Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Sex Slavery from the Inside: a documentary on human trafficking
reporter: what thoughts crossed your mind while you were there? (she means where she was kept in captivity)
Jenea: I have the same thoughts now: it would have been better for me not to be born...
Monday, September 6, 2010
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Jafar Pahani is Free
Jafar Pahani is Free, Jafar Pahani is Free, Jafar Pahani is Free, Jafar Pahani is Free, Jafar Pahani is Free...
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Free Jafar Pahani
Jafar Panahi was due to take his place on the Cannes jury this year. Instead, he is incarcerated in Tehrans notorious Evin prison, after he was arrested for unspecified crimes. The festival has left an empty chair on the jury panel. Stephen Frears, in Cannes for the premiere of Tamara Drewe, added his voice to the protests today, saying reports of the hunger strike were terrible news.
The director has made several films critical of the Iranian regime. All are banned in his own country. Last year, the government imposed a travel ban after he appeared wearing green the colour worn by opposition Green Movement supporters at the Montreal Film Festival.
Binoche is in Cannes to promote Certified Copy, a film directed be another Iranian film-maker, Abbas Kiarostami.
She sobbed as reports filtered through that Panahi had begun a hunger strike. Sitting beside her, Kiarostami called for his release.
The fact that a film-maker has been imprisoned is itself intolerable, he said. If the Iranian government continues to refuse to release Jafar, then we need explanations.
Jafar Panahi was inclined to make his films under clandestine, illegal circumstances, but thats not his responsibility alone. The responsibility is that of the authorities who prevent him from carrying out his profession.
When a film-maker, an artist, is imprisoned it is art as a whole that is attacked, and it is against this that we should react.
Panahi, who won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film festival in 2000 for Dayereh, was arrested in March by plain clothes police who burst into his home.
Jafar Panahi was inclined to make his films under clandestine, illegal circumstances, but thats not his responsibility alone. The responsibility is that of the authorities who prevent him from carrying out his profession.
When a film-maker, an artist, is imprisoned it is art as a whole that is attacked, and it is against this that we should react.
Panahi, who won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film festival in 2000 for Dayereh, was arrested in March by plain clothes police who burst into his home.
Tehran has denied that his incarceration is because he is an artist or for political reasons, but opponents of the government believe he was arrested over plans to make a new film criticising the government.
Martin Scorsese, Oliver Stone and Steven Spielberg are among the high-profile directors petitioning for Panahis release.
see also FREE JAFAR PAHANI PETITION
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
send the Nazis home!
Urgent request for help from Milan, Italy: we are experiencing an incredible presence of neo-nazi and neo-fascist organisations in our city from the past weeks throughout all May 2010.
Please take voice against this attempt, help us to ask for the immediate cancellation of the neo-nazi and neo-fascist events and demos, from the 2nd of May to the "European Hammerfest" scheduled in Milan on May 29, 2010. From your country and from Europe help us to ask for a stop to this dangerous initiatives, and help us to ask to the local and national italian politicians of Berlusconi's coalition to stop immediately to support this extreme right wings organisations.
We ask to european organisation, ngos, movements and european institutions to take voice and take action:
> Sign this call
> Spread this call for help
> Contact us directly if you think you can do something more from your country and/or give pressure on european institutions and european parliament
> Send us documents / dossiers about european neonazi/neofascist groups to unmask them and denounce the danger they represent
> Send us press release / spread them to local and national mass-media / publish them on website / spread the by mailinglists and newsletters
Our contacts: milanoamalaliberta@gmail.com, phone +390236511380, http://www.cantiere.org
European institutions, Italian government, Municipality of Milan: From all Europe we all say no to the neo-nazi and neo-fascist italian and europe an events and demos scheduled from May 2nd to May 29th in Milan, Italy.
Many italian and european neo-nazi and neo-fascist groups are organising several conventions/events/demos in Milan, Italy for all this month May 2010. The local coalition of Berlusconi it is absolutely majority on the local government of the municipality and county of Milan, those institutions are giving political and economical support to those organisations, despite many democrats and anti-racist and anti-fascist organisations (http://www.cantiere.org; http://lombardia.indymedia.org; http://www.osservatoriodemocratico.org).
The italian extreme right wing organisations involved are different groups, all have been recently officially admitted to be part or partner of the Berlusconi's party called PDL/Partito delle Liberta? so called "freedom's party". The italian national and local government of Berlusconi is doing nothing against those groups, their ideas and symbols and celtic crosses are spreading more and more and so their violence. In the last 2 years Italy is experiencing many dangerous attacks to the freedom and growing and growing escalation of historic rehabilitation of fascism and xenophobic violence against minorities: migrants, romas people, GLBTQ communities.
