Signalfire

09.10.10

A Cuban anti-riot squad, previously unseen but surprisingly well-equipped and with fixed bayonets, quelled a Pakistani student protest in Matanzas, a video of the event shows.

“Our hand will not tremble in the face of violence,” one Cuban official warns the medical school protesters in the video, broadcast on the Maria Elvira Live program on MegaTV.

The official adds that it’s the second protest by the Pakistanis but gives no dates for either, and says 15 leaders of the latest manifestation were to be flown home immediately.

A statement by the Cuban Embassy in Pakistan on Thursday, after parts of the video were posted on the Internet, confirmed the protests but did not mention the students’ complaints of inadequate education and living conditions.

“Unfortunately, since the first months of 2007 and until now, grave violations of discipline have repeatedly been committed by a small group of students,” the statement said.

“Such violations of discipline have included, among others, disrespect for their professors, disregard to the Cuban authorities, failing to attend class, misbehavior, physical aggressions . . . along with acts of violence,” said the statement, published by the online Pakistan Observer.

The video shows scores of members of the anti-riot squad dressed in black and equipped well for a country where riots are extremely rare — with tear gas guns, riot batons, dogs, face shields and U.S.-styled helmets. Several had bayonets fixed on their AK assault rifles.

About five squad members are seen briefly pushing back a group of a few dozen students, some wearing skull caps. But the video did not show any signs of violence.

WELL PREPARED

It’s not clear if the unit, previously unseen in public, belonged to the police or military, but its deployment signaled that the government is well prepared for street disturbances.

“This is a super well-equipped unit, which we have never seen before but which showed that it was ready for something serious,” said Camilo Loret de Mola, who appeared on the Maria Elvira Salazar program that broadcast the video.

Loret de Mola said the video was received from a Cuban he declined to identify. The program broadcast segments on Wednesday and Thursday.

The protest took place at the Maximo Santiago Haza Medical School in Jagüey Grande, in Matanzas province, where nearly 1,000 Pakistanis have been studying on scholarships arranged after a devastating earthquake hit Pakistan in 2005.

Pakistani media reports indicate that it occurred sometime before March, and that at least five of the students were sent home.

The video, apparently taken on cellphones, shows the riot squad virtually surrounding the campus and posted on rooftops as the students are warned by Rolando Gómez, a foreign ministry official who helped set up the scholarship program.

FUTURE AT STAKE

“Think well about what’s at play here,” Gómez cautions them, because “today is the day that you decide if you want to be doctors or you want to go home.”

El Nuevo Herald phone calls to a number listed for the embassy went unanswered.

Under the scholarship program, about 400 Pakistani students arrived in Cuba in 2007 and another 600 arrived a year later. They were sent to the Matanzas school rather than the better known Latin American School for Medicine near Havana, which has about 30,000 students from 126 countries.

A letter purporting to speak for the 1,000 Pakistani students in Cuba, posted Sept. 17, 2009 on the website Overseas Pakistani Friends, detailed a slew of complaints against Cuban and Pakistani authorities.

“We are very much frustrated and feel our future on stake, as we do not even know whether our degree is valid or not” once they return to Pakistan, the letter notes.

While the scholarship program touted Cuba’s medical education as “world leading,” the letter added, the Matanzas school “by no definitions of the word can be called a world leading university.”

The converted Spanish-language school lacks facilities such as a “library, proper laboratory, no specimens (The dead bodies etc) are available for the dissection, and even the nearest hospital is far away from our school.

“How can one think of a medical school without any hospital attached?” the letter asked.

YANGON — Fears that the deaths of two young men shot in a quarrel with troops could spark unrest prompted Myanmar state media to insist Friday that the incident was “not a fight” between the army and the public.

As authorities try to avoid anti-government feeling ahead of the country’s first elections in two decades, the New Light of Myanmar said the violence that killed Soe Paing Zaw, 19, and Aung Thu Hein, 23, was “just a drunken brawl”.

The paper claimed there was a “plot” to use the incident to provoke riots in the country, adding people wanted to help the state “wipe out such elements provoking mass protests for political gains”.

“The government is now gearing up hand in hand with the people… (to take) action against those elements deceiving the people into taking to the streets with the intention of destroying State stability and peace,” it said.

Soe Paing Zaw and Aung Thu Hein, who were shot dead on Saturday night in Bago, north of Yangon, were hurriedly cremated in the town on Tuesday afternoon amid tight security, according to witnesses.

A memorial service at their homes in the town on Saturday is also expected to be heavily guarded as the junta tries to avoid unrest ahead of the November 7 vote — although there have not been any reported protests so far.

An unnamed Myanmar security officer said authorities would keep tight control over the situation as they “do not want any unrest ahead of the election”.

The pair were killed after a taxi they were travelling in with five others was hit by a motorcycle carrying two army officers, who had been drinking beer nearby.

According to the report, one officer ran away from the fight and came back with four security troops from Bago Railway Station, one of whom fired the fatal shots.

“In reality, it was just a drunken brawl in the street between some young soldiers and some young civilians, not a fight between the Tatmadaw and the public,” the paper said, using the term for Myanmar’s feared military.

“Such cases take place sometimes,” it added.

The report said that a lawsuit had been filed against the servicemen involved and stressed a “fine tradition” of punitive action being taken against offending soldiers.

It did not mention how many people would face the lawsuit, but soldiers who are to be prosecuted are thought likely to be dismissed from the army before facing criminal proceedings.

“Officers concerned called at the houses of the two victims to beg the pardon of their parents,” the paper said.

Myanmar, which has been ruled by the military since 1962, has seen sporadic eruptions of civil unrest over the years, but most have ended in a bloody victory for the junta.

The country has banned civilians from holding any weapons and strictly controls press and other freedoms to maintain an iron grip on power.

Upcoming elections — the first since democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi was denied power after her party’s landslide victory in the 1990 polls — have been criticised as a sham aimed at putting a civilian face on military rule.

10 September
Riot police are reported to be protecting the premises of Chitungwiza’s municipality from angry flea market vendors whose stalls were demolished in a clampdown that started last week. The heavily equipped riot squad was deployed Wednesday morning after a truckload of people, suspected to be the flea market vendors, drove by the offices chanting intimidating slogans aimed at the town clerk Godfrey Tanyanyiwa.
The vendors assaulted the Mayor and several senior council members soon after the demolitions last week Tuesday. It was feared that they were planning another attack and officials were moved to vacate the municipal buildings and send the workers home.
Personal bodyguards are reported to have been hired for the town clerk Tanyanyiwa after last week’s incident. This has further strained relations between top officials and municipal workers because the municipality is short of money and many workers are complaining that they have not been paid.
Simbarashe Moyo, chairperson of the Combined Harare Residents Association (CHRA), compared last week’s demolitions to “Operation Murambatsvina”, when nearly one million innocent Zimbabweans were displaced after the government bulldozed their homes and businesses back in 2005.
The Chitungwiza council said that the stalls had been erected at undesignated sites but Moyo explained: “These people were trying to find home grown solutions to the problem of unemployment, which is over 90%, without resorting to any illegal means. Their property was destroyed and they were left with no option.”
Moyo said the Chitungwiza council had set aside land for the purpose of establishing a flea market so that they could collect some revenue, but had not built anything there. “The vendors could not be expected to wait while their families starved. It was an organized response to a crisis. You can understand their anger,” he added.
Chitungwiza Mayor Philemon Chipiyo told the press on Wednesday that he had been out of the office and did not know enough about the current situation to comment. He is quoted as saying he “wouldn’t want to engage in gossip” and he referred reporters to the town clerk.

