[ INDIA ] ML Update, Vol.5; No.5; 30 - 1 - 2002
From: cpimllib [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: cpimllib [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Tue, 29 Jan 2002 15:40:55 +0530 To: Undisclosed-Recipient:;@tonto.eunet.fi Subject: [ INDIA ] ML Update, Vol.5; No.5; 30 - 1 - 2002 ML Update A CPI(ML) Weekly News Magazine Vol.-5; No.-5; 30-1-2002 NOT AN INCH OF AYODHYA FOR THESE SAFFRON THUGS In the midst of all-round apprehension about possible terrorist attacks on Republic Day, a veritable contingent of real terrorists clad in saffron and armed with swords descended on the capital. The organisers - the VHP and Bajrang Dal - called it a 'Sant Chetavani Yatra' or a warning march of the saints! The warning was addressed to the government and the society at large asking for the disputed Ayodhya land to be immediately handed over to the VHP and its Temple Trust to enable construction to begin by March 12. There were no barricades for these terrorists. No tear gas shells or water cannons. And certainly no POTO! Instead the ruling BJP organised a public show for the visiting terrorists in saffron on the Ramleela Maidan. And the Prime Minister and his Man Friday, India's most disgraceful minister of defence, accorded them an official welcome with the guest terrorists doing all the talking and the government only taking instructions! The case has already been referred to the Law Ministry with a brief to expedite the case and 'examine' the legal and constitutional aspects involved in handing over the 'non-disputed part' of the land to the VHP! Meanwhile, the RSS has given a free hand to the VHP and Bajrang Dal to fix the date for launching the temple operation. In theory, the Vajpayee government is still talking of either a negotiated settlement or a judicial resolution of the Ayodhya dispute. But in practice, it has already taken the first step towards construction of a temple. The fig leaf of distinction being discovered between the original 'disputed' land and the land subsequently taken over by the central government in 1993 is a mischievous eyewash. Allowing the VHP to get a foothold on acres 'around' the disputed land and begin construction on it would effectively preclude any possible subsequent court verdict to the contrary. This mischievous move on the part of the government is therefore not just an act of appeasement, the Vajpayee government now officially stands as a co-accomplice of the saffron brigade. The so-called dispute in Ayodhya was created by the RSS. The Sangh Parivar then built up a hysterical campaign around it and in December 1992 the saffron brigade defied every law and norm of a civilised society to translate the campaign into action. Since then Ayodhya has become an open-ended agenda for the fascists. All they have to do to 'turn liberal' is to shelve it temporarily, but it is always there, hanging like a sword of Damocles on the country. And there is always the possibility of the saffron brigade picking up the sword and wielding it against the country at an opportune moment. The UP elections mark precisely such a moment in the saffron calendar. As far as the country is concerned, Ayodhya ceased to be a site of mere 'dispute' on December 6 1992. With the forcible demolition of the Babri Masjid, Ayodhya became a site of crime and disgrace. For every believer in secularism and democracy it has become a crucial site of contention and struggle. After all that happened on December 6 1992, the previous category of the 'disputed site' has become outdated and irrelevant for this country. It is no longer a matter of legal semantics to be left to the mercy of an Arun Jaitley. It is a question of life and death for the future of democracy in India. Secular democracy can have only one battle cry: Not an inch of Ayodhya land for the saffron thugs. CPI(ML) PROTEST AGAINST SAFFRON SUBVERSION OF INDIAN REPUBLIC The CPI(ML) organised human chains, marches, demonstrations, and meetings on 25 January as the concluding part of the first phase of CPI(ML)'s nationwide anti-saffron anti-imperialist campaign in Delhi and several other centers of the country in protest against communal frenzy, war hysteria, and Vajpayee govt.'s abject surrender to the US. In Delhi, hundreds of CPI(ML) activists and supporters formed a human chain near the Shahid Bhagat Singh statue on the Ferozshah Kotla ground. Party Gen. Secy. Dipankar Bhattacharya also joined it. He called upon the ranks to be on the forefront of struggle against what he called saffron subversion and American arm-twisting of the Indian Republic. He said that the nation needs a powerful resistance movement against growing imperialist and communal fascist attacks on its republic. Denouncing the 'Chetavani Yatra' taken out by the VHP he said, We had seen similar communal build-up ten years back which had led to the demolition of the Babri Masjid and plunged the country into the worst communal riots since Partition. Saffron terrorists are at it again, and this time round they must be given a fitting rebuff. He appealed
UK: Now We Are All Terrorists - SLP Youth
From: Stasi [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: UK: Now We Are All Terrorists - SLP Youth HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- A personal account of harrasment and arrest under the auspices of the New Labour PTA from a SLP Youth member, published in the current issue of Spark, journal of the Socialist Labour Youth. www.socialist-labour-party.org.uk Now we are all Terrorists = Fahim Ahmed, Ealing Southall CSLP Since the introduction of the Terrorism Bill in Parliament back in 1999 I have followed the debate surrounding the new legislation with avid interest. As a Marxist-Leninist I have a political interest in the clampdown on Irish freedom-fighters and domestic 'subversives', from liberal peace protestors to anti-fascist, anti-capitalist demonstrators, and as a budding criminal defence lawyer I have a professional interest in the practical application of the law. These two interests converged on 19 December 2001 when I was 'detained' by Special Branch under the new legislation for the purpose of 'examination', arrested, held for 17 hours, interrogated and tortured through repeated forcible attempts at taking my fingerprints. Eventually I was released on bail, to return on 18 February to find out if I will be charged with any offences. The cuff-marks remain on my wrist and the psychological marks remain on my mind as I write this report one month after the actual event. I had been in Belgium attending a massive trade union demonstration against the EU on 13 December, and the latest big anti-capitalist