SchNEWS
PDF Version - Download and Distribute!

Story Links:
Kissinger of Death | A Right Carry On | Crap Arrest of the Week | Surround RAF Fairford | Greedy Bastards | War Briefs | SchNEWS in Brief | Disconnected | "Erm..." | Inside SchNEWS | ...and finally...

KISSINGER OF DEATH

Next Tuesday is International Human Rights Day - 54 years since the signing of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which amongst other things declared, ‘All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.’

Apparently the British government decided to get in on the celebrations a bit early this year by releasing a 23-page dossier on Iraqi human rights abuses, with foreign secretary, Jack Straw, telling the world, “It is important that people understand the comprehensive evil which is Saddam Hussein.”

SchNEWS has no problem with spelling out the fact that Saddam is a torturing evil scumbag, but as Richard Bunting of Amnesty International pointed out, “Iraq’s human rights record is appalling, but we have been saying this for years. The British and US are being selective, conveniently ignoring other countries and using this record to drive forward foreign and military goals.”

Even the Iraqi dissident that Neo-Labour dragged out to support the dossier said he was “opposed to a war that may cause the Iraqi people a great loss of life and infrastructure.” Hussain al-Shahristani, a former nuclear scientist, was tortured and jailed for 11 years for refusing to work on Saddam’s secret nuclear programme, and is now head of the Iraqi Refugee Aid Council. “When I was in jail,” he added, “I was held with British-made handcuffs. In the cells next door, I could hear the screams of people who were having holes drilled into their bones. Those drills were made in Britain…The dossier about human rights abuses is correct. Each of the events took place. But I am critical of the silence of Britain and other European countries for over two decades about these abuses.”

That’s because when it comes to human rights abuses, governments seem to have selective amnesia about just who are the world’s bad guys.

Before Iraq invaded Kuwait, the UK government supported President Saddam and British companies helped arm him. After the gassing of the Kurds at Halabja, British ministers and officials tried to blame the chemical attack on Iran. Human Rights Watch said that when it collected evidence of Saddam’s abuses at Halabja and elsewhere in the Kurdish area of Iraq, the Foreign Office ignored it.

Or what about Turkey, who’ve been busy repressing the Kurdish people without anyone so much as batting an eyelid. Arbitrary arrest, detention, torture, disappearances, extra-judicial killings, the banning of political opposition and harassment of human rights groups are just some of the treats in store for you if you’re Kurdish. Add to that the fact that Kurdish language, names, music, culture, and clothing are outlawed. Conservative estimates reckon that in the past 15 years, Turkish Security Forces have destroyed 4000 Kurdish villages - leaving 30,000 dead and 3 million driven from their homes.

So Kurds fighting Iraq are good, but Kurds fighting against Turkey are bad because Turkey is a member of NATO and an important ally of the United States thanks to its strategically placed air bases.

A Right Carry On

And now the American public can rest easy knowing that human rights champion Henry Kissinger is to head an ‘independent’ commission to investigate the attacks on America on September 11th. Who better to investigate 9/11 than Kissinger, the man behind untold amounts of state-sponsored terrorism and wanted across the world as a war criminal! A proven liar has been assigned the task of finding the truth. Brilliant!
As war criminals go, Kissinger is in the premier league. During the Vietnam War he was co-architect with Nixon in the secret bombing campaign of Cambodia, which is estimated to have claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of civilians.

In 1971, Pakistani General Yahya Khan, armed with U.S. weaponry, overthrew a democratically elected government in Bangladesh — an action that led to a massive civilian bloodbath. Kissinger blocked U.S. condemnation of Khan and instead noted the General’s “delicacy and tact.”

In the early 1970s, Kissinger masterminded the CIA’s $8 million campaign to overthrow the democratically elected government of Salvador Allende in Chile. When Allende won power, all US aid was cut and Kissinger announced, “The issues are much too important for the Chilean voters to be left to decide for themselves.” So in came the murderous military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet. On June 8, 1976, at the height of Pinochet’s repression, Kissinger had a meeting with the dictator, telling him, “We are sympathetic to what you are trying to do here.”

In 1975, President Gerald Ford and Kissinger offered advance approval of Indonesia’s brutal invasion of East Timor, where tens of thousands of East Timorese were killed.

