abortion, same-sex marriage and a gender identity law http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=51861 allowing transgender people to change their gender and sex, under the left-leaning Democratic Revolution Party (PRD), which governs the capital.

Big demo against homophobia and femicide

…….The protesters, who according to news reports numbered between two hundred and one thousand, filled the central square with pictures of Torres, art, candles, and signs that read “La homosexualidad no es una enfermedad, la homofobia sí,” (Homosexuality is not a disease, homophobia is.)   Members of the crowd also taped signs to the walls of the buildings that border the central square: “Exigimos justicia,” (We demand justice) “¿Cuántas más?” (How many more?) “No somos todas; faltan nuestras muertas,” (This isn’t all of us; our dead are missing.)

The crowd chanted “va caer, va caer, la homofobía va caer.” (It will fall, it will fall, homophobia will fall.)  Instead of a minute of silence, the demonstrators had a minute of applause to remember and celebrate Torres’ life.  After filling the square for two hours, the group marched to the state government offices in downtown Puebla.

Word of Torres’ death spread quickly through social media, allowing the protest to be organized within about 24 hours.  On Monday night Twitter users were writing about plans for protests and memorials in other Mexican cities such as Xalapa and Guadalajara.

  “People should know about her. #AgnesTorres she was a daughter, she was a friend, she was a professional, she was human being. She is no longer with us. She was murdered”

-@mtorch on Twitter

Messages were directed at politicians such as state governor Rafael Moreno Valle asking him to take action to prevent hate crimes in the state. Tweets expressed a range of emotions from grief to anger and indignation.

Angry comments on Twitter also centered around a user who tweeted that Torres had deserved to die.  The account purported to belong to Juan Pablo Castro, a young man who had earlier in the week been forced to apologize for using a derogatory slang word for homosexuals at a political event for young people in the congress building in Mexico City.  However the account tweeting about Agnes Torres contained a slight variation in spelling from the real Juan Pablo Castro’s account name (substituting a capital i for an l) leading many to believe that it was a case of stolen identity.  The fake Castro account continued to tweet negative comments about Torres throughout the evening.  Perhaps in response to the backlash against “Castro,” other politicians took to Twitter on Monday evening to condemn Torres’ murder.
Image

“Femicide is an act of fear, of hate, of incompetence, omission, of cowardice and abuse. Not one more.” Photo via @feminicidios on Twitter.

People attending the protest also tweeted that the body of César González Martínez, a gay man, had just been found in Momoxpan, Puebla, at 2 PM that afternoon.  Some news outlets reported that including Agnes Torres, there had been three murders attributed to homophobia in Puebla so far in 2012; activist groups, some represented by Ibrahim Zamora and the organization “De Ser” (To Be), claimed that there have been six homicides of members of the gay community in Puebla so far this year.

According to the autopsy performed by the coroner, the cause of Torres’ death was hypovolemic shock caused by beheading with a sharp weapon. The autopsy was performed as part of the preliminary investigation into case number AP/406/2012/Atlixco.  News reports also stated that part of the body had been burned.

In addition to working as an activist, Torres was a psychologist specializing in gender identity. She was 28 years old.

Reads more HERE  with thanks   http://awayfare.wordpress.com/

By Joel Poindexter   Much has been written about The Hunger Games and the underlying libertarian themes in that story.

Jeffrey Tucker recently described the similarity between the fictional games and voting. Brent Railey noted just the other day the realities of the black market springing up to provide what the state can’t, or won’t, and the futility in relying on political figures for salvation. I’d like to draw attention to the allegory of the games and the modern warfare state….

A co-worker of mine suggested that another lesson is that when fighting one evil, it’s important not to become just as evil yourself; a lesson from later in the series.

…So right off the bat it’s pretty clear: An impoverished underclass, already forced to pay tribute to the government, has its youth pressed into violent service by the wealthy and politically powerful, for the entertainment and enrichment of this ruling elite. This pretty well describes the nation-state in virtually all times and all places, but it goes far beyond this.

The next similarity one finds is the way in which children are selected for the games: a draft. Each child’s name is placed in a bowl, and a representative from the Capitol draws the “winner.” There is a slight twist, one that makes the process even more similar to the actual draft. Each child may be entered additional times in exchange for greater food rations for their family.

The obvious effect is that poorer families are at greater odds of having their children selected for the games. In similar fashion, special rules applied during the draft allowed wealthy draftees to receive deferments, effectively allowing them to avoid military service. In modern times the ranks of the military are almost exclusively made up of the middle class and poor, who are promised better-paying jobs and opportunities otherwise not available at home.

While the people of most districts generally dread the “reaping,” in others, participation in the games is a coveted experience. In these districts, children, known as “Careers,” volunteer to go after training their whole lives. In very much the same way, military service is a generational endeavor. There are many soldiers now serving who can trace their family’s participation in wars going back many generations. It’s not uncommon for recruits to explain that their reason for joining was, at least in part, because their fathers and grandfathers served; “it’s just what we do.”

It continues.

The games are of course a spectacle. The players are paraded in front of adoring crowds; politicians make grand speeches, the Capitol showers praise on the children, who are costumed and trained before being sent to their deaths. Those who die have their portraits broadcast at the end of each day, in memoriam, not at all unlike the nightly news here when troops are killed in overseas combat.

One point that stands out, as Tucker notes, is that none of the participants would have any real reason to fight one another outside the arena. They are forced to do so, to adopt a base mentality and become uncivilized animals in order to survive. This is also true in virtually all wars. The people of at least one side, if not both, are pressed into service and sent to kill other people they’ve never met, and have no real quarrel with.

As with all contemporary conflicts, the games are televised, and huge profits are realized for those who organize them. Cameras are set up everywhere, ensuring that no detail goes unnoticed. Highlights are routinely played, not just of current games, but of those past…..

….There is one major deviation, to be sure. “Winners” are treated to special accommodations and never want for any material thing, unlike many of the troops who return from war with broken minds, bodies, and souls. A staggering number of returning veterans are often unable to function in normal society. Having been used up by their government, unfit to continue fighting, they’re no longer valuable and may be left and forgotten.

It’s no surprise that so many parallels exist, given that the series’ author, Suzanne Collins, was inspired when watching news reports about the wars. The two are so strikingly similar I can only hope that the millions of people, mostly teenagers, will make the same connection.

see full article HERE  http://www.stopwar.org.uk…

Dozens of bodies bludgeoned to death pop up in Baghdad’s dusty streets like the remains of a wreckage on a beach. They are the corpses of homosexuals and followers of the ‘emo’ fashion who dare to break with the strict canons of the Shia orthodoxy in power.

“They crushed his head with a concrete block. His name was Saif Asmar and he was a close friend of mine; tomorrow it could be me”.

Ruby (fake name) can hardly cope with his anger and fear as he holds a photo of his friend, barely recognisable after the brutal murder. Since the beginning of the year, death squads have been targeting gay men as well as those who dress in a distinctive Western-influenced style called ‘emo’.

Ruby talks about a surge in the attacks since Feb. 6 that, according to unofficial sources, has led to the killing of more than 80 homosexuals.

“That day they killed Ahmad Arusa in Sadr City and four other people in Geyara – two Shia neighbourhoods in eastern Baghdad. Earrings, nose rings, tattoos…all those are synonymous with either being homosexual, worshipping the devil or both things at a time,” says this young man who left home a month ago after he was threatened.

 POLICE JOIN IN GAY WITCH HUNT
Colonel Mushtaq Taleb Muhammadawi, director of the community police of the Iraqi Interior Ministry, stated on 6 February that they had observed the so-called Satanists and emos. He added that the police have an official approval to eliminate emo people because of their ‘notorious effects’ on the community.
The colonel declared to Iraq News Network that: ‘Research and reports on the emo phenomenon has been conducted and shared with the Ministry of Interior which officially approves the measures to eliminate them.

‘The Ministries of Education and Interior are taking this issue seriously and we have an action plan to “eradicate them”. I will be leading the project myself and we have the necessary permits to access all schools in the capital,’ added the colonel, thus possibly indicating at the very least Iraqi state complicity with the massacres.
Speaking with Gay Middle East and Gay Star News, 'O', a university student from Baghdad, explained that emo youth are wrongly perceived as gays who worship satan and are also labeled "vampire groups" falsely believed to suck blood from each other’s wrists in their satanic gatherings.O stated: ‘There is no religion that would dictate the killing of those who look different. Even if we credit the ridiculous assumption that emos might be worshiping Satan, the Quran says “you have your religion and I have mine”. There are so many myths around them. They are being killed for being perceived as too feminine and gay.’

It wasn’t a letter on a wall but an email that made Madi (also fake name) run away from her family five weeks back.

“They threatened to tell my family that I am a lesbian if I didn’t leave the country immediately,” recalls this 26-year-old woman in an interview with IPS at an undisclosed location in Baghdad. Apparently, Madi’s fears were far from being groundless.

“Many lesbians die in Iraq at the hands of older brothers. It is yet another ‘honour killing’, a ‘domestic matter’ over which the government will never conduct any investigation.”

London-based NGO Iraqi LGBT estimates that more than 720 gays have been killed in Iraq by extremist militias in the past six years. Madi says she’s lost many close friends.

“Moqtada al-Sadr’s militiamen and Iraqi Security Forces are the most aggressive against us, especially since a fatwa (a ruling in Islamic law) released four years ago said that homosexuals ‘should be executed in the most severe way.’”

Madi says many have been dismembered or burnt alive. She says doctors know the nature of such crimes by the state in which the bodies arrive. IPS has confirmed such claims with doctors who preferred to remain anonymous.

The Americans have come and gone, leaving half a million dead and their companies in the Oilfields. Under Sadaam  at least there were basic services, education and jobs, and the police controlled religious fanatics. This is the middle ages. this is predator capitalism gone mad.

EMO movement targetted

Emo, short for emotional or emocore is a US originated hardcore punk-rock music that appeared in the 80s attracting mostly teenagers. According to a report by a local LGBTQ activist the first murder occurred on 6 February in Sadr City district in Baghdad, the last was reported on 7 March of two female victims in their 20s from Shaab district of Baghdad.

Moral panic has been stirred up by militias about emo youth for the last year, alleging they are adulterers, Satanists, vampires and sexually depraved.

  MORE INFO HERE http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/100-killed-iraq-gay-and-emo-massacre090312

HELP TAKE ACTION HERE http://www.iglhrc.org/cgi-bin/iowa/article/pressroom/pressrelease/1499.html

The conflict in Afghanistan is at a decisive juncture, and the West is facing defeat on a scale not seen since Vietnam. Few want to face facts, and the result is a gap between rhetoric and reality of a kind that only wars gone badly wrong produce.


Lost in the rolling crisis that began with the Quran burning is an important upcoming date. At the end of this month, some say the 20th March, the Karzai regime will see through its threat to force out the private security companies who guard the contractors that carry out development projects across Afghanistan.

It never made any sense, a knee jerk reaction, to take over and punish a whole country because the US believed the twin tower bombers had a base there. 10 years of hellish war for an idiotic immoral revenge attack by the US war machine.

Humanitarian NGOs that operate without security will be unaffected. But the contractors who carry out projects funded by Western governments face the prospect of operating under the protection of a hastily raised “Afghan Public Protection Force”.

Would you put your business and your life in the hands of such a force?