demonstration on 14 December, both in Brussels. I returned on the Eurostar on 19 December and was checked by French customs on the train before it went into the tunnel. There were dark-suited British officers checking people on the train once it was officially in the UK, and I assumed that they were customs as well. An officer approached me, showed me a Metropolitan Police badge and asked to see my passport. I asked him what he was doing and he explained that he was a member of Special Branch and was doing routine anti-terrorism checks. I showed him my passport and he continued on his way. I thought nothing more of it, but when I got off the train at Waterloo at 4.30pm, the same officer was waiting for me before the arrivals area. He approached me and said: Mr Ahmed I'm detaining you under the Terrorism Act, come with me. I could hardly believe it! I had thought about what a fuss I would make if I ever found myself in trouble with the police, but I never imagined I would be targeted as a 'terrorist'. I asked the officer his name and he told me: DS Geoffrey Singleton. I wrote it down immediately and followed him into a room there in Waterloo station. He sat me down and immediately began asking me questions about who I was, where I had been, where I was going and what I was doing. I began answering his questions thinking I was being interviewed under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE), which guarantees criminal detainees rights to legal advice, silence, and a standard of treatment specified in the Codes of Practice. Little did I know I was actually being 'examined' under Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000 (TA), which I later learnt is a piece of legislation that makes a mockery of the 'rule of law' and civil rights, which exist only in theory. After a few general questions he began asking me about my support for the Intifada - he knew I was a supporter because I was wearing a badge which had a Palestinian flag for a background, and the words 'End the Occupation, Support the Intifada' in the foreground. I explained that I had been active in the Oxford Palestine Solidarity Campaign, having meetings and handing out leaflets (join PSC, go to www.palestinecampaign.org or call 020 7700 6192). Unsatisfied with my answer he asked the question again, at which alarm bells started ringing. I am used to representing people in police stations and when an officer repeats a question which has been answered, it's usually my cue to say, 'You've had an answer officer, please move onto the next question.' But now, here I was, in the custody of Special Branch under the Terrorism Act, being questioned when I had already given an answer. I asked him to clarify what exactly he wanted to know and he repeated the question again, at which point I said: I'm not answering any more questions, no comment. He asked me where I live and I repeated: No comment. He then asked for my passport, which he had already seen on the train. I handed it over and told him that the address on the passport was my address, knowing that refusal to supply an address gives rise to a general power of arrest. I then asked if I had the right to legal advice, I was told that I had none. DS Singleton looked at me scornfully and left the room. I had been there no more than five minutes and things were already getting tense. Another officer came in and began searching my large rucksack. He also searched my jacket.
Washington Post Editorial: Capitalism Is In Trouble:
From: Charles Brown [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [L-I] Capitalism Is In Trouble: Capitalism Is In Trouble: A Deliberate Scandal Washington Post Editorial January 27, 2002 SUMMONING UP contemptuous rage at the Enron hearings last Thursday, Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) declared, When the corporate insiders at Enron realized the ship was sinking, they grabbed the lifeboats and left the women and children, their workers and investors, to drown. But this scandal is actually much worse than that. The bad guys did not merely grab lifeboats; they deliberately created the leaks that brought the ship of Enron down. What's more, the bad guys included not just Enron executives and Arthur Andersen's accountants but also, to a different degree, many of Mr. Durbin's own colleagues in Congress. Start with Enron's managers. Until last week, it seemed likely that Enron had taken on too much risk; that it had hidden this risk from shareholders by parking it in secret partnerships; and that senior executives had urged investors to buy stock even when they themselves were selling out. But fresh details suggest worse than this. Enron's executives apparently used the secret partnerships not just to hide risk but also to steal money from shareholders. The small group of financiers and insiders that invested in the partnerships reaped returns higher than ordinary shareholders could dream of; one deal paid out 212 percent in just over three months. This was a way of siphoning money that should have been declared on the company's balance sheet. The money belonged to Enron's shareholders. They were robbed. Next, consider Arthur Andersen. The company claims that one rogue partner was responsible for shredding documents in an apparent coverup. But the supposed rogue, David Duncan, did at least advise Enron against issuing a misleading statement about its earnings; it was Andersen headquarters that recommended he destroy the record of his misgivings. Yet even if other Andersen employees were involved in shredding, that would actually understate the scandal. For Andersen was colluding in a different kind of coverup years before the bankruptcy, starting in 1997 when it signed off on financial statements that it knew to be wrong. What's more, Andersen may well have done the same at other companies; the Securities and Exchange Commission has alleged that the firm's partners saw but failed to prevent problems at two other companies, Sunbeam Corp. and Waste Management Inc. Some Andersen managers seem to have made a business decision to condone misleading financial statements, figuring that it is more profitable to placate top executives than to protect investors. In consequence, shareholders again got robbed. Now consider Mr. Durbin's colleagues. During the 1990s Congress repeatedly squashed attempts to tighten rules on auditors. Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.), who chairs the Senate committee that held Enron hearings on Thursday, fought in 1994 against proper accounting for stock options. Rep. Billy Tauzin (R-La.), the chair of Thursday's House hearings on Enron, opposed a plan to bolster auditors' independence from managers in 2000. Sen. Chris Dodd (also D-Conn.), who now proposes reformist legislation, led a battle in 1995 to limit auditors' liability. These and other members of Congress would like you to forget this, or perhaps to believe it was an honest error; we were wrong, Sen. Robert Torricelli (D-N.J.) declared on Thursday, in a show of graciousness. But in Congress there was never a fair argument over the merits of audit regulation. The merits by and large were on one side, and the campaign dollars were on the other. Of the 248 members who sit on committees that plan to hold hearings on the scandal, an extraordinary 212 received money from Andersen or Enron. All the players in this scandal -- Enron's managers, its auditors, the lawmakers -- helped to create the conditions for Enron's collapse. That collapse cheated investors of their savings and cost thousands of jobs. It has also called into question the whole premise of stock market capitalism, which is that investors scrutinize honest financial statements and then allocate capital to the companies that will use it best. If financial statements aren't honest, then capitalism is in trouble. Corporate leaders, auditors and lawmakers need to put aside venality-as-usual and start thinking of remedies. The past pattern -- in which audit scandals have yielded brief breast-beating but no action -- must not repeat itself. -- _ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __
Philippines. Communist Party warns US troops they are targets
From: Magnus Bernhardsen [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [Peoples War] Communist Party warns US troops they are targets (OK, here is the full story. MB) this story was taken from www.inq7.net URL: http://www.inq7.net/nat/2002/jan/30/text/nat_1-1-p.htm Communist Party warns US troops they are targets Posted:0:15 AM (Manila Time) | Jan. 30, 2002 By INQ7.net, Inquirer News Service and Agence France-Presse THE COMMUNIST Party of the Philippines warned Tuesday that its New People's Army (NPA) would target American soldiers if they go to NPA territory. Should these so-called US military experts wander into an NPA territory, our comrades may not possibly resist the temptation to seize them, said CPP spokesperson Gregorio Rosal, alias Ka Roger. About 600 American military advisers and troops are expected to join in six months of training exercises with t Philippine troops in the southern Basilan island, the stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf Muslim bandit group, with both government link to the al-Qaeda terrorist network of Osama bin Laden. The Balikatan training exercises are scheduled for formal launch on Thursday after a day's delay. The NPA is said to operate in various parts of the country, in varying numbers. Exiled CPP leader Jose Ma. Sison said, however, that Filipino-American members of the US contingent visiting their relatives in the country would not be harmed. The NPA will not fire at or seize my province mates, who joined the US armed forces, if they are just visiting relatives and are not in combat gear, said Sison, chief political consultant of the National Democratic Front. Sison also advised militant groups not to rely entirely on the Supreme Court to resolve the constitutional issue being raised against the presence of American troops in the Philippines. Mass action should still be the preferred option. A petition with the Supreme Court could just result in complacency on the part of those against the presence of US troops. This is the real intention of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and his spokesperson Bobi Tiglao, Sison said in a reply to questions e-mailed to him. The Macapagal administration maintains that the coming of US forces for military exercises with Filipino soldiers in the Philippines is allowed under the Philippine Constitution, and Presidential spokesperson Rigoberto Tiglao has suggested that the only way to end the debate is to take the case to the Supreme Court. Protesters could resort to both mass and legal actions, Sison said, as militant groups vowed to continue their mass protests. The Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) said it would intensify protests until US troops withdraw from Mindanao. Bayan spokesperson Renato M. Reyes Jr. said his group, the youth group Anakbayan and the League of Filipino Students would hold protest actions this Wednesday in front of the US embassy in Manila. After a last-minute hitch over how many US troops would be involved in the Balikatan exercises, Philippine officials announced Tuesday the formal starting date and some of the ground rules. Filipino training director Brigadier General Emmanuel Teodosio said US troops would be allowed to fire on the rebels primarily in self-defense once they moved to Basilan island. They (Americans) will be under the command of a Filipino officer, but it's an inherent right of an individual to defend himself if threatened, he said. They can fire back primarily to defend themselves. The campaign will see one of the biggest deployments of American troops since the United States began its campaign to wipe out the al-Qaeda terrorist network, which is blamed for the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington. Ground rules for the campaign were laid out at a meeting in southern Zamboanga City Tuesday between Teodosio and his US counterpart, Brigadier General Donald Wurster. Teodosio said American troops would train with Filipino units in Manila in the first week of the campaign before moving in on Basilan island. The campaign was initially due to start Wednesday but it was delayed after the US and Philippines negotiated on how many US troops would be involved. Teodosio said the Americans were apprehensive that setting a fixed number of US participants would cause them to lose some flexibility, Teodosio said. Both later agreed to stick to the previously announced number of more or less 600 including 160 Special Forces, plus or minus 10, he added. Wurster, special operations chief of the US Pacific Command, did not speak to reporters. There has been some public anxiety here over the exact role of the US advisers, as well as concern that the Americans could be killed or taken captive by the Abu Sayyaf. The Filipino Muslim gunmen operate in small units on a number of heavily forested islands around Zamboanga City. In Basilan, roughly the size of Los Angeles, the Abu Sayyaf is holding a US Christian missionary couple and a Filipina nurse hostage. An independent
Colombia: On the brink of all-out war
