-Caveat Lector-
[radtimes] # 140
An informally produced compendium of vital irregularities.
"We're living in rad times!"
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How to assist RadTimes--> (See ** at end.)
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Contents:
--Poverty and inequality fuel globalization backlash
--Anti-Davos group, Brazil farmers storm biotech plant
--Man accused of spiking trees for radical environmental group
--Anti-nuclear protester sets himself on fire
--Discovery of Bones May Close O'Hair Case
--Ogoni Wars: Arms Were Sponsored By Shell
--Statement by Leonard Peltier
--Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs
===================================================================
Poverty and inequality fuel globalization backlash
By JOHN ZAROCOSTAS
DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan. 28 (UPI) -- The globalization backlash could
swell and trigger violent confrontations unless its economic benefits are
distributed more fairly and solutions are found to stem growing poverty and
inequality, civil society and political leaders warned Sunday.
"The ultimate test is whether globalization increases freedom, promotes
democracy, and helps to lift the poor from poverty; whether it is empowering
the many and, not just the few whether its blessings a re widely shared;
whether it works for working people," John Sweeney, president of the AFL-CIO
told political and business leaders at a session of the World Economic Forum
(WEF).
The global market, said Sweeney, that has been forged in the last decades,
"fails that test," and went on to caution that if we do not do better and
the system continues to generate growing inequality, environmental
destruction and a race to the bottom:
"Then it will trigger an increasingly volatile reaction from workers,
farmers, human rights activists and environmentalists. "
The AFL-CIO chief said: " we can no longer allow multi-national
corporations to scavenge the world for cheaper and cheaper sources of labor,
pitting workers against workers in a cruel, contest to increase profits. "
South African President Thabo Mbeki said there is a " structural fault of
poverty with on the one side the powerful and the wealthy and on the other
the powerless and the poor, " and said this needs to be corrected.
The President of the World Bank James Wolfensohn, noted that 80 percent of
the world's population, or 4.8 billion people, enjoy only 20 percent of the
world's income, and the remaining 20 percent enjoy 80 percent of the income.
Looking ahead, Wolfensohn pointed out that in 25 years time the world's
population will reach 8 billion and all but 3 percent of this increase would
go to developing countries, which will have a population of 6.8 billion.
Poverty and inequality, he said, "are not just an issue for the poor " but
for the entire world and is an issue of peace.
"Many have benefited from globalization but there is a need to address
poverty, and there was a need to improve equity and justice, but he also
said it would not be realistic to stop flows of investment, technology,
communications and trade," Wolfensohn said.
The forces of globalization, he said, are there and its a question of how
we deal with them through democracy, rights, and equity and suggested ways
to deal with some of the problems would be country by country, through
proper laws, human rights, and dealing with the issues of corruption and
devise policies for education, health, and rural and urban policies.
Vandana Shiva, director of the Research Foundation for Science, Technology
and Ecology, lambasted rich countries spending $343 billion a year in farm
subsidies and then dumping their agricultural products on poor countries in
Africa, Latin America, and Asia, destroying millions of poor farmers , while
at the same time limiting access to their markets.
A decrease in farm subsidies by rich countries and lowering barriers to
agricultural counties from poor nations could add about $55 billion for
developing countries.
Charles Holloway, chairman and chief executive officer of Dupont said
globalization is the free flow of goods, technology, and ideas, which like a
river brings positive benefits but also has hazards which must be minimized.
Holloway said that over 150 corporations are trying to enhance their
corporate responsibility and are interacting with civil society leaders to
try and approach problems from different perspective.
===================================================================
Date: Mon, 29 Jan 2001
From: Neil Tangri <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Anti-Davos group, Brazil farmers storm biotech plant
By Marco Sibaja
NAO ME TOQUE, Brazil, Jan 26 (Reuters) - More than 1,000 poor Brazilian
farmers, bolstered by foreign activists from the international "Anti-Davos"
summit, stormed a U.S.-based Monsanto biotech plant and threatened on
Friday to camp out indefinitely to protest genetically modified (GM) food.
Some 1,200 workers from the radical Landless Workers Movement (MST) invaded
the unit owned by the life sciences giant just before midnight on Thursday
in Brazil's southernmost state of Rio Grande do Sul, the center of Brazil's
battle over transgenics. The protest was timed to coincide with a summit in
Brazil countering a global business gathering underway in Davos, Switzerland.
With the help of a busload of anti-globalization protesters from the
10,000-strong World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, the poor farmers yanked
out GM corn and soybean crops at the experimental farm on Friday morning.
