The three men are said to be recovering from assaults after security forces are accused of targeting activists during unrest
Three lawyers are said to be recovering after being assaulted by police in the wake of protests in the Tunisian capital on Saturday.
According to the Tunisian Bar Association, Yassine Azaza and Rahhal Jallali were attacked by officers while they were making their way home after the demonstrations in Tunis. A third lawyer, Abdennaceur Aouini, was photographed surrounded by police officers in the city’s main street.
Despite sub-zero temperatures, group of Indigenous youth on Tuesday kicked off a 93-mile run to protest the Dakota Access Pipeline and demand that the Biden administration #BuildBackFossilFree.
The run began shortly after 8am CST from a drill pad in Timber Lake, South Dakota — where the youth braved a wind chill of -26°F (-32°C) — and will end at the Oceti Sakowin Camp site, the center of heated resistance to the pipeline in 2016.
Standing Rock youth are sharing a live stream of the event.
“In 2016 a group of us youth from the Standing Rock and Cheyenne River Nations had the courage and were brave enough to stand up to the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) that was going to cross our lands, threatening not only our drinking water supply but the land we have called home for generations. Millions of people from all walks of life stood with Standing Rock,” Annalee Rain Yellowhammer, Standing Rock Sioux Youth Council vice president, said in statement last week announcing the run.
“Mr. President Joe Biden,” she said, “you have the opportunity to be brave and take courage; shut down the Dakota Access Pipeline.”
The group is encouraging people to show support by taking actions Tuesday including making “some noise on social media” and calling the White House to pressure Biden to shut down the pipeline, which is operating without a federal permit.
“They are running because of one simple fact,” Dallas Goldtooth of the Indigenous Environmental Network wrote in a Wednesday email to supporters. “DAPL IS AN ILLEGAL PIPELINE.”
That legality is set to come under further legal scrutiny at a hearing Thursday.
Last month, a federal appeals court sided with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe by upholding a lower court’s ruling that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) violated federal law in granting an easement for DAPL to cross a federal reservoir along the Missouri River.
U.S. District Judge James Boasberg has set a status hearing for Feb. 10 to discuss the impact of [the] opinion by the D.C. Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals that upheld Boasberg’s ruling ordering the Corps to conduct a full environmental impact review. Opponents of the pipeline want it shut down immediately.
Boasberg said in his one-sentence order that the Corps needs to show how it “expects to proceed” without a federal permit granting easement for the $3.8 billion, 1,172-mile (1,886 kilometer) pipeline to cross beneath Lake Oahe, a reservoir along the Missouri River, which is maintained by the Corps.
The Standing Rock youth stress that Biden has the power to end the pipeline, writing on Facebook February 4:
On Tuesday, February 9th 2021, we, the youth From the Standing Rock and Cheyenne River Sioux Nations
Are going to run to the Cannonball River
The site of our resistance 4 1/2 years ago The Dakota Access Pipeline is currently operating without a legal federal permit. President Joe Biden wants to be seen as a climate president
But he cannot claim that title until he stops this pipeline
And others like it, like Line 3. We ask the world to join us as we run again
Record yourself running, wherever you are, in solidarity
And make as much noise as you can on social media
To end this injustice
And put pressure on President Biden to stand on the right side of history
Goldtooth, in his email, echoed that message, writing that “oil is still flowing and the only person who can stop it right now is Joe Biden.”
“In order for us to Build Back Better, we must #BuildBackFossilFree,” he said.
Resistance to the fossil fuel projected was amplified last week when a group of five Democratic lawmakers sent a letter to Biden writing, in part: “By shutting down this illegal pipeline, you can continue to show your administration values the environment and the rights of Indigenous communities more than the profits of outdated fossil fuel industries. This is a critical step towards righting the wrongs of the past and setting our nation on a path of environmental, climate, and social justice.”
Over 200 high profile names including actor and anti-fracking activist Mark Ruffalo and actor and Fire Drill Fridays founder Jane Fonda have also signed onto a letter urging Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris to shut down DAPL.
“With your leadership, we have a momentous opportunity to protect our water and respect our environmental laws and the rights of Indigenous people,” the letter states. “This is our moment.”
A new tunnel has been occupied by climate protesters opposing plans by a London council to cut down trees to make way for new housing.
Police and bailiffs are trying to evict activists from the site, which is home to six mature trees and near a busy roundabout on Highbury Corner.
Protesters at Highbury Corner Protection Camp said: “At 5am, bailiffs acting under instructions from Islington Council entered the ‘little forest’ of seven mature trees at Dixon Clark Court on Highbury Corner and discovered the tunnel.
“Just as at Euston, the entrance was cunningly concealed within a pallet stronghold, fortified with earth from the tunnel itself.”
Protesters have been living on the site for almost four months
Activists have been living on the site for almost four months to try to save the trees, which were due to be felled in favour of a six-storey block of housing.
“It is in an area of major traffic congestion and air pollution, in the most densely populated London borough with the least green space per head outside of the City,” the climate group said.
Maria, one of the protesters in the tunnel said: “Our governments, local and national, are out of touch and not representing the people. They declare a climate and environment emergency and then carry on destroying trees and countryside. It’s got to stop.”
Diarmaid Ward, the executive member for housing and development at Islington Council, said the new development would result in 25 “desperately needed” new council homes.
He said: “At the same time, the project will deliver 63 new trees, an extra 100 square metres of communal garden space for residents, and a number of plantings and landscaping improvements designed to improve biodiversity and address air quality issues.
“The council has done everything we can to avoid taking legal and enforcement action and had reached an agreement with XR, the initial group of protesters, that they would leave the site voluntarily and the council would use the money we would have spent on legal fees on even more trees – in addition to the 63 we had already planned to replace the six being felled.
“We have given protesters who chose to remain every opportunity to comply with the directions of the court, including additional time. It’s truly disheartening that people who claim to care about both trees and homes have forced an outcome resulting in fewer trees for the borough, significant costs, and further delays to building much-need council homes for local families in desperate need.”
Protesters said the tunnel at Highbury Corner was not part of the campaign to stop HS2, but had been built by the same people, and shares features with the tunnel at Euston Square Gardens.
An extensive 100ft tunnel has been built in front of Euston station, in protest at the work on the high-speed rail link.
HS2 Rebellion has called on the Government to scrap the “expensive, unpopular and destructive” railway scheme and claims plans will see Euston Square Gardens built over with a temporary taxi rank before being sold to developers.
On 25 January, Avon and Somerset police arrested literary activist Ros Martin outside Bristol magistrates court for damage to the pavement by chalking and a breach of coronavirus (Covid-19) regulations. Martin has made a number of complaints to the police force for what she believes is “unlawful arrest, detention & discriminatory treatment”. Her case reflects widespread issues of police disregarding people’s health, using coronavirus regulations to clamp down on protest, and institutionalised racism in the Avon and Somerset police force.
Blatant disregard for safety during a pandemic
While taking her daily cycling exercise alone, Martin stopped outside Bristol magistrates court to chalk “let justice prevail” on the pavement to express solidarity with the ‘Colston four‘. Contrary to the force’s “misleading” online account, rather than follow recommended practice to engage, explain, and encourage those breaching lockdown regulations to disperse, police immediately arrested the literary activist.
Martin said:
I was alone at the time, there was no other protester, I had a mask on and socially distanced, wrote three words and was immediately arrested.
According to Martin – a 59-year-old Black woman who is immuno-suppressed and has an underlying health condition – police showed a disregard for her safety. They failed to carry out an adequate health risk assessment, and when Martin struggled due to arthritis, they roughly “hoisted” her into the police van. Martin felt the arrest put her in unnecessary danger of contracting the deadly virus.
Using coronavirus regulations to clamp down on peaceful protest
Martin believes her “heavy handed” arrest to be disproportionate to the alleged crimes of chalking the pavement and breaching coronavirus restrictions.
In her statement, Martin said:
I believe Avon and Somerset were using Covid regs to politically silence an individual creative dissenting voice and make an example of me.
We are facing a difficult battle to retain our civil liberties and right to protest under increasingly draconian COVID-19 emergency powers.
They added:
The police have a duty of care to engage with the public and explain the law, encourage them to change their behaviour and enforce as a last result only. It’s clear that Avon and Somerset police were disturbingly keen to flex their muscles… A trait that is becoming all too common with forces across the UK.
Indeed, Martin’s case is part of a worrying trend of British police using coronavirus regulations to clamp down on peaceful protest. In 2020, the Met police used coronavirus measures to intimidate Palestine Solidarity protesters. And the Network for Police Monitoring (Netpol) found that police failed to uphold their legal duty to facilitate the public’s right to protest during Black Lives Matter demonstrations. More broadly, we have seen a rise in police infringing ordinary people’s civil liberties following the introduction of new offences and increased police powers due to the pandemic.
Another case of discriminatory policing in Bristol
According to Martin, policing that day was “discriminatory and uneven”, with police arresting some protestors, warning others, detaining some, while allowing others to go home with a fixed penalty notice. Police detained Martin for four and a half hours. Meanwhile, they sent a visibly white woman home who was arrested for the same offences with criminal charges dropped.
Regarding her detention, Martin said:
I felt the prolonged detention by the custody officer wholly unnecessary, and indeed somewhat maliciously motivated, a waste of police time, resources and reduces public confidence when a penalty notice could have been issued in the street. I felt I was being treated like a criminal, put at unnecessary risk of Covid, and definitely compromising my health… I was never at any stage causing damage, public nuisance, obstruction or a risk.
Bristol Copwatch told The Canary:
We feel that the police were not at any point treating all protestors equally or fairly, and from what we can see, there is once again clear evidence of racial discrimination echoing through their ranks. This sadly is nothing new to Bristol, but for the police to so brazenly target a Black protestor is beyond the pale. We are seeing disproportionality rear its head once again with people of colour when it comes to Covid fines and the policing of our communities, and it’s clear that when it comes to political policing in the city PoC protestors are not treated equally in comparison to their white counterparts.