On our days, both for economical and political reasons, Berlusconi's government is more and more evolving like an authoritarian government which represents a growing alarm for the italian democracy and for all Europe. We all ask to italian Berlusconi's national and local government of Milan to stop the coalition with this extreme right-wing groups.
During the whole last week, from 24th April 2nd May they were scheduled a big neo-nazis and neo-fascists convention in Milan. Thanks to several initiatives, demos and actions made in Milan by many democratic, antifascist and antiracist organizations, some of their events have been blocked or posticipied, but fascists could do a demonstration in the streets of Milan with celtic crosses and fascist slogan, and even with support and participation of Berlusconi's PDL councilors. They also could do a day full of events form the morning of 2nd May untill the night. All this happened in Milan under the complete silence of insitutions, because of their connivance with neofascist movement, and neither the majority of mass-media took explicity part against it.
In the next weeks of May there are still other events organized by extreme right wing, in particularly we ask to stop immediately the support of following conventions:
- the 2nd tattos conventions with groups from Italy, France, Portugal, Spain and Belgium scheduled in Milan on May 8 and 9 organised from the Hammerskin (http://www.skinhouse.info/index1.htm)
- the national italian neo-fascist demonstration scheduled in Milan on 22nd May organized by Forza Nuova and its leader Roberto Fiore (http://forzanuova.org/articoli/il-22-maggio-milano-forza-nuova-contro-le-banche) in which will take part also european delegations from spanish and french neonazis, but expecially from Hungary: in fact Laszlo Toroczkai will come to Milan, he's th leader of HVIM and of the Jobbik party from the Hungarian nazi-extreme-right-wing
- the european neo-nazi convention, so-called "European Hammerfest 1990-2010, 20 years of European Brotherhood" scheduled in Milan on 29th May, 2010 (http://www.skinhouse.info/index1.htm).
Expecially about this we ask european organization to take voice and denounce with us the danger that extreme right wing groups represent: in all europe right wing is growing stronger and in Italy this is happening with the complete support and connivance of goverment parties and institutions.
We all united ask to european organisation, ngos and european institutions to take voice and take action in order to stop those events and generally this alliance extremely dangerous for democracy and freedom, not just for Italy but for all Europe.
Sign this call, Spread it, Contact us directly if you think you can do something more from your country and/or by giving pressure on european institutions and european parliament | to send us press release or documents/dossier
our contacts: milanoamalaliberta@gmail.com, phone +390236511380, http://www.cantiere.org
Please take voice against this attempt, help us to ask for the immediate cancellation of the neo-nazi and neo-fascist events and demos, from the 2nd of May to the "European Hammerfest" scheduled in Milan on May 29, 2010. From your country and from Europe help us to ask for a stop to this dangerous initiatives, and help us to ask to the local and national italian politicians of Berlusconi's coalition to stop immediately to support this extreme right wings organisations.
We ask to european organisation, ngos, movements and european institutions to take voice and take action:
> Sign this call
> Spread this call for help
> Contact us directly if you think you can do something more from your country and/or give pressure on european institutions and european parliament
> Send us documents / dossiers about european neonazi/neofascist groups to unmask them and denounce the danger they represent
> Send us press release / spread them to local and national mass-media / publish them on website / spread the by mailinglists and newsletters
Our contacts: milanoamalaliberta@gmail.com, phone +390236511380, http://www.cantiere.org
European institutions, Italian government, Municipality of Milan: From all Europe we all say no to the neo-nazi and neo-fascist italian and europe an events and demos scheduled from May 2nd to May 29th in Milan, Italy.
Many italian and european neo-nazi and neo-fascist groups are organising several conventions/events/demos in Milan, Italy for all this month May 2010. The local coalition of Berlusconi it is absolutely majority on the local government of the municipality and county of Milan, those institutions are giving political and economical support to those organisations, despite many democrats and anti-racist and anti-fascist organisations (http://www.cantiere.org; http://lombardia.indymedia.org; http://www.osservatoriodemocratico.org).
The italian extreme right wing organisations involved are different groups, all have been recently officially admitted to be part or partner of the Berlusconi's party called PDL/Partito delle Liberta? so called "freedom's party". The italian national and local government of Berlusconi is doing nothing against those groups, their ideas and symbols and celtic crosses are spreading more and more and so their violence. In the last 2 years Italy is experiencing many dangerous attacks to the freedom and growing and growing escalation of historic rehabilitation of fascism and xenophobic violence against minorities: migrants, romas people, GLBTQ communities.
