Translating The Government On Torture

Dr Kim Howells, Labour chairman of the intelligence and security committee, told Today it would examine any claims of UK complicity in torture. “I can tell you that we found no evidence that there’s been collusion between the intelligence services, any government department and governments that torture their individuals. We can’t give a guarantee, and no government on earth can give a guarantee that somebody who’s picked up and held in another country hasn’t had their… human rights abused in some way.”

‘Dr’ Kim Howells- “I can tell you we succeeded in averting our eyes from all the evidence of torture, and just as a get out clause when we can no longer suppress the evidence- Oh gosh we can’t guarantee the World doesn’t torture, so when we have detainees deliberately moved to a nation we know tortures and like totally surprisingly they get tortured that is in no way our fault just because that was the express reason we and our US masters, I mean ‘allies’ situated the detainee there. It’s called deniability, put some layer between you and the dirty wet work and ministers will never see the inside of a court room PS. Yes I am a compete twat.”

Speaking on BBC Radio 4′s programme MI6: A Century in Shadows, Sir John Scarlett defended the actions of his organisation, the Secret Intelligence Service or MI6. ”Our officers are as committed to the values and the human rights values of liberal democracy as anybody else,”

“They also have the responsibility of protecting the country against terrorism and these issues need to be debated and understood in that context,” he added. He denied that British intelligence services had been compromised by their close relationship with counterparts in the US. ”Our American allies know that we are our own service, that we are here to work for the British interests and the United Kingdom. We’re an independent service working to our own laws – nobody else’s – and to our own values.”
He insisted there has been “no torture and there is no complicity with torture”.

‘Sir’ John Scarlett- “Hello I’m a famous liar that helped get over a million people killed in Iraq, but hey why not throw sanity to the wind and believe what I’m saying now, Terrorism whooooaaaa scary innit, you need us otherwise Al Qaeda will rape your childrens’ eyes out with anthrax jihad dildos. So like Kim boy I’m saying we don’t torture, then adding this strange- but the World’s a dangerous place proviso which means -Yes of course we collude in torture and do anything the US says. Now have I told you what this nice Mossad chap said to me about Iran, they have a nuclear Mecha-Godzilla poised to attack Finchley!”

Honey Trap, Extortion, Genocide & Terrorism

Just another day in Washington, Sibel Edmonds got to give her deposition. Turkey really hates the Armenian genocide being recognised, luckily politicians love bribes and are hypocrites. Ok, that bit’s not so newsy.

Torturers & Their Excuses

Wonder why it’s the Torygraph that Miliband and Jonhson print their denial of guilt. But don’t waste your time reading their carefully obfuscatory bullshit, this is all you need to know-

MI5 and MI6 officers who question terrorism suspects they know are being tortured, are acting in line with a secret government interrogation policy, drawn up after the 9/11 attacks. The policy states: “we cannot be party to such ill treatment nor can we be seen to condone it” and that “it is important that you do not engage in any activity yourself that involves inhumane or degrading treatment of prisoners.” It also advises intelligence officers that if detainees “are not within our custody or control, the law does not require you to intervene” to prevent torture.

Or Craig Murray-

David Miliband gave evidence on UK complicity in torture two days ago to another parliamentary committee, and not one MP mentioned the eye witness testimony I had just given, which contradicted much of what David Miliband had said.

You can only believe New Labour’s lies if you exist in a bubble that excludes all the available evidence, the Joint Human Rights Committee consistently pulled their punches-

Chairman Labour MP Mike Gapes- “we strongly recommend that the government should continue to exert as much persuasion and pressure as possible to try to ensure world-wide that torture is not employed as a method of interrogation.”

Andrew Tyrie, the Tory MP who chairs the All Party Parliamentary Group on Extraordinary Rendition, said an inquiry should be held immediately. ”Neither the investigation by the police into the Binyam Mohamed case nor the other civil actions brought should stand in the way of getting to the bottom of this,” he said. “It is the only way to give the public confidence that we have got to the bottom of all of this, to draw a line under it and to move on.”