Hundreds of families and their barefoot children took over the research
center and warehouses, hanging hammocks and setting up mattresses and boxes
of food. They scrawled on the walls, "The seed of death!" and "Monsanto is
the end of farmers!"
"We're staying here indefinitely," said Solet Campolete, a local MST
leader. "We want to make a statement ... these seeds trick farmers and
create dependency on seeds produced by a big multinational."
In the past, MST families have led protests outside the Monsanto plant but
the current protest is the first time they have invaded the unit.
Monsanto said in a statement on Friday it had requested that local
authorities "restore order" at the unit. "Monsanto regrets this incident in
which it was a victim of an aggressive movement," the company said in a
statement.
Monsanto says its lab-enhanced seeds increase productivity and reduce the
use of agrochemicals among other benefits, but watchdog groups like
Greenpeace have opposed the wide-scale use of biotechnology that they say
has not been developed with sufficient environmental and health impact
studies.
ANTI-DAVOS ATTRACTS THOUSANDS
Back in Porto Alegre, the thousands of union workers, left-wing
intellectuals and environmentalists who opted not to jump on a bus for a
predawn, five-hour trip to participate in the protest, attended panels at
the rival meeting to the World Economic Forum in Davos. The activists
attending the "Anti-Davos" forum are expected to condemn GM food along with
a wide range of what they say are neoliberal policies that have deepened
the divide between the rich and poor.
In packed conference rooms, African delegates in purple robes and Indians
in orange turbans debated everything from a new-found socialism to
transgenic foods with Brazilian carworkers and French intellectuals.
The experimental forum boasts an eclectic guest list including Nobel prize
winning Portuguese writer Jose Saramago, former French first lady Daniele
Mitterrand, East Timor freedom fighter Taur Matan Ruak and MST leader Joao
Pedro Stedile.
Stedile and Jose Bove, the French farmer and leader of the Confederation
Paysanne, who catapulted to fame when he trashed his local McDonald's, were
among the honored guests who joined MST protesters at Monsanto in Nao Me
Toque.
"Monsanto says transgenics require less pesticides and chemicals, but
that's a lie. Transgenics increase dependence on those products," Bove said.
Brazil is the only country in the Western Hemisphere that attempts to ban
the commercial planting, importing or sale of GM food, but the country does
allow research.
Still, the issue has been at the heart of an ongoing battle between the
government and some farmers who have smuggled in GM seeds from neighboring
Argentina. Industry insiders suspect up to a third of Rio Grande do Sul's
soybean crop is GM.
===================================================================
Man accused of spiking trees for radical environmental group
----------
An alleged member of the Earth Liberation Front, a violent
environmental group that has been connected to a series of
arsons and other crimes, has been arrested on charges of putting
spikes in trees to destroy logging equipment in Indiana.
(01/29/01)
http://www.cnn.com/2001/LAW/01/26/tree.spiking.arrest.ap/index.html
===================================================================
Anti-nuclear protester sets himself on fire
<http://enn.com/news/wire-stories/2001/01/01292001/ap_fire_41676.asp>
Monday, January 29, 2001
By Associated Press
An anti-nuclear protester set himself on fire outside of Taiwan's
legislature on Monday, waving his arms and rolling on the ground before
witnesses extinguished the flames with bottled water.
Before igniting himself, the man dressed in sneakers, a hooded jacket and
black pants gave a protest letter to TV crews that were covering a small
anti-nuclear demonstration outside of the legislature.
Chen Shi-chi, a doctor at Taiwan University Hospital, said the man was in
stable condition and did not suffer serious burns. It was not immediately
known how the man set himself on fire or how long he burned.
A letter written by the man who burned himself Monday urged lawmakers not
to support the construction of the island's fourth nuclear plant. The
letter, written by hand and signed with the name Huang Ting-fang, said the
plant, one-third complete, would harm future generations "for a thousand
years."
The protest came just hours after lawmakers decided to hold a special
legislative session on Tuesday and Wednesday to debate the government's
decision to scrap the nuclear plant.
The project has been the source of controversy for several months. It was
approved several years ago by the previous Nationalist Party government,
which lost the presidential election in March.
President Chen Shui-bian's Democratic Progressive Party has long opposed
the nuclear plant, and Chen's government halted construction on it last fall.
The opposition-controlled legislature complained that the minority
government did not have the authority to cancel the plant without
consulting lawmakers.
Earlier this month, the island's highest court ordered the government to
consult with the legislature before canceling the project.
One anti-nuclear protest leader, Cheng Chien-liu, said the man who set
himself of fire Monday was not part of his demonstration.
"We didn't see him clearly and we didn't recognize him," Cheng said. "All
of a sudden he came running out in flames from the right side of the
building. We tried to put out the fire with bottled water, but there were
some parts where the water was not enough."
