BAYER honours war criminal Fritz ter Meer

PRESS RELEASE, November 14, 2006
Coalition against Bayer Dangers

BAYER honours war criminal Fritz ter Meer

Fritz ter Meer´s grave

BAYER continues to refuse to openly distance itself from the convicted war criminal Fritz ter Meer. On All Saints Day the company again had a wreath laid on ter Meer’s grave in Krefeld-Uerdingen (Germany).

Ter Meer, born in 1884, was a board member of IG Farben from 1925. During the Second World War he was responsible for the construction of the IG Farben factory in Auschwitz, in which around 30 000 slave labourers went to their deaths. In July 1948 at the Nuremberg IG Farben trial ter Meer was sentenced to seven years in prison for enslavement and looting. During questioning he maintained that no specific suffering was inflicted on the slave labourers “because without this they would have been killed anyway”.

After his release from prison, ter Meer became Chairman of the Board of BAYER. After his death in 1967 Bayer named a student support foundation the “Fritz ter Meer Foundation”.

Axel Köhler-Schnura from the Coalition Against BAYER Dangers: „It is unacceptable that BAYER honours a war criminal like Fritz ter Meer and at the same time refuses to adequately and justly compensate the victims and their descendants. BAYER must face up to its share of the responsibility for the Nazi reign of terror, the war and slave labour.” Köhler-Schnura points out that for decades BAYER refused to pay compensation to surviving slave labourers. Only when international protests threatened the company’s reputation did it hesitantly agree to pay damages - more than 50 years after the end of the war.

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Justice for Nicole, Justice for Philippines - The Subic Rape Case

N.B. Below is the petition drafted by the Task Force Subic Rape. To add your signature, please follow this link.

The trial of the Subic Rape Case in which four U.S. servicemen have been accused of raping a Filipina is coming to an end. We wholeheartedly commend the victim “Nicole” for gathering the courage to defend her dignity and demand justice for herself and our nation.We believe that the Subic rape case is a landmark case for being the first that has come to trial in our country against U.S. servicemen, and for its importance in challenging the implementation of the Anti-rape Law in the furtherance of women’s rights.It is frustrating indeed that Justice Sec. Raul Gonzales showed lack of sensitivity and resoluteness to defend the victim and the interests of the Filipino people by consistently acting and issuing statements inimical to the case, i.e., downgrading the case of three U.S. marines, insinuating that Nicole could be merely imagining the prosecutors’ “incompetence” just as she may have imagined being raped, and his stubborn refusal to change the prosecutors in spite of the unethical and unprofessional conduct of the senior prosecutor.

We denounce the lead state prosecutor’s attempt to broker a deal for Nicole to withdraw her case, thus acquitting the U.S. marines in exchange for some compensation and possible sojourn in the United States. At the same time, insinuations were made that a Jocjoc Bolante deal could ensue if the case is not settled soon.

We support Nicole and her family in their refusal to further attend the trial due to their absolute loss of trust and confidence in the state prosecutors, whom Nicole and her family accused of “incompetence” in cross-examining the U.S. marines, particularly the No. 1 principal accused, a situation aggravated by the refusal of the lead state prosecutor to allow Nicole’s private counsel to participate in the cross examination.

We believe that the Subic Rape Trial has denied due process and fair trial to the victim Nicole through the one-year limitation period for trial imposed by the Visiting Forces Agreement.

We renew our call for the Senate to scrap the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) for undermining our laws and judicial system, extending more rights and privileges to U.S. soldiers and denying equal treatment to Filipino citizens. Moreover, the VFA has been a convenient cover for continuing U.S. intelligence and military operations in the country in pursuit of U.S. military adventurism and their strategic economic interest in this region.

We firmly believe that the ultimate judge of this case will be the Filipino people in their aspirations for justice and national sovereignty, and in solidarity with people’s movements everywhere to establish the conditions for lasting peace.

We, the undersigned, therefore, call on the Filipino people to rally behind Nicole who as a rape survivor is fighting not only for herself but for the dignity of all Filipinos, and for the sake of Filipino women and men who are at risk from various types of abuse that may arise from the Visiting Forces Agreement.

Further information concerning the Suic Rape Case:

• GMA 7 Special Features on the Subic Rape Case
• Nicole Information Bureau
  
• and Health (GWH)
• INQ7 Special Features on the Subic Rape Case
• Salidumay: Online Resource and Advocacy Website for Gender and Development
• Sexual Violence Research Initiative
• Task Force Subic Rape
• UP Center for Women's Studies
• UP Manila-Center for Gender and Women Studies
• UP Manila-Office of Anti-Sexual Harrassment
• UP PGH-Women's Desk
• Women's Crisis Center
• World Health Organization Department of Gender, Women and Health (GWH)

Online Petition: Justice for Nicole, Justice for our Nation « The Subic Rape Case

African refugees force Spanish deportation plane to land

According to the spanish newspaper El Periódico a group of 30 Africans who were to be deported from its colonial remaining the Spanish enclave in Noth Africa Melilla to Guinea Bissau managed to overpower the police forces on the plane and forced the pilot to land in the spanish city of Malaga.
nordClick

Successful Anti Nazi Demo in Bremen

Several thousand people have hit the streets of Bremen on the 4th of November 2006 to stop the Nazis from demonstrating in the Neighbourhoods of Walle and Gröpelingen.
Even though the police was quite brutal and arrested many people who were trying to block the route of the nazis the antifascist demonstration was able to break the first line of the police entered the area the nazis planned to march withstood the attempts by the police to push them away and succeeded in this way to strongly shorten the route of the nazi demonstration. After a few hundered metres they had to turn back!

http://www.keinen-meter.de/

ksm - THE STRUGGLE 4KSM GOES ON

KSM, Czech Republic, Dissolution of the KSM October 16, 2006

Dear Comrades,
The Communist Youth Union (KSM) in the Czech Republic has been officially dissolved by the state power on October 12, 2006.

