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Sat May 19, 2012 19:45 (en) Hundreds of people are blocking a street in Milano protesting for the eviction of a skyscraper of 32 floors they were occupying. Torre Galfa, near Stazione Centrale, has been taken the 5 of May by Macao, a group of artists, video makers, journalists, immaterial workers to make a new arts center, to strengthen relationships between art and society and protest against abandoned buildings. The tower, quite new, was abandoned since 1996 in a town were many new skyscrapers are built for the Expo 2015 and nobody knows if they will ever be used. For 8 days thousands of people came in Torre Galfa, a huge space freed for performances, lectures, workshops, ideas, and also where everybody restlessly worked to make the place safe and warm. Also academies, universities and intellectuals wanted to get a chance to help the creation of Macao. Macao was experimenting a partecipative process (and is still doing that in the street) that was changing the concept of art and culture, fighting precarious work and uncertainty, protesting for neglected buildings wich are maintained only for finance and capital logics, while people who want to share, create, research, do actions, be critical against the solutions offered to solve the economical crisis, which are far away from the needs of people, are excluded from institutional places.
Sat Mar 24, 2012 00:09 (en) Viewpoint Discrimination and Selective Prosecution at Work in Charges Against Independent Journalists Santa Cruz County District Attorney Bob Lee has embarked on a full frontal assault against independent media in Santa Cruz by including four regular contributors to the independent news website Indybay.org amongst the eleven people charged with multiple felonies and misdemeanors after the occupation of a vacant bank building on November 30th, 2011. District Attorney Lee apparently believes it is his duty to dictate how events such as the occupation of the vacant bank at 75 River Street should be reported on by the media, and if he does not approve of the coverage, then journalists risk the DA bringing charges against them. Read More | Full Press Release from Indybay | En Espańol Pictured: Bradley Stuart Allen and Alex Darocy are Indybay photojournalists and Indybay editors who were reporting on the occupation. More Coverage: KPFA Evening News Speaks with Bradley Stuart Allen | Day Three of "Conspiracy" Frame-Up Hearing | Bogus Attack on Journalists Around November Protest Goes On and On | Preliminary "Conspiracy" Hearing for Two Reporters in the 75 River St. Persecutions | NPPA & Reporters Committee Seek Dismissal of Charges Against Photojournalist Covering Occupy Protest
Indybay Journalists Charged with Felony: Conspiracy to Make MediaViewpoint Discrimination and Selective Prosecution at Work in Charges Against Independent JournalistsSANTA CRUZ, CA ? District Attorney Bob Lee has embarked on a full frontal assault against independent media in Santa Cruz by including four regular contributors to the independent news website Indybay.org amongst the eleven people charged with multiple felonies and misdemeanors after the occupation of a vacant bank building on November 30th, 2011. District Attorney Lee apparently believes it is his duty to dictate how events such as the occupation of the vacant bank at 75 River Street should be reported on by the media, and if he does not approve of the coverage, then journalists risk the DA bringing charges against them. Bradley Stuart Allen and Alex Darocy are Indybay photojournalists and Indybay editors who were reporting on the occupation. No charges nor arrests were made at the time, but warrants were issued over two months later on February 8th, 2012 ? for Bradley, Alex, and nine other individuals. Alex was arrested at his home before he could submit to the surprise warrant. Bradley and Alex were originally charged with felony vandalism, felony conspiracy, and two counts of misdemeanor trespass, but after a three-day preliminary hearing starting March 13th the felony vandalism charge against both was dropped. Alex and Bradley remain out of police custody on their own recognizance.Selective ProsecutionOn the face of it, the misdemeanor trespass charges filed against both Alex and Bradley for documenting the occupation from inside of the building seem in line with a February 8th press release from the DA which declared that the "District Attorney's Office remains committed to enforcing the law." But the DA fails to mention that his office is not committed to enforcing the law consistently and that the charges against Alex and Bradley are clearly a case of selective prosecution. District Attorney Lee knows full well that a staff photographer for the Santa Cruz Sentinel newspaper likewise shot photographs from inside of the occupied bank building, yet Lee has chosen