After he set himself on fire, the man walked several steps flapping his
arms. Seven bystanders doused the flames with bottled water. Another man
used a small fire extinguisher.
It was the second self-immolation in two days. On Sunday, a 22-year-old man
in the southern city of Tainan set himself on fire and was in serious
condition, police said. The man, who had just left the military, had
written a letter criticizing the nuclear plant, but his family did not
think the project inspired his act, police said.
===================================================================
Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2001
Discovery of Bones May Close O'Hair Case
<http://news.findlaw.com/ap/o/1110/1-29-2001/20010129103424990.html>
CAMP WOOD, Texas (AP) _ For years, federal investigators believed Madalyn
Murray O'Hair was killed. They just couldn't prove it.
But the weekend discovery of human remains in a shallow grave on a ranch
suggest the long investigation into the atheist leader's 1995 disappearance
may be near an end.
Investigators believe O'Hair, her son Jon Garth Murray and adopted
granddaughter, Robin Murray O'Hair, were killed, dismembered and dumped on
the private, 5,000 acre ranch in south Texas.
A metal artificial hip and three skulls were unearthed Sunday near the same
area where other human bones had been found a day earlier.
"The bones indicate three sets of human remains," said Roderick Beverly,
special agent in charge of the FBI's San Antonio office. "All appeared to
have their legs cut off."
O'Hair had a hip replacement operation several years before her disappearance.
Though Beverly stopped short of confirming the identity of the bodies, he
said officials believe the search is over.
"The likelihood of three individuals walking around here, one of which has
a hip replacement, and the trauma and marks we see on the bones, it's a
better than even chance" the remains belong to the O'Hair family, he said.
It could take weeks to identify the remains, which were found about 2 feet
down and layered on top of each other. DNA tests and dental records will be
used. Investigators also will try to match the serial number on the metal
hip to O'Hair's medical records.
Investigators also found a skull and hands in the grave, buried separately
from the other remains.
The body of Danny Fry, one of the suspects in an alleged plot to kidnap,
rob and kill the O'Hair family, was found near Dallas in 1995 with the head
and hands severed.
A break in the O'Hair disappearance came on the eve of the trial of David
Roland Waters, who was facing kidnapping and extortion charges in the
case. Waters struck a deal with investigators Wednesday that was ordered
sealed by a federal judge in Austin.
The 53-year-old Waters, who had pleaded innocent in the case, was to have
gone on trial Monday.
A law enforcement source who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of
anonymity confirmed Waters was taken to the ranch Saturday. His two lawyers
also were present.
A hearing was scheduled Monday to hear objections from the AP on the
judge's decision to seal the agreement. Waters' attorneys had made the
request.
O'Hair, 77 and suffering from diabetes and heart disease when she
disappeared, enjoyed calling herself the most hated woman in America. She
was involved in successful court battles in the 1960s to ban prayer and
Bible-reading in the nation's public schools.
O'Hair and her two relatives left their Austin home in August 1995 under
mysterious circumstances. Breakfast dishes were still on the table and
O'Hair's medication was left behind. The family's dogs were left at the house.
They were later seen in San Antonio but dropped from sight along with about
$500,000 in gold coins from one of O'Hair's atheist organizations.
Investigators have alleged that Waters, O'Hair's former office manager,
masterminded a kidnapping and extortion scheme.
Prosecutors contend the victims were dismembered at a public storage shed
in Austin, and their bodies dumped on the ranch property under Waters'
directions.
Waters was convicted in 1994 of stealing $54,000 from O'Hair's atheist
organizations. He is serving 60 years in prison on weapons charges, and is
to be sentenced in connection with his plea agreement on March 31.
Last August, Gary Paul Karr, 52, a former jailmate of Waters, was sentenced
to life in prison for extorting money from the O'Hair family.
O'Hair's disappearance wasn't reported for a year until her estranged son,
William Murray, told Austin police she was missing.
Theories ranged from foul play to O'Hair and family having run off with the
money from her atheist organization, United Secularists of America. Others
said she went away to die somewhere Christians wouldn't pray over her.
Yet on Sunday, as law enforcement officers came and went through the ranch
gate, a man walked down the road pulling an 8-foot wooden cross.
"I'm not doing it for her, I'm doing it for her family," said Bob Hanus,
35, a self-described Christian missionary. "I said, 'What better place to
go and pray.'"