From: Carlos A. Rivera [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [Peoples War] Fw: Colombia: On the brink of all-out war GREEN LEFT WEEKLY Australia's Socialist Newspaper E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.greenleft.org.au - Number 478, 30 January 2002 - Colombia: ON THE BRINK OF ALL-OUT WAR BY ALLEN JENNINGS http://www.greenleft.org.au/current/478p24.htm Colombia reached the brink of all-out war as the government threatened to end three-year-old peace negotiations with the left-wing guerilla organisation, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Buoyed by increased US weaponry and funds, Colombia's President Andres Pastrana suddenly announced on January 9 that the peace negotiations had ended. He gave the FARC two days to withdraw its forces from the demilitarised zone that was established in 1998 to foster the peace process. Just minutes after Pastrana's deadline expired, FARC negotiators offered a proposal aimed at defusing the threat. While Pastrana responded almost immediately, saying the proposal was unsatisfactory, he gave the FARC two more days, until January 14, to come back with an alternative proposal that would promise concrete results towards a cease-fire. Meanwhile, some 13,000 army troops, supported by the navy and air force, amassed on the borders of what the FARC call the liberated zone, an area two-thirds the size of Tasmania (42,000 sq kms), with a population of some 100,000. Top Colombian general, Fernando Tapias, announced that the army was ready for all-out war. FARC combatant Mauricio, who lives in San Vicente del Caguan, the principal town in the liberated zone, said that the FARC was pulling back from the towns, but warned that, If the government wants the rural areas, even a place five minutes from here, they'll have to fight for it. With some 35,000 lives already lost in the war over the last decade, the scene was set for a bloodbath. The situation was so serious that Ecuador's President Gustavo Noboa, fearing a massive escalation of the conflict, announced that his troops were reinforcing Ecuador's northern border with Colombia. 'War on drugs' On January 8, the day before Pastrana's announcement, US ambassador to Colombia Anne Patterson handed 14 Black Hawk combat helicopters to the Colombian military. She pledged unfailing support for the country's war against drug producers. Valued at US$14 million each, Colombia now has a fleet of 29 Black Hawk choppers, which can be mounted with machine guns and modified to launch rockets and mortars. For more than a year the US has been funding Plan Colombia, a US$7.5 billion military aid package, which includes the supply of military hardware and more than 1000 US military trainers and pilots. Amnesty International has described Washington's massive military backing for Bogota as the same policy that backed death squads in El Salvador in the 1980s. With 90% of cocaine and some 70% of heroin sold in the US originating in Colombia, Plan Colombia is painted as part of a global war on drugs. On the ground, it is Colombian peasants who are the victims of this war. It devastates their fields with herbicides, poisons their water and drives them into deeper poverty. There is a continual threat of massacres from government-backed paramilitary forces. There are more than 1.5 million internal refugees. Trade union activists face murder, relentless repression and subversion charges. All this is on the rise because of the growing US interference via Plan Colombia. As the BBC News noted, Washington is calling on the Colombian government to take tougher action against the insurgents, yet it is America's own policies that are generating recruits for these movements. 'War on terrorism' Now, on top of this war on drugs comes the war on terrorism. In mid-October, Colombia's General Tapias attended the Inter-American Conference Against Terrorism, at which Washington proclaimed the Latin American chapter of its international war against terrorism. At this conference on October 15, Francis Taylor, the US State Department's anti-terrorism coordinator, stressed that all the resources available will be used in the anti-terrorism campaign in Latin America, including, as we have done in Afghanistan, the use of military force. Taylor stated that the FARC and Colombia's second largest armed insurgent group, the National Liberation Army (ELN), were on Washington's terror list. Taylor declined, however, to differentiate between anti-terrorist and anti-insurgency operations in Colombia, in which Washington has vowed not to become involved. In spite of this promise, the real face of Plan Colombia -- a scheme devised to destroy the left -- has been quickly unmasked since September 11. During the Christmas recess, US President Bush managed, against congressional opposition, to nominate arch right winger
Only goal is global supremacy, not the defeat of terrorism - JohnPilger
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [R-G] Only goal is global supremacy, not the defeat of terrorism - John Pilger The Mirror January 29, 2002 War on terror: Only goal is global supremacy, not the defeat of terrorism By John Pilger Last week, the US government announced that it was building the biggest-ever war machine. Military spending will rise to $ 379billion, of which $ 50billion will pay for its war on terrorism. There will be special funding for new, refined weapons of mass slaughter and for military operations - invasions of other countries. Of all the extraordinary news since September 11, this is the most alarming. It is time to break our silence. That is to say, it is time for other governments to break their silence, especially the Blair government, whose complicity in the American rampage in Afghanistan has not denied its understanding of the Bush administration's true plans and ambitions. The recent statements of British Ministers about the vindication of the outstanding success in Afghanistan would be comical if the price of their success had not been paid with the lives of more than 5,000 innocent Afghani civilians and the failure to catch Osama bin Laden and anyone else of importance in the al-Qaeda network. The Pentagon's release of deliberately provocative pictures of prisoners at Camp X-Ray on Cuba was meant to conceal this failure from the American public, who are being conditioned, along with the rest of us, to accept a permanent war footing similar to the paranoia that sustained and prolonged the Cold War. The threat of terrorism, some of it real, most of it invented, is the new Red Scare. The parallels are striking. IN AMERICA in the 1950s, the Red Scare was used to justify the growth of war industries, the suspension of democratic rights and the silencing of dissenters. That is happening