Thursday, January 31, 2008

Please Support the Anarchist Birthday Brigade!

The Anarchist Birthday Brigade (ABB)/ Joint Birthday
Project began has a collaboration between the Los
Angeles Anarchist Black Cross Federation (LA-ABCF) and
Break the Chains (BTC). In small gestures, it is
designed to let Political Prisoners and Prisoners of
War know that they are still in our minds and in our
hearts during certain seasons or holidays. Through the
project we send holiday/birthday gifts and/or cards to
our imprisoned comrades. We encourage people to take
part in this program by taking a moment of your time
to write these comrades listed below, wishing them a
happy birthday. For bios on some of these prisoners,
please check out our site at www.abcf.net/la.
Bread and Roses,
LA ABCF


February

JACOB CONROY
93501-011 / Box 5300
Adelanto, CA 92301
FCI Victorville Medium I
February 3rd

VERONZA BOWERS JR.
35316-136 / Box 52020
Bennettsville, SC
FCI Bennettsville
February 4

ALBERT WOODFOX
#72148
CCR Upper B Cell 13
Louisiana State Prison
Angola, LA 70712
February 19, 1947

BYRON SHANE CHUBBUCK
#07909-051
Beaumont USP
PO Box 26030
Beaumont, TX 77720
February 26, 1967

Report from Briana Waters Pretrial

from Olympia Civil Liberties Resource
olycivlib@riseup.net

The judge closed the hearing to the public. The dozen or so supporters
waited outside and gave support to Briana at breaks and lunch. There was
some media there as well. Both witness lists are out and public.

The trial is confirmed for February 11, 2008 in Tacoma, WA at the federal
courthouse, 1717 Pacific Ave. It is expected to run for a month or more.
It will start Monday at 8:30- 3:30. It is expected to go Monday through
Thursday with some Fridays. Appropriate dress for the court is requested.
Carpools will be leaving daily from Olympia. The public observation is
important for this case. We need to bear witness to this precedent setting
case.

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

LA ABCF: 10 Years of Solidarity and Resistance

January 2008 marks the tenth anniversary of the Los
Angeles chapter of the Anarchist Black Cross
organization. We are proud and honored to be the
longest running self-proclaimed anarchist group in the
Los Angeles area.
LA ABC was formed by members of the Black Star
Collective, Alternative Gathering Collective and
Whittier Food Not Bombs. The group was formed by
several anarchists who wanted to engage in concrete
work based on the ideas of mutual aid and solidarity –
two major tenets of anarchism.
Many of the earlier contributors had directly been
affected by the prison system and thus became a
natural interest in their politics. After a chance
meeting with Lorenzo Komboa Irwin (former anarchist
political prisoner) in San Francisco, it became clear
to the anarchists that political prisoner support was
a necessary part of the anarchist movement and began
to build the foundation for the ABC chapter in Los
Angeles.
During the first year, the struggle to stop Mumia
Abu-Jamal’s execution was gaining momentum, allowing
for LA ABCF to jump straight into a campaign of utmost
importance. In March of ’98, members of the LA ABC met
up with several Anarchist Black Cross Federation
chapters during the Jericho march in Washington DC.
Six months after the march, LA ABC joined up with the
ABCF.
Since its inception, the LA ABC has continued to work
diligently for support of political prisoners in North
America. As part of the ABCF, we have collectively
raised over $50,000 through the Warchest program (a
program designed to provide support to political
prisoners in financial need.) We have developed
campaigns for several local political prisoners-
including Romaine Chip Fitzgerald and Matt Lamont.
More importantly, we have built strong relationships
with current and former political prisoners, working
day and night on their support and freedom. We have
been honored to know some comrades, such as Rich
Williams, who has enrich our lives prior to have their
lives taken in struggle.
Members of LA ABC have also focused on trying to
rediscover the history of the Anarchist Red/Black
Cross movement. Over the years, we have created an
archive of the ABC, with some material dating as far
back as 1913.
We are proud to have reached this benchmark and look
forward to another decade of resistance and support.
This statement about our 10th anniversary would be
meaningless if we did not ask in closing for people to
take a moment out of their day to write at least one
of our imprisoned comrades. You can view their
addresses and short biographies on our site:
www.abcf.net/la.
In Solidarity,
LA ABCF

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Feb. 1st-Support PRican Grand Jury Resisters

Puerto Rican community in United States and Puerto Rico maintain that the subpoenas to the grand jury are part of a larger, systematic campaign to repress the independence movement in Puerto Rico and instill fear and discord among its allies and supporters. It's the latest chapter of a long history of repression waged against Puerto Rican community.

January 30th Letter Campaign:

On January 30 we are calling on all supporters and citizens that are outraged about the Grand Jury being used as a tool of repression and harassment against the Puerto Rican community to Fax the District Attorney Benton J. Campbell. Please talk to people in your family, community, church and organizations about the the situation and grand jury's use as a tool of repression and ask them to fax in a letter.

Letter:
http://www.geocities.com/resistgrandjury/campaignletter.pdf

PICKET AGAINST GRAND JURY REPRESSION
AGAINST THE PUERTO RICAN COMMUNITY

Friday, February 1, 2008 @ 9:30am
All to Federal Court, 225 Cadman Plaza East at Tillary St, Brooklyn, NY
Take the A, C or F train to Jay St.-Borough Hall; M or R train to Court St.-Borough Hall; 2,3, 4 or 5 to Borough Hall; or G train to Hoyt-Schermerhorn and walk 7 block

Hostos Grand Jury Resistance Campaign
For more information: 646-233-2028 or
resistgrandjury@gmail.com http://www.geocities.com/resistgrandjury

flyer: http://www.geocities.com/resistgrandjury/flyer111en.pdf

Feb. 5th-Meeting to Plan NYC Cuban 5 Conference

FREE THE CUBAN 5

NEW YORK CITY CONFERENCE ON THE CUBAN 5

Inspired by the International Conference on the Cuban 5 that took place in Canada in 2007, The Popular Education Project to Free the Cuban 5 invites you to work with us on a MASSIVE East Coast organizers conference for the Cuban 5!

Now more than ever the Cuban 5 need our support!! We must EDUCATE, ORGANIZE AND MOBILIZE for the freedom of these innocent men!!

Join the Organizers’ committee!!

TUESDAY FEB. 5TH 2008 AT 6:30PM

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Labor Center/1199 SEIU

310 W43rd St. (bwtn. 8-9th Avenues)

Weather chaos could trigger civil unrest

Oxford study calls on Western governments to overhaul security and disaster planning
Jan 28, 2008 04:30 AM

Mitch Potter
EUROPE BUREAU
Toronto Star

LONDON–The world's wealthiest countries could face the beginnings of societal breakdown by mid-century in the form of boiling domestic unrest over climate change, a new British report warns.

A tide of protest against polluting companies and perceived government inaction and, in extreme cases, the emergence of new forms of ecoterrorism are among scenarios outlined by security think tank the Oxford Research Group.

The report, An Uncertain Future: Law Enforcement, National Security and Climate Change, sounds a warning quite different from the conventional assumption that carbon-induced global warming could trigger waves of environmental refugees from abroad driven by the quest for food, water and shelter.

"Most analysis of global warming focuses on the potential for security threats from `over there' in the form of mass migration," said report author Chris Abbott of Bristol University's Centre for Governance and International Affairs.

"That may well be the case. But our research indicates that there is a range of potential threats from civil unrest within the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States – all the Western nations, in fact. We see those threats growing more acute over time, if governments continually fail to protect us from climate change."

The Oxford report calls on Western governments to overhaul their approach to security and disaster planning, with an emphasis on helping police, security and military forces adapt to preventative, rather than reactive, strategies. A conventional strategy of using force to deter unrest, the report says, is doomed to failure.

Abbott cited the staging of a "Climate Camp" protest village outside London's Heathrow Airport last August as an example of the danger of "tarring a whole movement with the extremist brush." Despite a rash of media reports warning that "ecoterrorists" intended to cripple commercial aviation in Britain, the protest came and went without a single flight being disturbed.

"The term ecoterrorism is applied very loosely and it is a dangerous game," Abbott told the Toronto Star. "The vast majority of the social environmental movement has a legitimate agenda and does not deserve such an unfair label. But if you look at current trends and extrapolate the impact of government inaction in the coming decades, the possibility of far greater unrest later in this century is a serious concern."

The report says that, because Europe and North America have a far greater capacity to adapt to rapid climate change, neither continent is likely to engage in climate-related regional conflict predicted in the most resource-depleted parts of the developing world.

What is "almost certain," the report said, is that by 2050 droughts, food scarcity and flooding would trigger the movement of as many as 200 million environmental refugees. The vast majority is likely to flow toward the developed world, said Abbott. But internal migration is also a factor that is likely to come with its own security issues.

