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Friday, July 30, 2010

REAL ID CARD TRUTH!!!

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The EU has been waiting for years to launch its Internal Security Strategy (ISS) and the Standing Committee on Internal Security (COSI) which will be responsible for developing it. Back in 2003 It was thought that the Lisbon Treaty would be well in place by now, instead the Lisbon Treaty and the Stockholm Programme have come into effect at the same time. What the ISS and COSI have in common is that they both form part of the matrix of the next stage of the growing European state.

ARTICLE COPIED FROM:

http://www.statewatch.org/news/2010/feb/02iss-cosi.htm

The EU has been waiting for years to launch its Internal Security Strategy (ISS) and the Standing Committee on Internal Security (COSI) which will be responsible for developing it. Back in 2003 It was thought that the Lisbon Treaty would be well in place by now, instead the Lisbon Treaty and the Stockholm Programme have come into effect at the same time. What the ISS and COSI have in common is that they both form part of the matrix of the next stage of the growing European state.

Internal Security Strategy At the beginning of February the Council Presidency put out a "Draft Internal Security Strategy for the EU: "Towards a European Security Model". (EU doc no: 5842/10)

What distinguishes the concept of an ISS from what has been in place since 1993 under the Maastricht and Amsterdam Treaties is that it moves way beyond the idea that justice and home affairs simply covers the policy areas of policing, immigration and asylum and judicial cooperation.

"The concept of internal security must be understood as a wide and comprehensive concept which straddles multiple sectors"

Thus, internal security "must be seen as encompassing a wide range of measures" and:

"to reach an adequate level of internal security in a complex global environment requires the involvement of law-enforcement and border-management authorities, with the support of judicial cooperation, civil protection agencies and also of the political, economic, financial, social and private sectors, including non-governmental organisations."

Prevention and "anticipation"
The usual shopping list is presented for the widespread use of biometrics ("maximising the opportunities presented by biometric and other technologies"), EU PNR (Passenger Name Record), automated exit-entry systems, DNA and fingerprints. Much emphasis is also put on information exchange under the "principle of availability" (all data and intelligence held by one agency is available to all the others throughout the EU).

However, a new, dangerous, concept, originating in the EU Future Group report on justice and home affairs, is that of "anticipation". The Stockholm Programme has over twenty mentions of "prevention" but the concept of:

"prevention and anticipation" (emphasis added)

is spelt out in a section on the ISS which says it based on a "proactive and intelligence-led approach". One of the examples given is described as follows:

"Cooperation should therefore be sought with other sectors like schools, universities and other educational institutions, in order to prevent young people from turning to crime…. Civil society organisations can also play a role in running public awareness campaigns."

This could employ analytical tools and early-warning system to "anticipate" so:

"that we are not only prepared for the outcomes of future threats but also able to establish mechanisms to detect them and prevent their happening in the first place."

This concept of "anticipation" implies built-in scenarios or profiles of people or activities which would require state intervention well prior to the assumed "threat" moving anywhere near to reality. For example, a group of people might discuss far-reached ideas but this is a long way from actual planning and preparing to do anything about them.

What is covered by internal security?The breadth of the EU concept of "internal security" can best be illustrated by listing some of the "threats"/areas mentioned (a list which will surely grow in the future):

- integrated border management
- law enforcement cooperation
- criminal justice systems
- civil protection/crisis management
- terrorism
- serious and organised crime
- drug trafficking,
- cyber crime
- trafficking in human beings
- sexual exploitation of minors and child pornography
- economic crime,
- corruption
- trafficking in arms
- natural and man-made disasters
- crime in general
- critical infrastructures
- document fraud
- money-laundering
- petty and property crime
- youth violence
- hooligan violence
- petty or property crime
- major international events (in public order/protests)
- football matches and sports events
and "road traffic accidents"

Protecting "Common values"

The underlying assumption throughout is that the EU has, and will, "balance" freedom and security, that there is a common commitment to "security, freedom and privacy" based the EU's internal security "protecting people and the values of freedom and democracy". This is summed up as constructing:

"an internal security strategy which reflects the values and priorities we all share"

and:

"Europe must consolidate a security model, based on the principles and values of the Union: respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, the rule of law, democracy, dialogue, tolerance, transparency and solidarity."

These assumed principles and values are, however, contested by many who view the EU's development since 2001 as having nearly always favoured security over liberty, that respect for human rights is in no way reflected in its immigration and asylum policies and practices, that the rule of law has been bent or cast aside on numerous occasions, that democracy is simply viewed as having a vote (which only a minority use) every five years, that dialogue cannot take place if there is no transparency and openness in decision-making (ie: access to the documents under discussion) and that tolerance is a poor substitute for equality.

The Committee on Internal Security (COSI)The idea of setting up COSI was in the very first drafts of the EU Constitution, drawn up in the wake of 11 September 2001, and this carried over into the Lisbon Treaty. With the adoption of the Lisbon Treaty the Council moved quickly to establish COSI with a Presidency Note of 22 October 2009 which was followed by a Draft Council Decision: Council Decision on setting up the Standing Committee on operational cooperation on internal security (EU doc no: 16515-09 and EU doc no: 5949-10)

Under the "Stockholm Programme" COSI is charged with:

"developing, monitoring and implementing the Internal Security Strategy"

In January 2010 the Spanish Council Presidency circulated a Note on the "Consequences of the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty: the COSI (EU doc no:5815/10). This opens by re-stating the Lisbon Treaty provision (Article 71):

"A standing Committee shall be set up within the Council in order to ensure that operational cooperation on internal security is promoted and strengthened within the Union. Without prejudice to Article 207, it shall facilitate coordination of the action of Member States' competent authorities. Representatives of the Union bodies, offices and agencies concerned may be involved in the proceedings of this committee. The European Parliament and national Parliaments shall be kept informed of proceedings."

- COSI's Scope and membership:

"will include police and customs cooperation, control and protection of external borders, and, where appropriate, judicial cooperation in criminal matters." (emphasis added)

The use of the term "include" indicates that a much broader scope is eventually intended.

Its tasks are to "ensure operational cooperation and coordination"; evaluate the "general direction" and recommend measures to address shortcomings. Further COSI is to ensure "stringent cooperation" between the agencies of the EU state involved with internal security such as Europol, Frontex, Eurojust, CEPOL and Sitcen.

COSI's membership is to be comprised of high-level officials from Member States Interior/Home Ministries with the agencies invited to attend as observers. It also to take over the role of the Police Chiefs Task Force as the management body for COSPOL (Comprehensive Operational Strategic Plan for Police). COSI is not going to have a legislative role but it will "advise" those drafting new measures to take "due account" of the operational needs of "all actors".

- Conclusion

COSI is going to be a very powerful body overseeing and directing operational actions on internal security across the EU. It should be accountable to the European parliament which should have an oversight role and its documents should be publicly accessible.

How much parliaments and people are going to know about its workings is not at all clear. On past practice the term "kept informed" could simply mean occasional documents and a bland annual report. The state and its agencies always try to argue that because "operational" matters are concerned secrecy is essential or operations would be compromised. But there is a big difference between policy decisions which should be public and detailed operational plans on the ground. Actual operational reports and assessments should be available after the event so that shortcomings and failures can be evaluated - the notion that parliaments and people should be kept ignorant of EU-wide operations organised by COSI is quite unacceptable.

Crucially all of its policy decisions to undertake EU-wide operational actions should be public, so too should post-operation reports and assessments of shortcomings or failures.

EU state agencies and bodiesPlans are being discussed for agencies and bodies to be able to exchange classified information (EUCI) with non-EU states and international bodies: (EU doc no: 5524/10). The is a disagreement over whether this can be effected by a simple administrative arrangement or whether a formal Security Information Agreement between the two parties has to precede this.

However, it is interesting to note that as yet the Council has not sought to effect the obligations under the Lisbon Treaty whereby all EU state agencies and bodies are now brought within the EU Regulation on access to public documents which will mean - when the Council adopts a Decision - they will, for a start, have to put online a pubic register of their documents (Article 11).

Moves to ensure the "stringent" cooperation between EU state agencies is already underway, see Interim Report on cooperation between JHA agencies to be sent to COSI in April (EU doc no: 5816/10). At present there are a series of agreements between CEPOL (European Police College), Eurojust, Europol and Frontex: "Strategic cooperation agreement", reports, threat assessments and best practice, excluding personal information and "Operational cooperation agreements" which "allow for the exchange of all kinds of information". There are also developed "cooperation agreements with SITCEN (Joint Situation Centre: intelligence-gathering)and OLAF.

Primary cooperation is between the five major agencies (and no doubt in time the IT agency to be set up to run major EU databases). The report shows that a plethora of other bodies and sub-groups are also involved: European Police Chiefs Task Force (EPCTF), Heads of Europol National Units (HENUs), Joint Investigation Teams (JITs) Network Secretariat, JHA Heads of Agencies Meeting, European Aviation Suppliers Organisation and eventually the European External Action Service.

Tony Bunyan, 12 February 2010

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THIS IS GREECE!

The U.S. Embassy would like to draw your attention to the recently
updated Country Specific Information sheet for Greece, including the
section on Safety and Security. Recent attacks, such as Saturday
night's bomb which exploded outside of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
on Syntagma Square, underscore the importance of exercising security
awareness.

Country Specific Information sheets and other resources for Americans
living or traveling abroad are available at http://travel.state.gov/

----------------

Greece
Country Specific Information

January 13, 2010

COUNTRY DESCRIPTION: Greece is a developed and stable democracy with a
modern economy. Tourist facilities are widely available. Read the
Department of State Background Notes on Greece
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/3395.htm> for additional information.

REGISTRATION / EMBASSY LOCATION: U.S. citizens living or traveling in
Greece are encouraged to register with the nearest U.S. embassy or
consulate at the Department of State's travel registration page
https://travelregistration.state.gov/> in order to obtain updated
information on local travel and security. U.S. citizens without
Internet access may register directly with the nearest U.S. embassy or
consulate. Registration is important; it allows the State Department to
assist U.S. citizens in an emergency.

Local embassy information is available below and at the Department of
http://usembassy.gov/> .

http://athens.usembassy.gov/>
91 Vasilissis Sophias Boulevard
Telephone: (30) (210) 721-2951
Emergency after-hours telephone: (30) (210) 729-4444 or (30) (210)
729-4301
Facsimile: (30) (210) 724-5313

U.S. Consulate General in Thessaloniki
http://thessaloniki.usconsulate.gov/>
Plateia Commercial Center
43 Tsimiski Street, 7th floor
Telephone: (30) (2310) 242-905

ENTRY / EXIT REQUIREMENTS: Greece is a party to the Schengen agreement.
As such, U.S. citizens may enter Greece for up to 90 days for tourist or
business purposes without a visa. The passport should be valid for at
least three months beyond the period of stay. For further details about
travel into and within Schengen countries, please see our Schengen fact
http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_4361.html> .
For other entry requirements, travelers should contact the Embassy of
Greece at 2221 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008, telephone
(202) 939-5800 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting (202) 939-5800 end_of_the_skype_highlighting, or Greek consulates in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago,
Houston, Los Angeles, Tampa, New York, and San Francisco, and Greek
embassies and consulates around the world. Visit the Embassy of Greece
http://www.greekembassy.org/Embassy/content/en/Root.aspx?office=1>
website for the most current visa information.

Holders of official or diplomatic passports visiting Greece as tourists
must obtain visas prior to arrival. Visit the Embassy of Greece web
site for the most current visa information.

The U.S. Department of State is unaware of any HIV/AIDS entry
restrictions for visitors to or foreign residents of Greece.

Information about dual nationality
http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1753.html> or the
prevention of international child abduction
http://travel.state.gov/family/abduction/abduction_580.html> can be
found on our website. For further information about customs
regulations, please read our Customs Information page
http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1468.html> .

SAFETY AND SECURITY: The U.S. Government remains deeply concerned about
the heightened threat of terrorist attacks against U.S. citizens and
interests abroad. Like other countries that are members of the Schengen
Agreement for free cross-border movement, Greece's open borders with
other members of the EU's Schengen zone allow the possibility of
terrorist groups entering/exiting the country with anonymity. As the
first entry point into Schengen from points south and east, Greece's
long coastline and many islands also heighten the possibility that
foreign-based terrorists might try to enter Europe through Greece's
borders.