The group added:
This bears the hallmarks of those in positions of authority who clearly have an agenda that must be challenged and the officers responsible must, without a shadow of a doubt be held to account. We would like to ask the police why they relentlessly harass anyone who isn’t white. How can they claim to be tackling institutional racism when we see cops on the street routinely abuse their authority?
Institutional racism in Avon and Somerset police
The relationship between the police and Black communities in Bristol has a long, fraught history which is yet to be addressed on an institutional level. A 2019 freedom of information request revealed that although 160 allegations of racism have been lodged against the force since 2014, only 1% of outcomes were “upheld”.
In Bristol, as of 2019/20, police were 6.4 times more likely to use stop and search against Black people than white people, and conducted 38% more searches than the year before. Another report highlighted that police covering Bristol were 5 times more likely to use force against Black people than their white counterparts. In the midst of the pandemic, Black people in Bristol were 8 times more likely to be fined for breaching coronavirus lockdown rules.
These disgraceful statistics are reflected in people’s first-hand experiences, such as a Black man who caught police on camera carrying out an unnecessary stop and search. In 2017, Bianca Durrant won a court case against the force on the basis of racial discrimination. And Bristol police’s repeated targeting and tasering of then-64-year-old race relations adviser Ras Judah Adunbi demonstrates that even Black elders and community leaders aren’t safe from harm and humiliation at the hands of local police.
Time for change
Martin launched her complaint in the hope that police might learn of the “devastating impact of poor policing on a member of the public and to public confidence”. She told The Canary:
What I found most shocking at the time was how routine it all appeared.
Avon and Somerset police must be held to account. It is evident that the force needs more than training and greater diversity. It urgently needs a dramatic shift away from a toxic culture that discriminates against Bristol’s Black population and emboldens officers to abuse their power.
A spokesperson from Avon and Somerset police told The Canary:
We can confirm we’ve received a complaint relating to the arrest of a woman in Bristol on 25 January. Our Professional Standards Department are looking into the complaint and it wouldn’t be appropriate for us to comment further while these enquiries are ongoing.
International politicians say the bank, already under fire for backing China’s security law, could ‘gravely tarnish’ its reputation
An international group of senior politicians have written to the chairman of HSBC, Mark Tucker, urging him unfreeze bank accounts linked to a high-profile pro-democracy activist from Hong Kong.
More than 50 members of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China – including representatives from the UK, Canada, Australia, France, Germany and Switzerland – are calling for the immediate release of funds belonging to Ted Hui and his family, and a formal explanation of HSBC’s decision to freeze their accounts.
On 5 February, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) sent a letter to the nation’s financial institutions reminding them that the government has banned dealing in cryptocurrencies or facilitating payments for cryptocurrency exchanges. According to the letter, failure to comply will result in “severe regulatory sanctions”.
The ban comes after widespread youth-led protests against police brutality and bad governance. These protests were largely funded through cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin, after the government allegedly stopped local payment platforms collecting donations in a move to suppress protests. Young Nigerians took to Twitter to call out the government for further suppression.
Government suppression of the youth-led movement
The movement against the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) rose to prominence in October 2020. This was after young Nigerians mobilised against police brutality, intimidation and extortion, and bad governance. The government disbanded the notorious police unit in response. The unit had been accused of harassment, extrajudicial killings, and other human rights abuses. However, police brutality continued even after the unit’s end.
The Nigerian government continues to cover up the tragic Lekki Toll Gate massacre, in which security forces shot and killed at least 12 peaceful protesters on 20 October 2020. Following the deaths of at least 51 civilians during protests in October, president Muhammadu Buhari claimed the violence was a result of “hooliganism“. The government has banned protests. According to Amnesty International, many movement leaders have been “arrested, tortured and had their bank accounts frozen”, while others have been compelled to flee into exile. The government’s recent move to ban cryptocurrency looks like another thinly veiled attempt to suppress the youth-led mass movement.
Funding the movement
Young Nigerians took to Twitter, highlighting that the government used a similar tactic to block anti-SARS leaders receiving funds from across the diaspora in an attempt to suppress the movement. One Twitter user said:
Remember during #EndSARS protest, the nigerian government blocked us from receiving international transfers. Jack came to our aid with crypto, CBN felt like a cool and so #Buhari. Now, they think they can get back at us We can't be held back. Not again
According to another Twitter user, the government was supposed to allow anti-SARS movement leaders whose bank accounts had been frozen access to their accounts on 4 February:
By the way, the #EndSARS 20 bank accounts frozen by CBN 3 months ago were supposed to be unfreeze yesterday Feb 4th. Til this moment, our accounts are still frozen.
Many young Nigerians feel as though the government is looking to antagonise its politically active youth. And it’s trying to punish them for rising up against police brutality and bad governance. Even if this comes at the expense of the nation’s economy:
CBN Banned CRYPTO In Nigeria.. This shows that the government Is not fighting against corruption and poverty , it’s against youth being successful & liberated from poverty and Nigeria government is really looking for every ways to frustrate the youth since #EndSARS protest
One user expressed their frustration at a government which refuses to acknowledge the killing of peaceful protesters and has failed to improve prospects for young people in the country:
First of all no one is yet to be prosecuted by the gov for the death of innocent #EndSARS protesters
No reasonable job opportunity for graduated students (all man for himself)
Now they want to take away crypto currency from us??
Performing artist DJ Switch highlighted that this is yet another symptom of bad governance in Nigeria. She called leaders “poverty promoting dinosaurs”:
If the ban on crypto by CBN is true ehn, it points yet again to the ill informed, backward, poverty promoting dinosaurs leading us. Use your time to investigate and close accounts sponsoring terrorists in the country if you don't know what to do!!! GAWD #endsars
Others suggested that the cryptocurrency ban will provide another excuse for the country’s heavy-handed security forces to harass and persecute young Nigerians:
The Nigerian government has just legitimized a reason for security forces harassment/profiling.
• Finding any Crypto app or trading app on your phone.#EndSARS
Omojuwa highlighted the significant impact this policy is likely to have on Nigeria’s already struggling economy:
The biggest opportunity by far, for wealth creation for Nigeria and especially its young population, is embedded in the thinking, technology and innovation behind cryptocurrencies and its appurtenances. Someone is desperate to ensure this poverty lasts through this century! pic.twitter.com/7QpqCWtSTm
Meanwhile, activist Reno Omokri highlighted that though this will be blow to the economy, it won’t dampen the youth-led anti-SARS movement:
How can you shut down a money market like cryptocurrency, that brings in tens of millions of dollars into your economy at the time when you are in a recession, and need every penny you can get? @MBuhari cant stop another #EndSARS by making Nigerians even poorer#BuhariTormentor
Though the Nigerian government is unlikely to confirm the connection between the banning of cryptocurrency and the suppression of anti-SARS protests, this does look like an attack on Nigeria’s youth. And this move is highly unlikely to assuage young Nigerians’ dissatisfaction with, and resentment of, a corrupt, incompetent government.
Scores of students from the Papuan Student Association (IMP) in Medan, North Sumatra, have held a protest action this week in front of the North Sumatra University (USU) Rectorate Bureau Building protesting against alleged racism by a professor, reports CNN Indonesia.
During the action on Tuesday, the students demanded that the professorship of USU’s Yusuf Leonard Henuk be revoked, that he be expelled from the USU because he has tarnished the university’s good name, and that police investigate the case.
“We’re asking that Henuk be removed from his position as a USU professor. We also ask that he be prosecuted,” said action coordinator Yance Emany at the demonstration.
“On Twitter he likened Papuans to monkeys and said that Papuans were stupid. These kinds of cases cannot be allowed to be protected at USU or in Indonesia.”
Emany also threatened to hold protest actions with even more people if the USU authorities failed to follow up on their demands.
“End racism against Papuans. If there is no response we will come back with even more people. We ask for the Bapak [Mr] USU rector’s cooperation.
“We as Papuan students oppose racism. We ask that there no longer be any racism against the Papuan people,” he said.
Pledge to study student demands
USU rector Muryanto Amin took the opportunity to pledge that he would first study the student’s demands. He said they would gather evidence and summon Henuk – who currently works at the USU agricultural faculty – and ask for clarification.
“Later we will study the Papuan students’ demands and whether or not the person concerned committed an ethical violation. The person concerned is a lecturer at USU. Later we will summon him to then determine what steps will be undertaken,” he said.
Last month on January 2, Henuk posted a tweet on his Twitter account @ProfYLH about former National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) commissioner Natalius Pigai which smacked of racism.
Henuk uploaded a photograph of Pigai alongside a monkey looking at a mirror. The photograph was accompanied with the caption “Indeed, does Pigai have any capacity in this country”.
In another posting he tweeted: IT’S BEEN PROVEN THAT PAPUANS ARE INDEED STUPID, THE PROBLEM IS PAPUANS WHO ARE CONSIDERED SMART SUCH AS @NataliusPigai2 CAN BE DECEIVED BY THE DEVIL @VeronicaKoman. ALL PAPUAN ARE CONTROLLED BY THE DEVIL/DAEMONS SO THEY DAMAGE THE ENTIRE CHRISTIAN FAITH. WHERE IS THE ROLE OF THE PAPUAN CHURCH?”.
When sought separately for confirmation, Henuk denied that his posting was a form of racism.
For Henuk, it was a “satirical allusion” about Pigai who he believed was arrogant.
‘A satirical allusion’
Henuk said the public should focus on the mirror in the posting, not the photograph of the monkey placed alongside Pigai’s picture.
“It was a satirical allusion, an allusion that he should self-reflect. Why’s he [Pigai] so arrogant. I don’t agree with the way he hit out at Hendropriyono”, said Henuk when sought for confirmation by CNN Indonesia.
“In relation to my posting, that’s what’s called an illustration [the photograph of the monkey], a reflection that he should reflect, self-introspection. So I say if you don’t want to be attacked then don’t attack other people,” he added.
