Oye, Nica, Salvadoreño,
Indio, Garifuna, Brazileiro,
Gringo, Gaucho, y Caraqueño,
Chilango, Cholo, Potorro y Porteño
Esto es una llamada, en nombre de los Hondureños
Hay ke levantarnos todos, por este justo desempeño
Hay que defender ese pueblo, con puño y con cerebro
Hay que defender ese pueblo, con puño y con cerebro
June 28th, 2,009 was the day
When they uprooted los catrachos, from the progresista way.
Mel Zelaya was the president, who'd gone from right to left,
He was a magnate of the old school, but was calling out the theft
& pillage of Honduras, & the whole of the continente
by los gringos asesinos, & their local asistentes.
So they kidnapped Mel at gunpoint, at five o clock in the morn
And America woke that Sunday, said what the hell is going on?
Que carajo esta pasando? Otro golpe militar!
Otro once de septiembre, otro tiempo pa gritar!
This isn't about Manuel Zelaya, it ain't about the constitution,
It's about the oligarchía, and it's about the revolution.
The Honduran Magna Carta, was designed by the ruling class
With the oversight of Washington, & the rulers of the past
And Zelaya wanted reform, to promote participation
Cuz democracy ain't about, pulling a lever & waiting patient
It ain't about a rich criollo, sucking blood out of the nation
Its about power to the people, & the old order is changing
Pues America esta cambiando, por un modelo socialista,
anti-fascista, contra estes malditos golpistas
Tres-cientos mil up en la calle, dicen Zelaya no se va!
Los golpistas dicen democracia, mientras hacen coup d'etat
It's like saying save the trees, while revving a chainsaw
It's like saying it ain't me babe, when you're the one I saw.
And the golpistas waved a banner, reading we shall overcome
Which side would Martin be on, if Martin could've come?
Oxala pudiera cantarte, una rolita mas alegre
But the golpe en Honduras, makes me mutherfucking angry
I wish this was a nightmare, or a skit on cha cha cha
But its real as rigor mortis, cuz they made a coup d'etat
Hay que tener rabia pueblo, Honduras es America
La misma sangre y consigna, desde Ushuaia hasta Merida
Y de ahi para Recife, y de ahi pa Torreón
Desde el bosque de Chapultepec, hasta las minas de Cerrejón.
No importa que pinche dia, no importa en que lugar,
Pues la esperanza comun, es lo quieren asesinar.
And they speak of an invasion by Venezolano agents
Y no aguantamos eso, they say, cuz we're a sovereign nation.
Sovereign nation? With a gringo base in Chaperola?
You mean sovereign to the people? Or sovereign to Coca Cola?
And you'd be foolish if you thought that the gringos didn't play a role
You think that the ambassador, Hugo Llorens, didn't know?
This ain't the US of Obama, but of Reich & of la CIA
The ones who planned the golpe contra Hugo Chavez Frias
The ones who killed Allende, & who tried to kill Fidel
The ones who speak of freedom, while manifesting hell
The ones who infiltrated the mighty Tupamaros
The ones who drew & quartered, the brave Tupac Amaru
The ones who own la prensa, y las haciendas y maquilas
The ones who stand to profit, from the riches of the minas
And the reporters of the mainstream, are more full of shit & piss
Than the sewage tank at midnight, on the Chinatown Express
Sowing fear of comunismo, and a thousand huevonadas
Cuz la prensa esta vendida, y su gente, comprada
Comiendo baleadas, mientras los pobres comen basura,
And they still can't understand, why there's tanta amargura
And you think they give a damn about the starvation of a people?
The disenfranchising of a people? the genocide of a people?
Cuz they're killing little kids, & they're killing periodistas,
They're killing esperanzas, & they're killing sindicalistas.
Here's a fist up for Murillo, martyr of Tegucigalpa
Whose death served to make la resistencia stand mas alta
Here a fist up to COFADEH, OFRANEH, y el COPINH
From the pueblo of Geronimo & Martin Luther King.
This is the wakening of Honduras, in the form of a class war
It's a fight of good & evil, & the good ones are the poor
Nothing more, and it sure ain't nothing less
And it wont stop till the coup drops, and justicia is addressed.
Caerá la dictadura, como todos los demas
Y llegará un tiempo de justicia, justicia con paz
Pero mientras tanto y los llantos, los molestaré con mi canto
En frente de las marchas, con mas bravura que mil Rambos
Ambos ladosde la izkierda y por debajo
Venceremos Hondureño dale duro pueblo catracho.