Domestic terrorist organizations such as Revolutionary Struggle and
"Sect of Revolutionaries" have become increasingly active against both
domestic and foreign targets in Greece. Recent attacks and attempted
attacks have included the use of Molotov cocktails (gasoline bombs),
small arms and rifle fire, and improvised explosive devices, the largest
being a 100-kilo ammonium nitrate car bomb detonated at the Athens Stock
Exchange. The Greek police forces, other Greek governmental agencies,
private American and Greek businesses, and the United States Embassy
have been attacked in the last three years. Recent attacks have
occurred with shorter warning times and have had a higher potential for
an indiscriminate impact. The risk of "being in the wrong place at the
wrong time" in the event of a terrorist action is a concern for
residents and visitors. In January 2010, a bomb exploded at 8:00 pm near
the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on Syntagma square, a site popular with
tourists until late evening. U.S. tourists or residents in Greece
should remain vigilant, exercise caution, and monitor local
developments.

Strikes and demonstrations are a regular occurrence. Greece is a stable
democracy and these activities for the most part are orderly and lawful.
However, a wave of incidents started when a teenager was shot and
killed in an encounter with the police n December 2008. Incidents
occurred throughout Greece, but the primary sources of violence were in
Athens and Thessaloniki. Protestors engaged in violent confrontations
with the police and carried out destructive vandalism and rioting in
localized areas, some of which are areas frequented by tourists,
injuring numerous police officers.

Riot control procedures often include the use of tear gas. Visitors
should keep abreast of news about demonstrations from local news sources
and hotel security. When there are demonstrations, visitors should be
aware of and avoid places where demonstrators frequently congregate,
such as the Polytechnic University area, Exarchia, Omonia, and Syntagma
Squares in Athens, and Aristotle Square in Thessaloniki. University
campuses are exploited as refuges by anarchists and those involved in
crime and Greek police are generally prohibited from entering their
premises. The Omonia and Exharchia areas of Athens are at particular
risk for crime and politically-motivated violence; U.S. Embassy
personnel and their families have been urged strongly to avoid these
areas between 9 pm and dawn. Visitors should be aware that
demonstrations occur annually on November 17th, the anniversary of the
1973 student uprising against the military regime in power at the time.

Information regarding demonstrations which have been brought to the
attention of the U.S. Embassy can be found on the Embassy web site
http://athens.usembassy.gov/demonstrations_ann.html> . For the latest
security information, U.S. citizens traveling abroad should regularly
monitor the Department of State's Bureau of Consular Affairs website
http://travel.state.gov/> , which contains current the Travel Warnings
and Travel Alerts
http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis_pa_tw_1168.html> as well
as the Worldwide Caution
http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/pa/pa_1161.html> .

Up-to-date information on safety and security can also be obtained by
calling 1-888-407-4747 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 1-888-407-4747 end_of_the_skype_highlighting toll-free within the U.S. and Canada, or by
calling a regular toll line, 1-202-501-4444 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 1-202-501-4444 end_of_the_skype_highlighting, from other countries.
These numbers are available from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time,
Monday through Friday (except U.S. federal holidays).

The Department of State urges U.S. citizens to take responsibility for
their own personal security while traveling overseas. For general
information about appropriate measures travelers can take to protect
themselves in an overseas environment, see the Department of State's
extensive tips and advice on traveling safely abroad
http://travel.state.gov/travel/tips/safety/safety_1747.html> .

CRIME: Crimes against tourists (such as purse-snatching and
pick-pocketing) have occurred at popular tourist sites and on crowded
public transportation. Pick-pocketing is especially common on the
Athens metro and in some shopping areas in and around Thessaloniki.
Omonia, Vathi and Kolokotroni Squares in Athens are areas of high crime
rates; Glyfada Square has a significant organized crime network
associated with clubs, which should be avoided if "hard sell"
solicitations for business are made at the door. Reports of date or
acquaintance rape also occasionally occur. The usual safety precautions
practiced in any urban or tourist area should be practiced during a
visit to Greece.

In many countries around the world, counterfeit and pirated goods are
widely available. Transactions involving such products may be illegal
under local law. In addition, bringing them back to the United States
may result in forfeitures and/or fines.

INFORMATION FOR VICTIMS OF CRIME: If you are the victim of a crime
abroad, you should contact the local police and the nearest U.S. embassy
or consulate (see the Department of State's list of embassies and
http://usembassy.gov/> ). This includes the loss or theft
of a U.S. passport. The embassy/consulate staff can, for example, help
you find appropriate medical care, contact family members or friends and
explain how funds may be transferred. Although the investigation and
prosecution of the crime are solely the responsibility of local
authorities, consular officers can help you to understand the local
criminal justice process and to find an attorney if needed.

The local equivalents to the "911" emergency line in Greece are 100 for
the Police, 112 for life-treatening emergencies 166 for an Ambulance,
and 199 for the Fire Brigade.

Please see our information on victims of crime
http://travel.state.gov/travel/tips/emergencies/emergencies_1748.html>
, including possible victim compensation programs in the United States.

CRIMINAL PENALTIES: While in a foreign country, a U.S. citizen is
subject to that country's laws and regulations, which sometimes differ
significantly from those in the United States and may not afford the
protections available to the individual under U.S. law. Penalties for
breaking the law can be more severe than in the United States for
similar offenses. Engaging in sexual conduct with children or using or
disseminating child pornography in a foreign country is a crime
prosecutable in the United States.
http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1467.html>

Persons violating Greek laws, even unknowingly, may be expelled,
arrested, or imprisoned. Penalties for possessing, using, or
trafficking in illegal drugs in Greece are severe, and convicted
offenders can expect long jail sentences and heavy fines.

SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES: Greek customs authorities have strict regulations
concerning the export from Greece of antiquities, including rocks from
archaeological sites. Penalties range from large fines to prison terms.
It is advisable to contact the Embassy of Greece in Washington, or one
of Greece's consulates in the United States, for specific information
regarding customs requirements. Please see our Customs Information
http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1468.html> .

In addition to being subject to all Greek laws affecting U.S. citizens,
dual nationals may also be subject to other laws that impose special
obligations on Greek citizens. Greek males between the ages of 20 and
45 are required by Greek law to perform military service. This applies
to any individual whom the Greek authorities consider to be Greek,
regardless of whether or not the individual considers himself Greek, has
a foreign citizenship and passport, or was born or lives outside of
Greece. If remaining in Greece for more than the 90-day period
permitted for tourism or business, men of Greek descent may be prevented
from leaving Greece until they complete their military obligations.
Generally, obligatory non-voluntary military service in Greece will not
affect US citizenship. Specific questions on this subject should be
addressed to the citizenship section of the US Embassy in Athens. For
additional information, see our information on Citizenship and
Nationality. For additional information regarding military service
requirements, contact the nearest Greek embassy or consulate as listed
above.

Labor strikes in the transportation sector (national airline, city bus
lines, and taxis) occur frequently. Most are announced in advance and
are of short duration. Reconfirmation of domestic and international
flight reservations is highly recommended.

Users of public transportation in Athens should be sure to buy the
appropriate ticket and to validate it correctly, mindful that service to
the airport is more expensive than other bus and metro services and that
ticket inspectors circulate among passengers assuring compliance with
ticketing regulations. Fines are heavy for passengers without tickets
or with the wrong ticket.

The Government of Greece does not permit the photographing of military
installations; violators are subject to arrest.

Disaster Preparedness:

Greece often experiences serious forest fires during the summer, when
travelers should be particularly mindful of the risk of fires, taking
care not to inadvertently spark one through carelessness.

Greece experiences frequent seismic activity; tremors are common and
serious earthquakes have occurred. Detailed information on Greece's
earthquake fault lines is available from the U.S. Geological Survey
(USGS).

Disaster preparedness information and specific suggestions to help
mitigate the impact of wildfires, and earthquakes is available from the
U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). In any natural
disaster, follow the instructions of local authorities. The General
Secretariat for Civil Protection, which responds to emergencies, can be
reached at 210-3359932/33.

MEDICAL FACILITIES AND HEALTH INFORMATION: Medical facilities are
adequate, and some, particularly the private clinics and hospitals in
Athens and Thessaloniki, are quite good. Some private hospitals have
affiliations with U.S. facilities, and generally their staff doctors
have been trained in U.S. or other international teaching institutions.

Public medical clinics, especially on the islands, may lack resources;
care there can be inadequate by American standards, and often, little
English is spoken. Many patients, Greeks and visitors alike, are
transferred from the provinces and islands to Athens hospitals for more
sophisticated care. Others may choose to transfer from a public to a
private hospital within Athens or Thessaloniki. Americans choosing to
do so would arrange for an ambulance belonging to the private hospital
to transport them from the public hospital to the private one. The cost
of the ambulance for this transfer, as well as all expenses in a private
hospital, must be borne by the patient.

Nursing care, particularly in public hospitals, may be less than
adequate. For special or through-the-night nursing care, it is
suggested that a private nurse be hired or a family member or friend be
available to assist. One parent or a private nurse should always plan
to stay with a hospitalized child on a 24-hour basis, as even the best
hospitals generally maintain only a minimal nursing staff from midnight
to dawn on non-emergency floors or wards.

Information on vaccinations and other health precautions, such as safe
food and water precautions and insect bite protection, may be obtained
from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) hotline for
international travelers at 1-877-FYI-TRIP begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 1-877-FYI-TRIP end_of_the_skype_highlighting (1-877-394-8747 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 1-877-394-8747 end_of_the_skype_highlighting) or via the
http://wwwn.cdc.gov/travel/default.aspx> . For information
about outbreaks of infectious diseases abroad, consult the infectious
diseases section of the World Health Organization (WHO) website
http://www.who.int/topics/infectious_diseases/en/> . The WHO website
also contains additional health information for travelers, including
detailed country-specific health information
http://www.who.int/countries/en/> .

MEDICAL INSURANCE: The Department of State strongly urges U.S. citizens
to consult their medical insurance company prior to traveling abroad to
determine whether the policy applies overseas and whether it covers
emergency expenses such as a medical evacuation. For more information,
please see our medical insurance overseas page
http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1470.html> .

TRAFFIC SAFETY AND ROAD CONDITIONS: While in a foreign country, U.S.
citizens may encounter road conditions that differ significantly from
those in the United States. The information below concerning Greece is
provided for general reference only, and may not be totally accurate in
a particular location or circumstance.

Drivers and pedestrians alike should exercise extreme caution when
operating motor vehicles or when walking along roadways or crossing
streets, mindful that Greece's traffic fatality rates are the fourth
highest in the 27 nations which make up the European Union. Visitors to
Greece must be prepared to drive defensively. Heavy traffic and poor
highways pose hazards, especially at night or in inclement weather.
Extreme care is warranted in operating a motorbike. Moreover, tourists
who rent motorbikes either on the Greek mainland or its islands must
wear helmets and take special precautions on local roads that are
typically poorly maintained and frequently pothole-ridden. There are a
number of nationwide auto-service clubs and plans similar to those in
the U.S., that provide towing and roadside service, which a tourist can
call and pay for per service. The largest, quite similar to AAA, is
ELPA, nation-wide phone number 10400.

Tourists and temporary residents who will stay in Greece less than 185
days must carry a valid U.S. license as well as an international
driver's permit (IDP). Failure to have both documents may result in
police detention or other problems. The U.S. Department of State has
designated two organizations to issue IDPs to those who hold valid U.S.
driver's licenses: AAA and the American Automobile Touring Alliance.
Issuance of an IDP is quickand inexpensive, but must generally be done
before a traveler leaves the United States. Vehicles may not properly
be rented without the IDP, although sometimes they are. A driver
without one, however, will be penalized for failure to have one in the
event of an accident, and may be open to civil suit as well. Fines are
high. Small motorbike rental firms frequently do not insure their
vehicles; customers are responsible for damages and should review their
coverage before renting. Individuals who expect to spend more than 185
days in Greece should either obtain a Greek license or convert their
valid U.S. license for use in Greece through their local Nomarchy's
Office of Transportation and Communications.

Please refer to our Road Safety page
http://travel.state.gov/travel/tips/safety/safety_1179.html> for more
information. Also, we suggest that you visit the website of the
http://www.gnto.gr/> .

AVIATION SAFETY OVERSIGHT: The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration
(FAA) has assessed the government of Greece's Civil Aviation Authority
as being in compliance with International Civil Aviation Organization
(ICAO) aviation safety standards for oversight of Greece's air carrier
operations. Further information may be found on the FAA's safety
http://www.faa.gov/about/initiatives/iasa/> .

CHILDREN'S ISSUES: Please see our Office of Children's Issues web pages
http://adoption.state.gov/> and international
parental child abduction
http://travel.state.gov/family/abduction/abduction_580.html> .

* * *

This replaces the Country Specific Information for Greece dated March
12, 2009, to update sections on Threats to Safety and Security, Crime,
Victim of Crime, Special Circumstances, Disaster Preparedness, and
Traffic Safety and Road Conditions.

