Mumia Abu-Jamal demonstration in London

Demonstrate for Mumia Abu-Jamal
Help save the life of an innocent man on Death Row in the US. Saturday 19 April 1pm, US Embassy, Grosvenor Square, London W1A (Nearest Tube: Bond Street). For more info on Mumia see: www.freemumia.com

Local FIT Watch Activist Arrested and Beaten

On the 4th March a Cardiff woman was arrested during a protest against an anti-abortion rally held by Anne Widdecombe. The woman, Val, claims that the arrest was a vindictive response to her involvement in a campaign against the data profiling of political activists by the police. The Cardiff protest was peaceful and without incident, and witnesses back up the woman’s claims that she was engaged only in taking photographs of the event, and that she did nothing to have provoked the arrest.

The reason for arrest, even from the police perspective appears remarkably trivial. The arresting officer claimed that Val used an elbow to obstruct him as he was moving through the crowd in order to deal with a group of people who were allegedly smoking cannabis. Val considers this ridiculous. “My only recollection is that a police officer pushed past, turned around and then arrested me for obstruction. His story is that I used my elbow to deliberately obstruct his progress. How on earth could I do that? I was talking to friends and had my back to him, I didn’t even see him until he pushed past. And surely it would take more than someone’s elbow in the way to stop a police officer moving to deal with what he saw as a criminal offence. The whole story is absurd.”

Later on, according to one witness, the arresting officer was overheard speaking to another officer on the scene, allegedly stating that ‘it was something and nothing’ but that he 'just wanted her out of the way'.

Having been arrested and taken to Fairwater police station, Val claims that she was subjected to a forced strip search. According to Val’s statement, the police forced her onto the floor and used restraints and ‘pain compliance’ techniques to remove her clothes, including her underwear. During this time, and while she remained restrained on the floor completely naked from the waist down, one of the police officers shouted repeatedly that she was a ‘fucking bitch’, that this was ‘making her day’ and that it would ‘teach’ her a lesson.

Normal procedure for prisoners arriving at a police station is that they are taken to the custody suite for booking in. Instead of this, Val was bundled straight into a cell and told that as a result of a history of self harm and mental illness she was going to be stripped of all clothing. At this point she had not even given her name. “I told them that they had made a mistake, that I had no history of self harm or any other mental health problem”, Val said, “But it made no difference – they weren’t interested.” Conveniently for the police, the cell had no CCTV.

Val links her arrest and treatment in detention to her involvement in ‘Fitwatch’. Fitwatch is a website and loose group of people who monitor the activities of Forward Intelligence Teams (FIT). FIT are police officers who compile data profiles, using photographic and other data, of individuals involved in protest and political activity. FIT teams have also often been accused of harassing and intimidating organisers of protest events.

There have been two court cases recently in which the police have failed to gain convictions against Fitwatch activists for physically blocking the view of their cameras. The police have failed to prove the lawfulness of their data gathering activities and it may be that the FIT have been effectively stopped from using force to take photographs without consent, something they very often did in the past. In London Fitwatch is organising activists to take action to protect themselves from the intrusiveness of overt police surveillance. CO11, the public order unit of the Metropolitan Police and home of the FITs, is less than amused.
“I’m well known by some of the officers in CO11 and the London FIT teams, because of my involvement in the campaign against them”, said Val. “Twice we have had victories in court. They know we have the law behind us, and it is limiting the sort of abuses of power that CO11 got away with in the past. I’m not popular.

“I do not want to get overly conspiratorial or paranoid about this, but clearly there are a number of questions here. How did the police on the scene that night know who I was, and why did they feel that they should want me ‘out of the way’? What information or ‘profiling’ was this based on? And how many other people have suffered because of inaccurate or vindictive information passed between police forces?”

Val appears in Cardiff Magistrates Court at 9am on 28th March, where she will enter a plea of not guilty to the charges laid against her. Supporters are welcome. Anyone who thinks they may be a witness can reach Val by e-mailing Fitwatch at defycops@yahoo.co.uk. Further information about Fitwatch can be found at www.fitwatch.blogspot.com

URGENT Political Prisoners On Hunger Strike In Chiapas

The UK Zapatista Solidarity Network, including KIPTIK, has issued a statement expressing "full support" for the prisoners: " We are well aware that the Mexican government is persecuting people who are involved in the struggle for social justice by falsely accusing them of crimes which they did not commit." Indymedia Chiapas estimates that around 100 prisoners in Chiapas have been deprived of their liberty for political reasons. The prisoners on hunger-strike include Zapatistas, supporters of The Other Campaign and activists in other groups. Zacario Hernandez Hernandez, a catechista or laypreacher from San Juan Chamula, was the first prisoner to start his hunger-strike, on 12th February. Since then he has only drunk water and honey, and is now described as being very weak. On 25th February fellow prisoners in Cintalapa, organised in the group "The Voice of Amate", joined the hunger strike, and on 4th March the protest spread to another prison, in the major town of San Cristobal. The prisoners in Amate, adherents to The Other Campaign, have maintained a permanent organised vigil protest within the jail for over two years, and this continues, despite harassment by the guards. Days later, on 9th March, the movement grew further as 11 prisoners in a third prison, in Catazaja, declared themselves on hunger strike. These prisoners all come from the community of Busilja, where they had been attacked and driven off their land by supporters of the paramilitary-type group OPPDIC, who were also involved in their imprisonment on false charges. The 11 - some zapatistas, others members of the PRD, all from the Tzeltal indigenous group - are asking that the Chiapas State government of Juan Sabines listen to them. ?Our struggle is fought with our whole heart. If we die, it will be the fault of murderers, extortionists, or abductors; it will be because of lack of justice?. Esther MacDonald, of the UK Zapatista Solidarity Network, stated: "The situation is desperate. The prisoners have launched an indefinite hunger strike, declaring that they are prepared to die to win their liberty. We have to do whatever we can to show our solidarity. We urge people to write to the Mexican Ambassador to the UK, demanding that the authorities act to free the hunger-strikers, who have been unjustly imprisoned."

