Nehru U. Students/Cultural Activists branded “Naxals”, arrested

[Political protests and cultural expressions of oppoosition to the repressive and undemocratic Indian state continue to grow, and the States’ response continues to be: slander the opposition, call all activists “Naxals” or “Maoists”, and round them up for some combination of interrogation, torture, or disappearance–and thereby create a climate of fear for other activists and political opponents.  It is the common method of repressive regimes everywhere, including India. — Frontlines ed.]

  26 August 2013
by Nupur Sonar, Tehelka
JNU Student arrested in Gadhchiroli for alleged Naxal links

August 25, 2013

Hem Mishra, a student of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and executive
member of Committee for Release of Political Prisoners (CRPP) was arrested
along with two others by the Gadhchiroli police in Aheri on Friday morning
for having alleged Naxal links. The two others identified as Mahesh Tirki
and Ram Purate belong to Murawala region.

Although reports of his arrest have been rife in some sections of the local
and national media since this morning, the police had neither confirmed nor
denied his arrest. However, speaking to TEHELKA, DIG Ravindra Kadam has now
confirmed the arrest.  “A courier from senior most female Naxal leader
Narmada Akka was recovered from Mishra apart from other ‘incriminating
material’ and he was seen moving around suspiciously in the area for two
days prior to his arrest,” he said.

All Who Oppose War Crimes: “We Are Bradley Manning”

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Statement of the Center for Constitutional Rights:

He Should Never Have Been Prosecuted

August 21, 2013 – Today, in response to the sentencing of Pfc. Bradley Manning, the Center for Constitutional Rights issued the following statement.

We are outraged that a whistleblower and a patriot has been sentenced on a conviction under the Espionage Act. The government has stretched this archaic and discredited law to send an unmistakable warning to potential whistleblowers and journalists willing to publish their information. We can only hope that Manning’s courage will continue to inspire others who witness state crimes to speak up.

Statement by Bradley Manning: On Being Sentenced

by Bradley Manning
August 21, 2013

The following is a transcript of the statement made by Pfc. Bradley Manning as read by David Coombs at a press conference on Wednesday after Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison.

The decisions that I made in 2010 were made out of a concern for my country and the world that we live in. Since the tragic events of 9/11, our country has been at war. We’ve been at war with an enemy that chooses not to meet us on any traditional battlefield, and due to this fact we’ve had to alter our methods of combating the risks posed to us and our way of life.

I initially agreed with these methods and chose to volunteer to help defend my country. It was not until I was in Iraq and reading secret military reports on a daily basis that I started to question the morality of what we were doing. It was at this time I realized in our efforts to meet this risk posed to us by the enemy, we have forgotten our humanity. We consciously elected to devalue human life both in Iraq and Afghanistan. When we engaged those that we perceived were the enemy, we sometimes killed innocent civilians. Whenever we killed innocent civilians, instead of accepting responsibility for our conduct, we elected to hide behind the veil of national security and classified information in order to avoid any public accountability

Egypt on the brink of a new dark age, as the generals close in for the kill

Patrick Cockburn, The Independent, 18 August 2013

World View: Compromise is no longer feasible, and the army controls the levers of power. But can its victory be conclusive?

All parties in Egypt have overplayed their hands in the two and a half years since the fall of Hosni Mubarak in 2011. In the first months it was the army high command deceiving itself into believing it could marginalise those demanding radical democratic change. Then it was President Mohamed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood interpreting a narrow electoral victory as a mandate to rule alone. With the overthrow of Morsi by the army on 3 July and the massacre of Muslim Brotherhood followers on 14 August, the Egyptian army is gambling that it can win an outright victory and crush the Brotherhood, eliminating it permanently from Egyptian political life.

Too much blood has flowed for compromise to be feasible. Plausible suggestions made in early August about how the crisis might be brought under control now look out of date. Perhaps such hopes were always delusory: the army was never going to cede power back to Muslim Brotherhood leaders whom it had just put in jail, and those leaders were not going to legitimise a military coup against a legally elected government.

