Peaceful anti nuclear protestors from Kerala stopped by large police presence at border
The activists, writers and poets from Kerala, including writers Sugathakumari and Sara Joseph, social activist K Ajitha, environmental activist C R Neelakantan had sought permission from the Kerala police to take out a march from Parasalai to Idinthakarai, but were denied permission.
KKNPP: Kerala activists try to enter TN http://timesofindia indiatimes.com/city/madurai/KKNPP-Kerala-activists-try-to-enter-TN/articleshow/16429530.cms TNN | Sep 17, 2012, TIRUNELVELI: A group of activists from Kerala, who took out a march to Idinthakarai were prevented from entering the Tamil Nadu border at Kaliyakkavilai in Kanyakumari district on Sunday. Continue reading
Indian govt’s harsh crackdown on anti nuclear protesors
India: Government crushes nuclear protests http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/india/india-nuclear-protests 14 Sept 12, Nuclear projects in India can only be thrust on unwilling citizens at gunpoint, writes activist Praful Bidwai In the wake of police firing that killed one of the many Indians protesting against the Kudankulam nuclear power plant in Tamil Nadu, activist Praful Bidwai lays it into the government that not long back was hailed for its groundbreaking civilian nuclear agreement with George W. Bush.
“The repression, including lethal firing, unleashed on peaceful protesters against the Kudankulam nuclear plant on Monday, on top of FIRs over many months charging thousands with sedition, makes two things clear. Nuclear projects in India can only be thrust on unwilling citizens at gunpoint. [And] as the jalsatyagraha (water civil disobedience) shows, people will resist them tenaciously, because they are aware of their hazards,” Bidwai writes in India’s Hindustan Times newspaper .
As GlobalPost reported last year, a massive nuclear project planned for Jaitapur, Maharashtra, has also faced large protests.
Casual readers and the government dismisses these protests as the work of ignorant villagers and eco-radical agitators (as demonstrated by the claim that the opposition can be traced to various “foreign-funded” NGOs).
But Bidwai points out that every single nuclear project India has planned has spurred committed resistance:
“That’s true of every nuclear project, whether Jaitapur (Maharashtra), Gorakhpur (Haryana), Mithi-Virdi (Gujarat), Kovvada (Andhra Pradesh), Haripur (West Bengal), Chutka (Madhya Pradesh) or Banswada (Rajasthan). For instance, at Gorakhpur, there has been a daily dharna against four proposed reactors for two years, unbeknownst to Delhi, which lies in their potential radiation-fallout zone,” he writes.
And when some 100 activists met in Delhi this August, nobody listened to their reservations about the Kudankulam project, which Bidwai says “was cleared in violation of the recommendations of an official Task Force, and without even the fig leaf of an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report.”
Now villagers, and, yes, more than a few “agitators” have walked into the sea near the reactor, in imitation of a protest against the flooding of villages in Gujarat earlier this month.
They might be wrong. The government says Kudankulam is safe. Coal isn’t without its dangers. And the huge number of hydropower projects planned for Northeast India will destroy cultures and wildlife in one of the country’s last remaining wilderness areas. (Personally, I was sold on nuclear after visiting Arunachal Pradesh for this series on dams–if the government can proceed responsibly).
But it is foolishness bordering on the criminal to undertake such projects on the assurances of company insiders and circumvent the environmental clearance regime, as Bidwai and others say has been done for nuclear plants, and other environmental activists say is routinely done for big dams, coal mines, and every sort of industrial activity.
And it’s bad politics simply to dismiss those claims because of some hidebound commitment to the ideology of economic growth.
Japan’s radiation standards relaxed following lobbying by nuclear power companies
Fukushima Nuclear Disaster – Public Health Lessons and Challenges
“Federation of Electric Power Companies of Japan has successfully lobbied radiation specialists including ICRP members and the Nuclear Safety Commission to relax radiation standards.”
—
FEPC has covered travel costs for ICRP members
to attend international conferences through the
Radiation Effects Association….
Conclusions
The health risks posed by radiation are not
limited to cancer.
There is risk of cancer even at levels less than 100mSv.
There is both theoretical and epidemiological evidence
for this.
The risk is purported to be an unknown. Is this to maintain
the power of MEXT, METI, and the utilities in order to
promote nuclear power?…
CITIZENS’ RESPONSES IPPNW public mee.ng, 27 August 2012, Tokyo
HOSOKAWA Komei（細川弘明）, k22m@me.com
Takagi Fund for Ci.zen Science / Asia-Pacific Resource
Center / Greenpeace Japan / Kyoto Seika University http://fukushimasymposium.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/e382abe38390e383bceng.pdf
India’s peaceful anti nuclear campaign now facing terror and repression
A regime that hates common masses and uses them only as vote bank can do anything to make the rich and multinationals terribly happy
Indian regime has already exhausted all techniques and tricks to malign, terrorize the people of Kudankulam.