not to file any charges against him. Why would a District Attorney pursue such a selective prosecution?Viewpoint DiscriminationUpon reading court filings and hearing statements made by the District Attorney during the preliminary hearing for Bradley and Alex, it is apparent that District Attorney Lee believes he is entitled to dictate the terms of media coverage in Santa Cruz County. In a brief filed prior to the preliminary hearing, DAs Lee and Rebekah Young wrote this about Alex's and Bradley's coverage of the occupation: "Their postings contain no interviews (or even attempted interviews) with representatives from the police, with the property owners, or with members of the community who might not have been in favor of the group's conduct." This is clearly viewpoint discrimination on the part of the District Attorney. According to Bob Lee's logic, if journalists do not interview police for a story, then somehow those journalists' rights and privileges as members of the media no longer matter.Conspiracy to Make MediaAs for the most serious remaining charge, felony conspiracy, District Attorney Lee has offered absolutely no supporting evidence of a criminal collusion. The DA has not argued that Alex and Bradley had prior knowledge that the building would be occupied. The DA simply asserts that the mere act of newsgathering at an announced demonstration, which turned into an unannounced building occupation, constitutes felony conspiracy to promote trespass and vandalism. In the same preliminary hearing supplemental brief referenced above, the DA wrote: "The defendants' presence and postings... aided and abetted the organization's occupation of the property." From this, District Attorney Lee takes another leap by claiming that Bradley and Alex "effectively serv[ed] as the media arm of the organization; the group's propagandists." The "conspiracy" is nothing more than reporting on a newsworthy event. Ben Rice, who is representing Bradley, states, "As the control of 'news' is increasingly controlled by the '1 percent' we have to stop the government from deciding who or what sources may lawfully provide alternate sides to important stories. At Bradley's preliminary hearing, we presented evidence from expert witnesses that Indymedia and Bradley are legitimate news sources. We provided evidence that Bradley has been using his skill as a photojournalist for ten years to examine many of our world's most perplexing social problems. Bradley's focus on those issues is particularly important because so many of them are ignored by mainstream media. The judge's determination to keep the conspiracy charge alive should give all journalists pause."Free Alex and Bradley! Independent Media Is Not a Crime!The National Press Photographers Association (NPAA) and The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press (RCFP) wrote a Letter Brief addressed to the court seeking dismissal of charges. In a related joint press release, the NPAA and RCFP wrote: "This is just the most recent case where journalists have been interfered with and arrested while covering Occupy Wall Street protests throughout the country. In almost every case, those charges ? ranging from disorderly conduct and obstruction of governmental administration to trespass ? have been dismissed or the defendant journalists have been acquitted." So why is Bob Lee pursuing these charges, at taxpayer expense, unless to unfairly promote one journalistic viewpoint over another by deterring independent journalists from closely reporting on social justice movements as they happen. Stop the harassment and intimidation of independent journalists! Drop the charges against Bradley Stuart Allen and Alex Darocy now! -----------------------------------------------------------------------------... About the Santa Cruz and SF Bay Area Independent Media Centers Santa Cruz Indymedia has been the Independent Media Center (IMC) for the Monterey Bay Area since 2001. In 2006, Santa Cruz IMC became regionally integrated with Indybay.org, the website of the San Francisco Bay Area IMC, itself online since 2000. Together these Northern California IMCs are a non-commercial, democratic collective of independent media makers and media outlets serving as the local organizing unit of the global Indymedia network. For more information and further updates about the case, see: www.indybay.org/mediaconspiracy ### ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Source articles:http://indymedia.us/en/2012/03/49211.shtmlhttp://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2012/03/20/18709755.php