I am sure every violent criminal would like to receive a sentence of -you are so ordered to draw a line under this and move on, you are free to go. What Milband & Johnson refuse to put in plain language is this- if you are in some torture dungeon and British officials visits you, you have no hope of this meaning your torture will stop, it will only pause until they have asked their questions then the mutilation of your genitals will recommence, once they are out of the room. They are colluding in this with the Obama administration, Hillary Clinton helped advance the plot in May. And now Reprieve has found our agents misled the Intelligence and Security Committee (I wouldn’t be so polite, I would say the committee is criminally credulous, it takes two to tango)-

Last week, British judges revealed that the British Secret Services fed questions to the CIA in the full knowledge that the Agency was systematically using torture in interrogations; a clear violation of international law.

It has now emerged that Secret Agents attempted to cover these crimes by neglecting to inform the Intelligence and Security Committee – to whom they are accountable – of any of the damning evidence subsequently extracted by the Court.

By comparing the judges’ revelations with the ISC Renditions Report 2007, Reprieve has drawn the Committee’s attention to the following misinformation:

1) The Secret Services falsely informed the ISC that they were ‘unaware’ that Binyam Mohamed was suffering torture in a secret prison from 2003. In fact, they knew Binyam was being held in CIA ‘covert detention’, and the judges make clear that the British knew as early as May 2002 that Binyam was being tortured.

2) The Secret Services falsely informed the ISC that all contact with Binyam Mohamed ended in 2002. In fact, the Secret Service continued to feed questions and/or receive information from the CIA on BM until at least March 2004. No questions were asked about BM’s welfare despite clear knowledge that he was in a secret prison and almost certainly being tortured.

3) The Joint Committee on Human Rights and international lawyers have clearly identified this as unlawful state complicity in torture, a serious crime of which the ISC was not informed.

It is now clear that the Intelligence and Security Committee, charged with policing Secret Service activities, was very seriously misled by its own Service on this and other matters. The conclusions in its report on Rendition are therefore erroneous and must be re-evaluated from scratch.

Reprieve’s director Clive Stafford Smith said: “British agents seem to have committed perjury when telling the court that all efforts to question Binyam ended in February 2003 – and they also misled the Intelligence and Security Committee, to whom they are supposedly accountable. In fact, the shameful co-operation with Binyam’s torturers was still going on 15 months later –when Binyam had left the Moroccan torture chamber and arrived in the Dark Prison in Afghanistan.

“And why did the British agents not tell the ISC that their man was visiting Morocco at the time Binyam was being tortured there? We can surmise that the agent wasn’t on a Club Med vacation, so he needs to explain what he was doing.”

Portrait Of A Fundamentalist

• Most of what General McChrystal has done over a 33-year career remains classified,
• usually eats just one meal a day, in the evening, to avoid sluggishness.
• He is known for operating on a few hours’ sleep and for running to and from work while listening to audio books on an iPod.
• an encyclopedic, even obsessive, knowledge about the lives of terrorists, and that he pushed his ranks aggressively to kill as many of them as possible.
• born Aug. 14, 1954, into a military family. His father, Maj. Gen. Herbert J. McChrystal Jr., served in Germany during the American occupation after World War II and later at the Pentagon. General Stanley McChrystal was the fourth child in a family of five boys and one girl; all of them grew up to serve in the military or marry into it.
• At the Joint Staff at the Pentagon, where General McChrystal directs the 1,200-member group, he has instituted a daily 6:30 a.m. classified meeting among 25 top officers and, by video, military commanders around the world. In half an hour, the group races through military developments and problems over the past 24 hours.
• ran a dozen miles each morning to the council’s offices from his quarters at Fort Hamilton on the southwestern tip of Brooklyn.
• “If you asked me the first thing that comes to mind about General McChrystal,” said Leslie H. Gelb, the president emeritus of the council, “I think of no body fat.”

And of course is unlikely to be brought to account for war crimes being as Obama appointed him after McChrystal, amongst others, covered up crimes such as rape and torture under their command.