‘The Battle of Trafalgar’: The Poll Tax Riot 20 Years on.

From the Peasant’s Revolt to the Boston Tea Party, Taxation has historically been a defining issue in the struggle of people against imposed government. The poll tax riot of March 31 1990 was ‘the most serious public order disturbance for over a century’ and the culmination of months of anti-poll tax protests and riots in the north of England and Scotland (where the tax had been ‘tested’ on the strongly anti-Conservative Scots) .

Background:

The Poll Tax was a Conservative government attempt to update the old rates system – which had put the onus of funding local council services on business and the wealthier population (the rates levied being based on the value of the house). The new tax forced everyone to pay the same for council services despite wage differential or the ability to pay e.g. unemployed, homeless, students etc would be expected to pay the same as multi-millionaires and the aristocracy.

The government’s argument for the tax was that it was a ‘just tax’ spreading the cost of local amenities democratically across the population; though the reality was that the wealthier (Conservative voting) constituency were less likely to use local council amenities in favor of private services and therefore had less interest in properly funding the council run amenities – state schools, libraries, sports facilities etc). The rest of the country saw the tax as divisive and clumsy social engineering; a gift for the Thatcher voting middle classes for their continued loyalty and a punishment for the working classes who would anyway never vote Conservative. It was viewed as a continuation of the Monetarist agenda of replacing the state sector with private companies by starving local services of proper funds. Ultimately it was shibboleth defining the increasing political and economic polarisation of the country; a battle between the haves and have-nots.

After years of anger and frustration at Tory rule the London protest was widely seen as an opportunity for a final showdown with the Conservative government. For northerners descending on the capital in their thousands this was also time for revenge on Thatcher (the Prime Minister and Iron Lady of neo-conservatism) for the humiliating defeat of the miners strike some five years earlier and the devastation of Northern towns that followed.

…This was never going to be a peaceful event.

March 31 1990

The year previous to 1990 saw the collapse of Stalinist Governments across Europe, The winter of 1989 Nicolae Ceauşescu, Father of the Romanian People was dragged from hiding and shot. During our tours in Europe we (bourbonese qualk) had witnessed first hand the ‘Velvet Revolution’ in Prague and the Neues Forum anti-Stalinist demonstrations in East Germany. The Poll Tax Demonstration was to us, and many others*, a logical conclusion to popular removal of the old cold-war governments of Europe.

* A common sight was protesters carrying banners with images of Thatcher, Hoenecker and Ceauşescu – the doomed dictators of old Europe – union jacks with holes cut through them in imitation of the Romanian revolutionary flag (the hole where the Stalinist emblem had been removed)

As protesters started to gather in Kennington Park it is clear that the March to Trafalgar Square is going to be huge and unruly (it was later estimated that over 250,000 people took part). The locked gates of the park are broken open allowing protester to spill out onto the streets. The Police and their SWP stooges try to appeal for calm ‘let’s have a show of hands for a peaceful protest’ but despite this the march sets off, pushing down police cordons and closing the road to Lambeth Bridge.

Miles and I as usual joined the Anarchist group, marching at speed, black flags flying, across the bridge towards Whitehall and Downing Street (the Prime Ministerial residence and perceived centre of power). Trafalgar square is already full by the time we get to Whitehall and the march comes to a halt with the Anarchist block serendipitously stationary in front of the gates of Downing Street.

“There was nothing like being around such a strong group; we felt protected and untouchable, we could really change something. It felt like we were going to overthrow the State.”
Jane Spencer, North London

Seizing on this opportunity we immediately start a sit-down blockade right in front of Downing Street and the Police, sensing an imminent assault on Number Ten, form a line of riot cops facing us. A tense standoff ends when Miles single-handedly charges at the police lines armed with a metal bar – only to be felled by a brick thrown from the police lines. This act of heroic folly triggers an all out charge at the police lines who panic and fall back towards Trafalgar Square. Moments later a mounted police unit charges full speed into the protesters. The riot had started and continues until 6am the next morning.

The Police tactics of ‘kettling’ (corralling the crowd into a controllable space) soon degenerated into chaos as they lose control and panic. In a chaotic attempt to defend themselves the police charge again and again into the crowd with horses and police vans. Witnessing this violence, previously restrained protesters retaliate by attacking the police lines and breaking through into the surrounding streets; buildings around the square are occupied and set alight, concrete blocks rain down onto the retreating police.

The noise and violence in the Square reaches an extreme pitch; screaming protesters, police helicopters, sirens, whistles, burning buildings, the medieval sight of horses hooves trampling an unconscious woman, a concrete block hitting a policeman’s head, a metal bar through a van’s window. The sky is full of missiles – bricks, bottles, wood – anything that comes to hand – raining down onto the police their scared and bloodied faces visible through their visors.

The riot spreads rapidly into the streets around Trafalgar square. Opulent displays of wealth ad shops with political links are destroyed; MacDonald’s, Israeli airlines, Furriers, Banks, jewelers, luxury car showrooms etc, yet the contents left untouched*…I walk up Regent Street crunching diamond necklaces under my boots…

* (Looting did occur later in the day around Charring Cross Rd when people uninvolved in the protest took advantage of the police retreat)

Several surreal vignettes describe the peculiar atmosphere of the abandoned city centre; In the sudden quiet after the intense noise of the square, a golden Rolls Royce makes a badly timed turn into Regent Street, blocked by protesters, the obese owner unbelievably scolds the mob – his public school arrogance provokes them to tip the car over, drag out the occupants (the still outraged pompous driver and his equally portly wife) and set it alight.

Later, a lone Police motorbike apparently unaware of the change of events heads towards the crowd. Realising his mistake to late, he attempts to turn, skids and crashes. Unhurt, he runs off in the opposite direction – the bike spins towards us spilling petrol in a long spiral across the road: this unexpected gift provokes a comical search for a lighter (eventually provided by an accommodating tourist trapped in a nearby shop) – the bike is torched, adding to the smoke of the burning Roller.

As darkness falls I make my way back through Whitehall; the only survivor of our group from the morning – I feel that I can’t go home un-arrested or uninjured so I decide on a suicidal plan and attack a row of police vans with a metal bar, smashing the windows and headlights. To my surprise, instead of arresting me, the shell-shocked and exhausted occupants just cower in fear. I walk home over the river to South London

Aftermath:

All the political parties including the ‘revolutionary left’ roundly condemned the events as mindless hooliganism, looting and mob violence instigated by Anarchist agitators. The Anarchists in turn were happy to take responsibility stating that the riot was a legitimate defense against the government’s destructive policies. About five hundred people were arrested; almost all of them on indiscriminate and randomly applied charges – the Police hoping that ‘public outrage’ would be enough to carry the prosecution.

The wider impact of the ‘Battle of Trafalgar’ is that it achieved exactly what it intended to do and brought an end to the Poll Tax project. After the fall of Thatcher, her heir apparent John Major (much to Thatcher’s fury) changed the policy in effect reinstating the old rates system as the ‘Council Tax’. The events of the 31^st March demonstrated how far removed the government was from the mood of the country – a fact that contributed to the eventual downfall of Thatcher later in the year.

“This was a great victory for the people and a salutary reminder to those who think they “rule” us i.e. politicians, bureaucrats, local government – in fact, all those in office and jobs because WE, the People, put them there- that we are the masters and they are not. We need more of this today rather than being driven around like a flock of docile sheep by crooked MPs, incompetent and grasping local politicians and the rest of the abominations.”

Links

http://libcom.org/library/summer-thousand-julys-other-seasons

http://norfolknonaligned.wordpress.com/2010/02/27/the-day-norwich-rioted-against-the-poll-tax/

http://www.dailybestarticles.com/the-battle-of-trafalgar-square-the-poll-tax-riots-revisited/

A revisionist document on The Socialist Worker – The SWP condemning the riots at the time, now claim leadership…

Posted by crab

Filed in 1980s, Anarchism, London ·Tags: Anarchism, Battle Of Trafalgar, cold war, community charge, council tax, London, poll tax riot, riot, Thatcher, trafalgar square

1 Comment »

One Response to “‘The Battle of Trafalgar’: The Poll Tax Riot 20 Years on.”

Solomon Hughes said

March 30, 2010 at 1:28 pm

Dear Simon

As part of a Freedom of Information request a while back I got hold of the complete police radio log of the Poll Tax riot, which gives an interesting view of events from the Police side. I wrote this up for an article in the Morning Star (not, I imagine your fave publication, but I thought you would be interested in some of the details). If you want a complete copy of the log, you should ask the Home Office for there FOIA papers on the Poll Tax riot, it is tucked away in there. – click through my website for my excerpts from the log.

The police log matches your train of events quite well, with the exception they do not share your view that the SWP were their “stooges” – the Police seem to have felt they were central to the Number 10 sit down. I was on the march as well, and think the police record is pretty accurate in this respect. That aside, I thought you might be interested in some of the details here – I think they reflect your sense of the ultimate demoralisation and disorentiation of the police towards the end of the day

A few interesting points:- (1) the police had armed officers as part of the diplomatic protection force in South Africa house, but were anxious to keep them away from the trouble
(2) The Police themselves quickly realised that trying to squeeze people into Trafalgar Square was a big mistake
(3) After about 5pm, the “Gold ” and “Silver” commanders seem to just give up

some excerpts:-

One officer reports (4.29pm) the “crowd being pushed towards Trafalgar Square, where officers are under attack. This is the wrong strategy.”

There are no further communications from either the “gold” or “silver” commander. Instead, officers on the ground wrestle with crowds slipping out of their grasp.

As early as 4.24pm, a “bronze” reports: “We are unable to hold at Northumberland Avenue and will withdraw to reinforce the cordon across Whitehall.”

By 4.52pm, officers report: “shield serials are not making any headway into the crowd.” At 5.04pm, they note that a “mounted charge has had no effect. We have lost the ground we had gained.”

Even though the police reported (5.15pm) “looting in Charing Cross Road junction with Trafalgar Square,” they are in no position to take command of events. Aware of their lack of control, an officer reports: “Holding line outside South Africa House. I do not presume to push further.”

But the back of South Africa House remained vulnerable. A message from “ranger control” says: “South African embassy. Windows being broken at the Strand entrance. No police about. Can you please deal, as we are not sending armed units.”

Ranger control are the armed police who guard embassies. They wanted other officers to deal with the window-breakers because they did not want their gun-carrying men drawn into the melee.

At 5.37pm, officers report a “stand-off at T/Square at the moment. Sporadic throwing of missiles.” Even this limited truce soon breaks down.

From this point on, the communications log shows that dispersing demonstrators beyond Trafalgar Square simply spreads a mixture of rioting and spontaneous uncontrolled demonstrators throughout London.

Entries include:

6.31pm “Trocadero Centre, W1. Bin through window. Large crowds getting in.”

6.56pm “Very large crowd now making their way back to Oxford Circus from Portland Place, smashing everything in sight. Unable to do anything on my own.”

7.19pm “Windows being smashed, Hanover Street.”

7.51pm “1,000 demonstrators towards Oxford Street. This is now another march. No police at head of march. Serials trying to police from the rear.”

8.02pm “Tottenham Court Road police station under attack. PC on his own.”

8.21pm “Charlotte Street, W1. Large number of youths rampaging in streets smashing windows.”

9.37pm “Looters have entered a sports shop in Leicester Square and taken crossbows and knives.”

The last reports of conflict are made at 10.57pm, with “windows being broken” by a “vociferous” group of 100-plus people

Suicide in Greek Prisons: 1977 to 1996

References and further reading may be available for this article. To view references and further reading you must purchase this article.

Calliope D Spinellis, 1 and Olga Themeli2

Available online 3 September 2009.

Data obtained from the records of the Greek Ministry of Justice revealed that there were 457 deaths in the Greek prison system (which includes prisons, mental hospitals and other general hospitals) over the past 20 years. Of these deaths, 93 were recorded as suicides — an average of 4.65 suicides per year or 112 per 100,000 inmates classified as convicted, on remand or hospitalized. The suicide rates fluctuated widely, from a low rate of 32.3 in 1982 to the incredibly high rate of 390.8 in 1979 (11 total suicides, 10 of which occurred in prison hospitals). The present study, the first of its kind in Greece, was based solely on unpublished prison data, which revealed defects in recording (e. g., 11% of the deaths recorded by the correctional administration remained without specification of cause in the years 1977 through 1996; social and penal demographic data of the inmates who committed suicide were kept unsystematically; detailed information on the circumstances of suicide was not always available, etc.). Despite a noticeable decrease in the suicide rate in the years 1995 and 1996, the limited data suggest that the suicide rate in the Greek prison system has basically remained stable over the past 20 years.