Sat Mar 17, 2012 15:31 (en) Legislation is currently before the Australian Senate to extend the Northern Territory Emergency Response (often called just The Intervention) in 73 aboriginal indigenous communities for another 10 years. The intervention was instituted in 2007 by the conservative Howard Government claiming it was to stop domestic violence and child abuse in indigenous communities. But others like John Pilger claim it was a land grab, about mining or "smashing Aboriginal organisations, demonising Aboriginal people and forcing migration". It arose from the Northern Territory Government Inquiry into the Protection of Aboriginal Children from Sexual Abuse. Investigative journalist John Pilger has debunked the reason for The Intervention with statistics saying in 2010: "Out of 7433 Aboriginal children examined by doctors, 39 were referred to the authorities for suspected abuse. Of those, four possible cases have been identified. In other words, as Professor Alastair Nicholson, a former chief justice of the Family Court, has pointed out, this is no more than the rate of child abuse in white Australia." The Intervention was continued by the Rudd and Gillard Labor Governments. Initially supported by some aboriginal spokespeople, the top down intervention included extra policing in aboriginal communities, compulsory income management, compulsory acquisition of Aboriginal land, the assertion of extensive powers by the Commonwealth Government over Aboriginal communities, and alcohol and pornography restrictions in prescribed areas. It has been widely criticised as being inefficient, ineffective, has failed to delivered jobs to aboriginal people, racially discriminatory, a denial of fundamental human rights, that won't protect children. The initial Intervention legislation in 2007 entailed suspension of the Racial Discrimination Act and was strongly opposed by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission. A 2008 action plan by HREOC to modify the intervention was effectively ignored. In 2009 a United Nations Special Rapporteur on Indigenous Human Rights, James Anaya, criticised Australia finding the Intervention to be a "racially discriminatory treatment of indigenous individuals and communities" and "incompatible with Australia?s human rights obligations" (PDF report | Video News Report). In February 2012 a group of emminent Australians signed a Statement on Aboriginal Rights (PDF) for ending all discriminatory practices and opposing the extension of the Intervention. Recent consultations with aboriginal communities for the extension have been flawed and perfunctory at best, as evidenced by the Senate Hearing at Maningrida 22 February 2012 (Video). Indigenous people and communities in the Northern Territory are fighting for their freedom. Seven leaders from aboriginal communities where the NT Intervention is in place said in January 2012 'Enough is enough' in a video Joint Submission to the Senate Committee (video). Related: Stop the NT Intervention | Stand for Freedom | Stand for Freedom Campaign Video | Senate Report | ANTaR Background info on NT intervention Australia Indymedia Coverage: Stronger futures will kill us: Maningrida | Stand For Freedom on Facebook | Aboriginal Catholic Ministry: Committee report ignores concerns | ANTaR concerned that community support was not obtained | National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Ecumenical Commission: Stronger Futures or stronger policing | Uniting Church disappointed by Senate report
Australian Lawyers Alliance, National President, Greg Barns said in a 14th March media release (PDF) ?This legislation is racist, oppressive and the product of poorly conducted consultations,? and compared it to Apartheid in South Africa or segregation in the USA. In an opinion article in the Sydney Morning Herald he said "In Australia, policy-makers are paying lip service to human rights considerations and repeatedly developing policy that is in breach of international law." The legislation may come under challenge in Australia's High Court. The Senate Committee charged with reviewing the Stronger Futures Bills on 14th March announced in a majority report it supported the passage of the controversial legislation despite widespread community concern about its coercive measures according to the Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation (ANTar) organisation. ?Despite strong public opposition, the Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee last night delivered a majority report which supported passage of the Stronger Futures bills with only minor amendments.? The Greens Senator on the committee issued a minority report urging the Senate to reject NT Intervention Expansion. The campaign against this bill has been gathering momentum. Watch this video here on the Stand for Freedom website. Sign the petition which now has over 30,000 signatures. The Government is deliberately ignoring the consultation process in the form of the Senate Committee where communities such as Maningrida expressed their hostility to the bill. The Nygoongar Embassy in Perth has also rejected the bill instead calling for Australia to Pay the Rent.
