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From: "Vadim Bondar" <•••@••.•••>
To: •••@••.•••
Subject: Re: cj#1131> BELGRADE "INDEPENDENT" RADIO B292 ?
Date: Wed, 04 Oct 2000 23:55:07 EDT
Let's be consistent here. American bombings of Serbian radiostations
are as wrong as the Serbian goverment shutting them down... <snip>
===========
Dear Vadim,
That's not 'consistent'; this is 'consistent':
The U.S. has been under intense aerial bombardment for
weeks. Thousands of civilians have been killed, and most of
the major industry has been destroyed. The enemy has spread
radioactive pellets all over the country, which will cause
millions of deaths by cancer over the coming decades. The
enemy then takes over one of the U.S. political parties and
opens a radio station broadcasting enemy propaganda.
As an American in that scenario, would you protest the closing of the
radio station, saying that would be 'as wrong as the bombing'?
rkm
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From: MER <•••@••.•••>
To: "MER" <•••@••.•••>
Date: Sun, 01 Oct 2000 12:12:32 +0000
Subject: Israeli Snipers Target Civilians and Medical Workers
Reply-To: •••@••.•••
Organization: MiD-EasT RealitieS
MIME-Version: 1.0
_______ ____ ______
/ |/ / /___/ / /_ // M I D - E A S T R E A L I T I E S
/ /|_/ / /_/_ / /\ Making Sense of the Middle East
/_/ /_/ /___/ /_/ \ http://www.MiddleEast.Org
News, Information, & Analysis That Governments, Interest Groups,
and the Corporate Media Don't Want You To Know!
- - - - - - - - - -
IF YOU DON'T GET MER, YOU JUST DON'T GET IT!
To receive MER regularly email to •••@••.•••
ISRAELI SNIPERS TARGET CIVILIANS AND MEDICAL PEOPLE
"Horrible days indeed.... I did not write any column...because
in such days all I can produce are shouts and frustration --
murderers! keeps repeating in my mind.... I will nevertheless
try to send you later today some more coherent words."
MER - Washington - 10/1/00: This anguished comment just
received from an Israeli Professor associated with MER. And
the following updates just received from The Union of
Palestinian Medical Relief Committees, three of whose
workers have today been targeted by Israeli snipers. Also
remember that many persons who are not severely injured do
not go to hospitals for fear the Israelis may find them and
subsequently interrogate them, and thus are not recorded in
the statistics.
THREE AID WORKERS SHOT BY ISRAELI SNIPERS
October 1, 2000, 4:30 PM: Three UPMRC First Aid Workers
have been shot by Israeli snipers using high-velocity
ammunition. Suheila Abdel-Rahman, a UPMRC health worker,
and two volunteers, Bashir Bargouthi and Ashraf Bisht were
assisting the injured at the junction near the City Inn
Hotel in Ramallah. All three wore vests clearly identifying
them as medical personnel.
ISRAELI FORCES STILL FIRING AT CIVILIANS
October 1, 2000, 4:00 PM: The Israeli army and police
continue using deadly force against Palestinian civilians
throughout the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem for
the fourth day in a row. Palestinian deaths and injuries
continue to mount as Israeli forces fire live high-velocity
ammunition, rubber-coated steel bullets, and tear gas
indiscriminately into crowds of protesters.
The number of casualties are alarming:
* At least 25 Palestinians are dead.
* Over 750 are injured.
* Fourteen remain in critical condition.
Attacks on civilians have been especially brutal in the Gaza
Strip, where 12-year old Rami Al-Dura was killed while under
Israeli attack. Television cameras recorded the boy and his
father, Jamal Al-Dura, trying to shield themselves from the
hail of bullets. The father sustained critical injuries
while trying to protect his son, but the army kept shooting
until Rami was fatally wounded. Doctors are currently trying
to remove a bullet from Jamal’s spine to prevent paralysis.
Ambulance driver Ghassan Al-Balbisi, was shot to death by
the same group of snipers while trying to reach the boy and
his father.
These events are a clear indication of the force the Israeli
army is employing in their continued attacks against unarmed
Palestinian civilians. Reports of an Israeli “cease-fire”
are false. This afternoon, the army has been using tanks,
helicopters and anti-tank missiles against Palestinian men,
women, and children.
