After Eight Months of Struggle, the Death of Nepomuceno Moreno Obliges the Peace Movement to Reflect and Train Leaders


The Urgency of Organizing in the Young Mexican Movement Against the War on Drugs
By Marta Molina – 8 December, 2011 – NarcoNews

The Movement for Peace with Justice and Dignity (MPJD, in its Spanish initials) began with six deaths in the early hours of March 28 of this year. One of them was Juan Francisco, son of the poet, Javier Sicilia. After a long road the victims began to organize and learn to work together toward the same goal: An end to the war on drugs, but there are still giant steps to take toward grassroots organizing for the movement to achieve its goal.

A series of attacks against the peace movement (or at least that’s how it considers them) in the form of harassment and even assassinations are placing obstacles that impede the next step necessary after bringing together the victims: Training in nonviolence and community organizing so that each step or decision or action undertaken leads to a sequence of actions that are initiated by the movement instead of having to react constantly to nearly inevitable tragedies.

Far from what some think, being part of the movement does not provoke as a consequence these attacks that certainly would continue happening with or without its existence. This violence has been constant for the past five years since the militarization of the drug war. That’s the reason why the movement was formed. What the movement does make possible is that these cases are now more visible, their struggles are continued and the names of the assassinated are remembered, one of the tasks of the movement since it’s beginnings.

What really can become a growing obstacle for the movement is the matter of “going from crisis to crisis,” which steals the time necessary to organize, train and implement adequate protocols for each action. Successful nonviolent resistance movements throughout history across the world have demonstrated that organizing and training their members was the key to victory.

At present, the Movement for Peace is defending a terrain that it has not yet won, and the crises impede the steps necessary for the preparation of its nonviolent troops which have been recruited since the first march from Cuernavaca to Mexico City, May 5 to 9 of this year, through the Caravan of Solace to the North, in June, and the Southern Caravan, in September. …more

Webster Tarpley: US bringing the Salvadorian option to Syria
Voltaire Network – 12 January, 2012

Press TV talks with Webster Griffin Tarpley, author and lecturer in Washington who shares his in-depth insights of the movements by Western and Arab elements behind the scenes to destabilize Syria and terrorize its people. What follows is an approximate transcript of the interview.

Press TV: What is your reaction to our first speaker and to the US’ broader plan to, let’s put it this way, at a minimum create this unrest in the country?

Webster Tarpley: Let me confirm some things that the first speaker said. I was in Syria myself in the second half of November and I visited Homs and I went to the Zahra neighborhood and in particular the Zahra hospital and the main demand that was raised by ordinary people of all religions was that they don’t want the Syrian army taken out of there; they want the Syrian army to come in.

The main demand that I heard was that they want the Syrian army to post itself on the rooftops of houses and prevent terrorist snipers from killing people. And those snipers are killing everybody – they’re killing if you are pro-Assad, anti-Assad, taking your kid to school it doesn’t matter because they kill you and then al-Jazeera and the BBC and France24 arrive and say, uh huh, another victim of the Assad regime.

This is, regarding the US, this is the Salvadorian option. People may remember about six years ago now at the beginning of 2005 there was a discussion inside the Pentagon on how to start a civil war in Iraq and they decided they would use the death squads that they had used in Latin America and Argentina in Central America and so forth; that they could bring that to Iraq, but part of that plan was already Syria because they regarded Syria as a part of it.

Now, the specific timing of what just happened – the head of the so-called Free Syrian Army, this colonel who is undoubtedly a NATO agent of some kind, made an ultimatum on Wednesday. He said I’m giving the Syrian government four days and they have to stop shooting, they basically have to surrender or else I will carry out some spectacular action. Well… here is the spectacular action.

The other thing I would stress is that the head of the observers, the Sudanese general al-Dabi, he wanted to go to Eskandarun, Turkey because that seems to be the main NATO base from where this is all being organized.

There has been a NATO airlift from Libya with about 600 to 1500 Libyan fighters from the Libyan Islamic Fighting group, in other words al-Qaeda, led by the infamous butcher Belhadj with all kinds of weapons stolen from Gaddaffi’s arms depots; you’ve got French and British Special Forces officers; you’ve got the CIA; you’ve got the US Joint Special Operations Command running communications. I’m sure given all this the Israelis cannot be far behind. …more

Gulf Arms Deals: Buying Security or Bailing the West
By: Yazan al-Saadi – 12 January, 2012 – Al-Akhbar

The United States and the Gulf monarchies have committed to what has been dubbed as “one of the largest re-armament exercises in peacetime history,” amounting to the sale of US$123 billion worth of fighter jets, helicopters, missiles, tanks, and other advanced weaponry.