One reason for Afghanistan…

…it may be the only way to preserve the NATO alliance. See, NATO was formed to fight a different kind of war than the one in Afghanistan against a different kind of enemy than the Taliban or al Qaeda, but that war and that enemy doesn’t exist any more. NATO needs a new kind of war and enemy to fight, and if Afghanistan and the Taliban aren’t it, then there’s no reason for NATO to exist any more. If maintaining NATO’s meaningless existence isn’t enough to justify a war, we revert to our double-secret fallback position, which is that the U.S. Army needs a phony baloney job to justify its existence.

Scholars on Iran

Statement by 40 Engaged Scholars
Thursday, August 6, 2009

Human beings are members of a whole,
In creation of one essence and soul.
If one member is afflicted with pain,
Other members uneasy will remain.
If you have no sympathy for human pain,
The name of human you cannot retain.

– A poem by the Persian poet Sa’adi (1210 – 1290)
gracing the entrance of the Hall of Nations of the
United Nations building in New York City

If we speak out against the threat of force against Iran (regarding the nuclear conflict) and warn against a military strike, we cannot be silent on the use of force in Iran itself against its own civil society. For solidarity with the civil society and a peaceful order in the region constitute the primary concern of our efforts. If we condemn foreign sanctions against the Iranian people, we deplore all the more domestic sanctions directed at peaceful demonstrators, journalists, trade unionists, professors, students and others. Thereby the government deprives itself from the domestic basis needed against foreign threats.

Not only as individuals but also conjointly as a group of engaged scholars, we want to announce our resolute protest against the brutal clampdown of demonstrators and against the mass arrests, and strongly advise a peaceful dialogue with the civil society. We call upon the government to release all political prisoners of the last few weeks – amongst them many professors – and to seek dialogue with precisely those persons as moderators of the civil society. Freedom of opinion and the right to demonstrate – cornerstones of the UN Charter of Human Rights to which Iran is a signatory – are being massively violated in today’s Iran.

We strongly remind that the state of siege and the continuing threat of force that have emanated from foreign governments once again fatally demonstrate how thereby the space for a democratic development in Iran are being reduced.

At the same time, we deplore the slanted and misleading depictions of the recent events in Iran in some international media. As supporters of the Iranian civil society, we stress the genuine nature of the protests by the Iranian democracy movement. Composed of various societal strata, the demonstrators first and foremost have advocated free elections and freedom of expression.

Also, it is astonishing that precisely those who have supported crippling sanctions and pushed for preventive strikes against Iran whereby civilians have been and would be harmed, suddenly speak about solidarity with the Iranian people. They only will be convincing when they stand up against sanctions and the threat of force and advocate a peaceful dialogue in the region.

Signed by:

When All You’ve Got Is A Hammer

Every problem looks like a nail-

A police decision to use a Taser gun on an 89-year-old man who was threatening to cut his own throat has been upheld by a watchdog. The Independent Police Complaints Commission(IPCC) said North Wales Police officers were protecting the public and the man’s life. The retired carpenter and World War II veteran walked out of a residential home in Llandudno, Conwy in January.

He smashed a window and ran off clutching a piece of glass. Police said at the time that they used the 50,000-volt stun gun to control the man, who has not been named, because they thought he might kill himself. The IPCC has now upheld the decision of an internal North Wales Police inquiry in to the incident. Relatives had disagreed with the decision and said the Taser could have killed him, that handcuffs were unnecessary and that the officers should have used other ways to calm him down.

This is the IPCC that has now been revealed to be complicit in attempting to cover up the killing of Ian Tomlinson

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) planned to announce that it had completed its assessment into Tomlinson’s death on 1 April and discovered nothing suspicious. At 11.30am on 4 April, investigators prepared a document announcing Tomlinson died of a heart attack after being caught up among protesters “dressed entirely in black” who, it said, were charging police.

“It was during this charge and retreat that Mr Tomlinson has seemed to have been caught up in the crowds and a number of people describe seeing him ‘collapse and fall to the ground’.”