Acknowledging that climate change and security is "a young area of analysis," the Oxford report said its predictions are likely to change, for better or for worse, over the coming decades.

http://www.thestar.com/World/Columnist/article/298018

Monday, January 28, 2008

Rebel Gets 60 Years for Hostage-Taking

By MATT APUZZO Jan. 28, 2008

WASHINGTON (AP) A Colombian rebel leader was sentenced to 60 years in prison Monday and labeled a terrorist for helping hold three U.S. contractors hostage as part of a decades-long struggle with the Colombian government.

Though he denounced terrorism and said he hoped the hostages would be released, Ricardo Palmera restated his allegiance to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, and justified its actions as part of a legitimate military revolution.

"My conscience absolves me and I join the ranks of so many others who history can and will absolve," Palmera said, concluding an hour-long speech that railed against a Colombian government he called oppressive and corrupt.

Palmera, who is better known by his nom de guerre, Simon Trinidad, was convicted in July of hostage-taking conspiracy. He admitted serving as the FARC's chief negotiator and spokesman during discussions over the release of the hostages but he said he never saw the three Americans or kept them hostage himself.

Prosecutors bristled at such a distinction.

"Guerrillas who can point an AK-47 at a hostage are a dime a dozen, but finding someone with the negotiation skills to go toe-to-toe with the Colombian government and the entire international community is not easy," prosecutor Ken Kohl said. "You need a proven, bare-knuckle political icon like Simon Trinidad, who won't allow a sense of shame or humanity get in the way."

At one point, Kohl compared Palmera to Osama bin Laden. Palmera, in his speech, chose Nelson Mandela and Simon Bolivar.

The three hostages Marc Gonsalves, Thomas Howes and Keith Stansell were civilian Pentagon contractors flying a surveillance mission over the Colombian jungle when their plane crashed in 2003 in a rebel stronghold. They were taken hostage and were most recently seen in late April.

U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth listened intently to Palmera's speech but wasted little time in handing down the sentence, the maximum allowed under the U.S. extradition treaty with Colombia.

"This was and is an act of terrorism," Lamberth told Palmera. "The crime is heinous and barbaric and against the law of all civilized nations."

Palmera, stood stoically as Lamberth spoke, then turned and smiled, pumping his fist to a handful of supporters in the courtroom. Palmera is 57 and, unless he prevails on appeal, is likely to die in prison. There is no parole in the federal system.

Defense attorney Robert Tucker chastised the U.S. government for treating Palmera as if he had hijacked an airplane or violently ransomed hostages for money. The FARC is in a legitimate revolutionary army and though its ideas may be questioned, Tucker said, it is unfair for the U.S. to prosecute the one person who sought peaceful negotiations to release the three men.

Tucker compared the conflict to the U.S. Revolutionary War, a comparison Kohl objected to. The Americans revolted against the British, he said, but didn't kill civilians or take them hostage to barter with.

It is unclear what effect the sentence will have on the three hostages. The U.S. had hoped Palmera's conviction and the threat of a lengthy sentence would prod the FARC to release the men.

"After this, the FARC will have absolutely no interest in freeing the three Americans," said Carlos Lozano, who edits the Communist newspaper Voz and who has served as a mediator between the FARC and the Colombian government. "This shuts down the possibility of a goodwill gesture by the guerrillas to free one of the Americans."

Palmera is also awaiting a second trial on cocaine trafficking charges. The first case ended with a jury deadlocked at 7-5 in favor of acquittal. Jurors did not dispute that the FARC was in the cocaine business but most felt the government could not prove Palmera was part of that enterprise.

Associated Press writer Toby Muse contributed to this report from Bogota, Colombia.

Rebel Gets 60 Years for Hostage-Taking

By MATT APUZZO Jan. 28, 2008

WASHINGTON (AP) A Colombian rebel leader was sentenced to 60 years in prison Monday and labeled a terrorist for helping hold three U.S. contractors hostage as part of a decades-long struggle with the Colombian government.

Though he denounced terrorism and said he hoped the hostages would be released, Ricardo Palmera restated his allegiance to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, and justified its actions as part of a legitimate military revolution.

"My conscience absolves me and I join the ranks of so many others who history can and will absolve," Palmera said, concluding an hour-long speech that railed against a Colombian government he called oppressive and corrupt.

Palmera, who is better known by his nom de guerre, Simon Trinidad, was convicted in July of hostage-taking conspiracy. He admitted serving as the FARC's chief negotiator and spokesman during discussions over the release of the hostages but he said he never saw the three Americans or kept them hostage himself.

Prosecutors bristled at such a distinction.

"Guerrillas who can point an AK-47 at a hostage are a dime a dozen, but finding someone with the negotiation skills to go toe-to-toe with the Colombian government and the entire international community is not easy," prosecutor Ken Kohl said. "You need a proven, bare-knuckle political icon like Simon Trinidad, who won't allow a sense of shame or humanity get in the way."

At one point, Kohl compared Palmera to Osama bin Laden. Palmera, in his speech, chose Nelson Mandela and Simon Bolivar.

The three hostages Marc Gonsalves, Thomas Howes and Keith Stansell were civilian Pentagon contractors flying a surveillance mission over the Colombian jungle when their plane crashed in 2003 in a rebel stronghold. They were taken hostage and were most recently seen in late April.

U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth listened intently to Palmera's speech but wasted little time in handing down the sentence, the maximum allowed under the U.S. extradition treaty with Colombia.

"This was and is an act of terrorism," Lamberth told Palmera. "The crime is heinous and barbaric and against the law of all civilized nations."

Palmera, stood stoically as Lamberth spoke, then turned and smiled, pumping his fist to a handful of supporters in the courtroom. Palmera is 57 and, unless he prevails on appeal, is likely to die in prison. There is no parole in the federal system.

Defense attorney Robert Tucker chastised the U.S. government for treating Palmera as if he had hijacked an airplane or violently ransomed hostages for money. The FARC is in a legitimate revolutionary army and though its ideas may be questioned, Tucker said, it is unfair for the U.S. to prosecute the one person who sought peaceful negotiations to release the three men.

Tucker compared the conflict to the U.S. Revolutionary War, a comparison Kohl objected to. The Americans revolted against the British, he said, but didn't kill civilians or take them hostage to barter with.

It is unclear what effect the sentence will have on the three hostages. The U.S. had hoped Palmera's conviction and the threat of a lengthy sentence would prod the FARC to release the men.

"After this, the FARC will have absolutely no interest in freeing the three Americans," said Carlos Lozano, who edits the Communist newspaper Voz and who has served as a mediator between the FARC and the Colombian government. "This shuts down the possibility of a goodwill gesture by the guerrillas to free one of the Americans."

Palmera is also awaiting a second trial on cocaine trafficking charges. The first case ended with a jury deadlocked at 7-5 in favor of acquittal. Jurors did not dispute that the FARC was in the cocaine business but most felt the government could not prove Palmera was part of that enterprise.

Associated Press writer Toby Muse contributed to this report from Bogota, Colombia.

Writing from Maliki Shakur Latine, Political Prisoner

from nycabc[at]riseup[dot]net:

Maliki Shakur Latine

December 20, 2007

I am still maintaining my health and I am optimistic about being
released on parole during the summer of ’08 (Insha Allah). At which
time I look forward to being a valuable asset to the endeavors of
liberation and progress. I’ve been following the political and socio-
economic developments (or under-developments) occurring around the
country. And, I’ve been closely monitoring the “Presidential
Campaign” (with all its window-dressings and the usual clichés)
offered for public consumption. The younger generation have a
serious, huge and profound role to play in defining what the future
(if there is one) of this country is to be. Each generation is solely
responsible for the course and direction to be pursued in their
lives. They can readily choose, by virtue of their own “humanity,”
the course, direction and reality already “defined” for them by the
Plutocracy (as led and headed by the “Skull and Bones”) or they can
determine, for themselves, what the reality of the future is to be,
by virtue of what they know and truly believe to be right, just and
humane as dictated by their own heart-felt conscience—as opposed to
that of any u.s. government “Party,” who are more determined to serve
that of “class interest”—than any kind of just rights of the entire
citizenry! Let the people of the “Resistance” know my message to
them as expressed above. They can make a difference, no matter how
difficult the challenges may appear, its all but a passing but dark
cloud—soon the light shall appear with its radiance of achievement
and splendor! Truth shall prevail!

In Solidarity, Strength, and Unity!
Maliki Shakur

http://abcf.net/abcf.asp?page=prisoners#

Suspected “eco-terrorist” on trial

By Kim Lee The Daily Washington
January 28, 2008

Photo by Daniel Kim.

Merrill Hall, the Center for Urban Horticulture, was set on fire in May
2001. The building was rebuilt Jan. 19, 2005.

Nearly seven years after an arson caused about $1.5 million in damages
to UW’s Center for Urban Horticulture, Briana Waters, 32, will be facing
trial on Feb. 11 for her alleged participation in the attack.

