International Group (IG): The Bulletin, 04.05. 1963

Die Ausgabe der Zeitung The Bulletin (pdf-Datei, 1,74 mb) der International Group (IG), der damaligen britischen Sektion der Vierten Internationale um Ken Coates und Pat Jordan vom 04.05. 1963; u.a. mit Artikeln zum Rassismus in Gewerkschaften, zu Maidemonstrationen weltweit, zur Auswirkung der Spaltung China-UdSSR auf diverse KPen, zum Parteitag der CPGB, zur Repression gegen die Arbeitslosenbewegung in Jamaika und zur Streikstatistik 1962:

Menschenrechts-Organisationen und Jihadisten

Ein wichtiger Diskussionsbeitrag von Marieme Helie-Lucas, gefunden auf ESSF:

What’s wrong with human rights organisations?

HELIE-LUCAS Marieme
15 November 2010

Since the beginning of the nineties in Algeria, local human rights activists and women’s rights activists challenged the position taken by human rights organisations vis a vis Muslim fundamentalists and especially armed groups within them.

During what is known to people there as ‘the dark decade’ and ‘ the war against civilians’, Muslim fundamentalists armed groups started targeted assassinations of specific categories of people (namely : journalists, intellectuals, artists, foreigners and women, in this order, as was announced in communiqués published in advance by their headquarters, then claimed after the facts), then moved to mass killings when they virtually eradicated whole villages that they probably thought were not enough on their side.

First, women’s rights and human rights activists started challenging the distorted vision that the reports published by human rights organisations’ gave of what was happening in Algeria. Activists requested human rights organisations to produce more balanced reports, as these reports were describing in great details the violations committed by the Algerian state against armed fundamentalists, but largely overlooked and ignored the violations committed by armed fundamentalist groups (AIS, GIA, FIDA and others) against the ordinary citizens who did not bend to their orders.

For decades however, activists within human rights organisations were not heard by their organisations’ headquarters, and the numerous analysis and facts finding missions they produced were just filed.

Those who rebelled from within were sacked and expelled [1]

Activists from outside these organisations were ignored too.

Recently Gita Sahgal, Amnesty International’s Head of the Gender Unit, after sending internal memos to AI for two years, denouncing in vain their all out support for Moazzam Begg, a former Cage Prisonner and open supporter of al Quaeda, went public in the media: she tried to draw a line between supporting anybody’s (including the worst criminals) fundamental rights to be free from torture, arbitrary detention, have fair trial, etc… and giving fundamentalists a political platform from where to propagate their views as well as clean them by presenting them exclusively as victims and/or human right defenders. Gita Sahgal was asked to leave AI, which she did [2].

It is now Karima Bennoune, member of the Board of the Center for Constitutional Rights in New York, who went public today in The Guardian [3], after knocked in vain for months at her colleagues doors to request them not to represent in court (pro bono) Anwar Al Awlaki, a Yemeni American living now in Yemen and most important mentor of Al Qaeda in the Arabic Peninsula – a man who openly calls for the assassination of intellectuals and foreigners, as is reported in the media. CCR, rightly so, denounces the planned assassination of Awlaki by – it seems – the CIA; but it fails to publicly say who this man is and to call for his fair trial (rather than his assassination). Nor does CCR express the slightest intention to support in the same way his victims in Yemen and elsewhere. Awlaki is exclusively presented as a potential victim of CIA.

What’s wrong with human rights organisations? Can’t they think with some complexity? Can’t they strongly oppose Awlaki’s policies and calls for murder, and defend his right not to be assassinated at the same time? And what about the right of his victims not to be assassinated? Is it less important in their eyes because it is not CIA that threatens them? Why do they chose to defend him and ignore his victims?…

Algerian rights organisations and individuals, victims of fundamentalist armed groups, sent yesterday a letter to CCR in which they spell out who Awlaki is in relation with al Qaeda and what crimes he incited or supported. This letter denounces the fact CCR puts forward its political role within the internal politics of the USA, rather than defend rights for all, as human rights organisations should. It writes: ‘CCR is clearly putting its own positioning in internal US politics before human rights for all.’ It further accuses CCR to ‘make (fundamentalists’ victims) even more invisible’ [4]

This seems an important political comment.

We certainly see very clearly here the consequences of the fact that most international human rights organisations are European or North American based, that their Headquarters are located in the West, that progressive people there (Left, anti globalisation and human rights alike) tend to defend Muslim fundamentalists as victims of western colonialism and imperialism and legitimate representatives of oppressed people/communities. They abandon the numerous populations that suffer and die [5] under Muslim fundamentalists’ rule, all the progressive people , the human rights activists, the women’s rights activists from Muslim countries, as if those need not be defended. This is politics, it is not human rights. Certainly not human rights for all.