The statement went on to say the IPCC had examined CCTV of the incident, police records and statements from independent witnesses, and been “satisfied that there is no evidence that the actions of those officers present on Cornhill contributed in any way to the sudden and untimely death of an innocent bystander”.

Their premature conclusions were read over the phone to Tomlinson’s family, but then appear to have been shelved at the last minute.

The logs also reveal the family were told by police there were “no marks” on Tomlinson’s face, a claim they contested after viewing his body. In their first interview, on Thursday, the family said City of London police, the Met and the IPCC discouraged them from talking to the media and said they believed there were attempts to cover up details about the death.

They said they were only given a selective account of a postmortem which found Tomlinson died of a heart attack.

The logs appear to confirm they were not told that the pathologist also discovered large amounts of blood in Tomlinson’s stomach and other injuries.

“Looking back, it is obvious we were misled by police in the hours and days after Ian died,” Paul King, Tomlinson’s son, said.

“There is still a lot to come out about how we were prevented from knowing the truth about Ian’s death.” He added that the family had been in shock when police family liaison officers were appointed and, he said, “trusted them too much”.

(ht2 Harpymarx)

The IPCC is a sham, they are too close to the police to fulfil the role of police oversight and investigation of criminal activity by the police. Their continued existence tells you all you need to know of authoritarian desires for police control of the population amongst the establishment, all wrapped in the shiny false pretences of accountability.

Ian Tomlison’s widow Julia and son Paul King, were interviewed in the Guardian (I wonder if the Guardian had not decided to take this stance would the killing be swept under the carpet despite coverage in independent media, because clearly the IPCC were part of the scam and citizen media is not that powerful)-

Julia Tomlinson criticised the IPCC failing to properly investigate her husband’s death until after the video was broadcast – almost a week after his death.

“The IPCC should have been there from day one – definitely – not left it five days later,” she said.

King added: “We’ve asked to see the evidence that [the IPCC] passed to the CPS. We’re still waiting for it … we haven’t seen it.

“Everyone knows that there was a lot of cover-up in the beginning. The truth will come out in the end.”

The family believe police misled them over Tomlinson’s death from the outset.

“It was half past four in the morning – a knock at the door and Stephanie, the second youngest daughter, answered the door,” Julia Tomlinson said.

“There were two police officers standing there and they asked to speak to Sam, my eldest daughter. I came down the stairs and they asked if I was Mrs Tomlinson, and I said yes.

“They said: ‘Have you heard about the G20? I said: ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’

“They said: ‘If you’d like to sit down, then we’ll explain to you. And they said: ‘Your husband was caught up in the G20 riots, and he suddenly collapsed and died of a heart attack.”

Police then refused to allow her to see his body in the Royal London Hospital, she added.

“Six days later, I wasn’t allowed to go and see him,” she said. “I didn’t understand why they didn’t want me to go and see him – if someone dies of a heart attack, you get to go and see him. But they weren’t letting me.”

They also disclosed that, when a post-mortem examination was completed three days after Tomlinson died, police gave them an edited version of the results.

The family were not told that a forensic pathologist had found large amounts of blood in his stomach, a suspected dog bite on his leg and a number of other injuries.

“Now we know that it wasn’t a heart attack … that he died of internal bleeding.”

King said: “We’ve been confused by the City police, Metropolitan police, IPCC to not say anything: ‘Don’t say anything, because you’ll jeopardise the case’.

“I think we’ve been so confused with all that – don’t say this, don’t say that, even down to don’t talk to the media – they’ve made us quite scared to talk.

“The IPCC have finished their investigation, we haven’t been able to talk, and we just want to let people know how we feel. We are grieving.”

40 Years

The UK’s commitment to Afghanistan could last for up to 40 years, the incoming head of the Army has said. Gen Sir David Richards, who takes over on 28 August, told the Times the Army’s role would evolve, but the process of “nation-building” would last decades.