now. Above all, the American industrial-complex has a new enemy with which to justify its gargantuan appetite for public resources - the new military budget is enough to end all primary causes of poverty in the world. Donald Rumsfeld, the Defence Secretary, says he has told the Pentagon to think the unthinkable. Vice President Dick Cheney, the voice of Bush, has said the US is considering military or other action against 40 to 50 countries and warns that the new war may last 50 years or more. A Bush adviser, Richard Perle, explained. (There will be) no stages, he said. This is total war. We are fighting a variety of enemies. There are lots of them out there ... If we just let our vision of the world go forth, and we embrace it entirely, and we don't try to piece together clever diplomacy but just wage a total war, our children will sing great songs about us years from now. Their words evoke George Orwell's great prophetic work, Nineteen Eighty-Four. In the novel, three slogans dominate society: war is peace, freedom is slavery and ignorance is strength. Today's slogan, war on terrorism, also reverses meaning. The war is terrorism. The next American attack is likely to be against Somalia, a deeply impoverished country in the Horn of Africa. Washington claims there are al-Qaeda terrorist cells there. This is almost certainly a fiction spread by Somalia's overbearing neighbour, Ethiopia, in order to ingratiate itself with Washington. Certainly, there are vast oil fields off the coast of Somalia. For the Americans, there is the added attraction of settling a score. In 1993, in the last days of George Bush Senior's presidency, 18 American soldiers were killed in Somalia after the US Marines had invaded to restore hope, as they put it. A current Hollywood movie, Black Hawk Down, glamorises and lies about this episode. It leaves out the fact that the invading Americans left behind between 7,000 and 10,000 Somalis killed. Like the victims of American bombing in Afghanistan, and Iraq, and Cambodia, and Vietnam and many other stricken countries, the Somalis are unpeople, whose deaths have no political and media value in the West. WHEN Bush Junior's heroic marines return in their Black Hawk gunships, loaded with technology, looking for terrorists, their victims will once again be nameless. We can then expect the release of Black Hawk Down II. Breaking our silence means not allowing the history of our lifetimes to be written this way, with lies and the blood of innocent people. To understand the lie of what Blair/Straw/Hoon call the outstanding success in Afghanistan, read the work of the original author of Total War, a man called Zbigniew Brzezinski, who was President Carter's National Security Adviser and is still a powerful force in Washington. Brzezinski not long ago revealed that on July 3, 1979, unknown to the American public and Congress, President Jimmy Carter secretly authorised $ 500million to create an international terrorist movement that would spread Islamic fundamentalism in Central Asia and destabilise the Soviet Union. The
COUNCIL OF EUROPE WILL DISCUSS ON MILOSEVIC.
From: Vladimir Krsljanin [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: COUNCIL OF EUROPE WILL DISCUSS ON MILOSEVIC! HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- A resolution of the Assembly and a process in its Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights have been initiated in the last week session by a group of CPRF deputies, joined by their colleagues of the Left from other six countries. Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Violations of Law in the Case of Slobodan Milosevic 24 January 2002 Motion for the resolution presented by Mr. Zyuganov and others 1. The Assembly notes that new facts have emerged concerning the involvement of Osama bin Laden, leader of the Al Qaeda terrorist organisation, in supporting the so-called Kosovo Liberation Army. This evidence proves the KLA was part of the international terrorist network. This in turn makes it possible to assess the nature of the conflict in Kosovo in 1998-1999 differently, proving that the aim of the Yugoslav leadership was not to suppress a liberation movement but to fight armed separatism and international terrorism. 2. Slobodan Milosevic was arrested on 31 March 2001. But an investigation by the Yugoslav authorities, which lasted three months, resulted only in an accusation of abuse of position. 3. The transfer of Mr. Milosevic from Belgrade to The Hague in June 2001 at the demand of the International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia (ICTY) was carried out in gross violation of the Yugoslav Constitution. This was confirmed by the Yugoslav Constitutional Court decision of 6 November 2001. Thus the unlawful transfer of Mr. Milosevic to The Hague may be considered kidnapping. 4. As a result of the kidnapping of Mr. Milosevic, the Yugoslav State was denied the right to a court examination of the accusations leveled against the former head of state, while Mr. Milosevic was deprived of the right to defend himself against those accusations. 5. The ICTY was created by a decision of the UN Security Council. However the UN Charter does not permit the UNSC to create judicial bodies. Thus the legitimacy of the ICTY is highly questionable. 6. A group of independent lawyers has submitted a complaint to the European Court for Human Rights in connection with the flagrant violations of law in the Milosevic case. However the ICTY authorities prevent free and unmonitored communication between Mr. Milosevic and his lawyers. This violates the generally recognised norms of human rights. 7. During Mr. Milosevic's detention in Holland his rights have been notably violated by the 24 hour a day illumination of his cell and by monitoring him 24 hours a day, using video and infrared equipment. 