Tens of traders clashed with police in Nairobi’s Muthurwa Market after a dawn demolition of their kioks in the area.

The hawkers arrived on Friday morning to find their kiosks flattened by council Askaris who had staged the exercise past midnight on Thursday.

In anger, the traders blocked a section of Nairobi’s Landhies Road and stoned motorists before police arrived and dispersed them. This also affected businesses in and around the market.

Traffic flow on some roads was affected in the melee that ensued.

The team of anti-riot officers used several teargas canisters and live bullets to disperse the hawkers who claimed they had been left with no place to operate.

Council officials said the demolition was conducted to enable easy operations there. An official, Robert Keriago said several illegal structures had been erected within the market hence blocking operations.

Seek approval

“They do not seek the approval of the council before constructing the structures. They are all illegal,” he said on the phone.

Central deputy OCPD Tom Atuti said none had been injured in the operation adding they would not allow the hawkers to disrupt business there.

The demolition came as the Cabinet cleared the way for the demolition of old council houses to pave the way for the construction of low-cost modern units.

The Cabinet approved the ‘re-development’ of the old local authority estates in a move expected to provide more affordable housing units for sale and rental in various cities and towns.

It further approved the development of multi-storey parking facilities, a move expected to ease parking pressure and congestion in urban areas.

They also resolved to improve the manner in which solid waste is managed in the country as this will create opportunities for employment and energy generation.

In Nairobi, at least 25 estates have been earmarked for demolition.

Estates likely to be affected include Muthurwa, Shauri Moyo, Bahati, Mbotela, Ziwani, Makongeni and Jericho.

2010.09.08

Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck was heckled Wednesday night as he addressed an angry crowd that had gathered at a Westlake school for a community meeting in the aftermath of a deadly police shooting.

The crowd shouted: “Boo!” “Killers!” and “Assassins!” as Beck took the microphone at John H. Liechty Middle School.

“I hope we came here to have a discussion,” Beck said. “Please, let’s respect each other.”

Beck had to step away from the microphone as the heckling continued.

The meeting was conducted in Spanish and English in the heavily immigrant neighborhood, where officials were hoping to ease tensions after two days of violent protest following the shooting Sunday afternoon of Manuel Jamines, 37.

The LAPD said Jamines, a Guatemalan immigrant who worked as a day laborer, threatened passersby and three police officers with a knife and refused repeated commands in Spanish and English to drop the weapon. He was fatally shot by one of the officers near 6th Street and Union Avenue.

Councilman Ed Reyes, whose district includes Westlake, also addressed the crowd.

“We’re here trying to air our concerns in a peaceful manner,” he said.

Riot-clad Los Angeles police officers in patrol cars Wednesday night were playing a cat-and-mouse game with throngs of protesters along 6th Street in the third straight day of violent clashes following the deadly shooting of a Guatemalan immigrant who allegedly threatened officers and passersby by with a knife.

A few hundred people had gathered at Burlington Avenue and 6th in Westlake, where some hurled bottles at squad cars. Others shouted “Pig!” and profanities at officers as they got out of their vehicles, rifles in their hands.

At least one fire was lighted, but it was quickly extinguished.

Dozens of police cars, lights flashing and sirens wailing, chased after groups of protesters who were running along 6th, near the scene where Manuel Jamines, 37, was shot Sunday afternoon by an LAPD officer.

The LAPD earlier declared a modified tactical alert, holding over extra patrol officers.

LOS ANGELES — Demonstrators pelted police for a second night in a poor immigrant neighborhood following the fatal shooting of a Guatemalan day laborer who allegedly threatened people with a knife and then turned the weapon on a responding officer.

Officers fired at least two rounds of foam projectiles at demonstrators Tuesday night and 22 people were arrested, mainly for failure to disperse and unlawful assembly, Officer Karen Rayner said.

The disturbance erupted despite police Chief Charlie Beck’s pledge to conduct a full investigation into the Sunday afternoon shooting of Manuel Jamines, 37, in the Westlake district near MacArthur Park, a neighborhood packed with recent immigrants from Central America.

An estimated 300 protesters who gathered outside the local police station hurled eggs, rocks and bottles and set a trash bin on fire. Others dropped household items from apartment buildings.

“People were throwing televisions, air conditioning units, miscellaneous furniture and other objects from the windows,” Lt. Cory Palka said.

At least one officer and a Univision reporter were slightly injured by thrown or slingshot-propelled objects, police told City News Service. A man who fell off his bicycle suffered a head injury.

In Monday night’s violence, three officers were slightly injured by thrown objects and four people were arrested on suspicion of misdemeanor inciting a riot, Officer Bruce Borihanh said. Police said most of Monday’s trouble involved a group handing out revolutionary fliers.

In the wake of the protests, authorities scheduled a community meeting for Wednesday evening at a school.

Beck said the Jamines shooting occurred after someone flagged down three bicycle officers to tell them a man was threatening people with a knife.

The officers approached the suspect and told him in Spanish and English to put down the weapon. Instead, Jamines raised the knife above his head and lunged at Officer Frank Hernandez, a 13-year veteran of the department, Beck said.

Eyewitness accounts from six civilians, nine police personnel and two fire department staff indicate Hernandez fired twice “in immediate defense of life,” Beck said. Jamines died at the scene.

Investigators recovered a bloody, 6-inch knife at the scene but didn’t know where the blood came from.

“This was a very brief moment in time, just 40 seconds between first contact and the time of the shooting,” Beck said.

Beck said the timeline was based on preliminary interviews. He said the department’s Force Investigation Division will conduct a thorough, transparent probe.

The three officers involved in the shooting have been temporarily reassigned.

Jamines had a wife and three children — ages 13, 6 and 8 — in his hometown of Mazatenango, Guatemala, according to his cousin Juan Jaminez, 38. He came to the United States six years ago to find work and spent most of his time looking for jobs in a Home Depot parking lot near his home.

Jamines was drunk but not dangerous, his cousin and neighbors said.

