Iran - Elections Stolen, Repression Continues

The repression against the independent workers' movements in Iran continues, now combined with widespread Police and secret police action against supporters of opposition parties after the disputed election.

It is shameful that some self proclaimed "liberation" leaders and "international socialists" are lining up behind the authoritarian and dictatorial Iranian leadership. Lessons there for those who tend towards idolisation of "radical" regimes in South America and elsewhere.

Fortunately international workers' organisations are not so foolish and know the difference between solidarity with fellow workers and standing aloof in the name of a dogmatic and abstract "anti-imperialism" that identifies with regional rulers.

IRAN: ALL OUT FOR 26 JUNE GLOBAL SOLIDARITY ACTION DAY

Four global union organizations representing over 170 million workers have called a worldwide action day on June 26 to demand justice for Iranian workers. Demonstrations will take place outside Iranian embassies and consulates to protest the ongoing denial of rights and arrests of trade unionists within the country. Please visit the campaign's new website at http://www.justiceforiranianworkers.org/ and make sure to click on the 'Get Active' link.

Free May Day Detainees In Iran

There were some marvellous marches, demonstrations and rallies around the world earlier this month in celebration of International Workers' Day, May 1st. In some parts of the world however, these were met by repression and violence. Below are details on solidarity actions and events for the Iranian workers who bravely stood up for the right of working people to organise and who have been detained by the state.

1 Iran's May Day Organizing Committee: A Call for the International Campaign to Free May Day Detainees
2 Sample Protest Letter (IASWI)
3 Protest Rally in London, UK
__________________________________________________________

Iran: A Call for an International Campaign to Free May Day Detainees

Workers and labour organizations in Iran and all over the world!

On May First, the International Workers’ Day, many workers and their families assembled in Laleh Park of Tehran in response to the May Day Organizing Committee (consisting of independent labour organizations in Iran ). People gathered to present their demands and to commemorate the May Day; however, they as well as other visitors of the park were violently attacked by the security-intelligence forces and plain-clothes agents. These forces used all kinds of tools and equipments to assault people, as the result of which many got severely injured and more than 150 people while being beaten were taken to custody. At this time, about 100 of the above are still incarcerated.

The people who were so brutally beaten and arrested had not committed any crime. They were repressed because they wanted to commemorate their international day, along with billions of other workers around the world, and put forward the demands of million of working people of Iran . They are being oppressed because of their efforts to form independent organizations. Many of them just like thousand other workers in Iran have not been paid for months. They are now in such unbearable situation only because they raised their protest voice together.

Everyday, the families of the May Day detainees have been gathering outside courts and judicial offices but they have been badly treated and never received a clear answer from the judicial authorities. We, millions of workers and toilers and egalitarians, are responsible towards our imprisoned colleagues and their families and must not leave them on their own. We have to engage in united and immense efforts for the freedom of all prisoners.

We therefore launch a campaign for the freedom of May Day detainees and call on all workers’ and human rights’ organizations in Iran and internationally to denounce these arrests, demand unconditional freedom of all detainees and support the legitimate demands of workers in Iran, which was stipulated in their 2009 (1388) May Day resolution. All concerned organizations and individuals are urgently requested to take any necessary and possible measures, depending on their capacity, in support of the May Day detainees.

LONG LIVE CLASS SOLIDARITY OF WORKERS OF THE WORLD

Please send the report of your actions, statements and solidarity messages to campain1may@gmail.com.

May 9th, 2009 (Ordibehest 19, 1388)
The May Day Organizing Committee:
• The Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Vahed Bus Company
• The Syndicate of Workers of Haft Tapeh Sugar Cane Company
• The Free Union of Workers in Iran
• The Founding Committee of the Syndicate of Building 's Painters and Decoration's Workers
• The Collaborative Council of Labour Organizations and Activists
- The Coordinating Committee to Help Form Workers’ Organizations
- The Committee to Pursue the Establishment of Free Workers’ Organizations
- A Group of Worker Activists
- The Women’s Council
• The Center for Workers’ Rights in Iran

Supported by:
The Electrical & Metal Workers' Trade Association in Kermanshah, The Association in Support of the Sacked Workers of Saqhez, The Committee in Defence of Haft Tapeh Workers, Workers of The Parris textile Factory in Sanandaj, Workers of the Shin Baft Spinning and Textile Factory in Sanandaj, Workers of Shahoo, Sanandaj Textile, Gharb Baft, Ajor Shil, Shir Paak Araa, Gunnny Baafi (Gunny Making) Sama, Fajr Flour and Nirou Rakhsh factories, Service workers of Sanandaj’s Tohid Hospital, A group of Retired Workers of Sanandaj, Workers of Farsh Gharb Company in Kermanshah, Dena Laastic (Rubber), A group of workers of Ghaa-en Cement, A group of Workers of Aslavieh …

(more names to be added)
Translated by the May Day Organizing Committee

Thanks to all protest letters sent thus far

Sample protest letter: Protest against repression of May Day Events in Iran
Send your protest letters to (Prepared by the IASWI):

To: info@leader.ir ; dr-ahmadinejad@president.ir ; info@judiciary.ir ; iran@un.int ; ijpr@iranjudiciary.org ; info@dadiran.ir ; office@justice.ir; matbuat@mfa.gov.ir; info@police.ir;
Cc: info@workers-iran.org; campain1may@gmail.com


The May Day rally and celebration in Tehran , which was organized by independent Iranian labour organizations on May 1st, 2009, was violently attacked by security and intelligence forces and many were beaten and over 150 people arrested.
About 100 women and men are still incarcerated. They are detained in unacceptable conditions in section 204 of Tehran ’s Evin Prison.