Author Keywords: Suicide; Prisons; Prevention

CD Spinellis, Prof., Section of Criminal Law and Criminology, Faculty of Law, University of Athens, 57, Solonos Str., Room 307, 108 79 Athens, Greece

Greek

Prison.”

Crisis: The Journal of Crisis Intervention and Suicide Prevention
Volume 18, Issue 4, 1997, Pages 152-156

Walking With The Comrades
Gandhians with a Gun? Arundhati Roy plunges into the sea of Gondi people to find some answers...

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Walking With The Comrades

Gandhians with a Gun? Arundhati Roy plunges into the sea of Gondi people to find some answers...

Arundhati Roy

The terse, typewritten note slipped under my door in a sealed envelope confirmed my appointment with India’s Gravest Internal Security Threat. I’d been waiting for months to hear from them. I had to be at the Ma Danteshwari mandir in Dantewada, Chhattisgarh, at any of four given times on two given days. That was to take care of bad weather, punctures, blockades, transport strikes and sheer bad luck. The note said: “Writer should have camera, tika and coconut. Meeter will have cap, Hindi Outlook magazine and bananas. Password: Namashkar Guruji.”

Namashkar Guruji. I wondered whether the Meeter and Greeter would be expecting a man. And whether I should get myself a moustache.

There are many ways to describe Dantewada. It’s an oxymoron. It’s a border town smack in the heart of India. It’s the epicentre of a war. It’s an upside down, inside out town.

In Dantewada, the police wear plain clothes and the rebels wear uniforms. The jail superintendent is in jail. The prisoners are free (three hundred of them escaped from the old town jail two years ago). Women who have been raped are in police custody. The rapists give speeches in the bazaar.

Across the Indravati river, in the area controlled by the Maoists, is the place the police call ‘Pakistan’. There the villages are empty, but the forest is full of people. Children who ought to be in school run wild. In the lovely forest villages, the concrete school buildings have either been blown up and lie in a heap, or they are full of policemen. The deadly war that is unfolding in the jungle is a war that the Government of India is both proud and shy of. Operation Green Hunt has been proclaimed as well as denied. P. Chidambaram, India’s home minister (and CEO of the war), says it does not exist, that it’s a media creation. And yet substantial funds have been allocated to it and tens of thousands of troops are being mobilised for it. Though the theatre of war is in the jungles of Central India, it will have serious consequences for us all…………………………….

Twenty years ago the very day after the Poll Tax riot erupted in Trafalgar Square prisoners in Manchester’s oldest jail took control of the chapel for the start of what was to become the biggest riot and longest rooftop protest in British penal history and triggered a wave of revolt in over twenty other prisons across the country.

It led to a shake-up in prison reform, instigated by the Woolf Report, but it also meant harsh repercussions for those involved who went on to receive jails terms totalling 140 years for offences ranging from riot to conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm.

The riot brought into the public consciousness the level of brutality and barbarism inherent in the British penal system. People learned that prisoners in Strangeways, many on remand yet to be convicted of a crime, were being held three to a cell for 22 hours a day with no sanitation, one shower per week and one change of underwear. They learned that harassment and intimidation, threats and beatings were normal everyday occurrences and an accepted method of maintaining control.

The riot itself wasn’t unexpected as tensions had been steadily brewing for months previously. A week before two prisoners held a one day rooftop protest after being beaten in their cells. Later other prisoners decided to stage a sit-in protest over the systematic brutality of the prison officers. On Saturday 31st there was a limited protest in the chapel after the film showing. Prisoners returned to their cells only after assurances were given that their grievances would be listened to and improvements made. That evening a prisoner was held down by seven officers in front of everyone and injected with largactyl (a “liquid cosh”). It was this that triggered the riot in the chapel the following day.

Paul Taylor, who was later to become a leading figure in the protest and one of the most severely punished, remembers there was an explosion of rage in the chapel after the sermon as prisoners made their anger felt. Prison officers were ushered out, and Taylor took their keys unlocking the doors to cells letting other prisoners out. Others barricaded themselves in the chapel and gained access to the roof. All the prison staff evacuated the prison leaving the prisoners in full control of the five accommodation wings.

Of nearly 1,650 prisoners in the jail, up to 1,100 were involved on the first day. Over the course of that day 700 of those surrendered and were transferred, along with the 400 non-participants. After the initial frenzy of liberation where whole wings were ransacked, the remaining prisoners began to organise themselves; barricades were constructed, food was gathered and stored for easy access, sleeping arrangements made. News quickly spread and along with the media onslaught hundreds of people converged on the prison, including many friends and family of those locked up as well as ex-prisoners. The level of support outside the prison was to remain solid throughout the protest.

The rooftop protest began in earnest with concrete demands being issued which included improved visiting facilities, Category A prisoners to be allowed to wear their own clothes and be able to receive food parcels, along with longer exercise periods and an end to 23-hour-a-day lock-up. After 25 days where they kept the prison authorities at bay the last five prisoners who remained on the roof were finally lifted off by a cherry picker, defiant and saluting to the crowds below. What began as an act of desperation turned into a wave of defiance as prisoners responded to what was happening in Manchester with similar uprising in Hull, Durham, Wandsworth and other prison facilities across the country.

As a consequence nine men went on trial for the Strangeways protest charged with riot. The charge of murder (a prisoner died during the uprising although there were doubts cast as to the actual cause; despite him receiving a beating from other prisoners) was to be dropped. Another trial was held over the battle of e wing where 14 defendants were charged with various offences, including two who were previously acquitted from the first trial, their names added to the second trial as a form of retribution. Of all those convicted for their part in the Strangeways revolt, only one, Alan Lord, remains incarcerated.

After the total destruction of the prison during the protest Strangeways was rebuilt, refurbished at a cost of £55 million. But as one prisoner put it at the time: “The better conditions in here are not down to the prison department. But for the riot, we would still be in the same old jail banged up all day and slopping out … The rioters brought this about. They should have done it years ago but it took a riot to get them to do it”

i

Translation from the blog of the Anarchist Initiative of Aigaleo (west Athens) on the situation in the women division of the Petrou Ralli prison for migrants – very close to downtown Athens.

http://anarxikoiaigaleo.squat.gr

(Testimony from the hell of Petrou Ralli by comrades that were detained in the prison wing for migrant women on P. Ralli St. after the occupation of the Keratsini Town Hall in solidarity to the 22 persecuted in the “Resalto” social space on 5th December 2009).

The scene is the same as if it were a high security prison; the difference is that no one has committed any “crime” here. The cameras that are everywhere in the cells, apart from the toilets, are an example of how human dignity is violated in here. The detainees are under 24/7 surveillance, they can’t get a moment of privacy and no personal data protection policy is in effect. Even the cell doors are made of iron bars, from top to bottom, and in order to create a somehow private space the detainees have hung bed sheets. “I cannot bear it that everyone walking up and down the corridor can see me”, an immigrant woman told us. The wings made of cement have electric doors of latest technology, windows (some without pane) that look out on… the rest of the cells and are at a height that you cannot reach in order to see what is happening outside. The cells are equipped with “post-modern” beds made of cement (square ones that remind of benches) with worn-out foam rubber on top, a “soft” blanket that resembles emery cloth (exclusively sponsored by the Greek army) and no pillow whatsoever.

Hygiene conditions are non-existent, which explicitly shows the intention to “decompose” the body and to eliminate any characteristic that reminds detainees that they are human. The medieval-style toilets – which often host cute insects such as cockroaches– are only four and superdirty. The idea in the Petrou Ralli St hell is that cleanness is a fallacy [trans: play on words on a popular Greek saying]… Soaps, shampoo, toothpaste, toilet paper and sanitary towels are considered “small bourgeois residues” and consequently are unnecessary. Instead of a mirror, they use a piece of plastic that reflects like tinfoil the faces of those who live there for up to 6 months (according to the new law): distorted and partial reflections of persons that eventually forget who they are. All adds up in order to forget your very own existence.

Food is transported daily from GADA [trans: police headquarters] and of course it does not contain milk because there is fear that it will go bad during transportation. Everybody is given an instant coffee, a juice and a chocolate croissant. Even children are given the same (from 12-month babies to 10 year-old boys); age and personal needs do not matter. For lunch we were given bean soup, olives and one loaf of bread per cell to be shared by all the detainees, as well as oranges from Arta [trans: Greek city] at preference. The detainees serve themselves in plastic yoghurt-pots. There is no refectory or special room for food to be served, and they are obliged to place their bread on dirty, miserable blankets. Special needs are not taken into consideration, and diseases like diabetes, intestinal dysfunctions, cardiopathies etc do not receive any special alimentary treatment. We heard the detainees complain that they and their children suffered from itching. Cases of dermatological problems, such as mycoses, scabies, allergies and other kinds of dermatitis are frequent; they are mainly due to the sordid mattresses and the horrendous hygiene conditions in the cells and the toilets. They even face serious problems with their teeth, as they are not given enough bottled water and are forced to drink tap water from the toilets.

The women also talked to us about the aggressive behaviour of their underage children. And what is more reasonable for a child that grows up in prison than to develop an “antisocial” and aggressive behaviour. How can it not hate the world, as it is experiencing it from this hell? It has been marked for life by this experience and we better not dare to ask it in puberty why it’s throwing stones. Surely, in any case, the prisons on P.R. St. are an ideal environment for panic crises and psychosomatic conditions. The human being is a part of nature itself, and therefore it cannot survive in an environment made of cement.

Some prisoners have made artistic interventions to their cells in order to make them feel cosier. A Russian detainee has drawn huge cartoons on the walls. My soul is in pain… she misses her baby. She has transformed the cell into a child’s room. Love graven in hearts, and around the beds graven lines that mark days and months that have gone by. Engraved poems, promises, memoirs, names. In other cells the detainees have made an iconostasis; they have hung pictures of Saints everywhere in an effort to keep their hopes and dreams alive. Above their heads Angelina Jolie and Helen Menegaki [trans: Greek television star] next to shampoo labels, anything that can fill the empty walls.

Communication with the outside world is difficult and only those who have the money to buy a phone card have the possibility to make calls. Even the communication between the detainees is difficult as many of them do not speak nor understand Greek. There are no interpreters whatsoever and communication takes place through eye contact and gestures in an effort to exchange information on daily survival. Of course, this means they are deprived of their right to claim their rights or to be informed on their detention status and the date of their release. Complete isolation and loneliness.

Contact with the air, the rain and the sun is simply zero, as there is no yard to go out to. Detainees can only walk in the corridor (1 meter width and 20 meters length) that is outside the cells. They are deprived of a room where they could sit or do physical exercise; as a consequence they can only walk or lie down, in other words they carry around their pestered body. In this decorative background we saw small kids holding dolls, climbing up the iron bars and walking barefoot on filthy water and liquids of unknown origin. Their shoe laces had been taken away from them, thus they cannot even run. Some older children have understood what’s going on and every spark of life in their eyes has disappeared. Who can explain to them how one day they were returning home after school with their mum and suddenly they found themselves behind prison walls?

GEAB N°42 is available! Second half of 2010: Sudden intensification of the global systemic crisis – Strengthening of five fundamental negative trends

- Public announcement GEAB N°42 (February 16, 2010) -

LEAP/E2020 is of the view that the effect of States’ spending trillions to « counteract the crisis » will have fizzled out. These vast sums had the effect of slowing down the development of the systemic global crisis for several months but, as anticipated in previous GEAB reports, this strategy will only have ultimately served to clearly drag States into the crisis caused by the financial institutions.

Therefore our team anticipates, in this 42nd issue of the GEAB, a sudden intensification of the crisis in the second half of 2010, caused by a double effect of a catching up of events which were temporarily « frozen » in the second half of 2009 and the impossibility of maintaining the palliative remedies of past years.

As a matter of fact, in February 2010, a year after us stating that the end of 2009 would mark the beginning of the phase of global geopolitical dislocation, anyone can see that this process is well established: states on the edge of bankruptcy, remorseless rise in unemployment, millions of people coming to the end of their social security benefits, falling wages and salaries, limiting of public services and disintegration of the global governance system (failure of the Copenhagen summit, growing Chinese/US confrontation, return of the risk of an Iran/Israel/USA conflict, wars worldwide… (1)). However, we are only at the start of this phase for which LEAP/E2020 will supply a likely timeframe in the next GEAB issue.

The sudden intensification of the global systemic crisis will be characterised by the acceleration and/or strengthening of five fundamental negative trends:

. the explosion of the bubble in public deficits and a corresponding increase in state defaults
. the fatal impact of the Western banking system with mounting debt defaults and the wall of debt coming to maturity
. the inescapable rise in interest rates
. the increase in issues causing international tension
. a growing social insecurity.

