Freedom calls

Another good news story broke yesterday – this time from West Papua (see my previous piece for more background about the region). Long-time political prisoners Filep Karma and Yusak Pakage, who were handed 15 year jail terms in 2004 for peacefully raising West Papua’s flag (a crime in the eyes of the Indonesian occupiers) were released early and handed presidential pardons. This is not only a great development in the struggle for freedom and human rights in West Papua, but a testimony to the power of activists around world. The role of international pressure, generated by groups such as the Free West Papua Campaign and Amnesty International, undeniably played a key role in the decision to right this wrong. It is proof that pressure works.

Still, there is much to be done. One hundred and seventy peaceful activists remain imprisoned in appalling conditions, facing inhumane torture on a daily basis, for protesting against Indonesia’s occupation of their land and genocide against their people.

Yet as the oppression goes on, so does the resistance. In the wake of the releases hundreds of protestors camped outside the provincial parliament in Jayapura demanding human rights and a free referendum on independence as promised to them under the 1962 New York Agreement (which was signed by Indonesia). Today Imam Setiawan, Jayapura's police chief, stated that the police are ready to use force- including live ammunition - to disperse the crowd.

This cannot be allowed to happen.

If the world turns away now a crackdown will almost inevitably ensue, leading to more deaths and heightened persecution of the West Papuan people. But if the international community stands tall and calls on the Indonesian forces to show restraint, it will make armed dispersal of the protest almost impossible. This will bolster the non-violent resistance and could be a pivotal moment in beginning the end of the occupation. That is why- wherever you are – it is imperative you write to your representative and ask them to request that your foreign secretary immediately contacts the Indonesian government and urges them not to deploy troops against the demonstrators.

Freedom is calling. It’s up to us to answer.

Hope for Cuba

Cuba, far from the revolutionary utopia many once portrayed it to be, remains one of the most oppressed nations in the world. An absence of democracy, ruthless repression of the media and appalling human rights abuses have continued to blight the country since Raul Castro took the reigns of power from his brother Fidel in 2006. But recent developments have given a glimmer of hope for the Cuban people.

Yesterday negotiations between the Cuban authorities, the Spanish government, and the Catholic Church (which often gets a harsh press when it comes to human rights issues) resulted in a promise for 52 political prisoner releases – the largest multiple release in years.

In response to the news, dissident activist Guillermo Farinas (left) ended his hunger strike. He had been refusing food for 130 days since fellow activist Orlando Zapta Tamayo died after himself hunger striking for 85 days.

Perhaps more significantly still, the move was openly welcomed by the US and Spain, the latter asking the EU to soften its common position on Cuba in response. This is an opportunity not to be missed. A warming of relations now –whilst no giving to much ground – may encourage Raul’s regime to make further advances concerning human rights.

The EU and US should work together to decide concrete concessions to hand Havana in response to key milestones: freeing journalists, allowing dissent and accepting freedom of religion being three such starting points.

Cuba’s 11 million citizens are still deprived their basic freedoms. But there are now signs of hope.

Kurdistan- no peace without justice

Yesterday clashes between the Turkish Army and the main Kurdish rebel group (the Kurdish Workers Party or PKK) killed fifteen people. These were the latest deaths in a twenty-six year conflict that has killed more than forty-thousand. They also mark the continuation of a recent escalation in the conflict; one that has killed over one hundred and twenty Turkish soldiers and fifty Kurdish militants since March.

In response to the increasing violence Turkey’s Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has vowed to fight until the PKK is annihilated. It is a strategy doomed to fail.

Conflicts across the world- from Northern Ireland to East Timor have shown that peace can only be achieved with justice. A recent Human Rights Watch report on Turkish-occupied Kurdistan highlights repression of discussion on ‘the Kurdish issue’, police mistreatment of Kurdish activists and the detention of those protesting for rights in the region – scores of them children. Looking at these factors in conjunction with the banning of the Kurdish Democratic Society Party (which had held 21 parliamentary seats) by the Turkish Constitutional Court late last year, it is easy to understand the Kurds’ grievances.