We condemn these attacks on workers’ rights and independent labour organizations and activists. Workers must have every right to organize and celebrate May Day events. We are asking for the immediate and unconditional freedom of all May Day detainees. We also demand that the government to respect workers’ rights to organize, assemble and strike, put an end to persecution of labour activists, free all jailed workers and not to interfere in the affairs of independent workers’ organizations.

Please mail your protest letter to (optional), and send a copy also to campain1may@gmail.com:

Mr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad,
President of the Islamic Republic of Iran
The Presidency,
Palestine Avenue, Azerbaijan Intersection,
Tehran , Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax: + 98 21 649 58 80

Leader of the Islamic Republic:
Ayatollah Sayed *Ali Khamenei
The Office of the Supreme Leader
Shoahada Street
Qom, Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax: 011 98 251 7774 2228

Head of the Judiciary:
Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi
Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Justice Building
Panzdah-Khordad Square
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax: 011 98 21 3390 4986 (may be difficult to reach)

Ambassador, Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations Institutions in Geneva, Chemin du Petit-Saconnex 28, 1209 Geneva, Switzerland, Fax: +41 22 733 02 03, E-mail: mission.iran@ties.itu.int
CC: International Alliance in Support of Workers in Iran (info@workers-iran.org).

You can also send your protest letters to the Iranian Embassy in your country: click: http://www.worldembassyinformation.com/iran-embassy/index.html

Demonstration in London

Protest against the arrests of workers at May Day rallies in Iran !

The 2009 May Day rallies in Tehran and Sanandaj were violently attacked by the Iranian security forces and over 150 people arrested.

In Tehran a large crowed responded to a call made by 10 workers’ organisations and institutions and gathered in Laleh Park to celebrate the May Day. The security forces in a brutal and violent attack broke up the rally and arrested over 150 workers. A number of workers were also arrested during a rally in the city of Sanandaj in western Iran .

The only crimes of these workers are attending the May Day rally and protesting against the lack of the most basic workers’ right and demanding the right to organise and to strike.

We, the participants of this protest action, while strongly condemn the arrest of labour activists, do our utmost to have these workers released and call on all progressive and humanitarian organisations to join us and do whatever possible to
free the jailed workers in Iran.

We call on all trade unions and labour and progressive organisations and pro human rights institutions to condemn the Islamic Republic of Iran for the continued imprisonment of workers in Iran and the violation of the most basic human rights and call for the immediate and unconditional release of all the detainees.

Date: Saturday May 16
Time: 2pm
Place: BBC Television Centre, Portland Street , London W1A 1AA

Called by:
- International Alliance in Support of workers in Iran - Britain Section
- March 8 Women Organisation (Iran-Afghanistan)
- Council for the Defence of people’s struggle in Iran
- Worker-communist Party of Iran-Hekmatist
- Worker-communism Unity Party
- Fedaian Organisation (Minority)
- International Iranian Refugee Organisation – Britain
- Association of Iranian Political Prisoners in Exile

Weekly Links 08/03/2009

British Politics
Mandelson "slimed"!
Interesting background information to the reasons this action was taken against Britain's least popular unelected Minister from Airportwatch site here.
Guardian report and more video here.

Meanwhile the Bank of England and the government went for "Quantative Easing" in response to the crisis, Larry Elliott's take on it here.

It was announced this week that prescription charges are to rise, prompting a welcome intervention from the BMA -

Our submission seeks to highlight the many problems within the current system, which consequently are inherent in the proposal to extend the exemption list to include those with LTCs. The BMA's position and the conclusion of this evidence is that the Department of Health should abolish prescription charges in England altogether, as has already happened in Wales and will happen shortly in Northern Ireland and Scotland.

Green Party Leader Caroline Lucas this week had an article on the Gaza situation on the Guardian website.

A snapshot of the anger now prevalent in British politics can be gained from the comments underneath a Guardian article by normally cynical/apolitical cultural commentator Charlie Brooker where he expresses his frustration at the uselessness of the British political system.

Blogging
Joseph Healy reported this week on the lobby held against the Government's Welfare Reform Bill.

Derek commented on the "Quantative Easing" strategy.

Dave Osler reflected on the anniversary of the start of the Miners' Strike of 1984-5.

Jim has been to see the film of the "classic graphic novel", Watchmen, and reviewed it on his blog.


Unions and Work
The Iraqi government has this week tried to sieze control of the Iraqi teachers' union. TUC statement here.

Former Miners' leader Arthur Scargill gave an article to the Guardian summarising his current views on the momentous strike of 25 years ago.

Television
This week saw the first airing of the first part of the dramatisation of man of the moment David Peace's Red Riding novels on Channel 4. Not only is the dramatisation on TV, but Peace's book on the short spell of management of Leeds United FC by Derby and Nottingham local hero Brian Clough in the 1970s is coming out as a film, (The Damned United) and his book on the Miners' Strike GB84 is surely topical with the current anniversary in the news.
Red Riding, centred on Police corruption in West Yorkshire, was brutal and stylish, and the TV adaptation did well to capture Peace's disconcerting style.

Weekly Links 05/01/09

Gaza
Lots of coverage of the situation in Gaza and the demonstrations against the continuing Israeli assault from my regularly linked bloggers this week including Derek, Jim (who has a helpful selection of links), Dave Osler and Matt S.
There is another demonstration arranged for this Saturday in London.


The latest eco-catastrophe
The latest eco-catastrophe in the US has not had much coverage on this side of the Atlantic - a huge coal slurry retention pond has broken its banks in Tennessee and flooded some 400 acres of 6' deep slurry (over 1.1 billion gallons) into the Tennessee Valley. It's meant evacuating people, warning others to boil water, and is dumping a huge amount of toxins into the Tennessee River, used as a drinking water source by many communities downstream. A number of people are reporting vomiting after drinking water.
Reports here and here from the regional media.
More info from United Mountain Defense

Activism and Repression
Hot on the heels of their recent attempts to spread security services propaganda about the threat of "ecoterrorism" in the UK (a story based on exaggeration, guilt by association and innuendo and very quickly demolished so that they had to issue a sheepish apology through their "readers editor") the Guardian/Observer and other sections of the media are now busy retailing the exaggerated fairy tales of the French and other security services about the threat of a new wave of "home grown leftist terror" about to sweep Europe.

