(READ THE IRA STATEMENT IN FULL BELOW)
Statement by Democratic Unionist Party Leader Dr Ian Paisley MP MLA:
“The history of the past decade in Northern Ireland is littered with IRA statements which we were told were ‘historic’, ‘ground-breaking’ and ‘seismic’. These same statements were followed by the IRA reverting to type and carrying out more of its horrific murders and squalid criminality. The unionist community feels no obligation to cheer the words of P O’Neill. We will judge the IRA’s bona fides over the next months and years based on its behaviour and activity.
Even on the face of the statement, they have failed to explicitly declare an end to their multi-million pound criminal activity and have failed to provide the level of transparency that would be necessary to truly build confidence that the guns had gone in their entirety. This lack of transparency will prolong the period the community will need to make its assessment.
We treat with contempt their attempt to glorify and justify their murder campaign and we will be evaluating the extent of the price paid by the Government and the consequences that will have for the political process."
Thursday, July 28, 2005
Statement from Irish Northern Aid National Chairman, Paul Doris
"Today we have seen the IRA issue a historic commitment to continue its pursuit of an independent and united Ireland, through exclusively peaceful means. (SEE COMPLETE IRA STATEMENT BELOW)
“The onus is now on the British and Irish governments to ensure the full implementation of the Good Friday Agreement and we call upon them to immediately restore the democratic institutions which have been suspended for nearly three years.
“Unionism can no longer be allowed to veto progress and change. Unionists must accept the significant democratic mandate of Irish republicanism and form an inclusive power sharing government.
“The IRA has once again shown its courage and unfaltering confidence by creating this huge opportunity for the Irish Peace Process to move forward.
“It is now time for all others to follow suit and remove ALL guns from Irish politics once and for all.
“On behalf of the Executive Board of Irish Northern Aid, I wholeheartedly embrace today’s commitment from the IRA. Further, I pledge that Irish Northern Aid will continue to work until our shared goal of an independent and united Ireland is made a reality.”
“The onus is now on the British and Irish governments to ensure the full implementation of the Good Friday Agreement and we call upon them to immediately restore the democratic institutions which have been suspended for nearly three years.
“Unionism can no longer be allowed to veto progress and change. Unionists must accept the significant democratic mandate of Irish republicanism and form an inclusive power sharing government.
“The IRA has once again shown its courage and unfaltering confidence by creating this huge opportunity for the Irish Peace Process to move forward.
“It is now time for all others to follow suit and remove ALL guns from Irish politics once and for all.
“On behalf of the Executive Board of Irish Northern Aid, I wholeheartedly embrace today’s commitment from the IRA. Further, I pledge that Irish Northern Aid will continue to work until our shared goal of an independent and united Ireland is made a reality.”
MARK DURKAN ON IRA STATEMENT
Irish Social Democratic and Labor Party (SDLP) Leader Mark Durkan stated:
"The SDLP welcomes today's statement (See Complete IRA Statement Below). We have stressed that the IRA's break with
its past has to be clear, clean and complete. This statement appears to be that.
"The SDLP hopes that, as promised, all IRA paramilitary activity and all IRA
involvement in organised crime will end now and for good - as well as the culture of
cover-up and community control. That is the only way we can get the Agreement up
and running and make progress for all the people of this island.
"Eighteen years on from the start of Hume/Adams and seven years on from the Good
Friday Agreement, today's statement is long overdue. The delay by the provisional
movement in honouring its commitments to date has been profoundly damaging. It has
only encouraged anti-Agreement unionists in their belief that they too can hold up
political progress for years.
"That is why it is vital that the provisional movement delivers quickly on what it
has promised today and what the Agreement has always required. Actions on the
ground must demonstrate this.
"There is an equal obligation on all loyalist paramilitaries to end their terror and
their crime. The two Governments and unionist parties must bring equal pressure to
bear on them to ensure this.
"There is also an onus on the two Governments and unionist parties to work to
deliver the full implementation of the Good Friday Agreement.
"It has to be noted that today's statement does not commit to the provisional
movement to policing. Yet policing is fundamental to accepting the rule of law and
vital to tackle organised crime. The SDLP calls on Sinn Fein to join with us in
upholding the new beginning to policing.
"The use of violence was always immoral and unjustified. It achieved absolutely
nothing and brought incalculable suffering to victims throughout the North. They -
and their loss - should be first and foremost in our minds today."
"The SDLP welcomes today's statement (See Complete IRA Statement Below). We have stressed that the IRA's break with
its past has to be clear, clean and complete. This statement appears to be that.
"The SDLP hopes that, as promised, all IRA paramilitary activity and all IRA
involvement in organised crime will end now and for good - as well as the culture of
cover-up and community control. That is the only way we can get the Agreement up
and running and make progress for all the people of this island.
"Eighteen years on from the start of Hume/Adams and seven years on from the Good
Friday Agreement, today's statement is long overdue. The delay by the provisional
movement in honouring its commitments to date has been profoundly damaging. It has
only encouraged anti-Agreement unionists in their belief that they too can hold up
political progress for years.
"That is why it is vital that the provisional movement delivers quickly on what it
has promised today and what the Agreement has always required. Actions on the
ground must demonstrate this.
"There is an equal obligation on all loyalist paramilitaries to end their terror and
their crime. The two Governments and unionist parties must bring equal pressure to
bear on them to ensure this.
"There is also an onus on the two Governments and unionist parties to work to
deliver the full implementation of the Good Friday Agreement.
"It has to be noted that today's statement does not commit to the provisional
movement to policing. Yet policing is fundamental to accepting the rule of law and
vital to tackle organised crime. The SDLP calls on Sinn Fein to join with us in
upholding the new beginning to policing.
"The use of violence was always immoral and unjustified. It achieved absolutely
nothing and brought incalculable suffering to victims throughout the North. They -
and their loss - should be first and foremost in our minds today."
Martin McGuinness On IRA Announcement
Sinn Féin chief negotiator McGuinness has hailed the IRA’s announcement on the cessation of its armed campaign (see full IRA Statement Below) and claimed it was a decisive initiative.
Speaking in Washington, he said: “It contains the potential to unlock the political stalemate that has frozen the Irish peace process and the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement.
“There is now an inescapable responsibility on the British and Irish governments to push urgently ahead with the implementation of the Agreement and, also, on the leadership of unionism to finally accept the principles of power sharing, equality and human rights.
“Britain’s role in Ireland has historically been negative and divisive. We have seen the consequence of this in every generation particularly since the partition of the island, against the wishes of the Irish people, 80 years ago.
“Today’s momentous decision by the IRA recognises that there is now an opportunity to resolve these historic difficulties peacefully and democratically.”
On the significance of the announcement,Mr McGuinness said: “This places an enormous responsibility on all of us to seize this opportunity to ensure that conflict never happens again.
“We can do this by making politics work. There is a particular responsibility on all of us who argued that there is a political and peaceful way forward to prove this case by delivering real and meaningful progress.
“The two governments have an urgent duty to implement the Agreement in all its aspects. In particular this means that the British government must stop pandering to negative unionism and those in their own system who seek peace only on their own terms.”
Looking to the future, he added: “If others in political leadership here in the United States, in Britain and in Ireland respond to today’s IRA statement in a spirit of generosity and openness, the faltering Irish peace process can be revived and completed successfully.
“The way forward is dialogue, negotiation and accommodation. And in a world beset with conflict and division, the success of the Irish peace process can offer much needed hope for the future.”
Source: Irish News
Speaking in Washington, he said: “It contains the potential to unlock the political stalemate that has frozen the Irish peace process and the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement.
“There is now an inescapable responsibility on the British and Irish governments to push urgently ahead with the implementation of the Agreement and, also, on the leadership of unionism to finally accept the principles of power sharing, equality and human rights.
“Britain’s role in Ireland has historically been negative and divisive. We have seen the consequence of this in every generation particularly since the partition of the island, against the wishes of the Irish people, 80 years ago.
“Today’s momentous decision by the IRA recognises that there is now an opportunity to resolve these historic difficulties peacefully and democratically.”
On the significance of the announcement,Mr McGuinness said: “This places an enormous responsibility on all of us to seize this opportunity to ensure that conflict never happens again.
“We can do this by making politics work. There is a particular responsibility on all of us who argued that there is a political and peaceful way forward to prove this case by delivering real and meaningful progress.
“The two governments have an urgent duty to implement the Agreement in all its aspects. In particular this means that the British government must stop pandering to negative unionism and those in their own system who seek peace only on their own terms.”
Looking to the future, he added: “If others in political leadership here in the United States, in Britain and in Ireland respond to today’s IRA statement in a spirit of generosity and openness, the faltering Irish peace process can be revived and completed successfully.
“The way forward is dialogue, negotiation and accommodation. And in a world beset with conflict and division, the success of the Irish peace process can offer much needed hope for the future.”
Source: Irish News
Joint Statement by the Prime Minister and the Taioseach
"We welcome today's developments concerning the IRA. (See Complete IRA Statement Below)
"The end of the IRA as a paramilitary organisation is the outcome the Governments have been working towards since the cessation of military activity in 1994. We acknowledge the significance of the IRA statement. Both Governments are hopeful that the practical elements of this statement will be implemented in the terms set out. If the IRA's words are borne out by actions, it will be a momentous and historic development.
"We also acknowledge that trust has been damaged and will take time to rebuild. Independent verification will be vitally important to enable trust and confidence to be restored. Vital roles in the verification process will be played by the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning and the Independent Monitoring Commission. We have asked the IMC to produce an additional report in January 2006, three months after their next regular report. Their reports will help the Governments to assess whether all paramilitary and criminal activity on the part of the IRA has come to a decisive end and whether decommissioning has been fully completed.
"Verified acts of completion will provide a context in which we will expect all parties to work towards the full operation of the political institutions, including the Northern Ireland Assembly and Executive, and the North-South structures, at the earliest practicable date.
"We also expect all parties and community leaders to use their influence to bring loyalist paramilitary and criminal activity to an end, including the full decommissioning of weapons.
"The normalisation of society in Northern Ireland also requires that all parts of the community support and enjoy the protection of the police. It is more important than ever that progress is made in extending support across all sections of the community for the new policing arrangements throughout Northern Ireland.
"There has been great progress in recent years. The benefits of the Good Friday Agreement for the people of Ireland have been immense. The two Governments are committed to its full implementation. It is our intention to work closely in partnership to grasp this opportunity to inject renewed momentum into the process.
"We urge all political leaders, and everyone with a genuine interest in bringing peace and stability to Northern Ireland, to join with us in our determination to ensure continued and rapid progress."
"The end of the IRA as a paramilitary organisation is the outcome the Governments have been working towards since the cessation of military activity in 1994. We acknowledge the significance of the IRA statement. Both Governments are hopeful that the practical elements of this statement will be implemented in the terms set out. If the IRA's words are borne out by actions, it will be a momentous and historic development.
"We also acknowledge that trust has been damaged and will take time to rebuild. Independent verification will be vitally important to enable trust and confidence to be restored. Vital roles in the verification process will be played by the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning and the Independent Monitoring Commission. We have asked the IMC to produce an additional report in January 2006, three months after their next regular report. Their reports will help the Governments to assess whether all paramilitary and criminal activity on the part of the IRA has come to a decisive end and whether decommissioning has been fully completed.