According to the New York Times, some companies are wrapping up their projects in Afghanistan and leaving; others allow their employees to illegally keep personal weapons; and all are scrambling to make new arrangements.

In the kind of corporate buffoonery that neoliberal privatisation creates, and which has damaged the Western war effort in both Iraq and Afghanistan, one US company is considering suing the US government. The contractors had been assured that they would have a secure environment in which to operate.

As one frightened US employee of an aid company commented, “We’re easy pickings” for insurgents and angry Afghans.

 

And there are a lot of angry Afghans. Abdul Samad is one of them. He lost 11 relatives to the ‘rogue’ sergeant (and friends) in Panjwai. Along with those who have demonstrated against the Quran burnings, the Taliban, and the silent majority of Afghans.

Mr. Samad has one demand: It is time for the Americans to leave, all of them.

summary..Read full article HERE  http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/03/201231593938401477.html

We’ve counted some 140 ”Occupied Social Centers”  the Spanish state. (en castellano abajo)

 ”In every neighborhood an occupied social center… The movement is no longer so defensive, enclosed in a comfortable (and sometimes thankless) ghetto, and has begun to expand. It’s a good time to welcome without fear new people from other political traditions, and above all, people never politicized.”

In ‘A las Barricadas’ magazine we published a map some  months ago of social centers (squats or not), cultural associations, think tanks, foundations, social libraries, bookstores and other places of anti-authoritarian character.The very variety of the Iberian anarchism today, makes it difficult to categorize or locate many spaces.

The 15M  Occupy The Streets Movement

One of the results of the huge new assembly based movement of 15M, in 2011 ( an anti party and anti leader movement which is still spreading round the world), has been the number of occupations that its various assemblies have opened up.  Apart from Madrid and Barcelona, the squatters of 15M have occupied centers in  Zaragoza, Cuenca, Murcia, Vigo, Burgos, Oviedo, Palma and Leon. We can not deny that it is positive that they have adopted the practice of direct action.  (note.. this refers to the common complaint that the 15M ‘Take the Streets’ movement is much too pacifist.)

Some of these are squatting symbolically, a flower of one day, others are intended for housing, but some have become neighborhood social centers. Its easy for old activists to be critical of starry eyed kids. However the 15M  intentions of being a social center have identical demands to those of social centers in the  90′s. (Note.. many occupations are of public services threatened with closure.)

Squat the Basque Country

Speaking of the phenomenon of squatting we need to observe different contexts in the Spanish state. For example, it is known that all the comrades in Euskal Herriak play in another “League” as there are ‘gaztetxes okupados‘ squatted almost everywhere. In Bilbo city alone there are about a dozen. The idea is, more or less,  of a “social center in each neighborhood.” Strongly influenced by the political context, of course. In most of the gaztetxes leftwing nationalism is more or less open. In other cases they are more hippies, with less political content, and others are autonomous or even libertarian. Reflecting the strength of this movement is the huge response to the eviction of Kukutza III in Bilbo, easily the biggest rally in favour of squatting in recent years (probably) in Europe. On the other hand, in  Iruña (Pamplona) there has been a marked decline, from 10 to 1 (Zizur Nagusia) in recent years, the result of brutal continuous and long lasting repression.(represión.)

Revolutionary Barcelona and Catalunya

In the city of Barcelona is also fulfilled the phrase “in every neighborhood an occupied social center.” It is

La Carbonera. Barcelona 2012

possible that even in every neighborhood there are several. According to the weekly info-mural sheet ‘USURPER’ (Info Usurpa) in the city there are about 24 CSOs (Occupied Social centers), to which must be added those that carry out their activities from time to time and do not appear in InfoUsurpa. What’s more, we should add another dozen libraries and social ‘ateneos’ (autonomous workers centers) with more or less explicitly libertarian inspiration. In total at least  40 community centers (including Ateneos and others) in the city (but not all with daily activity). In the past decade the squatcenters have attracted many young (and not so young) who came to the city from all sides. In some neighborhoods the squatting has been endemic, as in Vallcarca or Poble Nou. Now there is a little everywhere, especially in Carmel, Sant Andreu, Sants, Horta, Clot, the Raval … It has lost the strong presence that it had in Gràcia in the past, but it has moved to other neighborhoods.

But the phenomenon of squatting has spread across the whole of Catalonia. CSOs can now be found in the industrial cities around Barcelona..  Molins de Rei, L’Hospitalet, Cornella, Vilamoura, Castelldefells, Santa Coloma, Badalona, etc.. There is also some displacement of squatters into neighboring Sierra Collserola mountains in the municipalities of Sant Cugat, Cerdanyola, Moncada, La Llagosta …  Kan Pasqual and Can Masdeu..  are rur-urban squatters, with one foot in the city and another in the field. This idea has spread to other CSOs around Barcelona.

And of course the rest of Catalonia, Tarragona, Reus, Baix Llobregat, Barcelona Nord, Sabadell, Terrassa, Manresa, Cerdanyola, Girona, Figueres, Lleida, and so on. There are probably as many CSOs outside as inside Barcelona city. Often there is a “squatter emigration” from Barcelona to the villages and smaller towns. In others it is the original people from the villages, that after participating in the Barcelona squatting movement, have decided to return home to OKKUPY.   Note.. The 15M Occupy movement is also strongly attracted back to the land.

A problem that may be associated  is the creation of certain “culture of the snack bar.” This means that the militant social circle in the center evolve a lack of communication with other social centers (of even their own neighborhood), without being coordinated to carry out common good politics. Sometimes more centers can mean more dispersal of social activists.. Managing an occupied social space can be difficult and exhausting. Especially if you enter into the dynamics of judgments, evictions, squatters, enabling space, student holidays … which can lead to disabling social activists for months until they have their own space underway again.

The 1930´s movement and Today

In the 30′s, according to Pere Solà, there were about 200 Ateneo centers run by Catalan workers. Today the number of social and cultural associations – although we may wonder – is not much less than this amount (about 70 between squatted social centers and cultural associations, some 50 of the Catalan independence movement and another 20 or 30 ideologically undefined). But whereas in the years ranging from 1910 to 1939, every Ateneo had 100, 200 or 500 people associated today in every community center there is an affinity group that is managed and how much some groups that give use . That is, if successful, the social center will have a dozen people running it, or if we include supporters who go through the CSO or Ateneo about 50 or 70 people (which is not bad, of course!). In short, if in the 30′s the phenomenon of labor ateneísmo figures moved tens of thousands of members and activists today are just a few hundred people and a few thousand supporters.

Among the short-term needs is the coordination of social centers belonging to the same ideological tradition (eg, CSOs more explicitly anarchist libertarians with the Athenians) and intergenerational generation of spaces in which knowledge is transmitted and take a policy formation process of the new generations (so you do not have to “reinvent the wheel” again and repeating the same mistakes that past generations).

As to what is known as “squatters’ movement” … In the Barcelona squatting no longer dominates the anarcho-punk atmosphere of the past, which made squatting had a certain aesthetic and ideological coherence, but now there are many variations with many political and aesthetic nuances, which makes it impossible to identify the new squatters politically as belonging to the same movement. Some are separatists, communists, autonomous anarchists, women, postmodern, queer, punk, counter-cultural, ravers, undefined, and so on. Is not the same Can Vies, as Kasa de la Muntanya, you can’t compare the series of Rimaia free university occupations with the District VI and the huge ‘circus squats’..

In Barcelona, today we should speak of “squatting” without more adjectives, iunstead of “squatters’ movement.” We believe that what really should matter is whether a social center falls within the libertarian movement or not, whether that’s part of its business or not. And if so, begin to create opportunities for mutual understanding and collaboration. We understand that the root cause of the malfunction la Assemblea d’Okupes of Barcelona is the very fact that the squatter movement is too dispersed. Otherwise, the generations go by without  libertarian practice  evolving ideologically, and centers burn out naturally over the years.

Madrid Squat movement taking off

By number, Madrid would be the third area of the state with more squats. Today there are about 15 in the capital and about 6 in the Community. This is a record. There has never been more occupied social centers. There are also other universities and community centers that complete the picture coming to be more than 40 social spaces. A similar situation occurs in the city of Barcelona, which is sometimes duplicated efforts, and collaborate rather than fall into certain excess of diversity. However, as there are fewer social centers in Barcelona, it is logical to occur later this numerical growth causes the subsequent referral to the various political movements that adhere to different centers (anarchists, communists, postmodern, and so on. .) Since then Madrid is still in growth phase, but at a pace that will squats in the city in a few years will be achieved or install an Athenian social center in each neighborhood.

And all over the place!!!

Galicia is an area that has experienced a remarkable growth occupied social centers, driven mainly by the independence movement there. In some ways trying to emulate their fellow Basques and Catalans, and to some extent have achieved success going from almost zero to twenty social centers in five years. In the more libertarian countryside there are 5 and about 3 ‘athenaeum’ squats and social libraries. There are also 5 other local initiatives which can classed as libertarian.

As for the rest of the peninsula, we have the case of Andalucia, which despite all its extension has little tradition  except in Granada, Seville and Malaga. In any case in recent years there have also been occupations (some failed to take) in Cordoba, Cadiz, Chiclana and Moron. Here its often squats of blocks of flats with neighbors, where social activists join in squatting and which become social centers occasionally (this also happens in Madrid and Barcelona).

There are also new CSOs on the island of Tenerife (2), Murcia (2), Cuenca (2), Burgos (2, 1 and evicted), Logroño, Salamanca, Valladolid, Leon, Salamanca, Oviedo, Palma, Zaragoza .. . and many places that years ago would have been unexpected as Arnedo, Badajoz, Plasencia or even Valdepeñas (who was evicted). And say nothing of smaller towns rhytm, Madrid and Catalonia, with squats (and some even more).

We conclude that the phenomenon of squatting, despite the laws, despite police repression and all the “bad reputation” associated with it, has remained over time, and has even spread throughout the Spanish state . Right now all regions except Cantabria have squatted social centers( although it had one three years ago and has some ‘Atheneos’. According to the map, there are some 140 CSOs counted statewide, but some are probably left out and others already lost.

For several years the libertarian movement has been complaining about the lack of anarchist Ateneos. (traditional workers social centers). Usually these Atheneos were linked with anarcho-syndicalist unions, but by the 70′s some were created in Catalonia which were autonomous anarchist organizations. With the advent of the crisis in the Iberian anarchism in the 80 and 90, the number of Ateneos remained very low and usually associated with anarcho-syndicalist unions who organised them.

Anyway, in the last 5 years or so, we are seeing an upturn,  with the creation of new explicitly libertarian cultural associations . The drive has several sources. On one side are the unions that create them, because they believe it is the line to be followed for the training of its members and to lead them cultural activity. On the other hand, we have different anarchist activists who, instead of creating a social center create an ideologically undefined libertarian ‘ateneo’ . Some of these activists have learned from their experiences in squatted environments , or being in assemblies too pluralistic for their point of view. The fact is that now there are about 50 libertarian cultural associations in the state and every month we hear of new ones.

The creation of free spaces, the generalization of these initiatives in particular areas (cities and districts with several social centers), and horizontal expansion (in terms of territory: new districts, new towns and cities which are receiving social activist groups) cause the spread of anti-authoritarian practices and are fairly widespread.