8. The Assembly calls on the Dutch and Yugoslav authorities as well as the ICTY to work for the return of Mr. Milosevic to Yugoslavia. That would help end the violation of law caused by his transfer to Holland. It would enable Yugoslavia to exercise its right for a court trial of Mr. Milosevic and it would allow Mr. Milosevic to exercise his right to defend himself. Until then the Assembly calls on the ICTY to ensure that the conditions of Mr. Milosevic's detention in the UN Detention Center conform to the generally accepted norms of human rights. Signed Christodoulides Doris (Cyprus), Carvalho Lino (Portugal), Churkin Guennady, Gamzatova Hapisat, Gostev Ruslan, Melnikov Ivan, Zyuganov Gennady, Shaklein Nickolay, Bakulin Vladimir (Russia), Marmazov Yevhen, Oliynyk Boris, Pakhansky Anatoly (Ukraine), Kanelli Liana (Greece), Neguta Andrei (Moldova), Manukyan Yuri (Armenia) Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe 24 January 2002 On Violations of Law in the Case of Slobodan Milosevic Dear Colleagues, Recently new facts have emerged concerning the involvement of Osama bin Laden, leader of the Al Qaeda terrorist organisation, in supporting the so-called Kosovo Liberation Army. This evidence proves the KLA was part of the international terrorist network. This in turn makes it possible to assess the nature of the conflict in Kosovo in 1998-1999 differently, proving that the aim of the Yugoslav leadership was not to suppress a liberation movement but to fight armed separatism and international terrorism. It is necessary to note that former FRY President Slobodan Milosevic was arrested on 31 March 2001. But an investigation by the Yugoslav authorities, which lasted three months, resulted only in an accusation of abuse of position. Later in June 2001 Mr. Milosevic was transferred from Belgrade to The Hague at the demand of the International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia (ICTY). But it was carried out in gross violation of the Yugoslav Constitution. This was confirmed by the Yugoslav Constitutional Court decision of 6 November 2001. Thus the unlawful transfer of Mr. Milosevic to The Hague may be considered kidnapping. As a result of the kidnapping of Mr. Milosevic, the
DIPLOMATIC SCANDAL: US ACCUSES ARAFAT OF BEING MAFIA MAN
From: Miroslav Antic [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: DIPLOMATIC SCANDAL: US ACCUSES ARAFAT OF BEING MAFIA MAN HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- DIPLOMATIC SCANDAL: US ACCUSES ARAFAT OF BEING MAFIA MAN The positions of Zinni and Cheney show a policy which is biased, one-sided, incomplete, wholly tendentious, factious, divisive and intrusive, one based upon self-interest and exclusion of parts. The United States of America is not a peace-maker in the Middle East, but rather, following this policy, takes a position which facilitates the perpetration of violence and a perpetuation of the conflict. The Israeli newspaper Maari quotes Anthony Zinni, the retired General who until now had performed an excellent task in brokering a peace deal in the Middle East, as having made totally unprofessional declarations at a private dinner in Washington DC. The newspaper claims that Zinni called Yasser Arafat capo di tutti capi (Head of all the Godfathers in Mafia Organisations) and an incorrigible liar. Maari adds that Zinni went on to say During my meetings in the Middle East, he told me so many obvious lies that I came to the conclusion that he could not be trusted at all (sic). However, regarding Sharon (currently under investigation for war crimes in Belgian courts), Zinni was more deferential: Everyone had warned me about Sharon but when I got to know him, I discovered a sort of daddy bear, always positive towards me, always ready to help me immediately and always proposing constructive solutions. Meanwhile, Richard Cheney made public statements on the same theme, on ABC TV channel on Sunday. Regarding the incident in the Eastern Mediterranean at the beginning of January, in which 50 tonnes of arms were found about the ship Karine A, supposedly shipped from Iran to the Palestinians, he accused Arafat of being involved in arms trafficking and called him a liar for denying implication in the case. Cheney went further, accusing Arafat of involvement with terrorism. We do not believe him. He is currently involved in an operation which leads him to work with terrorist organisations, Hezbollah, and with Iran, a state which is intent on torpedoing the peace process. That anyone in a United States administration should have the nerve to mention Iran, after the Irangate scandal, when the US itself shamefully involved itself in the Iran-Contra case, in which arms trafficking from Iran to Nicaragua's oppressive fascist regime was undertaken by Washington for use in the civil war, which incidentally cost around 30,000 lives. Whether or not Arafat was involved in arms trafficking or not, and it would not be beyond the realms of the imagination for Mossad or the CIA to stage anything (it would not, after all, be the first time), it appears that certain members of the US administration have yet to understand how simple the situation is to resolve. If the Palestinian Authority does not fulfil its international obligations, then neither does Israel, a State which reaches new lows in world public opinion by the day. The lesson to be learned from September 11, although the methods were totally unacceptable, was that there are two sides to the Middle East story and the USA takes one side (due to the important Jewish lobby in US society). Traditionally leaning more towards the Arab side, contrary to the position of the Democrats, the Republicans now appear to be following the same path and are switching to Israel. A more constructive approach would be for the USA to encourage Israel, using its considerable economic and diplomatic clout, to honour its international obligations, namely respecting the UN Resolutions on the Occupied Territories. Building colonies on stolen lands is only going to exacerbate the issues. This is what Israel does, and arrogantly refuses to leave. That the USA can take this side and not understand that the Palestinians have no other option but to defend themselves, gives the likes of Osama Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein claims to the moral high ground, whether or not they deserve it. Timothy BANCROFT-HINCHEY PRAVDA.Ru --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST _ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] _
Weekly News Update on Colombia #626, 1/27/02