The deal, announced this past Christmas Eve in Washington, has been justified by Andrew Shapiro, the US Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs, as “[sending] a strong message to the countries in the region that we are committed to support the security of our key partners and allies in the Arabian Gulf and the broader Middle East.”

On the surface, the deal seeks to ensure that any potential expansionist interest by Iran towards the region is deterred. Yet, the nature and outcome of previous and current substantial arms deals between Arab Gulf monarchies and the West, in terms of its military value vis-à-vis Iran, suggest an agenda beyond merely containing the Islamic Republic.

Considering history: the “lightning” example

Amer Mohsen’s a href=”http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/29087″ target=”_blank”>recent article for Al-Akhbar Arabic devoted much attention to the first major arms deal between the West and the Arab Gulf monarchies, which occurred in the early 1960s, and how it illuminated much of the nature of why these deals are initiated and their usual outcome.

As Mohsen point out, Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom broke new ground by committing to a transaction in regards to the English Electric Lightning supersonic jet fighter aircraft, developed by the British Aircraft Corporation (known today as British Aerospace) during the 1950s.

Saudi Arabia, mired in the Yemeni Civil War and sporadically conflicting with Nasser’s Egypt, ordered 35 Lightning F-53s and six T-55s which were delivered in phases, completed in 1972. For the British defense industry at the time this was the largest sale in its history.
[Read more →]

Brazil to investigate use of tear gas in Bahrain
11 January, 2012 – Rasheed’s World

THE Brazilian Foreign Ministry, Itamaraty, announced on Tuesday (10/01/2012) that it was going to investigate the lethal use of Brazilian-made tear gas against pro-democracy protesters in Bahrain, following the publication of my story in O Globo newspaper on Monday in which I quote Bahraini activist Zainab al-Khawaja saying that Brazilian-made tear gas was responsible for the deaths of at least two children.

The Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper carried the news this morning in its print edition and online. Click here to read the story in Portuguese.

Here is my quick translation of their story into English:

Brazilian foreign ministry investigates the use of tear gas in Bahrain
Claudia Antunes – Rio

The Brazilian Foreign Ministry said Tuesday it is examining whether there was a breach of contract in the use of tear gas made by a Brazilian company, Condor Non-Lethal Technologies, against pro-democracy protesters in Bahrain.

Re-exports of arms without the authorization of the seller country is prohibited, and Condor has not sold tear gas to the monarchy of the Persian Gulf, according to the company and the foreign ministry.

The most likely hypothesis, however, is that the gas was used by one of the other five monarchies of the Gulf Cooperation Council, led by Saudi Arabia, which sent troops to Bahrain in March 2011 to support the King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa.

Condor, a maker of “non-lethal” weapons and ammunition based in Rio and that earns 30% of its earnings in exports, has confirmed that countries in the region are clients, but does not reveal which ones.

The use of the tear gas was denounced by activists from Bahrain and reported in the newspaper “O Globo” by journalist and blogger Rasheed Abou-Alsamh.

Activists attribute the death of a baby to a substance of the gas, whose main chemical agent is chlorobenzylidene malononitrilo.

Condor said it received the news of the baby’s death with “disbelief”, stating that its tear gas is also used in Brazil and in 40 other countries and that it follows “international safety standards.”

PRIORITY

This case calls attention to the lack of transparency in arms exports, when it is Brazil’s official policy to encourage the domestic arms industry.

In September, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff signed an interim measure to exempt such manufacturers from taxes, which the defense ministry says is aimed to put them on equal footing with foreign competitors.

At the time, Dilma said that one of its goals was to increase exports.

These sales must be authorized by the foreign ministry and the Directorate of Controlled Products Inspection, linked to the command of the Brazilian Army.

Asked if there is no political obstacle to the sale of weapons of crowd control to dictatorships, the Foreign Ministry said an analysis is made on a case-by-case basis.

Government and companies claim confidentiality agreements in not disclosing details of sales, and say this is international practice.

Legislation to be submitted to Congress by the defense ministry would provide for the setting-up of a public database on acquisitions and sales of weapons.

Numbers available today in the Ministry of Development show that exports of arms and ammunition, excluding dual-use items like jeeps and helicopters, grew 320% between 2000 and 2011, from $69.7 million to $293 million.

