Emergency in Oaxaca

Emergency communiqué, Mexican chapter of "In Defense of Humanity"

Emergency communiqué, issued today, Oct. 29, from the Mexican chapter of “In Defense of Humanity". (In Defense of Humanity was formed in Venezuela, Dec. 2004, by intellectuals, artists and artists from around the world.)

“At this moment, 5:15 in the afternoon, the people of Oaxaca are heroically resisting the brutal aggression of the federal police (army in police uniform), which is taking over the city of Oaxaca, with teargas and pepper spray, bulldozers, helicopters and tanks.

Radio University is in danger of being taken over in the same manner, although it is protected with barricades. In many cities throughout the country, movilizations in defense and solidarity with the Oaxacan popular movement are taking place.

Detained compañeros are being taken away in a helicopter. There are house searches and violence in the city and surrounding area. The delinquent and criminal governor of the state, Ulises Ruiz, refuses to step down. There is confrontation in the Technological University because of the people’s resistance, and numerous injuries from the gases.

We emphasize that the resistance is a peaceful resistance of the masses.

We reiterate our call for solidarity from the sister chapters of In Defense of Humanity, and all people of good will. We ask you to protest at the embassies and consular offices of Mexico in your respective countries, against the repressor Vicente Fox.

--Mexican Chapter, In Defense of Humanity


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En este momento (5.15 de la tarde), el pueblo oaxaqueño esta resistiendo heroicamente a la agresión brutal de la Policía Federal Preventiva (ejército en uniforme policíaco), misma que con gases lacrimógenos y pimienta, toletasos, trascabos, helicópteros y tanquetas esta tomando la ciudad de Oaxaca.

Radio Universidad se ve amenazada de ser tomada de la misma manera, aunque está protegida con un cerco de barricadas. Se están llevando a cabo en muchas ciudades del país movilizaciones en defensa y en solidaridad con el movimiento popular oaxaqueño.

Están subiendo a compañeros detenidos a un helicóptero. Hay cateos en casas y violencias en la ciudad y sus alrededores. El delincuente y criminal gobernador del estado se niega a renunciar. En el Tecnológico se están dando enfrentamientos ya que la gente esta resistiendo, hay numerosos lesionados por los gases.

Cabe resaltar que la resistencia es una resistencia pacifica de masas.

Reiteramos la demanda de solidaridad de los capítulos hermanos En Defensa de la Humanidad y de todas las personas de buena voluntad. Les pedimos protestar en las embajadas y oficinas consulares de México en sus países en contra del represor Vicente Fox.

-- Capítulo México de En Defensa de la Humanidad

Refugees on strike demonstrate in Hannover

On Wednesday the 25th of October a demonstration went through the center of the capital of Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen) to protest against the inhuman treatment of refugees by the government of this state. Many refugees of the isolation and deportation camp Blankenburg outside the city of Oldenburg came to express their protest. They are already on a strike since 4th of October. Being on strike means to boycott the ugly food they are served inside the camp and to boycott the one-euro jobs inside the camp.

Many protest actions have been taking place in the frame of their strike.

Delegates from the deportation camps in Bramsche-Hesepe and Braunschweig joined the demonstration, too.

The start was in front of the central station.

At the parliament of Lower Saxony a delegation spoke to some parliamentarians.

To the Ministery of Inner Affairs (Innenministerium) the office being primarily responsible for the refugees misery a declaration was issued.

http://www.alhambra.de/nolager/

Petition to Chairmanship of TBMM the Grand National Assemby of Turkey

Women constitute to half the population of our country, unfortunately they only represent 4.36 percent of the parliament and only 1 percent in local municipals. Due to the male dominancy in the political field it makes it difficult for women to participate and be represented. It is quite clear that not having the representation of women in politics is by all means is a deficient democracy. An arrangement is essential to overcome this deficiency, such as a quota system. “Joint Presidency” is also a positive practice in political parties to serve and establish gender equality in society. Our country has accepted CEDAW and expressed that they will ensure social gender equality during the EU adoptation process, however, the quota sistem has not been adopted in laws and regulations and it also according to Act 2820 of Political Parties Act prohibits “Joint Presidency”. The supreme court has found that “Joint Presidency” is contrary to the Political Parties Act in accordance with article 15, which states the following: “The Party president is elected at a general congress during an election with concealed vote and quorum (the overall majority of full member participation)… The presentation is belongs to the general president… The general president is the natural president of central decision and administrational board…”

