-
-
China’s Muslims Say Ramadan A Time Of Repression
China's muslims have reported experiencing increased levels of repression over recent weeks, as the Muslim fasting period of Ramadan kicked off. Some from the province of Xinjiang have reported forced-shavings with the threat of arrest by local Communist Party officials, while others have had restrictions of fasting and other aspects of practising their religion.
Can't the local officials see what they're doing? Not only is forcing people to shave their beards or stopping them from choosing to fast inhumane and degrading, it is also only going to serve to heighten tensions in an already fraught area. This sounds like it's going towards a potentially very dangerous situation. China's muslims have reported experiencing increased levels of repression over recent weeks, as the Muslim fasting period of Rama... more -
Press Freedom: "Collateral Damage"
Monday 8 September 2008: Today Jeremy Dear, the General Secretary of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ), moved a motion at the Trade Union Congress (TUC) live on the BBC Parliament Channel in Brighton on the issue of civil liberties and police surveillance and harassment of working journalists.
Along side this, the NUJ has released a short film called Press Freedom: "Collateral Damage" which tackles the issue of police surveillance of bona fide journalists who document political dissent.
The film is a damming account of the Orwellian techniques and methods of the Metropolitan Police Forward Intelligence Team (FIT Squad) over the last few years.
This film includes evidence of the FIT Squad targeting working journalists and footage of police attacking journalists when covering protests. The film also has an interview with Jeremy Dear and photographers outside New Scotland Yard, the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police.
The FIT Squad is a police unit that is trained to gather evidence at football matches, political protests and over the last year it has been used by officers in some parts of the country to target local youth on council estates for alleged anti-social behaviour.
The beacon of a free and democratic society is a free press, unhindered by intimidation, surveillance and violence, if the press is no longer free to operate and document political unrest the country is no longer free or democratic.
Press Freedom: "Collateral Damage" is just a taste of an ongoing project initiated in February 2008, using four years of personal archive footage, to be finalised as a feature documentary spanning five years of international protest and police coverage - eta: Autumn 2009.
More links to the ongoing story here:
http://www.nuj.org.uk/
http://www.nuj.org.uk/innerPagenuj.html?docid=910
http://marcvallee.wordpress.com/category/journalism/
http://jasonnparkinson.blogspot.com/2008/05/street-jour...
http://www.thejournalist.org.uk/Aug08/news_photogs.html
http://www.thejournalist.org.uk/Aug08/feat_cops_main.ht...
http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=1&a......... Monday 8 September 2008: Today Jeremy Dear, the General Secretary of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ), moved a motion at the Tr... more -
Tibetain Monk in Hiding Tells of Interrogation and Abuse
CDT reports the story of a Tibetain monk who was detained on suspicion of involvement with the riots that broke out in Lhasa in March. The monk has talked about details of his experience with Associated Press, details of which you can read at the link.
Unfortunately the YouTube vid of his testimony (above) is in Tibetain. CDT reports the story of a Tibetain monk who was detained on suspicion of involvement with the riots that broke out in Lhasa in March.... more -
Rebutting lies and misconceptions about Anarchists and the convention protests
Over the past two weeks in Denver and St. Paul, thousands of anarchists and other folks have come together to protest the conventions being held by the two wings of the Corporate Party. These protests were the culmination of almost two years of organizing. Organizers arranged not just protests, but many other events as well. Their efforts were met with severe and significant police repression, with over 800 people being violently arrested by the authorities and many others being violently attacked and terrorized. In response to these events, the police, the corporate media, and others have said many things about anarchists involved in these protests. While many of the comments on numerous Internet discussion boards have been supportive of anarchists and critical of the police, there have also been many lies and misconceptions said and written about anarchists. This FAQ is an effort to address and rebut those anti-anarchist words. Over the past two weeks in Denver and St. Paul, thousands of anarchists and other folks have come together to protest the conventions ... more
-
Police Trained to Hate Protesters
Did you know that anarchists killed several police officers during the 1999 anti-WTO protests in Seattle?
No, you don't know that, because it never happened. But this is the kind of thing that many rank-and-file police believe who have been trained to police summit protests, including the ongoing anti-RNC protests happening this week in St. Paul, Minnesota. There were riots and lots of police violence in Seattle in 1999, but nobody was killed during those protests. Yet, police officers doing anti-protest policing in many American cities have been told this lie about anarchists.