“Killing a drunk isn’t right,” said Juan Jaminez, also a day laborer. He and others described Jamines as a friendly, hardworking man who liked to drink on the weekends but wasn’t violent.

“The officer who did this should be subject to discipline and a thorough investigation,” said Juan Flores, 39, a restaurant cook who knew Jamines.

Flores said the officers should have used a non-lethal weapon.

Beck said the officer involved in the shooting didn’t have a baton or stun gun. He said bicycle officers frequently do not carry the selection of non-lethal weapons found in patrol cars.

Juana Neri, 57, a Mexican immigrant housewife who lives nearby, pushed her grocery bag in a baby stroller past the corner where Jamines was killed.

“It’s bad, what the police did, but what’s worse is the silly stuff that people were doing here,” she said, referring to Monday’s violence. “We are not in our country, and with the problems that Hispanic immigrants have these days, it’s better not to cause problems.”

MacArthur Park was the site of a May 1, 2007, clash in which police pummeled immigration rights marchers and reporters with batons and shot rubber bullets into the crowd. Police cited significant command failures in the response to a confrontation with a group of “agitators” that triggered the sweep through the park, and a deputy chief at the scene quickly resigned after being demoted.

Police have raided buildings across Germany to search for evidence that the country’s largest neo-Nazi group is an “aggressive and combative” threat to democracy.

Senior interior ministry officials have confirmed that the sweep of 30 buildings is an investigation into whether the Aid Organisation for National Political Victims and their Relatives (HNG) should be banned.

“Today’s searches will show whether our suspicions are confirmed and the HNG is positioned against constitutional order in an aggressively violent manner,” Klaus-Dieter Fritsche , an interior minister said in Germany’s capital Berlin.

“Our findings bring us nearer to the suspicion that the HNG’s main goal is to network and strengthen the mainly fragmented neo-Nazi scene beyond trench warfare.”

The 600-strong far-right group is accused of keeping in contact with imprisoned Nazis to strengthen extremist ideology and “encourage them to commit further crimes”.

“Imprisoned comrades are not only kept within the group while in jail, but also encouraged to ‘fight on against the system’,” said Mr Fritsche.

In March 2009, the government banned a neo-Nazi organization, Heimattreue Deutsche Jugend, which sought to attract youths to an anti-Semitic and anti-immigrant ideology under the guise of activities such as summer camps and outings.

Police had uncovered swastikas, black-clad youngsters and extremist lyrics during a raid on one of the HDJ’s camping sites on the Baltic Sea coast of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania state.

Germany has grappled with the proliferation of anti- immigrant and extremist groups, underscored by regional state election victories of the far-right National Democratic Party of Germany.

Belarusian police have arrested six anarchist activists on suspicion of involvement in Monday’s fire-bomb attack on the Russian embassy in Minsk, BelaPAN reports.

Ihar Bahachak, Valery Khotsin, Syarhey Slyusar, Mikalay Dzyadok, Alyaksey Zhynhyarowski and Alyaksandr Frantskevich were arrested in a police raid on an apartment in Minsk at about 6 a.m. on September 3, reported the news site belarus.indymedia.org.

The police searched the apartment and seized five computers, two laptops, mobile phones, cash, posters and magazines, according to the site.

The six young men were taken to the interior ministry’s organized crime prevention department for interrogation and then placed in the detention center on Akrestsina Street.

The indymedia site described the arrested men as “civil society activists who participate in various social campaigns aimed at the protection of human rights and free access to information.”

Belarus’ law-enforcement agencies have released no official information on the arrest.

Under regulations, a person may be detained without being charged for 72 hours. A prosecutor has the right to extend the detention to 10 days.

Garment workers Wednesday blockaded highways demanding full payments of arrears, festival allowances, overtime bill and other financial benefits.

The fresh wave of protests in Manikganj and Gazipur signals the recurrence of violent unrest in the apparel industry ahead of Eid.

Police said thousands of workers of two garment factories in Manikganj and Gazipur blockaded Dhaka-Aricha and Dhaka-Tangail highways as authorities of the units are yet to settle workers’ wages, dues and bonuses.

The street violence temporarily disrupted vehicular movements on the highways, causing sufferings to the homebound passengers.

Officer-in-Charge of Manikganj police station Mohammad Azizul Haque said the demonstration took place in Giland area of Manikganj Sadar Upazila from 8:00am to 9:00am after blockading Dhaka-Aricha highway.

He said the workers of Monnu Apparels were dissatisfied as the authorities provided lower quality Iftar and food Monday and did not declare holiday on Wednesday. The protesting workers also demanded overtime bills.

A sub-inspector of Chakrabarty police station said workers of RK Homes Textile at Zirani of Gazipur put barricade on Dhaka-Tangail Highway in the morning demanding full payments of arrears, bonuses and overtime bills.

The protestors later withdrew their blockades after getting assurances from the factory management.

A labour group recently announced that they would cordon off houses of the manufacturers unless workers’ dues, wages, bonuses and overtime bill were met by Wednesday.

They also urged garment producers to meet their demand by the deadline, saying the workers would definitely resist the owners that wrongdoing at any costs.

“We’ll launch nationwide protest programme unless workers’ dues, wages, bonuses and overtime bills were provided before the eid. We’re now observing the overall situation in the sector,” said a union leader seeking anonymity.

Officials of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) and Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) said they had asked the owners to clear all dues, wages, festival allowances and overtime bills before eid.

“Due wages and allowances have already been paid in most factories following the order. I hope the other workers will be paid by a day,” a senior BGMEA official said.

27/08/2010

VietNamNet Bridge – Over 500 people from the three villages of An Lau 1, 2 and Bong Mieu in Phu Ninh district, the central province of Quang Nam surrounded and damaged the assets of the Bong Mieu Gold Company on August 25.

The attack originated from an incident that occurred on the evening of August 23. Duong Van Yen, 19, from An Lau 1 village, got into the company’s dumping ground to collect ore. Guards seized the boy and handed him over to sub-lieutenant Nguyen Duy Thanh, a local police officer who is in charge of guarding the gold company.

Thanh hurt the boy with an electric taser stick. The boy was brought to Quang Nam General Hospital for emergency aid. Hundreds of extremists used the case as a pretense to attack and rob five tons of ore from the Bong Mieu Gold Company.

Tran Van Dieu, a company guard, recalled: “At around 8pm on August 24, hundreds of people flocked to our company. They attacked a guard and destroyed the company’s assets with stones and bricks. Some cut barbed wire fences to break into the compound and steal ore.”

The gold company urgently called Quang Nam authorities for help. At 2am on August 25, the local security forces were finally able to dismiss the crowd.