We who have signed this document below: Believe that the joint presidency (the general presidency executed by more than one person) system will give an end to the leadership culture of party administration, it will give positive support to women in the political field and we call for article 15 of Act 2820 of the Political Parties Act to be changed in order to open the way for join presidency.

Desinformation by chef of ZAAB Oldenburg Mr Lüttgau | The Caravan

Since the beginning of the strike of the refugees in the ZAAB Blankenburg the chef of the lager, Mr. Lüttgau, has made several assertions to the press in order to make the legitimate protest of the refugees appear illegitimate. We want to confront his statements with our view. His publicely made statements are well intended desinformation. But the public has a right to get answers from the side of the refugees concerned.

The first assertion which Lüttgau is repeating again and again is that it is only a minority of 50 people who takes part in the strike. We want to make clear that the first big demonstration in the lager, on Monday the 4th of october was supported by the absolute majority of the refugees present in the camp. About 200 people participated in it. After this it was decided to go on strike and this was also supported by the vast majority of the refugees. It was only as a result of the massive presence of the police and the intimidation by transfering refugees to other camps and having people to have to go to their embassies that refugees became afraid to appear in public. Pictures were taken on demonstrations by people working in the lager and then these were compared with the passports in the camp. The passive boycott of the cantine in the lager and the strike against the one-euro-jobs is still supported by the majority of refugees.

The chef of the camp Mr. Lüttgau and the minister of the interior of Niedersachsen assert again and again that the protests are run from outside the lager, by the antiracist plenum in Oldenburg and the NoLager-network. We want to make it clear: The anti-lager-days at the end of september offered a platform for the refugees to talk about the living conditions in the camp and to get information about their rights. This offer was used by the refugees. The rumor, that “aggressive chaotic people who were dangerous would linger before the camp” did not stop the refugees from participating in large numbers in the anti-lager days. On the Anti-Lager-days strike as a form of protest was not discussed. “The decision to strike was taken by the refugees alone”, said Ronald Sperling, a speaker of the antiracist plenary in Oldenburg. “They were glad to have allies in their struggle for their rights”. The strike and the demonstration on the 4th october in the lager was decided only by refugees. The acitivists of the antiracist plenary and the NoLager-network were not involved. They are supporting the refugees in their protest and in their struggle for their rights. “The demands were put together by the refugees themselves. We only transport them to the public”, said Olaf Bernau from the strike alliance.

One further assertion in order to difame the strike is that pressure is put on other refugees to take part in the strike. This argument shall make the suggestion that the strike can only be implemented with the use of violence against the majority of camp inhabitants. “Is is obvious that this is done in order to defer the interest from the fact, that the demands of the striking refugees correspond with what not only human rights organizations and representatives of voluntary welfare work but also Bündnis 90/Die Grünen have been demanding for years.”

At the same time Mr. Lüttgau claims in press articles again and again the image of the allegedly violent and criminal wheelings and dealings of the refugees. In an interview in the NWZ on the 13.10. he said that “mainly Blacks” come here, in order “to earn a lot of money in a short time in order to pay their tugs (Schlepper)”. By doing this the chef of the ZAAB Oldenburg is stiring up open racism. This goes along with not accepting refugees as equal partners for conversation, but defaming their demands as being over the top and inaceptable. It is the right of the refugees to practice their right of freedom to assemble and freedom to their opinion and to fight for the amelioration of their situation. Acting in a democratic way would mean to listen to the demands of the refugees and be able to stop the defects. “Instead of criminalizing the protest, there should be a political debate about the camp politics in Niedersachsen”, said Ronald Sperling from the antiracist plenary Oldenburg. “It is the crucial point that Niedersachsen explicitly counts on the camp politicis.” They claim that only by this the needed pressure in order to force refugees to ‘voluntary return’ can be put on them, if they are not deported immediately or driven into illegality. This would be the reason why Niedersachsen belongs to the minority of Bundesländer, which does not pay cash to refugees.

