repression

On Saturday 7th July 2001 July police entered Tivoli Gardens in Downtown Kingston, the Jamaican capital, looking for guns that had killed Willy Haggart, the gang leader, or don, of nearby Arnett Gardens, an event that had resulted in weeks of intermitant gang violence between supporters of both parties in the West Kingston areas Hannah Town and Denham Town.

Atenco, 3rd of May 2008

From 10:00 a.m. there took place in Atenco an action in memory of those fallen on the 3rd of May 2006 as a result of the repression of the community meted out by Governor Peña Nieto and then-President Vicente Fox. The event began with an offering to Alexis Benhumea and Francisco Javier Cortes, on the Lechería -Texcoco Highway, the main entrance to Atenco.

Fearing workers insistence on celebrating Labor Day, police started its attacks early in the morning. At 6:30AM, the police attacked workers gathering in front of DISK (Progressive Labor Union’s Confederation). Police used tanks and pepper gas against the workers waiting peacefully in front of their unions.

Public Prosecutor Abdel Maguid Mahmoud decided to release 18 people kept under provisional detention in connection with the riots that occurred on April 6 and 7 during the semi-aborted general strike. He said in a statement yesterday that investigations were still underway to determine the criminal responsibilities of the other people under provisional detention.

The workers had been on strike at the Kian Tire Factory in the Alborz region of northern Iran since last Thursday, demanding the payment of unpaid wages. On Saturday evening, security forces entered the plant using bulldozers to tear down walls, and arrested around 1,000 workers.

From July 1 to November 30 there were 26 demonstrations repressed, impeded or otherwise hampered by the state’s security organs; a greater number than the 18 cases accounted for in the report by the NGO PROVEA for the whole of 2005 (www.derechos.org.ve) .

The following is a translation from Internacionalismo.

The Chávez government - with the support of the opposition and unions - has unleashed repression against the workers of the Steel Zone of Venezuela who are struggling for their most basic necessities. Here we see the real Senor Chávez and his "socialism of the 21st century".

Abahlali baseMjondolo began in the 7000 strong Kennedy Road shack settlement and it is here were the state has concentrated repression. One year and one week ago six key activists in the settlement were arrested on a trumped up murder charge (the same tactic was used against the Landless People's Movement in Johannesburg the year before).

People have different definitions of democracy.

Some people say that democracy means freeing everyone to do whatever they want, regardless of rule or controls, with no instructions or boundaries, no importance to whether what is done is wrong or right.

When Choices Can No Longer Be Choices

by S'bu Zikode

The Police & Abahlali baseMjondolo

A List of Key Incidents of Police Harassment Suffered by Abahlali baseMjondolo
- compiled by Stephanie Lynch and Zodwa Nsibande

Mahmoud Salehi’s Message to All Workers and concerned organizers and participants of the March 6th Global Day of Action.

Violence broke out on Tuesday amid reports that the chinese management were planning to leave on holiday rather than negotiate with striking workers. Reports conflict but it appears that workers threw stones and then burned a kitchen and a guard's post on the site, with management taking refuge until the arrival of riot police. One manager and two workers were reported injured.

The journalists, who have been heavily involved in covering the activities of regional independent indigenous movements, saw two break-ins to their homes at the end of last month and the beginning of February.

The High Court upheld Thubelisha Homes and the state’s eviction order against the community, which the residents decided to appeal at the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein.

On February 14 the Mexican Consejo de la Judicatura Federal reversed an earlier ruling, declaring that the six-plus month strike of unionized workers in Cananea, Sonora may continue.

The panel had previously ruled on January 11, 2008 that the strike was illegal, due to a technicality. This ruling lead to a brutal attack by Mexican federal police later that same day.

The 1100 workers in Cananea have been out since 31 July, demanding improved hygiene and security, and show no signs of abating, despite the picket line being attacked by a combined force of 800 police (including the hated Policía federativa preventativa [PFP] who crushed the Oaxaca revolt in 2006) and milita

Workers at the hypermarket have been on strike since February the first.

80 of the 89 workers at the Montrouge site have been on strike since January 10th over plans to close the factory down. Workers have also occupied and blockaded the buildings in protest. There has been no explanation of why the 31 employees targetted were chosen.