MiD-EasT RealitieS - www.MiddleEast.Org
Phone: 202 362-5266 Fax: 815 366-0800
Email: •••@••.•••
============================================================================
Delivered-To: •••@••.•••
Date: Sat, 30 Sep 2000 12:56:51 -0400
From: David Creighton <•••@••.•••>
Reply-To: •••@••.•••
X-Accept-Language: en,fr-CA
MIME-Version: 1.0
Subject: Repressions in Bolivia
Please disseminate -- dc
Subject: Fwd: Urgente -bolivia
Date: Sat, 30 Sep 2000 12:44:00 GMT
From: "sarah harden" <•••@••.•••>
To: •••@••.•••
hola.
for those of you who have followed the april riots in
bolivia, and may be reading limited information regarding
the current problems, the following forward is a good update
of what is happening right now. (it is clearer when read
from the bottom up...)
i am not writing from Bolivia, but from the US. however, i
know quite a bit about what is going on. Following september
18, blockades planned by various groups, including the
coordinator for water and life, began all over the country.
teachers in rural and urban sectors demand wage increases,
farmers in the chapare region, where coca is grown, call for
an end to the eradiction of their farms (this is nothing new
except that the army under US management is planning to
build 3 new military bases in the zone), and
farmers in cochabamba battle once again the law to privatize
water.
the situation has become desperate and my companions call
for all to denounce this bolivian government along with its
US funded projects in the Chapare. with reports that
indicate at least 20 deaths and 100 wounded in this conflict
bolivia is worse off now than in the april conflicts. please
support the solidarity of bolivians by passing this
information on. thanks,
sarah harden
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Delivered-To: moderator for •••@••.•••
Date: Fri, 29 Sep 2000 15:24:19 -0400
From: Rights Action <•••@••.•••>
MIME-Version: 1.0
To: •••@••.•••
Subject: Urgent action for prisoners -- WB & IMF meetings
September 29, 2000
Communique #6 Contact:
Grahame Russell
416-654-2074
•••@••.•••
www.rightsaction.org
URGENT ACTION NEEDED
"Widespread reports of Torture in Czech Prisons" Please
demand access to prisons by Legal, NGO and Governmental
Observers
[This communiqué was prepared by Rights Action staff (Annie
Bird) who is in Prague (Czech Republic) working on the
Chixoy Dam reparations campaign. It is based on information
from INPEG, the Initiative Against Economic Globalization, a
local organization formed to sponsor education, advocacy and
protest activities related to the now-ended Annual Meeting
of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. Members
of INPEG have received death threats.]
*******
There are many personal testimonies and eye-witness reports
of civil rights abuses by Czech police of illegally detained
prisoners, rounded up over the past 72 hours, during
educational and advocacy activities and demonstrations
related to the WB and IMF meeting in Prague.
Though much of the mainstream media focused on the tiny
fraction of protesters who engaged in the clash with police,
the vast majority of participants were committed to
non-violent protest and blockade strategies, including a
pink and silver contingent of samba dancers and the huge Ya
Basta! group clad in padding, inner-tubes, and balloons who
spent four hours pushing against a police blockade.
Violations reported by victims and eye-witnesses include:
torture (severe beatings and sexual aggression), denial of
medical attention, denial of food, denial of water, denial
of sleep, and the denial of other civil rights such as
telephone calls, access to lawyers, access to consular
officials, etc.
INPEG estimates that on September 26th approximately 422
people were arrested -- of those, approximately 130 were
internationals and the remainder Czech. On the evening of
September 28, Czech authorities claimed that number had
risen to 859 people. INPEG estimates that between September
26 and 29 approximately 1000 people have been detained.
Reports indicate that a large percentage of those were not
detained during or even near protests and that many of the
detained had nothing to do with protests.
Beginning on October 26, INPEG's legal support team reported
that they had difficulty collecting information about
arrests because, contrary to Czech Law, prisoners were not
allowed to make telephone calls, nor were they allowed to
receive visits. The legal team has not been allowed access
to prisons where those arrested are being held.
There are many reports of people missing for several days,
though INPEG is unable to confirm how many due to a lack of
reliable information.
CIVIL RIGHTS VIOLATIONS
Joshua Tzarfarti, an Isreali/ French citizen, was detained
by police on October 26, while cleaning up trash following a
demonstration. Witnesses claim that he put up no resistance
and was not injured at that time. [In fear of
anti-Semitism, he showed his French passport]. On October
27, a US citizen and two German witnesses confirmed that
Tzarfarti was beaten severely in prison. He was reported to
have a broken rib, a broken arm, difficulty walking because
both legs had been severely damaged and bruising. He was
denied medical attention for his injuries. INPEG's legal
team, his family, friends and the Israeli consulate have
been unable to obtain any information as to his condition or
his whereabouts.
An American woman, released from prison, spoke to a man who
had been so severely beaten he was unable to hear from one
ear.
Two Norwegians, who were reporting a stolen cellular phone
in a police station, witnessed through a briefly opened door
that a number of people were handcuffed to the wall and
being beaten.
An Austrian woman is currently hospitalized with a fractured
spine and foot after jumping from the second story window of
a police station on September 27. She was being beaten by
police and feared for her life. INPEG asserts that at least
two others are currently hospitalized following detention by
police. They do not know how many more may be hospitalized.
