Medea Benjamin's Blog, page 8

Letters from Iraqi mothers on this Mother’s Day!

عيد امهات سعيد ..اعذريني ايتها الام الامريكية اهنئك وفي عيناي دمعتان الاولى على ابني الذي استشهد في الحرب والثانية على ابني الاخر لانه في المعتقل .. كنت اتمنى ان اهنئك وانا زاهية .. مثلما كان بلدي . مطمئنة ..مثلما كانت بغداد تغرد بضحكات اطفالها ..واصوات هدير الحمام وهي تحلق فوق النخيل ..كنت اتمنى ان احتفل بك بعيد الامهات في بلدي قبل ان ينتهك ويتدمر  ويعم الخوف فيه  . اكرر لك تهنئتي تقبليها من عيون كحيلة سوداء حنونة عراقية  كل عيد امهات وانتم بخير

Happy Mothers Day. Forgive me, American Mother, for I greet you on your day with two tears in my eyes—one for the son I lost in the war, and the other for my second son, who is in prison. I wish I could greet you at a brighter moment of my life, like how my country was before the invasion. I wish I could greet you from a place that is safe, like Baghdad was before, lively with the laughter of children and the songs of doves as they flew over the palm trees. I wish I could have celebrated with you in my country before it was shattered with violence and blanketed in fear.

I send you greetings from a loving, compassionate Iraqi mother whose eyes are swollen with grief. – (Mother didn’t want to share her name)

سأضيف: أني أودع أوﻻدي بخوف وهم ذاهبون الى المدرسة. .وأحيانا ﻻأجد مكانا أمنا لنقضي فية نهار أجازتنا..وأذا تأخر  زوجي  عن موعد عودته الى البيت قلقنا وتركنا كل ما نعملة لحين عودتة..اﻷمان صار عندنا حسرة..واﻻرهاب بكثرة..

أسيل ابراهيم الموسوي

Everyday I send my children off to school with fear, and sometimes I can’t find a safe place for us to rest or enjoy a break. If my husband takes too long to return home, we become so worried that we drop everything we are doing so we can wait by the door until he arrives home safe. Safety has become a wish we long for, and terrorism lies everywhere. Aseel Ibrahim Al Mousawi, University Professor

اختي اﻻم اﻻمريكية فنحن اخوات في اﻻنسانية واﻻمومة مرت بنا ظروف فرضتها علينا سياسة حكومتكم تحت ذرائع ومسميات شتى لتبرير غزوها لبلدنا والذي مر بنا كامهات اثناء وبعد الغزو ونتائج الغزو ان هنالك مئات اﻻلوف من اوﻻدنا قتلوا فقد فتح باب الشر على مصراعيه واثيرت امور لم تكن في السابق ومنها الطائفية والفساد والخطف والاحقاد الشخصية نرجو من الله ان ﻻتمروا بها ولن تنسى اﻻم العراقية وﻻ التاريخ ماقامت به حكومتكم  تجاه بلدنا بدون مبرر سوى طمعا بخيرات بلدنا وطمس هوية

وسيادة بلدنا والسﻻم عليكم.مي الشربتي

أستاذالشربتي

My sister, American Mother. I say sister because we are sisters in humanity and we both lived through hard times imposed on us by your government under many false perceptions to justify its invasion of my country. What we lived through as mothers during and after this invasion took the lives of hundreds of thousands of our children, and left the door wide open for all sorts of evil. It caused problems that we never expected, such as sectarianism, corruption, kidnappings and targeted killing of innocent people. We pray to God that you don’t have to go through such pain, and we hope that you, and history, will never forget what your government did to our country for no reason but to destroy it and exploit its resources.

In peace. May Al Sharbati

أقول لها هل جربت انت تفقدي أولادك بمفخخه اوقناص. كل هذا بسبب حربكم على العراق التي جلبت لنا الطائفيه والارهاب كنا بلد امن وانتم.

من خرب بللدي.نضال الجبوري

To the American Mother I say: Have you ever lost your children to an explosion or saw them shot by a sniper? We lost many of our children because of your war that brought us sectarian division and terrorism. We were a safe country and you took that away! Nedhal Al Jeboury

 

 

 

 

احتجاج امام وزارة الخارجية لللإفراج عن المصري الأمريكي محمد سلطان وتوقف الولايات المتحدة عن المساعدات العسكرية لمصر:

(واشنطن العاصمة NW،2201 C المكان : أمام وزارة الخارجية الأمريكية ( شارع
 التوقيت : 12:00 ظهرا، الثلاثاء 6 مايو، 2014
“بصريا : لافتات ضد نشطاء مساندين للمساعدات العسكرية لمصر، وأقنعة تحمل وجه سلطان، ولافتات حول االرقبة تحمل عبارة “أنا محمد سلطا
تنظم منظمة كود بينك بواشنطن ومنظمة الأميركيين المصريين من أجل الديمقراطية وحقوق الإنسان احتجاجا أمام وزارة الخارجية ظهر يوم الثلاثاء 6 مايو. 2014. و سوف يقوم الناشطين بدعوة حكومة الولايات المتحدة منع المساعدات العسكرية لمصر والتي  تم ايقافها بعد الانقلاب وايضا لمساعدة محمد سلطان المصري الأمريكي و اللذي تم كتابة لمحة عنه مؤخرا في صحيفة واشنطن بوست.
سلطان سيكون في اليوم  100من الإضراب جوعا في أحد السجون المصرية  وقد فشلت وزارة الخارجية الأمريكية تقديم المساعدة  له حيث لم توجه إليه تهمة ارتكاب ا ي جريمة.
الآن مع إضرابه عن الطعام  لفترات طويلة، حياته معرضة للخطروقد صرح عمر سلطان شقيقه :”أسرتنا تشعر بقلق بالغ إزاء مستوى الإهمال الطبي اللتي يواجهها محمد في السجون المصرية، والظروف الغير إنسانية المتحفظ بها.، وإهمال الحكومة الأميركية”. كما يضيف. ” أخي يعمل في الصحافة المدنية، وهذه ليست جريمة، ولكن محمد يدفع حياته ثمنا لايمانه في القيم الأمريكية اللتي تدعو الى الديمقراطية وحرية التعبير”. وقد تم تأجيل  محاكمة سلطان مرارا وتكرارا ولايوجد اي تاريخ محدد لمثوله امام المحكمة.
منذ إسقاط حكومة مرسي في تموز عام 2013، وقتل الجيش المصري لأكثر من 1،000 شخص وسجن أكثر من 20،000 يتضح أن اعتقال سلطان يعود الى دوافع سياسية. وعلى الرغم من هذه التجاوزات الواضحة لحقوق الإنسان، استمرت الولايات المتحدة في إرسال مروحيات أباتشي إلى الجيش المصري و كيري يحضر للاستئناف 650 مليون دولار في شكل مساعدات عسكرية.
تصرح ماديا بنجامين مؤسسة كود بينك “إنه لأمر شائن أن أموال دافعي الضرائب الأمريكية يتم إرسالها إلى الحكومة المصرية الغير شرعية واللتي أنشأها الانقلاب” كم تضيف “يتعين على الولايات المتحدة
“أن توقف فورا كل المساعدات لمصر حتى يتم اشاء نظام ديمقراطي حقيقي
 Show message history

 

Costa Rican Lawyer Roberto Zamorra Crusades for the Right to Peace

by Medea Benjamin

Sometimes it just takes one person with a creative mind to shake up the entire legal system. In the case of Costa Rica, that person is Luis Roberto Zamorra Bolaños, who was just a law student when he challenged the legality of his government’s support for George Bush’s invasion of Iraq. He took the case all the way up to the Costa Rican Supreme Court—and won.

Today a practicing lawyer, Zamorra at 33 still looks like a wiry college student. And he continues to think outside the box and find creative ways to use the courts to fuel his passion for peace and human rights.

During my recent visit to Costa Rica, I got a chance to interview this maverick attorney about his past victories, and his brilliant new idea to seek compensation for Iraqis.

Let’s start out recalling the key moment in Costa Rica’s pacifist history.

That was 1948, when Costa Rican President Jose Figueras declared that the nation’s military would be abolished, a move that was ratified the following year by the Constituent Assembly. Figueras even took a sledgehammer and smashed one of the walls of the military headquarters, announcing that it would be turned into a national museum and that the military budget would be redirected toward healthcare and education. Since then, Costa Rica has become renowned for its peaceful and unarmed neutrality in foreign affairs.

So fast forward and here you are in law school, in 2003, and your government  joined George Bush’s “Coalition of the Willing”—a group of 49 countries that gave their stamp of approval for the invasion of Iraq. On The Daily Show, Jon Stewart joked that Costa Rica contributed “bomb-sniffing toucans.” In reality, Costa Rica didn’t contribute anything; it simply added its name.  But that was enough to get you so upset that you decided to take your government to court?

Yes. Bush told the world that this was going to be a war for peace, democracy and human rights. But he couldn’t get a UN mandate, so he had to create a coalition to make it look like the invasion had global support. That’s why he pushed so many countries to join. Costa Rica—precisely because it abolished its military and has a history of peace—was an important country to have on his side to show moral authority. Costa Rica is listened to when it speaks at the UN. So in this sense, Costa Rica was an important partner.

When President Pacheco announced that Costa Rica had joined this coalition, the vast majority of Costa Ricans were opposed. I was really upset about our involvement, but I was also upset that my friends didn’t think we could anything about it.  When I proposed suing the president, they thought I was crazy.

But I went ahead anyway, and after I filed a lawsuit, the Costa Rica Bar Association filed a suit; the Ombudsman filed a suit—and they were all combined with mine.

When the ruling came out in our favor in September 2004, a year and a half after I filed, there was a sense of relief among the public. President Pacheco was depressed because he’s really a nice guy who loves our culture and he probably thought, “Why did I do this?” He even considered resigning over this, but he didn’t because so many people asked him not to.