With regard to saying that Papuans are stupid, Henuk said the statement was directed at Papuans who supported pro-independence leader Benny Wanda and exiled Papuan human rights activist and lawyer Veronica Koman.
“It was just a satirical allusion, right. In saying stupid I meant Papuans who still support Koman and Wenda. Meaning they’re stupid. This country is already independent, but many Papuans still believe in Wenda and Koman,” he claimed.
“Many of my friends are church people, why doesn’t the church function to make Papuan people aware. Come on lets enjoy the independence that God has given us.
“I’m a person from eastern Indonesia, I’m envious of Papua, because Jokowi [President Joko Widodo] has built really good roads in Papua, but what have we got in East Nusa Tenggara?,” he claimed.
IndoLeft News notes:
Former State Intelligence Agency (BIN) chief retired general Abdullah Mahmud Hendropriyono recently called for the forced removal of some two million indigenous Papuans to the island of Manado in an apparent response to last year’s December 1 declaration by the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) of a West Papuan provisional government headed by ULMWP Chairperson Benny Wenda.
Scores of students from the Papuan Student Association (IMP) in Medan, North Sumatra, have held a protest action this week in front of the North Sumatra University (USU) Rectorate Bureau Building protesting against alleged racism by a professor, reports CNN Indonesia.
During the action on Tuesday, the students demanded that the professorship of USU’s Yusuf Leonard Henuk be revoked, that he be expelled from the USU because he has tarnished the university’s good name, and that police investigate the case.
“We’re asking that Henuk be removed from his position as a USU professor. We also ask that he be prosecuted,” said action coordinator Yance Emany at the demonstration.
“On Twitter he likened Papuans to monkeys and said that Papuans were stupid. These kinds of cases cannot be allowed to be protected at USU or in Indonesia.”
Emany also threatened to hold protest actions with even more people if the USU authorities failed to follow up on their demands.
“End racism against Papuans. If there is no response we will come back with even more people. We ask for the Bapak [Mr] USU rector’s cooperation.
“We as Papuan students oppose racism. We ask that there no longer be any racism against the Papuan people,” he said.
Pledge to study student demands
USU rector Muryanto Amin took the opportunity to pledge that he would first study the student’s demands. He said they would gather evidence and summon Henuk – who currently works at the USU agricultural faculty – and ask for clarification.
“Later we will study the Papuan students’ demands and whether or not the person concerned committed an ethical violation. The person concerned is a lecturer at USU. Later we will summon him to then determine what steps will be undertaken,” he said.
Last month on January 2, Henuk posted a tweet on his Twitter account @ProfYLH about former National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) commissioner Natalius Pigai which smacked of racism.
Henuk uploaded a photograph of Pigai alongside a monkey looking at a mirror. The photograph was accompanied with the caption “Indeed, does Pigai have any capacity in this country”.
In another posting he tweeted: IT’S BEEN PROVEN THAT PAPUANS ARE INDEED STUPID, THE PROBLEM IS PAPUANS WHO ARE CONSIDERED SMART SUCH AS @NataliusPigai2 CAN BE DECEIVED BY THE DEVIL @VeronicaKoman. ALL PAPUAN ARE CONTROLLED BY THE DEVIL/DAEMONS SO THEY DAMAGE THE ENTIRE CHRISTIAN FAITH. WHERE IS THE ROLE OF THE PAPUAN CHURCH?”.
When sought separately for confirmation, Henuk denied that his posting was a form of racism.
For Henuk, it was a “satirical allusion” about Pigai who he believed was arrogant.
‘A satirical allusion’
Henuk said the public should focus on the mirror in the posting, not the photograph of the monkey placed alongside Pigai’s picture.
“It was a satirical allusion, an allusion that he should self-reflect. Why’s he [Pigai] so arrogant. I don’t agree with the way he hit out at Hendropriyono”, said Henuk when sought for confirmation by CNN Indonesia.
“In relation to my posting, that’s what’s called an illustration [the photograph of the monkey], a reflection that he should reflect, self-introspection. So I say if you don’t want to be attacked then don’t attack other people,” he added.
With regard to saying that Papuans are stupid, Henuk said the statement was directed at Papuans who supported pro-independence leader Benny Wanda and exiled Papuan human rights activist and lawyer Veronica Koman.
“It was just a satirical allusion, right. In saying stupid I meant Papuans who still support Koman and Wenda. Meaning they’re stupid. This country is already independent, but many Papuans still believe in Wenda and Koman,” he claimed.
“Many of my friends are church people, why doesn’t the church function to make Papuan people aware. Come on lets enjoy the independence that God has given us.
“I’m a person from eastern Indonesia, I’m envious of Papua, because Jokowi [President Joko Widodo] has built really good roads in Papua, but what have we got in East Nusa Tenggara?,” he claimed.
IndoLeft News notes:
Former State Intelligence Agency (BIN) chief retired general Abdullah Mahmud Hendropriyono recently called for the forced removal of some two million indigenous Papuans to the island of Manado in an apparent response to last year’s December 1 declaration by the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) of a West Papuan provisional government headed by ULMWP Chairperson Benny Wenda.
Anti-HS2 protesters have come face-to-face with bailiffs in tunnels dug near Euston station in London, as efforts to evict them continue.
Dr Larch Maxey, who is among the group of activists who have spent more than a week beneath Euston Square Gardens, said bailiffs had begun “drilling” to remove another environmental campaigner from a “lock on” at the bottom of a down shaft.
Resistance continues
During an interview between a protester and the PA news agency on Thursday night, a bailiff could be heard informing another demonstrator called “Lazer” that they would attempt to get him out of the device by digging around it.
Maxey described the lock on as a metal “arm tube” that was buried in concrete in the ground.
Enforcement officers continue efforts to remove protesters (Yui Mok/PA)
During his statement, the bailiff said Lazer had been given safety goggles, masks, ear protection and offered him a fire blanket for dust.
“I’m going to give you about five minutes or so, just to digest what’s happening, if anybody tries to interfere with our works, we will push your arms away or whatever,” the bailiff said.
“So I’m asking you to just let us carry on with our work and do it under safe conditions for everybody.”
He also asked Lazer to inform him if he wanted to release himself voluntarily.
“I’m asking you not to interfere with what we’re doing under health and safety regulations,” the bailiff said, adding: “If you start fighting with us, there’s a possibility that someone could get harmed, so we need you to stay calm, and we need you to just let us do our job in the safe conditions.”
Maxey said bailiffs had dug a parallel “down shaft” over the past few days and connected this to the protester’s one.
Speaking a short time later, he said it was “the first time they’ve been working here at the bottom of the down shaft in close quarters with us”.
Maxey said bailiffs had paused in their efforts to remove Lazer from the lock on to put in place safety measures to remove water pooling around it.
“It’s being done safely so far, so we’re going to try and keep it that way,” he said.
Maxey said he was “concerned” for Lazer getting tired through the night, but would “keep an eye” on him.
The tunnels
Environmental campaigners have dug a network of tunnels beneath Euston Square Gardens in a bid to protect the green space which they claim will be built over with a temporary taxi rank before being sold to developers as part of plans for the high-speed railway.
HS2 Rebellion, an alliance of groups and individuals campaigning against HS2, has called on the government to scrap the “expensive, unpopular and destructive” scheme “before it is too late” and argued for a National Citizens Assembly to “lead the way out of the climate and ecological emergency”.
The protest group previously said there were nine activists in the tunnels, who include veteran environmental campaigner Swampy, real name Daniel Hooper, and his son Rory.
Support the protesters
Earlier this week, a High Court judge rejected a legal bid to halt efforts to evict them.
Justice Robin Knowles refused an application brought by Maxey for an injunction requiring HS2 and others to cease operations.
HS2 Ltd has said it has “legal possession” of the land and repeatedly urged protesters to leave “for their own safety” before they are removed by High Court enforcement officers.
A spokesman said: “After 72 hours Dr Maxey still hasn’t complied with the court judgment ordering him to provide information on the tunnels and occupants and, crucially, to exit the tunnel.
“HS2 continues to do all we can to end this illegal action quickly and safely.”
Meanwhile, environmental groups such as Extinction Rebellion are calling for people to support those in the tunnels:
Remember when Americans shook the earth with massive protests demanding an end to the police state and the entire liberal establishment just kept saying “I hear you, I agree with you” and then did absolutely nothing to even reduce police brutality? It’s important to remember such lessons.
People would ask me “Why are you supporting Black Lives Matter Caitlin?? Don’t you see all the corporations and corporate Dems support it? Why would they do that if it didn’t serve them?” This is why they did it. Empty words of support can defuse a situation far easier than open opposition.
Imagine if all the plutocrats, pundits and politicians had just yelled at the BLM protesters and admonished them to stop? It would have only turned people against them with far more aggression, and it would have exposed the fact that they are the enemy. It’s much more effective to say “I hear you, I agree with you” with no intention of taking any real action.
And really this is all institutions like the Democratic Party exist to do: defuse left populism and crush grassroots activism not with opposition, but with empty words of agreement that have no intention of action behind them. They’re just a bottomless pit that tricks people into pouring their energy into it, thereby stopping all leftward movement.
A kid who doesn’t want to clean their room will tell their parents “No! I don’t wanna!” A very clever kid who doesn’t want to clean their room will say “Yes! I’ll get on that right away” and then enjoy hours of peace and relaxation without parental nagging, and without cleaning. It’s the exact same way with the powerful. It’s much more efficacious for them to pretend to be on your side than expose the fact that they’re not. In the end the result is the same: the kid doesn’t clean their room. But they don’t get the kind of pushback they’d get if they said no.
Manipulators are good at manipulation. The people who make their way to the top in a corrupt system are manipulators. You can’t take their words at face value, mustn’t mistake vapid placation for victory. They’ll happily give you a mountain of words in exchange for your real treasure.
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They’re so used to manipulating Americans into believing narratives that wildly differ from reality they were like “We’ll tell them $1400 is $2000, they won’t notice.”