----
On the Net:
American Atheists: http://www.atheists.org
FBI: http://www.fbi.gov
===================================================================
This Day by allAfrica.com - January 25, 2001
Ogoni Wars: Arms Were Sponsored By Shell - MOSOP
by Ahamefula Ogbu and Chuks Akunna in Port Harcourt, Lagos
The multinational oil giant, the Shell Petroleum Development Corporation
(SPDC) was yesterday accused of importing arms and ammunitions into the
country with which destabilisation was engendered in the Niger Delta.
The accusation was made at the Port Harcourt session of the Justice
Chukwudifu Oputa Commission investigating human rights violations in the
country by the President of Ogoni socio-cultural organisation, the Movement
for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), Mr. Ledum Mitee while
presenting a petition on rights violations in Ogoniland.
Mitee said since communal clashes bore scars of military operations, it was
apparent that the villagers who had no access to automatic weapons could not
have been the ones that were wreaking the havoc with its attendant loss of
lives and property in the mayhem.
He, called for reduction in the fields of operation of Shell which now stood
at over 50 per cent to avoid what he described as blackmail on the part of
authorities, who Shell constantly remind of the dire economic consequences
of stoppage of Shell operations.
Mitee, who began his testimony at about 10 a.m., also queried the
arrangement whereby Shell bought arms from the police only to hand over such
to the Rivers State Internal Security Task Force to kill the Ogonis.
Mitee regretted that it was only in Nigeria where the state deployed its
armed forces against her citizens just to satisfy the dictates of Shell,
cautioning that unless the powers being enjoyed by the oil giant which he
said has extracted oil worth $32 billion, was reduced, they would not be
disposed to peace.
"We have information that as at the period of these killings in Ogoniland,
Shell was involved in the importation of arms and ammunitions. Police, also,
was selling arms to them, so the simple question is, 'what was the purpose
for these arms' importation?'
"In fact, their executives were also sent abroad for training in arms. They
have hands in the killings and violations of human rights in Ogoniland. An
instance was when Shell invited the police to protect their installations
and they came firing sporadically, killing a disabled boy fleeing from the
scene in the process," Mitee said.
Another worrisome aspect of government abdication of responsibility leading
to deaths, Mitee said, was in the churning out of spurious security reports
always aimed at suppressing the next protesting community in the area.
On the Ogoni/Andoni clash, Mitee alleged that it was engendered by Shell
which also allegedly sponsored the killing of 60 Ogoni fishermen returning
from their settlement in Cameroon. He said prior to that time, the Andoni
and Ogoni never had any differences.
On the boycott of June 12, 1993 presidential election, alleged to have
caused the problem in Ogoniland, he said it was a "collective decision,
exhaustively debated, voted for in a general meeting where those for were 11
while six voted against it."
On cross-examination by Mr. Yunus Ustaz Usman (SAN), counsel to a former
administrator, Colonel Dauda Komo (rtd), Mitee said the administrator was
neither involved in the trial, sentencing and execution of their late
leader, Ken Saro-Wiwa, adding quickly, however, that the statement of Komo
accusing MOSOP of killing the Ogoni Four was without basis since
investigations had not been conducted at the time.
The suggestion that Shell may have employed supernumery officers who carried
arms was to protect her investments due to hostile environment was hotly
debunked by Mitee who insisted that in Britain and The Netherlands where
Shell has installations, such situations could not have been tolerated.
Further led in evidence by his counsel, Mr. Femi Falana with Robert
Azibaola, Mitee said that lack of respect for the environment was the grouse
of his people, opining that rules on that be reviewed.
Justice Oputa, who had directed that counsel to the commission should cross-
examine last, directed counsel on the matter to meet and explore ways of
achieving reconciliation so that today when the case resumed, Ogoni and
Shell would have struck a new understanding which means reconciliation, the
reason for setting up the commission.
===================================================================
From: "LPDC" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Statement by Leonard Peltier
Date: Mon, 29 Jan 2001
STATEMENT BY LEONARD PELTIER
Greetings Friends and Supporters:
January 20, 2001, was a sad day for all of us. I know that this denial of
clemency has affected many of you as much as it has affected both my family
and myself. It is a terrible feeling and disappointment knowing that this
nightmare has not ended and will continue for many months to come.
When I received the news, I felt my stomach curl and a feeling of nausea
rolled over me. It took a while for me to refocus. For some reason I had
thought I might be having dinner with my family that night. It was an
especially disappointing day for all of us.
What Bill Clinton did to us was cruel. For eight years he ignored my
clemency petition despite the major campaign that was waged. Then, just
months before leaving office he publicly promised to make a decision on my
case, one way or the other. He said he was aware of its importance. The
White House gave my attorneys indications that there was a good chance for
my clemency to be granted. I had to prepare myself for being released
because there was no sign that my petition would be denied.
