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Justice
12/25-00 IMC post
TURKEY:
UPDATE ON PRISON SITUATION
27 Dead, Fasts Continue, Turkish security forces stormed 20
prisons on 19 December at about 4.30am, to end hunger strikes by
political prisoners.
At least
27
prisoners have died in the course of the assalt, which is still
under way in two of the prisons. More than 1,200 political
prisoners have been on hunger strike since 20 October, in
protest at plans to move them to new prisons where they will be
housed in small cells, rather than dormitories that hold up to
60 prisoners. They think that they will be locked up alone or in
small groups in these new prisons, and therefore isolated and at
greater risk of assault or torture. Some 200 of the hunger
strikers were on *death fast* (taking water, but no sugar), and
many of them were reportedly close to death at the time of the
raids.
Media
12/24-00 IMC post
LOCK-OUT WBAI
In a
dramatic escalation of the struggle between
WBAI
supporters and the Pacifica Foundation, in what some are calling
a coup, Utrice Leid was declared interim station manager and
last night changed all the locks at the station. Leid is
replacing Valerie Van Isler, who was recently canned by Pacifica
when she finally began to stand up against their increasing
corporatization of the community supported radio station.
Also fired was Program Director and long-time morning show host
Bernard White. 100's of
listeners protested this
coup. The protesters have added elections to their
list of demands.
Protest
12/11-00
IMC post
Protests Intensify Outside Summit 
Police
and protesters have clashed outside the venue of the latest
European Union summit in Nice as EU leaders gathered to
hammer out the future of the block.
A Banque Nationale de Paris office has been set alight - a
street away from where European leaders were meeting for three
days of talks that are expected to lead to major reforms and
pave the way for expanding the European Union. When fire
services arrived to put out the blaze in the French city they
were pelted with rocks, but were able to retreat when police
bombarded activists with tear gas and concussion grenades.
Twenty police officers were injured and seven protesters
arrested in the clashes.
Conflict
12/11-00
IMC post  Riot
Cops Beat Human Rights Activists
The crackdown began hours after King Mohammed VI gave a
televised address to coincide with UN Human Rights Day, in which
he promised to build a constitutional and democratic monarchy.
Batons were used to disperse hundreds of protestors from a
banned Islamic group who had gathered outside parliament to mark
United Nations Human Rights Day. A
BBC
correspondent in Rabat is reporting that dozens of protestors
were beaten before being herded into buses where they were
beaten again. Hundreds of arrests have been reported. This
follows on the heels of violence used agaist people
demonstrating for democracy on Saturday.
12/4-00
IMC post
INDEPENDENCE OPPOSITION ATTACKED
Situation in West Paupa Worsens At least nine people
have been killed in the Indonesian province of Irian Jaya (West
Papua) after pro-independence supporters clashed with police.
Seven people were killed in the town of Merauke when police
opened fire on separatists carrying bows and arrows. The deaths
come a day after celebrations across the province marking the
39th anniversary of the unofficial declaration of independence
from Dutch colonial rule.
read more |
background information
Justice
11/22-00 IMC post
FREE LEONARD PELTIER
Clemency Petition Reaches Clinton
President Clinton has publicly confirmed that Leonard's clemency
petition has reached his office, and that it will be decided one
way or the other in the very near future. Quite possibly, a
decision could be made over the Thanksgiving holiday. Supporters
are asking for a massive response to the FBI and police's
attempts to sway Clinton away from clemency. Get the latest
information from
freepeltier.org
Internet
11/17-00 IMC post
FBI the INTERNET & YOU
Carnivore More Powerful Than Claimed
The FBI released additional
documents
about its controversial Carnivore technology Thursday, and
critics immediately lambasted it as proof that the email-tapping
program is more powerful and invasive than the government has
disclosed. The Electronic Privacy
Information Center, which sued the
FBI
for the information through the Freedom of Information Act
(FOIA), said the batch of paperwork indicates that Carnivore can
capture and archive "unfiltered" Internet traffic--contrary to
FBI assertions. Critics
have been arguing that Carnivore is just one more part of a
cyber world that is increasingly watched.
read more
Protest
11/16-00 IMC post
Dam Actions In INDIA
Indian Activists Storm IMF Over a
thousand environmental protesters today stormed police
barricades in New Delhi, and marched up to the offices of the
World Bank, demanding they be allowed to meet with visiting Bank
president James Wolfensohn. The Supreme Court handed down a
ruling
on October 18 rejecting a six year old court appeal against the
Rs 370 billion Sardar Sarovar dam in Gujarat, western India.
Proponents of the dam say it will produce much needed
electricity and flood control.
