A-Infos (en) Britain, SchNEWS Issue 497 - Friday 13th May - WAKE UP!! WAKE UP!! IT'S YER PRISON BREAKING...

Pain in the Gulags
"The best hope for peace in our world is the expansion of freedom
in all the world." - George Bush, 2nd Inaugural Speech.
Dubya's Inaugural Speech was chocka with references to freedom and
full to bursting with rhetoric and fine notions. His speechwriters
must have picked up some overtime on that one. When he'd stumbled
through the last prompt, Dubya waddled happily home and went back
to Gulag building.
There are now some 2.2 million prisoners in the land of the free,
nearly twice as many as in 1990. That gives the US the biggest
prison population in the world and one of the highest proportions
of the population in jail, alongside top tourist destinations like
North Korea. Young black men are 10 times more likely to be in
prison than white men. Forced labour and violence are commonplace.
But even these prisoners are luckier than some; they know the
crime they are accused of and the length of their sentence -
unlike the detainees in the US's network of secret prisons.

Guantanamo Bay is only the most visible (and therefore the most
accountable) part of an expanding global underworld holding
thousands without trial in massive prison camps across Iraq and
Afghanistan, on board warships in the Persian Gulf and the Indian
Ocean and in virtually every nasty regime in the Middle East.
Guantanamo Bay, or 'Gitmo' to its friends, only holds around 540
men (and kids) which makes it relatively small. The US has set up
many military prisons in Afghanistan where detainees are held in
secret. Many prisoners there were captured in other countries and
then flown to Afghanistan. Khaled Al-Masri, a German car salesman,
claims he was kidnapped in Macedonia while on holiday, beaten,
stripped, bound and flown to a jail in Afghanistan, run by Afghans
but controlled by Americans. There is no way he can prove his
story because he was a secret prisoner, but there are more and
more stories like his coming out. And for every secret prisoner
that comes out with a story to tell, there must be many more that
don't tell or simply never come out at all.

The biggest American-run facilities are at the Bagram airbase,
north of Kabul in Afghanistan, and in Iraq, where tens of
thousands of detainees are held.

Cherif Bassiouni, the UN's top human rights investigator in
Afghanistan released a report recently speaking out against the US
policy of holding huge numbers of prisoners without trial and
refusing to allow anyone to visit them or monitor their situation
(ie check if they are being tortured). He estimated that around
1,000 Afghans had been detained, and accused US troops of breaking
into homes, arresting residents and abusing them. Within days he
had been fired as a result of heavy US pressure.

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The Whole Cart's Rotten

The US has consistently refused to allow scrutiny of their prison
practices; when the truth seeps out there is first denial, then
whitewash. Recently the US army investigated itself (!) over the
Abu Ghraib scandal, clearing four out of five top officers. Army
statements when the scandal first broke blamed "a few bad apples".
Charles Graner, the grinning torturing goon from the famous
photos, worked as a jailer in the US before going to Iraq. It
seems likely he picked up his torture tips from other sadistic
rednecks. The New York Times reported that the humiliations
depicted in the Abu Ghraib pictures are regularly practiced back
home in domestic US prisons. The reporter, Fox Butterfield, dug up
examples of hooding, stripping naked and forced sex inflicted by
guards in jails in Arizona, Utah, Virginia and Texas.

The bad apple theory falls down due to the emerging evidence of a
widespread pattern of abuse encouraged and coordinated from the
top of the command structure. There is even a codename for the
operation in Iraq to extract information with torture: Copper
Green. Donald Rumsfeld was the architect of this project and there
is an increasing mass of evidence from officials involved with it.
Defending the cover-up of Copper Green in Iraq, a government
consultant said, "Remember, we went to Iraq to democratize the
Middle East. The last thing you want to do is let the Arab world
know how you treat Arab males in prison."