It is clear that this freedom movement of our time lacks an ideological coherence. Many people involved in these initiatives refuse to be labeled as anarchists. There is no self-consciousness of “liberation movement” out of the unions libertarian or the Athenians, and autonomous or anarchist insurrectionary groups. We need to change this dynamic and work together to include self-managed different libertarian initiatives in a social-political movement, coherent in terms of principles and objectives, while plural as to tactics. But that all members feel part of the project and see their initiatives as complementary.

We must begin to recognize that we are not so few as 15 years ago, and we need to change perspective. The movement is no longer so defensive, enclosed in a comfortable (and sometimes thankless) ghetto, and has begun to expand. It’s a good time to welcome without fear new people from other political traditions, and above all, people never politicized. The emergence of 15M reminds us of the need to be attentive to what happens in the street, not to despise any opportunity to let our message be heard, because after all “there is something left.” And above all, lets take every opportunity to continue building this libertarian infrastructure (spaces, own media, support groups, means of economic self-management, etc..) To be the basis of “parallel society”.

transalation by Google and corrected and slightly edited by this blogger. (one note. In Spanish ‘libertarian’ means ‘left wing anarchist’.

From  http://www.alasbarricadas.org/noticias/node/19600 with thanks


original Spanish version

Hay contabilizados unos 140 CSO en todo el estado, pero como siempre, “ni son todos los que están ni están todos los que son”.

En Alasbarricadas publicamos hace meses un mapaque hace las veces de directorio de centros sociales (okupados o no), ateneos, centros de estudios, fundaciones, bibliotecas sociales, librerías y otros espacios de carácter anti-autoritario. Se trata de crear un listado exhaustivo de iniciativas libertarias destinado a convertirse en una herramienta más del movimiento libertario (o de los diferentes movimientos anti-autoritarios). Es importante que la gente que comienza a tener curiosidad por el anarquismo o inquietudes sociales, tenga lugares de referencia en los que encontrar anarquistas. Sin embargo, la propia variedad del anarquismo ibérico actual, hace difícil catalogar o localizar muchos espacios. Por ello el directorio es lo más amplio posible, sin ánimo de excluir a nadie, intentando que cada persona pueda encontrar y desarrollar sus afinades.

Pero también estos mapas sirven para realizar análisis en base a los datos que aportan. Probablemente uno de los resultados colaterales del movimiento del 15M, del 2011, haya sido la cantidad de okupaciones que sus diferentes asambleas han llevado a cabo. Estas okupaciones han afectado incluso a territorios anteriormente libres de okupaciones, extendiendo esta práctica. Además de Madrid y Barcelona, las okupaciones del 15M se han desarrollado por Zaragoza, Cuenca, Murcia, Vigo, Burgos, Oviedo, Palma o León. No sabemos en qué pararán estas nuevas okupaciones, pero no podemos negar que es positivo que hayan adoptado la práctica de la acción directa.

Algunas son okupaciones simbólicas, flor de un día, otras están destinadas a viviendas, pero más de una se convertirá en centro social de barrio. Quienes llevamos ya años en temas políticos habremos leído otras veces comunicados sobre las intenciones de un centro social okupado cualquiera. Por muy del 15M que sean, las intenciones de ser un centro social de “barrio para el barrio”, que realice “actividades para lxs vecinxs”, así como que sea un “lugar de encuentro”… son idénticas a las de los centros sociales de los 90.

Hablando del fenómeno de la okupación observamos diferentes contextos en el estado español. Por ejemplo, de todxs es sabido que en Euskal Herriak juegan en otra “Liga” ya que hay gaztetxes okupados casi por todas partes. Solamente en Bilbo ciudad hay cerca de una decena. Se cumple, más o menos, la idea de un “centro social en cada barrio”. Influye mucho el contexto político, claro está. De hecho la mayoría de los gaztetxes orbitan en torno a la izquierda abertzale de una forma más o menos abierta. En otros casos son más hippies, con menos contenido político, y en otros incluso autónomos o libertarios. Como muestra de la fuerza de este movimiento okupa autóctono está la respuesta al desalojo de Kukutza III, en Bilbo, produciéndose la manifestación en favor de la okupación más grande de los últimos años (probablemente) de Europa. De todas formas en Iruña se ha dado un descenso acusado, pasando de 10 a 1 (el de Zizur Nagusia) en los últimos años, fruto de una brutal represión.

CATALUNYA

En la ciudad de Barcelona se cumple también esa frase de “en cada barrio un centro social”. Es posible que incluso en cada barrio existan varios. Según la hoja mural del Info Usurpa, en toda la ciudad hay unos 24 CSOs, a los que habría que sumar los que realizan actividades propias de vez en cuando y que no aparecen en el Usurpa. Por si fuera poco, habría que sumarle otra decena de ateneos y bibliotecas sociales de inspiración algo más explícitamente libertaria. Fácilmente habrá unos 40 centros sociales (incluyendo ateneos y demás) en la ciudad (pero no todos con actividad diaria). En la pasada década se ha consolidado la okupación, atrayendo a numerosos jóvenes (y no tan jóvenes) que venían a la ciudad de todas partes. En algunos barrios la okupación ha sido endémica, como en Vallcarca o Poble Nou. Ahora se da un poco por todas partes, en especial (además de en esos barrios) en el Carmelo, Sant Andreu, Sants, Horta, Clot, Raval… Se ha perdido la fuerte presencia que hubo en Gràcia en otros tiempos, pero ésta se ha trasladado a otros barrios.

Pero el fenómeno de la okupación se ha extendido por Cataluña entera. Predominan por número los CSOs de las ciudades industriales de los alrededores de Barcelona como Molins de Rei, L’Hospitalet, Cornellà, Viladecans, Castelldefells, Santa Coloma, Badalona, etc. Aunque también se observa cierto desplazamiento de okupas hacia la vecina Sierra de Collserola (a tiro de metro o tren) en los municipios de Sant Cugat, Cerdanyola, Montcada, La Llagosta… Kan Pasqual y Can Masdeu abrieron la veda de las okupas rur-urbanas, con un pie en la ciudad y otro en el campo. Esta idea se ha extendido a otros CSO de los alrededores de Barcelona.

Y por supuesto también en el resto de Cataluña, como en Tarragona, Reus, el Baix Llobregat, Barcelonès Nord, Sabadell, Terrassa, Manresa, Cerdanyola, Girona, Figueres, Lleida, y un largo etcétera. Probablemente existan ya tantos CSO activos fuera de Barcelona como dentro. Muchas veces se produce una “emigración okupa” desde Barcelona hacia los pueblos y ciudades más pequeñas. En otras es la propia gente emigrada desde estos pueblos, que al participar en el movimiento okupa de Barcelona, al retornar a casa decide okupar.

El problema que puede llevar asociado tanto centro social es la creación de cierta “cultura del chiringuito”. Es decir, que la militancia se encierre en su centro social produciéndose una incomunicación con los demás centros sociales (de incluso su propio barrio), sin llegar nunca a coordinarse para llevar a cabo una acción común efectiva políticamente. Así, se podría dar que, a más centros sociales más dispersión de la militancia. Y es que gestionar un espacio cuesta mucho esfuerzo. Especialmente si se entra en la dinámica de juicios, desalojos, okupación, habilitación del espacio, vacaciones estudiantiles… que puede llevar a desactivar militantes sociales durante meses hasta que tienen su espacio propio en marcha otra vez.

En los años 30, según datos de Pere Solà , había en Cataluña unos 200 ateneos obreros. Hoy en día el número de centros sociales y ateneos – aunque nos pueda sorprender – será no mucho menor de esta cifra (unos 70 entre centros sociales okupados y ateneos, otros 50 del movimiento independentista catalán y otros 20 o 30 sin definir ideológicamente). Pero mientras que en los años que iban desde 1910 al 1939, en cada ateneo había 100, 200 o 500 personas asociadas, hoy en día en cada centro social existe un grupo de afinidad que lo gestiona y como mucho algunos grupos más que le dan uso. Es decir, que si tiene éxito, el centro social tendrá una veintena de personas llevándolo, o si contamos los simpatizantes pasarán por el CSO u ateneo unas 50 o 70 personas (que no está mal, claro). En resumen, que si en los años 30 el fenómeno del ateneísmo obrero movía cifras de decenas de miles de socios y militantes, hoy en día son solo unos cuantos cientos de personas y algunas miles de simpatizantes.

Entre las necesidades a corto plazo está la coordinación de los centros sociales pertenecientes a la misma tradición ideológica (por ejemplo, los CSO más explícitamente libertarios con los ateneos anarquistas) y la generación de espacios comunes intergeneracionales en los que se transmitan conocimientos y se dé un proceso de formación política de las nuevas generaciones (para que no tengan que “reinventar la rueda” una vez más y caer en los mismos errores que las generaciones pasadas).

En tanto a lo que se conoce como “movimiento okupa”… En la okupación barcelonesa ya no predomina el ambiente anarko-punk del pasado, que hacía que la okupación tuviera una cierta coherencia estética e ideológica, sino que ahora se dan muchas variantes con muchos matices políticos y estéticos, que imposibilita que los nuevos okupas se identifiquen políticamente como pertenecientes al mismo movimiento. Las hay independentistas, comunistas, autónomas, anarquistas, de mujeres, posmodernas, queer, punks, contra-culturales, raveras, sin definir, etc. No es lo mismo Can Vies, que la Kasa de la Muntanya, ni que la Rimaia o el Distrito VI.

Por ello, en tanto a Barcelona, hoy en día se debiera hablar de “okupación” sin más, sin adjetivos, renunciando a hablar de “movimiento okupa”. Creemos que lo que nos debe importar realmente es si un centro social entra dentro del movimiento libertario o no, si participa de su actividad o no. Y si es así, comenzar a generar espacios de entendimiento mutuo y de colaboración. Entendemos que la causa de fondo de que no funcione laAssemblea d’Okupes de Barcelona es el propio hecho de que el movimiento okupa es demasiado disperso. De otra manera, las generaciones van pasando sin profundizar en la práctica libertaria, sin evolucionar ideológicamente, quemándose de forma natural con los años.

Madrid..

Por número, Madrid sería la tercera zona con más okupaciones del estado. Hoy en día hay unas 15 en la capital y unas 6 en la Comunidad. Se trata de una cifra récord. Nunca ha habido más centros sociales okupados. Además existen otros ateneos y centros sociales que completan el panorama llegando a haber más de 40 espacios sociales. Ocurre una situación parecida a la de Barcelona ciudad, que en ocasiones se duplican esfuerzos, y que en vez de colaborar se cae en cierto exceso de diversidad. Sin embargo, al existir menos centros sociales que en la ciudad condal, es lógico que se produzca ese crecimiento numérico que posteriormente provoque la derivación posterior hacia los distintos movimientos políticos a los que se adhieren los diferentes centros (anarquistas, comunistas, posmodernos, etc.). Desde luego aún Madrid está en fase de crecimiento, pero al ritmo que van las okupaciones en la ciudad en pocos años se logrará instalar un ateneo o centro social en cada barrio.

GALIZA

Galiza, es una zona en la que se ha experimentando un crecimiento más notable de centros sociales, impulsados sobre todo por el movimiento independentista de allí. En algunos aspectos intentan emular a sus correligionarios vascos y catalanes, y de cierta manera han logrado un éxito al pasar de casi cero hasta la veintena de centros sociales en un lustro. En el campo máslibertario hay 5 okupaciones y unos 3 ateneos y bibliotecas sociales. Además hay otros 5 locales en los que pueden encontrarse iniciativas libertarias.