In 1976, as the Argentinan military junta was beginning its so-called “dirty war” against supposed subversives – between 9,000 and 30,000 people would be “disappeared” by the military over the next seven years – Argentina’s foreign minister met with Kissinger and received what he believed was encouragement for his government’s violent efforts. A few years later Kissinger travelled to Buenos Aires as the guest of dictator General Jorge Rafael Videla and praised the junta for having done, “an outstanding job in wiping out terrorist forces.”

As journalist David Corn points out, “For many in the world, Kissinger is a symbol of U.S. arrogance and the misuse of American might. In power, he cared more for U.S. credibility and geostrategic advantage than for human rights and open government.”

As the declaration goes ‘All human beings are born free and equal’, it just seems that some are a lot more free and a lot more equal than others.

* Check out all yer favourite war criminals www.icai-online.org

Crap Arrest of the Week

For sending an e-mail!
When veteran Icelandic peacenik Asthor Magnusson warned fellow citizens that their government was allocating £3m of their money to transport US weapons and using troops to murder the people of Iraq, he found himself in solitary confinement! He now faces a possible 3-year sentence. www.peace2000.org

SURROUND RAF FAIRFORD!

A national demonstration and weapons inspection on Saturday 14th December. US stealth bombers are being deployed at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire on their way to carpet bomb Iraq. We want these weapons of mass destruction removed. Transport from across the country.
More info: http://bristol.indymedia.org
* Brighton coach leaves St Peters Church at 8.30am Tickets £6 from The Druids Pub, Ditchling Rise, or from the Sussex Action for Peace stall, Gardner St, Saturday 2-4pm. 01273 298192 www.safp.org.uk

Greedy Bastards!

18 years after one of the worst chemical leaks in history, the people of Bhopal are still waiting for justice in the wake of the Union Carbide disaster. Proving how little the powers that be actually care about people’s suffering, Dow Chemicals (who now own Union Carbide) have told the people of Bhopal that there’ll be no compensation or clean-up because it would piss off shareholders and fellow Multinationals.
On the 25th of November, a group of survivors of Union Carbide and supporters of the Campaign for Justice in Bhopal tried to clean up some of the toxic waste that’s still poisoning their land and water supplies. Police waded in and 100 were arrested.

Neither the government nor Dow have done anything to protect the health of the people living round the factory site. More than 20,000 have now died as a direct result of the disastrous pesticide leak at the Union Carbide factory on December 3rd 1984. And a further 150 000 have been left chronically ill. Unsurprisingly, Dow hasn’t paid a cent towards the victims’ often massive medical bills.

Though every single legal investigation has found Union Carbide guilty of criminal negligence, both Union Carbide and Dow have consistently denied these findings. “We understand the anger and hurt,” said Dow Spokesperson Bob Questra. “But Dow does not and cannot acknowledge responsibility. Our responsibility is to our shareholders. If we accepted responsibility we would be required to expend many billions of dollars on cleanup and compensation – much worse, the public could then point to Dow as a precedent in other big cases. We are unable to set this precedent for ourselves and the industry, much as we would like to see the issue resolved in a humane and satisfying way.”

Shareholders are delighted. One said, “Bhopal is a recurrent problem that’s clogging our value chain and ultimately keeping the share price from expressing its full potential. This has cleared the way.” www.bhopal.net

War Briefs

• A coalition of Canadian peace groups is sending an international team of volunteer weapons inspectors to the US this winter. “Rooting Out Evil” are to send inspectors to the US and want unhindered access to all sites, including presidential compounds. A spokesperson said, “On the basis of Bush’s guidelines, it is clear that the current U.S. administration poses a great threat to global security.” See www.rootingoutevil.org
• Two day ‘training’ event in Oxford this weekend (7-8) in preparation for next weekends weapons inspection at Fairford airbase. 01865 794 504 greening_paul@hotmail.com
• It is twenty years since 30,000 women demonstrated against the US’s nuclear cruise missiles at Greenham Common and this is being celebrated at Womenwith Hill Women’s Peace Camp next Thursday (12), Embrace the Base: 10 am - 4 pm. The next day, Blockade the Base: Non-violent direct action. Info: 01943 468593 flossiemintballs@aol.com
• Last Monday 250 people staged a ‘die in’ in Whitehall. Part of the road was blocked for 5 hours in protest against the war. 35 people were arrested for obstruction of the highway. www.viwuk.freeserve.co.uk
• Make a pledge to engage in civil disobedience if war starts at www.j-n-v.org
• ‘The Fire this Time’, a CD by Grant Wakefield which charts the history of the West’s manipulation of the political landscape in the Middle East with background tunes from the Aphex and Orbital, is out now. www.firethistime.org
• Stop the War have just released ‘Peace Not War’ benefit CD compilation including tracks from Public Enemy, Fun-da-mental, Massive Attack, Billy Bragg and even Crass. Available in most record shops www.peace-not-war.org