The movement for democracy in Iran persists. The New York Times reports that demonstrations have again erupted in the streets of Tehran, and that to no one's surprise, the Government has repressed them:
Iranian security forces fired repeated rounds of tear gas, and militiamen wielding batons moved in quickly to try to disperse thousands of protesters who massed in the streets of central Tehran on Thursday evening, witnesses said, defying government warnings and resuming a strategy of direct confrontation with the police nearly a month after Iran's disputed presidential election.
The protesters set trash alight and threw stones. Motorists honked horns in solidarity, as shopkeepers closed for business but opened their doors to offer refuge to demonstrators fleeing from the militia forces, witnesses said.
There was no immediate word on arrests or injuries.
Throwing aside admonishments of a "crushing response" by the state security forces, the demonstrators gathered on the 10th anniversary of violent confrontations at Tehran University, both to mark that event and to commemorate the demonstrators who were killed in the turmoil after the June 12 election, which the protesters say was corrupt and invalid.
The Times says that the protest was initially "festive," even though police in riot gear had shut down the streets. But then, as was threatened by the regime:
...the effort to halt the protest quickly turned violent, people at the scene said. A middle-aged woman ran through the crowd, her coat covered with blood stains. Trash fires burned, cloaking the streets in black smoke, as protesters lobbed rocks at security forces. Two men held a huge floral arrangement of yellow and purple flowers on green leaves in commemoration of those killed last month and in 1999, a witness said.
"Tell the world what is happening here," one 26-year old engineering student demonstrator said. "This is our revolution. We will not give up."
Asked what he wanted, he said, "We want democracy."
And so, phoenix like, the demonstrations for democracy in Iran continue. The press embargo continues (the Times article was datelined from Cairo). The Government was not reported to fire bullets at demonstrators. However, reports of detention of large numbers of demonstrators and also their lawyers continue, as do reports of torture and disappearance. It was not reported what opposition leaders say about the current demonstrations, but their web sites continue to contest the election. And it appears that there may be a split in the clerical backbone of the Government.
The Twitter feed for #iranelection is still active, though the volume seems lower than last week. It continues to report the democracy movement.
I am delighted by the news. I was afraid that the democracy movement had been snuffed out. That it was over. But I see now that was not the case. The movement hasn't given up, and it is still asking us to stand in solidarity with it.
Well, well, well. The 3-day waiting period is over. And guess what? Nothing's changed, not really. The coup remains defiantly in power, the coup is withdrawing from OAS, Manual Zelaya is still in Costa Rica, his ministers are still in hiding in Honduras, the press is still embargoed. And demonstrations by both sides continue. For now, it's apparently a standoff. Diplomacy seems not to have made a change; next is economic sanctions.
The demonstrations in support of democracy have grown. El Tiempo reports:
El verdadero pueblo está en las calles apoyando al presidente en el exilio, Manuel Zelaya Rosales, aseguraron ayer más de 20.000 manifestantes que protestaron por la restitución del mandatario.
La marcha, una de las más numerosas que los simpatizantes de Zelaya Rosales han efectuado desde el domingo pasado, día en que se perpetró el golpe de Estado en su contra, paralizó en un principio el Bulevar Juan Pablo II desde horas de la mañana....
Seguidores de Zelaya Rosales aseguraron que ellos son la voz del pueblo.
a multitudinaria manifestación en apoyo a Manuel Zelaya compitió paralelamente con la concentración de quienes están del lado del actual gobierno, sin embargo, ambas estuvieron muy parejas en cuanto a la cantidad de participantes.
There were, of course, large pro-golpista demonstrations as well.
Honduras' refusal to restore ousted President Manuel Zelaya despite an appeal by the top envoy for the Americas has put the impoverished nation on a collision course with the world community that could lead to its isolation.
Honduras said it would no longer recognize the Organization of American States charter, claiming the diplomatic body attempted to impose ''unilateral and indignant resolutions'' on the new government, which took power a week ago in a military-backed coup and forced Zelaya into exile.
OAS chief Jose Miguel Insulza had demanded Zelaya be restored to office, and on Saturday the organization was to discuss suspending the Central American nation's membership. But Honduras' interim president, Roberto Micheletti, said ''the OAS is a political organization, not a court, and it can't judge us,'' according to a note to Insulza read on Honduras' television Friday night.
The move means Honduras, one of the poorest countries in the Americas, will leave the OAS and will not face sanctions by the organization, though it would not prevent other groups and countries from suspending aid and loans.
Nations around the world have promised to shun Micheletti. Neighboring countries have imposed trade blockades, the United States has halted joint military operations and European Union ambassadors have abandoned the Honduran capital. The World Bank already has suspended $200 million in financing, and the Inter-American Development Bank has put $450 million on hold.