On what basis did the court rule in your favor?

One of the most significant things about this ruling was that it recognized the binding character of the UN Charter. The court ruled that since Costa Rica is a member of the United Nations, we are under the obligation to follow its proceedings and since the UN never authorized the invasion, Costa Rica did not have the right to support it. I can’t think of another case in which the Supreme Court has annulled a government decision because it violates the UN charter.

The ruling was also extremely significant because the court said that the support for the invasion contradicted a fundamental principle of “the Costa Rican identity,” which is peace. This makes us the first country in the world to recognize the right to peace, something that was made even more explicit in another case that I won in 2008.

Can you tell us about that case?

In 2008 I challenged a decree by President Oscar Arias that authorized the extraction of thorium and uranium, nuclear fuel development and the manufacture of nuclear reactors “for all purposes.” In that case I again claimed a violation of the right to peace. The court annulled the president’s decree, explicitly recognizing the existence of a right to peace.  This means the State must not only promote peace, but must refrain from authorizing war-related activities, like the production, export or import of items intended to be used in a war.

So this meant that companies like Raytheon, which had purchased land here and intended to set up shop, is now not operational.

What are some of the other lawsuits you’ve filed?

Oh, many of them. I filed a case against President Oscar Arias (the Nobel Peace prize winner) for authorizing the police to use military weapons against demonstrators. This case also went all the way to the Supreme Court and won.

I sued the government for signing the Central America Free Trade Agreement, CAFTA, which includes weapons forbidden in Costa Rica. I sued the government twice for allowing the U.S. military, under the pretext of the war on drugs, to play war games on our sovereign land as if they were a game of chess. Our government gives 6-month permits for up to 46 military vessels to dock in our ports, with over 12,000 troops and equipped with 180 Blackhawk helicopters, 10 Harrier II airfighters, machine guns and rockets. Everything on the approved list of ships, aircraft, helicopters and troops is designed and intended to be used in a war—a clear violation of our Right to Peace. But the court has not heard this case.

A big problem for me is that now the Supreme Court is not taking any more of my cases. I have filed 10 cases with the Supreme Court that got rejected; I have filed suits against Costa Rican police training at the infamous US military School of the Americas. This case has been pending for over 2 years. When the Court finds it difficult to reject one of my cases, they delay and delay. So I have to file suit against the court for delaying, and then they reject both cases.

I realize that I can’t use my name to file anymore, or even my writing style because they know my writing.

At an international gathering in Brussels in April marking the 11th anniversary of the US invasion of Iraq, you came up with another brilliant idea. Can you tell us about it?

I was in town for another meeting of international lawyers, but the Iraq Commission organizers found out and asked me to speak. There was a brainstorming meeting afterwards and people were bemoaning the fact that the US does not follow international law, that it isn’t party to the International Criminal Court, that it will not hear cases related to reparations for Iraqis.

I said, “If I may, the Coalition of the Willing that invaded Iraq was not just the United States. There were 48 countries. If the US is not going to compensate Iraqis, why don’t we sue the other members of the coalition?”

If you were able to win a case on behalf of an Iraqi victim in the Costa Rican courts, what level of compensation do you think you could win? And then wouldn’t there be another case and another case?

I could imagine winning perhaps a few hundred thousand dollars. Perhaps if we could win one case in Costa Rica, we could start the lawsuits in other countries. I certainly don’t want to bankrupt Costa Rica with case after case. But we have to look at how to seek justice for Iraqis, and how to prevent this sort of coalition from forming again. It’s worth a try.

Do you think there is something that we could be doing in court to challenge drone killings?

Certainly. I think the people pressing the kill button should be held personally responsible for criminal acts because the drone is an extension of their body, used to perform actions they cannot do personally.

There is also the fact that if an innocent person gets killed or hurt by a US drone in Afghanistan, the family is entitled to compensation from the US military. But that same family in Pakistan would not be compensated because the killing is done by the CIA. Can you see some legal challenge there?

Victims of the same unlawful act should get the same treatment; I would think there would be a way to hold the government liable, but I don’t know enough about US law.

Have you had personal repercussions for taking on such sensitive issues?

I have friends in the phone company who told me I was being tapped. But I don’t really care. What can they do if I talk on the phone about filing a suit?

Yes, you have to take risks, but you can’t be afraid of the consequences. The worst thing that can happen is that you get shot. (He laughs.)

Why don’t more lawyers around the world challenge their governments in the creative ways you do?

Lack of imagination perhaps? I don’t know.

I am surprised that so many good lawyers oftentimes just don’t see the obvious. I encourage students to be creative, to use international law domestically. It’s weird because nothing I’ve done has been extraordinary. These are not really great ideas. They are just a bit different, and instead of just talking about them, I move them forward.

I also encourage students to study a second profession so they start thinking differently. I studied computer engineering as my second major; it taught me to be ordered and structured in my thinking.