In this GEAB issue our team expands on the first three trends of these developments including an anticipation on Russia’s position in the face of the crisis, as well as, of course, our monthly suggestions.

In this public announcement, we have chosen to analyse the « Greek case », on the one hand because it seems indicative of what 2010 has in store for us, and on the other because it is a perfect illustration of the way in which news and information on the world crisis is moving towards « make-believe news » between blocs and interests which are increasingly in conflict. Clearly it is a « must » to learn how to decipher worldwide news and information in the months and years to come which will be a growing means of manipulatory activity.

Progression of the percentage of net new U.S. debt bought by China, net new U.S. government borrowing, percentage of outstanding U.S. Treasuries owned by China (2002-2009) – Sources: US Treasury, Haver Analytics, New York Times

The five characteristics which make up the « Greek case » into the tree with which one tries to hide the forest

Let’s take a look at the « Greek case » which has concerned the media and experts for several weeks now. Before entering into the detail of what is happening, there are five key points to our anticipation on the subject:

1. As we stated in our anticipations for 2010, which appeared in the last GEAB issue (GEAB N°41, the Greek problem will have disappeared from the international media’s radar several weeks from now. It is the tree used to hide both a forest of much more dangerous sovereign debt (to be precise that of Washington and London) and the beginning of a further fall in the world economy, led by the United States (2).

2. The Greek problem is an internal issue for the Eurozone and the EU, and the current situation provides, at last, a unique occasion for the Eurozone leaders to require Greece (a case of « failed enlargement » since 1982) to leave its feudal political and economic system behind. The other Eurozone countries, led by Germany, will do the necessary to make Greek leaders bring their country into the XXIst century in exchange for their help, at the same time making use of the fact that Greece only represents 2.5% of Eurozone GDP (3) to test the stabilisation mechanisms that the Eurozone needs in times of crisis (4).

3. Ango-Saxon leaders and media are using the current situation (just like last year with the so-called banking tsunami coming from Eastern Europe which was going to carry the Eurozone away with it (5)) to hide the catastrophic progression of their economies and public debt and attempt to weaken the attractiveness of the Eurozone at a time when the USA and the United Kingdom have increasing difficulty in attracting the capital which they so desperately need. At the same time Washington and London (which, since the coming into effect of the Lisbon Treaty is completely excluded from any management of the Euro) would be overjoyed to see the IMF, which they control completely (6), brought into Eurozone management.

4. Eurozone leaders are very happy to see the Euro fall to 1.35 against the Dollar. They well know that it won’t last because the current problem is the fall in the value of the Dollar (and the Pound Sterling), but they appreciate this « whiff of oxygen » for their exporters.

5. The speculators (hedge funds and others) and banks heavily involved with Greece (7), have a common interest in trying to bring about rapid Eurozone financial support for Greece, since otherwise the rating agencies will, unintentionally, pull a fast one on them if the Europeans refuse to dig into their pockets (like the scandalous actions of Paulson and Geithner over AIG and Wall Street in 2008/2009): indeed a lowering of Greece’s rating will plunge this small world into the throes of serious financial losses if, for the banks, their Greek loans are similarly devalued, or if their bets against the Euro don’t work out in due course (8).

2008 comparison of the deficits and Eurozone GDP of Portugal, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France and Germany – Source: Der Spiegel / European Commission, 02/2010

Goldman Sachs’ role in this Greek tragedy… and the next sovereign defaults

In the « Greek case », just like in every suspense story, a « bad guy » is needed (or, following the logic of an old-style tragedy, a « deus ex machina »). In this phase of the global systemic crisis, the role of the « bad guy » is usually played by one of Wall Street’s big investment banks, in particular by the leader of the gang, Goldman Sachs. The « Greek case » is no different as indeed this New York investment bank is directly implicated in the budgetary conjuring tricks which allowed Greece to qualify for Euro entry, whilst its actual budget deficits would have disqualified it. In reality it was Goldman Sachs who, in 2002, created one of its cunning financial models of which it holds the secret (9) and which, almost systematically resurfaces several years later, to blow up the client. But what does it matter, since GS (Goldman Sachs) profits were the beneficiary!

In the Greek case what the investment bank proposed was very simple: raise a loan which didn’t appear in the budget (a swap agreement which enabled a ficticious reduction in the size of the Greek public deficit (10). The Greek leaders at the time were, of course, 100% liable and should, in LEAP/E2020’s opinion, be subjected to Greek and European political and legal process for having cheated the EU and their own citizens within the framework of a major historic event, the creation of the single European currency.

But, let’s be clear, the liability of the New York investment bank (as an accomplice) is just as great, especially when one is aware of the fact that Goldman Sachs’ vice-president for Europe was, at the time, a certain Mario Draghi (11), currently President of the Italian Central Bank and a candidate (12) to succeed Jean-Claude Trichet at the head of the European Central Bank (13).

Without wishing to pre-judge Mr. Draghi’s role in the affair of the loan manipulating Greece’s statistics (14), one should ask oneself if it wouldn’t be worthwhile to question his involvement in the affair (15). In a democracy, the press (16), like parliaments (in this case Greek and European), are expected to take on this task themselves. Considering the importance of GS in world financial affairs these last few years, nothing that this bank does should leave governments and legislators indifferent. It is Paul Volcker, current head of Barack Obama’s financial advisors, who has become one of the strongest critics of Goldman Sachs’ activities (17). We already had the occasion to write, at the time of the election of the current US President, that he is the only person in his entourage having the experience and skills to push through tough measures (18) and who, at this moment, knows what, or rather whom, he is talking about.

With this same logic, on the issue of transparency in financial activities and state budgets and using the ill-fated role of Goldman Sachs and of the large investment banks in general as an illustration, LEAP/E2020 takes the view that it would be beneficial for the European Union and its five hundred million citizens, to exclude former managers of these investment banks (19) from any post of financial, budgetary and economic control (ECB, European Commission, National Central Banks). The mixing of these relationships can only lead to even greater confusion between public and private interests, which can only be to the detriment of European public interests. To begin with, the Eurozone should immediately require the Greek government to stop calling on the services of Goldman Sachs which, according to the Financial Times of 01/28/2010, it still uses.

If the head of Goldman Sachs believes he is « God » as he described himself in a recent interview (20), it would be prudent to consider that his bank, and its lookalikes, can seriously behave like devils, and it is therefore wise to draw all the consequences. This piece of advice, according to our team, is valid for the whole of Europe, as well as every other continent. There are « private services » which clash with « public interests »: just ask Greek citizens and American real estate owners whose houses have been repossessed by the banks!

To conclude, our team suggests a game to convince those who seek where the next sovereign debt crisis will surface: simply look for those states which have called upon Goldman Sachs’ services in the last few years and you will have a serious lead (21)!

-------
Notes:

(1) The recent statements of G. W. Bush’s Secretary to the Treasury, Hank Paulson, about the fact that Russia and China plotted to bring down Wall Street in the autumn of 2008 show the extent of the big global players’ paranoia. Source: Daily Mail, 01/29/2010

(2) During the last four years our team has regularly exposed the anomalies in calculating US GDP. We will make no further comment here on this very « Greek » aspect of American statistics. As to the development of the American economy over the next few months, it is sufficient to note that the Truck Tonnage Index went into freefall in January 2010, just as it did at the end of the first half of 2008. Source: USAToday, 02/11/2010

(3) See the chart below which puts the « Greek problem » into proportion against Eurozone GNP.

(4) For which GEAB has emphasized the necessity for four years, as well as the wide public support (an average of more than 90% according to GlobalEurometre monthly polls) a Eurozone economic governance could count on.

(5) As a reminder here, GEAB N°33 was one of the rare media sources which, in Spring 2008, revealed the dishonest and manipulative aspects of the big fear of a « banking tsunami » coming from Eastern Europe which was supposed to carry away the Eurozone banking system. At the time, the Euro had fallen to much lower levels than those seen today…only to rise again several weeks later. For those who wish to understand the current media position, we suggest a re-read of the GEAB N°33 public communiqué.

(6) The fact that a Frenchman is its head changes nothing.

(7) Source: Le Figaro, 02/12/2010

(8) That said, media manipulation in this area is remarkable. These last few days one has seen/read/heard almost everywhere that huge sums have been bet on a fall in the Euro, some eight billion US Dollars. In fact this « huge sum » is only a drop in the ocean of the world currency markets which turn over several hundred billion USD a day. Source: Financial Times, 02/08/2010

(9) With the same highly constructive regard for the countries where it operates as that which led it, in the United States in 2006/2007, to provoke a fall, for its own benefit, in the value real estate based financial products which it had sold to its own clients.

(10) Sources: Spiegel, 08/02/2010; Le Temps, 13/02/2010; Reuters, 09/02/2010

(11) During Italy’s preparation for Euro entry, he was Director General of the Italian Treasury. Sources: Bank of Italy; Wikipedia; Goldman Sachs.

(12) Very strongly supported by the London and American financial milieux, to which we have already alluded several months ago in one of our reports… and, of course, by Silvio Berlusconi. Source: Sharenet/Reuters, 02/10/2010

(13) His strongest adversary is Axel Weber, current head of the Bundesbank.

(14) What would be surprising is that the European head of the bank making a loan intended to hide a portion of a country’s public deficit, and himself the former Treasury head of a neighbouring country, should not be aware of such an undertaking.

(15) And, considering his past positions, one can only appreciate his sense of humour when he calls for a reinforcement of Eurozone economic management. Source: Les Echos, 02/13/2010.

(16) Which, for the present, satisfies itself by copying articles from the Anglo-Saxon press casting the Greek case in the role of « wrecker of world markets » repeating at length that the Euro will fall… whilst it trades at a level which the same media thought it impossible to achieve only four years ago.

(17) Source: Reuters, 02/12/2010

(18) He belongs to that generation of Americans who built the « post-war US empire », who know its weak points and exactly how it works, contrary to Summers, Geithner and others like Rubin. Our team rarely compliments Barack Obama, but if he continues to listen to the likes of Paul Volcker, he is definitely moving in the right direction.

(19) Our team knows, from first-hand knowledge, that there once was a time, thirty years or so ago, when investment bankers would take action having the long term interests of their clients at heart. This period is long gone and now they only act in their own short-term interests. From this, we should draw the inevitable conclusions and exclude them access to key posts in the public service, rather than try and reform their behavior. If there were child investment bankers (as there are child soldiers) one could, perhaps, hope to save a number of them from their addiction to short-term profits, but for adult investment bankers, it’s far too late.

(20) Source: Times, 11/08/2009

(21) For the private sector, ask Lehman Brothers, AIG…they will confirm its accuracy.

Mardi 16 Février 2010

SOLIDARITY WITH INTIFADA

In the last issue of Anarchist Bulletin (March '02, no 14), in the article for the 18 months of Intifada, before the israeli attack of May 29, we wrote: "After the latest palestinian attacks, Israel's minister of internal affairs Eli Yisai has stated: "We must continue blockading their villages and their cities, we must continue the siege". But it was obvious that the situation was already out of control, as Sharon's strategy for the violent submission of palestinians, not only did it not have the expected results, but it brought exactly the opposite... While Arafat's strategy towards capitulation fell into absolute disrepute.

For that reason, and in order to put under control that explosive situation which presages only the worst, from the beginning of March the US hastened to intervene. On the one hand with diplomatic missions and admonitions to Israel, on the other hand by promoting the UN Security Council resolution that poses the "vision" of an independent palestinian state. What is evident is the US hurry to close or at least "freeze" the palestinian front, in order to re-open the front of Iraq..."

After the failure of the north-american attempt to extract peacefully a voluntarily subjection of the revolted palistinians, Israel took another extension of time for its effort to militarily subjugate Intifada. Since May 29, with the US support and the toleration of the european pole of domination-EU-, Israel proceeded to the "final solution", total war... About 30.000 israeli soldiers, supported by hundreds of armored units, military air force and helicopters, invaded Ramallah, Tulkarem, Kalkiya, Jenin, Nablus, Bethlehem, Hebron, villages and refugee camps in West Bank.

What followed is a series of horrible incidents of bombardment and massacres of hundreds of militants and noncombatant palestinians, while 4.500 were captured and many of them taken to the concentration camp of Negev desert, the israeli "Guadanamo"... There was a series of martyr incidents of stout, even desperate, resistance by men, women and children (such as in Jenin refugee camp and in the old city of Nablus), where people with light armament or with no weapons at all, without food, water and medicines, remained unconcquered under the tanks' tracks.

Almost the entire W. Bank consists a field of "disproportionate war", occupation and national cleansing, but the spirit of Intifada is always alive among the palestinian proletarians, becoming a time-bomb for the extension of insurrectional incidents in the whole area, or at least where dynamic moves of solidarity from below are appearing.