Unfortunately, it's unclear whether the golpistas care about any of this. It depends on whom the burden from the loss will fall. If the burden falls primarily and disproportionately on Honduras's poor and not on the oligarchy, the sanctions will matter little to the coup. Only if the sanctions seriously impact the oligarchy, will they be an impetus to the restoration of democracy.
And the US? Will it withdraw its ambassador? Will it cut off all non-humanitarian aid? Apparently this is in the works.
The U.S. Embassy issued a statement Friday expressing ''deep concern over restrictions imposed on certain fundamental rights'' by Micheletti's government, including a curfew and ''reports of intimidation and censorship against certain individuals and media outlets.''
Military cooperation has already been suspended. And so was US Aid last week. Here's the official description:
The State Department said Thursday it has put much of the U.S. aid program to Honduras on hold pending a legal determination as to whether the overthrow of elected President Manuel Zelaya last Sunday requires an aid cut-off. The United States meanwhile is cautioning Mr. Zelaya against an early attempt to return home.
The State Department's legal team will probably determine that the overthrow of President Zelaya does fit the definition of a military coup, thus mandating a U.S. aid cut-off.
In the meantime, State Department Spokesman Ian Kelly said Thursday the Obama administration has effectively frozen those parts of the U.S. aid program - mainly military and non-humanitarian assistance - that would be covered by an aid cut-off.
Put simply, the money is on hold until a determination is made.
And in the meanwhile, it's not at all clear what can be done to hasten the restoration of democracy in Honduras.
For my part, I support the restoration of democracy in Honduras, and I oppose the golpe de estado. I oppose the arguments made by coup apologists and from the oligarchy diaspora.
I say as loudly as I can, "Fuera golpistas!"
--------------------------------------
cross-posted from The Dream Antilles
With one day left before OAS imposes sanctions on the coup, José Miguel Insulza, secretary general of the Organization of American States, is in Honduras today delivering the OAS's message that Manual Zelaya must be reinstated as president. If he's not reinstated, presumably by tomorrow, Honduras will be expelled from the OAS and various other sanctions may be imposed. The US is studying whether what happened in Honduras fits the legal definition of a "coup." If it does, cutting off all aid to Honduras is statutorily required.
With the 3-day period imposed by OAS for the restoration of democracy and the Presidency of Manual Zelaya in Honduras slowly ticking down, diplomacy is proceeding between OAS and Roberto Micheletti's government. The military coup has imposed a harsh curfew, a feature of which is the withdrawal of various civil rights. Neither side has so far blinked. No progress in resolving the coup has been reported.
According to the New York Times OAS diplomacy to end the military coup in Honduras is proceeding. The United States role in this apparently is to give a cold shoulder to the coup, to cut off joint military operations, and to threaten a cessation of all aid if Zelaya is not restored to the presidency.
As the public standoff between Honduras and the rest of the world hardened, quiet negotiations got under way on Wednesday to lay the groundwork for a possible return of the nation's ousted president, Manuel Zelaya.
After a marathon session that stretched close to dawn, the Organization of American States "vehemently" condemned the removal of Mr. Zelaya over the weekend and issued an ultimatum to Honduras's new government: Unless Mr. Zelaya is returned to power within 72 hours, the nation will be suspended from the group.
Diplomats said they had rarely seen the hemisphere's leaders unite so solidly behind a common cause.
The new Honduran government was equally resolute, warning that there was no chance Mr. Zelaya would be restored to office and that the nation would defend itself by force.
Both sides have stated their positions. Both appear inflexible. Has there been any movement? No. The OAS secretary general, José Miguel Insulza, went to Tegucigalpa today for further talks. Proposals being discussed involve an amnesty for the golpistas, Manual Zelaya saying he won't seek an additional term, and restoration of Zelaya as President. Also, members of the Congress in Honduras are reportedly looking for a compromise. Details of those proposals aren't available.
Meanwhile, according to the Times, the conflict in Honduras continues to be highly polarized:
Demonstrations for and against the new government continued in Tegucigalpa and other cities across the country [on Wednesday]. Then, in a move to crack down on the opposition, the nation's Congress approved a decree on Wednesday that applies during the overnight curfew and allows security forces to arrest people at home and hold them for more than 24 hours.
"It's for the tranquillity of the country," said the new president, Roberto Micheletti.
The government has accused pro-Zelaya demonstrators of vandalism and violence, noting that a grenade, which did not explode, was hurled at the Supreme Court on Tuesday. Those who oppose the government, meanwhile, accuse the security forces of stifling dissent through brutality.
The withdrawal of civil rights is serious. It includes curtailing the right to assemble and to seek redress from the Government as well as the right not to be held without charge for more than 24 hours. These measures apparently permit the Government to detain the opposition if the arrests are made during the curfew:
According to Honduras' El Tiempo, the following constitutional guarantees have been suspended:
* Article 69, which guarantees the personal freedom.