India’s Kudankulam Nuclear Terror threatens Jal-Satyagraha http://www.agoracosmopolitan.com/news/editorial/2012/09/14/4450.html 14 SEPTEMBER 2012 : BY DR. ABDUL RUFF Gandhian method of struggle still has relevance for India which fought against the British occupation for centuries. In fact the Indian regime is not happy about protesters using non-violent protests against a government that employed as its prime tool of attack on Britain.
Defying security presence, Kudankulam protesters have entered sea for a Sea water Protest , or Jal Satyagraha, signalling that the not only the people of Kudankulam, especially the fishermen and families angry with central India and Tamilnadu regimes, but even the Sea itself is annoyed with an nuclear extra terror fitting on its shores..
Upon state murder of one fisherman in Kudankulam vicinity, the protesting masses have decided to continue the movement through relaunching the struggle by getting into the sea. Protesters have formed human chain in sea from Sep 13, 2012. Continue reading
Australian Aboriginals reach out to Julian Assange
Sovereign Aboriginal nations consider sanctuary for Julian Assange, Green Left , September 14, 2012 The Indigenous Social Justice Association released the statement below on September 14.
Several sovereign Aboriginal nations are considering giving Julian Assange refuge and sanctuary in their nations.
It was argued that as Julian is an Australian citizen he should be allowed to seek sanctuary in one of the sovereign Aboriginal nations in the lands known as Australia.
Whilst the federal government is held in thrall to the dictates of the US, we are not and are therefore quite free to support Julian in every way we possibly can. Offering safe refuge is but one way. Why should Julian be forced to seek refuge in a South American country and not his own?
Despite the ongoing protestations of the foreign affairs minister, Bob Carr, in reality the federal government is doing very little to assist Julian being press-ganged to the United States via Sweden. That is why Julian sought refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy.
Our Welcome to Aboriginal Land Passport Ceremony will take place from 11am to 4pm at The Settlement, 17 Edward Street, Darlington on Saturday, September 15.
We are honoured to be able to present to Mamdouh Habib and John Shipton on behalf of his son, Julian Assange, the Aboriginal Nations Passport for travel through the Aboriginal nations…… http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/52227
Riot police attack Kudankulam anti nuclear protestors
Indian riot police attack 4000 nuclear protesters, Examiner SLIDESHOW SEPTEMBER 10, 2012 BY: DEBORAH DUPRE Saturday and Sunday, Indian riot police opened fire one group and assaulted thousands of others with tear gas, mainlywomen and children on the beach protesting Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KNPP), the country’s largest nuclear power facility, due to fire up soon. By late Sunday, there was one dead and many injured as police began rampaging homes of protesters.
“A large riot-gear bedecked police force is in the frontline facing the people, and tear gas lobbers are apparently on stand-by,” a human rights defender informed Counter Currents Sunday morning.
“Police are intimidating people by moving closer, swaying batons,” Dr. S P Udayakumar at the scene texted in an SMS at 11:30 a.m. “Thousands of women and children are here. Officials threatened with naval intervention. Situation is very tense and dangerous. We need your appeals to the governments.”
Police shoot dead an anti nuclear fisherman in Southern India
One killed in India nuclear plant protest http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/one-killed-in-india-nuclear-plant-protest/story-e6frf7k6-1226471469932 From: Herald Sun, AFP September 11, 2012 POLICE have shot dead a fisherman during a mass protest against the loading of uranium at a nuclear power plant in southern India.
Steel-helmeted officers ringed one of two 1000-megawatt nuclear reactors in Tamil Nadu state’s Koodankulam region as hundreds of activists tried to lay a siege of the Russia-backed project, television footage showed.
The protests then spread and a 48-year-old fisherman was killed when police opened fire at activists staging another rally in the nearby Tuticorin district, according to a report by the Press Trust of India.
“A number of people including police personnel have received injuries in the clashes,” another officer said while TV footage showed anti-riot personnel chase some of the activists, including women, into the nearby sea.
Monday’s violence comes six months after a lull in protests at the plant, which campaigners say could endanger the lives of locals in the case of a nuclear disaster.
The Press Trust of India said the new protests were in opposition to the loading of enriched uranium in the plant’s reactor…..
Since Fukushima, Indian activists have also campaigned to stop work scheduled to start in 2013 at Jaitapur in western Maharashtara state which would be one of the world’s biggest nuclear facilities.
Nuclear energy has been a priority for India since 2008 when then-US president George W. Bush signed into law a deal with New Delhi that ended a three-decade ban on US nuclear trade with the country.
Since then, France, Russia and private US and Japanese firms have been locked in fierce competition to sell new reactors to India.
