Archive for November, 2011
Monday, November 21st, 2011
Leah Borromeo says the 2012 games in London could damage free expression in the United Kingdon
A series of Home Office proposals could ban protests during the London 2012 Olympic games. In reaction to the longevity and scale of recent Occupy London takeovers of public and private space at St Paul’s Cathedral, Finsbury Square and a former UBS bank, ministers are reported to be drafting legislation loosely based on part 3 of the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 – paying particular note to restricting tents and “sleeping equipment” for up to 90 days around exclusion zones. Police and “authorised officers” will be allowed to disperse protests quickly. Presumably with “reasonable force”.
Don’t be too shocked or too quick to compare this to Beijing 2008. Then, the Beijing Organising Committee banned all foreign visitors and non-Beijing-resident Chinese from attending, watching or applying for the right to demonstrate in authorised protest zones. Athens had protest zones in 2004. So did the Salt Lake City Winter Games in 2002.
The reasoning behind these restrictions is always to “preserve the festivity” of the Olympic experience. And security. Always security. In London’s case, security means Britain apparently waives its own rights and customs to allow America to oversee its own security operations, laying on 21,000 private security contractors and enforcing the London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Act 2006.
That allows police and “enforcement officers” the right of entry to private buildings suspected of contravening legislation on Olympic advertising. This includes: “advertising of a non-commercial nature” and “announcements or notices of any kind” paying particular attention to “the distribution or provision of documents or articles, the display or projection of words, images, lights or sounds, and things done with or in relation to material which has or may have purposes or uses other than as an advertisement”. In other words, protest.
Artist Peter Kennard, noted for overtly political art in a public context says: “The Secretary of State has regulations banning ‘advertising in the vicinity of the Olympics’. How big is a vicinity? Words fail me and because I make public art in the ‘vicinity’ of the Olympics it might be safer for me if both words and images continue to fail me until after the Olympics”.
A London swamped with police, security officers and spy drones might just dampen all the fun. Providing you sing along with the hymn sheet laid on by the Games’ sponsors and ignore the £9.3 billion price tag, you’ll be fine. But if you argue that a corporate agenda and exploitation is being sold under the auspices of uniting the world under sport and “generating jobs”, you might be in trouble.
The proposed legislation and the laws already in place only serve to secure the profits made by those with heavy financial stakes in the Olympic Games. These corporations read like an anti-capitalist wet dream: McDonalds, Coca-Cola, Dow, G4S, BP…. They may bring jobs to an area, but totally undermine the community-building that encourages grass roots businesses and the local relationships and interactions that stem from that.
It’s interesting to note that the Home Office sees protest as a threat. They’re not only worried about homegrown “domestic extremists” with a grudge against capitalism but international groups seeking to use the Olympics as a platform to air their grievances about authoritarian regimes around the world. Syria, China and Bahrain spring quickly to mind. So instead of giving an example of a functioning democracy where everyone gets a voice and can practise free speech, Britain hides dissent in an attic like it’s an invalid child.
The idea that ministers are considering bans on protest off the back of a global Occupy movement further legitimises the idea that these restrictions are directed at those who oppose one of the greatest and most murderous regimes of the world…capitalism.
So here we go. I hate the Olympics. Arrest me.
Monday, November 21st, 2011
MURDERED 21 NOVEMBER 2002
Ram Chander Chaterpatti, Editor, “Poora Sach” — New Delhi, India
Join us in demanding justice for Ram Chander Chaterpatti. Chaterpatti, 52, editor of the Hindi-language newspaper Poora Sach, died in a New Delhi hospital of injuries sustained in an assassination attempt made a month earlier. He was gunned down outside his home in Sirsa on 24 October 2002, allegedly by members of the religious sect Dera Sacha Sauda. Officials said that sect members are believed to have ordered Chaterpatti’s murder in reprisal for the journalist’s reporting on sexual abuse and other crimes allegedly committed at the group’s compound in Sirsa. Several journalists in the area said they had received death threats for reporting on the sect’s activities.
Police arrested three suspects, including the alleged gunman and a leader of Dera Sacha Sauda. But to this day, the case remains unsolved.