Besides, Israel's total attack against the palestinians is part of the broader war campaign of the West in the Middle East, for the absolute control of the region. A long lasting campaign which was named after September 11 “war on terrorism”. And the next step is the attack to Iraq... And as ex prime minister of Israel, B. Netaniahu said “Israel is accused by the international community for doing exactly what the US have done in Afghanistan”...

From our side, we repeat that our revolutionary vision, with its values and principles, not only it does not push us to turn our eyes away from the blood-stained Intifada, but on the contrary, it makes us face it with straightness, with critic but above all with solidarity. Because, beyond the political or religious manipulation of the palestinian proletariat and the claims for “national restitution” either in the pockets of W.Bank and Gaza or in the entire area of Palestine, Intifada, above all, springs from the authentic demand of the oppressed people for life, freedom and dignity. For that reason it is contradicting the wider projects of global domination in the Middle East area...

One Free Palestine for all, in a Free World, without bosses, borders and states...

@. 15/4/02

Dateline: Westminster Magistrates Court, Horseferry Road, London, UK, 10:30-15:00, Thu 11 Mar 10 – Nearly 400 MPs swindle over £1,000,000 in false expenses claims over several years, and how many scapegoats are put up for criminal charges? Just three Labour MPs, and a token Tory Lord too. The 'public' were appalled, angry, and up in arms about this scandal – so how come when the four Parliamentarian criminals first face charges in court, only SEVEN protesters turned up?

A1. Three Fingers for Corrupt Swindlers

A2. Location Map

A3. Patrick Blower's Biting Cartoons

Israel's Top Export Product: OPPRESSION

Brazil under fire for spending $350 million on Israeli drones

By Cnaan Liphshiz, Haaretz Correspondent

The anticipated use of Israeli-made drones by Brazilian police Tuesday drew criticism from a prominent ruling party politician. It also prompted social activists to seek greater cooperation with Palestinian movements to protest the "importation of Israeli oppression."

The sale of Israeli drones to Brazil "confirms that Israel draws indirect benefits from the illegal occupation of Palestinian territories," Valter Pomar, secretary of international relations for the leftist Workers Party (PT), told Haaretz.

Pomar said he disagreed with the "democratically-reached" decision to equip Brazilian police with drones used as part of what he termed "Israel's illegal and illegitimate actions."

"It is symptomatic that Brazil imports tactics and equipment from Israel, an ultra-militarized country which keeps an entire population under military occupation," said Mauricio Campos, a spokesman for the Network of Communities and Movements against Violence.

He added that the network - a prominent grassroots organization which sprang up six years ago in Rio's poor favelas, or shantytowns - will discuss the pending sale on Thursday, during a general meeting. "Without doubt, we will make our voices heard over this," Campos told Haaretz.

His group has organized various events to protest Israel's policies and what the network called "genocidal attacks" on Palestinians.

The discussion on Thursday of the drone sale was scheduled after Brazilian media reported last week that Rio's state police force is considering buying six Israeli Skylark I unmanned aerial vehicles to combat rampant crime.

In November, during President Shimon Peres' state visit to Brazil, Israel and Brazil sealed a $350 million deal for the supply of 14 Israeli Heron UAVs to several Brazilian law enforcement agencies.

That deal was completed weeks after a drug gang from a Rio favela shot down a police helicopter with a short range rocket.

i

Translation from the blog of the Anarchist Initiative of Aigaleo (west Athens) on the situation in the women division of the Petrou Ralli prison for migrants – very close to downtown Athens.

http://anarxikoiaigaleo.squat.gr

(Testimony from the hell of Petrou Ralli by comrades that were detained in the prison wing for migrant women on P. Ralli St. after the occupation of the Keratsini Town Hall in solidarity to the 22 persecuted in the “Resalto” social space on 5th December 2009).

The scene is the same as if it were a high security prison; the difference is that no one has committed any “crime” here. The cameras that are everywhere in the cells, apart from the toilets, are an example of how human dignity is violated in here. The detainees are under 24/7 surveillance, they can’t get a moment of privacy and no personal data protection policy is in effect. Even the cell doors are made of iron bars, from top to bottom, and in order to create a somehow private space the detainees have hung bed sheets. “I cannot bear it that everyone walking up and down the corridor can see me”, an immigrant woman told us. The wings made of cement have electric doors of latest technology, windows (some without pane) that look out on… the rest of the cells and are at a height that you cannot reach in order to see what is happening outside. The cells are equipped with “post-modern” beds made of cement (square ones that remind of benches) with worn-out foam rubber on top, a “soft” blanket that resembles emery cloth (exclusively sponsored by the Greek army) and no pillow whatsoever.

Hygiene conditions are non-existent, which explicitly shows the intention to “decompose” the body and to eliminate any characteristic that reminds detainees that they are human. The medieval-style toilets – which often host cute insects such as cockroaches– are only four and superdirty. The idea in the Petrou Ralli St hell is that cleanness is a fallacy [trans: play on words on a popular Greek saying]… Soaps, shampoo, toothpaste, toilet paper and sanitary towels are considered “small bourgeois residues” and consequently are unnecessary. Instead of a mirror, they use a piece of plastic that reflects like tinfoil the faces of those who live there for up to 6 months (according to the new law): distorted and partial reflections of persons that eventually forget who they are. All adds up in order to forget your very own existence.

Food is transported daily from GADA [trans: police headquarters] and of course it does not contain milk because there is fear that it will go bad during transportation. Everybody is given an instant coffee, a juice and a chocolate croissant. Even children are given the same (from 12-month babies to 10 year-old boys); age and personal needs do not matter. For lunch we were given bean soup, olives and one loaf of bread per cell to be shared by all the detainees, as well as oranges from Arta [trans: Greek city] at preference. The detainees serve themselves in plastic yoghurt-pots. There is no refectory or special room for food to be served, and they are obliged to place their bread on dirty, miserable blankets. Special needs are not taken into consideration, and diseases like diabetes, intestinal dysfunctions, cardiopathies etc do not receive any special alimentary treatment. We heard the detainees complain that they and their children suffered from itching. Cases of dermatological problems, such as mycoses, scabies, allergies and other kinds of dermatitis are frequent; they are mainly due to the sordid mattresses and the horrendous hygiene conditions in the cells and the toilets. They even face serious problems with their teeth, as they are not given enough bottled water and are forced to drink tap water from the toilets.

The women also talked to us about the aggressive behaviour of their underage children. And what is more reasonable for a child that grows up in prison than to develop an “antisocial” and aggressive behaviour. How can it not hate the world, as it is experiencing it from this hell? It has been marked for life by this experience and we better not dare to ask it in puberty why it’s throwing stones. Surely, in any case, the prisons on P.R. St. are an ideal environment for panic crises and psychosomatic conditions. The human being is a part of nature itself, and therefore it cannot survive in an environment made of cement.

Some prisoners have made artistic interventions to their cells in order to make them feel cosier. A Russian detainee has drawn huge cartoons on the walls. My soul is in pain… she misses her baby. She has transformed the cell into a child’s room. Love graven in hearts, and around the beds graven lines that mark days and months that have gone by. Engraved poems, promises, memoirs, names. In other cells the detainees have made an iconostasis; they have hung pictures of Saints everywhere in an effort to keep their hopes and dreams alive. Above their heads Angelina Jolie and Helen Menegaki [trans: Greek television star] next to shampoo labels, anything that can fill the empty walls.

Communication with the outside world is difficult and only those who have the money to buy a phone card have the possibility to make calls. Even the communication between the detainees is difficult as many of them do not speak nor understand Greek. There are no interpreters whatsoever and communication takes place through eye contact and gestures in an effort to exchange information on daily survival. Of course, this means they are deprived of their right to claim their rights or to be informed on their detention status and the date of their release. Complete isolation and loneliness.

Contact with the air, the rain and the sun is simply zero, as there is no yard to go out to. Detainees can only walk in the corridor (1 meter width and 20 meters length) that is outside the cells. They are deprived of a room where they could sit or do physical exercise; as a consequence they can only walk or lie down, in other words they carry around their pestered body. In this decorative background we saw small kids holding dolls, climbing up the iron bars and walking barefoot on filthy water and liquids of unknown origin. Their shoe laces had been taken away from them, thus they cannot even run. Some older children have understood what’s going on and every spark of life in their eyes has disappeared. Who can explain to them how one day they were returning home after school with their mum and suddenly they found themselves behind prison walls?

Sixth Anarchist Bookfair in Zagreb

Written by www.ask-zagreb.org

Friday, 05 February 2010

The Sixth Anarchist Bookfair in Zagreb will take place on March 26th to March 28th, 2010.

Anarchist Bookfair in Zagreb (ASK - Anarhisticki sajam knjiga) is annual anarchist event that aims to become a long-term, developing project. First five bookfairs went well, and we hope to bring in more and more people every year as participants, publishers, groups, projects - whoever is interested in what the bookfair has to offer.

This year we decided to suggest discussions on strategies of social conflicts and academic aproach to anarchism, for which we will prepare introduction and suggest few texts that we find interesting for further debate. See program for more details. Of course, all ideas for presentations and debates are welcome, as well as help or ideas with our suggestions for debate.

ASK will take place in Zagreb every spring, as a local resource for anarchist and libertarian books and other publications. We also aim to open discussion on subjects that are important for the anarchist movement, or for our local community.

The idea for such a bookfair is not new, but is based on the positive experience of other Anarchist Bookfairs. In many different situations, these bookfairs have proven to be important events and meeting places on both local and international levels.
This is why we need your help - come and support this event with solidarity and participation!

Bookfair program (still not finished)

Friday, 26th March 2010

15:00 - 21:00
[cinema Europa, Varsavska 3, see MAP]

Bookfair - come and check the books of different publishers, free materials from various groups, newspapers, magazines... See list of participants (coming soon...) .

15:00
[cinema Europa, Varsavska 3]

LUNCH - Food, not bombs! (Hrana, a ne oružje!) is serving a free vegan lunch.

19:00
[cinema Europa, Varsavska 3]

Academic approach to anarchism

Academism, as a particular way of approaching and criticizing the world around itself, didn't bypass the methods of social organizing or non organizing, and thus also the anarchist theory and practice, which, through it's basic principles, demands for abolishing of university and academic approach, i.e. it's way of functioning and acting. This did not stop many anarchists from becoming a part of that group, and so empower it's elitist and authoritarian discourse which exists as the sole reality / dimension understood by the academic community. A question comes to mind; what are the limits of the academic analysis of anarchism, and could that approach be of any use in analysis of the society, if it came out of the authoritative system whose bearer it is, and because of the same reason is also limited in its analysing same as in its repeal, as it really is what makes its elitist position possible?
Also, in this discussion, anti-intellectualism and hyper-activism, which are widely spread in anarchist movement, should be taken into consideration and be discussed.

Saturday, 27th March 2010

10:00 - 15:00
[Petar Preradović square/Cvjetni trg (Flower square)/Varsavska]

Bookfair moves to the square, so the books are available during rush hour... In case of bad weather fair moves back inside in cinema Europa, Varsavska 3.

14:00
[Petar Preradović square/Cvjetni trg (Flower square)/Varsavska]

LUNCH - Food, not bombs! (Hrana, a ne oružje!) is serving a free vegan lunch.