Taiwan’s crackdown on anti nuclear protestors
Anti-nuclear protesters confronted by Taipower ‘thug’ police: DPP lawmaker Taipei Times, 9 Sept 12, By Su Yung-yao and Jake Chung The National Police Agency special police second headquarters has taken the lead in countering anti-nuclear activities and become a thug for Taiwan Power Co (Taipower), Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Cheng Li-chun (鄭麗君) said yesterday.
Cheng said the headquarters’ Web site included an articled titled “The anti-nuclear trend is no longer fashionable”, which claims that anti-nuclear activists are irrational, use false data and base their views on the slim chance that a nuclear disaster might happen……
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2012/09/10/2003542412
UK puts Assange’s lawyer on ‘inhibited person list’
Lawyer for Assange detained at Heathrow and told she was on a ‘secret watch list’ Daily Mail, By ABUL TAHER, 1 September 2012 A lawyer acting for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange says she was stopped at Heathrow and told that she was on a secret watch-list and required special clearance before she could board her plane.
Australian Jennifer Robinson said she was left stunned after being told by an airline crew that she was on an ‘inhibited person list’ that means she must have ‘done something controversial’.
Ms Robinson said that she could not understand why she was on the list as she had never done anything controversial or criminal. She had only represented clients around the world, one of whom was Mr Assange….. Ms Robinson, 31, said: ‘This incident raises so many questions.
‘Why would I need clearance to travel to my own country? So far I have not had a proper explanation.’
The human rights lawyer is a member of Mr Assange’s legal team, which has been fighting his extradition to Sweden on alleged sexual assault offences.
She was also his legal adviser when WikiLeaks published US military documents as well as diplomatic cables from American embassies. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2197003/Lawyer-Assange-detained-Heathrow-told-secret-watch-list.html#ixzz25RNRNfJl
Julian Assange’s mother gets Nazi taunt on Australian radio
Assange’s mother subjected to Nazi taunts The Age August 19, 2012 – Julian Assange’s mother has hung up the phone on a Melbourne radio host after he taunted her with a Nazi slogan when she backed out of an interview.
Christine Assange was due to speak to 3AW’s Sunday morning show about her son, the founder of whistleblower website WikiLeaks, and his successful appeal for asylum in Ecuador.
But she changed her mind after hearing how co-host John-Michael Howson had treated a previous guest.
“I won’t be doing an interview with you because you’re acting like a pig,” Ms Assange said. Howson responded by screaming on air: “Sieg Heil! Sieg Heil! Sieg Heil!”
Ms Assange then hung up the phone…… http://www.theage.com.au/national/assanges-mother-subjected-to-nazi-taunts-20120819-24g2f.html
Injustice USA: Bradley Manning needs our help
Save human rights whistleblower Bradley Manning! Why this is important
http://www.avaaz.org/en/petition/Save_human_rights_whistleblower_Bradley_Manning/?wnQTQbb Accused WikiLeaks whistleblower and Nobel Peace Prize nominee Bradley
Manning will spend the rest of his life in prison for telling the public the truth, if US officials get their way. Government conduct, apparently aimed at discouraging whistleblowers, has ignored due process and made a fair trial impossible. But, in the past, outrageous government conduct has led judges to dismiss the charges against whistleblowers. Tell the judge in Bradley’s military Court Martial to do the same!
– Bradley was held in pre-trial solitary confinement for 11 months, in conditions condemned by the UN Rapporteur on Torture as “cruel, inhuman and degrading,” including being stripped and made to stand naked at roll call. This was a clear violation of the US military’s
Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ: Article 13). Yet, only worldwide outrage–including over 500,000 Avaaz members signing a petition–ended this illegal treatment. Continue reading
UK govt to take unprecedented action for its ally USA, against Julian Assange
Ecuador to announce Assange asylum, Britain threat to raid 
embassy http://wwwnews.com.au/technology/ecuador-to-announce-assange-asylum-britain-threat-to-raid-embassy/story-e6frfro0-1226451411725#ixzz23kTVyVq3 Charles Miranda, wires From: News Limited Network August 16, 2012 Reports suggest British police have been seen entering the Ecuadorian embassy.
The Press Association had earlier reported officers arriving outside the Ecuadorian Embassy, close to the Harrods store in Knightsbridge, London.
EARLIER BRITAIN is threatening to raid the Ecuadorian embassy to arrest Wikileaks’ founder Julian Assange.
Ecuador’s foreign minister, Ricardo Patino, told a news conference that the South American nation had received a written and verbal threat on Wednesday from Britain that “it could assault our embassy” if Assange was not handed over.\
Patino also said that Ecuador “has made a decision” on Mr Assange’s asylum bid and will announce it on Thursday at 7am local time (10pm AEST).
“Ecuador rejects in the most emphatic terms the explicit threat of the British official communication,” he told a press conference in Quito. He said such a threat was “improper of a democratic, civilised and rule abiding country”.