Tue Mar 13, 2012 15:15 (en) In a new study marine scientists have warn that the rate of ocean acidification presently occurring is unprecedented in the last 300 million years. This is due to dissolving carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, much of which human activity has contributed over the last 200 years through the use of fossil fuels. The extent and rate of acidification enhances the prospect for a mass marine extinction event this century. Research in paleoclimatology and oceanography has revealed that anthropogenic climate change is driving Ocean Acidification threatening marine ecosystems. Ocean acidification has been called the 'evil twin' of climate change with marine scientists warning climate negotiators in Durban of the necessity for climate mitigation action in December 2011, along with a statement on the IUCN website urging action to cut carbon emissions. New research in November 2011 from Australia's Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre showed the Southern ocean is warming and freshening. Marine scientists warn ocean acidification is already impacting marine food webs which will lead to substantial changes in commercial fish stocks, threatening protein supply and food security for millions of people. The Northwest Oyster Die-off from 2006-2008 in the USA highlights the growing impact on commercial fisheries. The United Nations Environment Program estimates that 3 billion people use fish protein in their diet, with one billion people dependent on subsistence fishing as a primary food source. Related: International Programme on the State of the Ocean (IPSO) | The Ocean in a high CO2 world | Takver: Ocean acidification articles | UNEP report - Environmental Consequences of Ocean Acidification: a threat to Food Security (PDF)
The Earth's oceans act as a great carbon and heat sink which has been good for slowing the presence of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and moderating the greenhouse effect which causes global warming. As Don Beck put it very succinctly in a 2007 post on Sydney Indymedia: Think Not 'Global' Warming - Think 'Oceans' Warming. That is one reason why we have only experienced a 0.8C to 1.0C rise in average global temperatures over the last 100 years - the world's oceans have been soaking up heat and CO2. To slow the process of ocean acidification and ocean warming humans need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and eventually devise technology to draw down and scrubb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere for sequestration (There is some promising research in this area.) The chemical process for how the oceans absorb carbon dioxide are well known. CO2 reacts with seawater to form carbonic acid, which over time is neutralized by marine shelled creatures, corals and small planktonic creatures who form carbonate shells which is eventually sequestered on the sea floor. But when CO2 is absorbed too quickly, carbonate ions are depleted resulting in a reduced capacity for corals, mollusks and plankton to build coral reefs and their carbonate shells. When the smallest creatures start experiencing problems, this causes a rippling effect through the food chain affecting larger predator species. Marine scientists have been warning policy makers for several years of the impact of ocean acidification. An international meeting in Monaco in 2008 issued the Monaco declaration, signed by 150 marine scientists from 26 countries warning that "Ocean acidification could affect marine food webs and lead to substantial changes in commercial fish stocks, threatening protein supply and food security for millions of people as well as the multi-billion dollar fishing industry." ?The chemistry is so fundamental and changes so rapid and severe that impacts on organisms appear unavoidable.? said James Orr of the Marine Environment Laboratories (MEL-IAEA) and chairman of the symposium. ?The questions are now how bad will it be and how soon will it happen." Australian marine scientists issued a consensus statement in 2007 demanding Immediate Action on Greenhouse Gas Emissions and warned that Ocean Acidity Increasing at Faster Rate with Coral Reefs and Ocean Biodiversity threatened by Climate Change. US based Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) produced a 21 minutes video called Acid Test: The Global Challenge of Ocean Acidification in 2009 with actress Sigourney Weaver doing the narration which eloquently explains the extent of the issue and connection with global warming and climate change. At the same link a 2009 lecture by emminent marine chemist DR Andrew Dickson from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego presents Acidic Oceans: Why Should We Care? which explains in more technical detail the problem of ocean acidification. The latest study, released in March 2012, was done by a team of researchers from five countries eho reviewed hundreds of paleoceanographic studies, and found evidence for only one period in the last 300 million years when the oceans changed even remotely as fast as today: the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum, or PETM, some 56 million years ago. During the PETM over a period of about 5000 years there was a surge of carbon dioxide which doubled atmospheric concentrations that resulted in global average temperatures surging up by about 6C. We have already experienced atmospheric CO2 rising about 30 percent, to 393 parts per million in the last 100 years, with ocean pH falling by 0.1 unit, to 8.1. This rate of acidification is 10 times faster than during the PETM event 56 million years ago according to lead author Bärbel Hönisch. Predictions by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) show that pH may fall another 0.3 units to 7.8 by the end of the century which could see a marine mass extinction event similar to those observed during the PETM. We are already starting to see the effects of ocean acidification as it impacts on fisheries and ecosystems.