The BBC story represents a broad range of opinion from pro- war to the rest of NATO aren’t pro war enough (a poodle saying to the rest of the pack- Hey you aren’t subservient enough to the master!), why do I get the feeling the BBC management some time this spring met with the govt and an editorial line has been agreed. Some time before the summer of Afghanistan war stories began a few weeks back, co-ordinating with a major offensive and New Labour’s Yay The Military day (and indeed Andy McNabb’s radio play, jeebus). No Afghan comment was sought, no domestic anti war comment is reported. Journalism again part of the war effort.

Friday! The Beat- Tears of a Clown

Entertainment note- Island dwellers! Catch the John Lawson Circus as they tour Anglesey, however luxurious your home cinema may be it cannot be as entertaining and slightly surreal as an evening in the Big Top with actual people balancing on wires and twirling around above you. If we don’t support circuses then eventually you won’t be able to run away to one and that would be a terrible loss of life choices!

Or The ‘English’ Beat as they were known across the puddle.

Vestas Repossessed By Bailiffs

Workers who staged a sit-in protest at a wind turbine blade factory on the Isle of Wight have left the building. Bailiffs entered the offices of Vestas in Newport at 1200 BST after the firm was granted a possession order. One man jumped from a balcony and was taken to hospital as a precaution and two abseiled from a wall.

Workers had occupied an office inside the plant since 20 July in protest at plans to axe 625 jobs, which the firm said was due to a fall in demand. Bailiffs were told they could use “reasonable force” to remove the remaining six workers after a court order was issued on Thursday.

Crowds of supporters lined the site cheering on the men before they were were spoken to by police. They had raised a sign from a balcony outside which said “Vestas, this is only the start, you will lose.” One of the workers told the BBC: “It was all a bit bewildering to get out but a big relief. I hugged my daughter who shed a few tears and saw my family. We feel that we have won a moral victory.”

A rooftop demonstration at a second Vestas site in East Cowes, by climate change protesters, is set to continue for “as long” as the workers want it to, a spokesman said.

The fight goes on savevestas.wordpress.com meanwhile…fucking bailiffs, the thugs of capital, collaborators, cowards and betrayers, as usual.

Known Criminal Grooming Children

Many people are discomfited by the thought of Tony Blair’s Faith Foundation working in schools. It smacks of religious propaganda, and is tied to the name of a prime minister remembered for leading the country into a bloody and controversial war.

Even some of those in the Foundation’s unlabelled offices (“we have to be careful about security”) near the American Embassy in London admit privately that the name can be a hindrance, giving people the wrong idea about what they are doing. They emphasise repeatedly that, although Tony Blair is a Catholic convert, the Foundation’s aim is to bring young people “of every faith, and of none” together to generate tolerance and understanding.

Oh Anthony, not only are they so aware of your enduring unpopularity the offices are ‘unlabelled‘, but they are near the US embassy, poodle to the last.

And to top it all, he is grooming kids in the hope they won’t be aware of his reputation and…well he’s a catholic now, so is he starting to have nightmares about the fiery eternity that awaits him?

Nuclear Terrorism

155 scientists working on the Manhattan Project to design and build the world’s first A-bombs signed a petition to President Truman raising grave moral doubts about what they had created.

Led by physicist Leo Szilard, the signers at the Project’s secret uranium plant in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and at the Metallurgical Lab in Chicago, urged their Commander-in-Chief to weigh his “moral responsibilities” when deciding whether to drop A-bombs on inhabited Japanese cities. They also urged Truman to warn the Japanese about the apocalyptic ruin they faced, and to state clearly the surrender terms that Washington now expected from Tokyo.

The petition’s signers had all worked doggedly to create nuclear weapons before Nazi scientists could. But they saw this as a desperate, defensive effort to keep Hitler from world domination. Once Germany surrendered in May 1945, they considered offensive use of their new weapons against Japan as both morally wrong and potentially catastrophic. Instead, many signers urged the A-bomb be demonstrated to force Japan’s surrender, and then be locked under new international controls to forestall a post-war nuclear arms race.

