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Do not Forget USA Police Forces are training Police Forces in many countries of this world! We do not live in Seperate worlds !

new york : ORGANIZERS WHO MONITOR POLICE ACTIVITIES ARRESTED
Malcolm X Grassroots Movement
http://www.mxgm.org/

Three members of the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, Lumumba Bandele, Dasaw Floyd, and Djbril Toure were arrested in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn just past midnight this morning. At the time of their arrest, the three were engaged in the legal monitoring of police activities as part of the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement Copwatch Program.

According to Bandele, he Floyd and and Toure were driving down Greene Avenue when they heard sirens blaring. They observed an unusual amount of police activity on the block. They parked their car, turned on their video camera and approached the scene when a witness to the events ran past them stating that the police were beating someone.

Bandele, Toure and Floyd continued to walk toward the scene when they were stopped by an officer who told them that they had to leave. Bandele told the officer that they had a legal right to observe the activities, and that they were not interfering with the arrest, only witnessing it. At that point, the officer, who was never touched by Bandele, Toure or Floyd placed the three under arrest, charging them
with assault and obstruction of governmental administration.
*****
The copwatch program was initiated in 2000 as a response to police brutality in central Brooklyn and has been involved in a year-long struggle to bring the men who killed Amadou Diallo to justice. They want to do something to respond to the ongoing abuse of Black men, women and children by police.

"They were killing us, savagely beating us and they still are and they were doing it with apparent immunity",said Mrs.Bandele. "For Lumumba and I, as the parents of two small children, this issue had even greater personal resonance. Every time he or any of us stand up for some other parent's child, it's as though we are standing up for our own.

This arrest is outrageous,states Kamau Karl Franklin, attorney for the three. They were involved in completely legal activities, and the irony is that their treatment by police underscores the very need for a program such Copwatch. We look forward to our day in court because it will clearly demonstrate the contempt law enforcement too often feels towards the Black community. Franklin hopes that this unfortunate event will serve as a catalyst to make significant changes in who polices Black communities, and how they police it.

The Malcolm X Grassroots Movement was officially organized in 1995 as an attempt to raise awareness about human rights violations in the Black community. It was part of the coalition of organizations that filed a lawsuit against the notorious street crimes unit, an effort which ultimately resulted in that unit's disbanding.
15 years in gaol and 15 years waiting for names to be cleared

Gerry Conlon has campaigned for a public apology

Tony Blair has apologised to two families who suffered one of the UK's biggest miscarriages of justice. The prime minister was commenting on the wrongful jailing of 11 people for IRA bomb attacks on pubs in Guildford and Woolwich in 1974. Mr Blair said: "I am very sorry that they were subject to such an ordeal and injustice."

He made the apology to members of the Conlon and Maguire families in his private room at Westminster. In a statement recorded for television, Mr Blair said the families deserved "to be completely and publicly exonerated".

The families had hoped the apology would be made during Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons.

However, one of the so-called Guildford Four, Gerry Conlon - who was wrongly convicted of planting the bombs - said the families were delighted with the apology. He said Mr Blair had spoken with "such sincerity", adding: "He went beyond what we thought he would, he took time to listen to everyone. "Tony Blair has healed rifts, he is helping to heal wounds. It's a day I never thought would come." The move followed a huge campaign in Ireland for a public apology after eleven people were wrongly convicted of making and planting the IRA bombs which killed seven people. Mr Blair's official spokesman said no-one present at the meeting would "ever forget the strength of feeling of relief that the prime minister's statement brought to them".

"The people who were still doubting us should now believe that we were totally innocent," Mrs. Maguire said.

They were all jailed for handling explosives, based on scientific evidence which was later entirely discredited.

In October 1989 the Court of Appeal quashed the sentences of the Guildford Four, and in June 1991 it overturned the sentences on the Maguire Seven. Mr Conlon's case was highlighted in the Oscar-nominated film In The Name Of The Father, starring Daniel Day-Lewis.

Chaos rules as EU curbs salmon imports

Exports of Norwegian salmon to the EU market may come to a complete halt tonight, as new EU anti-import measures have thrown the fisheries market into chaos, reports the NRK (the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation). The Norwegian Seafood Federation has advised members to halt trucks on their way to the European markets with salmon and await further information on how to implement the new regulation from Brussels.

On Friday (4 February) it was announced by the European Commission that salmon imports from the world’s largest salmon producers - Norway, Chile, Iceland and the Faeroe islands would be restricted.

As of this week, a quota based on current exports restricts the amount of salmon they are able to sell into the EU. In addition, a minimum import price of 2.7 euro per kilo of salmon has been introduced, which will be raised from 15 April to 2.85 euro per kilo. The proposals will last until August 2008 unless members states choose to remove them.

"Imports have not been stopped, but one does not know at what price the fish is sold and how to operate this. Customs do not know how to relate to this, everybody in the business is confused", said Peter Bamberger from the Association of Danish Fish Processing Industries and Exporters to Aftenposten.

Scottish and Irish salmon farmers have welcomed the import restrictions, while the Norwegian and Danish industries are protesting at what they call EU protectionism.