Ocean acidification impact on fisheriesOcean acidification will impact the economic importance of fisheries, with the people most affected being island and developing countries reliant on subsistence fisheries for protein. A 2010 United Nations Environment Program report on Environmental Consequences of Ocean Acidification: a threat to Food Security (PDF) estimates that 3 billion people use fish protein in their diet, with one billion people dependent on subsistence fishing as a primary food source. "The contribution of marine protein to global food security is substantial. Fish, including shellfish, contribute 15% of animal protein for three billion people worldwide. A further one billion people rely on fisheries for their primary source of protein. Fish are even more important in countries where other protein sources decline seasonally." says the report. Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and UNEP Executive Director, said in a 2010 media release: "Ocean acidification is yet another red flag being raised, carrying planetary health warnings about the uncontrolled growth in greenhouse gas emissions. It is a new and emerging piece in the scientific jigsaw puzzle, but one that is triggering rising concern". "Whether ocean acidification on its own proves to be a major or a minor challenge to the marine environment and its food chain is to date unknown. But the phenomenon comes against a backdrop of already stressed seas and oceans as a result of over-fishing to other forms of environmental degradation. Thus the public might quite rightly ask how many red flags do governments need to see before the message to act gets through," he said at the launch of the report in Cancun in 2010. Many commercial fishermen and aquaculture farmers are already aware of ocean acidification and the threat to their livelihoods and culture. It just requires Government's to impose the necessary regulations to limit and reduce carbon emissions. The National Fisheries Conservation Centre (NFCC) and Sustainable Fisheries Partnership have produced a series of informative videos which highlights the threat to commercial fisheries. Resolving the problem of ocean acidification will not be easy, and may prove insurmountable in the timeframe we have available for taking mitigation action in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. "It's not a problem that can be quickly reversed," said Christopher Langdon, a biological oceanographer at the University of Miami who co-authored the study on Papua New Guinea reefs. "Once a species goes extinct it's gone forever. We're playing a very dangerous game." By the end of this century with business as usual we are likely to hit a similar temperature of 6C of warming similar to that experienced during the PETM event 56 million years ago. We still have global carbon emissions increasing with a Record increase in Greenhouse gas emissions for 2010. Scientists such as James Hansen, Ken Caldeira and Eelco Rohling at December 2011 American Geophysical Union meeting warned about climate sensitivity and that the paleoclimate record points towards potential rapid climate change. Unless we start mitigation action very soon what was done naturally in 5000 years we are doing in about 100 years. Scientists and economists have warned that Carbon Emissions need to peak this decade to meet a 2?°C temperature goal. Even the conservative International Energy Agency (IEA) has warned Bold change of direction needed globally to meet climate commitments. Yet the Durban mandate from last year proposes no significant international action until at least 2020. Read climate policy analyst Mark Lynas description of the outcome of Durban - a major step forward but not for ten years. Richard Feely, an oceanographer at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration who was not involved in the paleoclimate study commented, "These studies give you a sense of the timing involved in past ocean acidification events ? they did not happen quickly. The decisions we make over the next few decades could have significant implications on a geologic timescale." Sources:
Sat Feb 25, 2012 03:53 (en) Kenya Indymedia has reported that on Tuesday, February 21, radio journalist and organizer Stephen Nyash was shot dead in the Korogocho ghetto of Nairobi, where he had lived and worked for most of his life. Korogocho is the third largest slum in the world [1]. At writing, the motive for his murder is not clear. Nyash was one of the founders of KOCH FM [2], a close partner of Kenya Indymedia. He was also a leader in "Koch Hope" and "Ghetto Films," which worked to empower the slumdwellers of Korogocho. He brought this wealth of experience to the fourth IMC-Africa Convergence in Senegal last March as a representative of Kenya Indymedia. He was also integral in organizing a "Conference of People" held in Korogocho to coincide with the Conference of Parties (COP-17) gathering on climate change. Fellow organizer John Bwakali writes, "From the moment that he knew about Kenya Indymedia, Nyash became not just an active participant but fellow leader of the movement? Upon return [from Senegal], he immersed himself into the vision and work of Kenya Indymedia." Read John's Full Reflection HERE [3] and his audio interview with Nyash [4] on the fight against State injustices. To our knowledge, Nyash is the third Indymedia worker to be killed. On June 29th, 2004, 23-year old Lenin Cali Najera of Indymedia Guayaquil in Ecuador was assassinated by agents of the Ecuadorian government [5, 6]. On October 27, 2006 Bradley Roland Will of New York City Indymedia was assassinated by paramilitary forces of the Mexican government while documenting the on-going struggle of the people of Oaxaca. [7, 8] Nyash will be buried on 3 March 2012. He is survived by his wife, three year old daughter, ten year old son and mother. Kenya Indymedia is accepting donations for burial expenses and the family's needs, and plans to set up a fund to continue his work toward justice for the oppressed particularly in the slums; peace at the community level and economic empowerment and protection of young people. For the short term, donations can be sent via paypal to fagim564@newschool.edu.