Take Action: Write a letter demanding justice for Ram Chander Chaterpatti
International Day to End Impunity is on 23 November. Until that date, we will reveal a story each day of a journalist, writer or free expression advocate who was killed in the line of duty.
Sunday, November 20th, 2011
Sanat newspaper editor
Rafiq Tagi was stabbed on 19 November in Baku. He was said to be in a stable condition after several hours of surgery. In 2007, Tagi was charged with inciting national, racial and religious enmity after he published an article about Islam’s impact on Azerbaijani development. He was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment and later
pardoned by President Aliev. At the time of the uproar over the article, Grand Ayatollah Fazel Lankarani placed a fatwa on Tagi and he received multiple death threats.
Sunday, November 20th, 2011
MURDERED 20 NOVEMBER 1992
Namik Taranci Reporter, “Gercek” — Diyarbakir, Turkey
Join us in demanding justice for Namik Taranci, who worked for the leftist weekly “Gercek”, was attacked and killed by at least two armed assailants on a Diyarbakir street on 20 November 1992. One attacker grabbed Taranci by the shoulder, shot him three times in the head, and continued firing after the journalist fell to the ground. Before his murder, Taranci reportedly received a death threat by telephone. “Gercek” had reported on the Shi’ite Muslim militant group Hezbollah, which was allegedly collaborating with Turkish security forces in their fight against the Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK).
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, 20 journalists have been killed in Turkey since 1992.
Take Action: Write a letter demanding justice for Namik Taranci
International Day to End Impunity is on 23 November. Until that date, we will reveal a story each day of a journalist, writer or free expression advocate who was killed in the line of duty.
Saturday, November 19th, 2011
MURDERED 19 NOVEMBER 1997
Eenadu-TV (E-TV) staff — Hyderabad, India
Raja Sekhar, assistant; Jagadish Babu, producer; Gangadhara Raju, cameraman; Srinivas Rao, assistant cameraman; S. Krishna, assistant cameraman
Join us in demanding justice for Eenadu-TV staff. On site to cover a film production, the E-TV crew were leaving the studio on 19 November 1997 when they were killed by a car bomb detonated near the entrance. The attack is believed to have targeted the film’s producer, Paritala Ravi, a former guerrilla leader who had become a state legislator. According to the International Federation of Journalists, the E-TV staff were “collateral damage” in a cycle of murders and vendettas involving powerful political factions and families in Ravi’s home district of Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh.
Soon after the blast, eight among the alleged suspects surrendered to local police. But the trial floundered and all were released on bail. In January 2005, Ravi himself was killed in an ambush – allegedly by the bombing conspirators. Since then, one suspect has been killed. Today no remaining suspects have been brought to justice.
Take Action: Write a letter demanding justice for Eenadu-TV Staff
International Day to End Impunity is on 23 November. Until that date, we will reveal a story each day of a journalist, writer or free expression advocate who was killed in the line of duty.
Friday, November 18th, 2011
As debates continue around the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), Cynthia M Wong argues that US policy makers must look more closely at whether the bill truly supports free expression
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Friday, November 18th, 2011
MURDERED 18 NOVEMBER 1998
Tara Singh Hayer, Publisher, “Indo-Canadian Times” — Canada
Join us in demanding justice for Tara Singh Hayer. Already paralysed from an assassination attempt 10 years earlier, Hayer was shot to death outside his home on 18 November 1998. A week before his death, he said ominously, “If they get me, they get me. There’s nothing I can do and I’m not going to stop my work.” Hayer’s murder appears to be connected to his investigation into the 1985 bombing of an Air India flight, which resulted in the deaths of all 329 passengers and crew. Hayer had made statements to police that would incriminate members of a militant Sikh separatist group.
Police were accused of failing to provide Hayer with adequate protection, mismanaging his case, and dismissing the possibility of a link between Hayer’s death and the bombing. Hayer’s case is the first and only case of a journalist murdered specifically for his work in Canada. It remains unsolved.
Take Action: Write a letter demanding justice for Tara Singh Hayer
International Day to End Impunity is on 23 November. Until that date, we will reveal a story each day of a journalist, writer or free expression advocate who was killed in the line of duty.
Thursday, November 17th, 2011
Hungary’s media regulations have created an atmosphere of tension among journalists. Mike Harris reports from Budapest
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