More Manhattan Project scientists would have signed at Los Alamos, the secret lab in New Mexico where the bomb was designed and assembled, but there director J. Robert Oppenheimer forbade the petition’s circulation. Oppenheimer had advised a top-level government committee that recommended Truman use the bomb without warning on civilians, and he dismissed Szilard’s petition as naive meddling. Going further, Oppenheimer alerted Gen. Leslie Groves, the Manhattan Project’s military head, about the petition. Only after learning how Hiroshima and Nagasaki had been destroyed did Oppenheimer regret his creation, urge international control for all atomic work, and oppose racing to build even more powerful H-bombs.

Source: U.S. National Archives, Record Group 77, Records of the Chief of Engineers, Manhattan Engineer District, Harrison-Bundy File, folder #76.

On July 17, 1945, Leo Szilard and 69 co-signers at the Manhattan Project “Metallurgical Laboratory” in Chicago petitioned the President of the United States.

July 17, 1945

A PETITION TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

Discoveries of which the people of the United States are not aware may affect the welfare of this nation in the near future. The liberation of atomic power which has been achieved places atomic bombs in the hands of the Army. It places in your hands, as Commander-in-Chief, the fateful decision whether or not to sanction the use of such bombs in the present phase of the war against Japan.

We, the undersigned scientists, have been working in the field of atomic power. Until recently, we have had to fear that the United States might be attacked by atomic bombs during this war and that her only defense might lie in a counterattack by the same means. Today, with the defeat of Germany, this danger is averted and we feel impelled to say what follows:

The war has to be brought speedily to a successful conclusion and attacks by atomic bombs may very well be an effective method of warfare. We feel, however, that such attacks on Japan could not be justified, at least not unless the terms which will be imposed after the war on Japan were made public in detail and Japan were given an opportunity to surrender.

If such public announcement gave assurance to the Japanese that they could look forward to a life devoted to peaceful pursuits in their homeland and if Japan still refused to surrender our nation might then, in certain circumstances, find itself forced to resort to the use of atomic bombs. Such a step, however, ought not to be made at any time without seriously considering the moral responsibilities which are involved.

The development of atomic power will provide the nations with new means of destruction. The atomic bombs at our disposal represent only the first step in this direction, and there is almost no limit to the destructive power which will become available in the course of their future development. Thus a nation which sets the precedent of using these newly liberated forces of nature for purposes of destruction may have to bear the responsibility of opening the door to an era of devastation on an unimaginable scale.

If after this war a situation is allowed to develop in the world which permits rival powers to be in uncontrolled possession of these new means of destruction, the cities of the United States as well as the cities of other nations will be in continuous danger of sudden annihilation. All the resources of the United States, moral and material, may have to be mobilized to prevent the advent of such a world situation. Its prevention is at present the solemn responsibility of the United States — singled out by virtue of her lead in the field of atomic power.

The added material strength which this lead gives to the United States brings with it the obligation of restraint and if we were to violate this obligation our moral position would be weakened in the eyes of the world and in our own eyes. It would then be more difficult for us to live up to our responsibility of bringing the unloosened forces of destruction under control.

In view of the foregoing, we, the undersigned, respectfully petition: first, that you exercise your power as Commander-in-Chief, to rule that the United States shall not resort to the use of atomic bombs in this war unless the terms which will be imposed upon Japan have been made public in detail and Japan knowing these terms has refused to surrender; second, that in such an event the question whether or not to use atomic bombs be decided by you in light of the considerations presented in this petition as well as all the other moral responsibilities which are involved.

Leo Szilard and 69 co-signers

Voice of Hibakusha (victims of the atom bombs)-

Testimony of Yosaku Mikami:- Since our order was to help the most heavily injured, we searched for them. We tried to open the eyes of the injured and we found out they were still alive. We tried to carry them by their arms and legs and to place them onto the fire truck. But this was difficult because their skin was peeled off as we tried to move them. They were all heavily burned. But they never complained but they felt pain even when their skin was peeling off. We carried the victims to the prefectural hospital. Soon afterwards, the hospital was full, so then we carried the injured to the Akatsuki Military Hospital. On the following day, we decided to visit the small fire stations throughout the town. I believe there were about 20 or 30 small stations with only 7 or 8 firemen each. Those small stations were temporary place near police stations and city halls during war time. The workers stationed at the important places were all killed. I visited one of the fire stations and inside the burned fire engine, I found a man who was scorched to death. He looked as if he was about to start the fire engine to fight the fire. Inside the broken building, I also found several dead men. I guess they were trapped inside the building.