Rather than throwing more military force at the PKK and increasing the cycle of violence Erdogan and his government should undermine support for armed rebellion by ensuring that Turkey’s Kurdish citizens are afforded human rights and freedoms. This doesn’t even need to mean full independence for Turkish-occupied Kurdistan, but affording greater level of autonomy and ending the repression would take away the incentive for young men and women to take up arms against the Turkish state. It’s a simple solution- but one that successive Turkish governments have failed to recognise.

Of course, such changes can only be realised in a reformed Turkish society- one where the army doesn’t hold sway over politics and where nationalism doesn’t stifle free speech. The conviction and murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink three years ago was reflective of a militant nationalist sentiment that still dominates Turkish politics today and consistently scuppers efforts to positively resolve the situation in Kurdistan.

If it isn’t laid to rest then attacks like yesterday’s will go on and on.

Why Tibet will be free

I’d like to apologise for my lack of blogging activity recently- there’ve been two main reasons for this. Firstly I’ve been finishing up university, moving home and looking for jobs (which takes up a lot more time that you might think!) Secondly, over the last week I’ve been at a camp in New York meeting, networking, sharing skills and training with other Tibet activists from around the world.

The camp was incredible- the amount I learnt, the people I got to know and the speakers we heard exceeded all my expectations. But perhaps most importantly it reinforced my conviction that, within our lifetimes, Tibet will be free.

Why? Because the movement for freedom and human rights in Tibet is getting lager, more committed, better organised and better trained almost every single day. The level of education -both in terms of knowledge and skills is amazing and new people are constantly flocking to join the struggle. Just a few days after I got back from New York, the UK-based movement hosted a huge Tibet festival in central London to mark the Dalai Lama's birthday. Over a thousand people- many with no previous knowledge of Tibet, came through the gates and (whilst having a great day out) found out more.

This sort of thing goes on all around the world and as a result hundreds of thousands of people across every continent regularly take part in some way or another: from hanging banners off buildings to meeting with their MPs to utilising international law mechanisms in defence of Tibetan political prisoners. Meanwhile links are being built with Chinese democracy activists and the East Turkestan movement as well as broader human rights campaigns and freedom fighters from countries such as Burma. Crucially contact with those inside Tibet is also being improved – so that we can tell their stories to the outside world, and let them know that we are supporting them.

This sort of movement is a force to be reckoned with – even for a rising superpower. The Chinese Communist Party holds onto power in Tibet (as well as in China and the other occupied regions) by force and fear. This can only last so long. The constant damage to their image, strengthening of internal non-violent resistance movements and political pressure from around the world will ultimately make the occupation to costly to maintain- on both a financial and sociopolitical level.

It’ll take time, it’ll be a hard struggle and everyone has their part to play. But one day Tibet will be free. Just like Burma, Zimbabwe, Sudan and other such nations will be.

And for those who find this hard to believe just remember that many people could never envisage the end of the USSR, apartheid or the Indonesian occupation of East Timor. Hindsight is a wonderful thing but at their worst points it seemed that such regimes would last forever. Just as the Berlin Wall came down, Nelson Mandela walked to freedom and the Indonesian flag was lowered in Dili- so too will the Tibetans one day have their freedom, their human rights and their country back.

How lucky we are

On Wednesday when you sit down to watch the next England game - maybe in a panicked state considering the possibility of Fabio Capello's boys crashing out in spectacular style - spare a thought for the football fans of Somalia.

Since governmental collapse in 1991 much of troubled nation has been run by militant Islamic groups who force a particularly barbaric brand of Sharia law (utterly at odds with the beliefs of most Muslims) upon the unwilling Somali people. Firstly the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) rose to prominence, taking over vast swathes of territory. Then, when it was defeated by Ethiopian troops (with the support of US bombers) in 2006, it splintered into a range of equally brutal groups such as Hizbul-Islam and Al-Shabab (both of whom appear to have tacit links to Al-Qaeda).