The Guardian/Observer group, (in addition to continuing a stream of biased knocking copy on the South and Central American left) are fast becoming the conduit of choice for psy-ops and disinformation aimed at radical activists in the UK and Europe. This is nothing new really, some of us remember some "freelance" journalists from the 80's who were very keen to fit up parts of the British anarchist movement on behalf of elements of the secret state.

The texts that seem to have got the French state machine in a tizzy (and it seems to be these that are more the target than the small acts of sabotage that were the pretext for the paramilitary police action) are rather disappointing really, for an old leftist like myself - rehashed Situationist and Autonomist theses with an anti-globalisation flavour and some unpalatable (for me, but it takes all sorts) elements of nihilism and primitivism. Nevertheless, I am never one to avoid an opportunity to offend the powers that be, so here are some links to English Translations of two of the offending documents and you can judge for yourself -

The Coming Insurrection

20 Theses On The Subversion Of the Metropolis

For me, Kovel's analysis and programme in the last chapter of The Enemy of Nature is nearer the spot - I will post some more on this in the near future.

Nevertheless, the fact that states in Europe are "upping the ante" against even potential opposition is interesting, as is their apparent concern that the current crisis will grow so severe that currently marginalised and tiny groups and ideas might gain a larger and more effective following.

Weekly Links 21/09/2008

British Politics
It is the annual Party conference of the ruling Labour Party in Manchester this week - long term Labour MP and media personality Diane Abbott explains why she won't be going here.

John McDonnell MP reports on his hopes for the parallel Convention of the Left.

On the same site David Lowry has an article on the nuclear commitments of the Prime Minister.

Red Pepper have established a blog for the Convention of the Left.

Human Rights
Peter Tatchell has alerted us to several significant cases of human rights abuses in recent days. First he had an article in the New Statesman on the situation with Balochistan activists in Pakistan and the UK. Secondly he had an article on low caste Dalit people in India on the Guardian Comment pages. Finally he alerted us to an urgent action alert over the treatment of sexual minorities in Uganda.

Another Green activist has alerted us to the case of Annociate Nimpagaritse, who has been in danger of being deported to a very hazardous situation in Burundi.

On 29th September Mark Thomas has a Book Launch with Amnesty International of his new book, Belching Out The Devil - Global Adventures With Coca Cola.

Green Issues
Helpful news items from EUWID, a site that gives news for the recycling industry - a study has shown that recycling PET plastic bottles is much more environmentally friendly than incinerating them.

On the same site, news that the European recycling rate for paper and board has now hit 64.5%, on course for the 66% by 2010 target that the industry set itself. Good news for all those campaigning on these issues, but we need to keep up the work and pressure for higher rates of recycling in the UK.

Unions and Work
The Communications Workers Union (CWU) report for the UNI global union network on their action at the 2008 European Call Centre Awards Ceremony.

International
Greek ecosocialists (working within the broad left electoral coalition SYRIZA)have organized and now have an excellent website in several languages.

I have had the following solidarity request from the IWW International Solidarity Commission -

Dear friends and comrades,

For two week in late-April and early-May four members of the Industrial Workers of the World traveled to Haiti to meet with labor leaders and document the plight of the Haitian working class. During our trip we encountered a Haiti still reeling from food riots which had gripped it just weeks prior. We found the workers and organizers that we met with to be extremely competent and passionate, but almost completely immobilized by a severe lack of resources.

Now a new crisis grips the Haitian people in the form of over a thousand dead and one million out of a total population nine million people displaced as a result of the recent hurricanes which have battered the island.

Haiti's government struggles to respond to what can only be called a humanitarian disaster, but no longer has the infrastructure after years of brutally enforced hollowing out as a result of neo-liberal economic policies. With the shell of the government unable to respond, and profoundly corrupt and bloated NGOs unable deliver aid to where it is needed, the best hope for Haiti lies in the response of citizens and organizers who live and work in the country.

The Haitians themselves have the skills, the energy, and the organization to accomplish this task, what they lack is the resources.
We are making this urgent appeal for aid in order to help those we met in Haiti, who hosted us in their homes, who fed us when they were hungry, who showed us that they have the know-how and the energy, they just need the resources to get the job done. The International Solidarity Commission of the IWW has established a fund to help get money and aid to the people on the ground that need it most. Please send your donations to
*IWW Haiti Fund c/o General Headquarters
PO Box 23085,
Cincinnati OH 45223*
USA

Defend Iranian Student Under Attack!

Last Sunday Hands Off The People of Iran (HOPI) held a successful fringe at Green Party Autumn conference in London, chaired by my fellow blogger Jim Jepps and featuring Peter Tatchell and Yassamine Mather. The latest mailing from HOPI details the ongoing persecution of Iranian student leader Anooshe Azadbar -

Iranian Student Leader Arrested

On September 4 at 11am, Anooshe Azadbar - overwhelmingly
voted one of its honorary vice presidents by the
British student union at its annual conference in
April - was brought before a court in Iran. She faced
multiple charges:

– plotting against the Islamic regime
– plotting against the Islamic order
– acting against Iranian national interests with a
left wing group

This arose from her prominent involvement in the 4
December 2007 demonstrations where Hands Off the
People of Iran placards were prominent.

Anooshe denied the charges, stating that this was a
legal student demonstration against the threat of war,
not an explicitly anti-regime protest.

In court, it was pointed out that this contradicted
what she had said under interrogation. Anooshe replied
that these statements had been obtained after she had
been subjected to great psychological pressure.