I would have guessed that if you had a second major, it would have been something like political science or sociology.

No. As a computer programmer you have to be totally focused–structured, ordered and deep. That is very helpful in the legal world. At law school students would hate to debate me. They’d try to move the discussion off track, to veer into a side issue, and I would always bring them right back to the core theme. That comes from my training as a computer engineer.

I suppose another consequence of your work for peace is that you don’t make much money.

Look at me [he laughs]. I’m 33 years old and I live with my parents. That’s how wealthy I am after 9 years of practice. I live simply. The only things I have are a car and three dogs.

I prefer to work by myself–no firm, no partners, no strings. I am a trial lawyer and make some money with individual clients, including labor unions. I make about $30,000 a year. I use it to live on, to try cases pro bono at the Inter-American Commission and to pay for international trips, like going to peace forums, world forums, disarmament conferences or the trip I made to Gaza. Sometimes I get assistance from the International Association of Democratic Lawyers.

I love my job because I do what I want to do; I take on the cases I am passionate about. I am fighting for my country and for my personal freedom. I don’t think of this work as a sacrifice but as a duty. If we want peace to be a fundamental right, then we have to institutionalize it—and protect it.

 

Medea Benjamin is cofounder of the peace group  www.codepink.org  and the human rights group  www.globalexchange.org . She was in Costa Rica with retired Colonel Ann Wright at the invitation of the Friends Peace Center to speak about her book  Drone Warfare: Killing by Remote Control .

…كان زفافا جميلا الى ان

 

 

 

 

Yesterday was a beautiful day for a wedding party at the White House. Has gathered all of the bride and groom young men and their families and friends, and was fond of the couple and my dream of a promising future. The family was proud of them and their friends for their wedding and excited to see them standing at the altar. Everything was beautiful, and no one is aware of what would have happened and what was Bntzarhm later. Where did Chubb concert was flawless each individual in turn. Finished the ceremony and exchange of all of the groom and the bride kisses and starting to go down the aisle applauded prohibitions smiling joyfully.

suddenly louder noise at the top.’ve attended Guest heavy and unwelcome, it’s a plane robotic American bear gift did not want one of those based in the wedding and in moments bomb hit the place thus ending the lives of both the bride and groom and their families and most of their families and friends. .

This is the case when it hit the plane without a stream of deadly party wedding and unfortunately, the events of this story is realistic, and this is the reality of the United States is received and kill civilian aircraft without Ttiyaralqatlh.

‘ve blown state USA weddings and even funerals in places like Yemen, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq.

will never forget those innocent lives which Zhguetha aircraft without deadly stream. Stop these deadly planes now

Inspiration for Your Friday

By Janet Weil

In a world filled with sinister news about wars and surveillance, who doesn’t need a good belly laugh?

Retired US Army Colonel and diplomat Ann Wright, a longtime CODEPINK advisor, ripped into the Senate’s deal with the Director of National Intelligence (now there’s a title just screaming for satire!) to keep secret the information on victims of US drone strikes around the world.

“In a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on April 28, Clapper urged the committee to drop language about those killed in drone strikes — and the committee obediently did so.”

Colonel Wright correctly identified this craven complicity of the committee chaired by Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein as “Infectious CLAP” and calls on citizens to provide a “cure” with “a mega-injection of truth and transparency.” I laughed out loud at her “diagnosis.”

And it’s pretty funny that while Obama is lamenting how Snowden’s revelations have hurt his personal relationship with his good friend German PM Angela Merkel, Ed Snowden spoke via videoconference at the SXSW Festival in early April and has just received the distinguished Ridenhour Truth-Teller Prize, along with journalist Laura Poitras. The former Booz Allen contractor, who looks like a hipster from Central Casting and speaks in the voice of cool reason, has become, from his exile in Russia, a world-renowned expert on state surveillance –and what individuals, organizations and national governments can do about it. Snowden may have (temporarily?) had his US passport taken away with no due process, but he has gained something else that Clapper long ago lost: trust.

Then there’s the vigorous pushback by students at the University of Minnesota and at Rutgers University against Condoleeza Rice getting paid as a commencement speaker. #norice became a hot hashtag on twitter, and Rutgers students, not just protesting her speech but trying to prevent it conducted a campus sit-in with no food, water or bathroom breaks for 6 hours to demand that Rice’s invitation to speak and honorary degree – in Laws, no less! — be revoked.

Civilians killed in US drone strikes, mass surveillance and data collection with our tax dollars and without our constitutional protections, and war criminals getting big bucks as college graduation speakers: it’s all grim and disgusting, but people can – and do! – say something when they see something, to flip the tired old Dept of Homeland Security slogan.

You can, too. Here are some tips to get you started:  http://www.codepink.org/section.php?id=76

Activism is the response of a vigorous political “immune system,” and laughter is part of its medicine.