En tanto al resto de la península, tenemos el caso de Andalucía, que a pesar de toda su extensión y población la okupación política no tiene tradición más que en Granada, Sevilla y Málaga. De todas formas en los últimos años se han producido okupaciones (algunas no lograron durar) en Córdoba, Cádiz, Chiclana o Morón. Aquí se dan más las okupaciones de bloques de viviendas con vecinos, en los que también se meten a vivir activistas sociales, convirtiendo la okupación en un centro social ocasional (ocurre lo mismo en Madrid y Barcelona).

También se observan nuevos CSOs en la isla de Tenerife (2), Murcia (2), Cuenca (2), Burgos (2; 1 desalojado ya), Logroño, Salamanca, Valladolid, León, Salamanca, Oviedo, Palma, Zaragoza… y muchos lugares que hace años habría sido insospechado como Arnedo, Badajoz, Plasencia o incluso en Valdepeñas (que fue desalojada). Y esto sin hablar de pueblos más pequeños en Euskal Herria, Madrid o Cataluña, que tienen okupaciones (y algunos con incluso varias).

Se puede concluir que el fenómeno de las okupaciones, a pesar de las leyes, a pesar de la represión policial y de toda la “mala fama” que lleva asociado, ha permanecido en el tiempo, e incluso se ha extendido por todo el estado español. Ahora mismo todas las comunidades autónomas excepto Cantabria tienen centros sociales okupados, aunque ésta tuvo uno hace tres años y mantiene algunos ateneos. Según el mapa, hay contabilizados unos 140 CSO en todo el estado, pero como siempre, “ni son todos los que están ni están todos los que son”.

Desde hace varios años el movimiento libertario ha venido quejándose de la falta deAteneos Libertarios. Normalmente estos ateneos estaban vinculados con los sindicatos anarcosindicalistas, pero hacia los años 70 se crearon algunos en Cataluña que eran autónomos de las organizaciones anarquistas. Con la llegada de la crisis del anarquismo ibérico en los años 80 y los 90, el número de ateneos permaneció muy bajo, y generalmente ligados a los sindicatos anarcosindicalistas que los montaban.

De todas formas, desde hace unos 5 años, se está produciendo un repunte mediante la creación de nuevos ateneos explícitamente libertarios. El impulso tiene varios orígenes. Por un lado están los sindicatos que los crean, porque creen que es la línea que deben seguir para la formación de sus militantes y para derivar en ellos su actividad cultural. Por otro lado, tenemos a diferentes activistas anarquistas, que en lugar de crear un centro social sin definir ideológicamente crean un ateneo libertario debido a sus ideas previas. Algunos de estos activistas vienen quemados de sus experiencias en entornos okupados, o bien, de estar en asambleas demasiado plurales para su punto de vista. El caso es que ahora hay unos 50 ateneos libertarios en el estado y cada mes tenemos noticia de nuevos.

La creación de espacios liberados, la generalización de estas iniciativas en puntos concretos (ciudades y barrios con varios centros sociales), y su expansión en horizontal (en cuanto a territorio: nuevos barrios, nuevos pueblos y ciudades que van recibiendo grupos de activistas sociales) hacen que la difusión de las prácticas anti-autoritarias esté bastante generalizada.

Está claro que a este movimiento libertario de nuestro tiempo le falta una coherencia ideológica. Muchas personas que participan en estas iniciativas se niegan a etiquetarse como anarquistas. No existe una conciencia propia de “movimiento libertario” fuera de los sindicatos libertarios o los ateneos, y de los grupos insurreccionalistas o anarquistas autónomos. Es necesario cambiar esta dinámica y aunar esfuerzos para incluir las diferentes iniciativas libertarias autogestionarias en un movimiento político-social coherente en cuanto a principios y objetivos y a la vez plural en cuanto a tácticas. Pero que todos sus integrantes se sientan parte del mismo proyecto y quieran que sus iniciativas se complementen.

Tenemos que empezar a reconocer que ya no somos tan poca gente como hace 15 años, y que es necesario cambiar de perspectiva. El movimiento ya no está tan a la defensiva, encerrado en un cómodo (y a veces ingrato) ghetto, y comienza a expandirse, pero debe saber acoger sin miedo a nuevas gentes provenientes de otras tradiciones políticas, y, sobre todo, a personas nunca antes politizadas. La irrupción del 15M nos recuerda la necesidad de estar atentas a lo que ocurre en la calle, no despreciar ninguna oportunidad para que se escuche nuestro mensaje porque después de todo “algo queda”. Y sobre todo aprovechar cada situación para seguir construyendo esta infraestructura libertaria (espacios, medios de comunicación propios, grupos de apoyo mutuo, medios de autogestión económica, etc.) que será la base de la “sociedad paralela”.

http://www.alasbarricadas.org/noticias/node/19600

U.S.  Using Drones to Target Rescue Workers and Funerals in Pakistan

The CIA’s drone campaign targeting suspected militants in Pakistan has killed dozens of civilians who had gone to rescue victims or were attending funerals.

So concludes a new report by the London-based Bureau of Investigative

Syed Wali Shah Age7 Killed In CIA Pakistan Drone Attack

Journalism. It found that since President Obama took office three years ago, as many as 535 civilians have been killed, including more than 60 children. The investigation also revealed that at least 50 civilians were killed in follow-up strikes when they had gone to help victims. More than 20 civilians have also been attacked in deliberate strikes on funerals and mourners.

We speak to Chris Woods, award-winning reporter with the Bureau of Investigative Journalism. “We noted that there were repeated reports at the time, contemporaneous reports in publications like New York Times, news agencies like Reuters, by CNN, that there were these strikes on rescuers, that there were reports that there had been an initial strike and then, some minutes later, as people had come forward to help and pull out the dead and injured, that drones had returned to the scene and had attacked rescuers,”

Woods says. “We’ve been able to name just over 50 civilians that we understand have been killed in those attacks. In total, we think that more than 75 civilians have been killed, specifically in these attacks on rescuers and on mourners, on funeral-goers.”

More info HERE   http://www.democracynow.org/2012/2/6/us_accused_of_using_drones_to

By dropev in English below
Nuestras familias tienen el dolor físico y psíquico anclado en la memoria: el aceite de ricino, las cabezas rapadas , los paseos denigrantes por los pueblos, los insultos, la discriminación por ser madre, padre, hijo, hija o mujer de un “rojo”, la miseria alimenticia, la expropiación de bienes personales, el llevar una comida o enseres a un padre en la cárcel y la respuesta... “
...the shot still alive a well, spraying gasoline, beaten with numerous fractures and then the "coup de grace", the belly of a woman burst expecting a baby, the outcasts of his people, the stolen children, building a new road passes over the mass grave without anyone ... prevent violation of graves and take bodies to Cuelgamuros. The absurdity of a country under the repression of a dictatorship......
Un amplio abanico de informaciones y fotografías llenan las páginas de los periódicos y los reportajes de muchas cadenas de televisión. El eco que llega a un público de gran audiencia es notable. Los testimonios aportados por los familiares de las víctimas del franquismo en defensa del Juez Garzón son relatos que ponen los pelos como escarpias  y sin ninguna duda ocurrirá hasta que  testifiquen  todos.

María Martín López, de Pedro Bernardo (Toledo), de sus 81 años, testificando ante los magistrados del Supremo. / … (EFE).Maria Martin Lopez, Pedro Bernardo (Toledo),  81 years, testifying before the judges of the Supreme. / … (Reuters)

La valentía y la firmeza de estos “memoriadores” es un gran ejemplo para todos los ciudadanos de este país amnésico. Muchos de nosotros empapados de esas micro biografías, que hacen parte de nuestra propia  historia individual como familiares de víctimas, las hemos contado y publicado en nuestros blogs o webs.

Fotográfias de desaparecidos portadas por un sipatizante de Garzón delante del TS foto SUSANA VERA (REUTERS)

En nuestras familias las palabras dolorosas asociadas a nuestros desaparecidos son similares a las que estos días suenan en los media. Muerto por hemorragia intestinal, por colapso  respiratorio,…, por arma de fuego…por traumatismo craneoencefálico, sin especificar cuál y quien es el causante, figuran en el acta de defunción ( cuando la hay) fechada a posteriori de los hechos, sin firmas legibles, sin autopsia, sin lugar de enterramiento o simplemente en un registro parroquial con una “D” delante del nombre de una persona.

Nuestras familias tienen el dolor físico y psíquico anclado en la memoria: el aceite de ricino, las cabezas rapadas , los paseos denigrantes por los pueblos, los insultos, la discriminación por ser madre, padre, hijo, hija o mujer de un “rojo”, la miseria alimenticia, la expropiación de bienes personales, el llevar una comida o enseres a un padre en la cárcel y la respuesta “ a este ya no le hace falta”, el “las manos atadas con un alambre”, el tirado aun vivo a un pozo, el rociado de gasolina, el apaleado con numerosas fracturas y luego el “tiro de gracia”, el vientre reventado de una mujer esperando un bebé, los desterrados de su pueblo, los hijos robados, la construcción de una nueva carretera que pasa por encima de la fosa común sin que nadie lo impida…violación de sepulturas y traslado de los cuerpos a Cuelgamuros.  El esperpento de un país bajo la represión de una dictadura.

Simpatizantes y partidarios del juez Baltasar Garzón esperan su llegada su llegada hoy al Tribunal Supremo, en donde continúa el juicio contra él por declararse competente para investigar los crímenes de franquismo.SERGIO BARRENECHEA / EFESimpatizantes y partidarios del juez Baltasar Garzón esperan su llegada su llegada hoy al Tribunal Supremo, en donde continúa el juicio contra él por declararse competente para investigar los crímenes de franquismo.SERGIO BARRENECHEA / EFE Photographs of missing realatives on a sympathiser of Garzon

La sala de audiencias del TS decorada de terciopelo y molduras doradas, con jueces que no arrugan sus togas y con las puñetas bien almidonadas, es como una fosa donde los cadáveres de las cunetas llenan el espacio hasta asfixiar los presentes al juicio. Los abogados de la acusación contra Garzón, ajenos a este dolor, ningunean a los testigos cortándoles la palabra, sacando a relucir el tan recurrido “Paracuellos del Jarama”.

Siendo la primera vez que delante altas instancias judiciales estos relatos son expuestos, y que definen claramente una violación de los Derechos Humanos, crímenes contra la Humanidad, no debemos olvidar, bajo ningún espejismo, que NO ASISTIMOS A UNA COMISIÓN DE LA VERDAD , QUE NO SE ESTÁ APLICANDO REPARACIÓN NI JUSTICIA. Solo son testigos llamados por la defensa del Juez Garzón.

Un simpatizante de Garzon porta la imagen de Wenceslao Romero de Castilla Lopez, asesinado en Mérida en Septiembre de 1936 .foto ARTURO RODRÍGUEZ (AP)  A supporter of Garzon bears the image of Wenceslao Lopez Romero de Castilla, killed in Merida in September 1936. Photo ARTURO RODRIGUEZ (AP)

Baltasar Garzón,  quien recibió a esos familiares, intentando darles el amparo judicial que les corresponde, promovió con su auto, de hace dos años sobre los crímenes de la dictadura, la difusión mediática de esos crímenes como nunca había ocurrido en nuestro país. Entonces y ahora el mundo entero escucha los relatos que se contaban en las cocinas de nuestras familias en voz baja “por si se enteran los vecinos”.