Vague charges were also made that she had either
received financial help from leftwing groups or had
given money to certain groups. Her lawyer denied these
charges, simply pointing out that as his client is
penniless, she is clearly neither receiving money or
in a position to dish it out. The judge eventually
decided that the dossier was 'incomplete' and so
Anooshe must go back to court at a later date for
further questioning.

It is not clear when the next court hearing will be.
She will be summoned to give another interview at the
prosecutor's office and following this there will be
another court appearance. She is not the only student
leader currently facing this oppression – it is
estimated that another four or five other students are
facing similar court procedures.

Ben Lewis of the Hopi steering committee commented:
"The dominant trend within the Islamic regime is
clearly using the tension generated by the
sabre-rattling of imperialism to clamp down on
internal dissent. The harassment of our comrade
Anooshe Azadbar comes at the same time as the
sentencing of women's rights activists of the One
Million Signatures campaign to six-month prison terms
and the ominous threats against the 2003 Peace Nobel
Laureate, Shirin Ebadi, who has been dubbed an agent of Zionism.

"It seems the regime will not tolerate even
mild-mannered reformist attempts to moderate its
repressive rule, let alone the militant action of
students. The threat of war plays into their hands -
that's why we stand against the warmongering of the
imperialists and the repressive regime in Tehran."

Hopi demands that all charges against Anooshe Azadbar
are immediately dropped. Our campaign will be
organising press conferences and protests in
solidarity with the arrested students. See subsequent
releases and our website for details.

Workers' Struggle in India

The following is a message about an ongoing workplace struggle in India that I have just received -

WORKERS OF PEPSICO FOODS LTD ON INDEFINITE STRIKE MERCILESSELY BEATEN BY HIRED GOONS, ABOUT A DOZEN INJURED.

FARMERS, AGRICULTURE WORKERS' UNIONS AND OTHER PEOPLES' DEMOCRATIC ORGANISATIONS ANNOUNCED THEIR SUPPORT AND FORMED A JOINT ACTION COMMITTEE

(Dear friends please forward this information)
PepsiCo Foods India Ltd is a MNC in the district of Sangrur of Punjab on the highway connecting Patiala and Sangrur. The management of the factory always tried their best to ensure that a union of workers may not be formed in the factory. Whenever workers tried to organise themselves either they transferred the leaders to far off places or sometimes leaders sold their conscience and were given better positions in the hierarchy.

The workers of the factory who are approximately 280 and the number of contractual workers is 450. The regular workers started the formation of a union in a secret way. But the management immediately suspended their leader Sanjeev Kumar.

The management on 12-04-2007 suspended Sanjeev Kumar for instigating workers against management and for also taking more leave in 2007. An enquiry was going on and he was dismissed on 2-08-08. Four other workers were also suspended on very silly grounds that they are associated with union activities. On 5-5-08 the workers union got registered with the name PepsiCo India holdings workers union No.23 which got affiliated to AITUC.

Since 15-06-06 management started harassing the workers.
On 19-08-08 at 2.00 p.m. all workers started Dharana. Since then the the production of Uncle Chips Kurkure and other such products has stopped.

On 23rd of August a heavy police force came at about 7.30 a.m. with about 220 workers (almost 100%) on the gate. Suddenly the owners and drivers of the Truck Union from the nearby town of Bhawanigarh came. They insisted on getting their trucks inside to get them loaded. The workers protested. Workers blocked the gates by lying down on the gate. The truckers started beating the workers with lathis but police were watching the whole scene silently. About one dozen workers got injured. Villagers from surrounding area gathered in thousands in a few minutes and they resisted the truckers and then the villagers blocked the national highway for about six hours. Only then civil administration became active.

Up to now the management has dismissed the president of the union on very silly charges and suspended another nine workers.
On 25th August dozens of peasant organisations especially the farmer's organisation reached the factory gate in support of the struggle of the Pepsi workers. An action committee is formed by these organisations and a huge protest rally is organised for 1st September at the gate of Pepsi.

Three rounds of negotiations have taken place between management, civil administration, union representatives and some representatives of the surrounding villages. Management is reluctant to reinstate the president of the Union.
--

Pepsico India details for protests -

Pepsi Foods Private Limited

3B, DLF Corporate Park, 'S' Block, Qutab Enclave, Phase-III
Gurgaon - 122002
Haryana, India
Tel: 0124-2355880 Email: corporate.communications@intl.pepsico.com

If you would like to contact Customer Care, please email consumer.feedback@intl.pepsico.com or call 1800224020

This comes amidst a rising tide of workers' struggles in India -

See here
and here

Latest from Peter Tatchell

Two recent pieces from Green Party left campaigner and human rights activist Peter Tatchell have come to my attention. In the first he looks at the attacks of the Ahmadinejad regime on trade unions in Iran -

Iran's war on trade unions

President Ahmadinejad is intensifying the repression of labour activists. We should support them in their fight for basic rights.

By Peter Tatchell

The Guardian – Comment Is Free – 18 August 2008

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/aug/18/iran.middleeast

There is a petition on this subject on the Labourstart website that Peter links in his article.

Secondly this week Peter commented on the passing of the former Labour MP Leo Abse who spearheaded changes to the law on homosexuality in Britain in the 1960s -

Leo Abse – Appreciation and disappointment

London – 20 August 2008

"Leo Abse will be remembered by the gay community with a mixture of appreciation and disappointment," said gay human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell.

He was commenting on the death of the former MP, Leo Abse, who helped secure the partial decriminalisation of male homosexuality in 1967.

"Although gay people felt huge relief following the passage of his
1967 gay law reform, we were also angry because his bill perpetuated the criminalisation of many aspects of gay life. It was not the liberation that many of us had wanted and expected," added Mr Tatchell.