On our days, both for economical and political reasons, Berlusconi's government is more and more evolving like an authoritarian government which represents a growing alarm for the italian democracy and for all Europe. We all ask to italian Berlusconi's national and local government of Milan to stop the coalition with this extreme right-wing groups.
During the whole last week, from 24th April 2nd May they were scheduled a big neo-nazis and neo-fascists convention in Milan. Thanks to several initiatives, demos and actions made in Milan by many democratic, antifascist and antiracist organizations, some of their events have been blocked or posticipied, but fascists could do a demonstration in the streets of Milan with celtic crosses and fascist slogan, and even with support and participation of Berlusconi's PDL councilors. They also could do a day full of events form the morning of 2nd May untill the night. All this happened in Milan under the complete silence of insitutions, because of their connivance with neofascist movement, and neither the majority of mass-media took explicity part against it.
In the next weeks of May there are still other events organized by extreme right wing, in particularly we ask to stop immediately the support of following conventions:
- the 2nd tattos conventions with groups from Italy, France, Portugal, Spain and Belgium scheduled in Milan on May 8 and 9 organised from the Hammerskin (http://www.skinhouse.info/index1.htm)
- the national italian neo-fascist demonstration scheduled in Milan on 22nd May organized by Forza Nuova and its leader Roberto Fiore (http://forzanuova.org/articoli/il-22-maggio-milano-forza-nuova-contro-le-banche) in which will take part also european delegations from spanish and french neonazis, but expecially from Hungary: in fact Laszlo Toroczkai will come to Milan, he's th leader of HVIM and of the Jobbik party from the Hungarian nazi-extreme-right-wing
- the european neo-nazi convention, so-called "European Hammerfest 1990-2010, 20 years of European Brotherhood" scheduled in Milan on 29th May, 2010 (http://www.skinhouse.info/index1.htm).
Expecially about this we ask european organization to take voice and denounce with us the danger that extreme right wing groups represent: in all europe right wing is growing stronger and in Italy this is happening with the complete support and connivance of goverment parties and institutions.
We all united ask to european organisation, ngos and european institutions to take voice and take action in order to stop those events and generally this alliance extremely dangerous for democracy and freedom, not just for Italy but for all Europe.
Sign this call, Spread it, Contact us directly if you think you can do something more from your country and/or by giving pressure on european institutions and european parliament | to send us press release or documents/dossier
our contacts: milanoamalaliberta@gmail.com, phone +390236511380, http://www.cantiere.org
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Please help Hussein Karimyon (Benjamin)
Benjamin was known to many Calais Migrant Solidarity activists when he was in Calais last September / October. Benjamin was interviewed by the BBC last September.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8274508.stm
Hussein Karimyon, known as Benjamin to his friends was detained on Tuesday 2nd March 2010 whilst reporting at the Home Office in Glasgow. He was given removal directions to Greece for this coming Wednesday, 10th March.
His flight details are, 08:00 on British Airways flight BA640.
Hussein is a 37-year old man from Iran who has been in the UK since October 2009. He fled his home country after being imprisoned and tortured for 1 ½ years for being a member of the Gaben – Mali (International Front Party). Hussein could be again in serious danger if returned to Iran.
Hussein was tortured not only in Iran but also in Greece, where he was imprisoned in 2 different places for 3 months. During this time he was beaten and denied essential medication. HE HAS STATED THAT HE WOULD RATHER DIE THAN BE SENT BACK TO GREECE, WHICH IS WHERE THE HOME OFFICE ARE PLANNING TO REMOVE HIM TO ON WEDNESDAY. Hussein suffers from many health problems due to his mistreatment and is reliant on heart medication (which was previously confiscated during his time in Greece). Since being in Glasgow he has been to hospital 3 times, for treatment of spinal problems, loss of eye sight and fainting.
Hussein is challenging the removal under rule 39 of the ECtHR Rules of the Court . Recently, there has been an increase in the number of cases in which the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has, under its Rule 39, instructed State governments not to carry out Dublin transfers (1.). Greece is one of the countries to which numerous Dublin transfers have been halted by the ECtHR. Numerous concerns have been raised about the situation for asylum seekers in Greece. In December 2009, the UNCHR stated that they had ‘no choice but to continue to recommend against transfers to Greece under the Dublin II Regulation or otherwise’ until reforms were made to procedures (2.) A report by Human Rights Watch also raised concerns about the asylum procedure, and the potential human rights abuses faced by people transferred under the Dublin Regulations, concluding that ‘Greece has taken the approach of using noxious detention conditions, procedural obstacles to lodging claims, and illegal summary removals and abusive police and Coast Guard conduct to deter asylum seekers from entering Greece or, if they do succeed in entering, to dissuade them from staying or from seeking asylum there’ (3.). The report also highlighted the risk of return to countries of origin through indirect refoulement (4.).