Testimony of Isao Kita:- The smoke was so thick that it covered the entire town. After about 5 minutes, fire broke out here and there. The fire gradually grew bigger and there were smoke everywhere and so we could no longer see towards the town. The cloud of the smoke was very tall, but it didn’t come in this direction at all. The cloud moved in that direction from the ocean towards Hiroshima Station. It moved towards the north.The smoke from the fire, it was like a screen dividing the city into two parts. The sun was shining brightly just like it was a middle of the summer over here on this side. And behind the cloud on the other side, it was completely dark. The contrast was very much. So about 60 or 70 % of the sky was covered by the cloud and the other 30 % was completely clear. It was a bright clear blue sky. The condition had remained like this for some time. From Koi, looking towards Hiroshima Station, you could see the black rain falling. But from here, I couldn’t judge how much rain was falling. But based on the information I heard later, it seems that the rain fell quite heavy over a period of several hours. It was a black and sticky rain. It stuck everything. When it fell on trees and leaves, it stayed and turned everything black. When it fell on people’s clothing, the clothing turned black. It also stuck on people’s hands and feet. And it couldn’t be washed off. I couldn’t be washed off.

Testimony of Taeko Teramae:- There were many students who were mobilized to destroy buildings to widen the streets and the area of Tsurumi Bridge, City Hall and the Chugoku Newspaper on that day. And since they were outside, they were directly exposed to the bomb. Many of them died, many of them died right there. Someone called for help in vain, and some jumped into the river and drown to death. If my teacher, Mr. Wakita had not come to help me, I would have died in the river.

MATSUDA: It was very, very hot. I touched my skin and it just peeled right off. The driver of the streetcar was not in sight. I thought he had been quick to run away but now I think that he was probably hurled outside in the blast. It was around August 25 that a pile of my hair just fell off all at once. I had a high fever and maggots infested in my eyes.

INTERVIEWER: In your eyes?

MATSUDA: Yes. I was afflicted with erysipelas as well. I had two children, but I had not told them about this experience. And I don’t want to talk about it. But this time many people are testifying together and since I’ve been asked, I will talk. But I have tried to avoid it until now.

The Cheque’s In The Post

The Bank of England’s rate-setters have decided to pump another £50bn of new money into the economy in their programme of quantitative easing.

That’s printing money, and…not had my share through yet…how strange…

Lubna Hussein Fights Militarism & Fundamentalism

While the usual suspects might be using this case to advance their pro war anti Muslim agenda (will they mention her support for the rights of Palestinians? Possibly not nb.-a different Lubna Hussein?-) the truth is Lubna Hussein is fighting a military government that uses fundamentalism to maintain its authority. That there is never a shortage of misogynist retards in any society willing to help out with repression (often licensed by something they call ‘god’?!?!?…nah me either) is not a surprise nor is it a special quality unique to Sudan (ask Boris why he does not fulfil his campaign promise to properly fund Rape Crisis centres, or US rightists why they don’t think abortion should be covered by healthcare). The regime is repressing dissent with tear gas and further arrests. Lubna Hussein has chosen to risk far more severe punishment in order to fight an unjust law, a fight the regime wants to avoid because it likes the power such laws give them but like all bullies only like to apply it on the less powerful less visible, so with it becoming a cause célèbre their hypocrisy and cowardice are being revealed. So support Lubna Hussein!

Petition to Eliminate Article 152 of the Sudanese Criminal Code- This article is what the Public Order Police (PoP) in Sudan uses to harass women about their dress code. Article 152 has been implemented in Sudan since 1991. It stipulates that any conduct or clothes in violation of public decency should be punished with 40 lashes or a bail or both.