❖
The world would be greatly improved if Americans became far more powerful and their government/military/media became far less powerful.
❖
Yemen alone, just by itself, is a sufficient argument for the dismantling of the entire US-centralized power alliance.
❖
To be clear, Yemen isn’t some tragedy that we are passively witnessing. Civilians are being deliberately targeted and starved with the backing of the US, UK, Australia, Canada and France. Our governments are helping to inflict this horror upon innocents. And it may get worse.
❖
A world order which can create something as horrific as the atrocities in Yemen or the unforgivable Iraq invasion is not a world order that will lead the world in a good direction. The facts are in. The US-led world order must end.
❖
“You hate all US politicians Caitlin! You can’t name a single one you like!”
That’s like wanting me to pick a favorite Nazi leader. It’s a system which only elevates assholes who will cooperate with a machine that is fueled by human blood. You just don’t see how ugly it is yet.
❖
Anti-imperialism makes you look like a radical, because it makes you reject even the politicians who are considered “radical” in mainstream discourse since they are all imperialists. In reality there’s nothing radical about opposing the mass slaughter of innocents; it’s just being a normal human being. Basic human sanity is often painted as “radical” because most people have no understanding of how bat shit insane our current world order is.
❖
The surest way to get rich in media is to spread lies which serve the interests of the powerful. The surest way to get labeled a “grifter” is to do literally the exact opposite of this.
❖
It’s not enough to reject mainstream politics, we need to reject mainstream culture as well. The propagandists understand that politics is downstream from culture, so we should too. The culture manufacturers in New York and LA are not your friend; they are an extension of the empire.
We who oppose the empire must reject its manufactured culture with the same disgust with which we reject its political lackeys and news media. We must create our own culture to outshine the manufactured garbage they are shoving down everyone’s throats.
❖
If you want normal people to listen to an idea, you’ve got to make it easy to understand and you’ve got to make it interesting. No normal human being going about their life has any incentive to listen to you unless you do both of these things. The onus isn’t on them, it’s on you.
Telling people to read theory doesn’t work. How narcissistic would you have to be to think you can just tell some stranger to read Marx or Lenin or whatever and they’ll go “Well that complete rando ordered me to invest my scarce time and energy in this so I’d better do it”? No. This is our job.
Whenever I bring this up people say stuff like “It’s not a popularity contest Caitlin”. Yes it fucking is! You want your ideas to be more popular than the shitty, self-destructive, soul-crushing, world-destroying ideas which support the status quo. This won’t happen by itself.
It’s not enough to be right. You can’t save the world just by holding the right beliefs in your obscure corner of the information ecosystem. That’s like believing life will reward you if you’re a nice person on the inside. Share the ideas. Make them simple, make them interesting.
❖
One of the many advantages manipulators have over sincere people is that sincere people have no idea how very, very much better at manipulation a manipulator is than them, in the same way a chess newbie has no understanding of how many skill levels they are below a chess master.
This is why it’s so important for us to have the humility to know that we can be manipulated, and that we can be manipulated in ways we hadn’t even thought of. Ways we wouldn’t think of in a million years, because we are not that sort of creature.
❖
When you’re in an abusive relationship, leaving seems impossible. After you escape, you look back and see that most of the barriers to leaving which felt so real at the time were illusory mental constructs. Escaping our abusive relationship with our oppressors will be like that.
Freeing ourselves and creating a healthy world is not impossible. There are no solid walls preventing us from leaving the abusive relationship. The door’s not even locked. The only thing holding us in place is mental manipulation via mass media propaganda. It’s all in our head.
______________________________
Feature image via Wikimedia Commons.
Thanks for reading! The best way to get around the internet censors and make sure you see the stuff I publish is to subscribe to the mailing list for at my website or on Substack, which will get you an email notification for everything I publish. My work is entirely reader-supported, so if you enjoyed this piece please consider sharing it around, liking me on Facebook, following my antics on Twitter, or throwing some money into my tip jar on Patreon or Paypal. If you want to read more you can buy my new book Poems For Rebels (you can also download a PDF for five bucks) or my old bookWoke: A Field Guide for Utopia Preppers. For more info on who I am, where I stand, and what I’m trying to do with this platform, click here. Everyone, racist platforms excluded, has my permission to republish, use or translate any part of this work (or anything else I’ve written) in any way they like free of charge.
The UK government likes to brag about how we live in a democratic nation that “supports human rights, democracy and good governance around the world”. But its support for democracy doesn’t seem to stretch to upholding the rights of journalists.
In the past week, two journalists were arrested trying to go about their jobs, reporting on protests in different parts of the country.
Meanwhile, the UK continues to score badly in rankings for World Press Freedom. At 35th in the world, it lags behind much of Europe. And in September 2020, The Council of Europe issued a Level 2 “media freedom alert” after the government blacklisted journalists from Declassified UK.
Taken together, this paints a grim picture of press freedom in the UK. And it’s one that should worry us all.
Threatened with a Covid fine & then arrested
Denise Laura Baker was arrested on Saturday 30 January as she attempted to cover the police evictinganti-HS2 activists from their protest tower in Euston.
Baker is an accredited photo and video journalist who has been making a long-term documentary about the resistance to HS2’s high speed railway line. Police and National Eviction Team bailiffs began to evict activists on Wednesday 27 January, and Baker had been there daily documenting it.
She told The Canary that there were lots of police on the Saturday of her arrest. In Baker’s opinion, the police were trying to remove anyone that could witness and document the actions of police and bailiffs. Baker said:
I was approached by a female officer who told me to leave the area. I informed her that I was working legitimately and showed her my NUJ press card. She told me that it was not a recognised card and that it did not prove I was working. I informed her that I had been there since Wednesday with no issues. She called over colleagues who said they were going to issue me with a Covid fine. When asked for my details I refused and explained that in accepting the fine I would legitimise their accusation of me being unlawfully in the area and give them free rein to keep moving me on. I then walked away from them and continued working.
They followed me, insisting that they were issuing a fine and if I didn’t give my details they would arrest me, which is eventually what they did. They then cuffed me, put me in the police car and took me to Kentish Town station.
Baker continued:
It is my belief that they simply wanted me out of the way so there were less witnesses to their work on that day.
Journalists are classed as key workers in the coronavirus pandemic and Baker should, legally, have been allowed to carry on doing her job.
The second arrest of the week
But Baker wasn’t the first journalist finding herself in police cells last week. Freelance photographer Andy Aitchison was arrested on Thursday 28 January. The police came to his house more than six hours after he photographed a protest at Kent’s Napier Barracks, where hundreds of asylum seekers are currently being imprisoned. The police seized Aitchison’s mobile phone, as well as the memory card from his camera, and arrested him under suspicion of causing criminal damage.
Commenting on Aitchison’s arrest, Baker told The Canary:
Mine is the second recent incident where a reporter has been arrested while working. It’s extremely concerning that if a photographer or journalist appears to be on good terms with the activists, they are at risk of being targeted. These actions set a dangerous precedent.
Aitchison’s case is particularly concerning given the seizure of his phone and memory card. Journalists not only do not have to reveal their sources, but they are also obligated to protect them. As the NUJ states:
The NUJ ethical code of conduct stipulates that a journalist must protect the identity of sources who supply information in confidence and material gathered in the course of her or his work.
Normally if the police want to view a journalist’s footage for evidential purposes, they have to do it through the courts. In 2012, media organisations won a High Court battle against the police who wanted their footage of the eviction of Dale Farm. On winning the case, head of newsgathering at the BBCstated:
Journalists must maintain their independence, must not be seen as evidence gatherers and must not have their safety compromised.
Not isolated incidents
Unfortunately, these are not isolated incidents.
In 2019, The Canaryreported how the Metropolitan Police arrested freelance journalist Guy Smallman while covering an environmental protest. And in September 2019, journalists from The Canary were obstructed and assaulted while covering protests against the London arms fair.
At the end of 2020, the National Union of Journalists reminded the police to respect journalists’ roles as key workers after “hostility towards reporters and photographers” who were covering anti-lockdown protests.
The Canary contacted the Metropolitan Police for comment on Baker’s case. But it had not responded to the specific case at the time of publication and instead referred us to the guidance from National Police Chief’s Council.
UK press freedom is a “cause for concern”
Reporters Without Borders releases an annual World Press Freedom Index. It highlights that while the UK “champions” media freedom, the reality is different for reporters on the ground. The organisation argues that:
Despite the UK co-hosting a Global Conference for Media Freedom and assuming the role of co-chair of the new Media Freedom Coalition, the UK’s domestic press freedom record remained cause for concern throughout 2019.
And it pointed out that:
During the general election campaign, the Conservative Party threatened to review the BBC’s licence fee and Channel 4’s public service broadcasting licence if the party returned to government.
Reporters Without Borders has also highlighted how the current government has done its best to shut down the dissenting voices of what it calls “campaigning” media. In particular, it argues that government bodies have used:
heavy-handed responses to reporting on stories related to the Covid-19 pandemic.
It continues:
We are alarmed by the UK government’s dismissal of serious public interest reporting as ‘false’ and coming from ‘campaigning newspapers’. These Trumpian tactics are only serving to fuel hostility and public distrust in media.
While high-profile cases like that of Julian Assange fill newspaper headlines, many lesser-known journalists, whose work is absolutely vital in holding the government and corporations like HS2 to account, are also facing persecution. We should all be horrified at these attacks on press freedom.
Anti-HS2 campaigners are in “good” spirits after spending their fifth night holed up in tunnels under a central London park.
Protesters have dug a network of tunnels beneath Euston Square Gardens, next to Euston station, in a bid to protect the green space which they claim will be built over with a temporary taxi rank before being sold to developers as part of plans for the high-speed railway.
One activist, Larch Maxey, speaking to the PA news agency by phone on Monday, said conditions underground were “not too bad”.
He said: “Conditions are good. They are warm. They are a bit moist, there’s a little bit of water coming in, but it’s not too bad.”
“Our spirit is really good, we’re all working really well together and really grateful to take this stand.”