19:00
[cinema Europa, Varsavska 3]

Strategies of social conflicts

When social conflicts, strategies and tactics of resistance to government repression are discussed, discussion of violent or non violent tactics usage is almost inevitable. Although this discussion has lately become solved, by claiming the right of selecting different tactics, which solved the problem of reaching the consensus of tactics selecting, in practice there's still a great sensibility when violent methods of resistance are being used. Even if we neglect the reasoning in binary oppositions violence / non violence, the problem about violence as a method still remains very baffling. It could be seen that when resisting the repression, anarchists often refuse to use the methods that system finds radical in order not to provoke even larger repression, and thus perform a kind of auto-repression, and so neutralize their own activity. On the other hand, there are many examples lately in which people, who do not identify themselves with anarchism or the anarchist movement, seem to have no problem in radicalizing their own acting in fight against the repression. This indicates a few things; severity of extremely negative semantic field of the therm violence, difficulty of drawing the line between violence and non violence, influence of the pacifist ideology and importance of context within which we are acting. Discussion on strategies of social conflicts should take into consideration strategies of the institutionalised repression and institutionalised acting with the aim of destroying any resistance movement. Only in this wider context do the particular strategies gain or lose sense and purpose. The fact is that the basic priority of the governmental institution is to maintain the so called normal condition and obstruct any acting that could disturb that condition, and it's going so far that even considering resistance to repression and desire for change would be enough for extension of the institutional repression. Then, the weight of discussion is pulled away from violent or non violent methods to the oppositions of legal / illegal, normal / abnormal...
What does selection of social struggles strategies mean and what opportunities do we have? Where does the need for the auto-repression come from, and what really are motives for resisting the repression? Which ideologies and experiences did influence particular attitudes towards different methods of resistance? These are just some of the questions we'd like to open with this discussion. Some literature proposals include: Peter Gelderloos: How Nonviolence Protects the State, Boston: South End Press, 2007. (for those based in Zagreb: available in infoshop Roko i Cicibela); Uri Gordon: Peace, Love and Petrol Bombs; Anarchism and Violence revisited in Anarchy Alive, Pluto Press, London, 2008.; Ward Churchill: Pacifism as Pathology

Sunday 28th March 2010

10:00 - 15:00
[cinema Europa, Varsavska 3]

Bookfair - come and have coffee or tea, look for the book you missed the previous days, and spend your sunday morning in a pleasant company... . That would be the closure of the 6th Anarchist bookfair.

burnt flag: new nottingham antifascist newsheet

(

first issue of a new antifascist newsheet based in nottingham. find out what really happened when the EDL came to nottingham, the news the BNP don't want you to know about their membership and a round up of 2009 antifascist action to keep a smile on your face.

front page

back page

After the xenophobic security law and the special ethnic regulations in Roma settlements, the government is about to introduce the “residence permit by point-system”. This is a serious violation of human rights that must be immediately stigmatized and corrected by the international political and legal institutions.
The Integration Agreement: the Italian Government prepares to introduce yet another racial law.

Rome, February 10th, 2010. The alchemy which allows the centre-right to remain in power in Italy lies at the root of a political, civil and legal aberration. In order to survive, the present majority needs the support and backing of the Northern League - the anti-immigration, anti-minority, anti-southern Italy and anti-European party. In this sick climate, in which democratic laws are continually ignored and human and civil rights trampled on, the Northern League is free to dictate laws and measures against immigration which are automatically approved (despite criticism from civil society) without them being validated by the Constitution. For years the Northern League has been the protagonist of xenophobic and anti-ziganist campaigns. It is no coincidence that a total of thirty-six of its exponents (including the Mayor of Treviso) have been committed for trial by the Preliminary Hearing Judge of Verona and accused of “forming an armed band”. The defendants include the top Northern League politicians: Umberto Bossi, Roberto Maroni, and Roberto Calderoli. We must also remember that several Lega Nord leaders (like the deputy mayor of Treviso, Giancarlo Gentilini) have been charged and found guilty of racism or assault. Not to mention Mario Borghezio, who was found guilty of “aggravated arson for reasons of discrimination”. Racist and violent gangs who make use of the Legal Nord name and proclamations are rife in Italy: our human rights activists themselves have been targeted by these groups and have also received death threats.
In October 2008, Senator Bodega, the spokesman for the Northern League, announced through the press that his party was about to put to the government for its approval, a “residence permit by point system” reserved for foreign citizens. The permit foresees a series of objectives - starting with a home and employment – which will allow the immigrants to remain in Italy.

When, on March 23rd and 24th last year, the leaders of EveryOne Group met the President of the Italian Chamber of Deputies, Gianfranco Fini, and the Undersecretary of State for the Ministry of the Interior, Alfredo Mantovano, in Rome they were given the promise that Italy would never approve and issue such an undemocratic law. But less than a year has gone by and the government is preparing to approve and ratify a “residence permit by point system” law, which will be known as the “Integration Agreement” law. Yesterday, the Ministers of the Interior and Welfare announced the imminent introduction of this anti-foreigner law. Next week Roberto Maroni and Maurizio Sacconi will present the decree to the Council of Ministers. People applying for a resident permit for the first time will now have to sign this agreement which contains a series of obligations . Among these requirements is the obligation to have a home with characteristics that are almost impossible to comply to; steady employment in a period when thousands of qualified Italians are losing their jobs; the ability to speak Italian; possession of a National Health Service card, and a knowledge of the Italian Constitution. “Only yesterday,” said Maroni, “we were debating the regulations that envisage the signing of the Integration Agreement when the residence permit is issued.

This is the “security law” that sets out specific aims to be respected in the space of two years, the results of which are to be evaluated by the Immigration Counter. If the objectives have been reached then the person will be granted a residence permit, if not he or she will be expelled from the country. In this way we will guarantee full integration. In other words: I will tell you what you have to do in order to integrate into our society. If you fulfill the obligations, then I will issue you with a residence permit, if you don't, then that means you don't want to integrate. We will only be applying this law to those applying for new permits. For the courses in the Italian language and culture, we will not be asking the immigrants for money, we will organize them ourselves in order to guarantee a uniform standard in all the regions and have everything under our control.” Sacconi added “the agreement lays out the immigrant's rights and duties: which are, as well as a knowledge of the language, the possession of a National Health card, 12 years' basic education, and transparent rent contracts”.

At the end of the two-year period the immigrant will have to have scored 30 points, which he or she will be assigned through exams in the Italian language, civic formation, historical culture, and the Constitution. If he commits a crime, points will be taken off. If after two years, the immigrant has not totalled a “score” of 30, he may be granted another year but after that he will be expelled from the country - even if he has a wife and children here or the lives of his family back in his homeland depend on his earnings here.
It is obvious that this new xenophobic law will bring about further conditions of irregularity, serious cases of blackmail from employers or those who rent out property to foreigners. The thousands of cases of slavery or those forced to prostitute themselves - already institutionalized in Italy by the “safety package” (94/2009) - will be aggravated and increased out of all proportion.
We cannot but agree with Giancarlo Bressa, (leader of the PD's parliamentary group for the Constitutional Affairs Commission in the Chamber), when he said: “Being a foreigner in Italy means being subjected to a scandalous social lottery in which the judges cheat right from the beginning. We are the most xenophobic country in Europe. A fine result, my compliments to Maroni and Sacconi”.

From a legal point of view, this “residence by point system” is an ethnic measure and therefore represents a further breach of human dignity and the individual's fundamental rights contained in the Charter of Nice (art. 1) and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Preamble and art. 1). All citizens in a democracy, must be equal before the law, in that they are human beings (the equality between citizen and foreigner is based on precise articles of the Constitution: no. 2. (The Republic recognises and guarantees the inviolable human rights, 3 (equal social status) and 10, 2 (legal status of foreigners). Creating a special law for the right to reside in Italy is clearly illegal, because the rights and duties of the individual, without distinction, are already sanctioned by the laws in force.

As for people's rights, they must be the same for everyone. Article 2 of the Constitution rules that “The Republic recognises and guarantees the inviolable human rights” where “human” cannot only be intended to be “citizen” because there are international laws that regulate human rights - in particular the Universal Declaration of Human Rights from 1948, and the European Union's Charter of Human Rights.

The Constitutional Court has also established on several occasions that foreigners are protected by fundamental rights and that these rights concern the individual as such - again based on the articles laid down by the Constitution.

The introduction of special laws (like the “security package”), the regulations for ethnic groups (such as the “sociality pact” for the Roma people who live in conditions of authentic apartheid in ghetto-camps), and now the new “Integration Agreement” represent serious violations of human and civil rights that must be stigmatized by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the EU institutions. and immediately quashed by Italian and International courts.

Contact:
EveryOne Group
www.everyonegroup.com ::

info@everyonegroup.com

Twitpic, EXIF and GPS: I Know Where You Did it Last Summer

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Published: 2010-02-10,
Last Updated: 2010-02-11 14:51:27 UTC
by Johannes Ullrich (Version: 1)

12 comment(s)

Modern cell phones frequently include a camera and a GPS. Even if a GPS is not included, cell phone towers can be used to establish the location of the phone. Image formats include special headers that can be used to store this information, so called EXIF tags.

In order to test the prevalence of these tags and analyze the information leaked via EXIF tags, we collected 15,291 images from popular image hosting site Twitpic.com. Twitpic is frequently used together with Twitter. Software on smart phones will take the picture, upload it to twitpix and then post a message on Twitter pointing to the image. Twitpic images are usually not protected and open for all to read who know the URL. The URL is short and incrementing, allowing for easy harvesting of pictures hosted on Twitpic.

We wrote a little script to harvest 15,291 images. A second script was used to analyze the EXIF information embedded in these images. About 10,000 of the images included basic EXIF information, like image resolution and camera orientation. 5247 images included the Camera Model.

Most interestingly: 399 images included the location of the camera at the time the image was taken, and 102 images included the name of the photographer. Correlating the camera model with the photographer field, we found that it was predominantly set for the Canon and Nikon cameras. Only few camera phones had the parameter set.

GPS coordinates where only set for phones, with one single exception (a Nikon Point and Shoot camera, which does not appear to come with a build in GPS. The location may have been added manually or by an external GPS unit). The lion share of images that included GPS tags came from iPhones.

The iPhone is including the most EXIF information among the images we found. The largest EXIF data set we found can be found here. It not only includes the phone's location, but also accelerometer data showing if the phone was moved at the time the picture was taken and the readout from the build in compass showing in which direction the phone was pointed at the time.

Figure 1: Pictures with GPS coordinates broken down by Phone manufacturer.

Figure 2: Geographic Distribution of Images

Now the obvious question: Anything interesting in these pictures? The images all the way up north shows an empty grocery store (kind of like in the DC area these days). The picture at the Afghan - Pakistan border shows a pizza... Osama got away again I guess.

The scripts used for this can be found here: http://johannes.homepc.org/twitscripts.tgz (two scripts, also needs "exiftools" to pull out the data).

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Saturday, February 6, 2010 Vassilis Palaiokostas letter to the media

A translation of the letter sent to “Eleftherotipia” newspaper on the occasion of Polys (Polykarpos) Georgiades and Vaggelis Chrisohoides jury on 2/2 on the accusations of prividing refuge to a “criminal” and being part of his “criminal association”. Vassilis Palaiokostas is on the run, after his escape with a helicopter from Korydallos prison, on Feb. 22/2009, accused for robbing banks and kidnapping industrialists. It is worth to say, he has never harmed human life, not even cop lives to avoid an arrest. On the opposite, he and his older brother (a legendary bank robber and escapee, currently held in prison) are said to have helped many poor people and communities in mainland Greece’ mountains where they come from and are often said to find refuge at, continuing a tradition of “social robbery” that blossom around the Balkans since the decline of the Ottoman Empire.

“On the occasion of the upcoming jury on the kidnapping of the industrialist G. Mylonas, that begins on Tuesday February 2, I would like to clarify certain issues.

Through different periods of my life I have been a first line fugitive, nearly 12 years in total an escapee (I hope there’s more of that coming) and 8 years a prisoner.

All those years that I had been and even now that Iam still hunted by the official state, there wasn’t found even one snitch to deliver me to the hands of my prosecutors. Even though, during my first escape, in August 1991, there was also a large reward for that, from the -generous to snitches- Greek state. On the contrary, I met people with troth, honor in their words, and dignity. People that opened their door for me, provided cover and help, often without even minding the risk they took for themselves. People that helped me in hard times for me (as in a prison escape) endangering their own lives, people that prove that in this country there aren’t only resigned, submissive fellows, but also many (so many I am surprised) people that honor the traditions of honor and solidarity to the hunted. Pride people that despise snitching, servitude and the constable.

I publicly express my gratitude to all those remarkable persons for their valuable help and for giving me the joy of having met them.

Two of them are Vaggelis Chrisohoides and Polys Georgiades, each one of them stood by me in his own way, at the time I needed them, without expecting personal gains, but only acted upon their conscience.

Declaring my solidarity to this two young men, the state strangles everyday knowing their only “crime” was their solidarity to the hunted, I would expect to see for once the magnitude the Republic of Greece takes prides in. Because for its petiness, I consider myself more than competent to describe: It’s an Abyss.

I will say nothing more. I only adress to those that care to retain some pleas of justice and dignity. And everyone should do what his sense of honor and his conscience tells him to do.

On 4/14/09, afternoon around 20:00 while driving on the central coastal road of Alepohori, suddenly three cars blocked my way and another two stuck on the back of my own car. Among them was a black Audi A4, a Peugot Rally and an Opel Athens Taxi. Each one of them with three persons (15 in total), all in plain clothes. All of them got instantaneously out, pointing at me, the drivers with H&K MP5 sub-machine guns with double cartridge, nad the other with Glock and H&K U.S.P semi-automatic handguns. I instantly understood these armed mercenaries of the Greek state where on a prowl for blood.

