Dear Kitty. Some blog

This video is called TAXI TO THE DARK SIDE Theatrical Trailer; about torture to death of a taxi driver in Bagram in Afghanistan. See also here.

From Dutch news agency ANP:

Parliament: close down Bagram prison

November 24 2009, 18:48, Updated November 24, 2009 18:52

THE HAGUE - The Lower House wants Minister Maxime Verhagen (Foreign Affairs) to insist to the Afghan government and U.S. authorities that Bagram prison in Afghanistan should be closed down. This so-called “secret prison” is managed by the U.S. big brass of the armed forces in that country.

A majority of the House agreed Tuesday with a proposal by the Dutch Socialist Party (SP). The Netherlands have already called for the closure of the U.S. Guantanomo Bay prison in Cuba, where people were

Were? Are.

imprisoned without fair trial. The SP urged last week in the House that Verhagen should do this about the prison in Bagram as well. But Verhagen did not want to. The main thing for him is that people get a fair trial. And he is insisting on that, the minister said. “It’s not about the building.”

Mr Verhagen, like in Guantanamo Bay, Bagram prisoners do not get a trial, let alone a fair trial. They just get torture.

Anti-war campaigners have called for Tony Blair and George Bush to be be tried for war crimes as the Chilcot inquiry into the Iraq war opened in London: here. See also here. And here.

This video from the USA is called RENDITION - CIA KIDNAP AND TORTURE.

British intelligence colluded in the torture and abuse of five British nationals by Pakistani security forces, Human Rights Watch has said: here.

The Defence Secretary is expected to announce a public inquiry on Wednesday into allegations of torture and murder of Iraqi civilians by British troops: here. And here.

The British army has detained Lance Corporal Joe Glenton for 28 days after a hearing on Wednesday of last week for speaking out against the war in Afghanistan: here.

This is a video of a demonstration in Honduras against dictator Micheletti, or “Goriletti” as they call him.

From British daily The Morning Star:

Zelaya slams US election stance

Tuesday 24 November 2009

Honduran President Manuel Zelaya has attacked the United States for “weakening efforts to reverse the coup” that overthrew him.

Mr Zelaya told the Radio Globo station on Monday that the November 29 presidential elections were an attempt to legitimise his overthrow and he said that “whoever is elected will be as illegitimate as (Roberto) Micheletti,” the leader of the illegal coup.

Mr Zelaya called on the region “not to adopt ambiguous or imprecise positions like the one shown now by the United States, whose final position has weakened the effort to reverse the coup, illustrating the division in the international community.”

Deepening economic crisis in Eastern Europe: here.

This video says about itself:

Up to 150 parents, pupils and staff marched through the city and demonstrated on November 21 outside the Town Hall in Sheffield, England to oppose the proposed closure of Abbeydale Grange School.

Hundreds of students rally against budget cuts in Detroit, USA: here.

Oregon’s October unemployment figure, released last week, remained unchanged from September and showed a nearly 1 percent drop from May 2009’s high of 12.2 percent. The report, however, was far from good news for workers: here.

This video says about itself:

Afghanistan’s President has ordered an investigation into an alleged 30 civilians killed by US air raids in the west of the country. Meanwhile, the latest reports claim that the raid left124 people dead.

This is a translation from the Dutch original in daily De Pers of 23 November 2009:

Afghan commission knows nothing about civilian deaths

By: Arnold Karskens

The United Nations are worried about civilians being killed in Uruzgan province. A committee, subsidized by the Dutch government, is not.

When one at the headquarters of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission in Kabul AIHRC asks about the number of civilian casualties caused by foreign troops in 2009 in “our province” [Uruzgan], one hears of just two incidents. These are not deaths. “In January, three civilians, and five civilians wounded in March,” says director Mohammad Farid Hamidi of the commission, subsidized by the Netherlands.

Shafiq, who is responsible for the AIHRC office in Tarin Kowt [in Uruzgan], also has no fatal incidents recorded. “We cannot say anything about the deaths this year.” According to him, because the incidents occur in a hazardous area and therefore cannot be investigated.

Strange, isn’t it? As Dr. Sher Ahmed, leader of the UN Mission in Afghanistan UNAMA in Tarin Kowt, happens to be “concerned” about the civilian victims of the fighting in Uruzgan. He cites two recent cases. About August 9 a U.S. helicopter opened fire on civilians, who had climbed a hilltop in the Chora district in order to have a better mobile phone connection. At least three people were killed in the bombardment.