An HS2 Rebellion protester raises his fist after being removed from a tree at the encampment in Euston Square Gardens (Jonathan Brady/PA)
A spokesperson for HS2 Rebellion, an alliance of groups and individuals campaigning against the planned high speed railway, confirmed there were a total of nine activists in the tunnels.
They include veteran environmental campaigner Swampy, real name Daniel Hooper, and his son Rory.
Maxey, a former geography lecturer and post doctoral researcher, claimed ongoing efforts to evict the group from the site were “unlawful”.
He said: “This is our home, we’re in a Covid pandemic, they shouldn’t be carrying out an eviction.
“We’re in a climate and ecological emergency. We have a right to protest and stop that happening.
Enforcement officers continue efforts to remove protesters from underground tunnels (Dominic Lipinski/PA)
Maxey added: “it’s an unlawful eviction and it’s being carried out in an unlawful way because they are not following safety protocols and the due process, making sure it’s safe for everyone.”
He stated that the tunnels were “safe” but some changes by bailiffs “increases the risk to us”.
It is understood protesters are considering legal action over concerns for their safety.
An HS2 Ltd spokesperson said: “The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has reviewed the operations to safely remove the activists.
“They reviewed our safe system of work and the qualifications and competencies of the eviction team there.
“The HSE inspector made no immediate observations during the visit as to improvements we need to make and we continue to plan and work to safely remove the activists.
An HS2 Rebellion protester is arrested by police after being removed from a tree (Jonathan Brady/PA)
“HS2 Ltd and our contractors undertaking this operation have met frequently with the HSE and will continue to do so until this challenging situation is resolved.”
An HSE spokesperson said: “HSE is aware of the protest and is in liaison with HS2 in order to review any plans that would affect workers, protesters or rescue personnel.”
Maxey also said that protesters had been denied “all food and water” but still had supplies to last them “months”.
He said: “We’ve certainly been denied all food and water and often have not been able to pass on our waste either.
“It would be very good to have more to ensure we have healthy fresh food and water.”
No activists could be seen above ground on the protest site on Monday.
Demonstrators have blocked the entrance of a factory where they claim deadly arms are made.
Protesters from Palestine Action and Extinction Rebellion, armed with banners and red paint, said their early-morning raid on the Israeli-owned Elbit Ferranti factory in Oldham, Greater Manchester, is because they “will not accept an economy based on devastation, occupation and war”. A press release from the two groups stated that:
Activists from Palestine Action and Extinction Rebellion are occupying an Israeli-owned arms factory in Oldham, forcing the site to halt its production of deadly weapons. Several have blocked the entrance of the Elbit Ferranti factory by chaining the gates shut after storming the site in the early hours of Monday morning. Two have climbed onto a ledge on the front of the factory, pouring blood-red paint down the front and spray-painting the words “Shut Elbit Down”. As of yet no arrests have been made and activists continue to shut down the factory, preventing all access to the building.
The action marks the first time the two direct action groups have joined forces. The groups say the new union sends a strong message to Israel’s largest arms firm Elbit that resistance in the UK to its crimes against Palestinians is growing. Extinction Rebellion North and Palestine Action plan to escalate their direct action against Elbit until it is shut down for good.
The groups also condemn the British Government’s deepening relationship with Elbit Systems, which produces surveillance technology for Israel’s illegal Apartheid wall and 85% of the Israeli military’s drone fleet. The protest comes after the Ministry of Defence handed Elbit a £102 million contract for new “sensor to shoot” systems, earlier this month. Since 2018, the British government has bought £45m worth of military equipment from the arms firm, despite its role in aiding Israel’s war crimes and the occupation of the Palestinian people. Extinction Rebellion and Palestine Action demand the UK government to end its relationship with Elbit and complicity in Israeli apartheid.
They have chained the gates and two people have climbed on to a ledge on the front of the factory, where they have daubed red paint over the windows and sprayed the words “Shut Elbit Down”.
“Overlapping injustice”
A spokesperson for Extinction Rebellion stated:
“We stand resolutely against the apartheid and genocide of the Palestinian people, we will not accept an economy based on devastation, occupation and war. Our communities deserve and want a sustainable, fair and healthy future, for all people.
We recognise the overlapping injustice and exploitation that reinforce the struggles so many of us face. Whether it’s poverty wages, obscene inequality, the destruction of our living world, or racist oppression.
There is a great need to join our voices together, to lift and strengthen our movements for root and branch change.
We hope our collaboration with Palestine Action will help build a movement of movements, shut Elbit Systems down and be another step towards a better world.
Action is the first of its kind – but more will follow
And a member of Palestine Action commented:
The UK Government has profited from the colonisation of Palestine for over 100 years. Now, they’re allowing Elbit to manufacturer weapons here in the UK which have been “battle-tested” on Palestinian civilians.
Evidence of Israel’s war crimes, aided by Elbit’s deadly weaponry, has done nothing to stop the British Government from prioritising profits over people and the planet. The change must come from the people, to uphold human rights where our ‘leaders’ refuse to do so.
This action is the first of its kind, and the first of many more to come – ordinary people coming together to build a movement of movements. We will continue to take direct action until we shut Elbit down and end all complicity in systematic injustice.
Greater Manchester Police said officers are at the scene and have engaged with protesters.
Protesters block the entrance to Elbit Ferranti in Oldham (Peter Byrne/PA)
Resistance is growing
As The Canary has previously reported, activists have targeted Elbit on several occasions. But it is the first time the two direct action groups have joined forces.
The groups say the new union sends a strong message to Israel’s largest arms firm, Elbit, that resistance in the UK to its alleged actions against Palestinians is growing.
Extinction Rebellion North and Palestine Action have vowed to escalate their direct action against Elbit until it is shut down for good.
Protesters at the entrance to Elbit Ferranti (Peter Byrne/PA)
The protest comes weeks after the Ministry of Defence confirmed that Elbit had won a contract for new “sensor to shoot” systems.
The British Army has invested £102 million in a high-end surveillance system which allows frontline soldiers to detect and engage enemy targets in seconds.
After the deal was announced last month, defence procurement minister Jeremy Quin said: “This contract with Elbit Systems UK not only delivers the very latest in battlefield technology to our frontline soldiers, but also invests in the British defence industry, sustaining more than 500 jobs across the UK.”
The deal involves state-of-the-art thermal sight technology, so that a dismounted joint fires integrator (DJFI) can enhance soldiers’ ability to find and identify targets on the battlefield.
It then provides the crucial targeting information necessary to fire more quickly and accurately than ever before
A spokesperson for Elbit Systems UK said they will not be commenting on the situation.
The Black Lives Matter movement has been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. MP Petter Eide of Norway’s Socialist Left party nominated the movement for its contributions to raising awareness about racial justice issues across the globe. While the movement has been active since 2013, it regained momentum and worldwide recognition following the police killing of George Floyd in 2020.
The Black Lives Matter Twitter account acknowledged the nomination saying “We’re only getting started”:
We hold the largest social movement in global history. Today, we have been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. People are waking up to our global call: for racial justice and an end to economic injustice, environmental racism, and white supremacy. We're only getting started pic.twitter.com/xjestPNFzC
Thank you to all in our #BelovedCommunity who #DoTheWork. Thank you Creator & Ancestors for Divine guidance. May our work be an offering to our the Spirits of those on whose behalf we struggle. #BlackLivesMatter was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. https://t.co/XLPuE8Wfbx
Many people took to Twitter to express their happiness for the movement’s nomination:
Black Lives Matter movement nominated for 2021 Nobel peace prize Brilliant news that recognition is being given to BLM for galvanising global support for equality and fighting against increasing racism across the world #BlackLivesMatterhttps://t.co/v4pXzxn4JO
Others took the opportunity to highlight Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi, the three Black women who founded the movement in 2013, following the acquittal of George Zimmerman who shot and killed Trayvon Martin in 2012:
Nominating "Black Lives Matter" for the Nobel peace prize, is as silly as nominating "The entire state of Kansas," or "the whole industry of cabinet making."
The movement was started by 3 Black women. Nominate *them*.
Despite the harmful narrative pushed by reactionary right-wing commentators, 93% of Black Lives Matter demonstrations “involved no serious harm to people or property”. Some Twitter users reminded those opposing the movement’s nomination of the backlash against Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1964 Nobel Peace Prize win:
Yeah, the right was pissed when MLK won the Nobel Peace Prize too
MLK won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. Anyone who's angry BLM has been nominated for this year's Nobel Peace Prize doesn't know their history and is probably on the wrong side of it. pic.twitter.com/ZvyqHPriZW
Awarding the Peace Prize to Black Lives Matter, as the strongest global force against racial injustice, will send a powerful message that peace is founded on equality, solidarity and human rights, and that all countries must respect those basic principles.
Others nominated for the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize include WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and Khalsa Aid founder Ravinder Singh. Meanwhile, far-right Norwegian MP Christian Tybring-Gjedde nominated former US president Donald Trump. Only national politicians can submit nominations to the Norwegian Nobel Committee. Nominations close on 1 February, and prize winners will be announced in October.
What were you doing during the foreshore and seabed hīkoi in 2004?
I wish I could say I was at the protest, gripping the hem of Nana’s dress while she raised her fist in the air, marching for sovereignty, echoing the cries of our tīpuna who were fighting for the very same thing on the very same whenua all those years ago.
But this wasn’t the reality for me and for so many other urban Māori who grew up disconnected from our culture. I was living in Avondale, Auckland and watched the protest unfold on the news. Mum was still at work and I was eating noodles, my homework spread out on the dinner table.
Sir Pita Sharples leads the 2004 hikoi protesting against the foreshore and seabed legislation. Image: Newsroom/Getty Images
A sea of black and white flags flying in the air came on the TV. I remember a wave of emotion coming over me from seeing the crowds of brown faces who looked like me, who looked like my mum, my Nana.
I wish I could say it was a feeling of pride but it wasn’t. I felt whakamā – a word every Māori knows because it is an emotion that has been forced upon us to feel inherently bad for who we are.