The Yes Men Stage a “Second Thanksgiving” –– And People are Totally Into It

Cayman Kai and Alli McCracken

Cayman Kai and Alli McCracken of CODEPINK DC pictured with Yes Men Andy Bichelbaum (top) and Mike Bonnano (bottom).

The CODEPINK DC crew was lucky to join the brilliant Yes Men team for their latest action, and this time they tricked the Department of Homeland Security. It’s been a while since we teamed up with them back in 2008 to publish the famous Special Edition of the New York Times, which fooled people across the country but gave the public a glimpse of what the world could really look like one day.

 

This action was meant to bring attention to the pressing issue of climate change and to underline the fact it is necessary–– and entirely possible–– to switch from fossil fuels to renewable energy. It was only one part of the growing movement to bring climate change to a screeching halt; last week in DC the Cowboy and Indian Alliance teamed up with 350.org and other organizations to host Reject and Protect, a week-long series of actions to protest the Keystone XL Pipeline that poses a major threat to the environment and promotes greater dependency on fossil fuels.

 

Is it really possible to meet 100% of our energy needs with renewable sources? Denmark thinks so. The Danish government recently announced a plan to meet 70% of its energy needs with renewables by 2020 and 100% by 2050. The Yes Men’s plan for American energy sources can indeed be a reality.

The action was an overwhelming success–– below is an excellent write-up from our friends Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers from Popular Resistance. Check it out, and be sure to watch clips of the action and an interview with Mike and Andy of the Yes Men on this Democracy Now segment! We’re definitely inspired –– and hope you will be too!!

-Alli and Cayman

Corporate Contractors Dance For New Energy Project
By Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers
Security bigwigs applaud plan for renewable energy revolution

Contractors, lobbyists and officials attending the Homeland Security Congress in Washington DC yesterday did a “traditional” Native American circle dance to celebrate a fictitious new US government plan, the “American Renewable Clean-Energy Network” (AmeriCAN), to convert the US to 100% renewable energy by 2030. (Photos here; other material here.)

 

The conference attendees—including a retired Navy Admiral, a retired USAF General, a former Seal Team Seven leader, an aspiring Republican Congressman, lobbyists, and many homeland security contractors—applauded frequently during the stirring announcement by the US Department of Energy’s “Benedict Waterman” (actually Andy Bichlbaum of the Yes Men), as well as the eloquent speech by “Bana Slowhorse” of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (actually Gitz Crazyboy, a youth worker from the Athabascan Chippewyan First Nations, whose land includes the Alberta Tar Sands).

Yes Men’s Andy Bichlbaum announcing AmerICan energy in the role of the Department of Energy spokesperson Benedict Waterman

 

“Benedict Waterman”—a crazy-haired, bespectacled official supposedly from the U.S. Department of Energy—announces a revolutionary new energy plan to convert the U.S. power grid to entirely renewable sources by the year 2030, and give ownership of the new power-generation facilities to those on whose land they’re built—from Native American nations (thus serving as reparations for genocide) to anyone who puts a solar panel on his or her roof.

Slide showing the join project of Department of Energy, Department of Defense and Bureau of Indian Affairs, the AmeriCAN clean energy plan: Operation Second Thanks

 

The plan, “Waterman” announces, AmeriCAN (American Renewable-Clean Energy Network), will give us independence from the fossil fuel companies who are leading us to ruin, and will additionally create millions of jobs, eventually save half a trillion per year on health care costs, result in lower energy costs and greater price stability, and—bonus!—give our civilization a chance of surviving well into the future. (One such plan is described in some detail here.)

Why must we do this? There are several reasons, “Waterman” explains, but one of the main ones is that if we don’t, there will be revolution. The message is clear: it’s up to all of us, every citizen, to force our government to do the right thing. Magic solutions will never come from anywhere on high—not from government, and certainly not from the “market.” A survivable, happy future will only happen if all of us get active and do what we can, in whatever we can, to force our leaders to truly represent us. We are all the Department of Energy!

Slide showing some of the benefits of the clean energy plan: AmeriCAN

“Waterman’s” energy plan would redirect oil company tax breaks and subsidies to support renewables instead; commit “Manhattan Project-level” Defense spending to renewables in order to prevent future climate-change-related conflicts; and partner with Native American nations whose lands could provide all of our renewable energy needs.

Yes Men’s Andy Bichlbaum speaking to packed house at Department of Homeland Security Conference

 

The plan, based on a number of sources including Stanford’s Solutions Project (FAQ here), would produce nearly 8 million jobs; save $530 billion per year in health-care costs alone; result in much lower eventual fuel costs and greater price stability; and provide much greater energy security. It would also reduce the risk of the climate change effects that are projected to cost the US at least $2 trillion per year by 2100 if nothing is done to address it.

Kymone Freeman of We Act Radio played a security guard from Academi, formerly Xe and before that Blackwater, for General Colin Powell who the audience was told was coming to the conference as he had just been appointed to head Obama’s Energy Security Task Force.