"Verified acts of completion will provide a context in which we will expect all parties to work towards the full operation of the political institutions, including the Northern Ireland Assembly and Executive, and the North-South structures, at the earliest practicable date.
"We also expect all parties and community leaders to use their influence to bring loyalist paramilitary and criminal activity to an end, including the full decommissioning of weapons.
"The normalisation of society in Northern Ireland also requires that all parts of the community support and enjoy the protection of the police. It is more important than ever that progress is made in extending support across all sections of the community for the new policing arrangements throughout Northern Ireland.
"There has been great progress in recent years. The benefits of the Good Friday Agreement for the people of Ireland have been immense. The two Governments are committed to its full implementation. It is our intention to work closely in partnership to grasp this opportunity to inject renewed momentum into the process.
"We urge all political leaders, and everyone with a genuine interest in bringing peace and stability to Northern Ireland, to join with us in our determination to ensure continued and rapid progress."
Resentment And Fear From Working Class Republicans
Harry McClafferty grimaced as the newsreader announced the IRA was abandoning its armed campaign for good (See Full IRA Statement Below).
All around him a stunned hush fell over Danny Molly`s bar in the republican stronghold of Ardoyne, north Belfast.
Turning from the giant TV screen, Mr McClafferty, 51,
struggled to control his fury and resentment at the Provisionals` statement.
The former hotel maintenance manager declared: "It`s a
bunch of c**p.
"A lot of good men who died would be turning in their graves, just like my stomach is turning over listening to this."
All through the district people who look to the IRA to protect them from loyalist terrorists were gripped by anxiety.
Young mothers and hardened workmen who lived through three decades of sectarian murders all feared they will be left exposed.
"I wouldn`t have given up a single empty shell because this neighbourhood is going to be defenceless," claimed Terry McLarnon, a retired merchant seaman.
The 63-year-old and his pal Tommy Jones had met for a regular pint in Ardoyne`s Gaelic Football Club, situated behind rows of terraced houses from where the IRA recruited hundreds of volunteers.
Inside a sign warned that all Northern Bank notes would be refused due to a flood of forgeries in the area.
The fakes are believed to have been printed on top of cash stolen in the IRA`s £26.5 million heist at the bank`s Belfast HQ in December.
"About £360 was passed at the weekend," a staff member said.
One punter who refused to give his name claimed the Provisionals were attempting to dump the counterfeit cash just like the weapons.
"They are conning their own people," he said.
After arguing to get his money accepted, Mr Jones, an affable and immaculately dressed 65-year-old, spoke of his disillusionment with the entire peace process.
"I`ll be in a box and this will still be going on," he predicted.
Before the Troubles erupted in the late 1960s, he would go out with Protestant workmates straight after finishing their shifts as trolley bus drivers.
Now, however, he won`t even venture into the city centre and gave this verdict of the IRA`s decision: "It`s a bad, bad mistake."
Many refused to openly criticise Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness, pinning their faith on the Sinn Fein leaders` strategy.
But they were puzzled and frustrated by the decision to get rid of all the guns when loyalists remain fully armed.
Widower Jimmy McAley, 50, urged republicans to store their huge arsenal rather than destroy them.
"Give all the weapons up and the swines on the other side will come in and wipe us out like they did in `69," he claimed.
Mr McAley, admitted the conflict had left him a bitter and committed republican.
Grinning enigmatically, he added: "But they never got me for membership."
Beside him a 38-year-old woman who only gave her name as Pat was prepared to put more trust in the IRA.
"This will have been done for the people," she said.
Her friend was less convinced, however, as she dreaded a return to the old days of feeling vulnerable.
"I used to put a plank up at my door because I was afraid," the 35-year-old woman said.
"Then the ceasefires happened and everybody got a wee bit more at ease.
"But I`m afraid again because the protection might not be there now."
As the Provisionals went out of business, many suspected the dissident republican terrorists opposed to the peace process would recruit heavily.
A labourer taking in the news during his lunchbreak was outraged by the IRA disarmament but refused to give his name, claiming he would be shot.
"It`s a total disgrace," he insisted.
"We are handing over the whole show and that shite across the road (loyalists) still have theirs.
"The dissidents came after the ceasefire and this will make them even stronger.
"I never thought I`d see this day."
In a portacabin used as a working man`s club one man split from the others and whispered his views in an empty corner. Revealing arms heavily tattooed with intricate republican designs, he claimed: "This is the Provisionals surrendering."
Source: UTV
All around him a stunned hush fell over Danny Molly`s bar in the republican stronghold of Ardoyne, north Belfast.
Turning from the giant TV screen, Mr McClafferty, 51,
struggled to control his fury and resentment at the Provisionals` statement.
The former hotel maintenance manager declared: "It`s a
bunch of c**p.
"A lot of good men who died would be turning in their graves, just like my stomach is turning over listening to this."
All through the district people who look to the IRA to protect them from loyalist terrorists were gripped by anxiety.
Young mothers and hardened workmen who lived through three decades of sectarian murders all feared they will be left exposed.
"I wouldn`t have given up a single empty shell because this neighbourhood is going to be defenceless," claimed Terry McLarnon, a retired merchant seaman.
The 63-year-old and his pal Tommy Jones had met for a regular pint in Ardoyne`s Gaelic Football Club, situated behind rows of terraced houses from where the IRA recruited hundreds of volunteers.
Inside a sign warned that all Northern Bank notes would be refused due to a flood of forgeries in the area.
The fakes are believed to have been printed on top of cash stolen in the IRA`s £26.5 million heist at the bank`s Belfast HQ in December.
"About £360 was passed at the weekend," a staff member said.
One punter who refused to give his name claimed the Provisionals were attempting to dump the counterfeit cash just like the weapons.
"They are conning their own people," he said.
After arguing to get his money accepted, Mr Jones, an affable and immaculately dressed 65-year-old, spoke of his disillusionment with the entire peace process.
"I`ll be in a box and this will still be going on," he predicted.
Before the Troubles erupted in the late 1960s, he would go out with Protestant workmates straight after finishing their shifts as trolley bus drivers.
Now, however, he won`t even venture into the city centre and gave this verdict of the IRA`s decision: "It`s a bad, bad mistake."
Many refused to openly criticise Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness, pinning their faith on the Sinn Fein leaders` strategy.
But they were puzzled and frustrated by the decision to get rid of all the guns when loyalists remain fully armed.
Widower Jimmy McAley, 50, urged republicans to store their huge arsenal rather than destroy them.
"Give all the weapons up and the swines on the other side will come in and wipe us out like they did in `69," he claimed.
Mr McAley, admitted the conflict had left him a bitter and committed republican.
Grinning enigmatically, he added: "But they never got me for membership."
Beside him a 38-year-old woman who only gave her name as Pat was prepared to put more trust in the IRA.
"This will have been done for the people," she said.
Her friend was less convinced, however, as she dreaded a return to the old days of feeling vulnerable.
"I used to put a plank up at my door because I was afraid," the 35-year-old woman said.
"Then the ceasefires happened and everybody got a wee bit more at ease.
"But I`m afraid again because the protection might not be there now."
As the Provisionals went out of business, many suspected the dissident republican terrorists opposed to the peace process would recruit heavily.
A labourer taking in the news during his lunchbreak was outraged by the IRA disarmament but refused to give his name, claiming he would be shot.
"It`s a total disgrace," he insisted.
"We are handing over the whole show and that shite across the road (loyalists) still have theirs.
"The dissidents came after the ceasefire and this will make them even stronger.
"I never thought I`d see this day."
In a portacabin used as a working man`s club one man split from the others and whispered his views in an empty corner. Revealing arms heavily tattooed with intricate republican designs, he claimed: "This is the Provisionals surrendering."
Source: UTV
Republicans Look to Demilitarization
As the IRA embarked on a new chapter (See IRA Statement Below) tonight, cities, towns and villages across Northern Ireland were expecting a dramatically changed landscape.
Republicans were hopeful that Army watchtowers which for decades have scarred the lush green hills of South Armagh would disappear forever.
But they also wanted a dramatic reduction in the number of troops and military activity.
As Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain`s officials
prepared a revised programme of demilitarisation, a Sinn Fein source gave an indication of what republicans were expecting.
"The British Government will have to move urgently and speedily," he told PA.
"That means fundamental and substantial movement on demilitarisation across British military bases, their presence on the streets and the occupation of places like Divis Tower and removing the watchtowers in South Armagh.
"Bear in mind that in South Armagh the overwhelming majority of people support the peace process. The minority includes the DUP and dissident republicans who have not raised their head there in years.
"Therefore there is no argument for the kind of watchtowers and helicopter activity which we have seen."
The Government outlined a programme for demilitarisation in May 2003 - some of which has already been implemented.
Among the pledges it made was the retention of the regular Army garrison in 14 bases including Aldergrove, Antrim, Ballykinler, Ballymena, Coleraine, Divis Mountain,
Lisburn, Holywood, Magilligan and St Lucia in Omagh.
Unionists were concerned that some of these bases would be sacrificed if there were plans to reduce more troop numbers and military installations.
At her Fermanagh-South Tyrone constituency office in Lisnaskea, Co Fermanagh, Democratic Unionist Assembly member Arlene Foster insisted that demilitarisation should be based on the level of threat to security and not political expediency.
"People here are asking: what more have we to give?" the Fermanagh and South Tyrone MLA said.
"Fermanagh needs the military the most in Northern Ireland because of the level of dissident threat we have.
"People here are asking are they going to announce troop reduction? What effect is that going to have in this area, not just on military patrols but on general policing?"
Source: UTV
Republicans were hopeful that Army watchtowers which for decades have scarred the lush green hills of South Armagh would disappear forever.
But they also wanted a dramatic reduction in the number of troops and military activity.
As Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain`s officials
prepared a revised programme of demilitarisation, a Sinn Fein source gave an indication of what republicans were expecting.
"The British Government will have to move urgently and speedily," he told PA.
"That means fundamental and substantial movement on demilitarisation across British military bases, their presence on the streets and the occupation of places like Divis Tower and removing the watchtowers in South Armagh.
"Bear in mind that in South Armagh the overwhelming majority of people support the peace process. The minority includes the DUP and dissident republicans who have not raised their head there in years.
"Therefore there is no argument for the kind of watchtowers and helicopter activity which we have seen."
The Government outlined a programme for demilitarisation in May 2003 - some of which has already been implemented.
Among the pledges it made was the retention of the regular Army garrison in 14 bases including Aldergrove, Antrim, Ballykinler, Ballymena, Coleraine, Divis Mountain,
Lisburn, Holywood, Magilligan and St Lucia in Omagh.
Unionists were concerned that some of these bases would be sacrificed if there were plans to reduce more troop numbers and military installations.
At her Fermanagh-South Tyrone constituency office in Lisnaskea, Co Fermanagh, Democratic Unionist Assembly member Arlene Foster insisted that demilitarisation should be based on the level of threat to security and not political expediency.
"People here are asking: what more have we to give?" the Fermanagh and South Tyrone MLA said.
"Fermanagh needs the military the most in Northern Ireland because of the level of dissident threat we have.
"People here are asking are they going to announce troop reduction? What effect is that going to have in this area, not just on military patrols but on general policing?"
