German journalists kept and interrogated during US transit flight
On 7 April 2003, the German journalists Peter Nowak and Jens Klinker wanted to fly from Berlin via Italy to Caracas to report about the aborted overthrow of the left-reformist Chavez-government in Caracas/Venezuela in 2002. Because the Berlin-Milano flight was cancelled the airline provided another with transit stops in London and Miami (USA). At a passport check in Miami, a custom officer saw an Iraqi visa in one of the passports.
As consequence, the two were held in prison for 24 hours, interrogated about political activities in Germany in recent years, they were denied a translator, and in the end sent back to London, without a copy of the interrogation protocol and without all their flight tickets. One of them was issued a notice prohibiting him to enter the USA for 5 years.
Unclear is how far the cooperation between German and US authorities went in this case. Since March 2003, all foreign airlines (de) are obliged to grant US customs online access (de) to data about flight passengers. Of interest to the US authorities are not only the flight data, but also information about further travel plans and rental cars, credit cards, and the kind of food ordered for the flight .
http://de.indymedia.org
[ Statewatch | European Commission | International Federation of Journalists ]
USA: ANTIWAR REPORT Apr 8 2003
New Level of Repression
The US antiwar movement launched a nationwide direct action initiative on Monday. In efforts to repress the movement, police in Oakland used concussion grenades and wooden bullets to disperse a peaceful demonstration while police in New York City arrested nearly 100 people who were engaged in a legal protest. These tactics represent a significant escalation in the police response to the nonviolent antiwar movement.
Read the entire feature.
[ SF IMC | NYC IMC | M27 Coalition ]
IRAQ: ANTI-WAR REPORT Apr 7 2003
Peace-activists enter besieged Baghdad
With an ever more distorted media-image from the war in Iraq, peace-activists are still in and around Baghdad handing out medicines for the Iraqi's and bits of information back home by satelite-phones. With the siege of Baghdad underhand the humanitarian condition is becoming worse every day with water supplies under siege and overcrowded hospitals all over the country [1 | 2 ]. But the war does not stop doctors and Human Shields from entering Baghdad. On Wednesday 2nd of April, new Human Shields arrived in Baghdad with one thousand kilo medicines for hospitals in Iraq. They were coming from India, Portugal and Greece [Human shields (update 4 april) en, es ]. Sunday the sixth of April two Belgium medicine-docters arrived in Baghdad safely as well. While Wade Hudson as well decided to stay in Baghdad, other Peace-activists like Jo Wilding from Bristol, several Human Shields and members of the Iraqi Peace Team [1 | 2 ] have returned. The International Red Cross has daily updates on the overall humanitarian situation in the country.
[ Photoreports: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10]
Check these websites for daily updates: News from Baghdad (en, es, it, nl, fr) | Reports from Baghdad (en, fr, du, it) | Electroniciraq | Chronicles of the brigadistas (es) | reportes de guerra (es) | International Red Cross in Baghdad]
[ Reports and Resources from Baghdad ]
INTERNATIONAL: MEDIA ACTIVISM Apr 6 2003
Activists Target Pro-war Media
Activists are targeting the mainstream media for its pro-war bias on the invasion of Iraq. In the U.K., on April fools Day in Manchester, thirty people occupied the News International Office, which runs the Times and the Sun. Once inside they handed out literature to the staff before being painfully removed. In London, a protest outside the BBC was met with a line of police preventing access. The above actions followed a demonstration outside the Manchester BBC offices which saw two marches converge on the Headquarters. Earlier last week, BBC deputy Editor Mark Damazar was confronted with a barrage of questions at a public discussion organised by Media Workers Against the War criticising the pro-government war led agenda.
In the U.S., Faux News and CNN's New York City bureaus experienced their own April fools joke. In Washington, DC, "Code Pink" also protested the faux news of Fox News. In Los Angeles, thousands came out to protest CNN's pro-war cheerleading. There were also actions in San Francisco, in front of CNN and the Chronicle, as well as a pie-in-the-face for a local talking head.
[ UK IMC | SF IMC | Media Workers Against the War ]
GLOBAL: PEACE & JUSTICE NETWORKING Apr 5 2003
New Grassroots Activist Network Grows Quickly
How can activists today transform the structures and cultures that created the invasion of Iraq and that cause wars and injustices today? One answer is wide-scale activist networking, online and off. On March 27, a new grassroots online activist network was launched: The "We Stand for Peace & Justice" (WSPJ) statement. In 9 days, interest in the WSPJ mobilizing statement has grown very quickly. It has already received over 55,000 signatures from activists in 213 countries and been translated into 12 languages...
Read entire feature.
[ WSPJ Statement | Essay: We Work for Peace & Justice ]
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