At the same time as trying to suppress the scandal of prisons in
Iraq, the US has been trying to keep a lid on the legal challenges
to Guantanamo Bay. In July 2004 the US Supreme Court ruled that a
federal court in Washington could hear a case to decide if the
detentions in Cuba were unconstitutional or against US law. The
military kangaroo courts that were meant to dispense 'justice' to
the detainees were described by the US National Association of
Criminal Defence Lawyers as unethical. Their head recommended all
his members boycott the show trials as they would not be able to
defend their clients properly, and failure to do so might result
in them being put to death. How irritating for the government to
face such scrutiny at home: what the US learnt with Guantanamo and
Abu Graibh is that secrecy is the key to getting away with murder.

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Who Ya Gonna Call?

It came out last year that Donald Rumsfeld, the US defence
secretary, had approved the secret keeping of "ghost detainees" in
Iraq. They were kept off the registers that were shown to the Red
Cross and therefore lost the chance of being visited or having
other rights.

According to some US and UK military officials there are more than
10,000 "ghost detainees" being held. The difference between them
and the Guantanamo detainees is that nobody knows where they are
or what is happening to them - which means that the US has the
freedom to do anything to them. Maybe that's what George meant in
the speech.

Now more prisoners are candidates for more complete invisibility
by being sent for detention in secret locations abroad. The
Pentagon announced that half of the 540 or so inmates at
Guantánamo will be transferred to prisons in Afghanistan and Saudi
Arabia, and on March 7 they confirmed that 211 prisoners had left
the prison.

A senior US official told the New York Times that three-quarters
of the 550 prisoners who were held at Guantánamo Bay no longer
have any intelligence of value. But they will not be released out
of concern that they pose a continuing threat to the US. "You're
basically keeping them off the battlefield, and, unfortunately in
the war on terrorism, the battlefield is everywhere."

We'll leave the last word to Dubya. More wise words from his
Second Inaugural Speech;

"We have confidence because freedom is the permanent hope of
mankind, the hunger in dark places, the longing of the soul. We
are ready for the greatest achievements in the history of
freedom."

* SchNEWS VocabWatch: gulag (noun): 1. A network of forced labour
camps in the former Soviet Union; 2. A forced labour camp or
prison, especially for political dissidents; 3. A place or
situation of great suffering and hardship.

* A new book 'Inside the Wire' blows the whistle on the hell-hole
that is Guantánamo Bay. Erik Saar is an Arabic speaking American
soldier, was a translator in interrogation sessions for six
months. His tale describes his gradual disillusionment, from
arriving as a soldier keen to do his duty to eventually leaving
believing the regime to be a breach of human rights and a disaster
for the war on terror.

Countries the US transfers prisoners to for routine torture:

Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Jordan, Egypt, Thailand, Malaysia,
Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, and the British island of Diego Garcia in
the southern Indian Ocean.

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Have I Got SchNEWS For You!

all this weekend...

READING - Friday 13th @ The RISC , 35-39 London St 6pm contact
www.readingantig8.co.nr for more info.

LEEDS (With T.R.A.P.E.S.E)- Saturday 14th @ The Common Place
Social Centre, 23-25 Wharf St (as part of Leeds Day of Dissent)
7.30pm Contact www.dissent.org.uk for full list of events.

SHEFFIELD (With T.R.A.P.E.S.E) Sunday 15th. @ The Cricketers Arms
Pub. (as part of Anti-G8 Awareness day) 7.30pm Contact Sheffield
Indymedia for full timetable of events.

DUNDEE - TBC (ring the SchNEWS office for more info).

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Crap Arrest of the Week

For Displaying Aggressive Art!

Los Angeles Police have turned into artistic censors and decided
to close down an art show, deeming it to be "aggressive and
offensive". The art show was entitled 'Mark of the Beast' and
featured subverted corporate logos; the Levis logo was changed to
read Evils, Pepsi was changed to Piss and Nike's catchphrase Just
Do It became Just Don't. The aggressive material can be seen at:
www.transportgallery.com/transport/photosApr05.cfm

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Inside SchNEWS

On 17th May, peace campaigner Lindis Percy is in court to find out
whether the judge will grant an Anti Social Behaviour Order on her
to stop her demonstrating outside Menwith Hill spy base (SchNEWS
494). Support needed from 10am, Harrogate Magistrates' Court.
01943 466405 www.caab.org.uk