"His homosexual law reform bill decriminalised sex between men, but only in narrow circumstances. It retained many discriminatory
provisions, such as the unequal age of consent of 21. These
inequalities were not finally repealed until 2003.

"The Homosexual Law Reform Society was often exasperated by Leo's expectation that it should lobby MPs to win support for his bill, while he ignored their concerns that his limited reform proposals maintained homophobic discrimination.

"Mr Abse could be quite arrogant and patronising towards gay people.
He had a sometimes dismissive, disapproving attitude towards the gay human rights movement; believing that law reform should be left to politicians like him and that gay organisations should play, at best, a marginal, backroom role," said Mr Tatchell.

Chris Moncrieff's Press Association obituary for Leo Abse on the Guardian website is here.

Support Persecuted Turkish Conscientious Objectors

The following is an action alert I received regarding Turkish conscientious objectors and their treatment by the Turkish state.

Action Alert: Mehmet Bal arrested & tortured

Turkish conscientious objector Mehmet Bal was arrested on 8 June 2008. He was held in custody in Beşiktaş Military Prison where he was beaten by duty officers, and denied water and toilet facilities. The next day, he was sent to the Hasdal Military Prison, where his hair was forcibly cut; the officers in charge incited other prisoners to "do what is necessary"; prisoners beat him with sticks that were almost half a metre long and thick as a human wrist. When he passed out from the beatings, he was dragged into cold showers so that he could regain consciousness and be beaten again.
After the attacks, Mr Bal was taken to Gümüssuyu Military Hospital. Although he could not move his neck, legs and arms from the beatings, he was not admitted to hospital, but taken back to prison on a stretcher. He is now in Adana Military Prison, hundreds of kilometres from his home in Istanbul. His “crime” – refusing to kill.

Turkey has a long history of persecution and torture of political prisoners in particular, including conscientious objectors. Even after release, COs remain “deserters” and their persecution may never end. The right to conscientious objection is not legally recognized.[1]

Osman Murat Ülke was imprisoned seven times for a total of more than two years between between 1996 and 1999. Halil Savda, a Kurdish CO, has been in jail since 27 March 2008, sentenced to 11½ months for refusal. Additionally, he has been sentenced to six months under Article 318 of the civilian penal code [2] for publicly supporting two Israelis who refused to serve in the war against Lebanon in 2006.

Mehmet Tarhan, a Kurdish gay CO, was imprisoned for 11 months in 2005-6, during which time he was tortured, including by an attempted lynching. In January 2006, in Mr Ülke’s case, the European Court of Human Rights ruled against Turkey for the repeated arrests of COs and for making COs lead semi-clandestine lives, amounting to “civil death”; and the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe time after time condemned Turkey for its human rights record. Due to international pressure, Mr Ülke and Mr Tarhan now are out of prison, but could be rearrested at any moment. Turkey promised to legalize conscientious objection but has done less than nothing. Michael Kalmanovitz from Payday which has campaigned with Mr Ülke, Mr Tarhan and Mr Savda said: “COs in Turkey are the tip of a huge anti-militarist iceberg, with perhaps half a million men refusing the draft. The Turkish military, backed by the US, does not hesitate to use torture to try to break their resistance; it needs men to serve in its decades-long war against Kurdish people, a war which is now spilling over into Iraq. We in the international anti-war movement must support Mehmet Bal and other COs. Soldiers’ refusal is vital to ending war. ”

Payday is asking people urgently to write to the Turkish authorities and Members of the European Parliament (see model letter ) to demand:

o Mr Bal’s torture and ill-treatment, including attacks or intimidation by staff and other prisoners, must end now;
o He must be given an independent medical examination and appropriate treatment promptly;
o There must be an immediate investigation, prosecution and punishment of prison staff and prisoners who organised and perpetrated the attacks;
o His immediate and unconditional release.

Furthermore, we demand that the EU make a precondition of any talks about Turkey’s entry into the Union the immediate end of the persecution of conscientious objectors and the recognition of the right to refuse to kill. All of us must have the right to refuse to kill, to live in a world free of war and dictatorship, a world which invests in caring, not killing. Refusing to kill is not a crime and this protection of human life must be supported, not punished.

NOTES [1] Turkey does not recognise the right to conscientious objection, in violation of article 9 of the European Convention of Human Rights, and article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of which it is a signatory. [2] “Persons who give incentives or make suggestions or spread propaganda which will have the effect of discouraging people from performing military service shall be sentenced to imprisonment for a term of six months to two years. If the act is committed through the medium of the press and media, the penalty shall be increased by half.”

Curiouser and Curiouser

Those who have been following the curious story of the alleged Police provocateur on the recent anti-Bush demo in London will be interested to know that the story has taken a new twist with the intervention of George Galloway and a letter to the Home Secretary naming the alleged perpetrator.
The story seems to have originally emerged on the website of the Daily Mail of all places!
More from Socialist Unity Blog here.

Tatchell Urges Mandela To Speak Out On Zimbabwe

Human rights campaigner and Green Party Parliamentary candidate Peter Tatchell has urged Nelson Mandela to speak out on the situation in Zimbabwe ahead of his birthday concert in London.

"Mugabe has murdered more black Africans than the British during
the period of colonialist occupation of Zimbabwe. He has murdered more
black Africans than the evil apartheid regime in South Africa.
"His slaughter of 20,000 civilians in Matabeleland in the 1980s was
the equivalent of a Sharpeville massacre every day for over nine
months. Once a freedom fighter, he is now Ian Smith with a black face
– only many times worse.

People around the world, including Zimbabweans, supported Nelson
Mandela's freedom struggle against apartheid. It is now time that
Mandela reciprocated this solidarity by calling for an end to Mugabe's
beatings, torture and murder. He should call for new,
internationally-supervised free and fair elections.