Source: UTV
Gerry Adams On IRA Statement
An Phoblacht spoke to Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams on today's historic developments. (SEE BELOW FOR COMPLETE IRA STATMENT).
Mr Adams said:
"Today's decision by the IRA to move into a new peaceful mode is historic and represents a courageous and confident initiative. It is a truly momentous and defining point in the search for a lasting peace with justice. I commend the commitment of those who have taken this decision and I appeal for unity and solidarity among all Irish republicans on the island of Ireland and beyond and for the struggle to be carried forward with new energy and enthusiasm.
"The IRA decision presents an unparalleled challenge and opportunity for every nationalist and republican.
"There is an enormous responsibility on us to seize this moment and to make Irish freedom a reality. I would urge all Irish nationalists and republicans, including those who have shown such commitment over the years as Volunteers of the IRA to put their undoubted talents and energy into building a new Ireland.
"Today's IRA initiative also presents challenges for others.
"It places a clear onus on the British and Irish Governments to fully and faithfully implement the Good Friday Agreement.
"In particular this means an end to pandering to those unionists who are rejectionist and the British Government must urgently address the demilitarisation, equality and human rights agendas.
"It means the Irish Government actively promoting the rights and entitlements of all of its citizens, including those in the North.
"It means that unionists who are for the Good Friday Agreement must end their ambivalence. And it is a direct challenge to the DUP to decide if they want to put the past behind them, and make peace with the rest of the people of this island.
"Today's IRA statement can help revive the Peace Process; it deals with genuine unionist concerns and removes from the leadership of unionism its excuse for non-engagement.
"Republicans will not be surprised that our opponents will continue to try to defeat us. Initiatives by the IRA are unlikely to change, in the short-term, the attitude of those who oppose us whether in London or Dublin or within unionism. We can expect this to continue until we succeed in our endeavours.
"Today's statement by the IRA is clear evidence of the commitment of republicans to the Peace Process. The question now is whether the two governments and the unionists are prepared to take up the challenge of building the necessary next steps to a just and peaceful future.
"The road map is clear. Sinn Féin is a party looking forward. We have a vision of a new future, a better future, and we have the spirit and the confidence to work with others to achieve this. Irish republicans and nationalists are now in a new area of struggle. There is a role for everyone in this new situation. Let us move forward together to re-build the Peace Process and deliver Irish unity and independence."
Commenting on the release of Seán Kelly, Gerry Adams said:
"I welcome the release of Seán Kelly. There are other prisoners who continue to be held, including those qualifying prisoners held in Castlerea. Sinn Féin will continue to campaign for their speedy release."
Mr Adams said:
"Today's decision by the IRA to move into a new peaceful mode is historic and represents a courageous and confident initiative. It is a truly momentous and defining point in the search for a lasting peace with justice. I commend the commitment of those who have taken this decision and I appeal for unity and solidarity among all Irish republicans on the island of Ireland and beyond and for the struggle to be carried forward with new energy and enthusiasm.
"The IRA decision presents an unparalleled challenge and opportunity for every nationalist and republican.
"There is an enormous responsibility on us to seize this moment and to make Irish freedom a reality. I would urge all Irish nationalists and republicans, including those who have shown such commitment over the years as Volunteers of the IRA to put their undoubted talents and energy into building a new Ireland.
"Today's IRA initiative also presents challenges for others.
"It places a clear onus on the British and Irish Governments to fully and faithfully implement the Good Friday Agreement.
"In particular this means an end to pandering to those unionists who are rejectionist and the British Government must urgently address the demilitarisation, equality and human rights agendas.
"It means the Irish Government actively promoting the rights and entitlements of all of its citizens, including those in the North.
"It means that unionists who are for the Good Friday Agreement must end their ambivalence. And it is a direct challenge to the DUP to decide if they want to put the past behind them, and make peace with the rest of the people of this island.
"Today's IRA statement can help revive the Peace Process; it deals with genuine unionist concerns and removes from the leadership of unionism its excuse for non-engagement.
"Republicans will not be surprised that our opponents will continue to try to defeat us. Initiatives by the IRA are unlikely to change, in the short-term, the attitude of those who oppose us whether in London or Dublin or within unionism. We can expect this to continue until we succeed in our endeavours.
"Today's statement by the IRA is clear evidence of the commitment of republicans to the Peace Process. The question now is whether the two governments and the unionists are prepared to take up the challenge of building the necessary next steps to a just and peaceful future.
"The road map is clear. Sinn Féin is a party looking forward. We have a vision of a new future, a better future, and we have the spirit and the confidence to work with others to achieve this. Irish republicans and nationalists are now in a new area of struggle. There is a role for everyone in this new situation. Let us move forward together to re-build the Peace Process and deliver Irish unity and independence."
Commenting on the release of Seán Kelly, Gerry Adams said:
"I welcome the release of Seán Kelly. There are other prisoners who continue to be held, including those qualifying prisoners held in Castlerea. Sinn Féin will continue to campaign for their speedy release."
IRA Statement Ending The Armed Struggle
"The leadership of Óglaigh na hÉireann has formally ordered an end to the armed campaign. This will take effect from 4pm this afternoon.
All IRA units have been ordered to dump arms. All Volunteers have been instructed to assist the development of purely political and democratic programmes through exclusively peaceful means. Volunteers must not engage in any other activities whatsoever.
The IRA leadership has also authorised our representative to engage with the IICD to complete the process to verifiably put its arms beyond use in a way which will further enhance public confidence and to conclude this as quickly as possible.
We have invited two independent witnesses, from the Protestant and Catholic churches, to testify to this.
The Army Council took these decisions following an unprecedented internal discussion and consultation process with IRA units and Volunteers.
We appreciate the honest and forthright way in which the consultation process was carried out and the depth and content of the submissions. We are proud of the comradely way in which this truly historic discussion was conducted.
The outcome of our consultations show very strong support among IRA Volunteers for the Sinn Féin peace strategy.
There is also widespread concern about the failure of the two governments and the unionists to fully engage in the peace process. This has created real difficulties.
The overwhelming majority of people in Ireland fully support this process.
They and friends of Irish unity throughout the world want to see the full implementation of the Good Friday Agreement.
Notwithstanding these difficulties our decisions have been taken to advance our republican and democratic objectives, including our goal of a united Ireland. We believe there is now an alternative way to achieve this and to end British rule in our country.
It is the responsibility of all Volunteers to show leadership, determination and courage. We are very mindful of the sacrifices of our patriot dead, those who went to jail, Volunteers, their families and the wider republican base. We reiterate our view that the armed struggle was entirely legitimate.
We are conscious that many people suffered in the conflict. There is a compelling imperative on all sides to build a just and lasting peace.
The issue of the defence of nationalist and republican communities has been raised with us. There is a responsibility on society to ensure that there is no re-occurrence of the pogroms of 1969 and the early 1970s.
There is also a universal responsibility to tackle sectarianism in all its forms.
The IRA is fully committed to the goals of Irish unity and independence and to building the Republic outlined in the 1916 Proclamation.
We call for maximum unity and effort by Irish republicans everywhere.
We are confident that by working together Irish republicans can achieve our objectives.
Every Volunteer is aware of the import of the decisions we have taken and all Óglaigh are compelled to fully comply with these orders.
There is now an unprecedented opportunity to utilise the considerable energy and goodwill which there is for the peace process. This comprehensive series of unparalleled initiatives is our contribution to this and to the continued endeavours to bring about independence and unity for the people of Ireland.
Irish Republican Army orders an end to armed campaign.
The IRA is fully committed to the goals of Irish unity and independence and to building the Republic outlined in the 1916 Proclamation.
Our decisions have been taken to advance our republican and democratic objectives, including our goal of a united Ireland.
We believe there is now an alternative way to achieve this and to end."
All IRA units have been ordered to dump arms. All Volunteers have been instructed to assist the development of purely political and democratic programmes through exclusively peaceful means. Volunteers must not engage in any other activities whatsoever.
The IRA leadership has also authorised our representative to engage with the IICD to complete the process to verifiably put its arms beyond use in a way which will further enhance public confidence and to conclude this as quickly as possible.
We have invited two independent witnesses, from the Protestant and Catholic churches, to testify to this.
The Army Council took these decisions following an unprecedented internal discussion and consultation process with IRA units and Volunteers.
We appreciate the honest and forthright way in which the consultation process was carried out and the depth and content of the submissions. We are proud of the comradely way in which this truly historic discussion was conducted.
The outcome of our consultations show very strong support among IRA Volunteers for the Sinn Féin peace strategy.
There is also widespread concern about the failure of the two governments and the unionists to fully engage in the peace process. This has created real difficulties.
The overwhelming majority of people in Ireland fully support this process.
They and friends of Irish unity throughout the world want to see the full implementation of the Good Friday Agreement.
Notwithstanding these difficulties our decisions have been taken to advance our republican and democratic objectives, including our goal of a united Ireland. We believe there is now an alternative way to achieve this and to end British rule in our country.
It is the responsibility of all Volunteers to show leadership, determination and courage. We are very mindful of the sacrifices of our patriot dead, those who went to jail, Volunteers, their families and the wider republican base. We reiterate our view that the armed struggle was entirely legitimate.
We are conscious that many people suffered in the conflict. There is a compelling imperative on all sides to build a just and lasting peace.
The issue of the defence of nationalist and republican communities has been raised with us. There is a responsibility on society to ensure that there is no re-occurrence of the pogroms of 1969 and the early 1970s.
There is also a universal responsibility to tackle sectarianism in all its forms.
The IRA is fully committed to the goals of Irish unity and independence and to building the Republic outlined in the 1916 Proclamation.
We call for maximum unity and effort by Irish republicans everywhere.
We are confident that by working together Irish republicans can achieve our objectives.
Every Volunteer is aware of the import of the decisions we have taken and all Óglaigh are compelled to fully comply with these orders.
There is now an unprecedented opportunity to utilise the considerable energy and goodwill which there is for the peace process. This comprehensive series of unparalleled initiatives is our contribution to this and to the continued endeavours to bring about independence and unity for the people of Ireland.
Irish Republican Army orders an end to armed campaign.
The IRA is fully committed to the goals of Irish unity and independence and to building the Republic outlined in the 1916 Proclamation.
Our decisions have been taken to advance our republican and democratic objectives, including our goal of a united Ireland.
We believe there is now an alternative way to achieve this and to end."
Wednesday, July 27, 2005
Syria Scoops Up Prisoner Support Activists
Syria has arrested two members of a recently formed political prisoners support group, whose inaugural meeting was broken up by police on Monday. AKI is reporting Yasin al-Hamawi, the father of jailed Syrian dissident, Abu Haytham al-Hamawi, himself arrested two years ago after he helped launch an anti-corruption campaign, was picked up by police on Tuesday evening, at his home in Dariya near the capital, Damascus. The other man, Muhammad al-Abdallah, the son of a political prisoner, Ali al-Abdallah, was arrested at his home on Wednesday morning.
The Syrian Human Rights Committee (SHRC) says eyewitnesses have reported the arrest of Yasin al-Hamawi occurred at around 11am Tuesday morning, when several cars approached his place of work and took him away. It is not known which intelligence apparatus arrested him, nor the destination to which he was taken to.