From: Red Palante! [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Weekly News Update on Colombia #626, 1/27/02 WEEKLY NEWS UPDATE ON THE AMERICAS ISSUE #626, JANUARY 27, 2002 NICARAGUA SOLIDARITY NETWORK OF GREATER NEW YORK 339 LAFAYETTE ST., NEW YORK, NY 10012 (212) 674-9499 [EMAIL PROTECTED] *11. COLOMBIA: PLAN B IF TALKS FAIL On Jan. 22, Colombian president Andres Pastrana called for expanded US military aid to Colombia, including US soldiers to train Colombian troops to protect oil pipelines, bridges and other infrastructure from rebel attacks. At the same time, Pastrana said he hoped the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) would stick to an Apr. 7 target date for reaching ceasefire terms. The deadline was part of an agreement signed on Jan. 20 following talks in the rebel-controlled safe haven in southern Colombia [see Update #625]. [Miami Herald 1/22/02 1/23/02, both from AP] On Jan. 20, the Colombian weekly El Espectador revealed details of the US government's Plan B for Colombia if peace talks fail. The plan would channel US military aid directly to the fight against leftist rebels. [Irish Times 1/21/02] The FARC meanwhile seems to be stepping up its armed actions. Explosives strapped to a bicycle blew up on Jan. 25 in front of a restaurant frequented by police in Bogota, killing four police officers and a child, and injuring several other people. The Josefa restaurant is across the street from the Fatima Police Station in southern Bogota. No one claimed responsibility for the attack, but Bogota mayor Antanas Mockus said initial investigations pointed to the FARC. Police also deactivated a car bomb in a residential area near Bogota's El Dorado airport, and another explosive device in the western area of the capital. The FARC has claimed responsibility for dozens of attacks on electricity towers around the country that have caused power rationing in three departments. The rebels also downed towers south of Bogota, causing authorities to announce an electricity rate hike to cover the repairs. The FARC was also blamed for a car bombing that closed a highway briefly on Jan. 24. [MH 1/26/02 from AP; La Jornada (Mexico) 1/26/02 from AFP, DPA, Reuters] === Weekly News Update on the Americas * Nicaragua Solidarity Network of NY 339 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012 * 212-674-9499 fax: 212-674-9139 http://home.earthlink.net/~nicadlw/wnuhome.html*[EMAIL PROTECTED] === Red Palante! Comunicacion Antagonista y Resistencia Cultural [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://inquilino.net/palante _ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __
Colombia: New hostilities
Reuters (with additional material by AP). 29 January 2002. Twelve Colombians Killed, 22 Missing in Blasts. BOGOTA -- An explosion in a Marxist guerrilla weapons dump killed seven raiding Colombian soldiers and left 22 missing on Tuesday, and a car bomb killed five civilians in a southern city, the army said. An army spokesman blamed the latest car bombing, in a restaurant district of the city of Florencia, on the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia -- known by the Spanish initials FARC. It came during an apparent offensive by the 17,000-member Marxist force, launched since they signed a landmark agreement with the government to reach a cease-fire deal by April 7. The soldiers were killed storming a house where the FARC had stored an estimated two tons of dynamite in the El Dorado district of the central Colombian province of Meta. The dump exploded. But it was not clear whether guerrillas set off the dynamite or whether it had gone of by accident. Troops were still trying to account for their missing comrades around the ruins of the house. Another six wounded were taken to a hospital in the nearby city of Villavicencio. The army's Fourth Division said in a written statement that troops had seized the cache after fighting in which four FARC guerrillas were killed. At least six soldiers were wounded in the explosion. At this moment the troops are (trying)... to locate 22 army members who are missing as a result of the explosion, said the statement signed by division commander Gen. Arcesio Barrero. Later on Tuesday evening, a car bomb activated by remote control exploded as a military convoy passed through Florencia's restaurant district, killing five civilians including two children, an army spokesman said. He pointed the finger at the FARC, which is known to have a presence in Florencia. The city lies two hours' drive from a Switzerland-sized chunk of land granted the rebels by President Andres Pastrana to start peace talks three years ago. The Florencia car bomb, which also injured 10 soldiers and policemen as well as one civilian, exploded just before peak dining time on Tuesday evening. The city has long been a battleground not only for the FARC and the army, but also for far-right paramilitaries -- who target the rebels. Rather than the cease-fire deal's heralding an easing in fighting, the rebels have stepped up attacks against military units, and bombings of energy and water infrastructure. Many analysts say the guerrillas could be making a show of military might to prove that it they have not turned soft after agreeing to negotiate a cease-fire with the government. Others point to internal divisions within the guerrilla force, which is calling for land redistribution and social reforms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Barry Stoller http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ProletarianNews
Afghanistan. Four US commandos die.
From: Stasi [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Afg: Four US commandos die HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, January 30, 2002 3:26 AM Subject: [Peoples War] Four US commandos die Four US commandos die KANDAHAR (Online): Eye witness accounts state that at least four US commandos were killed during a Mujahideen ambush in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar.The commandos had been patrolling the area. As a result, US warplanes retaliated by heavily bombing this region of Kandahar, known as Lewa. This was followed by a deployment of US troops to carry out a search operation in order to arrest the unidentified assailants. The US Military is believed to have imprisoned approximately 250 Taliban Mujahideen in this region and consequently, US troops are on continuous high alert in fear of possible Mujahideen attacks. PEOPLES WAR ~~~ Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Peoples_War A people who want to win independence cannot confine themselves to ordinary methods of warfare. Mass insurrections, revolutionary warfare, guerilla detachments everywhere - such is the only way. F Engels A revolution is not a bed of roses. A revolution is a struggle to the death between the future and the past. Fidel Castro There is no revolution without violence. Those who don't accept violence can cross out the word revolution from their dictionary. Malcolm X The Marxist-Leninist doctrine on class struggle and the dictatorship of the proletariat affirms the role of violence in revolution, makes a distinction between unjust, counter-revolutionary violence and just, revolutionary violence, between the violence of the exploiting classes, and that of the masses. General Vo Nguyen Giap Without a Peoples Army the people have nothing Mao Tse-Tung --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST _ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __
Pakistan: The Communist Mazdoor Kissan Party (CMKP) deploresaction against peasants.
