[IMC-News] IMC NEWS UPDATE | January 13, 2003

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IMC NEWS UPDATE | January 13, 2003

http://www.indymedia.org

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CONTENTS

FEATURE COMPILATIONS:

      HOUSING AND MOVEMENT
      PEACE AND JUSTICE - IRAQ
      ARGENTINA - December 19-20
      EU SUMMIT PROTESTS IN COPENHAGEN - December 13-14

RECENT IMC FEATURES
UPCOMING ACTIONS AND COVERAGE
SUBSCRIBING/UNSUBSCRIBING

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FEATURE COMPILATIONS

- FEATURE COMPILATION: HOUSING AND MOVEMENT

Evictions and Protests Build in Sebokeng and Mandela Park - South Africa, 
January 9
http://www.indymedia.org/archive/features/2003/1/2003-1.html#6746
On Wednesday, 8 January, a woman was shot by police in the Mandela Park area of 
Cape Town after a protest of about 2000 people. The protestors were supporting 
the Mandela Park Anti-Eviction Campaign that has come under fire for its 
program of supporting mass direct housing against evictions. 

Detention Center Backlash as Mandatory Detention Policy Burns - Australia, 
January 4
http://www.indymedia.org/archive/features/2003/1/2003-1.html#6688
In the last two weeks fires have ripped through five of Australia's immigration 
detention centers including Baxter, Woomera, Port Hedland, Christmas Island and 
Villawood, along with trouble at the Perth detention center. DIMIA, police and 
detention center staff have been seen to be excessive in their responses. There 
are reports that on January 1 all detainees at Woomera were indiscriminately 
teargassed and handcuffed, and subsequently herded to basketball courts where 
they were held all day under the desert sun without water. There is also a 
report that Baxter detainees were prevented from evacuating burning compounds, 
and teargassed.

Two Thousand Families to be Evicted - Brazil, January 4
http://www.indymedia.org/archive/features/2003/1/2003-1.html#6692
Two thousand homeless families in Guarulhos, Brazil are facing the risk of 
eviction on Monday morning, January 6. Your international solidarity statements 
may be decisive.

Also see: Eight Thousand Homeless Evicted in Osasco - Brazil, December 5
http://www.indymedia.org/archive/features/2002/12/2002-12.html#6321
On December 5, about eight thousand homeless workers were evicted by riot 
police from a land occupation in the city of Osasco. After months of 
negotiations with the state government of Sao Paulo, a peaceful eviction was 
agreed. However, on early Thursday morning, December 5, bulldozers arrived and 
destroyed tens of houses until the residents managed to get a deal. The state 
government is sending them to a new location thirty miles away.

Twenty-Five Thousand Zapatistas Break Silence, March on San Cristobal - 
Chiapas, January 3
http://www.indymedia.org/archive/features/2003/1/2003-1.html#6679
More than 25,000 women, children, and men of all ages, wearing masks and 
brandishing machetes, came streaming into the city of San Cristobal on January 
1. They called on the indigenous people of Mexico to maintain their autonomy 
without the permission of the government, to express publicly that the 
Zapatista communities will not accept the forced removals of people living in 
the zone of Montes Azules, and to emphasize the importance of a global 
resistance to imperialism.

- FEATURE COMPILATION: PEACE AND JUSTICE - IRAQ

Iraqi Freedom Fighters Criticize US, Make Plans for Real Democracy, December 22
http://www.indymedia.org/archive/features/2002/12/2002-12.html#6569
While the world media focuses on the US and UK troop movements, the people of 
Iraq are faced with the daily aggressions of sanctions, bombing and 
dictatorship. Recently in London several Iraqi Opposition groups met to plan 
for democracy in Iraq. This meeting was boycotted by many of the leading 
opposition groups in Iraq, like the Iraqi Communist Party and the Shi'a based 
al-Daawa Party, citing the congress as merely a US plot to put in a new 
dictator over Iraqi people once Saddam Hussein is eliminated.

US and Canadian Activists Report from Iraq, December 20
http://www.indymedia.org/archive/features/2002/12/2002-12.html#6539
As the corporate media continues to conflate Saddam Hussein with the entire 
population of Iraq, activists from the US and Canada are reporting on the daily 
experiences and opinions of Iraqis on the ground. These reports come from the 
multimedia Iraq Journal, as well as from emails sent from Iraq. See reports at 
link.