* Article 71, which states that no one can be detained or held incommunicado for more than 24 hours without an arrest warrant.
* Article 78, which guarantees freedom of association and freedom of assembly.
* Article 81, which states, "Everyone has the right to free movement, to leave, enter and remain in national territory."
El Tiempo reports that with the aforementioned guarantees suspended, "no one can hold meetings, neither public nor private, be it in the streets, in churches, in their own homes, or in union or guild halls."
he anti-coup movement's momentum appears to be building across Honduras, with protests reported across the country. Meanwhile, international pressure builds against the coup government.
Over the past two days, anti-coup protests were reported in Tocoa, Colon; San Pedro Sula; La Ceiba; El Progreso, Yoro; Tegucigapla; Intibuca; El Paraiso; Olancho; Santa Barbara; and all over President Zelaya's native department of Olancho. Moreover, the BBC reports that citizens have blocked major highways in Copan and Tocoa. The BBC's sources on the ground in Honduras say anti-coup protests have occurred in the majority of Honduras' departments.
And so, we sit and wait. I hope there will be a diplomatic resolution of the problem and a restoration of democracy in Honduras. In the meanwhile, there is very little any of us can do except to watch and to spread the news.
A Woman Injured Monday In An Anti-Coup Demonstration
The Thursday confrontation between deposed Honduran president Manual Zelaya and the Roberto Micheletti and his Honduran military coup has been delayed until Saturday.
Ousted Honduran President Jose Manuel Zelaya said Wednesday he will not return to his home country until at least Saturday, after a three-day international deadline to reinstate him.
Zelaya had said earlier he would return to Honduras on Thursday. Provisional Honduran President Roberto Micheletti said Tuesday that Zelaya would be arrested on multiple charges if he returns.
The Organization of American States passed a resolution early Wednesday saying that Zelaya should be returned to power within 72 hours. The United Nations unanimously passed a similar resolution Tuesday afternoon.
The refusal to reinstate Zelaya, according to the OAS, will cause it to suspend Honduras's OAS membership. Many OAS members have already withdrawn their ambassadors and cut off relations with the Micheletti coup government. The US has had nice words to support democracy, but has taken little if any action to restore Zelaya.
Unfortunately, and despite virtually universal condemnation, Micheletti continues to talk tough. In an interview with AP he continued his bravado and his defiance:
A defiant Roberto Micheletti said in an interview with The Associated Press late Tuesday that "no one can make me resign," defying the United Nations, the OAS, the Obama administration and other leaders that have condemned the military coup that overthrew President Manuel Zelaya....snip
[The OAS's three day] period for negotiation prompted Zelaya to announce he was putting off his plans to return home on Thursday until the weekend.
Micheletti vowed Zelaya would be arrested if he returns, even though the presidents of Argentina and Ecuador have signed on to accompany him along with the heads of the Organization of American States and the U.N. General Assembly.
Zelaya "has already committed crimes against the constitution and the law," said Micheletti, a member of Zelaya's Liberal Party who was named interim leader by Congress following the coup. "He can no longer return to the presidency of the republic unless a president from another Latin American country comes and imposes him using guns."
Honduran police clash with pro-democracy demonstrators
The military coup that deposed Honduran President Manual Zelaya has been denounced by almost everyone except the Honduran military. President Obama said about it, "We stand on the side of democracy, sovereignty and self-determination." The OAS has condemned the coup. ALBA has condemned the coup. The UN General Assembly has condemned the coup. Central American nations have sealed their borders with Honduras. Most (except El Salvador) have also withdrawn their ambassadors. Roads are blocked in the country.
Police and soldiers clashed with pro-Zelaya protesters in the capital on Monday, and about 5,000 anti-Zelaya demonstrators gathered at a main plaza in Tegucigalpa on Tuesday to celebrate his ouster.
What is to happen next appears to be a confrontation, a face-off between the deposed President and the military coup that arrested and deported him.
Earlier today it was reported that President Zelaya will return to Honduras on Thursday:
Ousted Honduran President Manual Zelaya has announced that he will return to Honduras on Thursday. "I'm going to finish my four-year term, whether or not you coup leaders are in agreement," he stated.
Zelaya will return to Honduras accompanied by the Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), José Miguel Insulza, and a commission of Latin American presidents. The Argentine government has announced that its President Cristina Fernandez will accompany Zelaya to Honduras as part of the presidential commission. In a press conference following his speech to the United Nations General Assembly, Zelaya stated that Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa will also accompany him.
Colinas, Santa Barbara, Mayor Amable de Jesus Hernandez told TeleSUR that citizen caravans were being organized to travel from his region to the capital of Tegucigalpa on Thursday to receive President Zelaya.