The Norwegian foreign minister, Jan Petersen, said the Norwegian salmon industry was efficient and competitive and operating without any sort of state subsidies. The Norwegians are now considering whether to consult the World Trade Organisation (WTO) over the issue.

Dahr Jamail, Electronic Iraq, 1 February 2005
http://electroniciraq.net/news/1851.shtml

The day of blood and elections has passed, and the blaring trumpets of corporate media hailing it as a successful show of "democracy" have subsided to a dull roar.

After a day which left 50 people dead in Iraq, both civilians and soldiers, the death toll was hailed as a figure that was "lower than expected." Thus...acceptable, by Bush Administration/corporate media standards. After all, only one of them was an American, the rest were Iraqis civilians and British soldiers.

The gamble of using the polling day in Iraq to justify the ongoing failed occupation of Iraq has apparently paid off, if you watch only mainstream media.

"Higher than expected turnout," US mainstream television media blared, some citing a figure of 72%, others 60%.

What they didn't tell you was that this figure was provided by Farid Ayar, the spokesman for the Independent Electoral Commission for Iraq (IECI) before the polls had even closed.

When asked about the accuracy of the estimate of voter turnout during a press conference, Ayar backtracked on his earlier figure, saying that a closer estimate was lower than his initial estimate and would be more like 60% of registered voters.

The IECI spokesman said his previous figure of 72% was "only guessing" and "was just an estimate," which was based on "very rough, word-of mouth estimates gathered informally from the field. It will take some time for the IECI to issue accurate figures on turnout."

Referencing both figures, Ayar then added, "Percentages and numbers come only after counting and will be announced when it's over ... It's too soon to say that those were the official numbers."

But this isn't the most important misrepresentation the mainstream media committed.

What they also didn't tell you was that of those who voted, whether they be 35% or even 60% of registered voters, were not voting in support of an ongoing US occupation of their country.

In fact, they were voting for precisely the opposite reason. Every Iraqi I have spoken with who voted explained that they believe the National Assembly which will be formed soon will signal an end to the occupation.

And they expect the call for a withdrawing of foreign forces in their country to come sooner rather than later.

This causes one to view the footage of cheering, jubilant Iraqis in a different light now, doesn't it?

But then, most folks in the US watching CNN, FOX, or any of the major networks won't see it that way. Instead, they will hear what Mr. Bush said, "The world is hearing the voice of freedom from the center of the Middle East," and take it as fact because most of the major media outlets aren't scratching beneath film clips of joyous Iraqi voters over here in the land of daily chaos and violence, no jobs, no electricity, little running water and no gasoline (for the Iraqis anyhow).

And Bush is portrayed by the media as the bringer of democracy to Iraq by the simple fact that this so-called election took place, botched as it may have been. Appearances suggest that the majority Shia in Iraq now finally get their proportional representation in a "government." Looks good on paper.

But as you continue reading, the seemingly altruistic reasons for this election as portrayed by the Bush Administration and trumpeted by most mainstream media are anything but.

And Iraqis who voted are hearing other trumpets that are blaring an end to the occupation.

Now the question remains, what happens when the National Assembly is formed and over 100,000 US soldiers remain on the ground in Iraq with the Bush Administration continuing in its refusal to provide a timetable for their removal?

What happens when Iraqis see that while there are already four permanent US military bases in their country, rather than beginning to disassemble them, more bases are being constructed, as they are, by Cheney's old company Halliburton, right now?

Antonia Juhasz, a Foreign Policy in Focus scholar, authored a piece just before the "election" that sheds light on a topic that has lost attention amidst the recent fanfare concerning the polls in Iraq.

Oil.

I think it's worth including much of her story here, as it fits well with today's topic of things most folks aren't being told by the bringers of democracy to the heart of the Middle East.

I'll add that the list of political parties Mahdi's SCIR belongs to, The United Iraqi Alliance (UIA), includes the Iraqi National Council, which is led by an old friend of the Bush Administration who provided the faulty information they needed to justify the illegal invasion of Iraq, none other than Ahmed Chalabi.

It should also be noted that interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi also fed the Bush Administration cooked information used to justify the invasion, but he heads a different Shia list which will most likely be getting nearly as many votes as the UIA list.

And The UIA has the blessing of Iranian born revered Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani. Sistani issued a fatwa which instructed his huge number of followers to vote in the election, or they would risk going to hell.

And there is so much more they are not telling you. Just like the Iraqis who voted, believing they did so to bring an end to the occupation of their country.

Related Links
BY TOPIC: Iraqi Elections (30th January 2005)

(c)2004, 2005 Dahr Jamail. More writing, photos and commentary at dahrjamailiraq.com. All images and text are protected by United States and international copyright law. If you would like to reprint Dahr's Dispatches on the web, you need to include this copyright notice and a prominent link to the DahrJamailIraq.com website. Any other use of images and text including, but not limited to, reproduction, use on another website, copying and printing requires the permission of Dahr Jamail.

Page last updated: 1 February 2005, 12:32