These cases we are going to talk about are just three of many cases of repression that are taking place all over the world. Mexico is by no means, the only country where social movements and activists are repressed. Actually, if we look harder, we can find at least one recent case of repression in each country.
The cases we will talk about were chosen for one reason or for another and they are not necessarily the most important or the most significant ones. After every case, the reader can find the email and/or websites addresses, in case she or he would like more information and/or to support these groups.
Brasilia – Brazil Repression at Casa de las Pombas.
On the 9th of October, the squatters at “Casa de las Pombas” were violently removed from the house by the Brazilian Police. After trying to charge the activists with drug trafficking and prostitution (both of which there was no proof of), the police then decided to accuse them of something illicit association after finding some fanzines about squatters all over the world.
The three floor building was occupied by squatters on the 7th of September, 2007 (Brazil’s Independence Day) by the “Convergencia de Grupos Autonomos” – Autonomous Groups Convergence, a network of grassroots movements and collectives that works in Brasilia. The Convergence is formed by Indymedia Brasilia, an educational popular project called “Escola Livre” (Liberty School), the “Movimento Passe Livre- DF” – which struggles for free public transportation, Korpus Krisis which is an collective focused on gender issues and action, and the KRAP, an Anarco-Punk collective. The squatter community, in its short life, was where the meetings of these groups took place and was being organized to function as a Cultural and Social Center, in an attempt to escape the exclusionary logic of Brasilia.
Based on the methods used in the arrests, it’s easy to see that those arrested were political prisoners and it was an attempt at criminalizing the Brasilia grassroots movements. The corporate media then followed the police’s example with great pleasure. Indeed, the whole process was marked by irregularities and by human rights abuses. The 10 activists, who spent 7 days in jail, are now under provisory freedom and will go to trial for illicit association.
For more information: www.midiaindependente.org | http://casadaspombas.noblogs.org/
casa_das_pombas @ riseup.net
Myanmar – At least 10 people die due to government repression at popular protests
Since August, Myanmar has been the stage for huge demonstrations against the military council, which governs the country, after they raised the price of the gas. The demonstrations are the biggest in Myanmar since the student protests of the 1980’s, which was brutally repressed, resulting in more then 3000 deaths. After the Myanmar police beat pacifist Buddhist demonstrators, the protests increased, until the government decided to declare a general curfew.
The country has been governed by the military council since Suu Kyi was elected prime minister as leader of the winning National League for Democracy party, and was arrested shortly there after, preventing her from assuming that role.
The military council has been under international pressure to step down since then, but has not done so nor has it accepted a United Nations mediation of the conflict.
For more information: http://english.dvb.no/ | http://www.burmacampaign.org.uk/index.php | http://burma.indymedia.org/
New Zealand - 17 activist arrested under antiterrorism laws
On the 15th of October, police arrested 17 grassroots activists in New Zealand based on antiterrorism laws. The operation involved more then 300 officers and occurred all over the country, invading houses and social centers. The police also arrested other 60 people for interrogation.
All of the 17 activists were part of local movements, like the indigenous Maori movement “Tino Ragatiratanga”. They are being accused of illegal arms possession and of having a supposed guerrilla training field. According to the corporate media, the action happened after months of work by local police, who have “hundreds of hours of phone records, video surveillance, and tapped cell phone conversations”.
Fourteen of the arrested are now free. The Solicitor-General, announced on the 7th of November that he would not be granting permission to the police to make charges under the Terrorism Suppressions Act for any of the 12 people it was originally applied to. He said that while he felt that the Police had acted properly, after reviewing hundreds of pages of transcripts and video evidence, he felt there was not the required evidence to proceed with charges under the TSA. All 16 arrestees still face arms charges. The three remaining prisoners appealed for bail in the Auckland High Court on Friday, November 9th.
More Information: http://indymedia.org.nz/