Initially, earlier today, the return of the deposed president and other officials wasn't supposed to be a direct confrontation with the military forces that arrested and forcibly deported him to Costa Rica:
Reports in Honduran and international press that interim President Roberto Micheletti says that "if Zelaya sets foot on Honduran soil he will be arrested" are overblown, thanks in large part to a provocative headline in that regard published by Colombia's Radio Caracol. Yes, Micheletti has stated that Honduran courts have issued arrest warrants against Zelaya, but thus far he has not definitively stated that his forces will attempt to arrest Zelaya...
The [Radio Caracol] interviewer asked Micheletti how he planned to respond in the event that Zelaya ... returned on Thursday. Micheletti responded: "My country's courts have arrest warrants against him for breaking the law." He then went on to explain his case for why Zelaya had broken the law when he attempted to carry out a public opinion poll on forming a new constitutional convention to draft a new constitution. Micheletti never told Radio Caracol that his government planned to act on the aforementioned arrest warrants.
Protesters on Monday faced off against the soldiers of an illegitimate Government to demand the restoration of their stolen democracy. It's not Iran. It's Honduras. And because it's Honduras, which is in this very hemisphere, squashing a democratically elected government like a Palmetto Bug seems in the Trad MediaTM to be less of an outrage. After all, Honduras doesn't have oil. It doesn't have nukes. It's not part of the dreaded axis of evil. It never held US citizens hostage. Sure, the US has destabilized it in the past century, exploited its natural resources, turned it into a Banana Republic. But so what, the US did that to virtually every country in this hemisphere. Even now the Honduran military has strong ties to the US. So it's different from Iran, right? Real different. Or is it?
One day after the country's president, Manuel Zelaya, was abruptly awakened, ousted and deported by the army here, hundreds of protesters massed at the presidential offices in an increasingly tense face-off with hundreds of camouflage-clad soldiers carrying riot shields and automatic weapons.
The protesters, many wearing masks and carrying wooden or metal sticks, yelled taunts at the soldiers across the fences ringing the compound and braced for the army to try to dispel them. "We're defending our president," said one protester, Umberto Guebara, who appeared to be in his 30s. "I'm not afraid. I'd give my life for my country."
Leaders across the hemisphere joined in condemning the coup. Mr. Zelaya, who touched down Sunday in Costa Rica, still in his pajamas, insisted, "I am the president of Honduras."
Maybe I've been distracted by other things: Michael Jackson, Gov. Sanford, Farrah, Ed McMahon, US v. Brazil, Honduras. I missed something about Iran.
I implied on Saturday that the Iran Revolution was in ashes, but that I hoped there was a fire under them. Then I disconnected from the story. I turned away. I assumed it really was over. Finished. But, thankfully, I was wrong. It's not really over. The demonstrations continued on Sunday. Despite the threats. Despite the arrests. Despite the violence. This movement has not succumbed to the brutality and violence.
Several thousand protesters - some chanting "Where is my vote?" - clashed with riot police in Tehran on Sunday as Iran detained local employees of the British Embassy, escalating the regime's standoff with the West and earning it a stinging rebuke from the European Union.
Witnesses said riot police used tear gas and clubs to break up a crowd of up to 3,000 protesters who had gathered near north Tehran's Ghoba Mosque in the country's first major post-election unrest in four days.
Some described scenes of brutality, telling The Associated Press that some protesters suffered broken bones and alleging that police beat an elderly woman, prompting a screaming match with young demonstrators who then fought back.
The reports could not be independently verified because of tight restrictions imposed on journalists in Iran.
So, I was wrong. It's not over. The demonstrations are continuing. Smaller perhaps. But continuing.
Twitter about #iranelection has slowed down. But it's still constantly updated. And from what I'm reading, it's not over. It continues. It continues despite brutal repression.
It's dropped down on but not off the front page. The New York Times reports the Sunday demonstrations on page 1:
In spite of all the threats, the overwhelming show of force and the nighttime raids on private homes, protesters still flowed into the streets by the thousands on Sunday to demonstrate in support of Mr. Moussavi.
Mr. Moussavi, who has had little room to act but has refused to fold under government pressure, had earlier received a permit to hold a ceremony at the Ghoba mosque to honor Mohammad Beheshti, one of the founders of the 1979 revolution who died in a bombing on June 28, 1981, that killed dozens of officials. Mr. Moussavi used the anniversary as a pretense to call a demonstration, and by midday the streets outside the elaborately tiled mosque were filled with protesters, their arms jabbing the air, their fingers making a V symbol, for victory.
The demonstrators wore black, to mourn the 17 protesters killed by government-aligned forces, and chanted "Allah Akbar," or God is great.