Iraq Report Documents Foreign Support For Weapons Programs, December 19
http://www.indymedia.org/archive/features/2002/12/2002-12.html#6529
Hewlett Packard, Dupont, Honeywell and other major U.S. corporations, as well 
as governmental agencies including the Department of Defense and the nation's 
nuclear labs, and numerous companies from other countries, all helped Iraq to 
build its biological, chemical and nuclear weapons programs, according to 
Iraq's 12,000-page weapons declaration to the UN. This information was 
contained in the nearly 9000 pages removed by the United States before the 
report was circulated to the non-permanent members of the UN Security Council. 
The nuclear support under Presidents Reagan and Bush, Sr., violated non-
proliferation treaties.

Coast to Coast, the Antiwar Marches On, December 19
http://www.indymedia.org/archive/features/2002/12/2002-12.html#6516
>From Harlem to Chicago to Denver to Hollywood, people in the US continue to 
march against the war. Residents of Los Angeles are also mobilizing in the face 
of a mental environment mixing messages between celebrity, the Federal 
Communications Commission, Palestine, big-budget propaganda, and peace 
activism. In Washington DC, the ladies of Code Pink visited the house of US 
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld to sing "War to the World" and other 
parody carols.

- FEATURE COMPILATION: ARGENTINA - December 19-20, 2002

Another December 20th for Argentina
http://www.indymedia.org/archive/features/2002/12/2002-12.html#6503
One year after the protests and riots that ousted President De la Rua, the 
Argentine people took to the streets on December 19 and 20. The reason for the 
protests - then and now - is the catastrophic situation to which Argentina has 
been driven by IMF structural adjustment combined with widespread corruption 
throughout the government. Current President Duhalde has made no progress in 
restoring the nation's economy or people's faith in government.

December 20: One Year Later
http://www.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=224517
Over 100,000 protestors marched throughout Buenos Aires streets to mark a year 
since the fall of former President De la Rua and to continue the demand, "Que 
Se Vayan Todos" (All the Politicians Out!). Marchers met in the Plaza de Mayo 
to celebrate a year of grassroots organizing and to reject the capitalist 
system and government that have created a deepening crisis in Argentina.
See links to additional coverage at this featured story.

D19: Urban Blockade in Buenos Aires
http://www.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=224277
Over one thousand protestors blocked streets in Buenos Aires' financial 
district on December 19 "to make the streets free of capitalism." Protesters 
cut streets in front of banks and transnational corporations beginning at 9 in 
the morning seeking to effect suspension of bank operations and financial 
activity.

- FEATURE COMPILATION: EU SUMMIT PROTESTS IN COPENHAGEN - December 13-14

Denmark has been the host nation for the European Union in the second half of 
2002. On December 13-14, the final EU summit of the Denmark's term gave 
different social movements an opportunity to show what they think about 
Denmark's and the EU's neo-liberal economic and closed borders policies. 
See intro from December 10: 
http://www.indymedia.org/archive/features/2002/12/2002-12.html#6413

Ten Thousand March in Inner Copenhagen, December 16
http://indymedia.org/archive/features/2002/12/2002-12.html#6482
Some ten thousand protestors met on the morning of December 14 at the 
anticapitalist demonstration near Christiansborg, the castle housing the Danish 
government. The demonstrators included socialists, anarchists, and other groups 
such as ATTAC and labor union members, all agreeing that another world (and 
another Europe) is possible.

Europeans Declare "People Before Profit" in Copenhagen, December 14
http://www.indymedia.org/archive/features/2002/12/2002-12.html#6461
On December 13, in opening rounds of protests calling for a more transparent 
and democratic Europe, police arrested perceived leaders of the non-violent 
protest contingent, notably those from Italy. Meanwhile, a relatively peaceful 
group of "white overalls" penetrated soft barricades while stopping short of 
trying to infiltrate the main "Red Zone" where European Union leaders and 
ministers were meeting.

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RECENT FEATURES

- Second Round of INS 'Special Registration' - U.S.A., January 9
http://www.indymedia.org/archive/features/2003/1/2003-1.html#6747
January 10, 2003 is the second deadline imposed by the Immigration and 
Naturalization Service (INS) for the fingerprinting, interrogation and 'special 
registration' of immigrants from Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Eritrea, 
Lebanon, Morocco, North Korea, Oman, Qatar, Somalia, Tunisia, United Arab 
Emirates, and Yemen. Civil liberties advocates charge that the new national 
security measures being implemented have nothing to do with preventing 
terrorism. Instead, they serve to demonize immigrants - particularly those from 
predominantly Arab, Muslim, and South Asian countries - and provide a pretext 
for accelerated repression and future mass detentions.