Federal prosecutors said Waters was a part of the five-person Earth
Liberation Front (ELF) team that set fire to professor Toby Bradshaw’s
office on May 21, 2001, according to a Jan. 21 article from The Seattle
Times (“Arson suspect facing trial”).

“Ms. Waters naturally has very little recollection of exactly what she
was doing in the early morning hours of May 21, 2001,” said her
attorneys Robert Bloom and Neil Fox, in a statement to the Times. “She
is, however, certain that one thing she did not do is participate in the
arson at the University of Washington Center for Urban Horticulture.”

Waters’ trial will be the first of the 18 men and women accused of being
involved in the series of attacks that caused tens of millions of
dollars in damages to institutions they believe to be threats to the
environment and animals.

Bradshaw’s research on genetically modifying poplar trees was seen as an
“ecological nightmare” for the biodiversity of native forests, according
to an ELF news release.

The arson attack set back research at the center a number of years, said
Norm Arkans, executive director of media relations for the UW.

“It was a horrible event that destroyed a number of people’s work,” he
said. “It was misdirected because the people who were involved [at the
center] were eco-friendly.”

Rebuilding the facility cost $7 million, which did not offset the damage
done to research or the destruction of several endangered plants.

“It was from our perspective a type of violence that is not effective,”
Arkans said. “It was a serious act of eco-terrorism and it was not the
best way to make a point.”

The U.S. Justice Department labeled the ELF as the top domestic terror
group in 2001.

If Waters is convicted on charges of conspiracy, arson and the use of a
destructive device in a crime of violence, she will face a prison
sentence of 35 years.

However, if defense attorneys are able to succeed in challenging the
prosecutors’ use of the term firebomb to describe the timed devices and
buckets of fuel that caused the fire, then Waters could face only five
years in prison.

The use of a destructive device in a crime of violence carries a minimum
sentence of 30 years, while arson charges have a mandatory sentence of
five years.

Since 1996, ELF and the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) have started
arsons at a U.S. Forest Service office, a ski lodge in Vail, Colo., a
slaughterhouse in Oregon, a Eugene car dealership and a federal
agriculture research center in Olympia.

Water’s refusal to accept a plea deal has put her in the position of
potentially receiving the harshest punishment of anyone sentenced thus
far. Twelve others have reached plea agreements, landing sentences
ranging from probation to 13 years.
_________________________________

Friday, January 25, 2008

Eric McDavid's Hearing Moved

ELP Information Bulletin (25th of January 2008)

Dear friends

ELP has just learnt that American eco-defence prisoner, Eric McDavid, has his hearing on the motion for a new trial/acquittal has been moved to the 21st of February.

As of right now, sentencing is also still set for that date.

More news on this as ELP gets it (oh and many many many thanks to Eric's support campaign for this news).

++++++++++++++

Earth Liberation Prisoners Support Network
BM Box 2407
London
WC1N 3XX
England
www.spiritoffreedom.org.uk

Jonathan Paul Support Website

ELP Information Bulletin (25th of January 2008)

Dear friends

ELP has just received the following e-mail concerning American Animal/Earth Liberation prisoner Jonathan Paul, who is serving 51 months for his role in an arson against a horse meat plant:

Greetings - Jonathan's support site is finally up and we'd appreciate
it if you could add the link to your site. http://www.supportjonathan.org

Thanks for all your work and support.

In solidarity for the earth and the animals,

[name deleted]
Friends of Jonathan Paul

+++++++++++++++

Earth Liberation Prisoners Support Network
BM Box 2407
London
WC1N 3XX
England
www.spiritoffreedom.org.uk

fire to the prisons #2 online download

NEW! Fire to the Prisons Zine out Now!
from A Longing for Collapse Press
the second issue of fire to the prisons is out now. fire to the prisons is an insurrectionary anarchist quarterly focusing on anti-prison and prisoner support content mostly, but also incuding misc. articles to inspire opposition to this cold world. the link to the site to download the pdf is included at the end of this bulletin, if you have any problems downloading, feel free to contact us directly with your email, and well send it to you directly. our email is, guerillaheart@yahoo.com
PLEASE feel free to print and distribute this zine to your full capability, or forward the file to someone who will.
if youd like, please respond with a confirmation that you will be furthering distribution for the zine, its good to know where it gets around.
also, the zine is intended to be free, but if you sell it, we ask that all profits go to benefit misc.political prisoners.
this is a longing for collapse press project.
also if printing resources are slim, we could send bulk copes! were only asking for postage to be paid for.
visit our site and blog at
myspace.com/alongingforcollapsepress
for total destruction and liberation
in solidarity
lfcp
site with pdf download:
http://www.mediafire.com/?4v711uxjwm0

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Briana Waters Pretrial Change

from Olympia Civil Liberties Jan 24, 2008

Briana Waters Pretrial conference hearing has changed to Tuesday January
29, 2008. It is important to come dressed and act appropriate for the
court.

Carpools are scheduled to leave from Olympia that day once the time is
confirmed for court. Judge Burgess maintains a prompt start to his court.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Belgian DHKP-C trial verdict 7th February

Symposium Isolation wrote:

Decision in the Belgian DHKP-C trial on 7th February

Anvers
DECISION: 7 FEBRUARY 2008
COURT OF APPEAL ANTWERPEN
(Members of CLEA will gather from 8.30 a.m. in front of the court house)

Appeal to international organisations:

*
Show presence at the trial
*
Send your message of solidarity

To: contact@leclea.be
CC:isolation@post.com


The Belgian press continues to publish articles regarding the expected decision trial in Antwerp on 7th February. Some days ago the French-language daily newspaper "Le Soir" published an article in the name of the president of Bar Association of Dinant, lawyer Jean-Marie Dermagne. In his article Dermagne pointed to the positive result of a political trial in Denmark and he expressed his expectations that the Belgian judges of the DHKP-C trial will act with the same sobriety.

The article by the barrister was entitled "It was not the purpose of the T-shirt sellers to destabilise society".
The article continued: "The trial concerning 'terrorist T-shirts', which stood on the agenda for three months and finally came to a conclusion before the Copenhagen court, is quite interesting. A 56-year-old sausage seller, a teacher, a public servant, a copy shop employee, a computer geek and two students were tried for financing terrorism. Sheer madness!
As members of the association 'Fighters + Lovers' they discussed online about the idea to sell T-Shirts with the emblems of the organisations PFLP and FARC. One morning their houses were raided by rambos of the anti-terrorism police."

Their crime was clear, they sold 600 T-Shirts carrying emblems of the organisations PFLP and FARC, which are declared 'guilty' by the main terrorist USA, in support of these organisations. So, is there any bigger 'crime' than to support revolutionary organisations? It was sufficient to raid houses and to open a trial... The collected funds and remaining T-Shirts were confiscated as 'elements of an offence' and evidence.
They were brought to court. At the court they declared that each of these objects with motifs carried a profit of 5 Euros and with that money there were plans to finance logistical equipment (for example radio stations).

As a consequence of it, the Danish prosecutor demanded the punishment of the accused for 'financing terrorist activities'.

In the following trial days there were experts and witnesses heard, both for the plaintiffs and the accused, in order to clarify if the organisations PFLP and FARC were terrorist movements or on the contrary, if one of them was a legitimate resistance movement against the Israeli occupation and the other against the regime in Bogota, which is defined as a dictatorship by many people. Under the pretext that the prosecutor wanted to criminalise the sale of 'evil' T-shirts, the Danish judges were forced to deal with the most geopolitical questions such as the legality of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian soil or the democratic character of the Colombian regime.

In the same days the trial was re-opened in Antwerp of Belgian (or based in Belgium) activists and sympathisers of the revolutionary organisation from Turkey, the DHKP-C. The sentences passed against the defendants of the DHKP-C trial were cancelled by the appeal court earlier. Therefore the trial was re-opened in Antwerp. The verdict, which was scheduled on 20th December, was first postponed to 17th January and later to 7th February.

There's a lot to say about this process indeed. As the defendants in this trial stated earlier, the results of this trial will concern the Belgians and oppressed peoples in general, not just the 'sentenced' DHKP-C activists, since it is a matter of violation and deprivation of democratic rights through 'demagogies of terrorism'.

In his article, lawyer Jean-Marie Dermagne continues: "On the other side the sale of T-shirts with revolutionary emblems. As easy as it is to find similarities in these two cases, the results are alarming. Has anyone not at some time sold, distributed or bought clothes or other items which carry the picture of the Argentinian revolutionary Che Guevara, who was shot by the CIA and has won the hearts of all rebellious teenagers?

If Ernesto Guevara, who didn't follow a different strategy from the FARC, PFLP or DHKP-C were still alive today, he would certainly declared as terrorist by the USA, which constantly hunts green, black or red witches, or by the new McCarthys of all its satellite states.