Thirteen women were arrested on July 3, 2009 in Khartoum under article 152 of the criminal code. The 13 women in question were arrested because they wearing trousers. They have been sentenced to 10 lashes and a bail of $100. Three of the women including a well-known journalist-Lubna Hussien- refused the punishment and asked for a lawyer and a court case. The first court hearing was on July 29. Lubna and the other three women were granted a presidential pardon, which the women refused. They have instead challenged the judge to eliminate article 152 of the criminal code.

Article 152, implemented in Sudan since 1991, stipulates that any conduct or clothing in violation of public decency should be punished with 40 lashes. However the article is vague on what constitutes indecent clothing and stands against the country’s Interim National Constitution that came in place after the Comprehensive Peace Agreement signed in 2005. However, it is still being used to harass women in the streets of Khartoum and around Sudan.

Harassment of women by POP is very common in Sudan, but yet extremely under-reported. PoP are often abusive. Many women lack knowledge of their rights, fear social stigma and therefore do not resist the consequences of going to a police station, having a criminal charge against them and signing a paper that says that they will not repeat the offence. In addition, the bail of $100 is a load that the vulnerable and poorest women cannot pay easily.

We need your support. Please sign this petition to support women’s rights in Sudan.

Vestas Needs You!

An eviction notice has been served on the occupation at Vestas IoW. The eviction is due to take place tomorrow, Friday 7 August, at 12 noon.

Please get to the Island if you can. The workers want support tomorrow. There is a minibus leaving London tonight. Email us if you want to be on it and we will forward your number to the driver. If anyone else can drive or offer transport, please let us know. We can post details on the blog or put you in touch with people seeking transport.

If you can’t go, please organise a protest in your town or join one of those already planned. Protests we know about are
- tonight, 6pm outside Department of Energy and Climate Change, 3 Whitehall Place, London
- tonight Bristol: demonstrate 5.30pm Bristol fountain
- tonight Manchester/ tomorrow Warrington: demonstrate 5pm in Piccadilly Gardens and protest at 8am tomorrow morning at Vestas HQ in Warrington, tel Hugh 07769 611320

Let us know if you are organising something and we can advertise it.

Please contact Climate Change and Energy Secretary Ed Miliband now. ps.ed.miliband@decc.gsi.gov.uk and tell him to step in to save wind turbine blade production at Vestas, IoW, for the sake of renewable energy, green jobs and his credibility as a politician. His phone number in his Doncaster constituency is 01302 875 462, and at Westminster, 020 7219 4778. And on Twitter http://twitter.com/edmilibandMP

More @ savevestas.wordpress.com

Dorothy Naor Writes A Great Letter

The Israeli feminist peace activist (of the currently persecuted New Profile organisation) is here writing to Leonard Cohen. But I think the letter would work for anyone you need to broach the subject of Israel and Palestine to who may be labouring under common misconceptions about the issues and professing support for the state of Israel. From Mondoweiss-

Dear Leonard Cohen,

I realize that via your manager you have received numerous requests not to appear in Israel. This is not such a letter, even though I do agree with the requests and the principles of the boycott. Still, you are an adult and must come to your own conclusions.

However, your decision should be grounded on facts, as, for instance the cost of Israel’s occupation and colonization to Jewish Israelis.

Just so that you know who is writing, let me briefly describe myself.

I am a 77 year old Jewish Israeli female who has both US and Israeli citizenship, and a PhD from Tel Aviv University. I have lived in Israel for 51 years, having come here with the desire to raise my 3 children in a Jewish state. Having been of the Holocaust generation, I was sure that Jews needed a state of their own. I convinced my Israeli husband, who had come to the US to study (and who at the age of 10 had escaped from Austria with his parents and brother to Palestine in 1939), to return to Israel, although he would have been quite content to stay in the US (he has an MA in engineering from UC Berkeley).

I was utterly ignorant at the time of Palestinian suffering. I believed the mantra that the Jews were a people without a country coming to a land without people. It took years before I discovered that this and other such claims were lies, and that the Zionist founding fathers themselves were aware of this.