Other African leaders, including Thabo Mbeki, also need to speak out
against Mugabe's despotism. The people of Zimbabwe deserve a
democratic, representative government that ensures equality and
justice for all its citizens. These were the goals of the African
liberation movements of the last 60 years. They are still worthy goals
today," said Mr Tatchell.

”

More here.

Support Bhopal Campaigners!

I have reported before on the campaign by survivors of the disaster at Bhopal in India, including their recent march. The campaign has now entered a new stage with a hunger strike.

This week campaigners were subject to vicious treatment by security forces, as detailed in this action alert -

BHOPALIS BEATEN UP IN POLICE STATION
AXN ALERT
9 JUNE 2008. 11 a.m.
Plainclothes policemen and women and some uniformed police today beat up Bhopal survivors and their children inside the parliament street police station.
16 year old Imran was belted by policemen, including Yad Ram, a uniformed policeman from the Parliament Street police station. The belting has hurt his eye, and he has been taken to the hospital. Other policepersons whose names are known include Suraj Bhan, Mallik (a tall, big-set cop), Mahendra (in plainclothes), and the gun-toting Yad Ram.
27-year old Vikas was set upon by 13 policemen. Irshad, 20, was also beaten up badly. The police did not spare the kids. The youngest padayatri, 11-year old Yasmin, 6-year old Nagma, and 24-year old Meera More were also beaten by the police when they tried to prevent the police from dragging Rachna Dhingra, a padayatri, into the lock-up. Seeing the girls come in aid of Rachna, Plainclothesman Mahendra Singh screamed: "In Kaaliyon ke kapde fado." (*Tear the clothes off these blackies).*
All the while, the older women were forced into police lock-up.
Since the time that they were picked up from the Prime Minister's Office for demonstrating in a high-security area, senior police officials have talked tough. Callers who spoke to Mr. Nand Mohan, Deputy Commissioner of Police said the top cop said the Bhopalis will have to face the consequences this time. The Prime Minister's silence on the matter of demands has prompted the Bhopalis to protest in front of his house two times.
Mr. Muthukumaran, Director of Public Relations, Prime Minister's Office did not know that Bhopalis were being beaten up at the parliament street police station for a mistake of his boss, the Prime Minister. However, when intimated about it, he said: "I have heard about it. It is shameful. I have informed the authorities, and we'll see what can be done."
This is not a matter about a few angry policemen. The policemen had nothing to be angry about the Bhopalis. The rot spreads far higher.
With nine Bhopalis, including two women (Rachna and Meera) who are to go on a hunger strike tomorrow, please begin a neend udao.
Call the below people, and demand that a full-blown enquiry affixingresponsibility for today's deplorable incident is conducted:

Deputy Commissioner of Police Nand Mohan: +91 9818099041
Assistant Commissioner of Police Gurdeep Singh: +91 981033880
SHO Avinash Diwedi +91 9810046832
Muthukumaran. Director, Public Relations, PMO: +91 9871990019

for more information, visit www.bhopal.net
Nityanand Jayaraman
International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal

In Britain protests are being directed to the High Commission of India in London -

We are asking people to protest about the beating, arrest and detention of vulnerable children, women and men protesters which started on 9 June, to the High Commission of India in London:

High Commissioner Shiv Shankar Mukherjee

High Commission of India

India House

Aldwych

London

WC2B 4NA

Tel: 020 7836 8484

Weekly Links - 13/04/2008

Peace Movement
One of the biggest UK news stories this week has been the stunning victory at the High Court of The Corner House and the Campaign Against The Arms Trade against the Government over the dropping of the BAE-Saudi arms deal inquiry. This has excited much comment across the blogosphere and elsewhere, and is now putting pressure on Gordon Brown to answer serious questions.
CAAT have announced a demonstration outside the BAE AGM on 7th May. They also have an online petition to the Prime Minister. Here is how the High Court victory was reported on the CAAT blog.

Meanwhile, in Wales a demonstration is scheduled for Saturday 26th April about the privatised St Athan Military Academy. Assemble at 1.30pm on the lawns opposite Cardiff City Hall for a March at 2pm.

Workers' Struggles
The teacher's strike planned for 24th April is gaining momentum, and Stroppyblog lists some of the marches and rallies planned around the country on the day. The Green Party Trade Union Group blog has a report from the recent NUT conference by Phillipe Harari, which concludes "this was a great Conference, showing the NUT at its best – united in fighting for a fairer education system within a fairer society."

The Blood Service Workers' demo at the NBS HQ in Watford took place on Friday.



Here are photos from other actions during the ongoing campaign.

In Health, there is much disquiet over the behaviour of Unison representatives in the lastest negotiations, particularly New Labour candidate-to-be, Karen Jennings - more from Martin Wicks' blog here, and Gill George (Unite union NEC member) here.

Green Politics
Green Party Mayoral candidate Sian Berry has blogged her reasons for standing on her New Statesman blog. Her percentage in the opinion polls has significantly improved since the start of the campaign.



Rupert Read has recently blogged a summary of the Norwich Green Party manifesto for the local elections there, where the Greens are challenging to become the main opposition Party. The London Greens also launched their manifesto this week.

International
London Green MEP Jean Lambert this week called for action on human rights in Bangladesh to ensure free and fair elections there. Green Human Rights campaigner Peter Tatchell has been speaking out on the situation in Zimbabwe, China and Tibet. Renegade Eye has stimulating posts on Zimbabwe and Lebanon.
Indymedia has a report that armed Canadian coastguards have stormed the Sea Shepherd ship, (in the area to obstruct the seal cull), and arrested the crew. Indymedia also has more news on the repression directed towards Mexico's indiginous community in the Oaxaca area.

Quick News Round Up

French students are turning out in increasing numbers on demonstrations against the conservative government's plans for "reforms" and cuts in secondary schools. Some banners on the latest demos referred to the events of 40 years ago, reading "This year May came one month early" and "Faut-il un nouveau Mai 68?"