The Commission of Relatives of Prisoners of Opinion and of Conscience (CRPOC) was holding its inaugural meeting on Monday when police surrounded the building where the launch was being held, in the town of Dariya near the capital Damascus. The police then peacefully broke up the meeting, but first warned one of the group's leaders, Yasin al-Hamawi, not to organize another one without the authorities' consent.
The Commission for the Rebirth of Civil Society, described the arrests "as a violation of the most basic right of the relatives of the prisoners; the right for them to follow the cases involving their loved ones and to seek their release."
The Arab Organization for Human Rights (AOHR) released a statement demanding that authorities reveal who issued an arrest warrant against Hamawi, and that he be formally charged before a civilian court or be released immediately. Just last week SHRC faxed a petition signed by more than 1,000 people to President Bashar Al Assad yesterday calling for the release of the head of the group and other political prisoners.
SHRC stated that it views the arrest of the citizen Yassin al-Hamwi as an attempt to terrorize and silence the Syrian citizens who call for the release of their sons, fathers and relatives from prisons, and strongly condemns these despotic and barbaric acts of suppressing freedom.
SHRC requests that Yassin al-Hamwi and all other political detainees in the jails of the Syrian regime be released, and requests that all human rights defenders shed light on the acts that the Intelligence and security forces in Syria commit and demand for the release of all prisoners of conscience. Sources: Syrian Human Rights Committee, AKI, The Peninsula (Qatar), Khaleej Times
The Syrian Human Rights Committee (SHRC) says eyewitnesses have reported the arrest of Yasin al-Hamawi occurred at around 11am Tuesday morning, when several cars approached his place of work and took him away. It is not known which intelligence apparatus arrested him, nor the destination to which he was taken to.
The Commission of Relatives of Prisoners of Opinion and of Conscience (CRPOC) was holding its inaugural meeting on Monday when police surrounded the building where the launch was being held, in the town of Dariya near the capital Damascus. The police then peacefully broke up the meeting, but first warned one of the group's leaders, Yasin al-Hamawi, not to organize another one without the authorities' consent.
The Commission for the Rebirth of Civil Society, described the arrests "as a violation of the most basic right of the relatives of the prisoners; the right for them to follow the cases involving their loved ones and to seek their release."
The Arab Organization for Human Rights (AOHR) released a statement demanding that authorities reveal who issued an arrest warrant against Hamawi, and that he be formally charged before a civilian court or be released immediately. Just last week SHRC faxed a petition signed by more than 1,000 people to President Bashar Al Assad yesterday calling for the release of the head of the group and other political prisoners.
SHRC stated that it views the arrest of the citizen Yassin al-Hamwi as an attempt to terrorize and silence the Syrian citizens who call for the release of their sons, fathers and relatives from prisons, and strongly condemns these despotic and barbaric acts of suppressing freedom.
SHRC requests that Yassin al-Hamwi and all other political detainees in the jails of the Syrian regime be released, and requests that all human rights defenders shed light on the acts that the Intelligence and security forces in Syria commit and demand for the release of all prisoners of conscience. Sources: Syrian Human Rights Committee, AKI, The Peninsula (Qatar), Khaleej Times
Sonny Hertzberg
Sonny Hertzberg, a member of the New York Knickerbockers basketball team of the 1940s, died Monday at age 82.
The 5-foot-9 guard scored a team-high 14 points in the Knicks' first home game in 1946.
In 1946, Hertzberg’s teammate, Ossie Schectman, scored the first basket in a game in the Basketball Association of America, the precursor to today’s NBA.
Hertzberg is a member of the New York City Basketball Hall of Fame and the Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.
"He was a top guy, no question. He never gave anybody any trouble. He was always helpful on the court," 86-year-old Ralph Kaplowitz, another of the original Knicks, said yesterday. "We've been friends since 1945 and would talk every day."
The 5-foot-9 guard scored a team-high 14 points in the Knicks' first home game in 1946.
In 1946, Hertzberg’s teammate, Ossie Schectman, scored the first basket in a game in the Basketball Association of America, the precursor to today’s NBA.
Hertzberg is a member of the New York City Basketball Hall of Fame and the Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.
"He was a top guy, no question. He never gave anybody any trouble. He was always helpful on the court," 86-year-old Ralph Kaplowitz, another of the original Knicks, said yesterday. "We've been friends since 1945 and would talk every day."
Something Else to Worry About
In China the death toll has risen to 24 from a baffling illness which Chinese health officials say is caused by known bacteria from pigs. Twenty one others are in critical conditions while only five have recovered.
China says the disease is caused by the pig bacterium Streptococcus suis. According to the Chinese Ministry of Health the first cases surfaced in June 2005 in two cities in China’s Sichuan province. All cases were either farmers that had butchered infected pigs or people who later handled the contaminated pork products. China says there is no person to person transmission reported.
The first recorded human case of S. suis was in Denmark in 1968. Only 200 cases have been reported since then, excluding the current outbreak. Dick Thompson, a World Health Organization (WHO) spokesman in Geneva told New Scientist full laboratory reports on the 76 confirmed and 41 suspected infections will help experts to understand why this outbreak has grown so large and deadly. They will look for co-infection with other pathogens and attempt to solidify the diagnosis and extent of the outbreak.
Some are concerned that the infections disease could be the feared outbreak of bird flu. The World Health Organization says it is not disputing China's contention that a known pig-borne bacteria has caused the latest deaths, but says the high mortality rate is alarming.
"It's never occurred in an outbreak this big before," WHO spokesman Bob Dietz told AFP. "We're accustomed to seeing only one or two cases. We're not accustomed to this large number of people getting infected. And we don't understand why that is." Dietz said it is still too early to say if a serious outbreak of the disease is imminent. "We do see a steady increase in numbers in reported cases, and a slow but steady rise of deaths. But these types of hard figures are still not reliable enough to make a prediction of course," he said.
Nearly one third of those so far infected have died. Syptoms of the disease include high fever, nausea, vomiting and haemorrhaging.
ProMed reports that Hong Kong has ordered hospitals to be on alert for people exhibiting symptoms such as fever and nausea and advised travelers to Sichuan to take precautions such as not touching dead animals and using mosquito repellant.
Yesterday Chinese health officials admitted that they have yet to find any treatment for those who have been infected. "The (Chinese) Center for Disease Control and Prevention is conducting drug sensitivity tests to find a more effective treatment," Ministry of Health spokesperson Mao Qun'an told China Daily, and daily reports on the situation have been made to the WHO.
The provincial and central governments have launched campaigns to identify
and destroy infected pigs and shut down channels for the bacteria to
spread, including forbidding farmers from slaughtering or processing infected pigs. Sources: ProMed, People’s Daily (China), China Daily, Xinhua, New Scientist
China says the disease is caused by the pig bacterium Streptococcus suis. According to the Chinese Ministry of Health the first cases surfaced in June 2005 in two cities in China’s Sichuan province. All cases were either farmers that had butchered infected pigs or people who later handled the contaminated pork products. China says there is no person to person transmission reported.
The first recorded human case of S. suis was in Denmark in 1968. Only 200 cases have been reported since then, excluding the current outbreak. Dick Thompson, a World Health Organization (WHO) spokesman in Geneva told New Scientist full laboratory reports on the 76 confirmed and 41 suspected infections will help experts to understand why this outbreak has grown so large and deadly. They will look for co-infection with other pathogens and attempt to solidify the diagnosis and extent of the outbreak.
Some are concerned that the infections disease could be the feared outbreak of bird flu. The World Health Organization says it is not disputing China's contention that a known pig-borne bacteria has caused the latest deaths, but says the high mortality rate is alarming.
"It's never occurred in an outbreak this big before," WHO spokesman Bob Dietz told AFP. "We're accustomed to seeing only one or two cases. We're not accustomed to this large number of people getting infected. And we don't understand why that is." Dietz said it is still too early to say if a serious outbreak of the disease is imminent. "We do see a steady increase in numbers in reported cases, and a slow but steady rise of deaths. But these types of hard figures are still not reliable enough to make a prediction of course," he said.
Nearly one third of those so far infected have died. Syptoms of the disease include high fever, nausea, vomiting and haemorrhaging.
ProMed reports that Hong Kong has ordered hospitals to be on alert for people exhibiting symptoms such as fever and nausea and advised travelers to Sichuan to take precautions such as not touching dead animals and using mosquito repellant.
Yesterday Chinese health officials admitted that they have yet to find any treatment for those who have been infected. "The (Chinese) Center for Disease Control and Prevention is conducting drug sensitivity tests to find a more effective treatment," Ministry of Health spokesperson Mao Qun'an told China Daily, and daily reports on the situation have been made to the WHO.
The provincial and central governments have launched campaigns to identify
and destroy infected pigs and shut down channels for the bacteria to
spread, including forbidding farmers from slaughtering or processing infected pigs. Sources: ProMed, People’s Daily (China), China Daily, Xinhua, New Scientist
Tuesday, July 26, 2005
Fear for Women In Sudan
Amnesty International is expressing concern over the welfare of three female lawyers working on women's issues in Sudan. The lawyers who have been brought in for questioning by the National Security Service over the past two days had just participated in a local Human Rights Workshop composed of local lawyers and NGO groups, in Dar al-Katah, Port Sudan, Eastern Sudan.
The women played a very active role in the meeting and thus may have become targets of the government. The women are Nijalla Mohamed Ali, Sana Hassan Babiker, and Halima Hussein Mohamed.
The workshop concluded by issuing recommendations that the Sudanese Government sign an agreement ending discrimination against women and prohibiting female genital mutilation (it is estimated that, at least, 70% of women in Sudan have undergone the “procedure.”).
The National Security Service said they were called in for questioning about possible links to foreign Non Governmental Organizations.
Amnesty says in the past, the Security Services have used continued questioning as a form of harassment of human rights activists.
Amnesty International calls for the cessation of repeated summons as a means of harassment against civil society activists.
According to many women activists, the Nairobi peace agreement, which supposedly ended 21 years of civil war in southern Sudan, should signal a new phase for the engagement of Sudanese women.
"A major problem with this peace agreement is that it is an agreement negotiated without the participation of other political parties or civil-society organizations in which more women are represented," said Sonia Asis Malik, lecturer at Ahfad University for Women in Omdurman and member of the Babik Budri Scientific Association.
"Women were basically excluded from this peace agreement," Malik added.
Malik also pointed out that while various Sudanese constitutions since independence had granted equal rights and duties to all Sudanese, irrespective of their origin, race, sex or religion, in reality things were quite different.
"It is not practiced and it will not be practiced," Malik said. "Since our independence, [the constitution] gives women rights with one hand and takes them with the other. A lot of discrimination also happens in the private sphere."
Mary Cirillo Bang of the New Sudan Women's Federation told IRIN last May that women and children had been most affected by the wars that raged in Sudan since 1955. "When two elephants are fighting, the grass suffers," she said. "Women and children are the grass."
Kezia Layinwa Nicodemus, Commissioner for Women, Gender and Child Welfare of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), in an interview last year said, "Women's position in Sudanese society is not very good, because women have not been taken on board when men are making decisions. So women are sort of left behind. But with this secretariat for women [which Kezia is head of], we are trying to bring up women so that they develop quickly and are on the same footing as men.”