Puede que sea la última vez que la Justicia nos escuche.

En memoria de nuestros familiares desaparecidos, en agradecimiento al Juez Garzón, en reconocimiento al valor y la tenacidad de los testigos, (son  compañeros nuestros), en solidaridad con todos ellos, reclamando  VERDAD, JUSTICIA Y REPARACIÓN, un abrazo fraternal.

Pedro-Vicente Romero de Castilla Ramos, nieto de Wenceslao, desaparecido, y de Eustaquio represaliado.

Algo de la prensa de estos días:

Los nietos buscamos con la misma dignidad pero sin el miedo de nuestros padres

http://www.publico.es/especiales/memoriapublica/420017/los-nietos-buscamos-con-la-misma-dignidad-pero-sin-el-miedo-de-nuestros-padres

“Dijeron que le habían reventado la tripa a mi abuela embarazada”

http://politica.elpais.com/politica/2012/02/02/actualidad/1328180875_064552.html

ENGLISH GOOGLE TRANSALATION

Garzon’s trial and witnesses in his defense
by dropev
A wide range of information and photographs fill the pages of newspapers and the stories of many television networks. The echo that reaches a large public is remarkable. The testimony given by the families of the victims of Franco in defense of Judge Garzon are stories that make your hair like hooks and no doubt will happen until they testify all

The courage and firmness of these “memoriadores” is a great example for all citizens of this country amnesiac.

 Many of us steeped in these micro biographies, which are part of our own individual history as relatives of victims, we have had and posted on our blogs or websites.

In our families the painful words associated with our missing are similar to the sound these days in the media. Died from intestinal bleeding, by respiratory collapse, …, … gunshot head injury, without specifying what and who is responsible, are listed in the death certificate (if any) dated subsequent to the facts without legible signatures no autopsy, no burial or simply in a parish register with a “D” before the name of a person.

Our families have the physical and psychic pain rooted in memory: castor oil, shaved heads, walking through the villages demeaning, insulting, discriminatory treatment for mother, father, son, daughter or wife of a “red” , food poverty, expropriation of personal property, carrying a meal or appliances to a parent in prison and the answer “to this and does not need” the “hands tied with wire,” the shot still alive a well, spraying gasoline, beaten with numerous fractures and then the “coup de grace”, the belly of a woman burst expecting a baby, the outcasts of his people, the stolen children, building a new road passes over the mass grave without anyone … prevent violation of graves and take bodies to Cuelgamuros. The absurdity of a country under the repression of a dictatorship.

Sympathizers and supporters of Judge Baltasar Garzon arrival await your arrival to the Supreme Court today, where he continued the trial against him had jurisdiction to investigate crimes franquismo.SERGIO BARRENECHEA / EF
The TS courtroom decorated with velvet and gilding, with judges who do not wrinkle their robes and starched the heck it is like a pit where the bodies of the space-filling ditches to stifle the present trial. Lawyers for the prosecution against Garzon, oblivious to the pain, the witnesses ningunean cutting off the floor, bringing out the much used “Paracuellos Jarama.”

Being the first high courts before these stories are set, and defining a clear violation of human rights, crimes against humanity, we must not forget, under any illusion that NO COMMISSION TO ASSIST THE TRUTH, NOT REPAIR IS BEING OR JUSTICE. Only witness called by the defense of Judge Garzón.

Baltasar Garzon, who received these family members, trying to give them their proper legal aid, promoted his car two years ago about the crimes of the dictatorship, the media coverage of such crimes as never before in our country. Then and now the whole world listens to the stories that were told in the kitchens of our families in a low voice “for if they know the neighbors.”

It may be the last time we heard Justice.

In Memory of our missing relatives, in gratitude to Judge Garzon, in recognition of the courage and tenacity of the witnesses, (they are our companions) in solidarity with them, claiming TRUTH, JUSTICE AND REPAIR, a fraternal embrace.

Pedro Romero de Castilla-Vicente Ramos, grandson Wenceslas gone and Eustachian reprisals.

Some of the press these days:

The grandchildren look with equal dignity without fear of our parents

“They said they had busted the guts to my grandmother pregnant”

http://politica.elpais.com/politica/2012/02/02/actualidad/1328180875_064552.html

According to the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU), “more than 4 million innocent New Yorkers were subjected to police stops and street interrogations from 2004 through 2011.” Predictably, “black and Latino communities continue to be the overwhelming target of these tactics. Nearly nine out of 10 stopped-and-frisked New Yorkers have been completely innocent, according to the NYPD’s own reports.”

“As we march up Third Ave.,” Jamel tells the group assembled beneath the cloudy skies to protest the practices, “your job is to recruit everyone you see. You’ve been drafted. You ain’t got no say-so.” Jamel is a photographer, digital media artist and educator, who has been instrumental in organizing many of the Stop Stop and Frisk rallies in black and Latino majority neighborhoods around New York. Rallying the troops to march, he tells the crowd that we are here so that “no more generations of our youth will continue to be brutalized because of the way that they look. We’re here to say, ‘No more of this shit.’”

Read full story HERE  http://wammtoday.wordpress.com/2012/02/02/occupy-

 

Animal Liberators Burn 14 Cattle Trucks in California

12 Jan   by Michelle Macaluso

Animal rights activists are taking credit for setting fire to and destroying 14 cattle trucks at California’s largest beef producing, feeding and marketing ranches.

The North American Animal Liberation press office posted an anonymous letter on its website from activists claiming full responsibility for the arson……

“We were extremely pleased to see that all 14 trucks ‘were a total loss,’ with some being ‘completely melted to the ground,’” the statement reads.

“We’re not delusional enough to believe that this action will shut down the [H]arris feeding company, let alone have any effect on factory farming as a whole. [B]ut we maintain that this type of action still has worth,” the statement reads……

While the Animal Liberation Front is not claiming direct responsibility for the fire, the organization provides a platform on their website for animal rights activists…..

read all HERE  http://earthfirstnews.wordpress.com

new graphic to go with ch 32 'Smash the Prison Gates' from the novel The Free..(available as a free download here http://thefreeonline.wordpress.com )

A 2011 year-end reportback from Denver Anarchist Black Cross (summary)

 denverabc  We hope these words find our comrades around the world in the best of health and spirit, during this time of massive social upheavel and revolt. The world has definitely seen a spread of anarchist influenced and revolutionary praxis throughout the last half of 2012, and we’ve definitely been feeling the massive change in current here in Denver.2011 saw the busiest time yet for our collective, as we worked to support social movements active in Denver, and across the world.

 GENERAL/INTERNAL:

The most recent formation of the Denver Anarchist Black Cross has now been active in the Denver metro area for 2 1/2 years. During that time our collective has seen a lot of ebb and flow with our membership and our work. However, the last 6 months of 2011 saw our collective solidify to a consistent membership base. At the close of 2011, we had 11 dues paying members, with three more people expected to complete their membership process sometime in January 2012……..

 LONG TERM POLITICAL PRISONER/POW SUPPORT:

One of the mainstays of Anarchist Black Cross work will always be support for long-term imprisoned comrades, classified as political prisoners and prisoners of war. Denver ABC has continued our dedication to supporting our kidnapped warriors through a variety of ways.

 Since our inception, Denver ABC has worked to maintain a comprehensive listing of political prisoners and social movement prisoners held captive within the U.S. An electronic version of our listing is continuously updated and available at our blog at denverabc.wordpress.com. An 11th edition of a print version of that listing was made available in November, with a new edition to be made available sometime in January 2012…….

 For the second year, Denver ABC maintained a $30 a month stipend for long held Black Liberation prisoner, Mutulu Shakur.support website: http://mutulushakur.com

 Near the end of 2011, DABC expanded our monthly stipend program to include another prisoner, Siddique Hasan, a participant in the famed Lucasville Prison uprising that took place in Ohio in 1993.More information on Siddique can be found at: http://denverabc.wordpress.com/political-prisoners-database/siddique-abdullah-hasan/

 In July, DABC held our 3rd annual Running Down the Walls 5k benefit for U.S. held political prisoners. The run was held in solidarity with the chapters of the Anarchist Black Cross Federation and other ABC chapters across North America. This year’s run was the most successful by far. 40 participants helped us raise over $1,100. $800 was sent to MOVE prisoner Michael Davis Africa. More information: http://denverabc.wordpress.com/political-prisoners-database/michael-davis-africa/  Our efforts at supporting individual political prisoners also included sending $300 each to the last two members of the United Freedom Front held captive within the United States, Tom Manning and Jaan Laaman. More information on Tom, Jaan, and the United Freedom Front can be found here: http://denverabc.wordpress.com/political-prisoners-database/jaan-karl-laaman/

Our work to support our long held comrades has included a myriad of other programs and initiatives, including participating in a night of action for long term anarchist prisoners which took place on June 11th. DABC members helped plant dozens of flowers throughout Northwest Denver, accompanied by vibrant full color posters explaining the cases of two comrades, Eric McDavid and Marie Mason………

 FORMER POLITICAL PRISONER SUPPORT:

The struggle a political prisoner faces does not end once they are released from prison, no matter how long they have been outside of the prison gates. It is with this contention in mind that DABC also believes it is important to support our previously imprisoned comrades. They have lost years of their lives to our social movements, and they deserve our continued support……..

 

PRISON ABOLITION/MIGRANT DEFENSE:

Throughout 2011, Denver ABC continued our commitment to supporting local movements resisting mass imprisonment throughout Colorado. Our work focused on two fronts: the Colorado state prison system and the ICE detention system.

 Our work within the Colorado state prison has been multi-pronged. We still maintain a free literature program for prisoners; sending radical, revolutionary, and anarchist titles into prisons across Colorado. 2011 finally saw the release of a new catalog of titles, as well as the solidification of the project, which had stalled last year for various reasons.

 DABC held several solidarity rallies with women prisoners actively struggling against violence and sexual assault at the hands of guards at the Denver Women’s Correctional Facility in northeast Denver.

Twice in the spring, a group of 20-30 people held banners proclaiming solidarity with the women struggling inside. The reactions from the women inside were supportive and excited, as women banged on the windows of prison cells and raised fists in solidarity. Our efforts to create a solid working relationship with these women has stalled out, after some correspondence with women who got our address off of a large banner held outside the prison, encouraging them to write us. We hope to work more on this in 2012 and correct our mistakes.

 Our solidarity with prisoner struggles was not just limited to the geographic confines of Colorado. During both rounds of hunger strikes that spread across the California prison system, Denver ABC took a role in organizing local solidarity. In July, we helped organize local movement members to call and write the prison system, and to write and develop relationships with the prisoners active within the hunger strike. In October, we organized a march and rally, where we handed out hundreds of fliers with information about the strike. We continued our phone call and letter writing campaigns, and also held a teach-in and strategy session where we were able to get Bo Brown, a former member of the George Jackson Brigade and a member of the Pelican Bay Hunger Strike Support Committee, to video chat with the participants about the strike and the efforts to offer support.