A series of events around squatting and autonomous spaces in Europe started today, as reported on Indymedia. Indymedia also carries reports of more repression and violence in Oaxaca.

Three deaths this week of people prominent in their own fields on the progressive left in Britain -
Greg Tucker - Socialist RMT activist
Tim Beaumont - the Green Party's representative at Westminster
Steve Sinnott - General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers
Rest in Peace, Comrades.

Greens Prominent In Protests Against Repression In Tibet

Greens in Britain and France have been prominently involved alongside the Tibetan exile community in protesting against the repression directed by the Chinese State against the people of Tibet. The Olympic Torch carrying events in both London and Paris were heavily disrupted by protestors and both occasions became heavily policed, and occasionally hilarious farces. More from the BBC on the French events here and the London events here.

Prominent UK Green and Human Rights activist Peter Tatchell was amongst those arrested in London. In Paris, Green Party activist Sylvain Garel was grabbed by security near the torch, and Mireille Ferri, a Green vice-president of the Paris region, was arrested while carrying a fire extinguisher!

We must show solidarity with all those under attack from the Chinese State, including human rights and environmental activist Hu Jia, who has just been jailed for three and a half years for keeping up his fight for what he believes in.

Weekly Links 01/04/08

Various posts worthy of note from fellow green and left bloggers over the last week:

Green Party London Mayoral candidate Sian Berry turned her spotlight on the Liberal Democrats' candidate Brian Paddick in her New Statesman blog.

Derek Wall has been supporting the campaign of Bristol Green Party Councillor Charlie Bolton and others against the destruction of the Bristol-Bath cycle route.

Peter Tatchell continued his coverage of events in Pakistan-controlled Baluchistan.

Caroline Lucas commented on the Canadian seal cull.

Jim at Daily (Maybe) blogged on the situation in Tibet and the debate in the West.

Molly at Gaian Economics commented on the Tata motor industry take-over.

Green From Below picked up on the Qollasuyo Declaration on climate change from the Climate and Capitalism blog.

Something Nasty Stirs In English Politics....

There is a whiff of something unpleasant coming from a clutch of articles and op-ed pieces from people at some stage seen as influential in the two main parties in Britain this week. I say English politics as any fool knows that "British Nationalism" is almost always "English Nationalism" and frequently "White Anglo Saxon Protestant English Nationalism". I doubt whether the disturbing drift in the views of some of the political writers I am about to name will have much echo in Scotland, for example.

Tory Adviser and "thinker" David Selbourne has an odd article, given front page prominence in the main Conservative leaning magazine, The Spectator, entitled We Are Living In A State Of Emergency: And We Are Getting Angrier. At first glance the piece appears a typical, perennial Mail/Express Why-Oh-Why essay on the Country going to the dogs, but on closer inspection appears to go further down a dangerous path than writers like Phillips, Littlejohn, Glover et al have done of late. The editors of the Tory organ are obviously aware of the controversial nature of Selbourne's opinions and cover their backs by prominently calling for comment in the print edition.

Selbourne's analysis of the current malaise of Western societies, and in particular liberal democracies pursuing neo-liberal economic policies and social engineering, is certainly forthright and persuasive :

The ills of Western democracies are afflicting the most liberal societies known to history. Among other things, Britain suffers from growing inequality, housing shortage, a falling quality of health provision, rising rates of many types of crime, a failing pedagogy, agricultural impoverishment and a huge scale of ‘consumer debt’. Yet, for many, we are not free enough, being allegedly threatened by encroachments upon our personal liberties, coddled by a ‘nanny state’ and menaced by Orwellian surveillance.

However, his final call, after lambasting the main British political parties, and by implication, much of the population is for some kind of strong man, the "smack of firm government", ID cards, nationalistic corporatism etc - something that sounds like a caricature of the path that New Labour are already leading us down -

‘Up and be doing!’, said the great Protector in 1643, speaking directly to us now; ‘we must act lively, do it without distraction, neglect no means’; and, going to the heart of today’s confusions also, ‘weak counsels and weak actings undo all’.

Moreover, as the ‘free society’ disintegrates, it is a progressive not a reactionary stance to favour the restoration of the idea of nation, the values and duties of citizenship, the safeguarding of the public domain from the privateer, the elevation of the ethic of public service over private interest and, yes, ID cards too. To hold otherwise is to invite, or incite, the justly angered to find their own ways to a new political settlement in Britain — or to leave it in ever greater droves.

It is no wonder that the orthodox Thatcherites of the Spectator blanched at the thought of his article being seen as an editorial view and saw fit to invite comment on the controversial piece. Selbourne's attachment to democracy and civil liberties seems to have evaporated (if it was ever there) at the same time as his Islamophobia grew to obsessive proportions.

A slightly more liberal and watered down version of Selbourne's appeal for a powerful state appears in Matthew Parris' Times article, although he does opine that

People need governing. People need governments, strong governments. People need certainty. People need consistency. People need constraining, inspiring, harnessing and directing, and they need it done with the clarity and command that central government alone can offer.

Nevertheless, he hedges round his new found faith in authoritarian solutions with the usual Parris one nation Tory liberalism. Not so Selbourne, who seems to take pleasure in repeatedly quoting Britain's one time Military Dictator, Oliver Cromwell, implying that someone of Cromwell's "calibre" is what is required. Selbourne, unlike Parris, approaches from a new-found radical rejection of what he calls the "corner shop" mentality of the Tory party and a barely concealed urge for political and religious conflict (Selbourne has form - Muslims play the scapegoat role that Catholics played for his revolutionary hero.) It is all too much for some rightists still in thrall to those who Parris names as his fallen and now historically irrelevant "household gods" - Hayek, Sherman and Joseph - they lambast the heretic Selbourne in the comments, as do the Royalists enraged by his elevation of the regicide and the Protestant bigots upset that he does not locate the source of all the ills he describes in the decline of subscription to their superstitions and bigotry. (Of course, Selbourne has his own superstitions and bigotries) At least one commenter makes the observation that Selbourne's advocacy of ID cards, culture wars and strong state are at least a little reminiscent of a former little bald dictator of the country in which Selbourne now apparently lives.