Nicodemus was not uncritical of the SPLM itself. “They are scared of giving rights to women. They say too many rights are not good for women. So we need this to be improved so that men and women come together and they listen to new ideas, so that men can accept that they are human beings and their wives are also human beings. She has her rights, I have my rights. At the moment, very few men get that.” She added, “In the SPLM hierarchy there is only me. Even if I have a good idea, who will support me? All men will be against that idea. So I hope that in the near future we will get more women. I am not supported very much. It is still difficult for women, because you can be appointed but you are not assisted financially. Then you have no power.”
Considering that the negotiated “peace agreement” was between the SPLM and the Sudanese government, it’s difficult to see any great improvements for women in Sudan on the immediate horizon
And least we forget, in Darfur, where genocide is the name of the game, armed forces and militia members have raped thousands of women and tens of thousands of women suffered other violence and forced displacement in the conflict there. Women were raped during attacks and frequently abducted into sexual slavery for days or months. Sources: Irin, Sudan Times, Amnesty International
The women played a very active role in the meeting and thus may have become targets of the government. The women are Nijalla Mohamed Ali, Sana Hassan Babiker, and Halima Hussein Mohamed.
The workshop concluded by issuing recommendations that the Sudanese Government sign an agreement ending discrimination against women and prohibiting female genital mutilation (it is estimated that, at least, 70% of women in Sudan have undergone the “procedure.”).
The National Security Service said they were called in for questioning about possible links to foreign Non Governmental Organizations.
Amnesty says in the past, the Security Services have used continued questioning as a form of harassment of human rights activists.
Amnesty International calls for the cessation of repeated summons as a means of harassment against civil society activists.
According to many women activists, the Nairobi peace agreement, which supposedly ended 21 years of civil war in southern Sudan, should signal a new phase for the engagement of Sudanese women.
"A major problem with this peace agreement is that it is an agreement negotiated without the participation of other political parties or civil-society organizations in which more women are represented," said Sonia Asis Malik, lecturer at Ahfad University for Women in Omdurman and member of the Babik Budri Scientific Association.
"Women were basically excluded from this peace agreement," Malik added.
Malik also pointed out that while various Sudanese constitutions since independence had granted equal rights and duties to all Sudanese, irrespective of their origin, race, sex or religion, in reality things were quite different.
"It is not practiced and it will not be practiced," Malik said. "Since our independence, [the constitution] gives women rights with one hand and takes them with the other. A lot of discrimination also happens in the private sphere."
Mary Cirillo Bang of the New Sudan Women's Federation told IRIN last May that women and children had been most affected by the wars that raged in Sudan since 1955. "When two elephants are fighting, the grass suffers," she said. "Women and children are the grass."
Kezia Layinwa Nicodemus, Commissioner for Women, Gender and Child Welfare of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), in an interview last year said, "Women's position in Sudanese society is not very good, because women have not been taken on board when men are making decisions. So women are sort of left behind. But with this secretariat for women [which Kezia is head of], we are trying to bring up women so that they develop quickly and are on the same footing as men.”
Nicodemus was not uncritical of the SPLM itself. “They are scared of giving rights to women. They say too many rights are not good for women. So we need this to be improved so that men and women come together and they listen to new ideas, so that men can accept that they are human beings and their wives are also human beings. She has her rights, I have my rights. At the moment, very few men get that.” She added, “In the SPLM hierarchy there is only me. Even if I have a good idea, who will support me? All men will be against that idea. So I hope that in the near future we will get more women. I am not supported very much. It is still difficult for women, because you can be appointed but you are not assisted financially. Then you have no power.”
Considering that the negotiated “peace agreement” was between the SPLM and the Sudanese government, it’s difficult to see any great improvements for women in Sudan on the immediate horizon
And least we forget, in Darfur, where genocide is the name of the game, armed forces and militia members have raped thousands of women and tens of thousands of women suffered other violence and forced displacement in the conflict there. Women were raped during attacks and frequently abducted into sexual slavery for days or months. Sources: Irin, Sudan Times, Amnesty International
Help!
A search continues for Amber Redman, a 19-year-old girl from the Buffalo First Nation who has been missing for almost two weeks. Amber was last seen at around 2:30 a.m. July 15 outside Trapper's bar in Fort Qu'appelle, Saskatchewan.
Police say they have few major leads in the case. Redman was last seen outside of a bar in the early morning hours of July 15.
Redman is described as Aboriginal, 5'8, 126 pounds with long brown hair. She was last seen wearing blue jeans, blue denim jean shirt and blue metal earrings in the shape of a heart with two eagle feathers.
People with information are asked to call the Fort Qu'Appelle RCMP at 332-2222, their local police department or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477. Sources: Indianz, CBC
Police say they have few major leads in the case. Redman was last seen outside of a bar in the early morning hours of July 15.
Redman is described as Aboriginal, 5'8, 126 pounds with long brown hair. She was last seen wearing blue jeans, blue denim jean shirt and blue metal earrings in the shape of a heart with two eagle feathers.
People with information are asked to call the Fort Qu'Appelle RCMP at 332-2222, their local police department or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477. Sources: Indianz, CBC
Angry Demonstration Protests US Raid In Afghanistan
A couple of thousand angry Afghans Tuesday stormed the US base at Bagram angered over the arrest of a former mujahidin commander, Engineer Hamidullah, from the Deh Mula village along with a prayer leader of a mosque and six other locals in the nightime hours between Monday and Tuesday. Hamidullah was the Taliban's former deputy chief of finance.
The protesters also burned tires, hurled stones, damaged cars and chanted anti-American slogans.
Pravda reports that violence erupted after six U.S. military vehicles traveling in a convoy tried to enter the base. The protesters threw stones at them before troops inside the cars leaned out their windows and fired into the air with handguns. The vehicles then sped into the base and the demonstrators chased them, trying to push down a metal gate guarded by Afghan forces. The Afghan soldiers used batons to beat back the protesters and several fired into the air with their assault rifles as they shouted at the protesters to go home. Most dispersed.
"A protestor was injured in US troops' firing outside the base while around 400 local employees inside the base joined the protestors to push their demand," Mohammad Zahir Rahimi told Xinhua from the scene.
The US military denies firing any shots during the incident. US military spokeswoman Cindy Moore said the forces had recovered explosives from Hamidullah's house. The man was detained following reports that he was planning to attack the Bagram military headquarters. She added the US forces were accompanied by Afghan intelligence and police personnel.
The brother of Hamidullah said US forces were mistaken when they targeted his brother or that someone had purposely misled them.
Condemning the arrest, the demonstrators said the soldiers raided and searched their houses in the middle of the night. They warned of serious consequences if such search operations were not halted. "We have fought against the former Soviet Union and the Taliban, but if the excesses continued, we will raise weapons against the US this time," screamed a young man punching the air reported Pajhwok Afghan News. "We have supported the Americans for years. We should be treated with dignity," said Shah Aghar, 35, a local resident. "They are arresting our people without the permission of the government. They are breaking into our houses and offending the people. We are very angry."
A statement from the Coaltion Press Office said that Afghan and U.S. forces attempted to contact local leaders to involve them in the operation but were unable to do so.
Meanwhile, in recent days Taliban forces have stepped up attacks on US troops possibly in response to a call from Mullah Mohammed Omar (remember him), to take down the current Afghan government and to drive foreign forces from the country. The Australian reports that Omar’s message is addressed to the members of the ousted Taliban movement's leadership council, many of whom are thought to be co-coordinating attacks from Pakistan or in the mountains of southern Afghanistan. Omar calls on leaders to stick together in their fight against the Government and foreign forces. "Unite and do not disagree. Continue your jihad and victory will be yours," the voice on the recording says. Sources: Pajhwok Afghan News, AfhanMania, Xinhua, SABC, Reuters, Pravda, Afghan News Network, BBC, Combined Forces Command – Afghanistan - Coalition Press Information Center (Public Affairs), The Australian
The protesters also burned tires, hurled stones, damaged cars and chanted anti-American slogans.
Pravda reports that violence erupted after six U.S. military vehicles traveling in a convoy tried to enter the base. The protesters threw stones at them before troops inside the cars leaned out their windows and fired into the air with handguns. The vehicles then sped into the base and the demonstrators chased them, trying to push down a metal gate guarded by Afghan forces. The Afghan soldiers used batons to beat back the protesters and several fired into the air with their assault rifles as they shouted at the protesters to go home. Most dispersed.
"A protestor was injured in US troops' firing outside the base while around 400 local employees inside the base joined the protestors to push their demand," Mohammad Zahir Rahimi told Xinhua from the scene.
The US military denies firing any shots during the incident. US military spokeswoman Cindy Moore said the forces had recovered explosives from Hamidullah's house. The man was detained following reports that he was planning to attack the Bagram military headquarters. She added the US forces were accompanied by Afghan intelligence and police personnel.
The brother of Hamidullah said US forces were mistaken when they targeted his brother or that someone had purposely misled them.
Condemning the arrest, the demonstrators said the soldiers raided and searched their houses in the middle of the night. They warned of serious consequences if such search operations were not halted. "We have fought against the former Soviet Union and the Taliban, but if the excesses continued, we will raise weapons against the US this time," screamed a young man punching the air reported Pajhwok Afghan News. "We have supported the Americans for years. We should be treated with dignity," said Shah Aghar, 35, a local resident. "They are arresting our people without the permission of the government. They are breaking into our houses and offending the people. We are very angry."
A statement from the Coaltion Press Office said that Afghan and U.S. forces attempted to contact local leaders to involve them in the operation but were unable to do so.
Meanwhile, in recent days Taliban forces have stepped up attacks on US troops possibly in response to a call from Mullah Mohammed Omar (remember him), to take down the current Afghan government and to drive foreign forces from the country. The Australian reports that Omar’s message is addressed to the members of the ousted Taliban movement's leadership council, many of whom are thought to be co-coordinating attacks from Pakistan or in the mountains of southern Afghanistan. Omar calls on leaders to stick together in their fight against the Government and foreign forces. "Unite and do not disagree. Continue your jihad and victory will be yours," the voice on the recording says. Sources: Pajhwok Afghan News, AfhanMania, Xinhua, SABC, Reuters, Pravda, Afghan News Network, BBC, Combined Forces Command – Afghanistan - Coalition Press Information Center (Public Affairs), The Australian
Monday, July 25, 2005
Jersey Terror Police On the Move
The New Jersey State Police Counter-Terrorism Bureau decked out in bulletproof vests and armed with assault rifles descended on a home in Jersey the other day without a search warrant and ransacked the home of some local residents of Exxex County.
You probably didn’t hear about it.
Ted Nebus was the lucky guy whose apartment was torn asunder, and whose computer, containing his master's thesis on labor relations, was carted off. The counter terror guys also seized several signs advocating animal rights.
According to the Home News Tribune, police said the raid was linked to an investigation into, get this, criminal mischief and trespassing.
It turns out that Nebus’ wife, Janice Angelillo, was already in custody. She had been picked up by the NJ State Police for allegedly spray-painting (terrorism?). Her bail has been set at $15,000 cash.
Janice is the treasurer of the Central New Jersey Industrial Workers of the World and an avid animal rights activist.