About June 11, two cars were fired at by Dutch helicopters in the Chenartu district, 25 kilometer outside Tarin Kowt. Of the fourteen occupants [in the cars] eight died: one child, one woman and six men. Sher Ahmed: “From one family, four people: wife, son, daughter and grandchild.” Four were injured: one child, a woman and two men. “I get no explanation. ISAF does not always share specific information.”

The large discrepancy, eleven civilian deaths to zero, was no reason for the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs to check with the AIHRC. Spokesperson Annelou van Egmond is ’satisfied’ with the work of the committee. The ministry is even considering to prolong the grant “with a limited 25 percent increase until the end of 2009″. Between December 15, 2007 and December 31, 2009 the organization receives over 1.25 million euros. Ms Van Egmond rejects any suggestion of a conflict of interest. “There is no preferential treatment at all.”

Also AIHRC board member Mohammed Farid Hamidi denies that his commission in exchange for Dutch aid keeps silent about civilian deaths in the province. “There is no pressure to minimize cassualty figures. However, The Netherlands are our major donors.”

Limiting official “collateral damage” figures in the Afghan war has two major political advantages. First, it enhances the image of the Netherlands as the lead nation in Uruzgan which respects human rights. Secondly, it is advantageous for President Hamid Karzai, as excessive force by foreign troops undermines his influence.

A poll by The Asia Foundation shows that residents of Uruzgan attribute the responsibility for violence in Uruzgan four times more often to foreign troops than the average Afghan does.

Civilians have reported to De Pers several lethal cases this year. A headmaster in the Khas Uruzgan district said last summer that in the village of Nawa Shalee a Taliban prison had been bombed. Three prisoners died. In June, two Kuchi nomads were killed and a woman died in an early November night on her way to Tarin Kowt. In particular the deployment of aircraft and military helicopters are causing civilian casualties.

The Dutch Socialist Party wants the integrity of the AIHRC to be examined.

NATO has called on allied nations to send more troops to Afghanistan in the run-up to President Barack Obama’s decision on whether to boost the US occupying forces: here.

Afghans say 20 died in NATO airstrike: here.

Fifteen per cent of Afghan army ‘are drug addicts’: here.

USA: Barbara Lee Sponsors Bill to End War in Afghanistan: here.

MoJo Interview: Malalai Joya: here.

Stealing Money, Selling Heroin and Raping Boys — The Very Dark Side of the Afghan Occupation: here.

It is used to wrap kebabs, chips and glistening jalebi sweets, but rarely is Nato’s flagship propaganda newspaper read in Afghanistan. Bundles of Sada-e Azadi — The Voice of Freedom — are sold by the kilogram as scrap in Kabul’s black market bazaars: here.

With the Afghan death toll mounting, Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Foreign Secretary David Miliband have tried desperately to regain support for a war which three-quarters of the British population now oppose: here.

This video says about itself:

ANTI-WAR protesters including veteran actor David Hayman demanded the withdrawal of British troops from Afghanistan yesterday but were moved on from demonstrating outside the US consulate in Edinburgh.

The Scottish Afghan society and Stop the War Coalition staged a protest but were blocked by police and had to stage their press conference further along the street after barriers were put up in front of the consulate general.

Chair of the Scottish Afghan society Mohammad Asif said: We are here to voice our anger at the American authorities. We are here to tell them what is happening in Afghanistan should stop and it should stop today.

The Brown government has ruled out a public inquiry into fresh allegations of abuse by British soldiers in Iraq: here.

Leaked documents reveal No 10 cover-up over Iraq invasion: here.

This video says about itself:

Japans natural aversion to nuclear weapons didnt stop its then Prime Minister, Eisaku Sato, in 1965 from asking the U.S. to be prepared to launch a nuclear strike at communist China, if a major military conflict erupted. Declassification of the nuclear files which state that according to a secret agreement the U.S. will protect Japan with its nuclear arsenal in case of a military conflict with China foul security and economic relations in the Pacific region, says political analyst Maksim Bratersky.

From ddinews in India:

Sunday 22 November, 2009.

Japan to admit secret nuclear pact with US: reports

A Japanese government team has found documents on an alleged secret pact with the United States to transport nuclear weapons through its territory, after decades of official denial, reports revealed on Sunday.