Best of all, “Waterman” said, the plan would make a survivable future more likely. He also said that the government was enacting this plan because people are increasingly upset about climate change, and that if we don’t take revolutionary action today, there could be a real revolution tomorrow. The conference attendees applauded this statement too.

 

The fake DoE announcement was followed by a stirring speech by “Bana Slowhorse” of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (actually Gitz Crazyboy, a youth worker from the Athabascan Chippewyan First Nations, whose land includes the Alberta Tar Sands). “Bana’s” speech concluded: “We are all the Department of Energy.”

 

After the announcement all attendees including representatives of the Department of Homeland Security and corporate contractors then danced a “traditional celebratory circle dance” to the singing of “Drum Chief Four Feathers” (actually Tito Ybarra, an Ojibwe comedian and singer) celebrating renewable energy.

 

After the event, two dozen contractors lined up to hand “Waterman” and “Slowhorse” their cards and offer their services in carrying out the conversion.

Homeland Security and corporate contractors participate in circle dance to celebrate new energy plan

Margaret Flowers and Kevin Zeese of Popular Resistance join in circle dance with representative of corporate contractor

Homeland Security contractors dancing, person in uniform is Matt Howard of Iraq Veterans Against the War.

The action was intended to spread two messages: first, that a complete renewables conversion is indeed possible today, with our current technology; and second, that it will only happen if millions of people take action to force our leaders to truly represent us.

Gitz Crazyboy , Andy Bichlbaum and Mike Bonnanno ( of the Yes Men playing a representative of a public relations firm for General Colin Powell who the audience was told chaired a task force on the new energy program) take questions from the audience

Besides the Yes Men, Crazyboy, and Ybarra, there were many participants in this project, including members of the Black Mesa Water Coalition, Idle No More, Yansa.org, Iraq Veterans Against the War, Greenpeace, Popular Resistance, We Act Radio, It’s Our Economy, Veterans For Peace and CODEPINK. And, of course, the conference attendees.

 

Arrest or Prosecute Bush on Arrival to Canada, states Lawyers!

From Lawyers Against War:

G.W. Bush and Canada defy the law – BUSH TO VISIT TORONTO

George W. Bush plans to come to Toronto next month in defiance of the United Nations Committee against Torture report that Canada’s duty to prosecute foreign nationals suspected of torture applies to everyone entering Canada however temporarily. see advert below.

PLEASE LET OTHERS KNOW THAT CANADA HAS THE DUTY UNDER THE CONVENTION AGAINST TORTURE TO EITHER BAR BUSH FROM CANADA OR ARREST AND PROSECUTE HIM ON ARRIVAL.

Prior to 2012 Canadian officials took the position that Canada’s duty (under the Convention against Torture, the Criminal Code of Canada and the Crimes against Humanity and War Crimes Act) to arrest and prosecute OR to extradite for prosecution any foreign national suspected of torture upon entry to Canada, applied only to suspects living in Canada and not to those—such as G.W. Bush—visiting temporarily. In 2012 the Committee against Torture ruled that Canada has a duty to exercise its criminal jurisdiction over EVERY torture suspect including those temporarily in Canada. (See recommendations) Concluding Observations of the Committee against Torture Canada, June 2012. http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cat/docs/CAT.C.CAN.CO.6.doc

The Committee made this ruling in response to submissions from Lawyers against the War (LAW) and the Canadian Centre for International Justice (CCIJ) that Canada was violating the Convention against Torture by giving safe haven from prosecution to G. W. Bush. The UN Committee against Torture agreed and ruled that.

LAW - Canada’s Failure to Bar or Prosecute George W. Bush for Torture

http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CAT/Shared%20Documents/CAN/INT_CAT_NGO_CAN_48_8248_E.pdf

o        CCIJ – The State Immunity Act and Canada’s Failure to Fulfill Its Obligations under the Convention Against Torture

http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CAT/Shared%20Documents/CAN/INT_CAT_NGO_CAN_48_8252_E.pdf

14. The Committee recommends that the State party take all necessary measures with a view to ensuring the exercise of the universal jurisdiction over persons responsible for acts of torture, including foreign perpetrators who are temporarily present in Canada, in accordance with article 5 of the Convention. The State party should enhance its efforts, including through increased resources, to ensure that the “no safe haven” policy prioritizes criminal or extradition proceedings over deportation and removal under immigration processes.

29.   The Committee requests the State party to provide, by 1 June 2013, follow-up information in response to the Committee’s recommendations related to: (a) ensuring or strengthening legal safeguards for detainees; (b) conducting, prompt, impartial and effective investigations; and (c) prosecuting suspects and sanctioning perpetrators of torture or ill-treatment, as contained in paragraphs 12, 13, 16 and 17 of the present document.

https://secure.fswc.ca/HomeSOH-2014.aspx [image error]

Inspiration For Your Friday

by Janet Weil

 

One of the ways people quickly spead a message these days is to share an image on social media – a simple, punchy visual with a bit of text that conveys outrage or passion or satire, or sometimes all three. In March, CODEPINK ran our first-ever shareable images contest on the subject of “Bring Our War $ Home,” a value of ours ever since the initial peace vigils in front of the White House in fall 2002. Below are the first, second and third place winners.