Desinformation by chef of ZAAB Oldenburg Mr Lüttgau | The Caravan

Manuela Aflanou has lost her unborn baby because of Germanys treatment of asylum seekers

Manuela Aflanou must live in the remote camp of Blankenburg outside the city limits of Oldenburg. In July of this year has lost her unborn baby, because she the necessary medical tratment was refused to her.

Before she has got the serius problems with her baby she was suffering from the forced malnutrition due to the extra low vitamin diet being given to the refugees in Blankenburg
Alhambra Internetzeitung - Schwere Vorwürfe

Solidarity Congress for Venezuela, 28./29.10.2006

Convención Internacionalista, 28./29.10.2006
Defensa de la Soberana Bolivariana - Apoyo al Nuevo Mandato Bolivariano del presidente Hugo Chávez Frías

On December 3rd presidential elections will take place in Venezuela. According to all opinion polls available, 60% of the electorate will be voting for the re-election of President Hugo Chavez. During the seven years of his government the project of the Bolivarian Revolution has resulted in unique reforms in the educational system and the public health service, in the redistribution of more than two million hectare of land for the benefit of 150 000 families, and in economic growth with social justice. Among the poor popular masses a broad Bolivarian, anti-oligarchic and anti-imperialist movement has been emerging. This dynamic process to overcome the structures of the former system is reflected in the programme of Hugo Chavez, which means the sovereign development of the country opposed to US- imperialism, a participative peoples democracy and a new concept of socialism of the 21st century.

Within the last few years the Bolivarian government and movement in Venezuela have contributed decisively to broaden the anti-imperialist opposition to the US-Empire by condemning the war crimes of the USA and its allies, by showing solidarity with the nations attacked and threatened and by making concrete steps to enhance an international cooperation of the anti-imperialist movements.

Furthermore, the experiences gained in the process of building a new society with the perspective of a socialist development are a chance to develop alternative ideas of popular power and social justice resulting from and based on the anti-imperialist resistance.

The effects of the successful development of Venezuela on other Latin-American states and the positive reception of this development in Arab countries and movements opposing the US-American world order have alerted Washington. Faced with the dilemma of a re-election of Comandante Chavez, which appears to become reality, and with the traditional pro-American parties in Venezuela being completely disreputed, the USAs option is discrediting the elections internationally. The Pentagons wild claims about democracy being at stake mean nothing less than the fact that real democracy and sovereignty of the respective country is on the USAs black list. The USA will go to any lengths to prevent another Bolivarian mandate so as to stop the development of the radical changes which have begun to take shape in Venezuela.

Facing this situation, the European and international opposition against the US-American Empire is being called upon to raise their voices and take steps against the propaganda war of the USA and its allies.

We therefore invite all the democratic and anti-imperialist movements to participate in a solidarity congress in support of the people and the government of Venezuela, to express the support of the peoples of the world for the re-election of President Chavez.

Furthermore the experiences on the transition to a new social concept (The Socialism of the 21st Century) will be discussed with representatives of the Bolivarian popular movement and government, in order to enrich and strengthen the debate on social and political alternatives to the imperialist globalization inside the international resistance movement against the US-Empire.

Organizers

* Breites Bndnis für Kolumbien, Berlin
* Initiativ e. V., Duisburg
* Antiimperialistische Koordination Wien

Stop Nazis from marching in Bremen

On the 4th of November Nazis want to have a demonstration in Bremen. But we say "not even one meter!"

Come and join the protests against the nazis and help to stop their hate march.

Transnational antiracist day of action in Hamburg October 2006

On the transnational day of migration-related actions, about 6-700 people from Northern Germany, among them many refugees, demonstrated in Hamburg for freedom of movement, against camps and deportations, for the right to stay and equal rights for all. Although it was raining cats and dogs, people were in high spirits. This was due to suitable music from the truck with loudspeakers and informations about a new global passport, which was available on the demonstration, and also to several speeches, telling about struggles here and elsewhere.