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama’s centre-left government launched a probe into the alleged nuclear pact and other secret agreements with the United States days after it took office in September.

The probe team reported to Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada on Friday that it had discovered documents linked to the pact from among thousands of files at the foreign ministry, the Mainichi Shimbun and Yomiuri Shimbun newspapers reported, citing unnamed ministry sources.

“Foreign minister admits ‘nuclear secret pact’” declared the headline in the Mainichi Shimbun, while the Yomiuri Shimbun echoed: “Government view likely to change — ‘nuclear secret pact’.”

The existence of the agreement has been denied for decades by previous conservative administrations, even though US documents declassified last month showed US officials believed they had an understanding with Japan when the allies signed a new security treaty in 1960.

“The question of black or white will become clear in January. We will clear the burden of previous administrations which had insisted there was no secret pact,” Okada said on Saturday, the newspapers reported.

Okada will set up a committee of experts to examine the documents before announcing the government’s final judgement in January.

This video is called The Real New York City - Insight into Homelessness.

USA: New York City homeless population at an all-time high: here.

Protests continued Friday at university campuses across California in opposition to a 32 percent hike in fees: here.

The recent meeting at Schloss Merseburg between leading representatives of the parties in the German coalition government has set the stage for a redistribution of income and wealth from those at the bottom of society to those at the top: here.

Greek public sector workers on short contracts staged a successful 24-hour national strike last Thursday demanding permanent jobs and full labour rights: here.

By Paddy McGuffin in Britain:

Bagram: A living hell

Friday 20 November 2009

The US military has allowed journalists into its newly expanded secret detention centre at Bagram air base in Afghanistan this week.

The base has been described by campaigners as Guantanamo Bay’s “more evil twin” and the allegations of torture and murder within its secretive walls continue to this day.

The US claims this is proof of its determination to provide greater transparency and openness in its policy of extraordinary rendition and detention without trial.

The claim was somewhat undermined by the fact that the touring journalists had no access to the hundreds of inmates held at the facility.

Omar Deghayes is one man who has personal experience of both Bagram and Guantanamo. He was not impressed by US grandstanding.

He had seen it all before and has strong reason to doubt the announcement of improved conditions at Bagram.

Having suffered hellish torture there himself, he has now discovered that his brother-in-law has been detained at Bagram for the last two months and, if anything, he appears to have been treated even more brutally.

Deghayes was born in Libya in 1969. He was forced to flee the country with his mother and siblings after the torture and murder of his father by the Gadaffi regime.

Arriving in Brighton as a teenager, he went on to study law in Wolverhampton. The family were granted refugee status here in 1987.

In 2002 Deghayes was arrested in Pakistan and was “sold” to the US for a bounty. He was taken first to Bagram and then Guantanamo, where he was imprisoned without trial for five years.

During his time at Guantanamo he was blinded in one eye, which was already damaged since childhood, after guards repeatedly rubbed pepper spray in it.

The only “evidence” against him was a clip from an Islamic propaganda film showing Chechen fighters, one of which the US authorities claimed was him.

It later transpired that the image was not of Deghayes but of an Abu Walid, a Chechan rebel who had been killed some time in 2004.

Deghayes had in fact never been to Chechnya and had always maintained as much.

Speaking to the Morning Star, he gave his opinion on the US press tour of Bagram.

“This is how they manipulate things,” he says.

“I have experienced it personally at Guantanamo. They gave guided tours of the camp like it was a tour of the Himalayas or something.”

In 2002 a group of congressmen were given a guided tour of “Gitmo,” albeit a much sanitised one.

Following his tour of the facility Oklahoma Senator James Inhofe told CNN: “We are giving very good treatment to these people.

“Quite frankly, I personally think better than they deserve. We’re dealing with terrorists here.”

As if to complete the bizarre theme park atmosphere, each congressman was given a souvenir cap, a Guantanamo flag and a DVD of their visit to take home with them.

Select journalists were also given guided tours, reminiscent of this week’s at Bagram.

Human rights lawyer Clive Stafford Smith, who represented Deghayes and many other Guantanamo prisoners, notes in his invaluable book Bad Men that, for one tour, “there was a show block in camp four … there was a show interrogation cell in camp five, designed to make solitary confinement look like a private suite.”

He goes on to say that “various military personnel were wheeled out for interviews about one humanitarian highlight of the prison or another.