Brazil sold $19.5 million worth of weapons between 2006 and 2011 to five countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Oman and Kuwaitis), according to this data.

In the ranking of leading global weapons exporters, according to the International Institute for Peace Studies in Stockholm, Brazil was in 14th position in 2010. The list is headed by far by the US and Russia.

…source

Saudi forces attack Qatif protesters
11 January 2012 – PressTV

Saudi security forces have fired live bullets to disperse an anti-government protest rally in the eastern city of Qatif, reports say.

Saudi protesters were demanding the release of political prisoners. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province has been witnessing demonstrations almost on a daily basis over the past months. Protesters demand political reforms, greater liberties, freedom of expression and the release of political prisoners some held without trial for more than 16 years.

They have also condemned economic and religious discrimination in the oil-rich region and their government’s involvement in a brutal crackdown on protesters in neighboring Bahrain.

Activists say there are more than 30,000 political prisoners held in jails across Saudi Arabia, who, the Saudi-based Human Rights First Society says, are being subjected to both physical and mental torture.

According to rights activists, most of the detained are being held without trial or legitimate charges and have been arrested on grounds of mere suspicion.

Anti-government protests in the Kingdom have intensified since November, when security forces opened fire on protesters in Qatif, killing five people and leaving many more injured.

The repression of peaceful protesters has drawn condemnation from Amnesty International and other human rights organizations. …source

cb editor note:
Afghanistan – “The institution of the Marine Corps will not rest until the allegations and the events surrounding them have been resolved”, “We remain fully committed to upholding the Geneva Convention, the Laws of War, and our own core values.” Gen. James F. Amos, the commandant of the Marine Corps. excerpt Washington Post 2012

Guantanamo – Army Private Brandon Neely, describes body searches undertaken for no legitimate security purpose, simply to sexually invade and humiliate the prisoners. A key part of the Bush program included invasion of the bodies of prisoners in a way that might be deemed rape by instrumentality under US federal and state criminal statutes. excerpt Harpers, 2009

Abu Ghraib – human rights violations in the form of physical, psychological, and sexual abuse, including torture, reports of rape, sodomy and homicide of prisoners held in the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. These acts were committed by military police personnel of the United States Army together with additional US governmental agencies. excerpt Wiki 2004.

Disgusting Video of US Soldiers Desecrating Afghani Corpses
Local Editor – moqawama.org

Newly-surfaced video footage has shown US marines treating dead members of the Taliban militant group with utmost immorality.

The video, which was posted on the video-sharing website YouTube as well as other websites on Wednesday, shows four US Marine Corps in camouflage uniforms making lewd jokes, while urinating on the bodies of three Afghanis.

It was not immediately known where and when the incident took place.

The caption refers to the corpses as “dead Talibans,” but it was unclear if they were civilians or fighters killed after a battle. The bodies are dressed in Afghan-style clothing; the chest of one male corpse appears to be soaked in blood.

The US Marine Corps has said it would investigate the video, calling the actions of the troops caught on the video disgusting. “While we have not yet verified the origin or authenticity of this video, the actions portrayed are not consistent with our core values and are not indicative of the character of the Marines in our Corps,” it said in a statement.

The desecration of the corpses has drawn the anger of the Muslims in the US. A US-based Muslim civil rights group condemned the heinous incident in a letter to US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta.

Meanwhile, residents in the southern city of Kandahar as well as in the capital Kabul staged rallies on Thursday to slam the desecration of the corpses, saying the US marines committed crimes.

The demonstrators said “Since they’ve committed such a crime, we don’t want them anymore on our soil, we don’t like foreign soldiers to be on our soil and they have to leave.” …source

Salman Sharif from karababad who was taken by riot police after falling from 3 floors. Moments before he was followed by riot police into a building, minutes later witnesses saw him fall from three floors. When Salman hit the ground witnesses say he was not moving, the riot police carried him and took him away.

Bahrain police go on trial over death of blogger
12 January, 2012 – BBC

The trial has begun in Bahrain’s capital, Manama, of five police officers implicated in the death in custody of a blogger last year.

Zakariya Rashid Hassan al-Ashiri died on 9 April, seven days after he had been arrested as part of a crackdown on pro-democracy activists in the kingdom.

The authorities originally said that Mr Ashiri had died from complications resulting from sickle cell anaemia.

But photos showed significant bruises on his body consistent with beatings.

Mr Ashiri, a Shia Muslim, ran an online news website with a focus on human rights, business and culture.