 Our work supporting the efforts of local migrant and Chican@ liberation movements was not as active as it was last year, but still took up a considerable amount of our organizing efforts, particularly in early 2011….DABC maintained our presence at monthly vigils against the ICE Detention Center in nearby Aurora. …..For the second year, DABC has maintained our involvement with Colorado AID (Abolish Inhumane Detention)…..

 LEGAL SUPPORT:

DABC has been providing legal support to local social movements since our inception. 2011, however, pushed this work to a whole new level, as we worked to support participants in the local anti-police movement, including an attempted murder case.

the case of Amelia Nicol

 The most serious case we have ever offered our support for was the case of Amelia Nicol, a woman arrested during the “March Against Police Terror” that took place in May. Amelia was accused of throwing a molotov cocktail (or a bomb, depending on which capitalist media source you choose to read) at police officers. She was charged with two counts of attempted murder of a police officer, arson, use of explosives, possessing explosives, and a host of other felonies and misdemeanors. In all, Amelia faced over 100 years in prison for these charges. Denver ABC took the initiative to offer the support necessary to win this court case. Our support took on a myriad of roles; starting with providing correspondence, speaking to Amelia on the phone everyday, and working to develop a pressure campaign against the District Attorney.  DABC organized a letter and phone call campaign, where hundreds of postcards, letters, faxes, and emails were sent to the District Attorney from all over the world, demanding that the charges against Amelia be dropped. We organized a press conference outside the DA’s office, and a half dozen supporters went inside to drop off hundreds more postcards directly to the DA. This was the first time DABC had organized anything like this. Video of the press conference can be found here: http://denverabc.wordpress.com/2011/06/09/amelia-nicol-press-conference-rally-and-da-confrontation-6911/

 On June 9, after being imprisoned for over a month, Amelia had her most serious charges dropped in court. She was bonded out by DABC members on June 13, facing one felony count for possession of explosives, and 3 misdemeanor charges for assault and resisting arrest. DABC provided Amelia with a place to live, a job, clothing, and other physical resources that she needed upon release. By September, the remainder of Amelia’s charges were dropped in court. Amelia went from facing over 100 years in jail to being completely free and clear in a matter of months.  This was the first time DABC has ever performed a support role of this magnitude and with these dire of consequences. It was

version of graphic titled 'Re-Creating' used for Act 2 of the novel 'The Free' ( available as a free download here http://thefreeonline.wordpress.com )

definitely a learning experience, and one that will continue to inform our legal support work. It also was a major victory for our collective and for local revolutionary movements.

 OCCUPY DENVER:

A lot can be said about our participation in Occupy Denver. The comments, history, analysis, and insights we have gained could fill an entire periodical at this point. However, we’ll just offer a brief overview of our involvement.  Denver ABC was present from the first General Assembly ever held at Occupy Denver. In fact, members of our organization facilitated the first five general assemblies. We were also a part of helping to adopt guidelines that would ensure an acceptance of a diversity of tactics, embodied by the St. Paul’s Principles, four guiding points drafted and adopted by organizers of a diverse array of political and tactical persuasions during the 2008 protests against the Republican National Convention in Minnesota…..much more……


The Denver ABC Mutual Aid Fund provides emergency financial relief to social movement members in dire economic need. Since its inception, the fund has provided thousands of dollars to local movement members………The Denver Armed Resistance Committee is a working group of Denver ABC that works on providing tactical and self defense skills and resources to members of local social movements…

 CHILD AND FAMILY SUPPORT:

DABC continued our work to build a multi-generational movement and support parents and families throughout 2011. In the early part of the year, DABC members helped construct a new room at the 27 Social Centre that would act as a childcare room and a base for our Nurturing Liberation program. .  DABC also provided childcare at several events for outside organizations.

 NORTH AMERICAN ANARCHIST BLACK CROSS CONFERENCE:

In August, Denver ABC hosted a conference for North American Anarchist Black Cross chapters and other anarchist based prisoner support formations. Around fifty participants representing at least 14 different organizations and defense committees active in the United States and Canada participated in the weekend long conference……….

 P&L PRINTING/27 SOCIAL CENTRE:Members of Denver ABC have been running a collectively owned commercial print shop for nearly 3 years. P&L Printing is a union, worker owned shop, affiliated with the Industrial Workers of the World, and the Communications Workers of America Local 7777………..

 OTHER SUPPORT/ANTI-REPRESSION WORK:In April, DABC organized to support one of our members and close comrades, Stefan Martinez, in response to mounting FBI pressure against him. Stefan had been contacted and harassed by the FBI for years, demanding information on Earth and Animal Liberation activities and groups, and other radicals. Stefan always refused to answer their questions or to talk to them, and after months of harassment, they stopped contacting him……..

 SUPPORTING DENVER ABC:In 2011, the workload of Denver ABC increased exponentially from the previous year. We were able to support dozens of legal cases, provide thousands of dollars worth of financial support to movement members inside and outside of prison, and ensure that many people would no longer sit in jail cells, and would not spend their lives inside of them. We’ve only been able to accomplish what we have because of financial and physical support and solidarity from hundreds of supporters in Denver and across the world………….

 -Donate to the DABC Mutual Aid Fund or our Prisoner Warchest!  Just contact us to find out how to make a donation!

Support your local ABC or other anti-authoritarian projects!

To inquire about purchasing posters, t-shirts, or making a donation, drop us a line at denverabc@rocketmail.com or visit http://plpress.bigcartel.com

 In love and solidarity!
Your comrades at Denver Anarchist Black Cross

 http://denverabc.wordpress.com  SEE FULL REPORT HERE

Adam Ford

Xue Jinbao addressing a meeting before his death at the hands of the state

Xue Jinbo – died in police custody, apparently the victim of a state killing. The state news agency claimed that Xue was the victim of a heart attack, but the bruised knees, bloodied nostrils and broken thumbsreported by his son in law indicate this took place under torture.The furious Wukan villagers banded together and drove the police and Communist Party officials out of town. They then set about running things for themselves.

The struggle began in September, when Wukan residents became suspicious that the local government was in the process of selling common farming land to Country Garden - a company which builds residences for the rich.Protesters began blocking roads and attacking buildings in an industrial park.
Three villagers were arrested at the Communist HQ demonstrations, and the next day hundreds laid siege to the police station, demanding their release. The state responded to this challenge with unrestrained ferocity, with police and mercenaries beating villagers apparently

Wukan VICTORY over State

without discrimination – men and women, children and the elderly.

One of the leaders – respected village butcher Xue Jinbo – died in police custody, apparently the victim of a state killing. The state news agency claimed that Xue was the victim of a heart attack, but the bruised knees, bloodied nostrils and broken thumbsreported by his son in law indicate this took place under torture.

The furious Wukan villagers banded together and drove the police and Communist Party officials out of town. They then set about running things for themselves. Meanwhile, cops maintained a blockade a few miles away. At this point, the central government’s strategy appeared to be one of containment. Despite the blocking of Wukan-related internet searches within China itself, some international media were in town to spread the word, and villagers even set up their own press office. People from nearby villages managed to smuggle food in - their solidarity directly fuelling the resistance. There was also some wealth redistribution from the wealthiest to the poorest, ensuring that everyone would survive the blockade.

Chinese police backed down as Wukan uprising got worldwide coverage

Frustrated, the Communist leadership eventually cut a deal. Though details are scarce and unreliable, the provincial government has reportedly agreed to buy back land it had seized, and allow the peasants to collectivise it once more. Detained villagers have been released, and an ‘investigation’ into the death of Xue Jinbao has been announced.

There are growing indications that the national export-led economy is being dragged down by rising recessionary tides in the western world. Factory bosses have already been compelled to attack jobs, wages and conditions across the country, and a strike movement seems to be gathering pace. During the first recession of this global depression, Chinese leaders threw money at the problem, and seemed to have headed off a broad revolt. But that money has now been spent, and indeed led to more problems, as a property bubble seems fit to burst It it now possible to envisage a largescale uprising of the Chinese industrial proletariat, which would no doubt find support in  villages like Wukan.

read full article HERE  (with thanks!  http://thecommune.co.uk/

Sat 7 January London Rally Trafalgar Square: Shut Guantánamo – End 10 Years of Shame

 

Saturday 7 January 2012: 2.0pm – 4.00pm  Public Rally Trafalgar Square, London

January 2012 marks ten years of torture, abuse and arbitrary detention at Guantánamo Bay – one of the world’s most notorious symbols of injustice. The illegal US military prison has held more than 800 prisoners – most of them released without charge or trial. 171 prisoners remain, without prospect of release.

Over a dozen British nationals and residents have been illegally imprisoned at Guantánamo. Two remain: Shaker Aamer, a UK resident with a British family in south London, including a son he has never met; and Ahmed Belbacha, an Algerian national from Bournemouth. Both men were cleared for release in 2007.

President Obama promised to close Guantánamo but has not. Now prisoners may beheld indefinitely without evidence. The vast majority have never faced any charges.

Kidnapping and imprisoning people indefinitely without charge or trial, denying them their freedom and human rights,gratuitously denigrating and abusing them physically and mentally: Join the rally on 7 January 2011 to say all of this must end now.

Sign London Guantánamo Campaign’s petition…

Argentina Investigates Human Rights Crimes of Spain’s Franco Era – IPS ipsnews.net

Submitted by: TheAngryindian | 0 Comments

Argentina Investigates Human Rights Crimes of Spain’s Franco Era – IPS ipsnews.net: BUENOS AIRES, Dec 28, 2011 (IPS) – A judge in Argentina has begun to investigate human rights crimes committed during Spain’s civil war and the dictatorship of General Francisco Franco (1936-1975).

This month, federal judge Mar�a Servini asked Spain for information on Spanish military officials, as part of a new investigation based on a lawsuit filed in April 2010 by human rights lawyers in Argentina in the name of relatives of victims of the Franco dictatorship.

The judge requested the names of military officers involved in the Franco regime; lists of victims of forced disappearance and summary execution; lists of children who were stolen from their parents during the dictatorship; and the names of companies that allegedly benefited from the forced labour of political prisoners.

Read the full Article Argentina Investigates Human Rights Crimes of Spain’s Franco Era – IPS ipsnews.net  |  Permalink

 

  kazakhstan kicks off

Kazakh resistance to State massacres

On December 16th (Kazakhstan’s Independence Day) more than 3,000 people met up for a demonstration at the main square of Zhanaozen, a town situated in the oil-rich Mangystau Province in the west of the country.

The people who took part in action were the ex-workers of local oil companies, fired after a bitter seven month strike. Their main demands were the payment of all outstanding salaries and improvement of work conditions.

As expected the oil workers and other town folk announced their intentions to hold a peaceful protest to the authorities of Kazakhstan. However, during the demo, a police Jeep was deliberately driven into the crowd of protesters and ‘peaceful’ went out of fashion from there on in. Angry people turned a police car upside down and set it on fire. A nearby police bus and a yurt (placed on the square “for the celebrations”) were

oil strikers camp Kazakhstan

also torched. Following this, the people, armed with sticks, pipes and molotov cocktails occupied the office of the local gas company and burned rooms on the ground floor of its office building. The local council building and a hotel were also burned. The oil workers surrounded the building and would not let the firemen get to the building. As an encore, they looted the houses of the rich in the exclusive, private area of town.