SchNEWS in brief

• Stingy Brighton Council want to evict a group of Irish Travellers from a derelict site at Preston Barracks. The site’s been abandoned for years, but the Council has suddenly decided they need it for “development”. Planning permission couldn’t go through before the end of 2003 at the earliest and the travellers say they only want to stay ‘til January anyway. Nevertheless, the Council are considering sending in their heavies to evict the site. Why not ring the council and give your support to the travellers. Pat Foster 01273-290000 or Heather James 01273-291142
• An Italian priest from a small town near Naples was last week sacked because, according to his superiors, his behaviour is ‘scandalous to the faithful’. His crimes were to speak at a Gay Pride march and join anti-capitalist protesters at the Genoa G8 summit. The priest’s faithful local parishioners are furious at the decision and are planning the biggest march in the town’s recent history to demand he’s reinstated.
• This Sat (7) March with the Firefighters. Noon, Cleopatra’s needle, Embankment, London. www.fp4f.com
• Also this weekend, Youth & Student CND National Gathering with workshops, talks, and video screenings. LARC, 62 Fieldgate St, Whitechapel, London. Contact in advance if you need accommodation 020 7607 3616 info@youthstudentcnd.org.uk
• ‘How UK Foreign Investment Creates Asylum Seekers’, seminar and launch of new Ilisu Dam Campaign Project. This Sat (8) 1-6pm, at the Kurdish Community Centre, 11 Portland Gardens, London N4. 0787 6771576 rochelle.harris@ukonline.co.uk
• Brighton Council will decide on the controversial Brighton Station development, which includes another Sainsbury’s store and posh hotels. Noon, 11th Dec, Hove Town Hall. 01273 681166 www.buddbrighton.org
• Xmas Benefit night for the Simon Jones Memorial Campaign and Mosaic Mixed and Black Parentage Family Group, Dec 12th, 11pm-3am, Concorde 2, Madeira Drive, Brighton.
• If you didn’t vote at the last election, feel good about it and check out www.vetothevote.com for more about our so-called democracy.
• Sub-Cultural Radikal Arts Productions presents Wreck n’ Roll Cirkus, Friday 13th, loadsa musik and subversion. 9.30pm- 6am, The Imperial Gardens, 199 Camberwell New Road, London. £7 b4 11pm, £10 after. 077731334958
• Workers Left Unity - Iran meeting in solidarity with the growing protest movement and in support of Iranian students, journalists, writers and workers. 13th Dec, 6pm. NUJ Building 308 Grays Inn Road, London WC1web@etehadchap.com
• West Papua Solidarity Fri 20th ‘The Wick’ 25 Whitepost Rd, Hackney Wick (Bus 276) after 8pm £3/2-Disruptive Element + support

Disconnected

Workers in Ozarow Poland have been rioting against the closure of their telephone cable factory. They rejected the measly payoff they were offered, and instead started a 219 day occupation of the factory which ended abruptly two weeks ago when several buses of security guards violently evicted the protesters. There’s been mass solidarity with the workers and small groups of anarchists from around Poland have joined them in helping with blockades around the factory and organising various ambushes on trucks leaving the site. As one Polish anarchist said, “As soon as we started harassing security guards in a more organised way, they started living in a state of permanent siege, hiding inside the factory behind barricades they built to be protected from us. All day and night black bloc, workers, and small group of local hooligans attacked them. Lots of workers were amazed by our way of fighting.” This pressure has triggered new negotiations, but across Poland the number of strikes are growing because of worsening economic conditions.

"Erm..."