The LPDC bought me clothes, my grandson prepared his bedroom for me to sleep
in and other preparations were made for my homecoming. My friends on Pine
Ridge began plans to build me a house. We were literally forced to get our
hopes up because we did not want to be unprepared if I was suddenly set
free.
January 19, came and still, they kept us in nervous anticipation saying the
more difficult clemencies are still being worked on and would be announced
the next morning. Then January 20 came and went! The White House never
even told us what the decision was. We had to find out through the press
that my name was not on the list of clemencies. To leave a person's life
and so many peoples' hopes hanging in the balance like that is truly
hardhearted.
Since that dark Saturday, I have managed to get up and dust myself off, and
begin to lift my spirits once more. I am just as determined now to fight
for my freedom as I was on February 6, 1976 when I was first arrested. I
will not give up. This is the second time in the span of my incarceration
that I made it to the top of the hill and saw that freedom was in view, only
to be kicked right back down to the bottom again.
The first time was in 1985, when the evidence used to convict me was
impeached and I was denied a new trial, despite Judge Heaney's finding that
I might have been acquitted had the jury been presented this evidence. To
be denied a new trial after such a finding shocked our network and me just
as much as this denial of clemency has. However, we never lose a battle
without making some major gains in the overall struggle.
I want to compliment and thank my staff at the LPDC and all of you
grassroots supporters who stood beside me and fought so tirelessly for my
freedom. You put on one of the strongest and most memorable campaigns I
have experienced. Years from now people will read about the accomplishments
you made. People from every walk of life worked on this campaign. People
from every denomination and belief prayed from every corner of the Earth.
Although it feels like our sentiments were shooed away like an irritating
fly by a president who did not want to face the consequences of his own
mistakes, I believe we put up a serious challenge. We can see who was
granted clemency and why. The big donors to the President's campaign were
able to buy justice, something we just couldn't afford. Meanwhile, many
political prisoners continue to languish unjustly, proof that this nation's
talk about reconciliation is nothing but empty rhetoric.
We now have a number of strategies to continue this struggle for my freedom.
These ideas are in the early planning stages. I ask you to remain with us
while we regroup and develop a thorough plan. We must carefully consider
every option and make sure the strategies compliment each other in order to
have the best effect. The LPDC will release strategies as they are
developed. Some will be released this week.
I also have my own personal plans. I will continue doing artwork and will be
looking at ways to make it more available to the public. I will also be
working with my friends, Fedelia and Bob Cross, to build a grade school in
Oglala. Before my clemency was decided, I began to dream of the different
projects I would like to work on in Pine Ridge if I were free. Now that I
have been denied, Fedelia and Bob have said they will take the initiative to
begin the projects themselves, with my input. Soon, we will be establishing
a board and non-profit status.
Bob and Fedelia are schoolteachers and lifetime Oglala residents, and they
have the land on which to build the school. They have told me of the
desperate need for an improved school in Oglala. The existing school is
severely under funded and inadequate and does not provide the kids with the
quality education they need and deserve . We have the highest drop out rate
of all ethnic groups in the country and part of the reason is the lack of
stimulating and challenging programs for the youth.
Another idea I would like to develop is building a small recreation center
for Oglala. As most of you know Native health conditions are also probably
the worst in the country. We want to change that, beginning with this
center. We want the center to have modern exercise equipment, a
kitchenette, and card tables. As everyone gathers here to socialize, have
coffee, gossip, and play cards, we can encourage them to try the equipment
and to begin getting in the habit of exercising and eating healthy foods. I
believe it would be a nice place for people to spend time and a good
incentive for them to get into better physical condition and stop the trend
of diabetes on the reservation. The reservation currently has no facility
like this.
If we are successful in establishing these two services, I believe that the
community of Oglala will truly benefit. We will then be able to move on to
other projects that will bring people together and raise the quality of
life. For example, one day I would like to rebuild Jumping Bull Hall so
that there will be a drug and alcohol free place where people, especially
youth, can gather. We could set it up for a movie theatre and bring in video
games. People can watch movies, hold meetings, have birthday celebrations,
community meals and dances here. Right now, our youth have no place to go
to socialize and I believe this facility could help prevent the hopelessness
and despair too many of our young people feel. I would hope that word of
these projects would spread to other reservations and others like Fedelia
and Bob Cross will be inspired to take on similar ideas which we could help
support.
Your ideas, input, and support are welcomed. If you know people who would
donate supplies (books, wood, cement, hardware, etc), make financial
contributions, or donate their skills and labor, please get in touch with
the Leonard Peltier Defense Committee.