Human rights organisations fail to their stated mission when they pick and chose among victims which are to be defended and which are not.

They fail to their mission when they create a hierarchy of rights, with minority rights, community rights, religious rights or cultural rights superseding women’s rights, freedom of religion, freedom of thought, freedom of consciousness which used to be the fundamental rights on which the Universal Declaration of Rights was based.

Marieme Helie Lucas

[1] See on ESSF: Conscientious objection: Amnesty International persists in suppressing dissent

[2] See on ESSF: Amnesty International is ‘damaged’ by Taliban link

[3] See on ESSF: Legal challenge to US assassination policy divides rights groups

[4] See on ESSF: Algeria/USA:human rights organisations should not support Muslim fundamentalists

[5] See on ESSF: Statement by Algerians, survivors, family or friends of victims of fundamentalist violence on the affair Gita Sahgal vs Amnesty International / Moazzam Begg

Unzensiert Lesen – Solidarität mit den Berliner linken Buch- und Infoläden!

Quelle des nachfolgend dokumentierten Aufrufes: Unzensiert Lesen

Finger weg von unseren Läden!

Seit einigen Monaten erhalten die linken Buchläden in Berlin vermehrt unerwünschten Besuch von Polizei und Staatsanwaltschaft. Anlässe sind regelmäßig mal mehr, mal weniger neue Publikationen aus der radikalen Linken, deren inhaltliche Vielfalt den Repressionsorganen zu weit geht. Häufig werden dabei nicht nur die gesuchten Zeitschriften, sondern auch gleich die Computer der Läden mit beschlagnahmt.

Die linken Buch- und Infoläden sind ein wichtiger Teil unserer Infrastruktur. Wir finden dort Rat, wenn wir Literatur für unsere politische Arbeit suchen. Sie bieten uns einen Raum, ins Gespräch zu kommen und uns zu vernetzen. Sie helfen uns, unsere Positionen auch jenseits kommerzieller Verlagsstrukturen zu verbreiten. Kurz: Wir möchten sie nicht missen.

Die aktuelle Repression ist der erneute staatliche Versuch, die offenen Debatten der radikalen Linken, die nicht an den Grenzen der herrschenden Legalität verstummen, zu zensieren. Diesmal wurden die linken Buchläden als Angriffsobjekte von den Repressionsorganen auserkoren. Wir stehen daher solidarisch an ihrer Seite. Gemeinsam wenden wir die staatliche Repression in eine Stärkung der linken Debatten und Strukturen!

Berlin, Oktober 2010

Free Education Now – Soliaktion für die britischen Studis in Paris!

Gefunden auf Le Jura Libertaire, das Flugblatt als pdf hier, zum Nachahmen empfohlen:

„diepgen nackt“ – Referrerhits der letzten Tage

suchen und nicht finden … die besten/schlimmsten Suchbegriffe der letzten Wochen (gelobt sei Google!):

- „diepgen nackt“
- „zombie nation @ 5 days off netherland 17″
- „bandera revolucionaria de canada“
- „weihnachtsessen spanien“
- „zizek reggae“
- „65 jährige nackte menner beim sex“
- „frisuren punk antifa“
- „soziale bauwirtschaft zeitschrift logo“
- „weihnachten in der ddr“
- „wenn ein neues erdbeben ist nach serbien“

Paul O’Grady sagt, was Sache ist

ansonsten: „Hardcore troublemaker“ anarchist group laughs off Millbank blame game (SolFed)

Iran-Update 15.11. 2010 – Marg Bar Jomhuriye Eslami!

* 127 afghanischen StaatsbürgerInnen im Iran droht die Ermordung durch den Staat (Révolution en Iran)

* Ein Artikel zu Nasrin Sotoudehs Hungerstreik (Change for Equality)

* Inhaftierung von zwei Aktivisten des Coordination Committee to Create Labor Organizations in Nagdeh (RAHANA)

* Proteste von BuerInnen in Lorestan und von Bazaris in Orumiyeh (Révolution en Iran)

* Die Gewerkschaft der ZuckerarbeiterInnen der Haft Tapeh-Fabrik in Shush feiert ihr zweijähriges Bestehen (iran labor report)

* Die neue Worker’s Voice (November 2010, Nr. 38) des Auslandskomittes der KP Iran als download hier (pdf-Datei)

Republik Maluku Selatan

Briefmarken eines kurzzeitig bestehenden und später fallengelassenen neokolonial dominierten Staates, die gar nicht von diesem sondern von einem Briefmarkenhändler aus München stammen und die Tierwelt zwischen Wallace- und Lydekker-Linie zeigt:

We need unity – defend the Millbank protestors!

Mehr zum Thema hier, hier, hier, hier und hier:

kleine radikale Minderheit

Musik zum Sonntag … The Fall

Industrial Estate

Live at the Witch Trials