On October 16, 2006 the KSM has received a letter from the Ministry of Interior of the Czech Republic that announces that the Ministry of Interior finally dissolved the KSM. It happened in spite of a large campaign against the danger of illegalization of the organization of young communists in the Czech Republic.

Thousands of citizens of the Czech Republic signed a petition against the endeavour of the Ministry of Interior to make the KSM illegal. The protest against the illegalization of the KSM was in the Czech Republic expressed for example by organization of former antifascist fighters, student organizations, political parties and civic associations. A great resistance was provoked by the endeavour of the Ministry of Interior to make the KSM illegal abroad. Hundreds of significant youth and student organizations, trade unions and political parties together with thousands of people protested at the Ministry of Interior and embassies of the Czech Republic in their countries. The solidarity with the KSM was expressed by a large number of members of parliaments, famous intellectuals and personalities like Nobel Prize winner Dario Fo, leader of zapatistas Marcos or singer Bono Vox from U2. Demonstrations in support of the KSM were organized in front of embassies of the Czech Republic in many countries of the world. World Federation of Democratic Youth initiated an International day of solidarity with the KSM on February 27, 2006.

The Ministry of Interior originally impugned the status of the KSM as a civic association under pretext that the goals of KSM´s activity interfered with an area restricted to activities of political parties. The Ministry of Interior further stated that behaviour of the KSM was illegal because it was based on theoretical basis in Marx, Engels and Lenin and on proclaimed necessity of socialist revolution.

Nevertheless, the Ministry of Interior did not use any of those arguments for the dissolution of the KSM. The only reason that has led officially to the dissolution of the KSM is that the KSM reflects in its Program necessity of replacing of the private ownership of means of production with collective ownership of means of production.

The KSM in spite of its official dissolution by the state power is going to carry on the struggle for the rights of majority of young people - students, young workers and unemployed � and for socialism! The KSM is going to challenge the decision of the Ministry of Interior in court.

The illegalization of the KSM was committed in the atmosphere of militant anticommunist witch-hunt, various anticommunist campaigns and attacks and new calls for the criminalization of the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (KSCM). The decision of the Ministry of Interior was realized only one week before local and Senate elections in which the KSCM participates.

Dear comrades and friends,

It is necessary to stand up internationally against this illegalization and criminalization of the communist movement in the Czech Republic. We ask you therefore to express your solidarity with the KSM and to protest against this unprecedented move of the Ministry of Interior of the Czech Republic at the embassies of the Czech Republic in your countries. Their addresses are on the following internet page: http://www.mzv.cz/wwwo/mzv/default.asp?ido=7904&idj=2&amb=1&ikony=False& trid=2&prsl=False&pocc1=

We ask you simultaneously to inform us about your activities on our e-mail: international@ksm.cz or on fax: ++420 222 897 449.

You may also sign following petitions: http://4ksm.kke.gr (initiated by the Communist Party of Greece), http://wfdy-ksm.kne.gr (initiated by the World Federation of Democratic Youth).

We ask you for publishing this information about antidemocratic act of the Czech state power in the media in your countries.

We ask you also for any other kind of solidarity.

With your international support it is possible and it is vital to defeat all the anticommunist and antidemocratic attacks!

Long live international solidarity!

International Department Communist Youth Union (KSM)

SOLIDARITY WITH THE COMMUNIST YOUTH UNION - KSM

We, the undersigned, vehemently protest the arbitrary judicial actions taken by the Ministry of Interior of the Czech Republic aiming to repeal the "civic association" status of the Communist Youth Union - KSM.

These actions, rooted on political and ideological discrimination, can only be considered as part of an unjust , anti-democratic and anti-communist campaign, that seeks to restrict the freedom of association and expression of the Czech Republic's people and, in particular, of its youth.

The initiatives against KSM are an inadmissible form of political and ideological manipulation which, in targeting the Communists attempt once again to criminalize communist ideology and any social action demanding implementation of the legitimate aspirations of the youth regarding peace, education, work, solidarity, a clean environment and progressive culture for all.

The attempt to coerce the KSM into changing its ideological base, or have its activity banned represents, just a short time before the parliamentary elections, a new and serious attack as well as against the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia,a Party that is the 3rd most influential in the country's Parliament.

In effect these measures directly undermine a full range of liberties and democratic guarantees for the people of the Czech Republic.

This new action by the Czech government aims to give new impetus to the various discriminations targeting al ready the communists and whitewashing the crimes carried out by the supporters of fascist and Nazi ideology and policy.

We express our full solidarity with the Communist Youth Union - KSM , with the communists and other progressive minded people of the Czech Republic in their fight in defence of elementary democratic rights and liberties.

We demand the immediate end to the attacks and direct steps to restore basic democratic liberties for the Czech youth and the free action of the Communist Youth Union - KSM.

Τελευταία αλλαγή 2006-10-18 02:57 PM

4ksm - THE STRUGGLE 4KSM GOES ON

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


Español:

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/