The state’s answer was to send army divisions, armoured transport and more police. The town’s population defended the strikers and, as a result of the attempt to bring it to ‘order’ more than ninety people (civilians and security) are said to have been killed, with eight hundred injured (these numbers are constantly growing).

Unsurprisingly, official media channels tell of much lower numbers. Many workers across the region have stopped work in support of the demonstrators. First oil workers of Mangystau Province started a sympathy strike, then workers of non-oil industries in the region also stopped their work in solidarity. The protests have become a general strike.

In what will probably become a 21st century standard ‘state-under-threat’ response, mobile phones in affected areas cannot be accessed, landlines do not work, Internet social networks and media are being blocked.

Of course, no mention has been made of punishing any police officers for firing on unarmed and peaceful people.The vast majority of the profits from the sale of the country’s resources are not shared with the nation’s poor, and the Kazakh government has a terrible human rights record. Time and time again members of the security forces, torture, beat, and mistreat detainees. The government continues to use arbitrary arrest and detention, and selectively prosecutes political opponents, often detaining them for long periods.

One might say that the spirit of the Arab spring has been taken up by Central Asians, but with the current low media interest (apart from a few newspapers here and there), there isn’t the same pressure on president Nazarbayev that there has been on Middle-Eastern leaders this past year (and they weren’t exactly exactly keen to fold up that pressure in any event).

However, Kazakhs don’t need to look as far away as the Arab world for inspiration. Another ex-Soviet Central Asian country, Kyrgystan, chucked out their despotic president Bakiyev in April 2010, following riots and demonstrations that led to Bakiyev’s ousting and the formation of a transitional government, headed by former philosophy lecturer Roza Otunbayeva. And what country did Bakiyev flee to? Kazakhstan.

No doubt president Nazarbaev has double checked his private jets are full of fuel and that his Swiss bank cashcard is still valid. Just in case.

Read full article HERE http://www.schnews.org.uk/stories/BOLLOCKS-TO-BORAT/

Campaign Kazakhstan demonstrates in Berlin and Cologne
Campaign Kazakhstan activists, Germany

Berlin solidarity Kazakh oil strikers

Berlin

Yesterday, around 50 people protested in the centre of Berlin, criticising torture, repression and murder in Kazakhstan. Trade unionists including, metalworkers, teachers and health workers were joined by activists from the international “CampaignKazakhstan”, as well as members of the German LINKE (LEFT) party, SAV (CWI in Germany) and other left organisations, informing passers-by and tourists at Brandenburg gate of the events since last friday around the oil workers’ strike in western Kazakhstan.

The protesters shouted, “stop the slaughter in Kazakhstan!”

Urgente/ Compañero Mono sufre golpiza dentro de la prision!

El día de ayer, viernes 28 de octubre, nuestro compañero Mono, recibió una golpiza por parte de tres funcionarios de Gendarmería.
La situación ocurrió alrededor de las 16:45 de la tarde, Mono se encontraba dormitando en su celda cuando ingresan los bastardos a realizarle un allanamiento. En eso uno de ellos le pregunta si tiene algo de valor, a lo que Cristóbal responde que sí, su dinero. En esto, se acerca uno de los gendarmes y lo increpa, diciéndole que si acaso cree que le van a robar. En ese momento se armó una pequeña discusión y el mono ya estaba siendo golpeado y lanzado por las escaleras.
Sufrió golpes en su cabeza, tórax y extremidades. Permaneció durante un rato inconsciente y se encuentra con vómitos. Los paramédicos de la unidad no le han tomado la atención necesaria y solo le han administrado antiinflamatorios. Luego, lo trasladaron a una jaula de castigo en donde sufrió episodios de taquicardia y problemas respiratorios. Se encuentra completamente incomunicado y sin comida. Pretenden quitarle su próxima visita. Permanecerá castigado ahí con la asquerosa excusa de que le faltó el respeto a la Autoridad.

No podemos permitir esta situación. No permanezcamos indiferentes
A agitar y solidarizar, no puede repetirse esto.
Ningún compañerx esta solx!    Fuerza Mono!!!

http://grupodeapoyoamono.noblogs.org/Grupo de Apoyo a Mono

Occupy Denver is still going strong..IN THE SNOW with 2 people hospitalised with hypothermia.

Occupy San Diego got wiped out at 3am, most arrested and tents trashed..then the judge ordered everyone freed

and the camp resumed..but no tents.

Occupy Oakland got a military style attack, lots of arrests and injuries.the a big march for Scott Olson, who was shot in the head

with a baton round from 5 feet.

Occupy Wall St had their generator and fuel confiscated with an early blizzard approaching….

Seems the movement is still growing… needs YOUR support if there’s one near you!

 

Here’s a mine of current info via the excellent PlanetSave blog with thanks.  Source: Planetsave (http://s.tt/13Ew3)

When the fascist government finally fell apart in Spain there was a ‘transition’ and an amnesty law. After 40 years in power the ‘rabid right’ and the Church owned most property and wealth and to this day they hold power behind the scenes, controlling the police, army and judiciary.( really, they control the High Court).

Half a million died in the fascist takeover, and they executed 100,000 more in afterwards.  All Spain is littered with mass graves and associations of relatives pay to have them dug up and analyzed. You can’t get any official help, even the invented crimes for the mass summary executions are still legally valid.

The amnesty law still stands-. There is no closure. No justice. The Spanish State,  monarchy and religion are founded on gigantic mass butchery, life sentences and the worst tortures imaginable. No wonder they’re not popular!

The criminals and their heirs are still managing their fortunes and living in luxury. The Church owns half the country and pays no tax.  Britain, France and the USA of course helped set up the regime. They always armed,  aided and shared profits from the Fascist reign of terror for 40 years.

Now another well known but buried fascist crime has gone public, due to a documentary by the BBC, boosting their ratings and income.

Over 300,000 babies were taken from their parents, often by nuns who controlled the hospitals,  and sold, right up till the 1970s.

”The practice of removing children from parents deemed “undesirable” and placing them with “approved” families, began in the 1930s under the dictator General Francisco Franco.

At that time, the motivation may have been ideological. But years later, it seemed to change – babies began to be taken from parents considered morally – or economically – deficient. It became a money-spinner, too.

The scandal is closely linked to the Catholic Church, which under Franco assumed a prominent role in Spain’s social services including hospitals, schools and children’s homes.

Nuns and priests compiled waiting lists of would-be adoptive parents, while doctors were said to have lied to mothers about the fate of their children.

The name of one doctor, Dr Eduardo Vela, has come up in a number of victim investigations. Dr Vela is confronted with the allegations in the documentary.

In 1981, Civil Registry sources indicate that 70% of births at Dr Vela’s San Ramon clinic in Madrid were registered as “mother unknown.”read lots more on BBC  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-15335899

Hundreds of thousands of Spanish people are still searching for their parents or grandparents, either because they were dumped in mass graves, executed on suspicion, or because the regime or church stole them as babies and openly sold them to right wing families. The socialist party are about to be heavily defeated at the polls, due to the worsening economic ‘crisis’, but could do nothing anyway because the fascists still control the courts.

Bullfighting fans in Catalonia are set to see the last fights before a ban on the age-old tradition comes into effect in Spain’s north-eastern region.

About 20,000 spectators are expected to fill Barcelona’s Monumental arena, where top matadors will be performing.

Lawmakers voted for the ban last year – the first in mainland Spain – after 180,000 people signed a petition.

They say the bullfighting is barbaric, but opponents say they will challenge the ban in Spain’s top court.

Cruel killing for entertainment continues however in some local Festivals.

The ban takes effect on 1 January, but Sunday’s fights in Catalonia will be the last events of the 2011 season

She adds that there is also a growing awareness of animal rights and, crucially, the desire of Catalan nationalists to distinguish the region from the rest of Spain and its traditions.

Bullfighting is permitted in all other regions of Spain except in the Canary Islands.

Campaigners hope to extend the ban across the country, but they face a far tougher task in traditional bullfighting heartlands like Andalucia and Madrid, our correspondent says.

Read More    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-15050706

 

Mass rallies in Egypt against Israeli killings of Egyptian soldiers.

Divide and rule..Sure thing the Generals on BOTH sides are secretly delighted.

Using nationalism as always to divide and control

Suddenly interest has switched from Mubarak’s grisly trial.

Dont forget…”Before and after Mubarak was ousted, Egypt’s military arrested, imprisoned, tortured, and disappeared thousands, a practice continuing to ruthlessly stay in power and prevent change.”

and …”Notably, Washington backs brutal junta rule, including violence against growing public opposition to prevent a “second revolution.” So does National Association for Change leader Mohamad ElBaradei, saying he regards the military as the main guarantor of Egypt’s “incipient democracy,” when, in fact, none exists, isn’t planned, and won’t be tolerated by junta generals, top Obama administration officials, or himself, based on his offensive comment and others earlier.

From around March to July 7, Al Jazeera reported little about Egyptian discontent, strikes, street protests and brutal security force crackdowns, including the mass July 1 street protests and a million or more coming out on July 8….”

READ MORE  http://mwcnews.net/focus/analysis/11993-egyptians-rally.html

 

”By NICK TURSE

SECRET WAR in 120 Countries..

Somewhere on this planet an American commando is carrying out a mission. Now, say that 70 times and you’re done… for the day. Without the knowledge of the American public, a secret force within the U.S. military is undertaking operations in a majority of the world’s countries. This new Pentagon power elite is waging a global war whose size and scope has never been revealed, until now…….

One of its key components is the Joint Special Operations Command, or JSOC, a clandestine sub-command whose primary mission is tracking and killing suspected terrorists. Reporting to the president and acting under his authority, JSOC maintains a global hit list that includes American citizens. It has been operating an extra-legal “kill/capture” campaign that John Nagl, a past counterinsurgency adviser to four-star general and soon-to-be CIA Director David Petraeus, calls “an almost industrial-scale counterterrorism killing machine.”

This assassination program has been carried out by commando units like the Navy SEALs and the Army’s Delta Force as well as via drone strikes as part of covert wars in which the CIA is also involved in countries like Somalia, Pakistan, and Yemen. In addition, the command operates a network of secret prisons, perhaps as many as 20 black sites in Afghanistan alone, used for interrogating high-value targets.

Growth Industry  From a force of about 37,000 in the early 1990s, Special Operations Command personnel have grown to almost 60,000, about a third of whom are career members of SOCOM;”

read much more in Counterpunch   http://counterpunch.com/turse08042011.html

 

'US specials do 70 terror ops per day..'

A NATO helicopter has crashed in eastern Afghanistan during a battle with the Taliban, killing 30 US and seven Afghan soldiers and one civilian interpreter. More than 20 US navy SEALs from the broader unit that killed Osama bin Laden were among those killed in the crash.

The unit is made up of only a few hundred personnel based in Dam Neck, Virginia. It is known officially as Naval Special Warfare Development Group, or Devgru, and is part of a special operations brotherhood, members of which call themselves “the quiet professionals”. (The Guardian)

So it is more than possible, despite official denials, that the Taliban have killed the killers of Osama Bin Laden.

The troops from SEAL Team Six were flown by a crew of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, according to one current and one former US official. Both spoke on condition of anonymity because families are still being notified. ( ElJazeera)

One source said the team was thought to include 22 SEALs, three air force air controllers, seven Afghan army troops, a dog and his handler, and a civilian interpreter, plus the helicopter crew.