Quang Nam police officials visited the site to investigate on the morning of August 25. Colonel Pham Truong Dan, deputy director of Quang Nam Police Agency, said that this case was very serious. Looters robbed a total of five tons of ore and 1 kilo of gold. Many assets, such as five cars, cameras, glass windows, tables and chairs were also damaged. Total losses are thought to be billions of dong (millions of US dollars).

Quang Nam authorities and Bong Mieu Gold Company met with local people the same day. People strongly objected to the extremists who robbed ore and other assets from the gold company. They asked that these “robbers” be seriously punished. Local people also asked police to prosecute the police officer who hit the boy named Yen.

September 06, 2010

Buol, Central Sulawesi. New evidence of alleged human rights abuses by Indonesian security forces in Buol, Central Sulawesi, has emerged.

Amnesty International has called for the government to establish a fact-finding team after police officers opened fire on protesters, killing eight and injuring 28 others.

The demonstrators were protesting against the death of motorcycle taxi driver Kasmir Timumun police custody. Police claim he hung himself though this is disputed by the man’s family, who allege Kasmir’s body bore the marks of torture.

State news agency Antara reported on Monday that three shooting victims — Lubis, 33, who suffered a gunshot wound to his right elbow; Sudirman, 31, who was injured in his left thigh; and Sutomo, 35, who was wounded in his left cheek — had returned to Buol Hospital for treatment to their injuries.

Sudirman said police had been forced to leave the hospital where he was undergoing treatment to his injuries on Sept. 2 and had witnessed officers threatening other patients with their guns.

“I was traumatized and therefore I ran away and went home,” said Sudirman, from Leok Dua.

He said that he had returned home for two days but his condition continued to deteriorate so he had decided to return to the hospital.

Lubis, a farmer, told a similar story, saying he had seen several people running out of the hospital as several police officers went on a rampage inside.

“I was traumatized,” Lubis said.

Sudirman and Lubis said that they were shot riding motorcycles on the edges of the clash between Buol residents and police.

Ugandan police

Four police officers have been detained over the shooting of striking tobacco workers, which left two people dead and several others injured.

The dead have been identified as Dennis Bazara and Benard Byabasaija. Ms Sylivia Kabasuinguzi, who was seriously injured in the incident, has been admitted to Hoima Referral Hospital.

Investigations
The Mid-western Regional Police Commander, Mr Marcelino Wanitho, told journalists that investigations have revealed that the guns of two of the arrested police officers were used to fire live bullets during the strike.
The British American Tobacco Company Workers on Tuesday staged a sit-down -strike, protesting the delay by the company to pay their August salary.

Strike stopped
Anti-riot police rushed to the BAT office located in Kabati, a suburb of Hoima Town and fired in the air and used tear gas to disperse the workers who had been joined by disgruntled farmers. The latter were reportedly protesting the delay by the firm to pay for their tobacco.Mr Wanitho said the officer commanding the riot police and the officer in charge of Hoima Police Station, who were at the scene, will be charged with negligence of duty by the police disciplinary committee.

“They failed to effectively command the police which went to the scene and ended up shooting unnecessarily at innocent civilians,” Mr Wanitho said, adding that the police officers who fired the live bullets would be charged with murder.

Mr Wanitho apologised to the public and the bereaved families over the incident.
“It is regrettable, unfortunate and police is sorry about the shooting,” Mr Wanitho said.
“The IGP (Gen Kale Kayihura) has appointed a team from the police headquarters which will team up with our detectives here to investigate this incident,” Mr Wanitho said.

Victim speaks
“I saw a police official aiming a gun at me as I was running out of the factory. He shot me. I fell down and started bleeding on my right leg. I realised I was shot. I am in deep pain. I pray I survive,” Ms Kabasinguzi said at Hoima Hospital.

September 9

A security guard at a city petrol station is fighting for his life in hospital after being assaulted during the motor industry strike in Cape Town.

The 31-year-old suffered serious head injuries and multiple skull fractures in the attack with a brick, and is in a critical condition at the Netcare Kuils River Hospital.

He had surgery yesterday afternoon and was back in the ward by early evening.

Netcare 911 emergency medical services’ Lauren Copley said it was believed a group of striking protesters at a Brackenfell garage assaulted the security guard with a brick.

It is unclear, however, who was behind the violence.

Colleagues took the “seriously injured” guard to a nearby MediCross hospital.

Netcare 911 paramedics were dispatched and transported the guard to hospital.

When the Cape Times contacted the hospital yesterday, his girlfriend had just left after visiting him.

His family refused to speak to the media and had asked hospital staff not to release his name, allow photographs to be taken or their contact details to be released.

National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) organiser in the Western Cape Mohammed Ismail said it was not clear who had been behind the violence. It could not be confirmed whether it was Numsa members.

“It got chaotic here (at the regional officers where strikers convened). A number of people arrived who are not Numsa members and it got too volatile,” Ismail said.

Police spokesman Andre Traut said last night no one had yet been arrested and police would investigate a case of attempted murder.

There had been no other serious injuries reported to the police, Traut said.

A mass Numsa meeting is scheduled for today so members can discuss what has happened during the strike so far and whether they will accept an offered wage increase of 10 percent this year, 9 percent next year and 9 percent in 2012.

They want a 15 percent increase.

Several city petrol stations were forced to close temporarily as a mob of about 60, claiming to be striking motor industry workers, attacked and threatened non-striking workers and motorists trying to fill their tanks in Kraaifontein. They have threatened to continue their action today.

The group then boarded a train and headed to Brackenfell. When the Cape Times arrived in Brackenfell, members of the group, carrying whips and sticks and clutching chunks of brick, ran from the station towards a Shell garage.

There they attacked a worker before leaving her and running to a parking area opposite the garage. A group started whipping a car, then turned on another woman, jostling her. The mob ran towards an Engen garage but police cars sped up and blocked them off before they could get there.

Two men threatened the Cape Times photographer and a woman threw a piece of brick at this reporter, shouting that the reporter may not take notes nor the photographer photograph the mob’s actions.

A few people also shouted and swore at police officers telling them to “get out our way”. Scared petrol attendants and workers were rushed into a shop under police guard.

“No one is supposed to work. Everyone must get involved in the strike. Come here, come here or you’ll see,” a man, carrying a long stick, shouted.

The group ran to a nearby Total garage where they threw rocks at workers, whipped and kicked petrol pumps and smashed the window of a From Page 1

motorist’s bakkie. Tom Knoetzen, the owner of the bakkie, stood trembling as the mob moved on. “Look what they’ve done. Look at this,” he said. Another motorist tried to get petrol but the workers, huddled in a shop, indicated that she should leave.

The group, surrounded by police cars and officers carrying weapons, moved to the station where they boarded a train to Bellville.

In Bellville a group of about 1 000 striking Numsa members marched to Numsa’s regional office in Voortrekker Road, monitored by scores of police officers as a police helicopter hovered above.