This same moment on my right, through an invisible from the main road, alley, comes another car with the driver standing aghast and stopping on the crossroad with the main road. Without second though I turned the wheels right and let it rip. Slightly hitting the other car (given the alley could barely take my jeap), I got right in the alley without knowing where it gets to. From my initial speeding to getting 20-30 meters in the alley, bullets where dancing on my car’s cabin. Those guys opened fire with their machine guns and handguns aiming right at me (the only thing undamaged was my car’s tires).

From my μeasurable experience in intense conditions, I am more than certain that they shot more than 150 bullets in 15 seconds (the whole scene didn’t last any longer). Most probably, some of them also found the unwary civilian’s car, while he was inside it.

These unscrupulous, blind shooters of EL.AS [transl: the Greek police] where determined to carry out fully the order they had take from their natural and political leaders. Find and kill.

In this case, they can blame their bad luck, since luck is female and cares for the daring. [transl. see latin: "Fortuna Favet Fortubus"]

The reason I refer to this incident is to show the contemptible way the Mass Media report such cases. The car I was riding and left 100 meters from the scene, because the alley was a dead-end, was full of bullets. This fact was not reported and the car never appeared anywhere, it magically disappeared. Just like the other car (hit and possibly with bullet holes), together with its misfortunate owner, the only witness that actually took part in the scene, withous his will ofcourse, watching the whole thing from the begining to the end.

So, instead of inquiring all these important facts to show what exactly happened in that scene, the daring and ingenious reporters of the Greek Mass Media gathered inside the room I was living in, and in exclusive reporting were waving around my unwashed underpants, informing screaming of tension the weak, ignorant, speachless tv-viewer.

This fact reveals clearly the “journalist community’s” compliance to keep silent, essentialy consenting to the criminal activity of EL.AS’ desperados and their head responsibles, in full cooperation with them. “We will allow you to enter the house for an exclusive report, but you ‘ll keep your mouth shut about everything else”. Such was the filthy deal between the two sides. The media would get their money, since underpants worth more in their stockmarket of values than the life of their owner. As long as he is “notorious”. And finally, who cares about how the police acts? If the police and their leadership believe a man just because he is wanted is to be killed, why should we disagree? Whenever we [the Media] needed some information, the police’s head officer provided it -they actually brag about it-. While, the hunted man has no phone. And even if he has one, it will be turned off or without a signal.

This is the way our daring and independant journalists think.

My congratulations, the future belongs to you. May I suggest the two organizations, police and media, could even integrate in own, for functional reasons. It’s both innovative and carries many advantages. Then, it won’t be for nothing that you elected a police correspondent as president of ESIEA (journalists-editors union).

If these ingenious reporters, with the same eagerness the show on mine and not only, underpants, cared to carry a constant control, denouncing to the Greek citizens that:

* 13.000 humans are in a state of captivity (under the pretext of illegality), living a total exploitation of themselves and their families, from the official state. That after passing the symplegades [transl: mythical deadly clashing rock of the argonaut campain] of a corrupt police and an even worst justice system, end up with heavy penalties in medieval conditions, by which this rotten system strives to control and then annihilate whatever dares to make a mockery of it.

* The armed guardians of the Greek state killing in cold-blood citizens (preferably the young) in the middle of the street, in front of the citizen’s own eyes. Humiliating and torturing to death people in the police stations. Setting up wilfully indictments sending “guilty” humans in jail for years. Setting a whole network of criminal activities not controlled by anyone.

* If they really cared to exercise some control over the modern Pirates of the political system, that helped by the gimmickery of the election system and the blessings of the Mass Media take over the Parliament, turning it into the headquarters of full domination on their voters citizens. Into a nest of intertwining interests, dealing transactions, bribes. Into a “terrorist hideout” where the loots from pillaging are divided around. A loot every citizen dares to question, becoming an obstacle in their plans will feel upon him the brutal democratic violence of a blood-thirsty repressive organization. He will feel the revengefulness, the revanchism, and the deep hatred the Greek state has for all those that rejected the status of an obidient citizen that understand his personal liberty as a necessity to do what he’s told to, but remain human with free will and claim an opinion on what’s going on around them with their own actions.

* If they revealed the great responsibility of this criminal organization for the establishment of a police state in Greece, through which they exercise an unbearable psychological violence to the citizen with hundreds of road blocks with cops armed-to-the-teeth with “survivor”-style weaponry, and the same menacing, numb look they had back in the junta days. The thousands of policemen one faces wherever he turns the eye (not to count the undercover ones). The dozens of head-hunters that prowl the mountains acting on their own taste, reminding of the begining of the 20th century, though with a modern name.

* If they denounce these and innumerable other things that de facto cancel the “social state” and “justice state” notions, as their role supposes, then today’s regime, they eagerly guard and name democracy, would be incomparably more humain, qualitative, and certainly more just.

You ‘d now say I am not the most adequate person to give recommendations, even less for matters of the regime.

That’s correct. In the place democracy was born, they can do whatever with her, even burry her if they wish so. It’s a good thing to die where in the place you where born. But, they shouldn’t go hard to the kids when they throw stones to her. They see her old and rotten, it’s stones she’s gonna get.

These insticts are primitive, though inerrable.

Because the kids are more honest and upstanding than the grown-ups.

Nobody would want to grow up just to find a dead body in the closed his parents have been hiding there to eat of her pension. They desire something more than a body in formol, and be sure they ‘re gonna get it, no matter how many dreads you put in their street.

On what concerns me, it is my absolute belief and surely of thousands others conscious people, that the damage caused to the social body by one shiny tv-presenter in one and only news bulletin (preferably the 8 o’ clock one), I can’t make it, even if they give me 10 lives to spare.

What’s the damage my drop-fire gun [transl. use of an old term for light arm guns of the mountain thieves and left-wing insurgents in Greece]. I have never turned it to an other human, much less to an other human’s mind.

Now, why am I with this drop-fire the prosecuted one that risks his life by any enraged death-squad, and those with their lucrative superweapons degenerate and devitalise the spirit of a whole people, leading them to mental necrosis, become my judges and my hunters, is my question too.

On second thoughts maybe the law on weapons should change. Whoever holds a fire-drop gun should be prosecuted for a capital offence!!!

Now, since it’s the first time I intervene with a public statement, I wouldn’t want it to end in a dispiriting way. So, let me add an allegoric enigma-quiz, I find it won’t trouble you much to solve.

What is the name, of a deputy sheriff of some mountainous and remote village of Utah, USA, overjoyed to his award winning by the FBI, for heroically and always risking his life arrested and gave to justice some dangerous elements to the order of his village? Who, apart of that precious award, also fed the ambition to have his triumphous achievement turn into a big Hollywood move, with George Clooney acting as him, something that pissed off his american patrons so that they exiled him, reducing him to the ranks of minister of “Citizens Protection” of some independent Balkan state. Who, to my exclusive information keeps fantacising about and anxiously sweeping for new “troublemakers”!

To make it even easier for you, I can also add some of his favorite words: Democracy, Revolutionary Fund, Ghetto, Communicating Vessels, Destabilization, Zero Tolerance, Organized Crime, They will be arrested and prosevuted.

He is also a devoted fan of snitching and loves “rats” and his hobbies include setting prices for the heads of wanted.

Keeping in mind though, that one of his many qualities is revanchism, I come to clarify that any similarity to real person or events is totally unintended.

Every police reporter that solves the quiz, enters a lottary for an exclusive interview.

My militant regards to all those that don’t surrender the weapons the chose to fight with, for the life they dream of.

PS. Some oil guys, they do rust.”

Vassilis Palaiokostas

China Jails Environmentalist Wanted in U.S.

DALI, China — Justin Franchi Solondz, an environmental activist from New Jersey who spent years evading charges of ecoterrorism in the United States by hiding out in China, was sentenced to three years in prison by a local court on Friday on charges of manufacturing drugs in this backpacker haven.

After serving his time, Mr. Solondz, 30, who is on the F.B.I.’s wanted list, will be deported to the United States, where he faces charges stemming from what the authorities say was his role in an arson rampage that destroyed buildings in three western states as a member of a group related to the environmental extremist organization Earth Liberation Front. He was indicted in absentia in 2006.

The story of Mr. Solondz’s life on the lam spanned three continents, involved at least two aliases and ended in a smoky bar in one of the world’s most authoritarian countries.

Mr. Solondz’s journey started in the fall of 2005, when he joined his mother in Italy for a wedding and then traveled around Europe and Asia. His parents say he stopped communicating with them in March 2006, just before the F.B.I. announced the charges.

The trail went cold until March 2009, when the Chinese police arrested Mr. Solondz here in the mountains of Yunnan Province after he was caught with drugs and fake Canadian identification, according to his parents. During a daylong trial last month, Mr. Solondz pleaded guilty to drug charges and asked to be deported to the United States.

According to his father, Paul Solondz, the Dali police said they discovered 33 pounds of marijuana buried in the courtyard of the house that the younger Mr. Solondz rented, as well as what the prosecutor described as a drug laboratory inside the house.

Friends of Mr. Solondz in Dali said he went by the name Isaac Cox and was a familiar figure who favored black clothing, had a dog and rode a bicycle through the stone streets of Dali’s old section. (His mother, however, said court documents said he used the name David Isaac Hart.)

“He looked like a man on the run,” said a man who knew Mr. Solondz and did not give his name for fear of retribution from authorities and fellow foreigners. “Everyone who comes to this town is running away from something, some more than others.”

Marijuana grows wild in the region, and local women approach foreigners with the greeting, “Smoke ganja?” Until Mr. Solondz’s arrest, residents said, several bars and hostels catering to foreigners allowed people to openly sell and smoke marijuana.

Then, last winter, the authorities swept into the town, at first going undercover, before returning with a translator and encountering Mr. Solondz at the Sun Island bar, popular with Western backpackers. His parents said the police discovered that he was carrying small amounts of opium and marijuana and he provided fake Canadian identification.

After learning his true identity weeks later, the authorities contacted American consular officials. A spokesman for the United States Embassy in Beijing declined to comment on Mr. Solondz’s case, citing privacy rules. Phone calls to court officials in Dali and Mr. Solondz’s lawyer were not answered on Friday.

Mr. Solondz’s parents frantically tried to find a Chinese lawyer, contacting their representatives in Congress. On the advice of the U.S.-Asia Law Institute at New York University, they hired Zeng Yuexing, dean of the law school at Kunming University of Science and Technology.

During the trial before three judges at Dali’s Intermediate Court, Mr. Solondz apologized to the Chinese people and called Dali “a paradise,” his father said. The elder Mr. Solondz said he and his son’s mother, Bianca Franchi, traveled to China, but were not allowed to obtain a copy of the indictment until after the trial. They were forbidden to take notes in the courtroom.

Mr. Solondz’s parents, who never married, were later permitted to see him for an hour at a detention center. “After four years of not seeing Justin, there he was in shackles behind glass,” his mother said.

About 40 Americans are serving time in Chinese prisons, according to the U.S.-Asia Law Institute. A Chinese lawyer affiliated with the institute who helped Mr. Solondz’s parents hire Mr. Zeng said the fact that Mr. Solondz is an American and a fugitive wanted by the United States might have played a role in his relatively light sentence. “China’s central government is certainly aware of this case,” said the lawyer, who asked not to be named for fear of antagonizing the authorities. “Diplomatic communication must have influenced the result.”

When Mr. Solondz returns to the United States, he is expected to stand trial on charges of arson and conspiracy for what the authorities say is his connection to an offshoot of Earth Liberation Front, known as the Family, which the F.B.I. classifies as a domestic terrorism cell.

According to federal authorities, Mr. Solondz made incendiary devices that destroyed a horticulture center at the University of Washington in Seattle in May 2001. Prosecutors also accuse him of burning down buildings and vehicles in Oregon that same day, and linked him to a later arson attack in California. The combined loss of property totaled more than $5 million.

Friends and family members said Mr. Solondz, an avid soccer player who grew up in Randolph, N.J., adored nature and became an environmental activist at Evergreen State College in Olympia, Wash. That is where he became involved with the Earth Liberation Front, investigators say. He was arrested at protests against the World Trade Organization in Seattle in 2001, his mother said, and he appeared in a film by Briana Waters, his former girlfriend, that documented their campaign to protect old-growth forests from lumber companies. Ms. Waters is serving six years in prison for her role in the horticulture center attack.

Mr. Solondz’s mother, who lives in Denville, N.J., said she did not believe that her son engaged in arson.

Paul Solondz, a construction executive whose home in West Orange, N.J., has a “God Bless America” sign on the front door, rejected the depiction of his son as a terrorist. “Compared to those horrible people who want to kill as many people as possible in the name of religion, the avowed mission of this organization is to not harm any people or animals,” he said. “This should not even be called terrorism.”

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