 

Inspiration literally means “the flow of air into an organism”and these images compel their viewers to take a deep breath and contemplate both how the shared resources of tax dollars are going for wars and militarism, weapons and support of repressive regimes, AND how they might be used for social good. As one of the judges of this contest, I found it very inspiring to read the reasons why the image creators want our “war dollars home.”

 

First Place Winner

“The F-35 is overpriced and underperforming. I would rather use taxpayer

money to restore cuts to the SNAP [food stamps] program.”

http://www.wand.org/our-work/budget-priorities/f-35-the-jet-that-ate-the-pen

tagon/

by Susan Cundiff of Oregon

 

Second Place Winner

“Democracy requires an informed electorate.”

by Lindsey Medeiros of Massachusetts

 

Third Place Winner

“We can do so much more good for so much less than all we spend to cause harm.”

by Michael Wolak of New Jersey

 

Other contest entrants focused on the cost of wars to the devastated bodies of soldiers, who often need lifelong care; the need for civilian jobs; transforming military industrial factories into “green energy” producers; “war is child abuse”; and unmet needs at home, especially with regard to education and nutrition.

 

Interestingly, where military hardware was shown in these images, it was mostly from the Air Force – the stealth jets, drones and bombers that have done, or threaten to do, vast amounts of killing in countries around the world. The joystick seems to be slowly replacing the gun as the instrument of lethal force in the public imagination.

 

But while the images of weapons systems and the staggeringly huge numbers of so-called “defense” spending are grim, the messages of “we can do better – we want to spend our tax dollars on life” can give us all a flow of encouragement and vitality. Many millions of Americans join with billions around the world in sharing an emphasis on peace and nurturance. Visual artists give us ways to see our reality – and inspiration to change it.

 

Please enjoy and share.

 

Sample tweets and post to Free Mohamed Soltan!

Contact the US Embassy in Cairo on social media to help free political prisoner Mohamed Soltan, an Egyptian-American who has been jailed for over 200 days and has been on hunger strike for over 85 days!

Sample tweets to the US Embassy in Cairo

What is @USEmbassyCairo doing about US citizen Mohamed Soltan, on hunger strike in Egyptian prison for 85+ days? @Free_Soltan #DyingtoLive

US citizen Mohamed Soltan has the right to consular assistance, @USEmbassyCairo! Get him free NOW! #DyingtoLive @Free_Soltan

Why is the @USEmbassyCairo failing to assist US citizen Mohamed Soltan, on hunger strike in Egyptian prison for 85+ days? #DyingtoLive

10 Apache helicopters to military coup regime, but no justice for Mohamed Soltan?? Shame on @USEmbassyCairo!! #DyingtoLive @Free_Soltan

Shame: @JohnKerry blesses #Egypt political repression w/ 10 Apache helicopters & @USEmbassyCairo stays silent on US citizen in Egyptian prison

Mohamed Soltan was arrested 7 months ago. He was tortured despite his severe illness and wounds. @USEmbassyCairo’s neglect will kill him.

Email US & Egyptian gov’t, tell them to @Free_Soltan, US-Egyptian on 82+ day hunger strike http://bit.ly/1jOgyon via @CODEPINK #DyingtoLive

Sample Facebook posts for the US Embassy in Cairo

What is the US Embassy in Cairo doing about US citizen Mohamed Soltan, on hunger strike in Egyptian prison for 85+ days? Mohamed is dying to live and deserves consular assistance!

US citizen Mohamed Soltan has been in an Egyptian prison for over 250 days without charge. Why aren’t you helping? He has the right to consular assistance! Get him free NOW!

Why is the US government sending 10 Apache helicopters to the Egyptian military coup regime, but there’s no justice for imprisoned US citizen Mohamed Soltan?? Shame on the US Embassy in Cairo for failing to act!!

Mohamed Soltan is on day 87 of a hunger strike in an Egyptian prison, never charged with any crime. Will the Embassy in Cairo intervene before he does?

Behind the Egyptian Junta’s Iron Curtain

by Medea Benjamin and Kate Chandley

After a recent CODEPINK delegation to Egypt ended up in deportations and assault, we have become acutely aware of some of the horrors Egyptians are facing in the aftermath of the July 3 coup that toppled Muslim Brotherhood President Mohamed Morsi. Over 2,500 civilians have been killed in protests and clashes. Over 16,000 are in prison for their political beliefs and allegations of torture are widespread. Millions of people who voted for Morsi in elections that foreign monitors declared free and fair are now living in terror, as are secular opponents of the military regime, and the level of violence is unprecedented in Egypt’s modern history. With former Defense Minister Abdel Fatah al-Sisi set to become the next president in sham elections scheduled for May 26-27, the Egyptian military is trampling on the last vestiges of the grassroots uprising that won the hearts of the world community during the Arab Spring.