The news coverage of the foreshore and seabed told me Māori were greedy, wanted special privileges, were angry over nothing and were trying to ban the public from beaches. It didn’t speak of Māori relationship to the land, the history of land confiscation, the fight for sovereignty or the issues that have come from colonisation and dispossession.
It was a narrative carefully formulated by the media for the intended target audience which was, you guessed it: Pākehā.
Misframing a story just one example
Weaponising activism through misframing a story is just one example. We were also sold a narrative that Māori are the criminals, the baby killers, the gang members, the underachievers, the prisoners, the drug and alcohol addicts.
What do you think this does to a person when you are constantly fed a false narrative of your identity? Your mana diminishes every time you switch on the news, open the newspaper, turn on the radio. Even worse, what happens when you are a child?
The media didn’t care how this narrative would impact me or the thousands of other Māori growing up in urban cities, unsure of who we were, no grandparents alive to teach us our identity, busy parents trying to push us into mainstream because that’s what they were told would be “best” for us and so we were forced to learn about who we are through the eyes of the media. And it wasn’t pretty.
Many years have passed since the foreshore and seabed hīkoi, yet in the year 2021 the same racism exists today, instigated by the same institutions that continue to push this same, tired narrative.
Joe Bloggs calls up a radio station well known to be racist to Māori and says “they’re (Māori) victims of their own genetic background. They are genetically predisposed to crime, alcohol, and underperformance educationally” – and the radio host who used to be the Mayor of Auckland doubles down and says something equally, if not more, racist.
This incident is not shocking to Māori, because we have heard this our whole lives. The question we should be asking ourselves is: How have we allowed the media to get away with this for so long? The continual, blatant attacks against Māori from this particular station have been among the biggest contributors to racism in this country.
A group of students hold the iconic photo of Dame Whina Cooper taken by Micheal Tubberty at the 1975 land march, the previous big hikoi. Image: Newsroom/Getty Images
There are many examples of racism from this network but I’m not about to dive into its racist history, because I’m tired. We. Are. Tired. Google the radio hosts, look at their Twitter feeds, turn on talkback at any time of the day and the same, racist rhetoric will be there.
Network needs to stop hiding
John Banks deserves criticism but the network needs to stop hiding behind the facade of this being an individual problem. There are many John Banks who come in different forms, some working in the media who get to say whatever they want under the guise of “free speech”. Even the Christchurch terrorist attacks, where a white supremacist murdered 51 people could only keep these people quiet for one week before the station went back to regular, racist programming.
So what happens now? I can predict what will happen because this is the same vicious, ugly cycle. The racist outburst goes viral, there is some outrage. Advertisers pull out, there’s a loss of revenue, the network apologises. The person is fired. Then it happens again the next day, the next week, the next month. It seems it is much more convenient to take out the individual rather than address the racist and colonial system that exists within our media and institutions.
It’s good to see the outpouring of support from Pākehā but we need more than empathy. We need action. You get to feel outraged for a day and then go home and forget about it and not think about it again. Māori can’t switch it off. We experience racism in our workplaces, in everyday life and we have to turn on the media and see it there too.
How many more racist outbursts do you need to hear before something is done? How many more articles do you need to read before there is change?
This isn’t a matter of opinion. This is about human rights.
Shilo Kino is a reporter and the author of her new book The Pōrangi Boy, released last month with Huia publishers. She writes about social issues, justice and identity. This article was first published by Newsroom and is republished on Asia Pacific Report with the author’s permission.
Twitter: @shilokino
What were you doing during the foreshore and seabed hīkoi in 2004?
I wish I could say I was at the protest, gripping the hem of Nana’s dress while she raised her fist in the air, marching for sovereignty, echoing the cries of our tīpuna who were fighting for the very same thing on the very same whenua all those years ago.
But this wasn’t the reality for me and for so many other urban Māori who grew up disconnected from our culture. I was living in Avondale, Auckland and watched the protest unfold on the news. Mum was still at work and I was eating noodles, my homework spread out on the dinner table.
Sir Pita Sharples leads the 2004 hikoi protesting against the foreshore and seabed legislation. Image: Newsroom/Getty Images
A sea of black and white flags flying in the air came on the TV. I remember a wave of emotion coming over me from seeing the crowds of brown faces who looked like me, who looked like my mum, my Nana.
I wish I could say it was a feeling of pride but it wasn’t. I felt whakamā – a word every Māori knows because it is an emotion that has been forced upon us to feel inherently bad for who we are.
The news coverage of the foreshore and seabed told me Māori were greedy, wanted special privileges, were angry over nothing and were trying to ban the public from beaches. It didn’t speak of Māori relationship to the land, the history of land confiscation, the fight for sovereignty or the issues that have come from colonisation and dispossession.
It was a narrative carefully formulated by the media for the intended target audience which was, you guessed it: Pākehā.
Misframing a story just one example
Weaponising activism through misframing a story is just one example. We were also sold a narrative that Māori are the criminals, the baby killers, the gang members, the underachievers, the prisoners, the drug and alcohol addicts.
What do you think this does to a person when you are constantly fed a false narrative of your identity? Your mana diminishes every time you switch on the news, open the newspaper, turn on the radio. Even worse, what happens when you are a child?
The media didn’t care how this narrative would impact me or the thousands of other Māori growing up in urban cities, unsure of who we were, no grandparents alive to teach us our identity, busy parents trying to push us into mainstream because that’s what they were told would be “best” for us and so we were forced to learn about who we are through the eyes of the media. And it wasn’t pretty.
Many years have passed since the foreshore and seabed hīkoi, yet in the year 2021 the same racism exists today, instigated by the same institutions that continue to push this same, tired narrative.
Joe Bloggs calls up a radio station well known to be racist to Māori and says “they’re (Māori) victims of their own genetic background. They are genetically predisposed to crime, alcohol, and underperformance educationally” – and the radio host who used to be the Mayor of Auckland doubles down and says something equally, if not more, racist.
This incident is not shocking to Māori, because we have heard this our whole lives. The question we should be asking ourselves is: How have we allowed the media to get away with this for so long? The continual, blatant attacks against Māori from this particular station have been among the biggest contributors to racism in this country.
A group of students hold the iconic photo of Dame Whina Cooper taken by Micheal Tubberty at the 1975 land march, the previous big hikoi. Image: Newsroom/Getty Images
There are many examples of racism from this network but I’m not about to dive into its racist history, because I’m tired. We. Are. Tired. Google the radio hosts, look at their Twitter feeds, turn on talkback at any time of the day and the same, racist rhetoric will be there.
Network needs to stop hiding
John Banks deserves criticism but the network needs to stop hiding behind the facade of this being an individual problem. There are many John Banks who come in different forms, some working in the media who get to say whatever they want under the guise of “free speech”. Even the Christchurch terrorist attacks, where a white supremacist murdered 51 people could only keep these people quiet for one week before the station went back to regular, racist programming.
So what happens now? I can predict what will happen because this is the same vicious, ugly cycle. The racist outburst goes viral, there is some outrage. Advertisers pull out, there’s a loss of revenue, the network apologises. The person is fired. Then it happens again the next day, the next week, the next month. It seems it is much more convenient to take out the individual rather than address the racist and colonial system that exists within our media and institutions.
It’s good to see the outpouring of support from Pākehā but we need more than empathy. We need action. You get to feel outraged for a day and then go home and forget about it and not think about it again. Māori can’t switch it off. We experience racism in our workplaces, in everyday life and we have to turn on the media and see it there too.
How many more racist outbursts do you need to hear before something is done? How many more articles do you need to read before there is change?
This isn’t a matter of opinion. This is about human rights.
Shilo Kino is a reporter and the author of her new book The Pōrangi Boy, released last month with Huia publishers. She writes about social issues, justice and identity. This article was first published by Newsroom and is republished on Asia Pacific Report with the author’s permission.
Twitter: @shilokino
The Stansted 15, who stopped a deportation flight taking off, have had their terrorism convictions overturned on appeal on 29 January.
The group were found guilty of a terrorism-related offence on 10 December 2018 after locking themselves together to prevent a chartered deportation flight taking off with people from Nigeria, Ghana and Sierra Leone aboard. 11 of the people due to be deported that day are still in the UK. The maximum sentence for the offence was life imprisonment.
On 28 March 2017, activists cut a hole in the perimeter fence and entered London Stansted Airport. One group locked themselves together using tubes. The other “erected a two-metre tripod from scaffolding poles behind the engine on the left wing of an aircraft”. A banner was displayed with the slogan “No-one is Illegal”.
Mel Evans, one of the defendants, described why she took action:
I want to go back to the really simple call for help that we heard and that we acted on. These were her words:
“My ex-husband said he knows I am being deported next week. He is waiting for me. He is planning to kill me. I don’t want to go on that plane. I can’t go. I am begging.”
It ‘dominated our lives’
Following the news, one of the defendants, May MacKeith, stated on behalf of the group:
It is painful for it to be finally acknowledged that the past four years’ of prosecution should never have happened. But for many people caught up in the UK immigration system the ordeal lasts much, much longer. In the middle of a global pandemic the government is still locking people in detention centres and brutally forcing people onto secret night flights, often to places they don’t know.
The nightmare of this bogus charge, a ten week trial and the threat of prison has dominated our lives for four years. Despite the draconian response we know our actions were justified. 11 people, including survivors of trafficking, who would have been deported that night are still in the UK. Mothers, fathers, colleagues, friends and family members are rebuilding lives the government attempted to destroy.
To help us move closer to something that truly represents justice we need to challenge the cruel and racist logic that builds prisons and borders. That means stopping all deportation charter flights, closing all detention centres and ending automatic deportation of people who have been convicted of a crime. It means migrants should have the right to welfare support and not to be forced to live in appalling conditions or forced into unnecessary and dangerous reporting. It means dismantling the Home Office and enabling free movement for all.
