Iraq: Ala’a Nabiel has been freed
The young activist from the 25th February
group, Ala’a Nabiel was released on Saturday, April 16th, after being
arrested on Friday, April 8th.
International
Iraq: Urgent action required – detained and missing protesters at risk of torture
Firas Ali, an Iraqi political
activist, was detained at the office of the Federation of Workers’
Councils and Unions in Iraq, Baghdad, at about 2pm on 13 April. A
protester, Haidar Shihab Ahmad Abdel Latif, is believed to have been
detained on 1 April on Tahrir Square, Baghdad. Alaa Nabil, another youth
leader of the February 25 Group, was also arrested on April 8, and
remains in custody. It is feared that they and other detained activists
are at high risk of torture.
No more arrests and torture of demonstrators in Iraq: Release Youth Activist Firas Ali
These days, Iraqi authorities feel free to carry out
arbitrary arrests, physical assault and torture of Iraqi citizens who
participate in peaceful demonstrations. In fact, they have begun to
recruit and utilize of the expertise of the masterminds who were part of
the horrific Baathist regime of Saddam.
Ivory Coast: French imperialism “protecting civilians”?
The French army has bombed the residence
of Laurent Gbagbo, to "protect civilians" we are told. One is struck by
the wide variety of means used to achieve this so-called “humanitarian”
objective!
Imperialism and the Arab Revolution
There is no future without the past.
An empirical, mechanistic and a pragmatic approach to the revolution
sweeping across the region from the Atlantic Ocean to the Arabian Sea
would end up in a flawed analysis and a disastrous fate for the mass
upheaval.
Libyan Interim Government – agents of imperialism
What started as a genuine revolution
against Gaddafi, has been taken over by reactionary bourgeois elements.
In the Interim Council, and now the newly formed Interim Government,
direct representatives of imperialist interests have been promoted to
leading positions.
Bailing out the Irish Banks… again
The announcement that the Irish banking sector needs another
€24 billion, that’s €24,000,000,000 in real numbers or another €5,500
for every Irish man, woman and child, is another sign of the capitalist
crisis in the state. Standard and Poor’s one of the main international
credit agencies has now downgraded Ireland by a further point.
Belfast protest against cuts
In Belfast on March 26th, a twin demo to the London protest took place. Here is a report.
Morocco: “The people reject the constitution of slaves”
A new momentum has been reached by the
protest movement in Morocco. The call for a new Day of Action on March
20 was a test. Would the King’s shadowy reforms succeed in demobilising
the masses or on the contrary push the movement forward? As we predicted
the latter happened. Possibly twice as many people came out on the
streets than a month earlier.
Japan: After the earthquake
It is the worst disaster for Japan
since the war, since Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This triple whammy of a
force-9 earthquake, a tsunami, followed by a nuclear disaster, has
shaken the country to its very foundations. And the consequences of this
multifaceted catastrophe are widening by the day.
Support Libyan revolution, Oppose imperialist aggression!
On Saturday afternoon French warplanes
were the first to bomb Libya, in what one can only describe as open
imperialist aggression. This was followed by US and UK ships and
submarines launching 110 Tomahawk Cruise missiles. The French are
strengthening their position by sending their Charles de Gaulle aircraft
carrier into waters off the Libyan coast
Libyan revolution and imperialist meddling
Yesterday the United Nations Security
Council voted by 10 votes in favour against 5 abstentions to impose a
no-fly zone over Libya. The resolution authorises UN member states "to
take all necessary measures… to protect civilians and civilian
populated areas under threat of attack in the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya,
including Benghazi, while excluding a foreign occupation force of any
form on any part of Libyan territory".