In closing, I want to thank you again for your support and ask that you
stand with us in this struggle. I believe that one day in the near future
we will succeed. But it can't be done without your support.
In the Spirit of Crazy Horse,
Leonard Peltier
---
Leonard Peltier Defense Committee
PO Box 583
Lawrence, KS 66044
785-842-5774
www.freepeltier.org
===================================================================
Sunday, January 28, 2001
Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs
<http://www.canoe.ca/CNEWSBikers0101/28_nath-can.html>
From Organized Crime in Canada --
Nathanson Centre for the Study of Organized Crime and Corruption
Osgoode Hall Law School, York University
In its latest annual report, the Criminal Intelligence Service Canada says
it expects an "escalation" of violence between the Hells Angels, the Rock
Machine, and the Outlaws as the Angels intensify their move into
Ontario. The report said the Hells Angels formed two more chapters in
1999, bringing to 18 the number they have across Canada in 1999. (The
number has increased since this report was published) "This will no doubt
exacerbate the already tense situation between the Rock Machine and the
Hells Angels and will affect the current balance of power in Ontario," said
CISC.
The war over Ontario may have already begun. On July 8, an un-detonated but
powerful bomb was discovered in a newspaper box outside a Georgetown,
Ontario motorcycle shop. The sophisticated bomb consisted of a plastique
explosive wired to a remote-control detonator. Police do not know who the
intended victim was but are investigating the ongoing feud between the Rock
Machine and the Hells Angels as a possible reason for the bomb being
planted. A police source alleged a man connected with the shop had recently
joined the Rock Machine, which continues to be locked in a vicious war in
Quebec with the Hells Angels for control of that province's drug trade.
The establishment of three new Rock Machine Ontario chapters - in Kingston
and Toronto and Niagara Falls - may be a factor in the planting of the
bomb. Ontario remains the only province where the Hells Angels do not have
a chapter. It is believed that the Hells Angels have held off establishing
clubs in Ontario due to opposition from some of the province's existing 11
biker gangs. Despite being unable to establish themselves in Ontario, the
Hells Angels are still considered the most powerful biker gang in Canada.
In addition to its new Ontario clubhouses, in September the Rock Machine
unveiled its puppet club, "The Palmers," in Montreal. Police fear the Rock
Machine expansion throughout Quebec and Canada is part of a grander scheme
to build a cross-Canada network allowing them to join a larger worldwide
biker gang - the Texas-based Banditos.
Not to be outdone, the Hell's Angels are also busy expanding throughout the
country. They have already established a puppet club called the "The
Damners" in Quebec and New Brunswick. They are also planning to set up a
support club in Ottawa and Sudbury in an apparent bid to counter the rapid
expansion of the Rock Machine in Ontario. In July, following a year of
probation, the Winnipeg Chapter of the Los Brovos motorcycle gang became
"prospect" members of the Angels (the membership hierarchy for most OMGs
are: friends, cliques, puppet, prospect or probationary and, ultimately,
the main club). This means that Bandito members will be eligible to wear
Hells Angels as the top rocker and the internationally trademarked winged
death's head on the back of their jackets. Almost 70 Hells Angels from
across Canada were in the city for the patch-over ceremony at the gang's
clubhouse on July 22.
With the Hells Angels elevating the local Los Brovos biker gang to prospect
status, Quebec provincial police Sgt. Guy Ouellette, an expert on biker
gangs, says the Angels' early acts in Manitoba will all be aimed at
asserting their dominant position, especially in the drug trade and
prostitution. Long-term effects of the Angels in the province include an
expansion in drug trafficking, a jump in prostitution, and a possible gang
turf war.
Meanwhile, violence between the Hell's Angels and the Rock Machine
continued throughout the summer with deaths reported on both sides. Most
notably, on July 7, loan shark Robert Savard, a long-time friend and
associated of the leader of the Quebec Hell's Angels, was shot dead. Later
that night, Rock Machine supporter Martin (Frankie) Bourget is murdered in
a Granby, Quebec campground.
Outlaw biker groups are also suspected of being behind the shooting of a
prominent crime reporter in Montreal on September 13. Le Journal du
Montreal newspaper reporter Michel Auger, who specialized in organized
crime, was shot five times as he was emerging from his car in the parking
lot of the newspaper. Despite the multiple wounds, he remained conscious
after being shot and used his cellular phone to call 911. He was taken to a
hospital where he underwent emergency surgery and was reported to be in
stable condition. Minutes after the shooting, police found a car on fire a
few blocks from the crime scene - the hallmark of a biker gang attack.