At the time of his arrest he was charged with inciting hatred against the government and the promotion of sectarianism.

His death in custody provoked an international outcry.

The charges against two of the officers relate to administering a beating that led to Mr Ashiri’s death. If convicted, the officers face a maximum sentence of seven years.

The other three officers have been charged with failure to report a crime to the appropriate authorities.

Their case was adjourned to 30 January to allow time for lawyers to be appointed to represent them.

In another incident that has not been brought to court, Karim Fakhrawi, the publisher of the independent newspaper Al Wasat, died in detention on 12 April.

At the time, the government said his death resulted from kidney failure. But photographs of his body also showed signs of beating. …source

Bahrain F1 to reinstate dismissed employees
11 January, 2012 – AP

MANAMA, BAHRAIN (AP) —Bahrain Grand Prix officials will reinstate employees who have been purged from jobs as part of a crackdown on dissent in the Gulf kingdom, the chief executive of the Bahrain International Circuit said Wednesday.

Sheik Salman bin Isa Al-Khalifa said in a statement the decision is “an important initiative towards national reconciliation and unity” in the Gulf kingdom that has been roiled by opposition protests and government crackdowns since February.

Bahrain’s season-opening race last year was canceled becaue of political unrest. This year’s race is scheduled for April 22.

“I welcome back our colleagues into the BIC family as we now look to focus on the future and the important job at hand,” Sheik Salman said in a statement that was posted on the Bahrain Grand Prix website Wednesday.

The statement does not say how many circuit employees were dismissed for their alleged role in Shiite-led protests against Sunni rulers.

Human rights groups have criticized the decision of the world racing body to reinstate the Bahrain event this year.

The Bahrain Center for Human Rights said “arrests and trials” of opposition supporters continue. They include Bahraini race drivers, the group said in a statement Wednesday.

Last month, driver Mohammed al-Khunaizi was sentenced to two years in prison. He was detained in September after a funeral of a protester who died during an anti-government rally, the statement said.

Hundreds of opposition supporters have been detained and tried in special security court for participating in protests, including at least 150 athletes, coaches and referees.

After mounting international pressure, Bahrain last month halted trials against the athletes and dropped all protest-related charges against them.

It remains unclear what will happen to athletes already convicted.

A medal-winning bodybuilder, a national soccer team goalkeeper and a Bahrain basketball player were sentenced to one year in prison each in December. In June, a Bahraini soccer player was sentenced to two years in prison.

Hundreds of suspected opposition supporters have been pushed out of public and private sector jobs since March, when Bahrain imposed martial law to quell protests aimed at breaking the Sunni dynasty’s monopoly on power.

Bahraini labor groups claim up to 2,500 people were purged from jobs during the unrest. The government puts the number at 1,623. …source

Six September 11 lawsuits thrown out against Saudi Binladen Group
Bloomberg News – 12 January, 2012

NEW YORK – Saudi Binladen Group, Saudi Arabia’s largest construction company, which was cofounded by Osama bin Laden’s father, won the dismissal of lawsuits in which it was accused of supporting the September 11 attacks.

The US District Judge, George B Daniels, in New York, threw out six cases brought by people including relatives of those killed in the attacks.

They claimed the construction and distribution company run by bin Laden’s relatives and the company “provided material support” and financing to bin Laden as well as having maintained close ties to the Al Qaeda leader before the attacks.

The company allegedly provided significant financial support to bin Laden before he was removed as a shareholder in 1993, the plaintiffs said, “with knowledge that he was targeting the United States”, even after he was removed as a shareholder and his ties with the company were severed in 1994.

The claims “have no evidentiary support”, Mr Daniels ruled. The plaintiffs failed to show “the company maintained a financial lifeline to bin Laden”, as the lawsuits claimed.

Bin Laden, who used a family inheritance to build the Al Qaeda network that killed almost 3,000 people in the attacks, was killed on May 1 at his Abbottabad compound in Pakistan by a team of US Seals.

The suits include cases filed by Deena Burnett, whose husband, Thomas, 28, was killed when his hijacked plane, United Airlines Flight 93, crashed in a Pennsylvania field, and the family of Thomas Ashton, who died at the World Trade Center. …more

Wide Saudi ‘loopholes’ let charity funds slip to terrorists
By Shaun Waterman – The Washington Times – 23 December, 2010

Despite some success in disrupting funding for al Qaeda, Saudi authorities face major challenges in regulating the sprawling charitable sector in their desert kingdom, according to officials there and documents.