There are other reports of people being beaten while
handcuffed, and reports that people were handcuffed and
tossed down stairs.
On October 28, INPEG gathered the following statistics from
a survey of 44 people released from prison: 38% were beaten;
of those, 62% were beaten in prison; 99% were not allowed to
make telephone calls; 47% were not allowed translation; 65%
were not allowed to sleep.
Joe Crescente, a journalist from Olympia, Washington, who
had been covering the events in Prague with accreditation
from the Independent Media Center, was detained by police on
September 27 while on his way to meet friends for lunch. He
was held over night, denied a telephone call, food or
sufficient water (2 bottles every 4 hours between 40 to 50
people). While illegally detained, he met many
'internationals' also being held. He and approximately 25
others were released at 7am on September 28. Another 15 to
20 detainees were not released at that time. Those being
released were told the rest would be released in 3 hours and
were being transferred to the 'Foreign Police' unit. A day
and a half later those prisoners have not been released.
Many US and Canadian citizens are unaccounted for. Given
reports coming from the prisons, INPEG officials are
extremely concerned for their well-being. They have made
repeated requests for help to the US embassy, where consular
officers have been extremely unhelpful. INPEG has composed
the following list of Canadians and US citizens purported to
be missing:
-Eric Schroder (US from Florida - witnessed by Crescente)
-Andrew Stern (Canadian - witnessed by Crescente)
-Even Henshaw Plath (USA)
-Robert Matthew Opfel (USA)
-Seraphine Whitman (USA)
-Lorraine Jonas (Canadian)
-Johanne Roy (Canadian)
-Samantha Ivers (USA of Baltimore, MD detained on September 26)
Joe Crescente [see above] witnessed Stern being beaten,
though not severely. According to Crescente, Schoder and
Stern had also been picked up while walking on public
streets, without provocation.
INPEG's legal team has received no support from
international human rights organizations. Amnesty
International's Czech office has refused to become involved,
unless they receive signed statements from prisoners that
they were not involved in the violent activities. Not only
is this absolutely improper procedure for dealing with cases
of alleged civil rights violations, but also it is
impossible - for the illegal nature of the detentions and
violations themselves - to obtain such statements.
WHAT TO DO
Please demand that US and Canadian Embassy officials enter
all prisons, police detention centers and hospitals in the
Prague area to verify the whereabouts and condition of US
and Canadian prisoners and all other detainees.
Please contact government and public officials in Prague,
the World Bank, the IMF, Canada and the US, demanding the
following:
1} that INPEG, embassy officials and international human
rights observers be allowed access to prisoners.
2) that information be released to embassies and the legal
observers as to who was arrested, when, for what reasons,
and where they are being held.
3} that the torture (physical and sexual abuse) against
protesters in police custody end immediately, and
appropriate action taken on the offending officers.
4} that protesters held in jail be informed in their own
language what they are being held for.
5} that all protesters, illegally detained and arrested in
the past week, be immediately released unless charges are
laid and they have full and proper representation and
treated according to national and international legal
standards.
Please keep on trying to get through to any of the offices
below (in the Czech republic, it is a national holiday
today, September 29th).
President Vaclav Havel:
Tel: 011 420-2-2431-0855
Fax: 011 420-2-2437-3196
E: •••@••.•••
Ministry of the Interior:
Tel: 011 420-2-6142-1115
Fax: 011-420-2-6143-3552,3
Or, Ministry of the Interior, Stanislaw GROSS
Tel: 011 420-2-6143-2971,4
Fax: 011 420-2-6143-3552,3
E: •••@••.•••
US Embassy in Czech Republic:
011 420-2-5753-0663
011 420-2-5753-2059 (fax)
Canadian Embassy in Czech Republic
Tel: 011 420-2-7210-1800
Czech Embassy in Washington DC
Tel: 202-274-9100
*******
For updates on what is happening, check the:
http://prague.indymedia.org
To contact the legal observers, email:
E: •••@••.•••
Tel: 011 4202 0608-7216,17
To contact INPEG:
E: •••@••.•••
*******
Rights Action
416-654-2074
•••@••.•••
www.rightsaction.org
============================================================================
Richard K Moore
Wexford, Ireland
Citizens for a Democratic Renaissance
email: •••@••.•••
CDR website & list archives: http://cyberjournal.org
content-searchable archive: http://members.xoom.com/centrexnews/
featured article:
http://cyberjournal.org/cj/rkm/Whole_Earth_Review/Escaping_the_Matrix.shtml
A community will evolve only when
the people control their means of communication.
-- Frantz Fanon
Permission for non-commercial republishing hereby granted - BUT
include and observe all restrictions, copyrights, credits,
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