"There was a sea of people and the crowd stretched a long way onto the main street on Shariati," said one witness, who remained anonymous because he feared retribution.
What started as a peaceful demonstration turned into a scene of violence and chaos by late Sunday, witnesses said.
So, it is not over. It may move down the front page. It may move off the front page. It may move off of this blog. But there was fire beneath the ashes, as we assumed, and this is not over. Not yet.
As I wrote before, we need to remember the demonstrators and continue in solidarity with them:
All we can do outside of Iran is bear witness as the struggle unfolds. And while we bear witness, we can continue to lift our voices as individuals (and not as a government) in solidarity with the demonstrators. And offer our thoughts and prayers* for a peaceful resolution. And find other, creative ways to support the struggle in Iran for democracy and freedom.
The Iranian Democracy movement is absolutely worthy of our personal (as opposed to governmental) support. Support and solidarity at this point require, indeed permit only the simplest of things. There are only simple things we can and should do:
Things like changing our location and time zone on Twitter to Tehran and GMT +3.5 hours. Things like making our avatar green. Things like reading the posts of those who are there. Things like posting and distributing their videos on youtube. Things like writing blogs and asking others to link arms with them in solidarity. Things like talking about what ideas we might have that could be of help to them. [Things like putting a green ribbon on docuDharma]
These are things that might be completely ineffective to help Iranians achieve democracy, to get a new, fair election, to overturn the sham outcome of their last election, to prevent governmental violence and repression. I realize that. But that's not what's important. That's not what's important now.
What's important, I think, is our continuing solidarity with this struggle, our saying, however we can say it, "Brothers and Sisters, we're with you. We want you to succeed. We want you to be safe, and free. We want you to obtain the change you seek."
Let's stand firm with the Iranian democracy movement. Let's not forget them.
7:52 p.m. Now that it is early Friday morning in Iran, an Iranian blogger writes on Twitter of a new way of registering protest opposition supporters say they plan for this afternoon:
at one PM people all over Iran will be airing green balloons and make the sky GREEN!
Let's not waste energy on trying to launch balloons simultaneously with those in Iran (Iran is 3.5 hours ahead of GMT, 8.5 hours ahead of ET). Let's just blow up those balloons in solidarity. Let's see some green balloons on your car, at your home, at your work, on the street. It's easy. It's solidarity.
This "defiance" is particularly appropriate today. Reuters is reporting that Ahmad Khatami has called for the execution of "rioters":
A hardline Iranian cleric on Friday called for the execution of "rioters" in the latest sign of the authorities' determination to stamp out opposition to the June 12 presidential election. ...snip
"I want the judiciary to ... punish leading rioters firmly and without showing any mercy to teach everyone a lesson," Ahmad Khatami told worshippers at Tehran University....snip
Khatami, a member of the Assembly of Experts, said the judiciary should charge the leading "rioters" as being "mohareb" or one who wages war against God.
"They should be punished ruthlessly and savagely," he said. Under Iran's Islamic law, punishment for people convicted as mohareb is execution.
Last time I checked flying a green balloon was not being a "leading rioter." But definitions in Iran are extremely flexible.
Events in Iran yesterday show exactly what lack of accountability looks and feels like. It's not a pretty picture. And it hurts. CNN provides this small vignette:
On Wednesday afternoon, security forces used overwhelming force to crack down on protesters who had flocked to Baharestan Square near the parliament building in Tehran, according to more than a half-dozen witnesses.
Police charged at the gathering -- clubbing demonstrators with batons, beating women and old men, and firing weapons into the air to disperse them, witnesses said.
"They were waiting for us," one witness said. "They all have guns and riot uniforms. It was like a mouse trap." ...
"They emptied buses that were taking people there and let the private cars go on ... and then, all of a sudden, some 500 people with clubs of wood, they came out of the Hedayat Mosque, and they poured into the streets and they started beating everyone," she said.
Government-run Press TV gave a starkly different account, saying about 200 protesters had gathered in front of the parliament and 50 others in a nearby square. All were dispersed by a heavy police presence, it said.
This is what happens when there is no accountability. The Government gives a "starkly different account." Deadly force dictates the events. Demonstrators are clubbed. Women and old men are beaten. Government approved goons launch surprise attacks. Government approved media say nothing happened. Repeat as necessary.
There is no official reckoning of events, there is no real investigation, there is no trial, there is nothing but official minimization and silence. Crickets. Silence until the next demonstration appears, then they do it again. Intense and brutal violence, followed by official silence. Repeat as necessary.