Egyptian court orders Mubarak released from prison

[Weeks after the military coup in Egypt–which the US declared a non-coup and a move toward democracy, and which the Wall Street Journal (echoing the imperialist Kissinger) urged to take the role of Chile’s Pinochet–the Egyptian military launched a reign of murderous terror against both the Muslim and other opposition sectors.  Campaigns to urge the US and EU countries to stop financing the blood-soaked Egyptian military were denounced by Israel, and Saudi Arabia announced that if any Western powers reduce their aid to Egypt, Saudi petrodollars will make up the difference.  And now, these counter-revolutionary and counter-democratic moves takes another step, with the release of the butcher Mubarak from jail.  The challenge for the democratic and revolutionary people in Egypt has never been higher.  —  Frontlines ed.]

By Abigail Hauslohner, Washington Post, Wednesday, August 21, 2013

CAIRO —Former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak could leave prison as early as Wednesday night, government officials and legal experts said, after a Cairo court ordered the release of the deposed autocrat who ruled Egypt for three decades.Mubarak’s release would constitute a dramatic blow to the broad protest movement that forced his removal from office in February 2011. It would also lend credibility to the Islamist opposition’s claims that the old regime is reasserting itself following a July 3 military coup that ousted Mohamed Morsi, the country’s first democratically elected president. Egyptian security services in recent weeks have launched a deadly crackdown against Morsi’s allies.

Bradley Manning sentenced to 35 years for exposing war crimes

 

Summary by The Guardian, August 21, 2013

A quick summary of where things stand:

• A court-martial sentenced Pfc. Bradley Manning to 35 years in prison for leaking government secrets. Manning is to be dishonorably discharged. He loses all pay. He is convicted of six Espionage Act violations. The sentence is expected to be appealed.

• Manning, 25, is eligible for parole. He must first serve at least a third of his sentence. He has more than three years’ time served and has been credited 112 days for his “inhuman” treatment in a Quantico brig in 2010-11. In a best-case scenario for Manning, he might be released before he turned 35.

• Judge Denise Lind announced the sentence in a hearing that lasted about two minutes. Manning had no visible reaction to the verdict. There were gasps from the crowd. As Manning was led out, supporters shouted “we’ll keep fighting for you, Bradley,” and “you’re our hero.” 

• The ACLU, Amnesty International and other rights advocates and Manning supporters decried the verdict. It is unjust for Manning to spend decades in prison when the perpetrators of the wartime atrocities he exposed go free, Manning supporters argue.

It’s “seriously wrong” for a soldier who shared information with the public to be punished “far more harshly than others who tortured prisoners and killed civilians,” the ACLU says in a statement on the Manning sentence:

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A legal system that doesn’t distinguish between leaks to the press in the public interest and treason against the nation will not only produce unjust results, but will deprive the public of critical information that is necessary for democratic accountability. This is a sad day for Bradley Manning, but it’s also a sad day for all Americans who depend on brave whistleblowers and a free press for a fully informed public debate.

Amnesty International called on President Obama to commute the sentence. “Bradley Manning should be shown clemency in recognition of his motives for acting as he did, the treatment he endured in his early pre-trial detention, and the due process shortcomings during his trial,” AI’s Widney Brown said. “The president doesn’t need to wait for this sentence to be appealed to commute it; he can and should do so right now.”

California Prisoners’ Supporters: “Outrage Over CDCR Force Feeding Plans”

For Immediate Release—August 19, 2013

Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity

Oakland—Supporters of prisoners who are on the 43rd day of hunger strike are expressing outrage at an order signed today by a federal judge allowing strikers to be force fed, disregarding international human rights principles.

“CDCR justifies asking for the order to force feed by claiming that the widespread hunger strike is ‘orchestrated’ by gangs, that the massive participation and support for the demands is coerced and that prisoners have signed ‘do not resuscitate’ directives under duress,” according to Claude Marks of the Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity Coalition. “This order violates all international laws and standards and gives the medical director of each prison authority to violate human rights laws instead of reasonably negotiating with prisoners.” Thousand of prisoners have united to challenge the torture of prolonged isolation, demanding an accountable process to challenge the gang validations that have kept them in security housing for decades.