However, it was not immediately clear whether the Hells Angels or another
gang was involved. The shooting came a day after Auger published a two-page
spread on organized crime, one of many similar in-depth reports he has
published over the past 17 years. Auger had received many death threats in
his years of crime reporting, and took precautions, such as keeping his
phone number and address secret, and frequently changing his route to work.
Montreal police director Michel Sarrazin stated that approximately 20
police officers are working on the investigation into Auger's shooting.
Police arrested a woman on charges of uttering death threats to Auger, but
there does not appear to be any link between the threats and the attack on
Auger.
Following the gangland-style shooting of Auger, organized crime and outlaw
biker groups specifically were central to much of the activity on
Parliament Hill at the end of September. The Bloc Quebecois steered onto
the Commons floor an emergency motion calling for a new law that outlawed
membership in criminal gangs. In addition, the Bloc Quebecois called on the
Liberal government to invoke "if necessary" the constitutional
notwithstanding clause to suspend freedom-of-association provisions in the
Charter of Rights and Freedoms for gang members. This was echoed by Serge
Menard, Quebec's Minister of Public Security, who reluctantly urged his
colleagues that harsh tools are needed to root out the worst members of the
feuding Hells Angels and Rock Machine gangs.
As MPs debated the motion, Anne McLellan, the Justice Minister, repeated
assurances that the Liberal Government would study options for
strengthening the law to "break the back" of organized crime. While both
she and the Prime Minister rejected proposals that would suspend the
constitutional rights of members of OMGs, she did announce that senior
federal and provincial justice officials would meet in Quebec City to
discuss an anti-gang strategy. "If we need changes to the Criminal Code to
effectively fight organized crime in this country, those changes will be
made," she said. "Organized crime is the No. 1 law enforcement priority of
this government," she told the House. The government appears to be opting
for increased police powers, and for police to better use existing laws.
In the wake of the shooting of Auger, and as politicians around the country
called for tougher anti-gang laws, MPs sitting on a committee studying
organized crime stated they want police protection extended to their
families, The nine committee members, who hold secret meetings with
organized crime members and specialists, are watched over by RCMP, but some
say they now fear for their families.
Perhaps as a result of the calls for sweeping new police powers and
pressure from other criminal organizations, the Quebec leaders of the Hells
Angels and the Rock Machine met in a Quebec City courthouse on September
26, with some speculating that a truce in the six-year war over the
lucrative drug market in Quebec may result. For one hour in a conference
room, Maurice "Mom" Boucher, the acknowledged leader of the Quebec Hells
Angels, met with Frederic "Fred" Faucher, a ranking member of the Rock
Machine. The room was reserved by Denis Bernier, a lawyer who has defended
Rock Machine members in the past. Police compare the prospect of a
ceasefire to one in Denmark in 1997, where, on the eve of the introduction
of legislation to outlaw membership in the Hells Angels and the Banditos,
gang leaders bought time on television to announce that their war was over.
The new law was never enacted. Among those upset by the meeting's location
was Premier Lucien Bouchard, who called it "totally unacceptable." Quebec
Public Security Minister Serge Menard was grilled about why security guards
and police didn't do more to stop the discussion. He said there was little
anyone could do because the meeting was legal and there were no grounds to
break it up.
Police and lawmakers may find little support for increased enforcement to
combat OMGs from the courts, if a recent ruling is any indication. On
August 18, Calgary Judge Allan Fradsham ruled that a 1997 checkstop north
of the city, where 150 bikers were detained for hours by police, violated
the motorcycle club members' constitutional rights. On July 24, 1997, a
massive police roadblock was set up on Hwy 2 to trap B.C.-based Hells
Angels leaving a patchover ceremony in Red Deer. Police believe that this
decision could cost them a key weapon in their arsenal against biker
gangs. Checkpoints are often used by police to learn more about the
membership of biker groups. Patches and other symbols on the "colours" of
biker gangs also help to identify the role of members within a gang.
For years, the Hells Angels have been identified by the Criminal
Intelligence Service Canada as the country's foremost organized crime
group. Today, they are more powerful than ever. The CISC report shows that
despite a wealth of police and legislative initiatives, the underworld
influence of the Angels stretches from coast to coast. While their
stronghold has always been in British Columbia and Quebec, since 1997, they
have made significant inroads into Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and are
currently focusing on the biggest prize: Ontario.
To date, police and prosecutors cannot point to any significant convictions
of Hells Angels for drug trafficking. Their cellular structure, methods of
communication and well-known intimidation tactics make the investigation
and prosecution of members extraordinarily difficult. Senior members are
insulated from crimes by associates. There is no pyramid shape to the Hells
Angels' power structure; local chapters enjoy wide autonomy. Business is
rarely discussed on the phone, in cars, or in buildings. Orders are
conveyed on the street, or by modem, sometimes using elaborate codes.