The group had planned to picket outside petrol stations and car retailers, but this had to be called off as the situation began to spiral out of control.

A police officer urged Numsa marshals, who were to have surrounded the picketers, to report anyone intimidating petrol attendants. The BP in Voortrekker Road was empty and a sign read: “Closed due to strike. Sorry for inconvenience.”

Ismail said Numsa negotiators were trying to break the deadlock. Besides the 15 percent wage increase, workers want a 4.3 percent increase in bonuses, the outlawing of labour brokers and double pay for weekend work.

9 September

Garment workers planning the biggest strike in recent Cambodian history next week will not face government inference provided they obey the law, a government spokesman said Thursday.

The planned week-long, nation-wide work stoppage by an estimated tens of thousands of garment workers is set to commence on Monday unless industry captains succumb to demands for a US$43 dollar wage rise.

Khieu Sopheak, spokesman for the Ministry of Interior, said Thursday the workers were within their rights to strike and pledged not to intervene provided they followed government protocol and refrained from breaking the law.

“We will not deploy authorities or police at the factory if they follow the law but we will take action if they break the law by making violence or destroying the factory’s property,” he said.

It is not clear exactly how many workers plan to join the strike organised by the Cambodian Labor Confederation, which says it has collected over 80,000 thumbprints in support of the strike.

Students from different political affiliations are staging a huge protest at one of India’s top universities.

They are angry over plans at Jadavpur University – renowned for its engineering and science faculties – to install a closed-circuit TV network.

The students have started a “gherao” (encirclement) of the office of the university’s vice-chancellor, registrar and some senior officials.

They have been confined to their offices for more than 24 hours.

“This is a clear infringement of our freedoms. We are not terrorists,” said Lokeswari Dasgupta, of the United Students Democratic Forum, which is leading the protests at the Calcutta university.

University authorities do not admit publicly that Maoist activities in the Jadavpur campus is the cause for planning a CCTV network.

But unofficially they say that a recent press conference held by a Maoist leader in the university premises – at a time when the police was trying to arrest her – may have provoked the authorities to improve the security arrangements.

Maoist leader Debolina Ghosh was a former student at Jadavpur University and she dared the police to arrest her in the university during the press conference.

But the students say the funds to be spent on the 16 proposed CCTVs in the Jadavpur campus are a “complete waste”.

“Why should they spend two million rupees ($42,991) on CCTVs when we get terrible food in hostels, have serious problems in getting drinking water and are not provided wi-fi internet connection in the campus?,” asked Palash Ghosh, the general secretary of the engineering department of the university.

University Vice-chancellor Pradip Ghosh is unwilling to back down, despite being confined to his office for a day.

“The students are unnecessarily agitated over an issue which does not fall within their jurisdiction. CCTVs are absolutely essential for the security of the campus and in a month they will be installed at the gates and other strategic locations,” he said.

The students are also protesting against a code of conduct that the university authorities is seeking to impose.

Among other points, the code makes it obligatory for students to show their identity cards at the gates while entering the campus – and for visitors to leave the university premises by 9pm.

Jadavpur University has been a hotbed of left wing radical activity since Maoism first took roots in West Bengal in the 1970s.

But despite its radical traditions, it has been acknowledged as a “centre of excellence” and is closely linked to India’s nuclear programme.

Sep 07, 2010
SUNBURY — The inmate hunger strike inside the Northumberland County Prison has ended after a few days.

It’s not certain exactly how long state inmate James Freeman, 29, refused to eat to protest unsanitary conditions inside the Sunbury jail, including an outbreak of the medically resistant staph infection, MRSA.

There are four confirmed cases of MRSA, or methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, prison board Chairman Frank Sawicki said Tuesday, though it’s not known if any of the inmates were infected while being held in the jail.

“It happens in prisons all over,” Sawicki said.

While it’s the responsibility of the county to provide safe and secure housing for inmates, he added that some problems could be caused by the inmates themselves.

Warden Roy Johnson said he was told on Thursday that Freeman and another state inmate were holding a hunger strike.

Freeman’s girlfriend, Denise Stefanyszyn, of Beaver County, said he informed her on Aug. 28 that he and a fellow prisoner were refusing to eat. She hadn’t been in touch with him since last week and didn’t know the status.

The second inmate dropped out of the protest early on, and Freeman began accepting meals in his cell by the weekend, Sawicki said. He couldn’t be more specific since Johnson was out of the office.

Sawicki said prison officials believe the protesters initially were eating food they’d purchased at the commissary, so that was cut off to them.

“I’m running a prison here, not a resort,” he quipped.

Asked whether he was looking into the inmates’ concerns about conditions inside the 135-year-old facility on North Second Street, Sawicki said he was not aware of cockroaches or broken windows.

“If you end up sprinkling potato chips all over your cell, you may get visitors,” Sawicki said.

SUKKUR: Hundreds of flood survivors, furious over a delay in the government’s Eid grant of Rs20,000 vented their anger by damaging shops, offices and vehicles during a violent protest on Minara Road and other areas on Wednesday.

“We have lost everything… our houses, cattle and land. Now, we are forced to live in relief camps,” said Khuda Bux Ogahi, one of the protesters. “We are getting food, water, medicine and clothes in the camps, but we still haven’t received the Eid grant, which was announced by the government.”

The protesters, mostly from the relief camps at Government Modern High School, Government Islamia Arts College and Commerce College, stormed the streets carrying sticks and stones.

The mob broke the windows of many shops in the area and damaged several cars and motorcycles. They attacked the PIA booking office and pelted stones at the Sukkur Electric Power Company office. Tyres were set ablaze at Stadium Roundabout, City Point, Military Road and other places, as the traffic between Sukkur and Rohri came to a halt.

The protesters also assaulted and injured shopkeepers, policemen as well as reporters, who were covering the event.

Many shops at the city’s main commercial centres such as Shahi Bazaar, Sarafa Bazaar, Ghanta Ghar Roundabout were attacked, forcing traders to shut down their businesses, while there were also reports that some shops were robbed.

Chanting slogans against the government, the protesters were headed towards the Clock Tower Roundabout, but Sukkur DSP Rizwan Soomro reached the spot and managed to convince them to end their protest after assuring them that the issue of the Eid grant would taken up with the authorities concerned.

“Our children are asking us for money and we don’t have any,” complained another protester, Gulzar Malgani. “I have come from Ghouspur after losing all my belongings and the government had promised to give us Rs20,000 before Eid. If it (the government) cannot keep its promise, it shouldn’t make such announcements.”

Sukkur DSP Rizwan Soomro told The Express Tribune that the flood survivors shouldn’t have taken the law into their hands. “I don’t know about the government making an announcement about the Eid grant, but even if it has, such violent protests would not be tolerated,” he said, adding, “We have decided to beef up security around the relief camps. At least one mobile unit from the police and Rangers would be deployed outside every camp to make sure the survivors won’t resort to vandalism again.”