Today the Islamists run Somalia South of the capital Mogadishu (which is tenuously controlled by the government backed up by African Union peacekeepers.) In these areas people are subjected to some of the worst human rights abuses in Africa; young girls are stoned to death for alleged adultery, students are targeted by bombers, opponents are beheaded in the streets, aid workers are slaughtered, the harrowing list goes on....

And those wanting to get away from the carnage by watching their continent's first ever World Cup have not been spared the brutality. Islamist groups, regarding the tournament as a 'distraction from jihad' have threatened to flog or execute anyone caught watching it. At least 10 people in Hizbul-Islam-controlled territory have already been arrested for doing so.

England might go out on Wednesday and football fans have every right to be upset if this happens. But all too often we in the democratic world take for granted the ability to watch a football match without the risk of being tortured or even killed.

Sometimes we forget how lucky we are.

Kyrgyzstan- the world must act

Two months ago I wrote about the crisis engulfing Kyrgyzstan; two days ago it took an appalling turn for the worse. The instability, poverty and desperation that has been steadily increasing since former-president Kurmanbek Bakiyev was ousted, exploded in ethnic violence across the South of Kyrgyzstan, where much of the countries large Uzbek community resides.

Uzbeks account for about 15% of Kyrgyzstan’s total population and there have been numerous incidents of ethnic tension over the years, often relating to housing and land. The recent break-down of order caused this to ignite with mobs of Kyrgyz attacking Uzbek citizens and ransacking their property. As of Sunday evening over 100 are dead and an estimated 30 000 have fled across the border into Uzbekistan with no food, water or shelter.

The world needs to act. This is a rapidly escalating humanitarian catastrophe that is costing lives on an hourly basis and the interim Kyrgyzstani government is not capable of stopping it. If that’s not bad enough the crisis has the potential to throw the whole of Central Asia into turmoil. Uzbekistan is ill-equipped to cope with such an influx of refugees; indeed, the dictatorship in charge of the country is so brutal and incompetent that it does not evenly adequately support Uzbeks already living there. It’s not beyond the realms of possibility that the Uzbekistani military may cross the border in an attempt to stop the flow- thus triggering a war that will plunge this ill-fated region into even further poverty and misery.

The Kyrgyzstani government has already called on Russia to provide peacekeepers, but Moscow has refused. In some ways this may be positive; from Georgia to Moldova, Russia has used ‘peacekeepers’ to further its own political agenda rather than keep the peace, often to the detriment of the respective local population. It is perhaps a small blessing that Russia isn’t seizing the opportunity to cynically extend its political influence in Central Asia…but that won’t be any comfort to the Uzbeks being massacred by Kyrgyz mobs or the Kyrgyz being slaughtered in retaliatory attacks.

So the responsibility falls on the UN and on the democratic world; and the response has to be quick and effective. If the Security Council were to rapidly organise a peacekeeping force and offer it to the interim Kyrgyzstani government they would have little choice but to accept, even if they may prefer Russian-not Western- troops on their soil. Similarly if individual nations, or organisations such as NATO and the EU, were to readily offer up troops, this could provide a solution, at least in the short term.

In the meantime governments should be diverting emergency funds to help those flooding into the makeshift refugee camps in Uzbekistan, utilising diplomatic and NGO resources to ensure that aid reaches those who need it – rather than ending up in the pockets of Uzbekistan’s dictatorship.

On so many occasions our governments have shied away from the opportunity to conduct cooperative peacekeeping and humanitarian missions. We should rally together and ensure that this time they take it.