On the same day, a judge will also give the final verdict on the
extradition of Babar Ahmad. Babar was originally arrested under
anti-terrorism laws, but despite six days of intensive
investigation he was released without charge (SchNEWS 474). The
USA is seeking extradition and under the Extradition Treaty 2003
it does not need to provide any evidence to the Court to back up
its allegations. Demo in support of Babar Ahmad, 10am, outside Bow
Street Magistrates Court. 07915 063564 www.freebabarahmad.com

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Arise SERCO

Not so great news: work has recently started on a new atomic
weapons facility at Aldermaston in Berkshire. Better news: a
protest group called "Block the Builders" are leading a peaceful
blockade of the entrance to the construction site and have managed
to prevent work continuing. With it recently being revealed that
Tony Blair has already decided to replace Trident with a new
generation of nuclear 'deterrent', and the Nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) conference going nowhere in New
York, a Block the Builders statement said, "We believe that these
new developments will equip the UK to test, design and build new
weapons which will violate the UK's commitments under Article VI
of the NPT." Or as Aldermaston Women's Peace Campaign put it,
"What we're seeing every day at Aldermaston do not look like
measures towards the total elimination of nuclear weapons, but the
first stages of building the next generation of nuclear weapons."

The lucky corporate contractors on the project are a conglomerate
with the catchy name of AWE Management Limited. This is in reality
an unholy alliance between BFNL (government owned British Nuclear
Fuels Ltd.), US weapons giant Lockheed Trident and, er, UK public
services company SERCO. Canny protestors who object to the new
factory of death have realised that trying to make their feelings
known to the former two organisations is like asking the devil if
he could be a little less naughty, but SERCO on the other hand
undertakes a number of contracts for Kent County Council,
including waste management and parks management, as well as
running the Docklands Light Railway in London. Block the Builders
believe that public action (such as the blockading of the landfill
and waste disposal depot) could have a significant impact -
especially considering SERCO is currently due for a government
audit and keen to maintain its low-profile public relations.

To get involved in the blockade 07887 802879
www.blockthebuilders.org.uk

* Nukewatch, volunteers who independently track movements of
nuclear materials, have reported on recent nighttime conveys of
warheads (breaking the long held practice of transporting in
daylight for safety reasons). As Peter Burt of Reading Nukewatch
said, "The nuclear convoys... pass through towns and villages all
along the route, and local authorities and emergency services are
not informed. We believe the Ministry of Defence is taking
unacceptable risks...and places the security of its weapons before
the safety of the public...We have a right to know if these
convoys are passing along the end of our streets. If you see a
convoy please tell Nukewatch on 02380 554434 and the local press."

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SchNEWS In Brief

* Check out the excellent spoof newspaper Hate Mail
www.toryscum.com/images/04-05/hate-mail.pdf

* Indymedia Birthday and Benefit Party at RampArt this Sunday
(15). A post-convergence benefit gig to celebrate UK Indymedia
birthday and raise funds for alt media coverage of anti G8
mobilizations. With live bands Headjam and The Kut and more! Plus
roots dj til late. RampArts, off commerical road, London E1 2LA

* Freedom March against eviction and planned destruction of the
UK's largest Traveller settlement at Dale Farm, Cray's Hill,
Essex. Noon this Saturday (l4)- the day after some 80 families are
supposed to vacate the site. Travelers hope this last appeal will
persuade council leader Malcolm Buckley to call off what would be
an inevitably violent attack on the settlement. 01206 523528
ustiben.5@ntlworld.com

* Anti-G8 Benefit Gig next Tuesday (17) with Freq Nasty,
Fun-da-Mental and Smart. Free - £1 a pint Goldsmiths College
Student Union, New Cross

* Lots of events happening at Brighton's Cowley Club during the
Brighton Festival. On Monday (16) the Radical film festival
continues with 'We Interrupt This Empire' about the direct actions
that shut down the financial district of San Francisco in the
weeks following the invasion of Iraq. Followed by a speaker from
the EDO campaign. On Wed (18) 'The Take' a film about the collapse
of the Argentinan economy and workers taking control. On Thursday
(19) Queenspark Books Radical Readings. All start 6.30pm and are
free. www.cowleyclub.org.uk