Traders concerned

Traders said they were worried about the violent behaviour of the survivors. Furniture traders Mohammad Hafeez, Karam Ellahi, Haji Mohammad Sharif and others told The Express Tribune that they were providing food, clothes and other necessary items to the survivors, but in return, they were attacking their shops and causing them losses.

“These people will create a law and order situation soon and therefore we demand the administration shift them to the outskirts of the city,” they said.

2nd Upstate NY Mosque Painted With Racial Slur
Hudson, N.Y. (AP) – Authorities in a Hudson Valley city say they’re treating the spray painting of a racial slur on a wall of a mosque as a hate crime.

Police believe the graffiti appeared on an outside wall of the Hudson Islamic Center early Wednesday morning. During a news conference held outside the building later Wednesday, Chief Ellis Richardson said police had no solid leads in the case.

Abdus Miah, a city alderman who is Muslim, tells the Register-Star of Hudson that more than 100 people worship at 13-year-old mosque, located 110 miles north of New York City, where plans to build an Islamic center and mosque near ground zero has stirred a national debate.

Other apparent anti-Muslim incidents under investigation include last month’s disruption of services at a mosque in Waterport on Lake Ontario.

Phoenix mosque vandalism being investigated by FBI
The FBI is investigating the recent vandalism of a Phoenix mosque under construction, officials said Wednesday.

The Arizona chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations had asked the FBI to investigate the vandalism of the Islamic Community Center of Phoenix, which occurred a few weeks ago, according to officials.

“We were made aware of the situation today, and we are looking into this matter,” FBI Special Agent Manuel Johnson said.

The vandalized mosque, near Interstate 17 and Northern Avenue, is being built across the street from the Islamic center’s smaller, existing mosque and has not yet been used by the public, Usama Shami, the center’s board chairman, said Wednesday.

Paint was spilled on the floor and several tall, arched glass windows were broken by what appeared to be gunshots, Shami said. There was also anti-Muslim graffiti.

Shami said the motivation for the vandalism could have been anything, but the controversy sweeping the country regarding the planned mosque near Ground Zero and the upcoming anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks has him concerned about a possible motive.

“It could be related to that or it could be a random act,” Shami said. “We really don’t know.”

Johnson, a media representative for the FBI Phoenix division, said he is not sure if the local investigation will be joined with the national investigation, but it is being determined by the Phoenix office.

“When we get information of a complaint with regards to a potential civil rights violation, we’re going to assess the situation,” Johnson said.

Tayyibah Amapullah, office director for the Arizona chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said she believes the FBI should investigate the vandalism and the motives because of the recent anti-Muslim incidents across the country.

“We feel that it’s related to the current nationwide anti-Muslim sentiment,” Amapullah said. “We’re erring on the side of caution and using our best judgment. We want heightened security just in case it is related.”

The Justice Department is investigating a handful of apparently anti-Muslim incidents in four states, including the stabbing of a Muslim cab driver in New York City.

FBI agents and civil rights division investigators also are looking into vandalism and other incidents at mosques or mosque construction sites in Arlington, Texas; Murfreesboro, Tenn.; Madera, Calif.; and Waterport, N.Y.

The Islamic organization waited to call upon the FBI until several weeks after the incident because the council thought the mosque had already reported the vandalism, Amapullah said.

The council is asking all mosques to report incidents, and if they fail to do so, then the council will step in and start aiding the mosques in the reporting process, Amapullah said. The Arizona chapter of the council communicates mostly with 19 places of prayer, not necessarily mosques, in the Phoenix area.

“We want to make sure the FBI is aware of all the damage,” she said.

The Phoenix mosque has not yet received an estimate on the damages, but Shami said the broken glass alone could cost $1,000 to $1,500 to replace.

The same mosque was vandalized in February, Amapullah said, by people who climbed to the top of the building and wrote on the roof so that it was visible from the interstate.

Maoist guerrills Thursday triggered a landmine blast in Orissa’s Malkangiri district, blowing up a panchayat office, the second blast in the region this week, police said. No one was injured in the explosion.

‘Around 30-40 rebels trigerred the explosion at the panchayat office at Materu village under Kalimela police station area, some 40 km from the district headquarters of Malkangiri,’ police officer Dabashis Mishra told IANS.

‘Nobody was inside the building when the blast took place. The building has been partially damaged,’ he said.

The rebels blew up a block office building at Padia under the same police station area Sep 7.

Malkangiri district, about 620 km from Bhubaneswar, is considered a Maoist stronghold.

The rebels often target schools, panchayats and other government buildings in the region as they suspect these buildings may be used to house security forces during anti-Maoist operations.

– Indo-Asian News Service

Raipur, Sep 8 (IANS) Seven Maoist guerrillas, including six women, were arrested with arms and ammunition in Chhattisgarh Wednesday for killing five security personnel in an ambush last month, police said.

The seven, amongst the dozens of Maoists wanted for the Aug 29 killing of five security personnel in Kanker, were arrested from a forest in the district that is part of the 40,000 sq km Bastar region along with Dantewada, Bijapur, Bastar and Narayanpur districts.

“We had been tracking the Maoists for several days and finally they were trapped today. Six of the seven Maoists apprehended were females and had been involved in an ambush on a joint patrolling party in Kanker district’s Bhuski village Aug 29, in which five jawans were martyred,” Ajay Yadav, Kanker district superintendent of police, told IANS over phone.

The arrested rebels also included minors. Six guns and some detonators were recovered from them.

Lakhan Patle, sub-divisional officer of police (SDOP) of Bhanupratappur where the Maoists were arrested, said a few of the arrested were minors.

“We have got vital leads from the arrested rebels about other Maoists who were involved in Aug 29 attack. More Maoists will be arrested soon,” said Patle.

About 100 Maoists had ambushed a patrol drawn from the Border Security Force (BSF), district force (DF) and special police officers (SPOs) in Bhuski village in Kanker district, 250 km from here.

Amongst the five killed were three BSF troopers.

NEW DELHI: In yet another sign of increasing Chinese influence in India’s neighbourhood, Nepal is detaining refugees from China’s Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) and handing them back to Chinese authorities.

Tibetan agencies in Kathmandu have brought the matter to the notice of the Indian embassy in Kathmandu but highly placed government sources said New Delhi is not inclined to take up the matter officially with Nepal.

According to information available with government agencies, Nepal intensified patrolling along its border with China in June and since then, has been regularly handing over Tibetan refugees, who were on their way to India, back to Chinese authorities. While Indian officials admitted this was another manifestation of China’s influence in Nepal, they said they had no option but to convey to the Tibetans that it may not be possible for India to intervene in the matter.