Nebus’ neighbor, Tom Howard, was puzzled by the action Saturday night. "It's like if you saw one of those hyped-up movies, except you replace the Hollywood stereotype of the evil terrorist with the people who actually live there," Howard said. "And it's a woman who is a school teacher, who's an art teacher at a school who weighs 100 pounds soaking wet, and her husband, who is a grad student studying labor relations."
"They're pacifists," Howard said. "They protest for peace." He said he was not particularly aware of the couple's animal-rights activities, but said Angelillo is "very interested in treating animals humanely." He added, "The couple adopted five stray cats...one of them, Acadia, has been missing since the incident."
The search warrant, signed several hours after Nebus and several others were detained, covered computer-related material and paper towels, Howard said, adding that the police said Angelillo had allegedly spray-painted.
"For allegedly spray-painting, they sent a SWAT team," Howard said.
Dan O'Donnell, the building's owner said he has seen people with protest signs entering and leaving the house, but there's never been any trouble with the residents.
Capt. Steve Serrao of the counter-terrorism bureau said at the scene that police were unable to release details of the investigation. The Highland Park, New Jersey Police Department assisted the state police in the operation. A K-9 unit also was on the scene.
Next door neighbor Howard said he understands the need to respond to threats, but said he believes the reaction he saw to an investigation of criminal mischief and trespassing seemed overdone.
"It was one of those things where you will look at things and you'll read about things going on, and then one day, you're going to a barbecue and the next thing you know, you've got an assault rifle pointed at you," he said. Sources: Rise Up, Home News Tribune (New Jersey), and a couple of e-mails
You probably didn’t hear about it.
Ted Nebus was the lucky guy whose apartment was torn asunder, and whose computer, containing his master's thesis on labor relations, was carted off. The counter terror guys also seized several signs advocating animal rights.
According to the Home News Tribune, police said the raid was linked to an investigation into, get this, criminal mischief and trespassing.
It turns out that Nebus’ wife, Janice Angelillo, was already in custody. She had been picked up by the NJ State Police for allegedly spray-painting (terrorism?). Her bail has been set at $15,000 cash.
Janice is the treasurer of the Central New Jersey Industrial Workers of the World and an avid animal rights activist.
Nebus’ neighbor, Tom Howard, was puzzled by the action Saturday night. "It's like if you saw one of those hyped-up movies, except you replace the Hollywood stereotype of the evil terrorist with the people who actually live there," Howard said. "And it's a woman who is a school teacher, who's an art teacher at a school who weighs 100 pounds soaking wet, and her husband, who is a grad student studying labor relations."
"They're pacifists," Howard said. "They protest for peace." He said he was not particularly aware of the couple's animal-rights activities, but said Angelillo is "very interested in treating animals humanely." He added, "The couple adopted five stray cats...one of them, Acadia, has been missing since the incident."
The search warrant, signed several hours after Nebus and several others were detained, covered computer-related material and paper towels, Howard said, adding that the police said Angelillo had allegedly spray-painted.
"For allegedly spray-painting, they sent a SWAT team," Howard said.
Dan O'Donnell, the building's owner said he has seen people with protest signs entering and leaving the house, but there's never been any trouble with the residents.
Capt. Steve Serrao of the counter-terrorism bureau said at the scene that police were unable to release details of the investigation. The Highland Park, New Jersey Police Department assisted the state police in the operation. A K-9 unit also was on the scene.
Next door neighbor Howard said he understands the need to respond to threats, but said he believes the reaction he saw to an investigation of criminal mischief and trespassing seemed overdone.
"It was one of those things where you will look at things and you'll read about things going on, and then one day, you're going to a barbecue and the next thing you know, you've got an assault rifle pointed at you," he said. Sources: Rise Up, Home News Tribune (New Jersey), and a couple of e-mails
"Women Are Forced to Risk Their Lives and Health"
As we here in the USA get ready for yet another debate on abortion rights in the upcoming confirmation hearings for Bush’s pick for the Supreme Court, in Colombia, women can be imprisoned for up to four and a half years for having abortions even in cases of rape or when their lives are at risk.
“Women should be not sent to prison for having abortions,” said Marianne Mollmann, Women's Rights researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Colombia’s restrictive abortion laws violate women’s basic human rights and should be repealed.”
On April 14, Colombian lawyer Mónica del Pilar Roa López, project director at Women’s Link Worldwide, requested the court to review the country’s law on abortion and declare it unconstitutional. Roa’s office was broken into on June 16 and two computers as well as confidential files were stolen. Human Rights Watch is concerned for the safety of all personnel working on this case.
An estimated 450,000 abortions occur every year in Colombia. Recent studies indicate that a higher proportion of adolescent girls than adult women undergo illegal abortions.
Roa says, “Abortion in Colombia is illegal under every circumstance. Colombia's abortion law stipulates that both the woman who has the abortion and the abortion provider can be sentenced to up to three years in prison.” She says that while women do not go to jail for this reason very often, “Women are forced to risk their lives and health by getting unsafe abortions. This is how abortion is the third leading cause of maternal mortality in Colombia, which is unacceptable given that unsafe abortion is the only cause of maternal mortality that can be prevented.”
''It's like a double standard,'' said Mónica Roa, ``If the rich had to have clandestine abortions, this would have changed long ago. The rich don't have to worry about it because the poor are the ones who die.''
Women across Colombia are not only filing court actions they are marching in the streets to legalize abortion. And, says the Miami Herald, the response so far has been surprisingly positive.
Maybe that support should not be surprising at all. Ironically, a recent study by the World Economic Forum put Colombian women ahead of Switzerland and Italy in terms of equality with men. They hold high political posts and executive positions and also serve as commanders in a guerrilla force that has been fighting the government for more than four decades.
Last week, several women's organizations held a march. ''Sex when I want it; pregnancy when I decide,'' the marchers clad in black T-shirts chanted in front of the Constitutional Court. The night before, women spray-painted messages like, ''If men had abortions, it would it be a commandment,'' and plastered stickers around the city with similar messages.
The suit to change the law itself is really a pretty tame one that would require abortion be legal for women who were raped or whose life is in danger. Abortion rights advocates see it as a first step.
The Catholic Church, however, thinks even that is too much. ''The Church is worried,'' Monsignor Fabián Marulanda, the Secretary General of the Episcopal Conference, the church's governing body there says in the Herald. ``If there's no clear legislation about this, any woman can simply say they were [raped] and then abort.''
Last month reports the Herald, authorities in the northeastern city of Pamplona arrested two teenage girls after they sought medical treatment for complications during abortion procedures. Both students were charged with obtaining illegal abortions and later expelled from their university. In Bogotá, judges sentenced two more women for the same crime after they suffered bad reactions to abortion pills and were rushed to the hospital.
Still, the counter-response has been just as swift. In Pamplona, the local media reported that 135 professors from 13 universities had signed a letter protesting the arrests of the two girls and their expulsion. And in Bogotá, marchers challenged those who might question their rights.
I remember when abortion was not legal here in the US. I remember the women’s movement fight to make it legal. Hopefully, we won’t have to go through that again, but if we do, then so be it! Sources: Miami Herald, Human Rights Watch, Women’s Human Rights Net
“Women should be not sent to prison for having abortions,” said Marianne Mollmann, Women's Rights researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Colombia’s restrictive abortion laws violate women’s basic human rights and should be repealed.”
On April 14, Colombian lawyer Mónica del Pilar Roa López, project director at Women’s Link Worldwide, requested the court to review the country’s law on abortion and declare it unconstitutional. Roa’s office was broken into on June 16 and two computers as well as confidential files were stolen. Human Rights Watch is concerned for the safety of all personnel working on this case.
An estimated 450,000 abortions occur every year in Colombia. Recent studies indicate that a higher proportion of adolescent girls than adult women undergo illegal abortions.
Roa says, “Abortion in Colombia is illegal under every circumstance. Colombia's abortion law stipulates that both the woman who has the abortion and the abortion provider can be sentenced to up to three years in prison.” She says that while women do not go to jail for this reason very often, “Women are forced to risk their lives and health by getting unsafe abortions. This is how abortion is the third leading cause of maternal mortality in Colombia, which is unacceptable given that unsafe abortion is the only cause of maternal mortality that can be prevented.”
''It's like a double standard,'' said Mónica Roa, ``If the rich had to have clandestine abortions, this would have changed long ago. The rich don't have to worry about it because the poor are the ones who die.''
Women across Colombia are not only filing court actions they are marching in the streets to legalize abortion. And, says the Miami Herald, the response so far has been surprisingly positive.
Maybe that support should not be surprising at all. Ironically, a recent study by the World Economic Forum put Colombian women ahead of Switzerland and Italy in terms of equality with men. They hold high political posts and executive positions and also serve as commanders in a guerrilla force that has been fighting the government for more than four decades.
Last week, several women's organizations held a march. ''Sex when I want it; pregnancy when I decide,'' the marchers clad in black T-shirts chanted in front of the Constitutional Court. The night before, women spray-painted messages like, ''If men had abortions, it would it be a commandment,'' and plastered stickers around the city with similar messages.
The suit to change the law itself is really a pretty tame one that would require abortion be legal for women who were raped or whose life is in danger. Abortion rights advocates see it as a first step.
The Catholic Church, however, thinks even that is too much. ''The Church is worried,'' Monsignor Fabián Marulanda, the Secretary General of the Episcopal Conference, the church's governing body there says in the Herald. ``If there's no clear legislation about this, any woman can simply say they were [raped] and then abort.''
Last month reports the Herald, authorities in the northeastern city of Pamplona arrested two teenage girls after they sought medical treatment for complications during abortion procedures. Both students were charged with obtaining illegal abortions and later expelled from their university. In Bogotá, judges sentenced two more women for the same crime after they suffered bad reactions to abortion pills and were rushed to the hospital.
Still, the counter-response has been just as swift. In Pamplona, the local media reported that 135 professors from 13 universities had signed a letter protesting the arrests of the two girls and their expulsion. And in Bogotá, marchers challenged those who might question their rights.
I remember when abortion was not legal here in the US. I remember the women’s movement fight to make it legal. Hopefully, we won’t have to go through that again, but if we do, then so be it! Sources: Miami Herald, Human Rights Watch, Women’s Human Rights Net
Lesbians Attacked in Kansas City---"No Big Deal," Say Police
Two Kansas City, Missouri lesbians were attacked by a bat-wielding woman in the early morning hours of July 14 – and the KC cops don’t think it’s a big deal.
Kansas City Anti-Violence Project (KCAVP) says the women were walking hand in hand down a busy KC street in a local restaurant district when a pickup truck drove by, and a women in the passenger seat yelled anti-gay comments in their direction. The truck circled the block for another round of hate speech, and then made a third pass at the victims. This time, the truck stopped, a woman came out with a bat and proceeded to attack the pair, pummeling one of the lesbians multiple times. The attack halted only when the flashing lights of a tow truck, not a police car appeared.
One of the women, 23, suffered a concussion amongst other injuries in the assault.
More than 30 minutes later says KCAVP, two officers arrived who told the women “they didn’t have to respond to the call at all” and would not acknowledge that it was a hate crime even though anti-LGBT slurs had been yelled and was motivated because the two women were walking together. The police also gave no appearance of caring or motivation to pursue who perpetrated the crime. "I would think being bashed over the head with a bat would give reason for police to come to a scene," Doug Riley, executive director of the KCAVP, said in a press release. "They need to be held accountable for their inaction and insensitivity."