Nevertheless, all this rightist sectariana and backbiting aside, the intersecting opinions of Parris and Selbourne are still of importance as we have just witnessed the ruling party and the establishment fawning to the rightist French President - a President who combines envy of vicious "anglo-saxon" neo-liberal economic and social policies with residual statism and that figleaf of republicanism and laicite that is used in France and the Low Countries to justify anti-muslim bigotry and the division, where possible, of the working class along racial and religious lines. It seems that neo-liberal economics, fake-enlightenment cultural supremacism and authoritarian statist politics are coming together more explicitly than previously. It is ironic that Selbourne sees himself as the ignored prophet and rebel, when the spokespeople of the establishment "left" echo his outlook.

Look no further than right-labourite witchhunter in chief Martin Bright at the New Statesman - equivalent of the Spectator for the ruling Labour Party. The magazine itself backs off from Bright's stance of recent weeks which seemed to suggest that a defeat for Ken Livingstone in London would be a good thing - this week it headlines a demolition job on the Tory Candidate Boris Johnson. However, Bright is still in there, digging his claws into his former leftist comrades like a latter-day Paul Johnson. He opines about the futile horribleness of 1968 and the anti-war movement in 2003, (much in line with the French President's views)and without a blush quotes Tariq Ali as "negative and gloomy" where Ali is in actual fact attacking people very much like Bright and his new-labourite pals. Bright meanwhile can only negatively and gloomily reflect on the fact that both 1968 and "Third Way/Liberal Interventionist" idealism both came to grief.

Now, before any misconceptions take hold, I, and this blog, resolutely defend secularism, republicanism and progress. Whilst seeing a role for localisation and mutualism - ideally seeking workers' control - I can see that in the short term public ownership of utilities and transport would be a step forward, and national and international planning would play a major part in any sustainable ecosocialist strategy. This makes opposition to the Selbournes, the Brights, the Parrises (and those who would fellow travel with them on the right of the European Green movement) even more important. The superficial attraction of some of Selbourne's analysis (e.g. his condemnation of the sell off of council housing) and the mild social democratic sound of some of what Parris has to say, the appeal to enlightenment secularism of Bright should not blind us to the fact that they are at best apologists for the authoritarian trajectory of the ruling class, and in Selbourne's case advocates of a kind of anti-democratic, xenophobic and militaristic nationalism that comes close to the "F" word that we should not overuse to avoid accusations of exaggeration and hyperbole.

The ruling class of Europe in "left" and "right" manifestations - Brown and Sarkozy - move ever closer to the nuclear-powered-corporatist-national-security state, meanwhile some of those sanctioned by the establishment media as "controversial" critics offer as alternatives a return to the 1930s or the 1650s!

The time for a real oppositional movement with a developed understanding of the crises facing modern "capitalist civilization" and the perspective of bonding together the social forces that can move us forward to the next stage is clearly upon us. The despairing views of Selbourne and Bright are evidence of the political and social decay that is fast setting in. They must be countered by a positive, internationalist and inclusive movement committed to democracy, ecosocialism and progress.

Selected News from Indymedia Newswire

Various actions, emergency demos and activism posted up on the UK Indymedia newswire over the last few days.

First an emergency demo in London today for Mumia Abu-Jamal here.

Secondly the fight for freedom of assembly goes on with a demo planned for 5th April.

International Rising Tide Network have demos on climate change issues scheduled for 1st April.

The World This Week

Three crises loom large this week.

First, the banking crisis continues with the effects of the latest developments in US banking rippling out across the world's stock markets and governments. The bargain basement buy out of Bear Stearns by JP Morgan will give both economists and conspiracy theorists plenty to speculate fruitlessly about! A view here from Martin Wolf in the establishment Financial Times early last week, and here from the left from Barry Grey on the World Socialist Website.

Second, gold and oil prices continue to rise - more here from Barry Grey and here, the more establishment view from Anthony Reuben at the BBC.

Finally, the turmoil in Tibet continues, with some interesting overflow of problems into neighbouring provinces of China. This could all be shortlived, or be something that gathers momentum to develop into something quite different.

Weekly Links - 16/03/2008

Peace
Reports on the weekend peace demonstrations in London and Glasgow can be found here , here and here.
There was a good Green presence on the London demo in terms of numbers and propaganda.
More pictures from London here and here. Indymedia has a report of an incident involving a Police Forward Intelligence Team.

Human Rights
In light of recent cases, like the one I blogged on within the last fortnight, where LGBT people are being threatened with deportation from Britain to countries where they face persecution, or even execution, a petition has been started - http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/Stopdeportinggay/

London Green MEP Jean Lambert has been speaking out over deportations to Iraq and also raised the case of Mehdi Kazemi who was threatened with deportation to Iran, in the European Parliament.

There was disturbing news this week of further violence and murder directed at trade unionists in Guatemala.

Pollution
Peter Tatchell, (who had a bit of a row this week with George Galloway over Galloway's comments about the Kazemi case) posted an interesting piece on Comment Is Free about pollution and the Beijing Olympics

Workplace Struggle and Climate Change
More has been posted on Notts Indymedia about the Nottingham Library uniforms dispute that I have mentioned before.

Workers' Climate Action this week alerted me to an interesting article from The Nation about US unions and climate change.

Space
On Space issues there is a piece this week on Cedar Lounge Revolution.

Activism
US IWW member and environmental activist Marie Mason has been detained after a raid on her home - more info on Indymedia here and here.