From: Magnus Bernhardsen [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [Peoples War] Pakistan: CMKP deplores action against peasants http://www.dawn.com/2002/01/29/nat22.htm CMKP deplores action against peasants By Our Staff Reporter ISLAMABAD, Jan 28: The Communist Mazdoor Kissan Party (CMKP) here on Monday condemned district administration's action against the peasants of Charsadda and registration of cases against the party's general-secretary , Afzal Khamosh, provincial president Nisar Khan and about 120 other peasant leaders under Anti-Terrorism Act. In a meeting, Punjab CMKP president Syed Azim claimed that about 3,500 personnel of law-enforcement agencies and Frontier Constabulary surrounded the peaceful peasants of Hasht Nagar and forced them to leave their lands. The police terrorised the peasants as a result of which tension is prevailing in the area, he said adding the peasants resisted the 'police attack' and laid down before the armoured vehicles and police jeeps. One thousand women also took part in the resistance. He said dozens of peasants were injured during the police violence, as it fired about 200 tear-gas shells on the resisting peasants. Member of the central committee Hamid Hashmi expressed the resolve that the party would not leave the peasants of Charsadda alone and would leave no stone unturned in supporting the genuine rights of the peasants. The meeting demanded that the harassment of poor peasants in Charsadda district should be stopped forthwith, SSP Mardan and officials concerned of Charsadda district be suspended and the cases against the party leaders and peasants be withdrawn immediately. _ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __
Korean Central News Agency Jan 29
TODAY'S NEWS (January.29.2002 Juche 91) [CONTENTS] * U.S. use of biological and chemical weapons assailed * KCNA on U.S. futile attempts * Sports contest for Paektusan Cup opens * Bush's projected trip to S. Korea opposed * Japan hit for trying to justify overseas military actions of SDF * Senior middle schoolers' mathematic contest held * Anti-U.S. struggle called for * More dendrolites unearthed * Number of books on steady increase at Grand People's Study House * Full play to advantages of Korean socialist economic management called for * Anecdotes about President Kim Il Sung * Central Youth Hall For Spanish-speaking people * descubiertos nuevos fosiles de vegetales * vana intencion de ee.uu. - comentario de atcc - * rodong sinmun califica de tropas agresivas fuerzas de autodefensa de japon * promotor de amenaza de armas bioquimicas U.S. use of biological and chemical weapons assailed Pyongyang, January 29 (KCNA) -- Minju Joson today carries a signed commentary 50 years after the U.S. full-scale use of biological and chemical weapons in the northern half of Korea during the Korean War. The U.S. imperialists began a germ warfare by spreading contagious bacteria including smallpox. From Jan. 28 to march 1952 they dropped germ bombs and a variety of things carrying germs on over 800 occasions over more than 400 places in the northern half of Korea. The commentary says: The U.S. use of germ and biological and chemical weapons took many lives of Koreans and seriously polluted the picturesque Korean land and its ecological environment. The U.S. has not even admitted its crimes though a half century passed since then. This is little short of revealing its intention to repeat such crimes. The U.S. units for biological and chemical warfare are armed with about 90 types of chemical bombs and have stockpiled more than 3 million chemical shells. All these facts clearly prove that the U.S. is chiefly responsible for the threat of biological and chemical weapons. The U.S. is well advised to officially admit the war crimes committed by it by use of biological and chemical weapons in Korea, make an apology to the Korean people and dismantle as soon as possible the nuclear weapons, biological and chemical weapons and other weapons of mass destruction stockpiled in South Korea and the U.S. mainland. KCNA on U.S. futile attempts Pyongyang, January 29 (KCNA) -- The United States is now seeking to stage such political farces as investigation and hearing over the human rights and religious issues of the DPRK, with the mobilization of Ragtags from the United States, Japan and South Korea, including some parliamentarians and the U.S. commission on religious freedom. It is getting undisguised in its moves to isolate and stifle the DPRK after the emergence of the bush administration. Such hearing and international meeting to be held by the U.S. at the beginning of the new year are intended to escalate its unjustifiable pressure on the DPRK. This is an expression of the anachronistic hostile policy toward the DPRK zealously pursued by the U.S. in a bid to increase pressure upon the DPRK and isolate it by raising even human rights, religious and other minor issues besides nuclear, missile and conventional weapons issues as outstanding ones for discussion between the two countries. In fact, the U.S. has no right to take issue with any other country over the human rights issue. It should look into its well-known worst human rights situation, before talking about other country's human rights issue, and frankly make public its truth to the world. In the United States there are countless people seized with unrest and panic, deprived of elementary human rights and freedom and other vital rights. The U.S., which rose from the graves of Indians, natives of America, has grown fat at the cost of the blood and sweat of African black slaves and through ceaseless wars of aggression. It is still staging aggression and war, terrorism and intervention everywhere in the world, wrecking peace and wantonly violating human rights. This is evidenced by its war in Afghanistan conducted under the pretext of anti-terrorism operation. in this war the U.S. has massacred a large number of innocent civilians in cold blood only to come in for criticism. It is sheer hypocrisy and a foolish attempt of the U.S. to pull up the DPRK over its human rights issue. The U.S. seeks to put pressure on the DPRK, slandering its system where all human rights are fully ensured. But it is a reckless and futile attempt. Sports contest for Paektusan Cup opens Pyongyang, January 29 (KCNA) -- A
[marxistindia] denial of cvc papers to pac
January 30, 2002 Press Statement The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued the following statement: Submit CVC Report to PAC The decision of the Defence Minister, George Fernandes, to deny the Public Accounts Committee of parliament access to the Central Vigilance Commissioner's report on defence purchases is indefensible. The CVC had been requested to scrutinse the purchases of defence equipment for the past one decade. His report is of the highest public interest in the light of the continuing scandals surfacing in defence deals. In a democratic system, defence contracts involving huge amounts of money must be transparent and accountable to parliament. To take cover behind grounds such as prejudicial to the interests of the State are untenable. The Vajpayee government must immediately ensure that the report is made available to the Public Accounts Committee and a similar approach must be adopted in making all relevant documents available to the PAC regarding the purchases made during the Kargil war which has been the subject of scrutiny by the CAG. end cpi(m) website: http://www.cpim.org people's democracy: http://pd.cpim.org To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://in.docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
