Peace and Justice Post

by Joseph Dana, CommonDreams.org, June 24, 2011

Source: The Nation

UPDATED

ATHENS, Greece  — Israeli diplomatic and economic pressure is looming large over preparations of the second Gaza aid flotilla, set to sail from a number Greek ports at the end of the month. Israel has clearly stated that it will use every diplomatic and military avenue to maintain its naval blockade of the Gaza Strip. The events of the past few days in Athens confirm that Israel is making good on its claim. Learning from last year’s botched military operation against the flotilla– which left eight Turkish civilians and one Turkish-American civilian dead– Israel is seemingly applying pressure directly on the Greek government to stop the flotilla boats from setting sail.

Early this morning, I discovered that a ‘private complaint’ had been filed against the US boat to Gaza. The complaint, it is still unclear who filed it, stated that the US boat to Gaza is not ’sea worthy’ and requires a detailed inspection. The harbor master where the boat is in port has declared that until the complaint is resolved the boat is not permitted to leave. Currently, lawyers representing the US boat are looking into the origins of the complaint and whether it was filed as a result of Israeli economic or diplomatic pressure on the Greek government. The boat is US flagged and registered in the United States.

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By John Haylett, Morning Star Online, June 24, 2011

Around 10 boats carrying 500 human rights activists will set sail for Gaza to challenge Israel’s ongoing illegal blockade of the Palestinian territory.

The Turkish vessel Mavi Marmara, which was attacked in May 2010 by Israeli special forces who killed nine humanitarian campaigners, will not be part of this year’s flotilla.

Announcing last weekend that the Mavi Marmara is unable to sail, the international coalition said that this would expose Israeli government misinformation that the flotilla is exclusively a “Turkish” and “Islamist” effort.

“This is a rainbow coalition of human rights defenders. It does not only concern Muslims but everyone, be they Muslim, Christian, Jew, Hindu, secular or whatever. This is world citizenry united,” it asserted.

The coalition added that Israel’s siege persists, pointing out that the “established channels” cited by world leaders to suggest that the flotilla is unnecessary do not meet the Palestinian people’s needs.

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By Rob Kall, opednews.com, June 23, 2011  

The experts this morning are all agreeing that a 10,000 troop reduction is tiny and insignificant. But we knew that and didn’t need the experts to tell us that.

Michael Parenti, Information Clearing House, June 22. 2011

Imperialism has been the most powerful force in world history over the last four or five centuries, carving up whole continents while oppressing indigenous peoples and obliterating entire civilizations. Yet, it is seldom accorded any serious attention by our academics, media commentators, and political leaders. When not ignored outright, the subject of imperialism has been sanitized, so that empires become “commonwealths,” and colonies become “territories” or “dominions” (or, as in the case of Puerto Rico, “commonwealths” too). Imperialist military interventions become matters of “national defense,” “national security,” and maintaining “stability” in one or another region. In this book I want to look at imperialism for what it really is.

Across the Entire Globe

By “imperialism” I mean the process whereby the dominant politico-economic interests of one nation expropriate for their own enrichment the land, labor, raw materials, and markets of another people.The earliest victims of Western European imperialism were other Europeans. Some 800 years ago, Ireland became the first colony of what later became known as the British empire. A part of Ireland still remains under British occupation. Other early Caucasian victims included the Eastern Europeans. The people Charlemagne worked to death in his mines in the early part of the ninth century were Slavs. So frequent and prolonged was the enslavement of Eastern Europeans that “Slav” became synonymous with servitude. Indeed, the word “slave” derives from “Slav.” Eastern Europe was an early source of capital accumulation, having become wholly dependent upon Western manufactures by the seventeenth century.

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CommonDreams.org, June 24, 2011

Source: Agence France-Presse

CAIRO – Egyptian activists are calling for a massive rally on July 8 to “save the revolution” that toppled Hosni Mubarak, urging politicians to drop debates on the timing of elections and focus on restoring basic freedoms.

Egyptian anti-government protesters celebrate minutes after the announcement on television of the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak. Now, more than four months later Egyptian activists are calling for a massive rally on July 8 to “save the revolution” that toppled Mubarak, urging politicians to drop debates on the timing of elections and focus on restoring basic freedoms. (Photograph: Amel Pain/EPA) On a Facebook page entitled “The 2nd revolution of anger”, activists say the fundamental demands of the uprising — to protect rights and freedoms — have not been met, and have instead become clouded by arguments on whether elections or a constitution should come first.