Continues Marks, “”This approach, much like Guantanamo, sets the US apart from all related international human rights standards.”

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‘We are all Trayvon Martin’ mural unveiled at Florida State Capitol

The Trayvon Martin mural by Huong

By Jessica Chasmar, The Washington Times, Sunday, August 11, 2013

A mural showing a man shooting another man resembling Trayvon Martin in a hoodie was unveiled Friday at the Florida State Capitol in Tallahassee, a local CBS affiliate reported Friday.

Miami artist Huong, from Vietnam, released the 100-foot mural she’s calling “We All Are Trayvon Martin.” The painting has those words written in several languages, as well as images of civil rights leaders like the Rev Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with blood flowing from his head.

The man pointing the gun looks similar to George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch leader who was acquitted in the shooting death of Martin, and he’s shooting a person wearing a hoodie, much like the one Martin was wearing the night of his death. According to the report, there is a mirror in the mural where the teenager’s face would be so visitors can see themselves in his image.

Bangladeshi Maoists open critical discussion with Nepali Maoists

[Developments and struggles between revolutionary and revisionist political lines in Nepal, among many who have identified themselves as Maoists (in one sense or another), continue to spark polemics among revolutionaries in South Asia as well as throughout the world.  In this Open Letter from Maoists in Bangladesh, recent moves and statements by the new (and newly restored) Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) are questioned and challenged for their clarity and direction.  In the course of this Letter, critical (still-unexamined and unresolved) issues for the worldwide Maoist movement are raised.  —  Frontlines ed.]

CPMLM-BD: An Open Letter to the Sincere Comrades of Nepal

(14 August 2013)

Comrades and friends,

Red Salute!

We are sending this letter at a time when the sun of revolution in Nepal has already gone down long before. The people’s war that was earth shaking event in contemporary world that even after liberating eighty percent areas of the country has collapsed because of the betrayal line of the leaders, and as a consequence, all the achievements were lost. Now there is no People’s War, no Liberated Areas and no People’s Liberation Army. There is no hope remaining except the people. Besides, there are many sincere revolution seeking leaders and cadres who generally exist in every country as a result of revolutionary process.

The former Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist)-being a member of Revolutionary Internationalist Movement rose against Maoism, abandoned the Path of Revolution, disarmed people and dismantled Base Areas. RIM committee hided those betrayal, advocated a secret Two Lines struggle, upheld coexistence with opportunism and adopted an incorrect method of restricting Line Struggle, and thus RIM committee resigned leading role of RIM. By presenting ideology as ’ Maoism or Mao thought’, led by Prachanda-Baburam the revisionists transformed Communist party of Nepal (Maoist) to Unified communist party of Nepal (Maoist). It was final rejection of Maoism. Prachanda-Baburam revisionists showed that present world and domestic situation is not favorable for revolution, so, compromise should be made. They said of so called bourgeoisie democracy instead of New Democracy. Through the so called peace talk, they made People’s Liberation Army surrender to reactionary army, and by surrendering achieved land and power to the exploiters, became imperialist- expansionists’ lackey the fascist Bureaucratic Bourgeoisie. On the other side, Revolutionary Communist Party, USA also made leap to their own revisionism. Both CPN (Maoist) and RCP USA, seeing only the outer appearance of globalized named imperialist world, and not by seeing its contradictory and moribund essence, presented it as unipolar and showed that war or revolution is not inevitable. They declared Marxism as insufficient. Both of them abandoned the concept of Proletarian Dictatorship that is a basic tenet of Marxism. Even RCP branded the confidence on Marxist Philosophy as Political Truth and hoisted the flag of non-Political Truth.