This is probably not the only lie about protesters and anarchists that are indoctrinated into the police. Those who attend protests and those who have been arrested can attest to hearing incredible anti-protester beliefs coming out of the mouths of the police. Numerous online message boards have seen comments about protesters that come from police officers. Did you know that anarchists killed several police officers during the 1999 anti-WTO protests in Seattle? ... more -
WE TOLD YOU SO
At both the DNC and RNC, anarchists showed themselves to have seized the initiative to determine the character of street demonstrations. The US anarchist movement has survived several years of repression and attempted co-optation, proving that the upsurge associated with the anti-globalization era was not a flash in the pan: if anything, we are stronger today than ten years ago. At both the DNC and RNC, anarchists showed themselves to have seized the initiative to determine the character of street demonstration... more
-
Bush quietly seeks to make war powers permanent, by declaring indefinite state of ...
As the nation focuses on Sen. John McCain's choice of running mate, President Bush has quietly moved to expand the reach of presidential power by ensuring that America remains in a state of permanent war.
Buried in a recent proposal by the Administration is a sentence that has received scant attention -- and was buried itself in the very newspaper that exposed it Saturday. It is an affirmation that the United States remains at war with al Qaeda, the Taliban and "associated organizations."
Part of a proposal for Guantanamo Bay legal detainees, the provision before Congress seeks to “acknowledge again and explicitly that this nation remains engaged in an armed conflict with Al Qaeda, the Taliban, and associated organizations, who have already proclaimed themselves at war with us and who are dedicated to the slaughter of Americans.”
The New York Times page 8 placement of the article in its Saturday edition seems to downplay its importance. Such a re-affirmation of war carries broad legal implications that could imperil Americans' civil liberties and the rights of foreign nationals for decades to come. As the nation focuses on Sen. John McCain's choice of running mate, President Bush has quietly moved to expand the reach of presi... more -
Swiss to Witch: Sorry!
A woman beheaded after she was accused of causing a girl to spit pins and convulse was exonerated Wednesday, more than 200 years after she became the last person executed as a witch in Europe.
The decision to clear Anna Goeldi's name came after long debate in the eastern Swiss state of Glarus, and was taken in consultation with the Protestant and Roman Catholic churches.
Goeldi, who was executed in 1782, was a maidservant in the house of prominent burgher Johann Jakob Tschudi. Tschudi, a doctor and magistrate, allegedly had an affair with Goeldi, according to a book published last year by local journalist Walter Hauser. A woman beheaded after she was accused of causing a girl to spit pins and convulse was exonerated Wednesday, more than 200 years after... more -
UCPD and Feds Raid Bookstore in Berkeley, CA
At around 10:30am, 5-6 Officers made there way into the Longhaul Infoshop and broke down every door and stole every single computer on the property (including those used by the Slingshot collective and East Bay Prisoner Support). They also raided cabinets, cut locks and mis-sorted mail.
People arrived after being informed of the situation, and demanded that the police show a warrant. The police said they would show one once they were done, and they did. Both copwatch and the Daily Planet were there to cover the incident. The departments involved were 4 UC Berkeley cops, 1 Alameda County Sheriff, and 1 Federal agent. The police never explained there reason for the raid other than that the computer equipment "may have been used to commit a felony". This is the first time the infoshop has been raided. At around 10:30am, 5-6 Officers made there way into the Longhaul Infoshop and broke down every door and stole every single computer on... more -
Egyptian activists strive to halt female circumcision
SULTAN ZAWYIT, Egypt - In this small Nile River farming village, Maha Mohammed has started to doubt whether she should circumcise her two daughters.
A year ago, she had few qualms about female genital mutilation, the practice of cutting a girl's clitoris and sometimes other genitalia. She herself was cut two decades ago, and she fears her daughters will not find husbands otherwise.
But Mohammed also has heard that circumcision can be medically risky and emotionally painful. And a strong-willed neighbor, another woman, has been dropping by her house regularly to persuade her to say no.