* Dissent! Anti-G8 Gathering in Nottingham next weekend. To book a
place: nottinghamdissent@riseup.net

* The Tribe of Brigid have organized 'a magickal day of healing,
workshops, music' Tuesday (15) at The Circle Community Centre, St
Georges Theatre, 49 Tufnell Park Road, N7 to raise cash for the G8
protests. 12 noon onwards. www.dragonnetwork.org/brigid/

* Freedom To Protest Conference planning meeting to discuss the
conference and look at ways to resist a whole range of repressive
measures increasingly used by police and companies to intimidate
and undermine all manner of protests. Next Sunday (22) 1-5pm the
Autonomy Centre, Angel Alley, 84b Whitechapel High Street, London
E1. mclibel@globalnet.co.uk

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Carroll Singing

The investigative journalist Greg Palast recently got his hands on
secret Pentagon documents calling for the "privatisation of all
Iraqi assets, especially the oil industries". No new story there,
except for the fact that Palast also found out that the
privatisation was being opposed by big oil companies who were
afraid of losing their record level of profits.

Just days after the presidential election in 2000, Pentagon
officials met to decide who should replace Saddam and how the oil
should be divided up. They called Philip Carroll, former Chief
Executive of Shell, to discuss the give-away of Iraqi oil. Whilst
admitting that only someone "without a brain" wouldn't support
privatisation, his chums in the big oil companies were more
worried about their profits. The Organisation of Petroleum
Exporting Countries (OPEC) had been increasing the price of oil
for some time: the Bush plan was to shift control of the oil to
his pals in private companies who would then respond to the
demands of US drivers by cutting the price of oil. Trouble was
that the major US petrol companies had just posted record profits
so there was no reason for them to cut the price of oil. Palast
then found that the state department and Pentagon bashed out a
compromise: a state-owned oil company under which the state
maintains official title to the reserves but operation and control
are given to foreign oil companies. What's Palast got for this
scoop? An award? Er, no - two lawsuits from oil companies which
threaten to close down his website. So if you've got any spare
cash, Greg's asking that you buy some of his stuff so he can save
up the money to fight the case.

www.gregpalast.com

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R.I.P.

Nicolás David Neira Alvares, a 15 year old who was marching in the
anarchist block on Mayday in Bogota, Colombia, died at the weekend
following injuries sustained from a police attack. On the march
police attacked the demonstration with tear gas and rubber
bullets. 8 police singled out Nicolas and beat him till he was
unconscious - a week later he died from his injuries. Apparently
the trauma was so extensive that doctors were unable to operate to
save him.

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..and finally...

As scientists and naturalists take their high tech toys further
into the more remote and inhospitable corners of the Earth, they
continue to find and identify new species in surprisingly high
numbers. In an average year 15-20,000 new animals are recorded,
2000 new plants and a few hundred fish (not to mention the most
numerous creatures on the planet, insects).

Well, never let it be said that in this era of global capitalism
corporations don't take an advertising opportunity when they see
one. A recent addition to the known world is a variety of titi
monkey discovered in the dense tropical rainforests of South
America. From now on the lucky monkey will be called Callicebus
aureipalatii, meaning 'Golden Palace' titi - so named after an
online charity auction was won by online gambling site
'GoldenPalace.com'.

SchNEWS wonders whether beer companies will be stepping forward to
lend their names to newly identified strains of yeast living in
the guts of beetles, or perhaps Tescos will bid for a recently
unearthed type of blood-sucking "vampire" fish in the Amazon...

With the current number of recorded species at about 1.75m, and
the UN Global Biodiversity Assessment proposing a working estimate
of 13.6m species in total, this is one market with a seemingly
limitless potential for expansion - except the race is on to find
and save all these unknown species from extinction caused largely
by the self-same corporate system. It's an unfunny old world.

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Disclaimer
SchNEWS warns all readers not to accept a lift from a man with
dark glasses and an american accent... Honest!

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INFORMATION FOR ACTION - IF YOU LIKE IT PASS IT ON...

What's On? Check out out Party and Protest guide at
www.schnews.org.uk/pap/guide.htm - it's updated every week, has
sections on regular events, local events, protest camps and
more...

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