The rise of the EDL

When it was formed in June last year no one knew for sure what kind of an impact the English Defence League (EDL) would have. Whilst some optimistically dismissed the group as a poorly organised bunch of football hooligans, others warned that it was the beginning of a far-right ‘street army’ that would, in time, ignite racial violence across the country. Meanwhile the more conspiracy-theory-friendly commentators suggested that the whole group could be a ‘honey-trap’ set up by the police and secret services to indentify and monitor fascists (similar to the theories that once surrounded Combat 18).

Almost a year on we have a somewhat clearer picture. Recent media coverage- including excellent documentaries by the Guardian and BBC, have shone the light on an organisation that – though nowhere near as significant Mosley’s Blackshirts or the National Front once were- is large, organised and growing. The uncertainty now is at what point support for the EDL will hit its peak – but unfortunately this does not seem to be in the foreseeable future. Each major EDL demonstration attracts more people than the last and they increasingly result in violence directed towards counter-demonstrators or the police.

The worse may be to come. There are growing rumours that this summer the EDL plans to ‘hit’ Bradford and Tower Hamlets; areas home to two of the UK’s largest Muslim communities and both the scenes of previous race-related violence. Set against the backdrop of the World Cup and booze fuelled nationalism, the potential for more violence is worrying. It would be naïve and dangerous to predict full scale race riots but the worse-case scenario of clashes and civil unrest cannot be ignored.

So what can be done?

We should begin by looking at the EDL’s aims and origins. Its official goal is to protest against radical Islam in the UK; but the group was not formed in the wake of 9/11, the Bali bombings, the Madrid bombings or even the London bombings. Rather, it was formed following protests by a group of Islamic extremists at a homecoming parade for soldiers in Luton during March 2009. A rational-minded person may ask why those now involved in the EDL did nothing when British citizens were killed by radical Islamists on the streets of the capital but were up in arms about the supposed dangers of Islam five years later when a handful of men shouted abuse at soldiers.

The key – quite possibly – is in the economy: in 2005 the UK was not in recession, in 2009 it was. This meant that the ground was fertile for the kind of old-fashioned scape-goating that has been directed at ‘foreigners’ in countries across the world ever since economic problems and immigration existed. Of course, our politicians only added fuel to the fire. Instead of recognising the historic link between recessions and racism, then trying to prevent this by drawing attention to the benefits that immigration and multiculturalism have brought to the UK, they did precisely the opposite. In a desperate bid for votes they said things like “British jobs for British workers” before trying to ‘out-tough’ each other on anti-immigration measures. Essentially they set the scene for the militant racists – who were always lurking in the background- to recruit angry and disaffected people across the country with ease. The recent BBC documentary Young British and Angry supports this theory: the EDL members featured made as many references to ‘immigrants’ and ‘unemployment’ as they did to ‘bombers’ and ‘terrorists’.

In many ways it is too late for the government to back-track in this area and considering the coalition’s borderline racist immigration policy (which does nothing to dispel the ridiculous myth that immigrants steal jobs) any sudden u-turn to promote the benefits of immigration looks unlikely. But individual politicians –along with other senior public figures and journalists- should be doing everything possible to try and weaken EDL support by shifting public opinion away from the anti-immigration sentiment upon which its leaders play.

The government should also be engaging with Muslim communities and encouraging senior figures from them to speak out against militant Islam in order to challenge the EDL’s emphasis on the radical Islamists who in reality speak for barely any British Muslims.

Finally – if the Bradford and Tower Hamlets protests go ahead, enormous effort must be made to ensure that policing prevents, not fuels, violence. Tactics such as kettling and the kind of excessive force that resulted in the death of Ian Tomlinson at the G20 must be avoided at all costs. The race riots of the 80s were exacerbated by irresponsible policing, turning protestors from both sides against officers. That cannot be allowed happen again.

Back in 2009 a police superintendent predicted that the UK would face a summer of rage. Thankfully that never came to pass- but this year the EDL may look to make it a reality. It’s not to late to stop them.