In February 2009, a report by Human Rights Commissioner Hammarberg carried considerable weight with the Court, who made a judgment against Greece in for unlawful detention of a Turkish asylum applicant. It ruled that Greece had violated article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights through arbitrary detention and lack of legal remedy, and article 3 in that the conditions of detention amounted to degrading treatment. (5.). Sending Hussein to Greece would mean a very real threat of human rights abuses, and of removal to Iran.
In a case heard in the House of Commons on 2nd March 2010 Mr Ivan Lewis stated that “Iranian authorities continue to suppress legitimate protest, restrict civil liberties and threaten violence, even execution, to silence dissent, but the Iranian people continue to demand their fundamental rights. We urge the authorities to respect the right of their citizens to be heard… Amnesty International says that it is the worst human rights situation for 20 years" (6.). To send Hussein back to Iran is a death sentence.
Hussein's life will be in serious danger, as will the life of his family, if he is returned to Iran.
Myself and many other activists know Hussein from his time spent sleeping rough in Calais. While in Calais, Hussein instigated a hunger strike against the level of repression he faced, and to highlight the life-threatening situation he was in. The hunger strike was violently stopped by the French riot police and Hussein was put into a detention center in Calais.
Hussein has many friends in the UK and has begun a life in Glasgow, where he is attending English classes, is a regular member of a church, and is an active member of the community. He has traveled for many years to reach the UK, being persecuted along the way, and we ask that he is given the opportunity to make his asylum claim in the UK. He came to the UK through Calais and is known well to people from the Unity Centre, the Migrant English Project and Calais Migrant Solidarity. His solicitor has been unable to visit him as he has been moved from the detention centre in Glasgow to Manchester, and is due to be moved to London today. His representatives have had little time to prepare a case.
Please help by contacting the Home Secretary asking that Hussein’s flight be stopped and that he be released from detention immediately.
What can you do?
1) Contact British Airways to stop the flight. Please quote flight number BA640 to Athens , Greece, on Wednesday 10th March 08.00.
Email/Phone Willie Walsh, Chief Executive Officer British Airways and urge him not to carry out deportation flights, including the forced removal of Hussein Karimyon.
Please do not remove Hussein Karimyon Ref K1307066/2, due to be forcibly removed from the UK on Wednesday 8 March 2010 @ 08:00 on British Airways flight BA640.
Email: willie.walsh@ba.com
Customer Relations phone: 0844 493 0 787 Monday-Friday 08:00-18:30 (hold line till operator answers)
2) Contact Alan Johnson, Home Secretary, asking him to exercise his discretionary powers to stop the flight, to release Hussein Karimyon from detention and to grant him protection in the UK. A letter is attached If you are writing your own letter or email, please include Home Office Reference number: K1307066/2
Phone: +44 (0)20 7035 4848 or 0870 606 7766
Fax: + 44 (0)20 7219 5856 and (0)20 8760 3132
By Email : johnsona@parliament.uk
Or: public.enquiries@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk
Privateoffice.external@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk
UKBApublicenquiries@UKBA.gsi.gov.uk
References:
1. ECtHR Interim Measures (Rule 39) to stop Dublin transfers 19 Jun 2009 http://cmr.jur.ru.nl/cmr/docs/ecre.rule39.pdf
2. UNCHR ‘Observations on Greece as a country of asylum’ December 2009 http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/refworld/rwmain?docid=4b4b3fc82&page=search.
3. Stuck in a Revolving Door, Human Rights Watch, November 2008 http://www.hrw.org/en/node/76211/section/1
4. Stuck in a Revolving Door, Human Rights Watch, November 2008 http://www.hrw.org/en/node/76211/section/14
5. http://www.ecre.org/files/ECRE_Weekly_Bulletin_19_June_2009.pdf
6.http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200910/cmhansrd/cm100302/debtext/100302-0002.htm#10030263000022
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Dresden - Nazi Free! A city puts its foot down against neo-nazis
On 13 February 2010 more than 10,000 protesters gathered in Dresden (D), determined to stop the annual biggest neo-nazi march in Europe.