“The Indian embassy as well as some other embassies in Kathmandu are aware of the matter. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is trying to help us. We faced a similar situation in 2003 but it was sorted out. However, it started all over again in June this year,” Tibetan Refugee Welfare Office secretary in Kathmandu Trinlay Gyatso told TOI.

The first of such incidents was reported in June when 33 Tibetans who had crossed over into Nepal were caught and handed over to the Chinese. These refugees were on their way to India and by handing them over to China, Nepal violated its agreement with UNHCR to allow safe passage to Tibetan refugees to India. According to the human right groups active in Nepal, the three were jailed by Chinese authorities and they continue to languish there.

While New Delhi has its hands full dealing with the Maoist-instigated resentment in Nepal, China has quietly worked its way up not just within the Nepal establishment but also among its people with Chinese study centres mushrooming all over the country. China recently pledged $1.5 million to Nepal to check what it calls anti-China activities by Tibetans.

08/09/2010

ANKARA, Turkey — Security forces killed nine members of the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) during a clash in the southeast province of Hakkari, near the borders with Iran and Iraq, on Tuesday (September 7th), security officials announced. One soldier was injured. According to local media, the PKK launched a rocket attack on a military post, triggering the fighting, despite the PKK’s unilateral ceasefire that ends on September 20th.

In other news Tuesday, police in the city of Adana seized 20kg of plastic explosives and arrested two people. Authorities suspect the PKK planned to use the explosives to launch attacks, ahead of the Sunday’s referendum on constitutional amendments.

On Monday, meanwhile, one soldier was killed in the eastern province of Tunceli during clashes with suspected terrorists from the Maoist Communist Party. Authorities initially blamed the PKK for the incident. The militants attacked a transformer at a local hydro power plant, setting it on fire. (Zaman – 08/09/10; AFP, Xinhua, Press TV, Dogan, Reuters, Anadolu news agency, DPA, Hurriyet, AP, Turkish Press, UPI – 07/09/10)

LIMA – Five suspected guerrillas were captured in the Valley of the Apurimac and Ene rivers, or VRAE, located in Peru’s southern Ayacucho region, the Armed Forces Joint Command said Wednesday.

The arrests were made on Monday and Tuesday by military patrols in different parts of the VRAE, an area where a state of emergency was declared two years ago due to the presence of drug traffickers and the remnants of the Shining Path guerrilla group, the command said.

A 72-year-old man was arrested in Acocro district, a 51-year-old man was detained in the town of Totobamba and a third man, whose age was not provided, was arrested in Orcohuasi.

A 60-year-old woman was captured in Huaychao, located in Acosvinchos district, and a 39-year-old woman was detained in Orcosita, located in Pacaycasa district, the command said.

The armed forces and National Police established a special command in the VRAE to carry out counterinsurgency operations targeting the Shining Path’s main “committees,” which are working jointly with drug gangs.

The Shining Path’s command, whose top leader is “Comrade Jose,” is now running its own drug organization, the top military commander in the VRAE, Gen. Leonel Cabrera, said last month.

The Shining Path’s remnants operate in the Upper Huallaga Valley under the command of Florindo Eleuterio Flores Hala, known as “Comrade Artemio,” and in the VRAE region under Victor Quispe Palomino, alias Comrade Jose.

The United States is offering rewards of up to $5 million each for information leading to the capture of Comrade Artemio and Comrade Jose.

by HM Cabunoc

Camp Elias Angeles, Pili, Camarines Sur (9 September) — Four rebels were killed and three firearms were recovered following an encounter with the government forces in Masbate province Monday afternoon (September 6), a military official said.

LtCol Anthony Purugganan, Commander of the 9th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army, said that a 9-man squad of the 93rd Division Reconnaissance Company, led by Private First Class Ramon Magpantay, encountered more or less 10 NPA bandits led by Ka Dady of the CPP-NPA-NDF’s Front Committee 83-Central in Sta Maria village, Mobo town at around 1:00 pm.

Purugganan said that four NPA bandits were killed in the clash, three firearms, including cal 5.56 mm M653 rifle (baby armalite), cal.30 M1 Garand and a shotgun, and combat packs containing personal effects and subversive documents were recovered.

Remains of the rebels killed were brought to the police station in Mobo town for proper identification. No one among them were identified by villagers who were at the scene after the firefight.

“I believe that one of the slain rebels is a ranking cadre as in his possession was .56 mm M653 rifle,” said Purugganan.

Purugganan also said that he sent the troops to check the report from a civilian about a group of rebels who were planning to set up improvised bombs in the area.

At least two ambuscades using roadside bombs had been staged by the NPA bandits in Mobo town this year.

Major General Ruperto Pabustan, commander of the 9th ID PA, has directed the 9th Infantry Battalion to intensify its security patrols after the deadly ambush which left 5 people dead on August 28.

GWINNETT COUNTY, GA – “Excessive force and brutality.”

That’s what Sumpter County NAACP President Mathias Wright claims Nova Lee and Howard Graber were subjected to when forcibly evicted from their Duluth home last month.

The Gwinnett County Sheriff SWAT team launched the raid on August 11th when they said the couple refused to obey a court order to leave peaceably.

Nova Lee Graber claims she was afraid to leave her wheelchair bound husband, who suffered a stroke last year.

On Wednesday their supporters claimed the Grabers had a legal right to stay, even though they were months behind on their mortgage.

They cited a “Counteraffidavit of Writ of Possession” the couple filed in court on June 28, 2010.

They claim the document, which the Grabers said was posted on their front door at the time of the SWAT team eviction, should have prevented their removal until they could get a jury trial.

“We were just wanting our day in court on this,” said Nova Lee Graber.

The Grabers’ supporters called for a formal investigation into the forced eviction.

They also handed out copies of two letters demanding the resignation of Gwinnett County Sheriff Butch Conway and State Court Judge Randy Rich, who signed the eviction order.

“That’s a direct violation of their civil rights and even yours, if it so happened to you,” says the NAACP’s Wright.

Wednesday afternoon the Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Office said the jury trial code (Title 44, Chapter 11, Sections 30-32) only applies to third party squatters and not delinquent homeowners, like the Grabers.

Sheriff Butch Conway’s office issued a statement saying, “If the Grabers had acted in a lawful manner, they would have avoided the entire incident. Their latest antics aren’t worth commenting on.”

So far, no reaction from Judge Rich.

For now the Grabers are saying in a motel thanks to donations.

Meanwhile, their former Duluth home remains boarded and locked.

September 9th

An email obtained by City Paper suggests collaboration between the state Department of Homeland Security and gas drilling interests.

The email, authored by Pennsylvania Homeland Security cheif James Powers, was written in apparent error: addressed to one Virginia Coady, a well-known participant in anti-drilling forums, the letter indicates that Powers mistakenly mistook Ms. Coady for someone associated with pro-drilling interests.