Consequently: All citizens who dream of climbing mountains to fight alongside Che against an unjust world, will fall into a certain security pot, which has bubbled since September 11. It is always necessary to stay logical.

This was understood by the Danish judges! And they discharged seven 'Fighters and Lovers' on 13th December. This judgement unleashed 'worldwide amazement' and it is a ray of hope for all defenders of freedom of opinion and activists," lawyer Dermagne stated. And he adds: "It is only to be expected that the judges in Antwerp will issue their verdict with the same sobriety as their Danish colleagues did."

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

U.S. Farm Activists Denied Visit With Political Prisoner, Flavio Sosa, in Oaxaca Mexico

from infoshop news

For Immediate Release:
Jan. 20th, 2008

Contact:
John E. Peck, executive director, Family Farm Defenders #608-260-0900
John Kinsman, president, Family Farm Defenders #608-986-3815

Family Farm Defenders Demand Immediate Release of Flavio Sosa and
Other Political Prisoners Held in Oaxaca ,Mexico

U.S. Solidarity Delegation Calls Upon Mexican Government to Respect Basic
Human Rights and to Renegotiate NAFTA

On Wed. Jan. 16th, Mexican prison authorities denied U.S. farm
activists the right to see Flavio Sosa, a prominent leader of the
Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca (APPO). Sosa is one of
several political prisoners still being held in Mexico even though he
was arrested over a year ago. The eighteen U.S. farm activists from
three states - Wisconsin ,Kentucky , and Maine - were in Oaxaca
,Mexico from Jan. 10th - 17th as part of a solidarity delegation
organized by Family Farm Defenders.

Since the violent repression of the democratic movement by Oaxacan
Gov. Ulises Ruiz, with support of federal troops in May 2006, over
500 people have been detained, many tortured while in custody, and
over a dozen people have also been killed, including U.S. journalist
and WI native, Brad Will on Oct. 27th, 2006. U.S. farm activists
joined Mexican human rights groups and other grassroots
representatives for a press conference the morning of Jan. 17th to
renew the demand for Flavio's immediate and unconditional release.
The Family Farm Defenders delegation then traveled for several hours
through mountains to reach the prison where Sosa is held only to be
told by guards that they could not visit him. Back in Oaxaca City ,
several thousand APPO supporters rallied in defense of basic
democratic freedoms that are apparently no longer guaranteed in
Mexico .

"When our neighbors to the South are detained and murdered simply for
standing up for democracy and human rights, our elected officials
have a responsibility to take action. The vicious crackdown in Mexico
is just another ugly face of neoliberal free trade policies. Even our
host family in Oaxaca had been imprisoned and tortured by soldiers
who had been trained at U.S. taxpayer expense at the School of
Americas in Ft. Benning ,GA. We will not let this matter rest until
justice is served," noted John Kinsman, organic dairy farmer from
Lime Ridge ,WI and president of Family Farm Defenders.

In order to amplify pressure on the Mexican government, Family Farm
Defenders will be contacting Congressional leaders, such as Sen. Russ
Feingold (D-WI) to demand that the Mexican government respect basic
human rights and immediately release all political prisoners in
Oaxaca . As part of Via Campesina's International Day of Action on
Sat. Jan. 26th, farm activists will also be staging actions across
the U.S. to raise public awareness about the ongoing political
repression in Oaxaca and the violence perpetrated by the Mexican
government against its own people.
In Madison , Family Farm Defenders members will be leafleting the
Sat. Jan. 26th Dane County Winter Farmers Market from 8 am -12:00
Noon at the Senior Center (330 W. Mifflin) urging people to contact
the Mexican consulate in Chicago to demand the release of Flavio
Sosa. On Thurs. Jan. 31st at 7:30 pm at Escape Java Joint ( 916
Williamson St. ) in Madison participants in the Family Farm Defenders
solidarity delegation will also be holding a slideshow presentation
and report back on the ongoing political repression and democratic
resistance struggle in Oaxaca .

###

Please contact the Mexican Consulate in Chicago to demand the
immediate and unconditional release of Flavio Sosa and other
political prisoners now being held in Oaxaca .

Mexican Consulate
300 N Michigan Ave, Suite #4
Chicago, IL 60601
Tel. 312-855-1380
Fax. #312-738-2383

You can also contact your U.S. Representative and U.S. Senators to
express your concern about human rights abuses in Oaxaca and ask that
they contact the Mexican government on behalf of Flavio Sosa and
other imprisoned leaders of the pro-democracy movement.

Congressional Switchboard:
#202-224-3121

more info at: http://www.familyfarmdefenders.org

On prisoners in Greece

Prisoners of the greek state:

- anarchists and anti-authoritarians:

Vaggelis Botzatzis: he is in pre-trial emprisonment since 26/11/2007 accused for arsons against a french brand car yard, a "millenium" bank subsidiary and two state-run power company (ppc) cars. He is currently held in Komotini juridicial prison. Another three anarchists, two men and a woman are fugitives, wanted for the same case, based on the accusation of a security guard that claims he recognised Vaggelis' car near the car yard, the night of the arson attacks.

Giorgos Voutsis-Vogiatzis: he is in a pre-trial emprisonment since 3/10/2007, when he was "arrested" by a truck-driver, after a bank robbery, while leaving on a bike. Held in Korydallos prison. (translations of his letter http://anarcores.blogspot.com/search?q=voutsis-vogiatzis)

Giannis Dimitrakis: Condemned (1st degree) to 35 years! (25 maximum) for an armed bank robbery that turned into a shoot out with the police. He did n't fire at any cops, but got shot 3 times and wounded severely. Held in Alikarnassos Prison, Crete after moving from Korydallos to Malandrino (where his severe beating by prison guards lead to mutinies in prisons across the country), then to Neapoli, and currently Alikarnassos. (his prison letter: http://www.325collective.com/prisons_letter-from-giannis-d.html)

Stelios Malindretos: accused for beating up Polyzogopoulos, a known member of ex-ruling party (PASOK) and former president of the main syndicalist union GSEE (where PASOK has a majority). He is illegaly detained in Dafni mental illness detaintion center, in total, he is under continuous detaintion since 6/2/2006!

Marios Tsourapas, Chrissostomos Kontorevithakis: They attempted to burn up a municipality police car in Paleo Faliro (Athens) but got arrested by undercover policemen and tortured. Marios is held in Korydallos juridicial prisons while Chrissostomos is at the juvenile prisons of Avlona. (More info and translations of their letter at www.geocities.com/anarcores/faliro3.html)

- Accused for membership in November 17 revolutionary organization (all of them kept in special prison cells of Korydallos):

Giotopoulos Aleksandros: 17 life-time emprisonment (25 years: maximum)
Koufontinas Dimitris: 11 life-time emprisonment (25 year: maximum)
Ksiros Savvas: 5 life-time emprisonment (25 years)
Ksiros Vassilis: 25 years
Ksiros Christodoulos: 6 life-time empr. (25 years)
Tzortzatos Vassilis: 4 life-time empr. (25 years)
Tselentis Patroklos: 25 years
Kostaris Iraklis: 1 life-time (25 years)
Telios Konstantinos: 22 years
Kondilis Sotiris: 11 years and 3 months
Serifis Thomas: 8 years

(To sign a petition for the release of near-deathly injured Savvas Ksiros visit http://freesavvasxiros.webs.com/english.htm)

- At the time, all prisoners accused for membership in ELA (People's Revolutionary Struggle) are out of prison.

- In addition, more than 11.000 persons (official number: 10.983 - October 1, 2007 report) are currently held prisoners of the greek state. This number has tripled during the last decade! Almost one half of them are remanded under detaintion, and kept in a prison for up to 18 monthes, until their trial. According to the greek ministry of justice, there is room (cells-beds) for about 7.500 prisoners (a couple of years ago this number was estimated to 5.500). Immigrant prisoners are up to 4.500 (around 40-42%) not to count those kept in "immigrant reception centers", and there are no less than 500 women immates (half of them immigrants), and another 500 juveniles. Around 4.600 persons are emprisoned under the narcotics law (there is no definition on how many are for trafficking or for own use). More than 750 persons are under life sentences (25 years maximum, according to the greek penal code). It is not easy to count how many people die or "suicide" in prisons, because these cases do not always come to light, but according to official statistics there are for sure some 50 persons each year. Conditions are also cruel for people that suffer from AIDS, usually 20 or more persons are packed in a cell for 5-6 inmates, allowed only three hours per day out, in a small yard.

These numbers are not precise, because the ministry of justice does not regularly announce its statistics for the last couple of years.

The greek state (together with its cypriot partner state) also negotiates with Albania on the potential to expell albanian prisoners (the strongest minority inside greek prisons) to albanian prisons, or even to build its own state-run prisons in albanian territory.