Protest to
The Ambassador Juan José Bremer de Martino,
The Mexican Embassy, 16 St. George Street, London W1S 1FD Tel: 020 7499 8586
E mail via http://portal.sre.gob.mx/reinounidoeng/ http://portal.sre.gob.mx/reinounidoeng/index.php?option=contact&Itemid=6

The Prisoners are in the following Prisons:
- the Centro de Readaptación Social number 14 (Cereso 14, "El Amate" ) in Cintalapa ;
- the Centro de Readaptación Social número 5 (Cereso 5) in San Cristóbal de Las Casas,
- and in the prison Licenciado José Patrocinio González Garrido (Cereso 17) in the municipality of Playas de Catazajá


More info:
http://ukzapatistas.wordpress.com

Barcelona 4 update (17/3/08)

On the 4th of February 2006 in Barcelona, 9 people were arbitrarily and violently arrested by the police whilst on their way home. 3 people - Rodrigo Lanza Huidobro, Juan Pintos Garrido, Alex Cisternas Amestica - all of whom are of South American descent, have been held in custody for over two years and have now been sentenced. On the night of the arrests, police had been harassing a (non political) occupied house hosting commercial parties, and beat several people. In the chaos objects were thrown from the balconies of the house, severely injuring one of the policemen. Those that were arrested, however, had only just approached from the street and had not been in the house – two people even were arrested far from the area, at the hospital where they had been seeking treatment for bike accidents.
The arrests were all clearly motivated by racism and discrimination against the squatting culture in the city.The mistreatment continued in the cells, with beatings and injuries, including two broken arms. The official explanation for the arrests changed over time from injuring a policeman with a flowerpot to stone throwing. Despite an obvious lack of evidence and conflicting accounts from police, as well as criticisms from international human rights advocates, all defendants have now, after two years, been sentenced – Rodrigo received a sentence of 4.5 years, plus a 900.000 euro fine, Alex and Juan got sentences of 3.5 years each, and the remaining six received sentences of between 1 and 3 years. The headline from the Santiago news was '”Arbitrariness and Xenophobia Have Triumphed Over Justice". All are currently out of prison on provisional liberty, and are appealing the conviction. We urge anyone who can see the discrimination and harassment inherent in this trial to find out more and support these appeals.
Protest letters/emails can be written to:
Generalitat (gov't of Catalunya), 00 34 902 400 012President Jose Montilla, http://www10.gencat.net/president/AppJava/cat/contacte.jsp (web form)Vice President Josep-Lluís Carod-Rovira, vicepresident@gencat.catMinister of the Interior (and police chief) Joan Saura, consellersaura@gencat.catMayor of Barcelona Jordi Hereu, http://www.bcn.es/alcalde/ca/contacte.htm (web form), 93 402 70 00
More info at: http://www.karcelona.revolt.org/

Inner Terrestrials, Kilnaboy, Rejected & Dirty Revolution

Funds from this gig will go to support people arrested for taking action against the state, corporations and the far right.
Cardiff Prisoner Support Group aims to support anarchist, class struggle, political and other prisoners in the south Wales area and beyond through campaigns, action and communication. We stand in solidarity with those oppressed by the state and actively seek to abolish the institutionalised slavery of the prison industrial complex.
As anarchists, we are opposed to all systems of oppression and repression and have concluded that prisons serve no function other than protecting the ruling class who profit off of them. As we support our locked up sisters and brothers, we offer alternatives to prisons in our own communities. This work is driven by solidarity, not charity.
We want the abolition of the prison system, not its reform.

Another death in custody

A prisoner who was recalled to prison after breaching his parole was found hanging in his cell in Swansea Jail this month. David King, 41, was discovered by staff at Swansea jail just after 11am on August 11th and he was pronounced dead at 12pm.
It was the 57th suicide in jails in England and Wales so far this year, compared with 41 at the same point last year. Almost one third of suicides occur within the first week of someone arriving in jail and one in seven occur within two days of admission. Many happen while people are on remand, and have not even been convicted of a crime yet.

Prison isn’t working, but more Welsh prisons being built

Plans are afoot to raise the number of prisoners at privately run Parc Prison in Bridgend by more than a third, and the government is calling for a new jail to be built in North Wales. Parc would have the capacity for more than 1,500 inmates if the new block is given the go-ahead, and the North Wales prison would house hundreds more people. These will go some way towards reaching the Home Office’s target of 10,000 new prison places in the next 2 years.
The Probation Service in Wales has expressed concern that the costs of expansion could divert resources from other areas and suggested there should be a debate about prison population.
No debate is needed. Prisons are failing, and have failed for years: They do nothing to address the number 1 cause of crime in this country: the massive inequality that exists between the rich and the poor; prison slavery is on the rise, where inmates are forced to work for peanuts for private companies who make mega-bucks out of bonded labour; there are re-offending rates of up to 70% for some categories; prison does not rehabilitate – despite the rhetoric the system’s just not built for this; overcrowding is huge, with too many prisoners and too few resources prisons can’t meet the medical, educational and welfare needs of their inmates; more than half of all prisoners have mental health problems, but few get proper treatment meaning suicide and self-harm are rife; many prisoners are illiterate or semi-literate; and there are hundreds – possibly up to 2,000 – innocent prisoners in our jails, all victims of miscarriages of justice.