My heart goes out to the demonstrators in Iran. Because their Government shuns accountability, they are, each of them, in mortal danger. Their Government believes that it is appropriate to use deadly force to shore up a stolen election. It believes that violence will end civil unrest. And if the present level of violence proves to be insufficient to bring compliance, even greater violence is threatened. No other course is contemplated.
Of course, lack of accountability is nourished by lack of reporting, by officially imposed silence. It's important to the Iranian government to make sure that the whole world isn't watching (except on Twitter). It's important to Governments that are not accountable to thwart all inquiries about their activities, to impose secrecy, to resist disclosure, to disrupt investigations, to shield past misdeeds, to hide the truth.
The New York Times reports the difficulties in knowing what is happening in Iran and a different version of the same Wednesday afternoon brutality:
The government also stepped up its efforts to block independent news coverage of events all across the country. The government has banned foreign news media members from leaving their offices, suspended all press credentials for foreign correspondents, arrested a freelance writer for The Washington Times, continued to hold a reporter for Newsweek and forced other foreign journalists to leave the country.
That made it difficult to ascertain exactly what happened when several hundred protesters tried to gather outside the Parliament building Wednesday afternoon. Witnesses said they were met by a huge force of riot police officers and Basij vigilantes, some on motorcycles and some in pickup trucks, armed with sticks and chains. Witnesses said people were trapped and beaten as they tried to flee down side streets.
"It was not possible to wait and see what happened," said one witness who asked for anonymity out of fear of arrest. "At one point we saw several riot police in black clothes walk towards a group of people who looked like passers-by. Suddenly they pulled out their batons and began hitting them without warning."
The authorities said they were moving to impose order and secure the rule of law. "I was insisting and will insist on implementation of the law," Ayatollah Khamenei said on national television. "That means we will not go one step beyond the law. Neither the system nor the people will yield to pressure at any price."
That is what lack of accountability looks like. This is what it feels like. First it's the crime, the brutality, the torture, the violence. Then it's the lie, "We will not go one step beyond the law." That echoes previous official posturing in Washington, "The United States does not torture." That's what lack of accountability looks like. The Government can and does say anything it wants to about its activities. It lies when it wants to. And nobody dares to lift the curtain to see whether it's true. That's what lack of accountability is.
Iran's Government has decreed that the demonstrations must end. And if the Government kills many of its citizens, and assaults and imprisons and threatens numerous others, that's apparently just fine with the Government.
The New York Times story is chilling in its understatement and lack of descriptions:
Hundreds of protesters clashed with waves of riot police and paramilitary militia in Tehran on Wednesday, witnesses said, as Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, insisted the authorities would not yield to pressure from opponents demanding a new election following allegations of electoral fraud.
It was impossible to confirm first-hand the extent of the new violence in the capital because of draconian new press restrictions on coverage of the post-election mayhem. But the witnesses reached by telephone said the confrontation, outside the national Parliament building, was bloody, with police using live ammunition.
Defying government warnings, the witnesses said that hundreds, if not thousands of protesters, had attempted to gather in front of the parliament on Baharestan Square. They were met with riot police and paramilitary militia, who struck at them with truncheons, tear gas, and guns. One witness said he saw a 19-year-old woman shot in the neck.
Truncheons, tear gas, and bullets. Riot police and paramilitary militia. And, of course, suppression of the press. Not only will the Iranian government not yield, it's evident that it intends to end all demonstrations with deadly force, which it naively hopes will not be widely reported. And, of course, it plan on massive incarceration:
A New York-based human rights group, International Campaign for Human Rights, listed the names Wednesday of 240 of the 645 people the Iranian state media has reported detained in the crackdown. The total number of detained, the organization said, citing human rights activists in Iran, may be as high as 2,000.
Among them are people arrested in a Monday night raid of a campaign office for Mr. Moussavi in Tehran, Press TV, state television's English-language satellite broadcaster, reported Wednesday... snip
The detained, most of whom are being held incommunicado, also include students picked up at their dormitories, dozens of street demonstrators, and "targeted, politically motivated arrests of intellectuals, civil society leaders, political campaigners, journalists, and human rights campaigners," said Aaron Rhodes, a consultant with the organization in Vienna.
There are no surprises in Tehran today. Today is Sunday. The New York Times informs us of what we already know to be the case:
A day after police and militia forces used guns, truncheons, tear gas and water cannons to beat back thousands of demonstrators, a tense quiet set over this city Sunday as the standoff between the government and thousands of protestors hardened into a test of wills that has spilled blood and claimed lives.
It was unclear how the confrontation would play out now that the government has abandoned its restraint and large numbers of protestors have demonstrated their willingness to risk injury and even death as they continue to dispute the results of Iran's presidential election nine days ago.
Iranian state television reported that 13 people were killed in the clashes Saturday.