In the opening speach, it was explained how it came to this transnational day of action, which was adopted on the European Social Forum in May 2006 and signed by more than 200 groups from all over Europe and Africa. Actions took place in nine German towns, eight European and four African countries. Resistance against the European migration policies, also in Africa, was made public and relations to the situation in Hamburg were underlined

After this, refugees from the camp Blankenburg near Oldenburg reported about their strike, which they are organizing since the 4th of october against the inhuman conditions there. They called for support for their demand for better food, medical treatment and an end of the harrassments by the staff of the camp. In general they demand an end of the policies of isolation, which means of the forced accomodation in camps, and instead of this the right to live in normal houses.



Later a woman from Afghanistan told about her situation as a refugee, threatened by deportation. An organisation of Iranian refugees demanded different policies of migration and external affairs. Another speaker asked how Germany would look like, if there would be a legalisation of all undocumented people, free health care for all and no deportations, and if there were no fences around Europe - a utopia, which we wish to become true!

In front of a prison, which is also being used as deportation prison, the Hamburg policies of exclusion and deportation were explained and especially the transfer of the "reception center" for refugees from Hamburg to Nostorf/Horst, a camp in the forest in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and the new central data base to register school children and by this identify undocumented people, were critisized.

In the end, refugees from Togo demanded a stop of deportation to this country, which is still ruled by a family clan dictatorship. The Caravan for the Rights of Refugees presented herself. People called for a demonstration on the 16th of november in Nuernberg, where the conference of the interior ministers of Germany will take place, in order to demand an unconditional right to stay and papers for all.

Almost exactly at the end of the demonstration, when the participants went into a cultural center to get some food, the rain stopped and the sun came out - a sign of hope and of new perspectives, which were opened by this transnational day of action? You find the call for the Hamburg demonstration and more information about it as well as about actions in other towns and countries, tomorrow also some of the speaches, on www.fluechtlingsrat-hamburg.de and www.noborder.org

Refugees carry strike inside Oldenburg city center

The refugees of the Blankenburg lager who went on strike on Wednesday organized todays demonstration in the centre of Oldenburg, to inform the public about their demands and to bring their protest to a higher level. Many people have come to support the refugees, even if the demonstration was planed and organized in less than two days.

The refugees demand the right to cook for themselfes and not being forced to eat the incredible bad food of the cantine. the right to achieve money in order to buy food and clothes, they demanded a camp staff and security who are not full with racist prejudies against the refugees they are supposed to work for (and not against), the transfer to other places after a short period of time but the stop of any transfers to Germanys "Guantanamo" in Bramsche Hesepe and generally to be treated with the respect every human being deserves.

The strike against the food and the "one Euro jobs" continues until the administration of the camp agrees for betterment!

Uprising in Blankenburg (near Oldenburg)

Last weekend the nolager actiondays have taken place in Blankenburg. Today refugees of the camp have started an unlimited boycott of the food. in particular they demand that they can prepare their food themselves. about 200 refugees are involved. a meeting with the chief of the camp has already taken place. and there were some confrontations with the police (including a teargas-attack against one woman).

The refugees have announced to continue the protests until the situation has improved. It is clear that solidarity is needed in many ways. Spontanius visits at the lager are highly welcomed by the refugees. Please look out for further informations.

Action days in front of Blankenburg ended successfully

The No lager action days in front of the Blankenburg isolation camp for outside the Oldenburg city limits have successfully ended. many refugees participated in the discussions and the activities against the Lager system and the racist administration against all refugees. The demonstration in the city center of Oldenburg was attended by 350 people.









"Michael Warum?" Michael, (see in this picture) is one of the refugee activists from the deportation camp Bramsche Hesepe who were forcefully taken to another place. Now he has to stay in Blankenburg. But he still does not stop protesting against the dehumanisation refugees are facing by the authorities. This banner is asking, why Michael was brought to Blankenbung in handcuffs.