After that press release, the local media made mention of the case.
And that got the attention of the police. The police called the women back into the station to give their statements again, and pressed much harder for a description of the assailant.
“The Kansas City, Missouri police must provide equal and compassionate service to all people,” said Riley… They need to explain to the victims and to the community what is being done to solve this crime and prevent others from happening.”
To the best of my knowledge, there have been no arrests. Sources: Kansas City Star, KCAVP, Planet Out
Kansas City Anti-Violence Project (KCAVP) says the women were walking hand in hand down a busy KC street in a local restaurant district when a pickup truck drove by, and a women in the passenger seat yelled anti-gay comments in their direction. The truck circled the block for another round of hate speech, and then made a third pass at the victims. This time, the truck stopped, a woman came out with a bat and proceeded to attack the pair, pummeling one of the lesbians multiple times. The attack halted only when the flashing lights of a tow truck, not a police car appeared.
One of the women, 23, suffered a concussion amongst other injuries in the assault.
More than 30 minutes later says KCAVP, two officers arrived who told the women “they didn’t have to respond to the call at all” and would not acknowledge that it was a hate crime even though anti-LGBT slurs had been yelled and was motivated because the two women were walking together. The police also gave no appearance of caring or motivation to pursue who perpetrated the crime. "I would think being bashed over the head with a bat would give reason for police to come to a scene," Doug Riley, executive director of the KCAVP, said in a press release. "They need to be held accountable for their inaction and insensitivity."
After that press release, the local media made mention of the case.
And that got the attention of the police. The police called the women back into the station to give their statements again, and pressed much harder for a description of the assailant.
“The Kansas City, Missouri police must provide equal and compassionate service to all people,” said Riley… They need to explain to the victims and to the community what is being done to solve this crime and prevent others from happening.”
To the best of my knowledge, there have been no arrests. Sources: Kansas City Star, KCAVP, Planet Out
"What Do You Say to That?"
The split in the AFL-CIO is big news today. The split was made official with the announcement from several dissident unions that they will boycott the AFL-CIO annual convention which starts today. "Over the past nine months, every corner of the labor movement has debated reform," said Anna Burger, chair of the dissident Change to Win Coalition. "The AFL-CIO, to its credit, has listened to us. But in the end, they have not heard us. The language of reform has been adopted, but not the substance. Our principles have been watered down and papered over ... we have reached a point where our differences have become unresolveable."
What’s it all about? Is it in fact about anything meaningful?
Service Employees International Union (SEIU) President Andy Stern, a leader of the “dissidents” wrote the other day:
“This convention could have been a chance for workers to celebrate the union movement's modernization after 50 years of change in our economy -- a dramatic event as historic as the founding of the CIO in the 1930s.”
“It could have been an inspirational discussion of strategies to unite workers in each industry or occupation - and to build unions with the focus and resources to do that.”
“It could have highlighted new global union partnerships that are not just about general solidarity but about specific campaigns uniting the strength of employees of the same global corporations.”
“It could have made historic progress on diversity not only through standards and timetables but by setting the stage to help millions of people of color and working women to form unions and change their lives and communities.”
"All this was possible earlier this year when it became clear that 40 percent of the AFL-CIO, including 3 of the 4 largest affiliates, was prepared to support real change. The AFL-CIO officers could have chosen to use their powers of persuasion to build on that base and organize a majority.”
“Instead, they chose to start with the 50-year-old structure of 57 separate and overlapping unions as a given and then water down every proposal so it wouldn't offend entrenched interests and outmoded traditions. They chose not to lead and to help workers win -- but to play it safe and do nothing that might disturb the lowest common denominator status quo.”
“The AFL-CIO's opportunity appears to have been lost, but the crisis facing working people in America remains. It will apparently take another convention this fall of unions committed to change to provide the new hope working people need.”
Joe Hansen, of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW): says:
“We are taking this historic step with our coalition partners to build a 21st century worker movement for a new generation of workers. Unions built the American middle class. We are taking this action to revitalize the labor movement to build worker power.”
“Unrestrained corporate power has set in motion a global race to the bottom—a race dedicated to widening the gap of inequality—eroding basic wages—eroding labor and social standards—and limiting basic democratic participation.”
“Our unions are changing now to win worker power in the workplace, the community, and the political process.”
“The Change to Win Coalition (the new workers organization devoted to “transforming the American labor movement”) is taking the lead to engage and organize workers—and build a worker movement to raise living standards, win health care and pension security, and make government responsive to working people.”
United Farm Workers of America (UFW) President Arturo Rodrigues announced his union was joining the Change to Win Coalition. He said,
"To realize our goal of organizing significant numbers of low-to moderate-wage Latino and immigrant workers in the face of fierce employer resistance during the next decade, we must move aggressively to apply new resources and make changes in our own organization. We are convinced the Change to Win Coalition mirrors our commitment of finding new ways to refocus on organizing and vigorously pursue anti-worker employers."
All this sounds pretty good, but are you, dear reader, convinced that the Change to Win group is all it is cracked up to be? Are you convinced they will offer much more than the stodgy AFL-CIO?
JoAnn Wypijewski writes today in Counter Punch that she, at least, is not. She writes, “On the one side, so the story goes, we have the dynamic "organizing" unions with vivid blueprints for revitalization; on the other side, the dinosaur unions and leadership of the AFL-CIO, content with the status quo even as union membership dips to its lowest level in 70 years.”
After pointing out all that Sweeny and Company has not done Wypijewski asks who are the dissidents anyway?
Her answer is none to flattering, “They are six union officials with little in common but their sex and race, hatred of some of the federation staff and leadership, and size of their memberships or egos. Representing five unions with about a third of the federation's members, they have banded together under a program whose only live demands (because the only ones they uniformly agree on) are more power for themselves in an Executive Committee of select larger unions and a 50 percent rebate on the dues their unions pay to belong to the federation. Three of their executive councils have authorized these men to pull their unions out of the AFL-CIO whenever they see fit.”
She writes about the dissidents leading actors:
* Andy Stern, president of SEIU, the nation's biggest union, with 1.8 million members. Wypijewski says, Stern, “…for most of the past ten years that his former mentor, John Sweeney, has been president of the AFL-CIO, Stern has been instrumental in everything from the staffing of the organizing department, to the policy on immigration, to the effort to consolidate state and local labor bodies, to the endorsement of political candidates (spending $65 million of his poor members' money, more than the total spent by the AFL, to try to elect John Kerry). One of Stern's brains trust, Steve Lerner, had charge of the AFL's failed strawberry campaign, its failed Las Vegas building trades campaign, and is married to the woman who headed the AFL's ridiculously bloated and now dissolved field mobilization department.
Wypijewski adds that the SEIU, “…is notable for the biggest, most geographically outstretched (therefore least participatory) locals, the most aggressive application of trusteeship (stripping power from an inordinate number of locals), and the heaviest reliance on national staff with no experience in the jobs or culture of the workers.”
* James P. Hoffa, president of the Teamsters, the nation's biggest general union, representing everyone from truckers to warehousers to clerks to casino workers to nurses and public defenders. The Teamsters has 1.4 million members. Wypijewski says, “Hoffa's own grasp of organizing is tenuous. He is close to the most reactionary and corrupt elements in the Teamsters. His most energetic political interventions have been to thump for Arctic drilling and to attack his own reform-minded members. Yet Hoffa was embraced by Stern when the former proposed the 50 percent dues rebate. Though it has been promoted as an incentive to organizing, the dues rebate is, in essence, a tax cut for the largest, richest unions. It is now the top "insurgent" demand, on which, they say, they will brook no compromise."
Hoffa's brand of "aggressive organizing", writes Wypijewski, “…is best illustrated by his collaboration with Tyson Foods earlier this year to decertify his own union's Local 556 in Pasco, Washington. The 1,500 meatpackers had been led by Maria Martinez, a co-chair of Teamsters for a Democratic Union. After a relentless campaign, in which workers were bombarded by literature bearing Hoffa's attacks on the local leadership, threatened with plant closure and forced to vote twice, the workers capitulated. They are now among the 92 percent of private sector workers whom the Change to Win Coalition has dedicated itself to unionizing.”
Next up for Wypijewski is:
* Joe Hansen, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) with 1.4 million members). “Hansen,” he writes, “is given to thundering in the press that "the status quo will not stand.” However, according to Wypijewski, “Hansen is intimate with the status quo, his reputation stamped in the mid-1980s when he was the UFCW leadership's tool in destroying the strike and ultimately the union of meatpackers with Local P-9 at the Hormel plant in Austin, Minnesota. ”P-9" is one of those markers in labor history, emblem of both the courageous spirit of rank-and-file workers and the machinations of treacherous union leadership. Hansen, who'd plotted with strikebreakers, was made the trustee from which position he expelled the workers' elected leaders, offered unconditional surrender to the company, and saw to it that none of the strikers ever returned to work.”
Wypijewski says Hansen is well known for his sandblasting of 16x80 foot mural that 100 workers had painted on a labor center wall, “erasing first the painted faces of the workers and then the slogan "Solidarity".
And it goes on. You get the drift.
Bill Fletcher, Jr., long-time labor and international activist, is currently president of TransAfrica Forum in Washington, DC. He wrote a column a while back in Black Commentator in which he accurately pointed out the issues raised by the “dissidents”, “…were important, but largely secondary to the greater challenge facing organized labor. Missing from the SEIU analysis (and virtually anything else that has subsequently appeared from either SEIU, its allies or its opponents) have been issues including a clear understanding of the forces of capitalism that workers are up against, including but not limited to globalization; the manner in which the US government has shifted more and more to the Right and become increasingly hostile to workers and their unions; how unions should organize critical regions like the US South and Southwest, and particularly how to ally with African Americans and Latinos in these regions in order to be successful; how to engage in political action in such a way that working people can advance an agenda and candidates that represent their interests and not simply the institutional interests of unions or established political parties; the continued relevance of fighting racism, sexism and other forms of oppression and intolerance if workers are to ever unite; how to work with and build mutual support with workers in other countries; and the critical importance of joining with others to fight for democracy.”
He wrote that the debate in the AFL-CIO was taking place on “Mount Olympus.” The rank and file workers were not being asked to participate in the debate over the future of organized labor. “No attempt has been made by either side in this debate to bring the debate to the members. The members have not been asked their opinions…”
A cover story in a different issue of the Black Commentator boldly declared, “"Even as unions struggle to respond to forces bent on their annihilation, they remain deformed by racism – the same plague that has crippled the U.S. labor movement at every stage in its history. Black workers, the most enthusiastic ‘joiners’ and activists, also face the most dire consequences of labor’s historical weaknesses. Yet, too often, their white comrades – including those who proudly consider themselves ‘progressives’ – seek ‘solutions’ to labor’s problems at Black workers’ institutional expense."
As Kansas City’s Walt Bodine used to say, “What do you say to that?” Sources: Labor Advocate, UFCW, Huffington Pos, Daily Kos, Black Commentator, Counter Punch, Change to Win Coalition
What’s it all about? Is it in fact about anything meaningful?