‘Vindicated’
The Network for Police Monitoring (Netpol) tweeted:
Huge congratulations to the #Stansted15 for their victory today! Convictions quashed, vindicated once again
Amnesty International also congratulated the group on Twitter:
BREAKING: We've just heard the news that the #Stansted15 convictions have been quashed.
This is a good day for justice. The #Stansted15 will take their place in the history books as human rights defenders who bravely brought injustices perpetrated by the state into the light. pic.twitter.com/H8yQGkGQNI
Meanwhile, head of criminal defence at Hodge Jones & Allen Solicitors, Raj Chada summed up the case:
It should be a matter of great shame to the CPS and the Attorney General, that terror related legislation was used against peaceful protestors. Both have questions to answer as to why they authorised such an unprecedented charge. The plain fact is that the British Cabinet Minster consented to this prosecution with wholly inappropriate terror related charges against those who oppose their Government’s flawed and unlawful immigration policies. Amnesty International adopted the 15 as human rights defenders, Liberty intervened in the case and even the UN, through their Special Rapporteurs, expressed concern, yet the case went forward. Even now, the State does not draw a line and concede that they will not take this matter further and they will drop any remaining charges. These defendants have been through enough. We should focus on the inhuman migrant policies that this Government continues to pursue, rather th[an] continued criminalisation of protest.
A group of Papuan students in front of the House of Representatives (DPR) building in Jakarta, who were planning to hold a protest action opposing the extension of Papuan Special Autonomy (Otsus), have been arrested and taken to the Metro Jaya regional police headquarters.
“Around 15 people were taken away and put into a police crowd control vehicle”, one of the participants, Ambrosius Mulait, told Tirto.
Mulait said he did not know the reason for the arrest yesterday because the group had not yet arrived at the rally location when the arrests took place.
Two days ago, said Mulait, the group sent a written notification of the action to police, but the police did not issue a permit for the demonstration.
He suspects that this was the reason for the arrest – as well as the pretext of Covid-19 health protocols which prohibit crowds from gathering.
Although they tried to negotiate with the police to be allowed to demonstrate, this did not succeed.
Mulait and the other participants who were not arrested are still being held in front of the parliament under police guard.
“How can Papuans convey their right to an opinion opposing Otsus, but are always silenced. Today we were silenced,” he said.
A similar incident occurred on 27 October 2020 when demonstrators near the Cenderawasih University in Jayapura, Papua, were dispersed and 13 were arrested.
Action coordinator Mani Iyaba said that based on directives issued by the Jayapura district police, “Any protesters can be beaten, trampled underfoot”.
Protesters campaigning against the HS2 rail development are continuing to dig tunnels in a central London park despite evictions taking place, fellow demonstrators have claimed.
At least four people are said to still be in the 100 foot network of tunnels that activists have dug under Euston Square Gardens as bailiffs attempt to clear the area.
HS2 Rebellion, an alliance of groups and individuals campaigning against the planned high-speed railway, claims the small green space outside Euston Station will be built over with a temporary taxi rank before being sold to developers.
A protester with a megaphone outside the encampment in Euston Square Gardens in central London (Aaron Chown/PA)
A spokesperson for HS2 Ltd said the company could not comment on the specifics of protesters’ activities as it is yet to take possession of the land, but that “illegal” actions could be a danger to people’s safety.
Bailiffs from the National Eviction Team began evicting protesters in the early hours of Wednesday morning and continued to take down the camp throughout the day.
But several activists remained in park, with some hiding in tents placed high-up in trees, while others sat on the roof of a make-shift wooden camp in the south-side of the site.
A spokesperson for the Euston Square Garden protection camp told the PA news agency that four people were still in the tunnel network and that the “plan was to keep digging”.
He said that there was “more than one tunnel” and that they were about 15 feet deep underground.
One protester from Hendon in north-west London, who gave his name as Al, claimed at least seven people were still underground.
Speaking from the roof of the makeshift camp, he told the PA news agency: “Activists right now, as we speak, are digging further passages, so it will take the National Enforcement (Eviction) Team longer to evict us.”
Enforcement officers used aerial platforms to dismantle the tents erected in the park’s trees, and had managed to coax three protesters down by 2pm.
Activist Martin Andryjankczyk said he had been carried out of the park by enforcement agents earlier in the day.
He said: “This is a HS2 rebellion protest camp, we are trying to protect those trees from HS2 and stop them from being cut down.
“They (the remaining demonstrators) aren’t going to give up that easily. This camp will take at least a week or two to evict.”
A protester, having been removed from a treetop camp, is led away from the encampment in Euston Square Gardens in central London (Aaron Chown/PA)
A community notification issued in December detailed the need to build an “interim” taxi rank on the east side of Euston Square Gardens to support the construction of a proposed HS2 station.
Construction work is due to begin this month and continue until December.
Tunnellers had worked “around the clock” using pickaxes, shovels and buckets to create the network, code-named Calvin, HS2 Rebellion said.
With the help of local residents, soil from digging has been used to “fortify the barricades” at the network’s entrance and insulate the “pallet fortress” to keep tunnellers warm as they sleep between shifts.
Tunnels are supported by wooden joists and thick boards to prevent collapse and inside there are stashes of food and water, protesters said.
HS2 Rebellion said an “illegal eviction” of the camp began shortly before 5am on Wednesday.
It said bailiffs from HS2’s private contractor, the National Eviction Team, “entered the camp under cover of darkness” and that “tree protectors” had entered the tunnels and were “prepared for a lengthy siege”.
The group previously said they believed they “can hold out in the tunnel for several weeks and hope in this time that a court will rule against HS2 for breaking the law by attempting an eviction without a court order and during the national coronavirus lockdown”.
The Metropolitan Police said officers were also at the site to prevent any breach of the peace but added any potential eviction would lie with the landowner.
One protester, Blue Sandford said: “I’m angry that the Government is still effectively ignoring this crisis despite declaring a climate and ecological emergency two years ago.
“I’m in this tunnel because they are irresponsibly putting my life at risk from the climate and ecological emergency.
“They are behaving in a way that is so reckless and unsafe that I don’t feel they are giving us any option but to protest in this way to help save our own lives and the lives of all the people round the world.”
Construction work started in September on phase one of HS2 from London to Birmingham.
British barrister was called ‘mercenary’ by UK foreign secretary for taking on case against pro-democracy figures
The British QC hired to run the prosecution of senior Hong Kong activists, including the media mogul Jimmy Lai, has pulled out of the case after widespread pressure, the territory’s government has said.
David Perry QC had been instructed by the Hong Kong justice department to prosecute 76-year-old Lai and eight others including the democracy figure Martin Lee and the veteran activist Lee Cheuk-yan. The group are charged with public order offences for organising and taking part in an unauthorised assembly. Lai, who is in jail on remand, is facing multiple separate charges including under the national security law.
Military Times‘ photo of a gallows erected on Capitol Hill by pro-Trump militants. (photo: Sarah Sicard)
This week on CounterSpin: As we recorded on January 7, the Washington Post was calling for Donald Trump’s removal from office. To which one might respond: Ya think? Media who egged on Trump’s candidacy, trivialized his venality and normalized as extreme-but-within-range his and his party’s every anti-democratic outrage, are poorly placed to take principled umbrage when that juggernaut takes the course that everyone and their mother said it would. Headlines suggesting the insurrection at the Capitol was the Trump era’s “last gasp” suggest a continued refusal to acknowledge the multiple factors that drove and abetted it, that go well beyond Trump and are going nowhere with Trump’s deposal, today or in two weeks’ time.
Some say the deferential police treatment of rampaging white nationalists who brought their own gallows, as opposed to the abuse that routinely meets nonviolent Black and brown protestors, betrays a double standard; our guest says no, it reflects the single standard of white supremacy. We talk about coverage of the January 6 attack on the Capitol with political scientist Dorothee Benz.
CounterSpin210108Benz.mp3”
Washington Postimage of police barricades at the Capitol. assaulting the Capitol.
And speaking of law enforcement: We’ll also hear briefly from activist/attorney Mara Verheyden-Hilliard of the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund. They’re demanding an investigation of federal and local police planning and response to yesterday’s events.
CounterSpin210108Verheyden-Hilliard.mp3”
Plus Janine Jackson takes a quick look at media coverage of Julian Assange’s extradition denial and Trump’s Blackwater pardons.
Military Times‘ photo of a gallows erected on Capitol Hill by pro-Trump militants. (photo: Sarah Sicard)
This week on CounterSpin: As we recorded on January 7, the Washington Post was calling for Donald Trump’s removal from office. To which one might respond: Ya think? Media who egged on Trump’s candidacy, trivialized his venality and normalized as extreme-but-within-range his and his party’s every anti-democratic outrage, are poorly placed to take principled umbrage when that juggernaut takes the course that everyone and their mother said it would. Headlines suggesting the insurrection at the Capitol was the Trump era’s “last gasp” suggest a continued refusal to acknowledge the multiple factors that drove and abetted it, that go well beyond Trump and are going nowhere with Trump’s deposal, today or in two weeks’ time.
Some say the deferential police treatment of rampaging white nationalists who brought their own gallows, as opposed to the abuse that routinely meets nonviolent Black and brown protestors, betrays a double standard; our guest says no, it reflects the single standard of white supremacy. We talk about coverage of the January 6 attack on the Capitol with political scientist Dorothee Benz.
CounterSpin210108Benz.mp3
Washington Postimage of police barricades at the Capitol. assaulting the Capitol.
And speaking of law enforcement: We’ll also hear briefly from activist/attorney Mara Verheyden-Hilliard of the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund. They’re demanding an investigation of federal and local police planning and response to yesterday’s events.
CounterSpin210108Verheyden-Hilliard.mp3
Plus Janine Jackson takes a quick look at media coverage of Julian Assange’s extradition denial and Trump’s Blackwater pardons.
CounterSpin210108Banter.mp3
This post was originally published on CounterSpin.
Madeline Nash, her husband, and her two children looked at moving to New Zealand after the 2016 presidential election.