In Greece, there are for the time, 14 prisons, 13 juridicial prisons, 1 mental illness detaintion center, 1 prison hospital (in Korydallos) and 1 drug addict prisoners withdrawal center (Thiba). Within 2008, there will be 4 new prisons, in: Grevena, Drama, Nigrita (Serres) and Chania (Crete) with a capability of about 2.700 inmates. Women inmates from Korydallos prisons (Athens) will be transfered to Eleonas (Thiba).

During April 2007, after the anarchist Giannis Dimitrakis was severely beaten by a prison guard, riots erupted in 11 prisons across the country. The prisoners took over the rooftops and yards of the prisons, lighting fires and vandalising the prison institutions for days and nights. Anarchists and antiauthoritarians organised large demonstrations outside the prisons, in solidarity to the rebellious prisoners. After five days of insurgency, the riot-police invaded most prisons and repressed the insurrection (For further information: http://athens.indymedia.org/features.php3?id=463) As a reply, there were multiple attacks and arsons against the police and other economic targets. Prisoners that participated in the insurrection, as Vaggelis Palis, Panagiotis Georgiadis and many others are still under repression, in the form of forced transfers to other prisons, overtime emprisonment etc.

(To contribute with a translation of this report, or any other prison letter/info on prisoners in greek, you can communicate with anarcores@yahoo.gr)

Monday, January 21, 2008

Arson suspect facing trial

By Hal Bernton Seattle Times staff reporter
Briana Waters could get 35 years if convicted.

In the predawn hours of May 21, 2001, Briana Waters says, she was nowhere
near the University of Washington campus in Seattle and was most likely
asleep in Olympia.

Federal prosecutors say Waters served as a lookout that morning for a
five-person Earth Liberation Front team that set fire to the UW's Center
for Urban Horticulture.

Next month, in a federal courtroom in Tacoma, the 32-year-old violin
teacher is scheduled to face trial for her alleged role in an attack that
caused more than $1.5 million in damage to the university's building.

Waters faces charges of conspiracy, arson and use of a destructive device
in a crime of violence. If convicted on all counts, she faces a mandatory
prison sentence of 35 years.

It would be the first trial for any of the 18 men and women indicted on a
charge of their alleged involvement in a militant Pacific Northwest
underground that carried out more than a dozen acts of arson and sabotage
against targets deemed a threat to the environment or animals. The attacks
caused tens of millions of dollars in damage.

Waters is not considered to be a ringleader of the underground cells. But
because she has refused to accept a plea deal, she risks a courtroom
verdict that could stick her with the harshest prison term of anyone
sentenced to date.

Twelve other people have reached plea agreements, and, according to court
documents, their sentences are expected to range from probation to 13
years. Four others have fled from federal authorities. And Bill Rodgers —
an alleged ringleader of the attacks — committed suicide after being taken
into custody in Arizona in 2005.

Waters now lives in California, where she is married and has a young
daughter. She has hired two attorneys — Robert Bloom, of Oakland, and Neil
Fox, of Seattle — who have been involved in a bitter run-up to the Feb. 11
trial.

Much of the dispute involves an initial FBI interview with Jennifer Kolar,
one of those who made a plea agreement and a confessed participant in the
arson. In that Dec. 2005 interview, the FBI notes indicate Kolar named
four other participants in the UW arson, and that list did not include
Waters. Only in later interviews, did Kolar name Waters, according to
court documents.

Defense attorneys initially did not have access to the FBI notes. Instead,
they were given a summary of the interview that said Kolar could not
definitively remember all the participants, only herself and Rodgers.

Defense attorneys allege that federal officials intentionally crafted a
misleading summary, and sought unsuccessfully to have U.S. Assistant
Attorney Andrew Friedman removed from the case for misconduct.

Federal prosecutors in Seattle say there has been no misconduct and that
they have fully complied with all disclosure laws. They, in turn, have
accused defense attorneys of "a deliberate attempt to poison the jury
pool" by seeking a pretrial court hearing earlier this month to address
the allegations.

advertising

The trial stems from a lengthy government investigation into the Earth
Liberation Front (ELF) and the Animal Liberation Front, groups which the
U.S. Justice Department portrays as domestic terrorists with hubs in
Olympia and Eugene, Ore.

During a six-year period that began in 1996, various members launched
arsons targeting a U.S. Forest Service office, a Vail, Colo., ski lodge, a
central Oregon slaughterhouse, a Eugene car dealership, a federal
agriculture-research center in Olympia and other sites.

Water is accused of joining a "double-whammy" on May 21, 2001, intended to
strike a blow against the genetic engineering of fast-growing poplar
trees.

According to trial briefs filed by the Justice Department, separate
five-person teams set two fires — one that burned buildings at a
Clatskanie, Ore., tree farm and a second that targeted the Center for
Urban Horticulture office of Toby Bradshaw, a University of Washington
professor involved in poplar research.

The ELF mistakenly thought he was genetically engineering trees.

Federal prosecutors say that both teams launched their actions from
Olympia and that the cell involved in the UW attack then drove north to
Seattle in a rented sedan, which Waters had helped acquire. There, they
ate at the Greenlake Bar & Grill and then headed out to the UW, where the
fire was set with time-delayed devices that ignited buckets filled with a
mixture of gasoline and diesel, the prosecution says.

An ELF news release issued five days later said the poplars posed an
"ecological nightmare" threatening the biodiversity of native forests.

Waters, who grew up outside of Philadelphia, attended The Evergreen State
College.

In the spring of 2001, she was finishing a documentary she had filmed and
directed about the protests two years earlier to save old-growth trees on
federal forestland outside of Randle, Lewis County.

Waters' boyfriend at the time was Justin Solondz, now a fugitive accused
in federal indictments of participating in the UW attack. But defense
attorneys say Waters and Solondz maintained separate households and that
Waters was not involved in any of the planning or execution of the UW
arson.

"Ms. Waters naturally has very little recollection of exactly what she was
doing ... in the early morning hours of May 21, 2001, other than likely
being asleep in bed," her attorneys wrote in a trial brief. "... She is,
however, certain that the one thing she did not do is participate in the
arson at the University of Washington Center for Urban Horticulture."

During the trial, defense attorneys are expected to challenge the
creditability of key prosecution witnesses who have pleaded guilty to
participating in the arson and sabotage conspiracy.

Kolar is expected to come under some of the toughest questioning for her
flip-flop in FBI interviews that first excluded Waters from the UW arson,
then included her.

Defense attorneys also are challenging prosecutors' use of the term "fire
bomb" to describe the delayed-timing devices and tubs of fuel that ignited
the fire.

More than semantics are at stake. If they succeed in that challenge, then
Waters could not be charged with "use of a destructive device in a crime
of violence," the highest-penalty offense that carries a minimum mandatory
sentence of 30 years. The arson count carries another mandatory sentence
of five years.

Prosecutors, in trial briefs, have said that both Kolar and Lacey
Phillabaum, who has pleaded guilty in the UW arson, will testify at the
trial that Waters assisted in carrying out the UW arson.

Phillabaum is expected to testify that she was at Waters' home in Olympia
during the weekend before the attack. There, Phillabaum observed Solondz
soldering timers in a "clean room" in preparation for the arson attack,
according to prosecutors' trial briefs. She alleges that the team drove to
Seattle in a car that Waters arranged to rent.

Prosecutors say two team members involved in the Oregon poplar-farm arson
will provide "corroborating details" about Waters' involvement.

Canada to Rewrite Manual US Criticized


Political Persecution in Puerto Rico: A Conversation with Don Rafael Cancel Miranda

The ProLibertad Freedom Campaign
http://www.myspace.com/ProLibertad
ProLibertad@hotmail.com and ProLibertad.Campaign@gmail.com
ProLibertad Hotline: 718-601-475
________________________________________________

Political Persecution in Puerto Rico:
A Conversation with Don Rafael Cancel Miranda

Friday Jan. 25th, 2008 at 6:30pm
St. Mary's Episcopal Church
521 W126th St.(Btwn. Amsterdam Avenue and Broadway)
Take the 1 train to W125th St.

Puerto Rican nationalist and former political prisoner for 28 years, who, along with Andrés Figueroa Cordero, Irvin Flores and Lolita Lebrón, protested the criminal nature of the U.S. colonial domination of Puerto Rico by opening fire on the U.S. Congress in 1954. He was sentenced to eighty-four years for “an attempt to overthrow the government by force and violence.” As a result of pressure from the Puerto Rican Independence movement and the international community, he was released without conditions in September of 1979.