"I hear that girls suffer not just physically but psychologically," the 31-year-old Mohammed said. "But I am afraid. I don't want my daughters to have uncontrollable demands for sex."
Such doubts are significant. With vigorous grass-roots campaigns and the passage of tough laws against circumcision, Egypt seems to be making a dent in this deeply ingrained practice, which is thousands of years old. The number of young girls circumcised is now steadily declining in a country where an estimated 96 percent of married Egyptian women have had their genitals cut.
The most recent comprehensive study predicts about 63 percent of Egyptian girls 9 years old and under will be circumcised over the next decade. The numbers are lower in urban areas like Cairo - about 40 percent - but higher for rural areas in the south - about 78 percent, the government's 2005 demographic and health survey predicts. SULTAN ZAWYIT, Egypt - In this small Nile River farming village, Maha Mohammed has started to doubt whether she should circumcise her ... more -
IndyMac Bank seized by Feds; 2nd-largest bank failure in US history
The federal government took control of Pasadena-based IndyMac Bank today, in what regulators called the second-largest bank failure in U.S. history.
The Office of Thrift Supervision in Washington, the chief regulator of IndyMac, said it transferred control of the $32-billion bank to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
Regulators said depositors would have no access to banking services online and by telephone this weekend, but could continue to use ATMs, debit cards and checks. Online banking and phone banking services are to resume operations Monday.
Federal authorities said based on a preliminary analysis, the takeover of IndyMac would cost the FDIC between $4 billion and $8 billion.
ndyMac's failure had been widely expected in recent days, as regulators said it was not well-capitalized. Its stock has plummeted to mere pennies a share and some nervous depositors have been pulling their funds. The bank has been reeling from losses on defaulted mortgages made at the height of the housing boom.
"The OTS has determined that the current institution, IndyMac Bank, is unlikely to be able to meet continued depositors' demands in the normal course of business and is therefore in an unsafe and unsound condition," the agency said in a statement today.
IndyMac's failure is second only to the 1984 failure of Continental Illinois Bank, which had assets of $40 billion at the time. The federal government took control of Pasadena-based IndyMac Bank today, in what regulators called the second-largest bank failure in... more -
TV networks fight shorter Olympic leash
For several years now NBC has meticulously planned all the details for its coverage of the many sports events at the Summer Olympics in China.
But with the Games only 19 days away, many at the network are concerned about how they will permitted to cover any unscheduled events, like political protests or government crackdowns — or whether the Chinese government will allow them to cover such things at all.
One of the most common hypothetical questions NBC officials have bandied about involves the opening ceremonies on Aug. 8.
Hundreds of athletes will parade into a stadium in front of world leaders, including President George W. Bush, and a huge global television audience. If an athlete holds a protest sign or waves a Tibetan flag, how will the Chinese hosts react? Will the television networks show the scene? How will the Chinese handle the media for the rest of the Games?
The stakes are high for both the network, which paid $900 million for broadcast rights for the Olympics, and the reputation of NBC News. If it covers any controversies aggressively, it risks drawing the ire of the Chinese and interfering with coverage of sports events. But if it shies from coverage of any protests, NBC risks being criticized in the West for kowtowing to China — particularly since its corporate parent, General Electric, is aggressively expanding its investments in China. For several years now NBC has meticulously planned all the details for its coverage of the many sports events at the Summer Olympics i... more -
David Marriott's Blog SEX AND SHANGHAI, much more than sexual adventures
I've been reading fragment from Mr David Marriott's Blog SEX AND SHANGHAI / 欲望上海 and I don't have words enough to recommend to everyone visit and read it carefully.
David Marriott gives a very accurate impression of the chinese social and political situation from the point of view of somebody who sees the problem from the inside without blinds of any kind or the brain wash of which the chinese population is victim after year and years of misleading education, political propaganda, threats and repressions from the leaders in Beijing.
Aside of the sexual adventures told in his writings, which in appearance are the most advertised contents of this blog, he explain with accurate details how really works the monster of the Chinese Communist Party to control the minds of the population until transform them in a mass of social zombies incapable of a political opinion, either because they have no resources or references to do so or because they are so afraid of the consequences that they prefer to shut and keep living in the very well sold concept of harmony.