Her eldest child was just about to start school and during the hour-long school tours they went on, 20 minutes were spent explaining the school’s shooter protocol.
They finally made the big move to Auckland from Austin, Texas, in 2018.
Although she is not surprised, she said what was happening in Washington, DC, was far worse than they had ever imagined.
“To actually see that people have taken it so far that they are willing basically, I would say to hop over the line to sedition and treason, they’re really just trying to tear down the country.”
Nash said partisan politics had become extremely polarising in the US but living in New Zealand was like being in an alternate reality.
“I’m glad that we have this ability to be here and our children are a bit sheltered from what’s going on, but as an adult it is very hard to be straddling both worlds right now.”
Supporters of President Donald Trump occupy the US Capitol building. Image: RNZ/AFP
US ‘in shambles’
Jade De La Paz is an American citizen who moved to Dunedin to complete her PhD at Otago University.
She has been feeling stressed and can’t take her eyes off the news.
“We just had this huge victory and now the whole country is falling apart, but there’s nothing I can do from here except for vote.
“You’re sitting here thinking my country is in shambles,” De La Paz said.
Katie Smith moved from Southern California to Auckland in 2017 with her New Zealand partner and is flabbergasted.
“I want to know what alternate reality these people live in.”
While Smith is a Democrat, much of her family are Republicans, but even they don’t agree with what is happening.
“It’s not about and it hasn’t been about politics for a very long time. it’s about being a decent human being.”
Smith said that everything that has been happening in the US has been affecting her mental health.
“I can’t see things getting better for the States any time soon.”
She said she is grateful to be living in Auckland here at the moment and wishes she could move her friends and family living in the US to New Zealand.
In the 2018 census more than 16,000 people living in New Zealand identified as American.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
The 16 protesters at Waikeria Prison have surrendered to authorities after a six-day stand-off.
The news that the men had ended the stand-off came in a statement from Māori Party co-leader Rawiri Waititi, who said he escorted the prisoners out about 12pm today.
Waititi said the prisoners were ready to come down.
“Naturally, they were tired and hungry but still very determined to see change.
“They have achieved what they set out to do when they embarked on bringing attention to their maltreatment in prison.”
Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis said the men received food and water and would soon be transported to other prisons around the country.
A plume of smoke could still be seen rising from the fire-damaged buildings at Waikeria Prison this morning.
The 16 inmates had been protesting at the prison since Tuesday, when several fires started.
Widespread destruction Corrections has said there had been widespread destruction of buildings and property, and the men had acted violently.
But the men had said they were protesting against unacceptable conditions at the prison, after complaints about inhumane treatment had not been listened to.
Supporters of the protesters outside Waikeria PrisonPhoto: RNZ/ Riley Kennedy
Davis said the protesters had done a lot of damage to the part of the prison they were in and it was now unusable.
The arson, violence and destruction carried out by the men were reckless criminal acts, and the responsibility for laying charges was with police, he said.
There were many legitimate avenues for prisoners to raise concerns about their conditions, Davis said.
Five of the men involved in the disorder are deportees from Australia, and three are subject to returning offender orders because of their criminal convictions.
At a press conference this afternoon, Davis said he was involved from the outset, but wanted to give professionals the space, time and resources to do their ob.
‘True hero’ negotiators He said the “true heroes” were the negotiators who spent six days at this site working with the prisoners.
Davis said he had noted before that he did not like the state of the upper part of the prison, but that did not excuse the actions of the protesting inmates.
He said he had “total confidence” all prisoners across the network were being looked after in accordance to the Corrections Act.
Department of Corrections chief executive Jeremey Lightfoot said there was “no excuse” for what the men did, and there were multiple ways for prisoners to complain, including to the Ombudsman.
“Let me be clear, there are many channels to complain,” he said.
Lightfoot said it was not appropriate to take this action as a way of complaining, and it was a criminal act.
He said he was proud of the collaboration between Corrections staff, police and other emergency colleagues, as it was a very complex matter in a dangerous area that took a lot of effort and planning to ensure it was resolved safely.
Prisoners’ supporters on site Several family members of the prisoners were outside the gates again today and were calling for a peaceful end to the protest.
One told RNZ that their cousin who was protesting did not care if he lived or died, because he was standing up for his rights.
She said he had become fed up with conditions in the jail, and was determined to stick it out.
“He was agitated, he was hungry, he was thirsty… but he said he’d stick it out… at least he knows he’s standing up for his rights and the rights of others who are going to be incarcerated in this prison.”
The woman said her cousin was only on remand for non-payment of fines and had a 6-month-old baby at home.
Corrections had said the men have been given opportunities to negotiate, and would not be given water unless they surrendered.
In a statement earlier this morning, Corrections said the situation remained “incredibly volatile”.
“The prisoners have continued to light fires within the facility overnight, make threats toward our staff and police and throw debris at them from the roof of the buildings.
“Our options for intervention are limited due to the dangers present.”
Waititi, who previously tried to negotiate with the prisoners at their request, had said an Ombudsman’s Report, published in August, supported the men’s claims about the conditions at the prison.
Amnesty International is calling on New Zealand’s Corrections Minister to ensure force is not used to end the impasse at Waikeria Prison – where 16 inmates are entering a sixth day of protest.
The human rights group said de-escalation techniques should be used to end the protest.
It said the protesters had already raised concerns about poor treatment, and the use of excessive force and withholding food and water would make things worse.
Sixteen inmates are now in their sixth day of a protest that began on Tuesday at the prison, near Te Awamutu.
Amnesty also wanted Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis to end what it described as “dehumanising practices” at Waikeria, and to launch an inquiry into the state of the country’s prison system.
Relatives of the men protesting have told RNZ the men are trying to raise awareness of conditions they describe as “inhumane’”, including brown drinking water, lack of toilet paper and clean bedding, and cramped overheated cells.
Significant damage But Department of Corrections Incident Controller Jeanette Burns said the men’s actions were violent, and they had caused significant damage to buildings and property, and were making weapons to use against staff.
Attempts to negotiate their surrender had been made, but had not resolved the situation, and water would only be provided to them on their surrender, she said.
However, a former inmate of Waikeria told RNZ he feared that once the current protest was put down, the long term problems at the jail would not be addressed.
Billy McFarlane now runs the Puwhakamua Programme for high-risk offenders in Rotorua.
He said unrest had been brewing over prison conditions around the country for some while, and something had to give.
But he was worried for the men involved.
‘Suffer the wrath of the system’ “They’re all going to get charged, they’re probably all going to end up in maximum security, they’re probably all not going to get paroled,” he said.
“They’re going to suffer the wrath of the system and then slowly this whole problem will probably go under the mat again.”
McFarlane said he remembered complaining about the same thing himself, in the 1980s.
He felt New Zealand prisons do not do enough to rehabilitate prisoners or reintegrate them back into society.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
As we start a new year, longtime CounterSpin listeners will know, werevisit a few of our weekly looks behind the headlines. We call it “the best of,” but it’s just a reflection of the sorts of conversations we hope have offered some voice or context or information that you might not have heard elsewhere, or that might help you assess the news you are hearing. We’re thankful toallof the activists, researchers, reporters and advocates who appear on the show to help us understand the world and how we can change it.
As we start a new year, longtime CounterSpin listeners will know, we revisit a few of our weekly looks behind the headlines. We call it “the best of,” but it’s just a reflection of the sorts of conversations we hope have offered some voice or context or information that you might not have heard elsewhere, or that might help you assess the news you are hearing. We’re thankful to all of the activists, researchers, reporters and advocates who appear on the show to help us understand the world and how we can change it.
The Best of CounterSpin 2020 includes excerpts from Janine Jackson’s conversations with Alex Lawson on Social Security, Chip Gibbons on protest, Greg Shupak on Qasem Soelimani’s assassination, Carol Anderson on voter suppression, Jim Naureckas on the pandemic, Alicia Bell on covering community, Maritiza Perez on drugs and police violence, and Ray Fuentes on the gig economy.
This post was originally published on CounterSpin.
Students among those who could face long sentences under sweeping lese-majesty law
Thailand’s authorities must stop targeting pro-democracy protesters with draconian legal action and instead enter into dialogue, according to the UN’s special rapporteur for freedom of assembly, who warned the country risks sliding into violence.
Clément Voule said he had written to the Thai government to express alarm at the use of the fierce lese-majesty law against dozens of protesters, including students as young as 16.
Parit Chiwarak, 22, also known as Penguin. He faces 12 lese-majesty charges, which could lead to up to 180 years in jail. These relate to protest speeches and an open letter written to king Maha Vajiralongkorn calling for reform of the monarchy.
Jatuporn Sae Ung, 24. She faces one charge, after she wore Thai traditional dress at a catwalk-themed protest, which was considered an attempt to parody the queen.
A 16-year-old protester. The teenager is facing one charge. They are accused of attending a protest wearing a crop top with the words: “My father’s name is Mana. Not Vajiralongkorn” written on their back. The king has been photographed wearing crop tops abroad.
Inthira Charoenpura, 40, also know as Sai, a prominent actor who has donated food to protesters. She faces one lese-majesty charge for allegedly mocking the king in a Facebook post which included the words “very brave”. The monarch recently praised as “very brave” a man who held up a royal portrait at an anti-establishment rally.
In what may be the largest protest movement in the nation’s history, millions of Americans have taken to the streets this year to protest racism and police brutality. In response, the federal government cracked down, filing charges against protesters in 31 states. We also learn how Austin, Texas, voted to slash its police budget.
Don’t miss out on the next big story. Get the Weekly Reveal newsletter today.
As Americans take to the streets, we hear from the person prosecuting the police officers charged in George Floyd’s killing. We also hear from protesters around the country and remember the history of policing in black communities.
Don’t miss out on the next big story. Get the Weekly Reveal newsletter today.
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Nominating "Black Lives Matter" for the Nobel peace prize, is as silly as nominating "The entire state of Kansas," or "the whole industry of cabinet making."