“To all rival political forces debating which should come first, constitution or elections, save your revolution first, save Egypt first. Our revolution is collapsing,” the activists said on their Facebook page, which by Friday had garnered over 55,000 members.

The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which took over when nationwide protests forced Mubarak from power in February, has scheduled parliamentary elections for September.

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By Tom Engelhardt, ZNet, June 24, 2011

Now that Washington has at least six wars cooking (in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Libya, Yemen, and more generally, the global war on terror), Americans find themselves in a new world of war. If, however, you haven’t joined the all-volunteer military, any of our 17 intelligence outfits, the Pentagon, the weapons companies and hire-a-gun corporations associated with it, or some other part of the National Security Complex, America’s distant wars go on largely without you (at least until the bills come due).

War has a way of turning almost anything upside down, including language. But with lost jobs, foreclosed homes, crumbling infrastructure, and weird weather, who even notices? This undoubtedly means that you’re using a set of antediluvian war words or definitions from your father’s day. It’s time to catch up.

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A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission on the Occasion of the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, June 26, 2011

Torture in custody is a serious problem affecting the rule of law in Pakistan. It is used as the most common means by which to obtain confessional statements and also for extracting bribes. Torture in custody has become endemic and on many occasions the police and members of the armed forces have demonstrated torture in open place to create fear in the general public.

The absence of proper complaint centres and no particular law to criminalise torture makes the menace of torture wide spread. The torture cases have to be reported to the police, therefore the police, being the main perpetrators of torture refuse to register the cases. This is the main reason why official data about the cases of torture is not available.

As yet, there has been no serious effort by the government to make torture a crime in the country. Rather, the state provides impunity to the perpetrators who are mostly either policemen or members of the armed forces. . . .

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With tensions between the US and Pakistan at an all-time high and repeated US efforts to “save” the relationship ending with the visiting US official angrily condemning Pakistan, the Zardari government is now trying its hand at improving ties.

In this case, it means that the Pakistani government will grant more than three dozen visas to CIA officers who want to come to Pakistan for spying missions. Pakistan had previously expelled large numbers of spies in the wake of the Raymond Davis fiasco and the revelation that the US was deploying spies and claiming they were consulate employees.

Davis, who was nominally an employee of the Lahore consulate but was actually the de facto head of the CIA in Pakistan, killed two Pakistanis on the streets of Lahore. Murder charges against him were dropped after the payment of a large sum of “blood money.”

Pakistani officials said the additional visas would not only be a “confidence-building measure” but would improve intelligence sharing. With US officials repeatedly accusing Pakistan of leaking shared intelligence to the militants, that remains to be seen.

The artificial division between Areas A, B and C was supposed to be erased from the map, and dropped from the discourse, in 1999. Instead, Israel has sanctified and perpetuated it.

By Amira Hass, Haaretz, June 22, 2011

Of all places, it is in Azzariyeh, east of Jerusalem, that one can really learn to appreciate the activities of Palestinian law-enforcement authorities in cities like Ramallah and Nablus. In those cities, Palestinian security forces are seen as authority figures who are trying to protect and serve Palestinian citizens, not just as extensions of Fatah or subcontractors of the Israel Defense Forces or the Shin Bet security service.

Unlike Ramallah and Nablus, which are categorized as “A” areas, Azzariyeh and its neighbors Sawahra and Abu Dis are holed up in an enclave of type “B”, where the IDF does not allow the Palestinian police to be fully functional. The interim Oslo 2 agreement determines that the Palestinian Authority is responsible for maintaining public order in Area B, but in the same breath it limits the PA’s authority and the means by which it can protect the people from disruptions of public order. Almost every action taken by the Palestinian police in Area B requires IDF approval.

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Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-117-2011

Asian Human Rights Commision, 23 June 2011
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INDONESIA: Police ill-treat peaceful protesters and charge them with rebellion in a flawed process

ISSUES: Freedom of expression, Right to fair trial, Right to health, Prison conditions, Police negligence
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Dear friends,

After the Manokwari District Police in West Papua arrested peaceful protesters following a flag raising event on 14 December, 2010, seven persons were charged with rebellion. The detainees were ill-treated and denied medical care for weeks resulting in serious health conditions. Police forced the victims to sign the dossier of the case before its transfer to the prosecutor without access to a lawyer. The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is concerned about the serious flaws in the criminal process, demands the immediate release of the victims, and an investigation into the illegal practices of the Manokwari police. West Papua suffers from a lack of fair trial for political activists, violence by security forces and the stigmatisation of political protesters. Peaceful protesters are frequently charged with rebellion and imprisoned for years.

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