If you ever wandered if the events in the movie "The Matrix" could really happen, then you have to take a deep look to the real situation in this country from the inside and you will be amazed of how powerful is the manipulation of the collective consciousness in a society. I've been reading fragment from Mr David Marriott's Blog SEX AND SHANGHAI / 欲望上海 and I don't have words enough to recom... more -
Flights grounded during Olympics opening ceremony
Flights to and from Beijing will be grounded during the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games on August 8, state media said Friday, in the latest security measure to hit China's capital.
"Airports and airlines have already received a notice that in order to guarantee the security of the Olympics, they have to ban flights according to the demands of the Civil Aviation Authority," the Beijing News said.
From 7:59 pm (1159 GMT) on August 8 to midnight, all flights to and from Beijing Capital Airport and Nanyuan airport in the south of the city would be grounded, the newspaper said.
Some of the flights would be moved to earlier or later slots while others have been cancelled, the report said.
The no-fly zone is the latest in a series of increasingly stringent safety measures aimed at reinforcing security in the capital ahead of and during the Olympic Games.
Dozens of heads of state including US President George W. Bush are expected to attend the opening ceremony.
Authorities in Beijing have warned of an unprecedented terror threat to the Olympics, particularly from its Muslim Xinjiang region in the northwest, and have said the security of athletes and tourists is their top priority.
A commentary in the Communist Party's mouthpiece, the People's Daily newspaper, last weekend also warned of the security threat from Xinjiang and Tibet.
"The Beijing Olympics is facing a terrorist threat unsurpassed in Olympic history," it said.
Critics, however, say that China's communist rulers are exaggerating the security threat to clampdown on any form of protest during the Olympics. Flights to and from Beijing will be grounded during the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games on August 8, state media said Friday, in... more -
Tibetan flags banned at Olympic equestrian event
Tibetan flags will be banned from all Olympic equestrian events in Hong Kong under rules aimed at heading off political propaganda and protests inside competition venues, organizers said Friday.
The crackdown guidelines apply to flags representing countries and regions without athletes in the events. Demonstrations, as well as any "propaganda" appearing on banners, clothing or other accessories, won't be allowed either.
Organizers said violators will be kicked out.
"I think most people who come to these events would hope nobody is allowed to spoil the fun and the purpose of the games," John Breen, security coordinator for the equestrian events, said at a news conference in Hong Kong.
The territory, which is hosting the equestrian event for the Beijing Olympics, has become a possible magnet for demonstrators as mainland China has tightened visa restrictions ahead of the games.
A former British colony now ruled by China, Hong Kong is supposed to enjoy Western-style civil liberties and grants visa-free access to citizens of many Western countries.
However, Hong Kong has acted to restrict demonstrators in some cases. In May, immigration officials turned back pro-Tibet activists who flew into Hong Kong before its leg of the Olympic torch relay. Tibetan flags will be banned from all Olympic equestrian events in Hong Kong under rules aimed at heading off political propaganda and... more -
China urges restrictions on performers
The government warned foreign performers and entertainers against harming China's sovereignty or ethnic unity, a sign of increasing nervousness over live performances weeks before the Olympic Games.
China is ratcheting up security ahead of the Aug. 8-24 games in an all-out attempt to shield the event from disruptions that could tarnish China's carefully cultivated image of order and control.
Also on Friday, The Shanghai Daily reported that Beijing's airport will close for about four hours during the opening ceremony on Aug. 8. The newspaper did not give a reason for the closure, which will affect dozens of flights.
China should strengthen its rules about foreign performers and performers from Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, a notice on the Ministry of Culture's Web site said, including checks on their background.
"The content of the performance should not violate the country's law, including situations that harm the sovereignty of the country," the notice said.
Chinese authorities were alarmed in March after Icelandic singer Bjork shouted "Tibet! Tibet!" at the end of her concert in Shanghai in March.
Authorities said Bjork's outburst "broke Chinese law and hurt Chinese people's feelings," and vowed to be stricter on foreign performers.
The notice said performances should also not harm China's "national security, or incite racial hatred and ruin ethnic unity."
Performers should also not promote pornography and superstition, it said.