- Asian Social Forum in Full Flight - India, January 7
http://www.indymedia.org/archive/features/2003/1/2003-1.html#6718
Over 15,000 people, representing social movements, non-governmental 
organizations, trade unions and activists, have gathered for the Asian Social 
Forum (ASF) in Hyderabad in Andhra Pradesh, India, meeting under the 
theme "another world is possible". The ASF began on Thursday, 2 January with an 
encouraging call for the struggle against neoliberal globalization to continue 
to be deeply rooted in Gandhian values of non-violence, despite the landslide 
election of a fascist government in Gujarat following the crimes against 
humanity committed there in early 2002. 

- GM Crops Run Wild - England, January 1
http://www.indymedia.org/archive/features/2003/1/2003-1.html#6655
In 2002, Santa Claus brought children no old-fashioned sweets, but the 
knowledge of contamination of crops and weeds by genetically modified (GM) 
crops. The final report on gene flow from oilseed rape from UK Farm Scale 
Trials was published on 24 December 2002 by the Department for Environment Food 
and Rural Affairs and shows that GM oilseed rape (canola) interbreeds with 
conventional rape and weeds.

- Corporate Media and the "National Strike" - Venezuela, December 23
http://www.indymedia.org/archive/features/2002/12/2002-12.html#6573
After carrying out a more than three-week "national strike" and despite a 
helping hand from the Associated Press and other media, the Venezuelan elite 
has so far failed to force President Chavez to resign. In implementing reforms 
that benefit primarily the poor, Chavez has inspired well-funded opposition by 
oil barons and other business leaders, union bureaucrats and portions of the 
military, with the complicity of corporate media. The Organization of American 
States voted overwhelmingly on December 16 to reject any future coup attempt in 
Venezuela or alteration of that nation's constitution.

- Grassy Narrows First Nations Protects Their Land - Canada, December 19
http://ontario.indymedia.org/archive/features/2002/12/2002-12.html#6531
Longer article: http://www.indymedia.org/front.php3?
article_id=223641&group=webcast
The people of Grassy Narrows First Nations are taking direct action to protect 
their customary land from big business. Since Dec. 9, they have been blockading 
the logging roads that lead to the harvest areas of Abitibi-Consolidated, which 
is about to approve a 20 year forest plan that will destroy their traditional 
way of life.

- Africans Build Resistance to Corporate Globalization - December 16
http://indymedia.org/archive/features/2002/12/2002-12.html#6485
African peoples are struggling with the oppressive forces of neo-colonialism 
(globalization) propelled by the G8 through financial and trade institutions. 
In Nigeria, the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) recently had a face-to-face 
battle with the Nigeria Government on issues surrounding the IMF, World Bank, 
the WTO,  human welfare, and poverty. Zambians have resisted the privatization 
of the Zambian National Commercial Bank (ZNCB). Further discussion of these 
issues is available in an essay titled "Globalisation, Independent Media, and 
Development in Africa" (de, en):
http://nigeria.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=926

- Solidarnosc and Workers Battle Neo-Capitalism - Poland, December 11
http://www.indymedia.org/archive/features/2002/12/2002-12.html#6431
Years after the Solidarinosc labor movement helped bring down the authoritarian 
Communist regime in Poland, workers in Ozarow are now engaged in a struggle 
against the new capitalist ruling class in Poland. Beginning on November 26, 
pitched battles have occurred between workers and riot police over the issue of 
labor rights at a telephone cable factory. The factory has been the site of a 
protracted labor dispute over attempts to shut down the factory.

- Growing Calls for More Democracy - Iran, December 8
http://www.indymedia.org/archive/features/2002/12/2002-12.html#6372
As the world is focused on Iraq and Palestine, there is a growing democracy 
movement in Iran that is diverse and widespread. As conservative clerics, 
Mullahs, have recently sentenced to death the leading modernist Muslim scholar 
Hashem Aghajari, students have taken to the streets in protest to call for a 
people's referendum on the future of the government.

- Protests, Arrests Erupt in Oporto - Portugal, December 8
http://www.indymedia.org/archive/features/2002/12/2002-12.html#6370
The tenth ministerial meeting of the Organization for Security and Co-operation 
in Europe (OSCE) was being held in Oporto, Portugal on December 6-7. Porto 
Social Alternative (ASP) organized protests to denounce the role of the OSCE in 
European affairs.

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UPCOMING COVERAGE

Anti-War Week  - January 15-20
Washington, DC, USA: http://dc.indymedia.org/

World Social Forum - January 23-28
Porto Alegre, Brazil: http://brasil.indymedia.org/

World Economic Forum  - January 23-28
Davos, Switzerland: http://www.indymedia.ch/mix/

Anti-NATO - February 7-9
Munich, Germany: http://de.indymedia.org/

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