The civil society alliance 'Dresden - Nazi Free', a broad initiative of the antifascist movement 'No Pasaran!', successfully stopped about 5,000 neo-nazis with an enclosing blockade strategy.
Finally, in 2010 antifascists succeeded to stop the annual neo-nazi march in Dresden that is organised under the guise of commemorating the victims of the air raids against the city of Dresden, 13-15 February 1945.
The 'Nazi Free' alliance - including different NGOs, political parties, labor unions, artists and individuals - called to blockade strategically important streets around Dresden's Neustadt train station, the gathering point of the neo-nazi manifestation. Despite the strong ambitions of the authorities to hinder the antifascist mobilizations under the slogan 'Blockade Together' already beforehand, thousands of anti-fascists came into Dresden's Neustadt to block all possible routes of the neo-nazi march with peaceful sit-ins. The police tried several times to clear the anti-fascist blockades, but their efforts failed and so the police ultimately was forced to cancel the neo-nazi march.
The aim of the protesters was to prevent the annual 'mourning march' of thousands of neo-nazis in Dresden and to discourage them from planning future marches. 'It was not easy - there were people injured in nazi attacks and it was horribly cold, but it was worth it' stated the Alliance spokeswoman.
Beside the 'Dresden - Nazi Free' alliance a second initiative, 'Remember - Remind - Act' under the patronage of Dresden's mayor Helma Orosz, called for a human chain as a symbolic wall around the city centre of Dresden to set a sign against right-wing extremism. Ms Orosz openly condemned the neo-nazi thugs and their misuse of the commemoration date for their revisionist propaganda, describing the allied bombardment as a 'bombing Holocaust'.
It was the diversity of protest actions that mobilized so many people from a broad spectrum of society, which was crucial to the success of stopping the neo-nazis.
More information:
http://www.euronews.net/newswires/157187-german-neo-nazis-mark-wwii-raid-in-dresden
http://jta.org/news/article/2010/02/14/1010617/neo-nazi-march-blocked-in-dresden
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,5245414,00.html
http://www.demotix.com/news/250733/neo-nazis-dresden-during-65th-anniversary-world-war-ii-bombing
Alliance 'Dresden - Nazi Free': http://www.dresden-nazifrei.com
Initiative 'Remember - Remind - Act': http://www.13februar.dresden.de
The civil society alliance 'Dresden - Nazi Free', a broad initiative of the antifascist movement 'No Pasaran!', successfully stopped about 5,000 neo-nazis with an enclosing blockade strategy.
Finally, in 2010 antifascists succeeded to stop the annual neo-nazi march in Dresden that is organised under the guise of commemorating the victims of the air raids against the city of Dresden, 13-15 February 1945.
The 'Nazi Free' alliance - including different NGOs, political parties, labor unions, artists and individuals - called to blockade strategically important streets around Dresden's Neustadt train station, the gathering point of the neo-nazi manifestation. Despite the strong ambitions of the authorities to hinder the antifascist mobilizations under the slogan 'Blockade Together' already beforehand, thousands of anti-fascists came into Dresden's Neustadt to block all possible routes of the neo-nazi march with peaceful sit-ins. The police tried several times to clear the anti-fascist blockades, but their efforts failed and so the police ultimately was forced to cancel the neo-nazi march.
The aim of the protesters was to prevent the annual 'mourning march' of thousands of neo-nazis in Dresden and to discourage them from planning future marches. 'It was not easy - there were people injured in nazi attacks and it was horribly cold, but it was worth it' stated the Alliance spokeswoman.
Beside the 'Dresden - Nazi Free' alliance a second initiative, 'Remember - Remind - Act' under the patronage of Dresden's mayor Helma Orosz, called for a human chain as a symbolic wall around the city centre of Dresden to set a sign against right-wing extremism. Ms Orosz openly condemned the neo-nazi thugs and their misuse of the commemoration date for their revisionist propaganda, describing the allied bombardment as a 'bombing Holocaust'.
It was the diversity of protest actions that mobilized so many people from a broad spectrum of society, which was crucial to the success of stopping the neo-nazis.
More information:
http://www.euronews.net/newswires/157187-german-neo-nazis-mark-wwii-raid-in-dresden
http://jta.org/news/article/2010/02/14/1010617/neo-nazi-march-blocked-in-dresden
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,5245414,00.html
http://www.demotix.com/news/250733/neo-nazis-dresden-during-65th-anniversary-world-war-ii-bombing
Alliance 'Dresden - Nazi Free': http://www.dresden-nazifrei.com
Initiative 'Remember - Remind - Act': http://www.13februar.dresden.de
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