The rules were first introduced in 2005, but the notice acts as warning and reinforcement during a sensitive time weeks from the opening of the Olympic Games. Agencies that bring foreign performers to China will be banned for two years if they violate the rules, it said.
Musicians in Beijing have gone into hibernation this summer as live performances have been stopped in bars, a music festival canceled, and clubs suddenly told they need a live performance license. The government warned foreign performers and entertainers against harming China's sovereignty or ethnic unity, a sign of increasi... more -
Chavez party seeks changes for 3rd term
Venezuela's ruling party pledged Thursday to seek to reform the nation's constitution to let President Hugo Chavez seek indefinite re-election.
Proposed changes to end the two-term limit for presidents will be presented to Congress or the National Electoral Council and ultimately to voters after state and municipal elections now scheduled for November, said Freddy Bernal, a leader of Chavez's United Socialist Party.
"The purpose of this amendment is to ask the country if they want or don't want the re-election of President Hugo Chavez," Bernal said in a televised interview. "If we want peace, tranquility and development in the country, Hugo Chavez must continue being president."
Chavez, who was first elected in 1998, is barred from running again when his term expires in 2013. Venezuela's ruling party pledged Thursday to seek to reform the nation's constitution to let President Hugo Chavez seek inde... more -
Beijing tells spectators to leave banners at home
Beijing has advised spectators coming to next month's Olympics to leave their banners at home, even if they do not contravene rules forbidding the airing of political or religious views at venues.
Beijing authorities have long been concerned that its citizens will take some of the gloss off the August 8-24 Games through bad manners and on Monday released its "Spectators House Rules" along with a "Good Habit for a Good Games" campaign.
The rules, which Beijing organisers said were "virtually the same as for the Athens and Sydney Olympics", ban banners and flags larger than two metres by one metre although officials said they would prefer that even smaller signs were not displayed. Beijing has advised spectators coming to next month's Olympics to leave their banners at home, even if they do not contravene rul... more -
No repeat of Beijing banner ban at 2010 Games
Organizers of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Canada are not likely to follow the lead of China, which banned spectators from bringing banners to the Summer Games in Beijing, officials said on Wednesday.
Beijing unveiled "house rules" this week for spectators coming to next month's Games, prohibiting all banners, even if they do not contravene rules forbidding the airing of political or religious views at Olympic venues.
Vancouver does not expect to do that for the Winter Games in Canada, said John Furlong, chief executive of the Vancouver Organizing Committee (VANOC).
"Clearly, what we will be trying to do is to live up to the promise that we gave many years ago that the Games of Vancouver 2010 will be about sport and celebration," he told reporters following VANOC's regular board meeting. Organizers of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Canada are not likely to follow the lead of China, which banned spectators from bringing ban... more -
Many vacant hotel rooms remain ahead of Olympics
There are plenty of rooms available for the Beijing Olympics, with domestic visitors being counted on to make up for an apparent absence of foreign guests.
Xiong Yuemi, deputy director of the Beijing Tourism Bureau, said Tuesday that 45.5 percent of Beijing's four-star hotel rooms were booked for the Olympic period. Bookings in hotels with three-star ratings or below were also under 50 percent, though Xiong didn't offer specific numbers.
She declined to tie the vacant rooms to new visa controls and bad publicity surrounding the games, which open in 3 1/2 weeks. The games are supposed to showcase a new China, but they are also exposing facets of the authoritarian state that has run the country for almost six decades.
"This is within our expectations," Xiong said of the occupancy rate.
She said the rate at five-star hotels, many of which are booked by Olympic officials, sponsors or national delegations, was 78.1 percent. All occupancy rates were calculated at the end of June, Xiong said. She said the five-star rate for the same period a year ago was 69 percent.
About 500,000 foreigners are expected to attend the games.
"There are still many domestic ticket holders who haven't booked hotels yet, Xiong said. "When the games start, the actual occupancy rate will be higher than the current reservation rate."
The Aug. 8-24 Olympics have been beset by negative publicity for months, beginning in February when Steven Spielberg declined to work as artistic adviser for the opening ceremony, citing China's policies toward Sudan and Darfur. There are plenty of rooms available for the Beijing Olympics, with domestic visitors being counted on to make up for an apparent absen... more
-
related topics
Repression
Contributors (108)
Repression