In the email (full text below), Powers warns Coady against distributing information gathered by the Pa. DHS on anti-drilling activities, telling Coady that: “We want to continue providing this support to the Marcellus Shale Formation natural gas stakeholders while not feeding those groups fomenting dissent against those same companies.”

The “support” he speaks of consists at least partly of confidential updates on anti-drilling activists and activties. A report yesterday evening by nonprofit investigative journalism outfit Pro Publica broke the news that the Pennsylvania Dept. of Homeland Security included in its regular newsletter, the Pennsylvania Intelligence Bulletin, decriptions of various activities and gatherings of activists opposed to gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale.

Included in a list entitled “Dates of interest” are a series of local meetings about gas drilling issues – a drilling ordinance in Cranberry County, a hearing in Damascus, Pa. on zoning regulations – as well as the recent screening in Philadelphia of the “controversial Gasland movie,” – a documentary by filmmaker Josh Fox on the dangers of hydraulic fracturing, the process used to extract natural gas from the Marcellus Shale.

City Paper emailed Mr. Powers to confirm authenticity of the email and was contacted instead by Governor Rendell’s chief spokesman Gary Tuma, who acknowledged that the email was authentic and said that the Pa. Dept. of Homeland Security was sharing such information with certain local interests – including gas drilling companies – because of “recent acts of vandalism” against drilling operations.

“There have been five acts of vandalism against Marcellus Shale drilling facilities,” in the last two weeks, he said, “including two of which involved firearms … shotguns fired at equipment.”

A third incident involved theft, he said after being asked for details, and the other two were “minor incidents.”

Tuma added that “There have been peaceful protests related to MS drilling by people who oppose drilling and the increased amoutn of driling – certainly no one is trying to restrict the rights of peaceful protest conducted within the parameters fo the first amendment.”

Asked whether there have been any protests that were not peaceful, Mr. Tuma acknowledged, “There have not been any that I’m aware of.”
[ email follows]
Miss Virginia,
For Your Information & Situational Awareness
Just a short note of clarification regarding the intent of the PIB. The information provided to you via
the PIB is not for dissemination in the public domain. As indicated in the caveats on the first page, the
PIB is solely meant for owners/operators & security personnel associated with our critical
infrastructure & key resources.
Although an internet forum is certainly a great way to spread the word and receive input from forum
participants, it’s still in the public domain and thus be accessed by both pro and anti-natural gas drilling
folks.
Please assist us in keeping the information provided in the PIB to those having a valid need-to-know; it
should only be disseminated via closed communications systems.
Thanks for your support. We want to continue providing this support to the Marcellus Shale Formation
natural gas stakeholders while not feeding those groups fomenting dissent against those same
companies.
Jim

9 September 2010

Prague, Sept 8 (CTK) – The police registered 265 crimes with an extremist motive in the 10.5 million Czech Republic last year, which was 0.07 percent of all crimes and 48 more than in 2008, according to a document the Chamber of Deputies defence and security committee discussed yesterday.

The police cleared up 186 crimes last year, or 60 more than in 2008. A total of 293 people were prosecuted, which was about 100 more than in 2008, and courts convicted 103 people of racially motivated crimes.

Deputy Interior Minister Zdenek Salivar said “the extremist scene is on the defensive” now.

He said that is why rightist extremists have moderated their rhetoric. The militant wing is now trying to change the neo-Nazi label and focuses on environmental themes.

Salivar said the abolition of the Workers’ Party (DS) last year was a step of European importance.

The party, however, practically continues its acitivities under a new name, the Workers’ Party of Social Justice (DSSS).

The number of neo-Nazi concerts roughly halved to 18 last year, and only one sole was held after last June’s raid on rightist extremists, the report says.

The concerts have been moved abroad, mainly to Poland and Slovakia, Police President Oldrich Martinu said.

He said the concerts were a significant source of money for the extremist groups.

The police inspection also checked six cases on suspicion of police involvement in criminal activity with an extremist subtext last year.

The suspicion was not proved in three of them, another two continue to be checked and one case ended in a disciplinary punishment.

A total of 24 police members were involved in the cases, the report said.

It said the military police investigated ten cases, involving 12 soldiers.

Salivar said everyone who seeks a job with security corps is checked for extremism now.

Rajshahi, Sep 9 (bdnews24.com) — A high-profile leader of banned extremist political outfit – Purba Bangla Communist Party (ML Lalpataka) – was killed in an alleged ‘shootout’ with RAB, in the small hours of Thursday, in Rajshahi.

Elite force Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) claimed that with the death of Ratan alias Titas, 38, who was also the commander of the party’s Rajshai zone, an era of Lal Pataka was brought to an end.

The claimed shootout took place at Thandar Para village under Bagmara Upazila at about 1am.

A RAB-5 press release said the Bagmara camp intelligence team of the agency had learnt that top leaders of the banned party were meeting the zonal leaders, aiming at reformation of the party. The party was without direction after the death of its former Rajshahi commander Elahi Box Mithu, on Aug 25 in another ‘shootout’.

After being tipped off, a RAB-5 team took up position at a Thandar Para village mango-orchard at about 1am.

Suspecting the presence of RAB, the extremists tried to flee. When the RAB personnel chased the alleged extremists they started firing at the law enforcers, the release claimed.

RAB personnel were then also compelled to fire back to defend themselves. The body of Titas was found as his companions escaped after a 20-minute gunfight, RAB claimed.

Police recovered a locally made single-shooter gun, a foreign-made pistol, a magazine, five rounds of bullets, a large machete, a dagger and some party leaflets.

According to RAB, Titas had at least 10 murder cases, including a police killing case, and some other cases against him.

9 September

The police in Londonderry have rejected allegations that they have been harrassing dissident republicans and their families.

Local priest Father Paddy O’Kane he said had been “shocked” by accounts of police brutality when he met dissident supporters on Wednesday night.

He said he was told that the lives of people who police wanted to become informers had been made hell.

PSNI Area Commander Jon Burrows said he had “severe doubts” about the claims.

“I hear people talking about the rights of children – we are actually out trying to protect the rights of children,” the Acting Chief Inspector said.

“Let’s cast out minds back 12 years ago to the Omagh bomb.”

He said nine children had been killed in the explosion including an 18-month-old infant.

“We are out trying to disrupt people who would bring bombs onto our streets and they are still doing it,” he said.

Fr O’Kane agreed to meet supporters and families of dissident republicans after he has publically challenged armed groups on their campaign of violence.

Dissident republicans have been blame for a number of recent car bomb explosions and hoax bomb alerts.

The Ballymagroarty parish priest said that he had heard “harrowing stories” from people who were “angry and afraid”.

He said he had “no regrets” about meeting the families but also said that he will not publicise any future talks.