For more information: contact: ProLibertad at ProLibertad@hotmail.com or 718-601-4751

Sunday, January 20, 2008

The Eric McDavid Story


By Sacremento Prisoner Support


On January 13, 2006, Eric McDavid, Zachary Jenson and Lauren
Weiner were arrested in Auburn, California, and charged with
one count of conspiracy to destroy public or private
infrastructure by means of explosives or fire. Twenty months
later, Eric went to trial alone to fight this charge. In the
interim, both Weiner and Jenson had agreed to cooperate with
the government in a variety of ways, including testifying
against Eric at his trial.

Weiner began talking to the FBI a week after her arrest and was
released on $1.2-million bail. Six months later, having previously
been denied bail twice as an alleged public danger and flight risk,
Jenson agreed to cooperate and was released on $40,000 bail. Eric was
denied bail twice and remained in jail, struggling for vegan meals.
After four months of pressure from supporters and a two-week hunger
strike, he was finally able to gain access to vegan food—but a week
before trial, the jail cut off his vegan meals once again, in an
apparent attempt to weaken him. He has not received vegan food since
that time. Eric has been in solitary confinement since his arrest.

After months of delays, Eric’s trial finally began on September 10.
The trial was fraught with clearly biased and improper rulings, and
lies were rampant.

The trial opened with the government’s star witness: cooperating
witness “Anna,” a young woman who was paid $65,000 by the FBI to
befriend and entrap Eric and his codefendants. Anna, who was 17 at
the time she began working for the FBI, admitted repeatedly during
her testimony that she was a liar. At one point Eric’s attorney, Mark
Reichel, said to her, “All lies, all the time, 24-7 would be the ad
in the phonebook, right?”

“When I was undercover, in my role, correct,” she responded.

Despite the government’s best attempts to obscure the truth, Anna’s
testimony proved that she was the driving force behind the
“conspiracy” and that without her and her FBI masters, it never could
have happened.

The other two key witnesses for the government were Eric’s former
codefendants, both of whom admitted that they had agreed to cooperate
because of the “75-percent-off sale,” as Reichel dubbed it—the 75
percent reduction in prison time they were promised in exchange for
cooperating. They also both stated that their sentencing had been
delayed until after Eric’s trial so that the government could see how
they performed first. Weiner seemed visibly shaken throughout her
testimony. She also seemed relieved, when Reichel cross-examined her,
to finally have the opportunity to speak something more closely
resembling the truth. This was not the case with Jenson, who behaved
like a trained monkey.

After six full days in court, the jury left the courtroom, and both
sides began to argue over the instructions that the jury would
receive. These instructions would guide the members of the jury in
making their decision about Eric’s innocence or guilt, but the judge
issued devastatingly incorrect instructions. The first blow came when
the judge denied the inclusion of the “lesser included offense”
instruction. This instruction would have allowed the jury to find
Eric not guilty of the crime he was charged with, but guilty of the
charge that Weiner and Jenson had pleaded to. While this clearly
would not have been an outstanding victory, if Eric had been found
guilty only of the lesser offense, it would have capped his sentence
at five years, instead of 20.

The other huge point of contention in the jury instructions was the
definition of “predisposition.” For the government to prove beyond a
reasonable doubt that a defendant was not entrapped (and is therefore
guilty), it first must prove that the defendant was inclined to
commit a crime prior to contact with a government agent—in this case,
Anna. After a series of intense arguments, the judge instructed the
jury to examine the question of predisposition beginning in June
2005—the moment at which the government claimed the conspiracy began,
and almost a year after Eric and Anna had met and remained in
contact. This ruling was in clear defiance of not only logical
reasoning, but also of case law, which says: “Quite obviously, by the
time a defendant actually commits the crime, he (sic) will have
become disposed to do so.... The relevant time frame for assessing a
defendant’s disposition comes before he has any contact with
government agents, which is doubtless why it is called predisposition
(US v. Poehlman).”

Armed with a set of faulty instructions, the jury returned after two
days of deliberation with a guilty verdict.

The Aftermath

After the delivery of the verdict on September 27, Reichel conducted
informal interviews with members of the jury. Here is a rundown of
what they had to say:

•They wanted to acquit Eric, but felt that they could not because of
the instruction the judge had given them about “first contact” and
“predisposition.”

•They thought that Anna was despicable, and they didn’t believe a
word she said unless it was on tape.

•They were appalled at the behavior of the FBI and told the agents so
to their faces.
While much of this information is validating for Eric and his case,
it’s also maddening to know that Eric would be free today if not for
one jury instruction. However, this bodes well for Eric’s chances of
appeal, which will be the next step in his struggle for freedom.
Unfortunately, this process will take at least a year, and Eric will
remain imprisoned in the meantime.

Lies, Lies, Lies

Not surprisingly, the media and the government have made a number of
inaccurate and misleading statements about Eric and his case. Perhaps
the two most egregious lies made during the trial were that Eric
threatened to kill Anna if she was a cop and that she awoke one night
with him waving a knife over her. There was absolutely no evidence to
support either of these claims, other than the word of an admitted
professional liar. During the time that the second incident was
alleged to have happened, Eric and Anna were in a cabin completely
wired with video and audio surveillance. Yet despite repeated
requests from Reichel, the government never produced any documentary
evidence. When Anna told this story during her testimony (after a
lunch break, after it was clear that the government was grasping at
straws), Reichel asked her if she had gone right back to sleep after
the alleged incident, and she said yes. If you wake up with someone
waving a knife over you, do you fall right back asleep? Both of these
outrageously slanderous statements were clearly meant to smear Eric
in front of the jury.

After the trial, US Attorney McGregor Scott was quoted as saying,
“Can you imagine what would happen if they succeeded in blowing up
Nimbus Dam? It would make New Orleans look like a Sunday pancake
breakfast.” But both Weiner and Jenson testified that Nimbus Dam was
not a target at the time of the group’s arrest in January.

The list of falsehoods, hyperbole and fear-mongering statements made
by the government over the last two years is far too extensive to
detail here. The bottom line is that the government has no qualms
about spouting off the most malicious of lies in its desperate
pursuit to convict innocent people.

A Bit of Context

Eric was arrested amidst the whirlwind government crackdown on
radical environmentalists known as the “Green Scare.” What sets
Eric’s case apart from the majority of these others, however, is that
Eric was not actually charged with carrying out a crime—rather, he
was charged with “conspiracy” to commit one. In essence, Eric was
pursued and arrested for “thought crime.” Nothing makes this more
clear than the prosecution’s non-ironic invocation of association
with CrimethInc. as proof of in itself of criminality. It is unclear
whether the prosecutors are aware that the word they constantly
uttered has the same Orwellian roots as the case itself.

A quick glance at the criminal complaint against Eric and his former
co-defendants (which can be viewed on his web site) reveals the
extent to which the charges against him stemmed from the state’s
targeting of certain lifestyles and political beliefs. The 15-page
complaint uses the words “anarchist,” “anarchy” or “anarchism” 26
times and makes multiple references to CrimethInc., train-hopping and
hitchhiking while tracing Eric’s path across the country to various
political protests and gatherings. The focus on anarchism and
political thought extended into trial, with a rather heavy focus on
the works of one author, Derrick Jensen. At one point, the prosecutor
actually confused Derrick Jensen with co-defendant Zachary Jenson and
claimed that the author had visited Zach’s mom in Tennessee over the
Winter! Derrick Jensen was probably mentioned in the trial more than
anyone other than Eric and his co-defendants.

This case makes it clear how far the government is willing to go to
spy on and repress people based on their politics and lifestyle. Eric
met Anna in August 2004 and the two remained in contact after that
time. It was made clear during trial that Eric had fallen in love
with Anna and that she used his feelings to keep him hooked and,
eventually, to entrap him. Anna manufactured this “crime” by
providing the means for it to occur and by manipulating the three
into doing things that would allow her employers to arrest and
prosecute them. She constantly pushed and cajoled Eric, Weiner and
Jenson when they showed resistance to her plans. She paid for their
entire existence—the cabin they lived in, their travel across the
country, the car they used, the computers they used (which the FBI
later confiscated), groceries and supplies. Weiner testified that
Anna pulled $100 bills out of her pocket and gave them to Eric so
that he could purchase groceries and supplies—leading to Anna’s
outlandish statements during trial that the money the group used came
from Eric and Lauren’s pockets!

Eric was not released on bail because the government said that he
train-hopped, hitchhiked and “lived off the land.” The most the
government had to say about Eric’s predisposition is that he read an
interview of Derrick Jensen and shared it with others. This case is
clearly meant to terrify people who are seeking a way to be free in
their minds and in their lives—to get them to police themselves and
each other in order to avoid persecution.

And Then....

Eric’s struggle is far from over. He is committed to continuing his
fight against these charges through the appeals process. Due to the
many legal errors made by the judge during Eric’s trial and to the
response from the jurors during the informal interviews, we remain
positive about Eric’s chances for appeal.