“If the measure announced in the British official communication is enacted, it will be interpreted by Ecuador as an unacceptable, unfriendly and hostile act and as an attempt against our sovereignty. It would force us to respond,” he said.
“We are not a British colony.” He said the threat was delivered to Ecuador’s foreign ministry and
ambassador in London.
The letter said: “You need to be aware that there is a legal base in the UK, the Diplomatic and Consular Premises Act 1987, that would allow us to take actions in order to arrest Mr Assange in the current premises of the Embassy.
“We sincerely hope that we do not reach that point, but if you are not capable of resolving this matter of Mr Assange’s presence in your premises, this is an open option for us.”
Privacy concerns about Department of Homeland Security and drones
Drones tested as tools for police and firefighters, The Department of Homeland Security is trying to accelerate the use of unmanned aircraft for hostage standoffs, hazardous spills and other scenarios. Legal experts worry about civilian privacy. By Brian Bennett, Los Angeles Times August 5, 2012, “…. some legal experts are worried about the effect of surveillance drones in U.S. skies.
“This is putting the cart before the horse where DHS and other federal agencies are looking to put money toward drone use without looking at what it means for privacy and civil liberties,” said Jennifer Lynch, a lawyer with the Electronic Frontier Foundation in San Francisco.
DHS has awarded hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants to at least 13 police departments to buy small surveillance drones. But safety restrictions imposed by the Federal Aviation Administration — and the fact that some models have proved difficult to use — have kept most on the ground.
That could change soon. Congress this year passed a law requiring the FAA to ease restrictions on commercial drone use in U.S. airspace by 2015. Next year, the administration is expected to issue a rule allowing law enforcement and first responders to fly small unmanned aerial vehicles…. Some lawmakers have also criticized DHS, which has a fleet of 10 Predator B drones for border security, for not addressing safety and privacy concerns earlier.
“DHS seems either disinterested or unprepared to step up to the plate to address the proliferation of drones, the potential threats they pose to our national security, and the concerns of our citizens of how drones flying over our cities will be used, including protecting civil liberties of individuals under the Constitution,” Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) complained after the department declined to send an official to an oversight hearing he had called about domestic use of drones….. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-drones-testing-20120805,0,6483617.story
Court rules that USA police can use drones to arrest USA citizens
Police can use drones to arrest Americans on US soil: New court ruling August 3, 2012 Deborah Dupre, Human Rights Examiner High tech human rights abuses escalate with court green-lighting drones to arrest Americans on US soil
A North Dakota court has approved using drones to help arrest American citizens on US soil as domestic drone human rights abuses escalate. “The whole thing is full of constitutional violations,” lawyer Bruce Quick told US News. Continue reading
Julian Assange and US government’s campaign to intimidate human rights activists
Assange’s mother stated, “The US government feels that it can seek to try my son for espionage, and possibly executing him simply for doing the job of a good investigative journalist, which is telling the truth about power.”
Assange’s mother justifiably fears U.S. would torture, maybe kill him http://www.examiner.com/article/assange-s-mother-justifiably-fears-u-s-would-torture-maybe-kill-him?CID=examiner_alerts_article, AUGUST 3, 2012 BY: DEBORAH DUPRE
The mother of WikiLeaks founder and journalist Julian Assange is seeking refuge in the small safe haven nation, Ecuador, due the Assanges’ fear of United States persecution, a justified concern, according to The Guardian on Thursday. The American government, that claims world leadership in press freedom and democracy, is using Assange as an example of what will happen to other journalists and human rights defenders who expose high-level government corruption, The Guardian reports.
Assange’s and his mother’s concerns of U.S. persecution are justified on two counts, according to The Guardian:
“A grand jury in Alexandria, Virginia, empanelled to investigate violations of the Espionage Act – a statute that by its very nature targets speech – has subpoenaed Twitter feeds regarding Assange and WikiLeaks. An FBI agent, testifying at whistleblower Bradley Manning’s trial, said that “founders, owners and managers” of WikiLeaks are being investigated.
“And then there is Assange’s 42,135-page FBI file – a compilation of curious heft if the government is “not interested” in investigating its subject.”
In considering whether Assangs’s concerns about being treated inhumanely if extradited to the US,The Guardian reports, “One need only consider how the US treated Bradley Manning, the army private who allegedly leaked the cables to WikiLeaks to see why.” Manning spent nearly a year in 23 hours a day solitary confinement and then eight months “under conditions designed to pressure him into providing evidence to incriminate Assange”: stripped of clothing and made to stand nude for inspection.
Thousands of people, including legal scholars and the United Nations special rapporteur on torture, have condemned the U.S. treatment of Manning as inhumane and torturous.
“There is no reason for Assange to expect he will be treated any better.” Continue reading
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