On Monday morning, protestors from Rising Tide, who campaign for climate change justice, performed an environmental and social impact assessment of the London office of Environmental Resource Management (ERM), with some barricading themselves in the directors office and hanging out a banner ‘Oil is War.’ ERM has been carrying out research work for oil giant BP on the proposed 1,770-km pipeline from Baku in Azerbaijan through Georgia to the port of Ceyhan in Turkey. ERM’s role is to greenwash the whole project - it plays a crucial role in convincing public funders to give financial backing to the scheme. www.ermconcerns.com

Meanwhile, last week in Tbilisi, the Georgian capital, a group of people paid a friendly visit to the office of the Georgian International Oil Company, one of BP’s partners in the pipeline project. The protest came in response to the Georgian Government’s decision to issue permission for construction of the pipeline by November 30th. The decision violates Georgian environmental legislation, as it allows the pipeline to pass through protected areas and water sanctuary zones in the sensitive Borjomi Gorge. The decision, the Government says, was made to meet the project timeline and thus fulfil BP’s requirements.
Rising Tide network 01865 241097, www.risingtide.org.uk

Inside SchNEWS

The five animal rights activists who were facing jail sentences for “conspiracy to hold a protest” at the Old Surrey and Burstow Hunt Kennels (see last week’s SchNEWS) have all escaped prison sentences. Instead, thanks to the judge reading last week’s SchNEWS of course, they were sentenced to do community service of between 200 and 240 hours, plus court costs.

In a further blow for the Hunt, a protester had his conviction for Harassment overturned. The judge ruled that the charge was an abuse of the Protection from Harassment Act (originally introduced to prevent stalking of women). He cited a case in the High Court where it was ruled that the Act should not be used to prevent political protest. www.shoreham-protester.org.uk

...and finally...

Some passionate Sydney activists puckered up for a mass game of “Spin the Bottle” outside the New South Wales State Parliament last month and managed to tally up a smouldering 154 kisses between them. Apart from giving themselves severely chapped lips, they were protesting against the confiscation of the Spin The Bottle Bloc’s six-foot papier mache bottle at the anti - World Trade Organisation demos which took place in Sydney last month.

The confiscation of the bottle was “justified” by the Sydney police because they believed protestors were planning a violent confrontation, as proved by the Spin the Bottle Bloc’s own communication, which read, “We invite you to join us for the most militant game of spin the bottle ever attempted - turning up the heat until every kiss becomes a molotov.” The police, who obviously don’t know much about the power of love or the classic teenage party game, have refused to return the bottle, though they obviously won’t have much use for it themselves http://sydney.indymedia.org

Disclaimer
SchNEWS warns all right on readers we print the right stuff not out right lies. In our right old carry on there’s no rights left out despite writers cramp. Honest.

SchNEWS Annuals

SchNEWS Round issues 51-100 - nearly sold out - £5
SchNEWS Annual issues 101 - 150 going for £3!!
SchNEWS Survival Guide issues 151 - 200 and a whole lot more - also at £3
The SchQUALL book - almost sold out - at only £7
SchNEWS and SQUALL’s YEARBOOK 2001 - bargain £5
SchNEWS Of The World issues 301 - 350. 300 pages of adventures from the direct action frontline. £7 You can order the book from a bookshop or your library, quote the ISBN 09529748 6X
If you can help distribute the new book by taking a few boxes from Brighton or East London round the country, call the office and ask for John, Thanks.

Add £1.50 p&p for each book, cheques to Justice? Honest!
In the UK you can get 2, 3, 4 & 5 for £20 inc. postage.
(US Postage £4.00 for individual books, £13 for all four).

In addition to 50 issues of SchNEWS, each book contains articles, photos, cartoons, subverts, a “yellow pages” list of contacts, comedy etc.

Subscribe to SchNEWS: Send 1st Class stamps (e.g. 10 for next 9 issues) or donations (payable to Justice?). Or £15 for a year's subscription, or the SchNEWS supporter's rate, £1 a week. Ask for "originals" if you plan to copy and distribute. SchNEWS is post-free to prisoners.

SchNEWS, PO Box 2600, Brighton, BN2 0EF, England
Phone/Fax: +44 (0)1273 685913
email: schnews@brighton.co.uk

@nti copyright - information for action - copy and distribute!