With the start of the New Year 2013, Communist party of Nepal (Maoist) has again been formed. They had invited us to their founding conference, which is their party’s 7th congress. For that we express our gratitude to them. It is to mention that a significant number of sincere Maoist leaders and cadres have united in this party, many of whom have working experience in International Communist Movement. Some days ago, a party representative of our party had a discussion with two high rank leadership of CPN (Maoist). They are hopeful that CPN (Maoist) will lead the revolution and they emphasized on building a new Communist International and rebuilding organization like Coordination Committee of Maoist Parties and Organizations. All know that internationally we made various joint statement with MLMist Communist Parties of Peru, Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, France, Spain, Belgium, Arab and Afghanistan where we struggled the successive opportunism existing in International Communist Movement such as opportunism within the leadership of RIM Committee, Avakianism, Prachandism and Centrism, and at the same time, we put forward the importance of an advance Thought for building a new Communist International. In this context, we want to raise some points to the sincere comrades within Communist party of Nepal (Maoist) and also we want to attract attention of the sincere comrades outside that party to the same points.

ATIK: “WE CONDEMN THE MASSACRE OF THE FASCIST MILITARY JUNTA AGAINST THE PEOPLE OF EGYPT!”

[An important statement by the organization of migrants from Turkey in Europe, issued 16 August 2013. — Frontlines ed.]

The attacks against the masses who gathered on the squares in Egypt in defiance of the military coup have turned into a massacre. Hundreds of people who took to the squares against the fascist military coup are killed, thousands are injured during the attack. And while these brutal attacks continue with all its barbarism, state of emergency was declared in many cities in Egypt.

As the deepening contradictions in Egypt are not being resolved, they have put the country in a more complex situation. As is known, the people of Egypt now more impoverishing and suffering from more repression have toppled the Hosni Mubarak regime with the rebellion started two years ago. However the spontaneous peoples uprising lacked revolutionary leadership and the  Egyptian army attempting to control the uprising, supervised the elections and the Muhammed Mursi administration came to power. As it is its nature, also this administration in its core continued the rule of the previous administration. Upon this the masses have risen again.

Following this uprising the army was once more activated to prevent the growing popular opposition to flow into a revolutionary stream. With this aim, the coup on behalf of the Supreme Military Council was committed and the leadership was seized. Muhammed Mursi was arrested on 3rd July. As a result the narrow minded organization Muslim Brotherhood have lead the masses within their influence spheres to demonstrations. The backward segments in the government will  use doctrines based on religion and nationalism on the poor layers of the people for their own gain. In fact,  this is what the Muslim Brotherhood Movement (Muslim Brotherhood) is doing.

This coup in Egypt is not independent from the imperialists. In fact, the coup by the Supreme Military Council was made with the directives of the US.  The current situation is clearly reflecting this. Following this the US imperialist has not been able to conceal the support they have given the coup in Egypt. Therefore the intervention was not even called a coup, and a declaration that they will continue with the annual financial aid was issued. Although the EU and US imperialists have “condemned” the junta’s attacks, massacring hundreds of people, this was merely to justify themselves. Despite these condemnations the role they played in this massacre cannot be camouflaged.  On the contrary, they have played a determining role in the coup and the massacre of the masses.

India: Soni Sori’s husband, Anil Futane, passes away

By the time he was acquitted, Anil Futane was beaten so severely in jail he became paralyzed. With his death on 2 August, serious questions are being raised about the working of the police force in Chhattisgarh

Anil Mishra, Tehelka Online

August 3, 2013

Soni Sori is led by the police outside the district court complex in New Delhi
Photo: Shailendra Pandey

Soni Sori’s husband, Anil Futane, died on 2 August at his native place in Geedum tehsil in Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh. Like Soni, he had been arrested and jailed as a Maoist. On 1 May 2013 he was acquitted by the court after spending nearly three years in jail. While in jail he was beaten so severely he became paralyzed. Soni, Anil’s wife, is still lodged in Jagdalpur central jail and his last rites were performed in her absence.

Soni and her husband were residents of Sameli village in Chhattisgarh. While Soni was a teacher in a government primary school, her husband, Anil ferried local passengers in a Bolero jeep. In July 2010 a case was filed against Soni Sori, Anil and Lingaram Kodopi for carrying out a naxal attack on the house of Avdhesh Gautam, a Congress leader from Nakulnar in the Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh. Although Anil was acquitted in all the cases, his health has severely deteriorated in the three years he spent in jail.