But this will not be an easy battle. Much work needs to be done in
preparation, and Eric needs support now more than ever. There are a
number of things that you can do to help Eric make it through his
coming months in prison and actualize his freedom. First of all,
appeals are not cheap. Unfortunately, we will need to raise many
thousands of dollars to cover Eric’s legal fees. We need everyone’s
help with this—please start working on fundraisers now and visit
Eric’s web site to make a donation online.

Second, Eric is still without vegan meals. Please call the jail and
request that they resume feeding him meals he can eat.

Third, Eric’s sentencing is scheduled for December 6. We would love
to see the courtroom full of supporters for Eric on that day. Eric is
facing 20 years in prison, and the government has indicated that it
will be pushing for the maximum time. The government also continues
to dangle the threat of a terrorism sentencing enhancement over his
head.

Finally, please take a few minutes and write Eric a letter of
support. Hearing from everyone around the world who keeps him in
their hearts and minds helps keep Eric going day to day.

Eric is an amazing individual. Those of you who know him know how
compassionate and caring he is—how full of integrity and courage he
is, and how he embodies these qualities in his day-to-day life. Eric
has taught us all so much, especially in these last two years. Most
of all, he’s taught us what it means to choose life—to keep pushing
forward and doing what’s right, despite substantial obstacles, and to
infuse every moment with joy and love. After the jury delivered its
verdict, Eric turned to all of us sitting behind him as he was
leaving the courtroom, a look of concern on his face, and reminded us
all: “Breathe....”

Let’s all keep breathing... and keep fighting.

For more information, contact sacprisonersupport@riseup.net;
www.supporteric.org.

Send letters of support to Eric McDavid, X-2972521 4E231A, Sacramento
County Main Jail, 651 I Street, Sacramento, CA 95814.

Sacramento Prisoner Support is based in Sacramento, California, and
has been doing support work for Eric McDavid since his arrest in
January 2006.

http://www.earthfirstjournal.org/article.php?id=326

Tom Ridge: Waterboarding Is Torture

Go to Original

By Eileen Sullivan
The Associated Press

Friday 18 January 2008

Washington - The first secretary of the Homeland Security Department says waterboarding is torture.

"There's just no doubt in my mind - under any set of rules - waterboarding is torture," Tom Ridge said Friday in an interview with the Associated Press. Ridge had offered the same opinion earlier in the day to members of the American Bar Association at a homeland security conference.

"One of America's greatest strengths is the soft power of our value system and how we treat prisoners of war, and we don't torture," Ridge said in the interview. Ridge was secretary of the Homeland Security Department between 2003 and 2005. "And I believe, unlike others in the administration, that waterboarding was, is - and will always be - torture. That's a simple statement."

Waterboarding is a harsh interrogation tactic that was used by CIA officers in 2002 and 2003 on three alleged al-Qaida terrorists. The tactic gives the subject the sensation of drowning.

The CIA has not used the technique since 2003, and CIA Director Michael Hayden prohibited it in 2006, according to U.S. Officials. The debate was recently revived when the CIA revealed it had destroyed videotapes showing the interrogations of two alleged terrorists, both of whom were waterboarded.

Ridge's comments come a week after a report that Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell said he would consider waterboarding torture if it were used against him.

In a separate interview with The Associated Press on Thursday, the current Homeland Security secretary, Michael Chertoff, refused to say what he thinks of the interrogation technique. Chertoff, a former federal prosecutor and judge - who was also assistant attorney general for the Justice Department's Criminal Division in 2002 - said the question should be asked in the context of a specific set of facts and a specific statute and should not be posed abstractly.

"This is too important a discussion to have based on throwing one question at somebody," Chertoff said.

Attorney General Michael Mukasey has declined so far to rule on whether waterboarding constitutes torture. An affirmative finding by Mukasey could put at risk the CIA interrogators who were authorized by the White House in 2002 to waterboard three prisoners deemed resistant to conventional techniques.

Ridge, homeland security adviser and then secretary from 2001 to 2005, said he was not involved in the discussions about CIA interrogation techniques. Rather, his department was a consumer of any intelligence gleaned from them.

"I have no idea how any of the intelligence community extrapolated any information from anybody - where they got it, how they got it, and from whom they got it. But waterboarding is torture."

Ridge, a lawyer, wades into the waterboarding debate with both a military and civilian background. He is also a former Pennsylvania governor and congressman. He has since started his own homeland security consulting firm.

"As a former soldier, I will tell you that we go to great pains, and a lot of men and women, who serve in the military at risk of their own lives, do everything they can to minimize civilian casualties and certainly do everything they can to respect the Geneva Convention."

The House and Senate intelligence committees want to prohibit the CIA from using any interrogation techniques not allowed by the military. That list includes waterboarding. If their intelligence bill containing the restriction is approved by Congress, it almost certainly will face a veto from President Bush.

Saturday, January 19, 2008

Canada manual: US prisoners face torture

By ROB GILLIES, Associated Press Jan 18, 2008

TORONTO - A training manual for Canadian diplomats lists the United
States as a country where prisoners risk torture and abuse, citing
interrogation techniques such as stripping prisoners, blindfolding
and sleep deprivation.

The Foreign Affairs Department document, released Friday, singled out
the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay. It also names Israel,
Afghanistan, China, Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Mexico and Syria as
places where inmates could face torture.

The listing drew a sharp response from the U.S., a key NATO ally and
trading partner, which asked to removed from the manual.

"We find it to be offensive for us to be on the same list with
countries like Iran and China. Quite frankly it's absurd," U.S.
Ambassador David Wilkins told The Associated Press. "For us to be on
a list like that is just ridiculous."

He said the U.S. does not authorize or condone torture. "We think it
should be removed and we've made that request. We have voiced our
opinion very forcefully," Wilkins said.

Michael Mendel, the Israeli Embassy spokesman, said Israel's Supreme
Court "is on record as expressly prohibiting any type of torture. If
Israel is included in the list in question, the ambassador of Israel
would expect its removal," he said.

A Canadian citizen, Omar Khadr, is in custody at Guantanamo, but
Canada has long publicly said it accepts U.S. assurances that Khadr
is being treated humanely.

The government inadvertently released the manual to lawyers for
Amnesty International who are working on a lawsuit involving alleged
abuse of Afghan detainees by local Afghan authorities, after the
detainees were handed over by Canadian troops.

Canada said the manual is for training, and does not amount to
official government policy.

"It is not a policy document or any kind of a statement of policy. As
such it does not convey the government's views or positions," said
Neil Hrab, a spokesman for Canada's Foreign Affairs Department.

"The training manual purposely raised public issues to stimulate
discussion and debate in the classroom."

Human rights groups have long called on Canada to pressure the United
States to return Khadr from Guantanamo. They say Canada has not done
enough for Khadr, who has been in custody since he was 15. Khadr is
accused of tossing a grenade that killed one U.S. soldier and wounded
another in Afghanistan in 2002.

He is the son of an alleged al-Qaida financier, and his family has
received little sympathy in Canada, where they've been called the
"First Family of Terrorism."

Dennis Edney, one of Khadr's lawyers, said the foreign affairs
document shows that Canada says one thing publicly but believes
something else privately.

"Canada was well aware that Omar Khadr's allegations of being
tortured had a ring of truth to it. Canada has not once raised the
protection of Omar Khadr when there are such serious allegations,"
Edney said. "What does that say to you about Canada's commitment to
the rule of law and human rights? It talks on both sides of its face."

Friday, January 18, 2008

Briana Waters Pretrial Conference Hearing

from Olympia Civil Liberties

Briana Waters pretrial Conference Hearing will be on January 25, 2008 at
9am. Please dress and act appropriate for court.

Briana Waters' trial will begin February 11, 2008.

The scope of the investigation has been targeted at several Olympia
residents and groups. It is important that Olympians create a presence
during the trial to bear witness to the events.

More info at www.portlandindymedia.org/greenscare

A Repost:

Tacoma, Washington, U.S. - U.S. District Judge Franklin Burgess today
refused to hear evidence that federal prosecutors and FBI agents had
conspired to and did manipulate evidence to make their case against
accused eco-saboteur Briana Waters. Less than two weeks ago, her lawyer,
Robert Bloom, filed motions that alleged that authorities committed
perjury in their effort to produce evidence that pointed towards Water's
guilt. Bloom asked for a conference with the judge to discuss his charges
against two federal prosecutors and two FBI agents, but was turned down
flat.

Waters was indicted two years ago, on charges that she aided in the
destruction of a research facility that was supposedly conducting
dangerous genetic engineering experiments. The action was claimed in the
name of the Earth Liberation Front. The state's case against her rests
largely, if not entirely, on the word of two admitted arsonists who helped
light the blaze and were caught or turned themselves in about two years
ago.

Previous article:

Seattle, Washington, U.S. - The lawyer of accused Earth Liberation Front
(ELF) lookout, Briana Waters, has charged that two federal prosecutors and
two FBI agents committed perjury to build a case against his client.
Attorney Robert Bloom filed motions for dismissal before U.S. District
Judge Franklin Burgess Wednesday.