Service Employees International Union (SEIU) President Andy Stern, a leader of the “dissidents” wrote the other day:
“This convention could have been a chance for workers to celebrate the union movement's modernization after 50 years of change in our economy -- a dramatic event as historic as the founding of the CIO in the 1930s.”
“It could have been an inspirational discussion of strategies to unite workers in each industry or occupation - and to build unions with the focus and resources to do that.”
“It could have highlighted new global union partnerships that are not just about general solidarity but about specific campaigns uniting the strength of employees of the same global corporations.”
“It could have made historic progress on diversity not only through standards and timetables but by setting the stage to help millions of people of color and working women to form unions and change their lives and communities.”
"All this was possible earlier this year when it became clear that 40 percent of the AFL-CIO, including 3 of the 4 largest affiliates, was prepared to support real change. The AFL-CIO officers could have chosen to use their powers of persuasion to build on that base and organize a majority.”
“Instead, they chose to start with the 50-year-old structure of 57 separate and overlapping unions as a given and then water down every proposal so it wouldn't offend entrenched interests and outmoded traditions. They chose not to lead and to help workers win -- but to play it safe and do nothing that might disturb the lowest common denominator status quo.”
“The AFL-CIO's opportunity appears to have been lost, but the crisis facing working people in America remains. It will apparently take another convention this fall of unions committed to change to provide the new hope working people need.”
Joe Hansen, of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW): says:
“We are taking this historic step with our coalition partners to build a 21st century worker movement for a new generation of workers. Unions built the American middle class. We are taking this action to revitalize the labor movement to build worker power.”
“Unrestrained corporate power has set in motion a global race to the bottom—a race dedicated to widening the gap of inequality—eroding basic wages—eroding labor and social standards—and limiting basic democratic participation.”
“Our unions are changing now to win worker power in the workplace, the community, and the political process.”
“The Change to Win Coalition (the new workers organization devoted to “transforming the American labor movement”) is taking the lead to engage and organize workers—and build a worker movement to raise living standards, win health care and pension security, and make government responsive to working people.”
United Farm Workers of America (UFW) President Arturo Rodrigues announced his union was joining the Change to Win Coalition. He said,
"To realize our goal of organizing significant numbers of low-to moderate-wage Latino and immigrant workers in the face of fierce employer resistance during the next decade, we must move aggressively to apply new resources and make changes in our own organization. We are convinced the Change to Win Coalition mirrors our commitment of finding new ways to refocus on organizing and vigorously pursue anti-worker employers."
All this sounds pretty good, but are you, dear reader, convinced that the Change to Win group is all it is cracked up to be? Are you convinced they will offer much more than the stodgy AFL-CIO?
JoAnn Wypijewski writes today in Counter Punch that she, at least, is not. She writes, “On the one side, so the story goes, we have the dynamic "organizing" unions with vivid blueprints for revitalization; on the other side, the dinosaur unions and leadership of the AFL-CIO, content with the status quo even as union membership dips to its lowest level in 70 years.”
After pointing out all that Sweeny and Company has not done Wypijewski asks who are the dissidents anyway?
Her answer is none to flattering, “They are six union officials with little in common but their sex and race, hatred of some of the federation staff and leadership, and size of their memberships or egos. Representing five unions with about a third of the federation's members, they have banded together under a program whose only live demands (because the only ones they uniformly agree on) are more power for themselves in an Executive Committee of select larger unions and a 50 percent rebate on the dues their unions pay to belong to the federation. Three of their executive councils have authorized these men to pull their unions out of the AFL-CIO whenever they see fit.”
She writes about the dissidents leading actors:
* Andy Stern, president of SEIU, the nation's biggest union, with 1.8 million members. Wypijewski says, Stern, “…for most of the past ten years that his former mentor, John Sweeney, has been president of the AFL-CIO, Stern has been instrumental in everything from the staffing of the organizing department, to the policy on immigration, to the effort to consolidate state and local labor bodies, to the endorsement of political candidates (spending $65 million of his poor members' money, more than the total spent by the AFL, to try to elect John Kerry). One of Stern's brains trust, Steve Lerner, had charge of the AFL's failed strawberry campaign, its failed Las Vegas building trades campaign, and is married to the woman who headed the AFL's ridiculously bloated and now dissolved field mobilization department.
Wypijewski adds that the SEIU, “…is notable for the biggest, most geographically outstretched (therefore least participatory) locals, the most aggressive application of trusteeship (stripping power from an inordinate number of locals), and the heaviest reliance on national staff with no experience in the jobs or culture of the workers.”
* James P. Hoffa, president of the Teamsters, the nation's biggest general union, representing everyone from truckers to warehousers to clerks to casino workers to nurses and public defenders. The Teamsters has 1.4 million members. Wypijewski says, “Hoffa's own grasp of organizing is tenuous. He is close to the most reactionary and corrupt elements in the Teamsters. His most energetic political interventions have been to thump for Arctic drilling and to attack his own reform-minded members. Yet Hoffa was embraced by Stern when the former proposed the 50 percent dues rebate. Though it has been promoted as an incentive to organizing, the dues rebate is, in essence, a tax cut for the largest, richest unions. It is now the top "insurgent" demand, on which, they say, they will brook no compromise."
Hoffa's brand of "aggressive organizing", writes Wypijewski, “…is best illustrated by his collaboration with Tyson Foods earlier this year to decertify his own union's Local 556 in Pasco, Washington. The 1,500 meatpackers had been led by Maria Martinez, a co-chair of Teamsters for a Democratic Union. After a relentless campaign, in which workers were bombarded by literature bearing Hoffa's attacks on the local leadership, threatened with plant closure and forced to vote twice, the workers capitulated. They are now among the 92 percent of private sector workers whom the Change to Win Coalition has dedicated itself to unionizing.”
Next up for Wypijewski is:
* Joe Hansen, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) with 1.4 million members). “Hansen,” he writes, “is given to thundering in the press that "the status quo will not stand.” However, according to Wypijewski, “Hansen is intimate with the status quo, his reputation stamped in the mid-1980s when he was the UFCW leadership's tool in destroying the strike and ultimately the union of meatpackers with Local P-9 at the Hormel plant in Austin, Minnesota. ”P-9" is one of those markers in labor history, emblem of both the courageous spirit of rank-and-file workers and the machinations of treacherous union leadership. Hansen, who'd plotted with strikebreakers, was made the trustee from which position he expelled the workers' elected leaders, offered unconditional surrender to the company, and saw to it that none of the strikers ever returned to work.”
Wypijewski says Hansen is well known for his sandblasting of 16x80 foot mural that 100 workers had painted on a labor center wall, “erasing first the painted faces of the workers and then the slogan "Solidarity".
And it goes on. You get the drift.
Bill Fletcher, Jr., long-time labor and international activist, is currently president of TransAfrica Forum in Washington, DC. He wrote a column a while back in Black Commentator in which he accurately pointed out the issues raised by the “dissidents”, “…were important, but largely secondary to the greater challenge facing organized labor. Missing from the SEIU analysis (and virtually anything else that has subsequently appeared from either SEIU, its allies or its opponents) have been issues including a clear understanding of the forces of capitalism that workers are up against, including but not limited to globalization; the manner in which the US government has shifted more and more to the Right and become increasingly hostile to workers and their unions; how unions should organize critical regions like the US South and Southwest, and particularly how to ally with African Americans and Latinos in these regions in order to be successful; how to engage in political action in such a way that working people can advance an agenda and candidates that represent their interests and not simply the institutional interests of unions or established political parties; the continued relevance of fighting racism, sexism and other forms of oppression and intolerance if workers are to ever unite; how to work with and build mutual support with workers in other countries; and the critical importance of joining with others to fight for democracy.”
He wrote that the debate in the AFL-CIO was taking place on “Mount Olympus.” The rank and file workers were not being asked to participate in the debate over the future of organized labor. “No attempt has been made by either side in this debate to bring the debate to the members. The members have not been asked their opinions…”
A cover story in a different issue of the Black Commentator boldly declared, “"Even as unions struggle to respond to forces bent on their annihilation, they remain deformed by racism – the same plague that has crippled the U.S. labor movement at every stage in its history. Black workers, the most enthusiastic ‘joiners’ and activists, also face the most dire consequences of labor’s historical weaknesses. Yet, too often, their white comrades – including those who proudly consider themselves ‘progressives’ – seek ‘solutions’ to labor’s problems at Black workers’ institutional expense."
As Kansas City’s Walt Bodine used to say, “What do you say to that?” Sources: Labor Advocate, UFCW, Huffington Pos, Daily Kos, Black Commentator, Counter Punch, Change to Win Coalition
Tony: Lookin' Good
Prime Minister Tony Blair has spent more than £1,800 of taxpayers’ money on cosmetics and make-up artists since coming into office, it has emerged.
Between 1999 and 2005 Downing Street paid £1,050.22 for cosmetics for Mr Blair’s media appearances.
Another £791.20 was spent over the past two years on make-up artists.
But this seems modest compared with Irish premier Bertie Ahern, who is reported to have spent more than £115,000 on his appearance since 1997.
The Independent reported in June that Mr Ahern had spent 28,000 euros (£19,000) on make-up in the past year, and said his office had confirmed that since 1997 Mr Ahern’s appearance had cost taxpayers 167,000 euros (£115,895).
The figures relating to Mr Blair’s expenditure on cosmetics were revealed on Thursday by government whip Lord Bassam of Brighton, in answer to a Parliamentary question by Tory Lord Hanningfield.
The written Parliamentary answer was given out on the final day before MPs and peers broke for the summer.
Fake tan?
The day was also marked by an attempted bomb attack on London transport, similar to the attacks carried out on 7 July.
The Sunday Times suggested Mr Blair’s use of make-up spiralled during stressful periods, such as the Iraq war.
It said his spending on cosmetics peaked between 2003 and 2004, when the prime minister was being asked to justify intelligence reports on weapons of mass destruction.
There was also speculation during the last election campaign about whether Mr Blair had been using fake tan.
But the brands and products used by Mr Blair were not revealed in the Parliamentary answer.
Between 1999 and 2005 Downing Street paid £1,050.22 for cosmetics for Mr Blair’s media appearances.
Another £791.20 was spent over the past two years on make-up artists.
But this seems modest compared with Irish premier Bertie Ahern, who is reported to have spent more than £115,000 on his appearance since 1997.
The Independent reported in June that Mr Ahern had spent 28,000 euros (£19,000) on make-up in the past year, and said his office had confirmed that since 1997 Mr Ahern’s appearance had cost taxpayers 167,000 euros (£115,895).
The figures relating to Mr Blair’s expenditure on cosmetics were revealed on Thursday by government whip Lord Bassam of Brighton, in answer to a Parliamentary question by Tory Lord Hanningfield.
The written Parliamentary answer was given out on the final day before MPs and peers broke for the summer.
Fake tan?
The day was also marked by an attempted bomb attack on London transport, similar to the attacks carried out on 7 July.
The Sunday Times suggested Mr Blair’s use of make-up spiralled during stressful periods, such as the Iraq war.
It said his spending on cosmetics peaked between 2003 and 2004, when the prime minister was being asked to justify intelligence reports on weapons of mass destruction.
There was also speculation during the last election campaign about whether Mr Blair had been using fake tan.
But the brands and products used by Mr Blair were not revealed in the Parliamentary answer.
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