“Whenever an inconvenient question might arise, they could shelter politely behind the barricade of institutional security.”

Deghayes agrees. “Those on the tour, the congressmen and reporters were not allowed to meet the prisoners. They were shown all the new facilities and it was like a nice party for them.

“Then they went back and gave glowing reports about how good it all was there,” he says.

“It was only when a whistle-blower told the real story that they became aware of what it was really like.

“The Obama administration is just copying the same policy as Bush. It is the same bureaucrats giving the same camouflage and using the same deceptions.”

Asked what credence he gave to the US claims of improved conditions at Bagram, he stated: “My brother-in-law is in Bagram now.

“He was just picked up a few months ago. He went to visit his in-laws in Afghanistan and they arrested him.

“My sister was finally able to visit him and she said the conditions were even worse than when I was there.

“She said he was in very bad condition. His eyes and face were battered and bleeding. It is worse there now than it ever was.

“They are saying there are all these new facilities, but that is not the issue,” says Deghayes.

“The real issue is that they are subjecting people to brutal and inhuman torture.”

Perhaps the most perfidious aspect to the situation in Bagram is that the US has stated that Afghan nationals held there have no legal rights.

Foreign nationals held there are said to have “some” legal rights, but those imprisoned in their own country by an invading foreign power have none.

The only way to ensure the freedom of those who still suffer torture and indefinite imprisonment is for the people of the US, Britain and elsewhere to continue to campaign and vocally criticise the policy. This is something Deghayes is keen to emphasise.

“When Obama came into power it was under a mandate of closing Guantanamo and stopping these abuses, but he has not done it. He has not come up with any new system,” says Deghayes.

“There is no legal system, no court system in Guantanamo or Bagram.

“Everyone who has been released from either Guantanamo or Bagram has been released due to campaigning and pressure brought on their behalf, not by any legal system or by being found innocent. Many people have been told they should have been released but are still there.

“I know from personal experience that campaigning is the only thing that works and we will continue to campaign for the release of my brother-in-law and all the others.”

Bagram’s brutal record

Bagram air base is located 27 miles north of Kabul and is estimated to house in excess of 600 prisoners. The recent extension will bring the number of prisoners it can hold to over 1,000.

The reason for this extension of the facility is seen by many to indicate an intention to increase US troop numbers and presumably therefore prisoners in the region.

The base was originally used to process prisoners during the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 - part of Operation Enduring Freedom.

But since then Bagram has been filled with detainees held for years without charge, trial or legal rights.

Unlike Guantanamo where, after a hard-fought struggle, US lawyers have been granted access to detainees, those incarcerated in Bagram remain in a legal black hole.

Since 2002 there have been numerous reports of torture and at least two cases of murder.

In one of the worst cases a taxi driver by the name of Dilawar was beaten to death there in December 2002. His body was found to have suffered over 100 savage blows to the legs, apparently for the sadistic amusement of guards.

The autopsy report said that his legs had become “pulpified” and that he had died from blunt force trauma.

Omar Deghayes described his time at Bagram as follows: “Lying on the floor of the compound, all night I would hear the screams of others in the rooms above us as they were tortured and interrogated.

“My number would be called out and I would have to go to the gate. They chained me and put a bag over my head, dragging me off for my own turn.

“They would force me to my knees for questioning and threaten me with more torture.”

This punk music video from Italy is called NOT MY PRESIDENT - KILLER SOUND - NO BERLUSCONI DAY (Original Version).

From AT5 TV in Amsterdam in the Netherlands:

20 November 2009 17:41

5 December anti Berlusconi day

5 December this year will be not just the Sinterklaas holiday, but ‘No Berlusconi Day‘ as well.

The No Berlusconi Day (NBD) committee will have demonstrations in many cities in Italy on 5 December, under the slogan: Save Italy, save democracy. Also on the Leidseplein in Amsterdam on 5 December there will be at 3pm an anti Berlusconi demonstration.

On the network site Facebook in Italy, a mass movement has arisen to demand the dismissal of prime minister Silvio Berlusconi. The initiators, on their web site www.noberlusconiday.org have a page in olandese (Dutch) as well. “We can no langer be passive as a whole country has been held to ransom for over 15 years by someone who feels he owns the government and has an aggressive attitude against all forms of freedom whatever,” they say.

There is a page in English too.