The Taliban quickly claimed to have shot down the helicopter during a firefight. They also said eight of their fighters were killed in the fighting.

“They wanted to attack our mujahideen who were in a house, but our mujahideen resisted and destroyed a helicopter with a RPG (rocket-propelled grenade) rocket,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said by telephone from an undisclosed location.

The helicopter was taking off from the roof of the house after the raid when hit by the RPG rocket.

In total US Special Forces are said to be larger than the whole Canadian army, and operate with total impunity. On average they carry out 70 terror raids every day. Mostly in Afganistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia, but in many other countries as well.....

The US usually does not comment on covert actions – especially those that go wrong. But the 2008 incident was caught on mobile phone video, so the Americans confirmed it and apologised publicly……..

In October last year sailors from the unit were dispatched to rescue the British aid worker Linda Norgrove, who had been kidnapped by militants in Afghanistan.

Norgrove died during the raid after one of the Seals threw a fragmentation grenade close to where she was sheltering.

Special force soldier enjoying his job

Initial reports suggested she had been killed by an insurgent’s suicide bomb vest. But when the Seal commanding officer reviewed surveillance video recordings he saw an explosion after one of the Seals threw something in Norgrove’s direction. A number of the Seals were disciplined as a result…….

A measure of its commitment to secrecy came when the head of the navy Seals sent the Bin Laden team a congratulatory email reminding them to keep their mouths shut afterwards. “Be extremely careful about operational security,” added Rear Admiral Edward Winters. “The fight is not over.”  (BBC report)

On the same day as the deaths of the Special Forces an Imam and his children were killed in a separate raid.
In the Nad Ali district in southern Afghanistan's Helmand province, up to eight civilians were killed in a NATO airstrike on Friday, governor Shadi Khan said.
"A group of Taliban attacked a foot patrol of NATO forces," Khan said.
"Subsequently, an air strike targeted the house of an imam of a mosque in the area. 
As a result the imam, his wife and seven of their children were killed." 
Daud Ahmadi, the Helmand provincial spokesman, said he was "aware that there have been some civilian casualties as a result of a NATO air strike in Nad Ali district" and that an official delegation had been dispatched to investigate.

 

By Portia Crowe
NEW YORK, Jul 1, 2011 (IPS) – Despite questions about her credibility, the Sofitel maid who is accusing former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn of sexual assault is still a victim and should be treated as one, according to her attorney.

“The victim here made some mistakes, but that doesn’t mean she’s not a rape victim,” her attorney, Kenneth Thompson, told reporters on Friday.

He claimed that District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. was trying to drop the case in order to save face, and stressed that the 32-year-old alleged victim still deserved justice.

On Friday, Strauss-Kahn was released from house arrest in New York without bail, after prosecutors brought documents before the court challenging his accuser’s credibility.

Strauss-Khan’s lawyers say the accuser confessed to fabricating the details of her asylum application. They also claim that she lied on income tax documents, and fudged the specifics of her whereabouts after the alleged attack.

But many are questioning the relevance of those confessions to the trial.

READ MORE HERE  http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=56337

El Tribunal Europeo de Derechos Humanos ha condenado en varias ocasiones al Estado español por no investigar de manera adecuada las denuncias de tortura. “En 2010 continuaron estas denuncias”, inciden. De hecho, en lo que va de 2011 una docena de personas han denunciado haber sufrido torturas durante el periodo de incomunicación; los últimos, los hermanos Aitor e Igor Esnaola, de Legorreta, y el vecino de Villabona Lander Etxeberria.

Amnistía Internacional recuerda que Naciones Unidas recomendó al Estado español “la abolición del régimen de incomunicación a personas sospechosas de actividades `terroristas’”, y que el Gobierno volvió a rechazar estas sugerencias. Es más, la organización matiza que “España es el único país de la Unión Europea que conserva un régimen de detención con restricciones tan severas de los derechos de las personas detenidas”. Éstas pueden verse privadas de acceso efectivo a un abogado o a un médico de su elección, y no tienen la posibilidad de informar de su arresto a su familia ni a sus amistades. Asimismo, destaca que el periodo de incomunicación puede imponerse antes o después de que la persona detenida comparezca ante una autoridad judicial y que puede alargarse, incluso, hasta trece días.

AI también considera necesario que se lleven a cabo “investigaciones independientes” sobre las denuncias y que se garantice una reparación plena a las personas que hayan resultado perjudicadas. “Las víctimas, sus familias y la sociedad en su conjunto tienen derecho a conocer la verdad sobre, incluida la identidad de los autores”, enfatiza.

Informe íntegro

http://www.gara.net/agiriak/20110626_informe_ai.pdf

Abau Adua has been homeless since the LRA descended on his village a year ago. ‘We were out on the river when the LRA attacked,’ he explains. ‘We heard the screams and the shouting. I saw 16 corpses, people beaten and stabbed to death. Two of my close family – my cousin and my nephew – were among them.’

‘Communities continue to live under daily threat of attack,’ says Marcel Stoessel, head of Oxfam in DRC. ‘The UN’s primary role is to protect civilians and to support the national army to become a stronger, more accountable force.’

One of the worst human rights offenders is the government army, which is poorly paid and ill-disciplined. In July 2009, the DRC government said there would be zero tolerance for soldiers who abused civilians, but elements of the army still prey on local people rather than protecting them.

Another year’s renewal of the mission is expected. However, despite this being the world’s largest peacekeeping force (some 18,500-strong), the first quarter of this year has seen a spike in LRA violence. As the UN reviews its mandate, it needs to move faster and more effectively to provide protection to people like Abau Adua.

Anna Ridout nin.tl/iWPf3G  read more HERE

Ex-armed forces chief Lopez Fuentes arrested

Relatives of victims of Guatemala's civil war try to identify exhumed remains, Zacualpa, Guatemala (5 July 2001) Relatives of victims of Guatemala’s civil war try to identify exhumed remains
Guatemalan authorities have arrested a former armed forces chief accused of joining in massacres during the nation’s civil war nearly 30 years ago.Retired general Hector Mario Lopez Fuentes, 81, was detained in the capital, Guatemala City, on Friday.Human rights groups have accused him of participating in genocide and crimes against humanity during the military government of Efrain Rios Montt.It is not clear how Mr Lopez Fuentes is likely to plead to the charges.Guatemala’s office of public prosecutions said he was accused of being the intellectual author behind the killings of more than 300 indigenous Maya civilians from the Ixil region in 1982 and 1983.It is the latest high-profile arrest linked to alleged crimes committed during the country’s 36-year civil war.

More than 200,000 people were killed or disappeared during the conflict, the vast majority at the hands of the security forces.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-13819853

Demo to CLOSE FOREIGNER INTERNMENT CENTERS

Animal-Human Hybrids Spark Controversy
Scientists have begun blurring the line between human and animal by producing chimeras—a hybrid creature that’s part human, part animal.

Chinese scientists at the Shanghai Second Medical University in 2003 successfully fused human cells with rabbit eggs. The embryos were reportedly the first human-animal chimeras successfully created. They were allowed to develop for several days in a laboratory dish before the scientists destroyed the embryos to harvest their stem cells.

In Minnesota last year researchers at the Mayo Clinic created pigs with human blood flowing through their bodies.

And at Stanford University in California an experiment might be done later this year to create mice with human brains.

Scientists feel that, the more humanlike the animal, the better research model it makes for testing drugs or possibly growing “spare parts,” such as livers, to transplant into humans.

Watching how human cells mature and interact in a living creature may also lead to the discoveries of new medical treatments.

But creating human-animal chimeras—named after a monster in Greek mythology that had a lion’s head, goat’s body, and serpent’s tail—has raised troubling questions, this is even worse than experimenting on normal animals: What new subhuman combination should be produced and for what purpose? At what point would it be considered human and have human rights?

There are currently no U.S. federal laws that address these issues.

http://first-news.blogspot.com/2011_01_28_archive.html

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Will Leo the pig take the blue pill and remain in a fantasyland where quaint family farms produce food for our tables?

A nice cartoon that tells you the real truth about animal cruelty and where your food really comes from.

For more information about this film and to take action visit: http://www.mediathatmattersfest.org/4/the_meatrix/index.php?fs=action

Bill Sees Link Between Child Abuse And Animal Abuse; Reports By DCF Employees Would Not Be Anonymous

The state House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly Wednesday for a bill that links cases of child abuse with cases of animal cruelty.

The bill requires local animal control officers and employees at the state Department of Children and Families to report cases of animal cruelty to the state agriculture department. The agriculture commissioner would then be required to issue a monthly report, starting in November 2011, to the DCF commissioner, who would determine whether anyone suspected of animal cruelty is also simulataneously on the list of families at DCF.


full story:
http://blogs.courant.com/capitol_watch/2011/05/bill-sees-link-between-child-a.html

ALF Actions Around the World

http://www.animalliberationfront.com/ALFront/Actions-index.htm

YouTube – No Mercy – Calf Farm Cruelty Exposed.

A new Mercy For Animals undercover investigation provides a horrifying look into E6 Cattle Co. in Hart, Texas.

E6 Cattle rears calves for use on dairy farms, confining approximately 10,000 calves and subjecting them to lives of prolonged neglect and misery. For over two weeks in March of 2011, an MFA undercover investigator documented the operation’s deplorable conditions and brutal mistreatment of animals.

MFA’s hidden camera reveals:

  • Workers bludgeoning calves in their skulls with pickaxes and hammers – often involving 5 to 6 blows, sometimes more – before rendering the animals unconscious
  • Beaten calves, still alive and conscious, thrown onto dead piles
  • Workers kicking downed calves in the head, and standing on their necks and ribs
  • Calves confined to squalid hutches, thick with manure and urine buildup, and barely large enough for the calves to turn around or fully extend their legs
  • Gruesome injuries and afflictions, including open sores, swollen joints and severed hooves
  • Ill, injured and dying calves denied medical care
  • The budding horns of calves burned out their skulls without painkillers

 

 

The spectre of Bradley Manning lying naked and alone in a tiny cell at the Quantico Marine Base, less than 50 miles from Washington, DC, conjures up images of an American Guantanamo or Abu Ghraib, where isolation and deprivation have been raised to the level of torture.

In fact, the accused Wikileaker, now in his tenth month of solitary confinement, is far from alone in his plight. Every day in the US, tens of thousands of prisoners languish in “the hole”.

A few of them are prison murderers or rapists who present a threat to others. Far more have committed minor disciplinary infractions within prison or otherwise run afoul of corrections staff. Many of them suffer from mental illness, and are isolated for want of needed treatment; others are children, segregated for their own “protection”; a growing number are elderly and have spent half their lives or more in utter solitude.

No one knows for sure what their true numbers are. Many states, as well as the federal government, flatly declare that solitary confinement does not exist in their prison systems. As for their euphemistically named “Secure Housing Units” or “Special Management Units”, most states do not report occupancy data, nor do wardens report on the inmates sent to “administrative segregation”.

Prosecutor, judge and jury

By common estimate, more than 20,000 inmates are held in supermax prisons, which by definition isolate their prisoners. Perhaps 50,000 to 80,000 more are in solitary confinement on any given day in other prisons and local jails, many of them within sight of communities where Americans go about their everyday lives.

via Cruel and usual: US solitary confinement – Features – Al Jazeera English.

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