Equally concealed are the bikers' assets. Through highly paid lawyers and
investment advisers, property is commonly purchased through numbered
companies, while their market share of a drug trade, worth at least
$10-billion in Canada annually, is skillfully laundered.
There is also concern that law-enforcement agencies have been
systematically infiltrated by the Hell's Angels. "I think they've become
very good at it, whether through girlfriends or associates," says RCMP
Inspector Garry Clement, who heads the force's proceeds-of-crime unit in
the Ottawa region. "People are very naive if they think they haven't
patched themselves into some police organization." When two Quebec
City-based Rock Machine members were arrested on drug charges recently,
they were found to have internal police documents about bikers, including
photographs and details of gang affiliations.
In Quebec, the war for control of the drug trade between the Hell's Angels
and the Rock Machine has claimed about 150 lives since 1994, a dozen other
people have disappeared and there have been at least 159 attempted
homicides. Over the past five months, the killings been so numerous that
this year may prove the bloodiest yet.
Few weeks have gone by this year in Quebec without an incident involving OMGs:
Feb. 4: Claude De Serres, reportedly a police informant trying to
infiltrate the Hells Angels, is found dead.
April 17: Hells Angel Normand (Biff) Hamel is shot dead.
April 23: Hells Angels sympathizers riot in a holding jail in Montreal and
try to storm a wing reserved for the Rock Machine.
April 27: Former union boss Andre (Dede) Desjardins is killed a day after
meeting his friend, Hells Angels chieftain Maurice (Mom) Boucher.
May 1: A Rock Machine associate is shot dead at a Montreal street corner.
May 6: In a protection-racket move, three Hells Angels underlings
pepper-spray clients in a Quebec City tavern.
May 9: Police arrest two Hells Angels affiliates in a stolen van with two
pistols, a can of gasoline and hoods. Later that day, Gilles Lesage, an
in-law of a Rock Machine member, is found dead inside a burning car in
Montreal.
May 12: Two Rock Machine supporters are wounded in a machine-gunning at a
stop light in Montreal.
May 24: Rival bikers scuffle on the bus taking them from jail to a
courthouse appearance.
May 30, 31: Police dismantle a drug ring linked to the Hells Angels that
used express post to mail cocaine and hashish to Inuit villages in northern
Quebec.
June 6: A Montreal drug dealer with ties to the Rock Machine is shot dead.
June 9: A Rock Machine supporter in Quebec City survives an ambush.
June 11: A Hells Angels crew vandalizes three Montreal illegal after- hours
bars, beating up patrons and employees in a protection- racket display of
muscle.
June 16: Hells Angels affiliate Stephane Hilareguy goes missing. His wife,
Natacha Desbiens, is shot dead and their house set on fire. Their
two-month-old baby is left safely next door.
June 22: Hells Angel Louis (Melou) Roy vanishes.
July 3: Hells Angels supporter Christian Marcoux is found dead inside a
burning car.
July 7: Loan shark Robert Savard, a Boucher friend, is killed. Later that
night, Rock Machine supporter Martin (Frankie) Bourget is shot dead in a
Granby camping ground.
Some of Canada's major OMGs:
HELLS ANGELS: Considered the largest and strongest biker gang in Canada and
the world. They have more than 100 chapters worldwide.
ROCK MACHINE: They are second only to the Angels in Quebec and are making
strong in-roads into Ontario. They have a long-running battle with the
Quebec Hells Angels. It is suspected that their recent expansion throughout
Canada is to hook-up with the Banditos.
BANDIDOS: Second only to the Hell's Angels internationally, although the
pale in comparison to the Angels in Canada.
PARA-DICE RIDERS: Located in the Toronto and Woodbridge. Considered
Ontario's strongest biker gang with 66 members plus associates and
hangarounds. They have little presence outside of Ontario.
OUTLAWS: 50 members in Ontario. Located in Ottawa, London, Sault
Ste. Marie, St. Catharines, Toronto, Windsor and Woodstock. They also have
chapters in Quebec.
SATAN'S CHOICE: Located in Keswick, Kitchener, Oshawa, Sudbury, Simcoe
County, Thunder Bay and Toronto. While they have approximately 92 members
in Ontario, they have no chapters outside the province.
RED DEVILS: 25 members. Located in the greater Hamilton region. They are
the oldest motorcycle gang in Canada.
===================================================================
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-Jim Dodge
======================================================
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-Gen. Alfred. M. Gray, USMC
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