Wed Feb 22, 2012 09:21 (en) Thousands of people marched in the street in Italy on 18 february 2012, protesting against the arrest of 26 people who participated in the big demostrantions held in june and july against Tav project, the high speed train from Turin to Lion, which will cross Val Susa, Italy. No Tav has been protesting since 2003 against a train line which will cost a lot, is an environmental disaster, and is not useful because other lines are available, and only bolsters the builders business. Far from being a 'Not In My Backyard' (NIMBY) protest, Val di Susa invloves young, old people, families, even the mayors of the surrounding towns. And is shared by many people all over Italy. On 3rd july 60 thousand people, coming from all over Italy, marched to prevent the start of works and hinder the european founding previewed for the first tunnel. On 25th February there will be a national demonstration in Bussoleno, Val Susa, Italy. More Information: No Tav | Italia Indymedia
Wed Feb 15, 2012 00:50 (en) A new unprovoked military move by the US and its imperialist allies against Iran has escalated tension in the region and has brought us much closer the possibility of war than ever before. A US armada of military ships and submarines has recently entered the Persian Gulf with the clear intent to disrupt the present global and regional military and diplomatic equilibrium [1]; the dynamic was already very unsteady ? and this move is obviously NOT a step toward Peace. The insertion of these tremendous military forces has sent Iran into a state of emergency and activated its shoreline artillery and missile radar defenses. Full Article by Cyprus Indymedia: Realities about Iran; the Empire Threatens War | Related from Philly IMC: So, how?s the anti-war movement doing? Several actions around the world opposed this threat by the US government to support the Campaign Against Sanctions and Military Intervention in Iran (CASMII): Washington, DC | New York City, NY | Boston, MA | Rogue Valley, OR | Portland, OR
Samad Enayat - Mon Oct 10, 2011 15:13 (en) Yesterday in Kabul the Solidarity Party of Afghanistan held a protest against the 10th anniversary of occupation of Afghanistan by USA. Below is a Statement and some pictures. Please publish them in Independent Media Center so peace loving and anti-war activists around the world know that people of Afghanistan also fight against occupation their county and for peace and democracy.
Sun Apr 03, 2011 01:11 (en) The European Collectives Nodo Solidale (Italy), Zapatista ?Marisol? Collective of Lugano (Switzerland), and Nomads of XM24 (Italy), which make up the Internationalist Platform for Resistance and Self-Initiative Weaving Autonomies (PIRATA), organized a brigade for the observation of the violation of the rights of native peoples in the municipality of Santiago Xanica, Oaxaca, México, in which activists from France and the Spanish State also participated. The brigade traveled through the municipality from March 14 to March 21, 2011. The task that the International Brigade set for itself has been to listen, understand, relate, and make public what is happening in the community of Santiago Xanica. In recent months the townspeople of Xanica have been denouncing outrageous violations and abuses by PRI party members and power groups against the local Committee in Defense of Indigenous Rights (CODEDI Xanica), Adherent to the Sixth Declaration of the Lacandon Jungle, and against the general population. Report on the Situation in Santiago Xanica, Oaxaca | Espańol: Informe sobre la situación en Santiago Xanica, Oaxaca
Tue Mar 22, 2011 04:03 (en) On March 1st, uniformed members of the vigilante group Civil Guard (Szebb Jöv?ért Polgár?r Egyesület), an offshoot of the dreaded Magyar Garda, took control of a Romani neighbourhood in the village of Gyöngyöspata. They set up two checkpoints at the entrance to the neighbourhood and formed a human chain around the houses of Romani residents. The Civil Guard are supported by the right-wing Jobbik party, and now intend to set up chapters in other towns in Hungary, to expand their patrols.
The European Roma Rights Centre, Amnesty International and Human Rights First sent a letter [PDF] urging Hungarian authorities to intervene and protect the Romani residents of Gyöngyöspata from the intimidation and harassment they have been subjected to by the vigilante organisation, Szebb Jöv?ért Polgár?r Egyesület (Civil Guard Association for a Better Future), since 1 March. The Szebb Jöv?ért Polgár?r Egyesület patrols have been supported by the far-right political party Jobbik, which organised a march of thousands through the village in black military uniform on 6 March. According to the ERRC?s monitoring, there were at least 48 attacks against Roma in Hungary between 2008 and 2010, which resulted in at least 9 deaths. The presence of anti-Roma vigilante groups in Roma neighbourhoods adds to growing inter-ethnic tensions and fuels a climate of violence. The ERRC called for Hungarian authorities to fulfil their domestic and international human rights obligations in Gyöngyöspata, to intervene immediately to ensure the situation does not escalate into physical violence and to protect the Roma from intimidation and harassment. |
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