Waters, 32, of Berkeley, California, is a violin teacher and the mother of
small child. She was arrested in early 2006 as part of the FBI's Operation
Backfire. Prosecutors say that she acted as a lookout for four individuals
who started a fire, at University of Washington research facility, in
2001. The action was claimed in the name of the ELF.

As for the four individuals prosecutors claim actually started the fire -
two, Jennifer Kolar and Lacey Phillabaum, have been co-operating with
investigators and aiding their efforts to indict others since late 2005
and early 2006. Bill "Avalon" Rodgers took his own life in an Arizona jail
shortly after his arrest and Justin Solondz has yet to be arrested and is
believed to be out of the country. The FBI considers Solondz a "fugitive
from justice."

Waters faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 35 years in federal prison,
if convicted of all charges. Her lawyer claims that the report from a
December, 2005 FBI interview with co-operating government witness Jennifer
Kolar was doctored to include Water's name, when it initially did not. He
also says that evidence of his client's innocence was suppressed. A trial
date is currently set for February 11th.

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Powerless in Prison: Sexual Abuse Against Incarcerated Women

By Nicole Summer, RH Reality Check
http://www.alternet.org/story/73784/

"I am 7 months pregnant [and] I got pregnant here during a sexual assault. I have been sexually assaulted here numerous times! The jailers here are the ones doing it!"

-- excerpt from a letter from an inmate in a jail in Alabama to Stop Prisoner Rape.

Surviving a sexual assault and then navigating the health care system to receive adequate counseling and reproductive medical attention is daunting enough for those who walk freely on the outside. For women in prison, these hurdles can seem insurmountable. Unfortunately, sexual assault, particularly guard-on-prisoner sexual assault, is a fact of life for many incarcerated women, and the ensuing implications for their reproductive health are many.

The power dynamics in prison severely disadvantage the prisoner, who is at the absolute mercy of her guards and correctional officers, relying on them for necessities such as food and for the small privileges and luxuries such as cigarettes. Guards have unlimited access to prisoners and their living environment, including where they sleep and where they bathe. With such an imbalance of power, the likelihood of sexual assault increases. Sexual abuse in prison can range from forcible rape to the trading of sex for certain privileges. While the latter may seem consensual to some, the drastic power disparity makes the idea of "consent" almost laughable. In fact, all 50 states have laws that make any sexual contact between inmates and correctional officers illegal, "consensual" or not. "It's always unacceptable and illegal," says Lovisa Stannow, executive director of Stop Prisoner Rape.

While guard-on-prisoner sexual assault is common, putting a number on the instances is difficult because so many assaults are unreported. As with sexual assault on the outside, many survivors in prison are ashamed and embarrassed to come forward, fear that their claim will be hard to prove or fear that their attackers will retaliate. In prison the fear of retaliation is heightened, as the prisoner continues to live with her attacker controlling her daily life. And inmates who report a sexual assault are frequently put in segregated isolation, ostensibly to protect them from retaliation, but this isolation can be emotionally and physically draining, and well, terribly isolating. And many women in prison have been sexually abused in the past, before they were incarcerated, or are accustomed to using sex to get what they want, on the inside or the outside. "A lot of women don't view it as abuse," says Deborah Golden, staff attorney at the D.C. Prisoners' Project of the Washington Lawers' Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs. About 80 percent of women inmates have already experienced some kind of sexual or physical abuse before prison, says Sarah From, director of public policy and communications at the Women's Prison Association.

Despite the widespread underreporting, some statistics exist. First, there are about 200,000 women incarcerated in the U.S. (in federal, state, local and immigration detention settings), a number that is growing exponentially and that makes up about 10 percent of the total prison population. Amnesty International reports that in 2004, a total of 2,298 allegations of staff sexual misconduct against both male and female inmates were made, and more than half of these cases involved women as victims, a much higher percentage than the 10 percent that women comprise of the total prison population. It can vary from institution to institution, but in the worst prison facilities, one in four female inmates are sexually abused in prison, says Stannow.

The risk of pregnancy as the result of a sexual assault is, of course, a concern for many survivors, incarcerated or not. But obtaining emergency contraception or an abortion, if one is desired, may be more difficult for women on the inside. Because many inmates do not report the sexual assault immediately (if at all), using emergency contraceptionis usually not possible, if it is even available. While prisoners' rights and reproductive rights organizations report hearing few complaints about emergency contraception being inaccessible to women in prison, they are unconvinced that it is widely available. Golden believes emergency contraception should be made readily available and should be on the prison's prescription formulary.

Unlike access to emergency contraception, access to abortion by inmates has seen its way through the courts. Crucially, women do not lose their right to decide to have an abortion just because they are in prison; rather, the issue is how the prison accommodates (or refuses to accommodate) her decision. "There are constitutional minimums," says Diana Kasdan, staff attorney with the ACLU's Reproductive Freedom Project. Although the details can vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, prisons must provide access to an abortion if one is desired. "Providing access" can range from providing transportation to an off-site medical facility, to allowing for a furlough or to providing abortions on-site, although Kasdan says she has not heard of the latter. A court in Arizona recently ruled that a court order to obtain transportation for an abortion cannot be required, and a federal court in Missouri ruled last year that a prison cannot refuse to pay for the transportation of inmates to receive abortions.

Paying for the abortion itself is yet another issue for women inmates, and it is a patchwork quilt of inconsistency throughout the states. Some state prison systems fund abortions, some states refuse to pay for what they consider "elective" abortions and some states simply have no official written policy, research by Rachel Roth has shown. Only two states specifically mention sexual assault in their prison abortion policies; both Minnesota and Wisconsin allow for government-subsidized abortions when the pregnancy results from a sexual assault. The federal Bureau of Prisons also pays for the abortion in the case of sexual assault.

In prison, the possibility of a coerced abortion can hang over an inmate who discovers she is pregnant as the result of a sexual assault by a guard. In a letter to Stop Prisoner Rape, one inmate writes:

A rumor had spread through the facility that I was pregnant. I'm not sure how the rumor got started, but medical staff came to my cell and forced me to provide a urine sample that they could use to test for pregnancy. They did not ask me any questions, offer me any support, or seem at all concerned for my well-being. That same night, three guards, two female and one male, came into my cell, sprayed me in the face with mace, handcuffed me behind my back, threw me down on the ground, and said, "We hear you are pregnant by one of ours and we're gonna make sure you abort." The two female guards began to kick me as the male guard stood watch. The beating lasted about a minute, but it felt like ten or more. Afterwards, the male officer uncuffed me and they left.

The prisoner's rights as a mother, if she becomes pregnant and chooses not to terminate the pregnancy, are complicated, to say the least. Few jurisdictions allow women to keep their children in prison with them once they are born. Frequently, if there is no family member on the outside to take the child, the child will enter the foster care system, and the state will move to terminate the parental rights of the mother because she is absent. The parental rights of mothers in prison is a fraught and complicated issue, one that goes well beyond the particular problem of sexual assault by guards.

Access to counseling after a sexual assault in prison is virtually nonexistent. An inmate cannot simply call a hotline, since all calls are monitored and she has no privacy. When one inmate sought mental health care from prison services after a sexual assault, she was offered sleeping pills, says Golden. "There's no capacity in prisons for talk therapy," she says. And any counseling inside the prison is not confidential. Some community therapists will come in on visiting days to counsel an inmate, but usually only at the behest of a lawyer, says Golden.

Despite the overwhelming power imbalance, guard-on-prisoner sexual assault is preventable, insists Stannow. Efforts such as making sure the staff is well trained, educating the prisoners about their rights, eliminating impunity for guards and following up on reports of sexual abuse would go a long way toward prevention, she says. Congress had similar goals in mind when it unanimously passed the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) in 2003. PREA aims to establish zero-tolerance standards of sexual assaults, to increase data and information on the occurrence of prison sexual assault and to develop and implement national standards for the detection, prevention, reduction and punishment of prison sexual assault. "PREA has been enormously important in ending sexual violence in detention," said Stannow. "Congress made clear that it's a problem that must be addressed." Perhaps most excitingly, PREA created a federal commission to generate binding national standards regarding sexual violence in detention. But "the existence of the law doesn't mean the problem is gone," Stannow continues. "Now we need to make sure that we build on the momentum of the law to make every corrections system in the country acknowledge that sexual violence in detention is a major problem, and does everything it can to end it."

One of the largest obstacles to eliminating prison sexual assault is the "social invisibility" of prisons. The general public neither knows nor cares about the plight of the incarcerated, and thus cannot demand that its government properly protect prisoners' bodily integrity and rights. Perhaps PREA is the beginning of the end of this social invisibility.

Nicole Summer is a writer and lawyer living in New York City.