The most publicized case is the trial of the three Al Jazeera journalists and their co-defendants, charged with falsifying news and working with the Muslim Brotherhood. On April 10, there was a ludicrous update in the trial, when the prosecution came to court presenting a video that was supposed to be the basis of their case but consisted of family photos, trotting horses, and Somali refugees in Kenya. The judge dismissed the “evidence” but not the charges.

The high-profile case is just a taste of wide-ranging assault on free expression. The government has closed down numerous TV and print media affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist currents. The Committee to Protect Journalists named Egypt the third deadliest countries for journalists in 2013, just behind Syria and Iraq.

An incident that shows how the judicial branch is now working hand-in-glove with the military is the horrific March 24 sentencing of 529 Morsi supporters to death in one mass trial. The entire group was charged with killing one police officer. The trial consisted of two sessions, each one lasting less than one hour. Secretary of State Kerry said that the sentence “defies logic” and Amnesty International called the ruling “grotesque.”

And if you think that a US passport entitles a prisoner to due process, look at the tragic case of 26-year-old Ohio State University graduate Mohamed Soltan. Soltan served as a citizen journalist, assisting English-speaking media in their coverage of the anti-coup sit-in at Rabaa Square that was violently raided by police and resulted in the death of over 1,000 people. In jail for over 7 months, Soltan has been on a hunger strike since January 26 and is now so weak he can’t walk. His situation in prison has been horrifying. When he was arrested, he had a wound from being shot that had not yet healed. Prison officials refused to treat him, so a fellow prisoner who was a doctor performed surgery with pliers on a dirty prison floor, with no anesthesia. His trial has been postponed several times, and there is no update on when it might actually take place. (Activists in the US are mobilizing on his behalf.)

Female activists also face dehumanizing experiences. In February, four women who were arrested for taking part in anti-military protests say they were subjected to virginity tests while in custody–a practice that coup leader Abdel al-Sisi has supported. In addition to the horror of virginity tests, Amnesty International has also reported that women in prison in Egypt face harsh conditions, including being forced to sleep on the floor and not being allowed to use the bathroom for 10 hours from 10pm to 8am every day. Egyptian Women Against the Coup and the Arab Organisation for Human Rights has reported beatings and sexual harassment of female prisoners.

The internal crackdown may be getting worse, not better. New counter-terrorism legislation set to be approved by Egypt’s president would give the government increased powers to muzzle freedom of expression and imprison opponents. Two new draft laws violate the right to free expression, including penalties of up to three years’ imprisonment for verbally insulting a public employee or member of the security forces. They broaden the existing definition of terrorism to include actions aimed at damaging national unity, natural resources, monuments, communication systems, the national economy, or hindering the work of judicial bodies and diplomatic missions in Egypt. “The problem with these vaguely worded ‘terrorist offenses’ is that they potentially allow the authorities to bring a terrorism case against virtually any peaceful activist,” said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui of Amnesty International.

The draft legislation also widens the scope for use of the death penalty to include “managing or administering a terrorist group.” The Muslim Brotherhood was labelled a terrorist group by the Egyptian authorities in December (though no factual evidence was provided that it is engaged in terrorist attacks).

The US government refuses to call Morsi’s overthrow a coup, and has continued to give Egypt $250 million in economic support, as well as funds for narcotics controls, law enforcement and military training. But the bulk of the foreign military funding of $1.3 billion has been suspended.

On March 12, Secretary of State Kerry indicated that he wanted to resume the aid and would decide “in the days ahead.” Egypt has long been one of the top recipients of US aid because of its peace treaty with Israel, its control over the Suez Canal and the close ties between the US and Egyptian militaries. To renew the funding, Kerry must certify that Egypt is meeting its commitment to a democratic transition and taking steps to govern democratically. The constitutional referendum was held January 14-15, but opponents were arrested for campaigning for a “no” vote. The May presidential election, taking place under such repressive conditions with the main opposition group banned, will certainly not be free and fair. The same can be said for the parliamentary elections that are expected to occur before the end of July.

“The question is no longer whether Egypt is on the road to democratic transition, but how much of its brute repression the US will paper over,” said Human Rights Watch Middle East Director Sarah Leah Whitson. “An accurate appraisal of Egypt’s record since the military-backed overthrow of President Morsi would conclude that, far from developing basic freedoms, the Egyptian authorities are doing the opposite.”

The Obama Administration should insist that political dissidents be released, laws restricting public assembly be lifted, the Muslim Brotherhood be declassified as a terrorist organization and allowed to participate in all aspects of public life, and criminal investigations be launched into the unlawful use of lethal force and abuse of detainees by security officials. Only when the Egyptian junta lifts its iron curtain should the US consider resuming military aid.

Medea Benjamin is cofounder of www.codepink.org and www.globalexchange.org, and author of Drone Warfare: Killing by Remote Control.

Kate Chandley is an International Affairs and Political Science student at Northeastern University and intern at www.codepink.org.