“There are still loopholes,” said a Saudi official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak with the media. “It is still possible for – [extremist] groups to use the system for their own advantage with impunity.”

A charities commission that Saudi officials promised to establish as long ago as 2002 “hasn’t started functioning yet,” the official said, adding that the proposal had “met with resistance” from some quarters of the government who feared they would have to cede authorities to the new body. “It’s a turf issue,” the official concluded.

Earlier this month, U.S. diplomatic cables posted by the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks painted U.S. officials as generally pleased with counterterrorism cooperation with the Saudis but less so with the kingdom’s actions on the terror-financing front, especially against groups other than al Qaeda.

“Donors in Saudi Arabia constitute the most significant source of funding to Sunni terrorist groups worldwide,” says one cable from December 2009, adding that the groups “probably raise millions of dollars annually from Saudi sources, often during Hajj and Ramadan,” major Muslim festivals in the kingdom.

The Saudi official shared with The Washington Times a translation of a confidential assessment produced for Saudi officials in response to allegations that senior members of the royal family were involved in funding an opposition politician in an allied Muslim country.

The assessment clears the royals of involvement but shows the politician’s links to a complex web of organizations established by a network of Muslim Brotherhood leaders and supporters, including some that have been indicted or designated as terrorist financiers by U.S. authorities.

The assessment says that “increased diligence and efforts are warranted” to prevent further “misuse [of] the Saudi charitable infrastructure,” calling the web of organizations “an example of the extent to which the Muslim Brotherhood is using moderate-seeming politicians to further its extremist agenda.”

The Muslim Brotherhood is a loose global coalition of Sunni Muslim political parties and other organizations that promote Shariah law and Islamism – a vision of Islam as not just a religious faith, but also the basis for a social and political system. …more

A spokesperson for the Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) on Monday said the government, which had an independent report carried out last year, has moved to ensure no further human rights violations will take place. “Last year, the King of Bahrain commissioned an independent report into alleged human rights abuses, the findings of which were published in November”. “The report found evidence of human rights violations and made certain general and specific recommendations. “The government has fully acknowledged the findings of the report and is acting swiftly and convincingly on the recommendations.” the spokesman said.

Business as usual in bloody Bahrain
by Ala’a Shehabi and Kristian Ulrichsen – guardian.co.uk – 11 January 2012

It’s no surprise the Countess of Wessex accepted jewellery from the Bahraini royal family: Britain has been its backbone for years

News that the Countess of Wessex accepted gifts of jewellery from Bahrain’s royal family is not surprising. After almost 200 years of British-supported rule by the House of Khalifa, Bahrainis are no closer to human rights or democracy. Meanwhile, British firms continue to profit from the ongoing crackdown, as the British government seemingly turns a blind eye to continuing abuses.

Prince Charles rolled out the red carpet for the Sandhurst-trained king of Bahrain in December, soon followed by Prince Edward’s visit to Bahrain with his wife, the Countess of Wessex.

British officials maintain there is nothing the British government can do to pressure the Bahraini government to stop its human rights atrocities. In reality, there isn’t much that they want to do. But the UK arguably has more leverage over Bahrain’s ruling family than any other Arab autocracy, because of its long historical connections.

Britain has provided legitimacy for the Al Khalifa regime ever since it labelled them the “rulers of Bahrain” in an 1820 treaty. This arrangement assigned all power relating to foreign affairs to the British, who intervened twice to remove rulers they didn’t want, most recently in 1923.

A long line of British “advisers” stiffened the backbone of the Al Khalifa’s security services. Charles Belgrave lasted 30 years until being forced out by anti-Suez protests in 1956. Ian Henderson lasted 32 years, and became known as the “Butcher of Bahrain” for his alleged role in torturing opponents of the regime. John Yates is the latest incarnation of Britain’s advisory role in Bahrain’s security services.

The British eventually left Bahrain in 1971, much to the delight of the local population at gaining independence, and to the disappointment of the Al Khalifa. To this day, any celebration of 15 August, the date marking British departure, is forbidden.

Bahrain’s foreign minister (himself a member of the ruling family) has said that it would be wrong to use the word colonialism to describe Britain’s role in Bahrain. In reality, Britain was the ruling family’s backbone, and their protector in maintaining the status quo against the democratic aspirations of ordinary Bahrainis.

From providing the intelligence-gathering software to monitor social media and spy on activists, to arranging canine security for the interior ministry, tender records show how British companies, consultants and special advisers are raking in the cash from the security crackdown. …more