NRK Pillai, a CPI leader and a senior journalist from Dantewada, says that the police left Anil at his house in the Geedum tehsil of Dantewada. Although he had been acquitted in all the cases, no one came forward for his treatment. Pillai says he had gone to Anil’s house to meet him and saw that he was in serious need of medical attention. He talked to his associates in Delhi regarding Anil’s health and was advised to send him to Delhi for proper treatment. According to Pillai no one came forward to take Anil to Delhi because of police fear.

As Bradley Manning faces sentencing for exposing war crimes…..

Statement by Julian Assange on behalf of WikiLeaks:

Today Bradley Manning reportedly made a statement of remorse in a sentencing hearing at Fort Meade, Maryland. Manning’s statement comes towards the end of a court martial trial pursued with unprecedented prosecutorial zeal.

Since his arrest, Mr. Manning has been an emblem of courage and endurance in the face of adversity. He has resisted extraordinary pressure. He has been held in solitary confinement, stripped naked and subjected to cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment by the United States government. His constitutional right to a speedy trial has been ignored. He has sat for three years in pretrial detention, while the government assembled 141 witnesses and withheld thousands of documents from his lawyers.

The government has denied him the right to conduct a basic whistleblower defense. It overcharged him until he faced over a century in prison and barred all but a handful of his witnesses. He was denied the right at trial to argue that no harm was caused by his alleged actions. His defence team was pre-emptively banned from describing his intent or showing that his actions harmed no one.

Despite these obstacles, Mr. Manning and his defense team have fought at every step. Last month, he was eventually convicted of charges carrying up to 90 years of prison time. The US government admitted that his actions did not physically harm a single person, and he was acquitted of “aiding the enemy.” His convictions solely relate to his alleged decision to inform the public of war crimes and systematic injustice.

As California Prisoner Hunger Strike Reaches Critical Moment, Families and Advocates Return to Capitol, Demand Action from State Government

August 14, 2013

Press Contact: Azadeh Zohrabi, Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity Coalition, Ph:  310-612-9706

The mock “SHU” solitary confinement cell at the State Capitol

Oakland—All eyes are on California, as prisoners across the state’s vast prison system hit their 38^th day of hunger strike in protest of the torturous conditions of solitary confinement.  Prisoners’ loved ones and supporters joined 100 people on the steps of the state capitol Wednesday afternoon to demand swift and resolute action from California decision makers.  Activists also set up a life-sized replica of a Security Housing Unit (SHU) cell, encouraging the governor, legislators, and members of the public to experience for just a few minutes what thousands of California prisons live through, many for decades.

Irene Huerta’s husband has been in solitary for 28 years and is currently on hunger strike.  Huerta is part of a mediation team that is trying to keep channels of communication open between strikers and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), with hopes of reaching an end to the strike.  “It is important for us to be here today.  It is day 38 and our loved ones could die soon if no one steps up to do anything,” says Huerta.  She joins many others in condemning the CDCR’s continued attacks on strikers, along with Governor Brown’s total silence on the entire issue.  “For Brown to say nothing at all, at such a critical moment, that is a slap in the face.  To say anything at all, even to speak against the strike, that’s one thing.  But to remain silent when people’s lives are on the line and their families are worried sick? There is nothing worse.”

Filipinos protest US military presence

14 Aug 2013, Bangkok Post Online news

MANILA – The Philippines and the United States on Wednesday opened talks on increased American military presence, amid protests by leftist groups warning against foreign interference.

Filipino activists hold up placards as they stage a lie-in before a police line during a protest against a meeting between Philippine and US officials in Manila on Wednesday. The protesters were opposing the talks over an increase in US military troops in the country. (AFP photo)

Activists picketed the principal military base in Manila, where the first round of negotiations on a “framework on increased rotational presence” was being held.

The demonstrators denounced the talks and called on the Philippine government not to give the US military more access to the country, which shut down American air and naval bases more than two decades ago.

California: Prisoner Hunger Strike Supporters Keep Struggle in the News

Oakland Protestors Released

Posted on August 6, 2013 at prisonerhungerstrikesolidarity

 

Photo of the folks who went to jail yesterday for occupying the State Building in Oakland.  Taken in the wee hours of the AM, right after they got out of Santa Rita Jail.