David Polden
In May, 1,600 Palestinian prisoners ended their hunger strike against detention without trial and against abusive treatment, in return for major concessions by the Israeli prison service (see PN 2546).
It seems the prison service is not keeping to the agreement. More than 320 Palestinians remain in indefinite detention without trial; 10 prisoners have had their indefinite detention renewed; some prisoners continue to be held in solitary confinement for prolonged periods; prisoners…
On 21 May, a US judge in Pennsylvania asked peace activist Norman Lowry, prosecuted for blockading a local recruiting office, to ‘forswear’ blockading military recruiting offices in future. Otherwise the court would be ‘obliged’ to impose the maximum sentence of seven years.
Lowry refused to give such an undertaking and was sentenced to one-to-seven years, the implication being that if he later agreed to give such an undertaking, he could be paroled after serving a year.
Lowry…
Police spy Bob Lambert fire-bombed the Harrow branch of Debenham’s in July 1987, Green MP Caroline Lucas told parliament on 13 June. The attack was perhaps ‘a move to bolster Lambert’s credibility’ within the Animal Liberation Front, which he had succeeded in infiltrating.
Lambert then helped convict two other members of the group, Geoff Sheppard and Andrew Clark, who carried out fire-bombings of Debenham stores in Luton and Romford at the same time as the Harrow attack. Sheppard and…
The 14 May written agreement, brokered by Egypt, commits the Israeli authorities to: re-starting visits from immediate family; ending ‘long-term’ solitary confinement; creating a prisoner liaison committee; and creating a new framework for Palestinians in ‘administrative detention’.
These 308 prisoners, held without charge or trial, will not be put under new detention orders when their current period of detention ends – unless the secret files on which their detention was based…
On 1 April, activists from Trident Ploughshares and Faslane Peace Camp joined over 800 others (from over 10 European countries) protesting outside NATO’s Brussels headquarters. The demonstration was against NATO’s wars in Afghanistan and Libya, and its possession of nuclear weapons.
The demonstration was organised by the Belgian group, Action for Peace, as part of the run-up to a NATO summit in Chicago on 20-21…
The Ash Wednesday action was described by its organisers, Pax Christi, Christian CND and the London Catholic Worker, as a ‘celebration of resistance and repentance to nuclear war preparations’.
Seven Catholic Workers, a Quaker, a doctor and a priest were detained after the action, and searched by police…
The Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 allowed the setting up of Special Immigration Appeals Courts.
These meet mainly in secret with only the prosecution and the judge knowing the full evidence against the defendant and the identity of witnesses.
The defendant is not allowed to know the details of some evidence obtained by security services, thus putting paid to the idea of a fair and open trial in such cases.
And now we have the recently introduced…
On 2 February, the police oversight body, her majesty’s inspectorate of constabulary (HMIC), published a report on national police intelligence units. This was a response to the outing of a number of police spies – including Mark Kennedy – who infiltrated protest groups on a long-term basis, forming sexual relationships with protesters, and some even having children with them, using their false personae. (See PN 2528, 2530.)
The main target of the report was the national public order…
Disabled People Against the Cuts activists in Oxford Circus, 28 January. PHOTO: Rikki
On 28 January, London’s Oxford Circus was brought to a standstill when 20 wheelchair users using handcuffs and bicycle locks chained themselves together in the middle of Regent Street and were then joined by 200 others.
After two hours, the protesters voluntarily ended their blockade of two of London’s busiest streets. There were no arrests.
The action was organised by Disabled People Against…
Stop the War march om 28 January. PHOTO: Mina Boromond
With increasing pressure for a military attack on Iran and for military intervention in Syria, the Stop the War Coalition called a demonstration at the US embassy on 28 January under the portmanteau title ‘Stop the war before it starts: don’t attack Iran/Syria.’
Coupling the two was illadvised – there are important differences. And so it proved: several speakers were booed or chanted down, and groups supporting the Syrian and…
Maria Gallastegui and fellow peace campers protesting against war on Iran or Syria at the Peace Strike camp in Parliament Square, on 19 January. PHOTO: Dan Viesnik
Long-time peace camper Maria Gallastegui, 53, has managed to stave off eviction from Parliament Square, despite the clearing of all other protest camps in the central London square.
Among other structures cleared, the peace camp set up by the late Brian Haw in 2001 was…
Tents at Northwood gates. PHOTO: Maria Albrecht
On 29 December, the Christian Holy Innocents Day, a group of 16 Christian peace activists closed the main entrance to the Northwood military headquarters for two hours. After pitching their tents, some knelt to pray, while others held placards outside the north London base, which is the command centre for all British forces in Afghanistan. A banner reading “Occupy Northwood HQ not Afghanistan” was…
On 4 November, the latest attempt to break the siege of Gaza ended when Israeli defence forces (IDF) boarded two ships in international waters, before taking them to the Israeli port of Ashdod.
The two ships, Saoirse (“freedom”) from Ireland and the Tahrir (“liberation”) from Canada, were carrying 27 passengers (including Irish MEP Paul Murphy and an Egyptian reporter) and $30,000 worth of medicine and supplies.
Dr Fintan Lane, aboard Saoirse, said: “The boats were corralled to…
The Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 (PRSRA) which received royal assent on 15 September enshrines the latest attempt to try to prevent continuous protest in Parliament Square, in particular Brian Haw’s 10-year old peace camp, which continues after his death.
Part 3 of the PRSRA repeals the sections of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 (SOCPA) that required police authorisation for political protest and banned the use of loudspeakers in an area including…
On 26 August, the metropolitan police in London obtained the home secretary’s consent to ban marches in Tower Hamlets, Hackney, Islington, Waltham Forest, and Newham for one month from 2 September. The police stated that the decision had been based on “specific intelligence and information which has led us to believe that serious public disorder, violence and damage could be caused by… marches in these areas.”
The implication was that the ban was a reaction to plans by the racist…