Critics
point to the hundreds of thousands of people who will be
displaced by the rising water and have nowhere to go as well as
disrupting
food production. There has been an
international
campaign against the dam
projects. Walking nearly nine kilometers in New Delhi to the
World Bank's offices, protestors shouted slogans against the
global project lender and demanded that it "quit India."
read more
Political
11/08-00 Election
Opinion
Is this any way to elect a president? The
Electoral College needs the outcome of all the states to
determine the presidency. The popular vote for the State of
Florida must be reconciled before these electoral delegates can
vote. Can our great nation elect the next president using a
possibly flawed mechanical system of voting? I have spoken with
a source in Palm Beach County and claims that a large number of
voters had complaints about the ballot are true. Many voters in
Florida found themselves facing a ballot that was awkward at
best. The problem revolved around poor design that had some
people leaving the voting booth unsure for whom they had voted.
It is quite possible that a few thousand votes could alter the
outcome of this election.
Without laying blame, I believe this situation needs to be
resolved, if not the election will stand historically as another
signpost, along the road of decline in the value of the rights
of all Americans. Will the powers to be, be able to remedy this
obviously delicate situation? A challenge to this vote may be
necessary, unless the Florida State officials have a fair
solution. One possibility is that the voters in Palm Beach
County recast their votes. America could also consider
formatting a national ballot, one that would be the same in all
states, alleviating the possibility of future faulty ballots.
Whatever the
outcome, rest assured that our political system is being looked
at by the world. The engine of Democracy's future is at stake,
let us not lose sight of that. Nations expected to follow in our
pathway, need to see that freedom & justice for all means just
that in America.
Political
11/08-00
Election Update
National Election To Close To Call Gore rescinds
concession call to George Bush early this morning, as Florida
officials claim their election has a margin less than 1000 votes
between the two presidential candidates. Several Florida
counties have not reported their full absentee ballots & finally
there are still oversees ballots which can arrive up to 10 days
from Election Day. An electoral race this close in most states
would require a recount. Florida will recount the vote. The
Electoral College, which elects the president, will need the
outcome of Florida to determine the presidency.
Protest
11/06-00 IMC post
Austrian
anti-nuclear activists sealed off the border with the Czech
Republic Sunday, the fourth day of
renewed
blockades aimed at forcing the Czech government to shut down a
recently activated
nuclear power plant.
International opinion is increasingly negative toward the
new plant which is
now online. There are
reports
of news crews being denied access to the demonstrators.
Dialog
between Austria and the Czech Republic is increasingly
under strain due to the protests. The current blockade
started
Thursday
at three border crossings closest to the nuclear plant in
Temelin, 30 miles from the border with Austria. The blockade was
gradually extended over the next three days and the last of the
15 crossing points was closed for traffic at noon Sunday
Environment
11/04-00 IMC post
Oxy
Begins Test Drilling
On Friday, just outside of
U'wa
land, Occidental Petroleum
began test drilling. Leaders of the U'wa Indian tribe have
protested the Occidental Petroleum
Corp. project for years, at one point even
threatening a mass suicide should the company be allowed to
drill in the area near Colombia's eastern border with Venezuela.
An
international campaign against Occidental and its
main financier, Fidelity
has been continually
targeting
Al Gore (who is invested in Oxy, as well as
Ralph Nader) to speak out on behalf of the U'wa.
Conflict
11/1-00 IMC post-Israel 
The
Bombing of Beit Jala Dear
Friends, I felt that there is no use in telling anybody what is
happening here tonight because I lost hope in anybody being able
to do anything, and because there is nothing fair on this earth.
I am so angry and so frustrated at everything and everybody!
Since 4:30 pm, we have been under heavy shelling by Israeli
tanks and helicopters. The shelling was targeting all houses and
residential areas in Beit Jala.
expanded articles
Conflict
10/16-00 IMC post-Israel
Bryan Atinsky
Middle East Summit Opens in the Sinai, Egypt
A summit, aimed
at ending the ongoing violence between the Israelis and the
Palestinians, began today in the Sinai Peninsula town of Sharam
el-Sheikh, Egypt.
10/16-00
IMC post-Israel
CONFLICT DEEPENS IN PALESTINE
Violent
confrontation ripped through the West Bank again today. Israeli
soldiers shot and killed a Palestinian police man. Gun fire
exchanges have become the norm.
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Praha S26
police use chemical weapons on demonstrators during S26.
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Protest
9/27-00 IMC post
Tuesday September 26 saw the outbreak of massive
demonstrations against the IMF/World Bank annual meeting
that is taking place here at the moment. Protestors from
all over the world collectively besieged the summit with
up to 20.000 people maintaining a circular blockade of
the conference facilities, and some even gaining access
to the heavily-guarded complex itself. Protests were
city wide and numerous, both peaceful resistance and
active confrontations occurred with a single united
voice - Shut down the IMF - Shut down the World Bank.
expanded article |
Arts
September 2000 will be remembered for the Woodstock Film
Festival which put together an eclectic mix of independent
filmmakers and enthusiastic film watchers. Suddenly getting your
fix in doses of film from all over the world, was just a ticket
away.
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