State television also reported that the government had arrested five members of the family of Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, the former president who heads two influential councils in Iran, a move that escalates the government's crackdown against the reform movement.
There are no surprises. Guns. Truncheons. Tear gas. Water Cannons. Burning motorcycles. Injured bystanders. Arrests. Home invasions. Brutality. Murder. That "the government has abandoned its restraint" is a record breaking understatement. The violence, of course, was to be expected. After all, didn't Ayatollah Ali Khamenei threaten violence during Friday prayers:
"Street challenge is not acceptable," Ayatollah Khamenei said. "This is challenging democracy after the elections." He said opposition leaders would be "held responsible for chaos" if they did not end the protests.
There are no surprises. The Times, and just about everyone else, fears the very worst:
There was no sign on the streets early Sunday of the heavy security forces from the night before, but there were reports that protestors planned to demonstrate again later in the day, beginning at about 5 p.m., giving both sides time to regroup, or reconsider.
Since the crisis broke open with massive streets protests - posing the greatest challenge to the Islamic theocracy since the 1979 revolution - the government has declared its refusal to compromise, instead turning loose its security forces and militia to crush opposition voices. The government has pressed its policy of repression and intimidation the last several days, arresting reformers, intellectuals and others who promoted reform ideas or challenged the leadership's version of events.
But now as the numbers of dead and injured begin to mount, it is unclear how, even if the protests can be stopped, the leadership can patch over the deep divisions in the Iranian society and rebuild legitimacy with Iranians who believe the election was rigged.
There are no surprises. Things, I suppose, will now grow even worse. The repression will become fiercer, even less restrained, even more purposeful and frightening. More people will be killed and injured and arrested.
President Obama's statement on Saturday was strong, and he fortunately kept the matter at arm's length:
Saying that "each and every innocent life" lost would be mourned, he added: "Suppressing ideas never succeeds in making them go away. The Iranian people will ultimately judge the actions of their own government. If the Iranian government seeks the respect of the international community, it must respect the dignity of its own people and govern through consent, not coercion.
"Martin Luther King once said, 'The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.' I believe that. The international community believes that. And right now, we are bearing witness to the Iranian people's belief in that truth, and we will continue to bear witness."
Sadly, he's right. All we can do outside of Iran is bear witness as the struggle unfolds. And while we bear witness, we can continue to lift our voices as individuals (and not as a government) in solidarity with the demonstrators. And offer our thoughts and prayers* for a peaceful resolution. And find other, creative ways to support the struggle in Iran for democracy and freedom.
The Iranian Democracy movement is absolutely worthy of our personal (as opposed to governmental) support. Support and solidarity at this point require, indeed permit only the simplest of things. There are only simple things we can and should do:
Things like changing our location and time zone on Twitter to Tehran and GMT +3.5 hours. Things like making our avatar green. Things like reading the posts of those who are there. Things like posting and distributing their videos on youtube. Things like writing blogs and asking others to link arms with them in solidarity. Things like talking about what ideas we might have that could be of help to them.
These are things that might be completely ineffective to help Iranians achieve democracy, to get a new, fair election, to overturn the sham outcome of their last election, to prevent governmental violence and repression. I realize that. But that's not what's important. That's not what's important now.
What's important, I think, is our continuing solidarity with this struggle, our saying, however we can say it, "Brothers and Sisters, we're with you. We want you to succeed. We want you to be safe, and free. We want you to obtain the change you seek."
I am full of admiration for the courage of the Iranian movement. I applaud and support these people. Please join me in solidarity with them. Sign the available petitions. Take the numerous, available, small steps. It'll make you feel great. And it's the right thing to do.
I've been riveted all day to the news coming via Twitter about Iran.
I seem to recall an election in the US in which there was a similar dispute about who had won. I don't recall millions going into the streets. I don't recall the "defeated" candidate calling on people to bring on non-violent, silent protests and mass gatherings. I wish that had happened in the US. But, sadly, it didn't. And look what the next 8 years brought. The Iranian people unlike the US seem to understand the significance and the consequences of a stolen election. And they appear to want to do something about it.
So it appears that Iran has at this moment a time of both intense risk and enormous opportunity.
As I type this, hundreds of thousands of people are in the streets across Iran because they know that their election was stolen, that their votes were not counted, that the election was a sham, that their democracy has failed them. They are angry, and they want a restoration of their democracy. And they are going to demand a fair election and a fair counting of the votes.
How do we in the US support the Iranian People's Protests?
I turn to you for the answers, for the tactics, for the approach. The Iranian People's Protests deserve our support. Let's put our heads together.
Here are two small examples of what we're looking for. Twitter users are being urged to change their location to Tehran and their time zone to GMT +3 to give protection, however slight, to those in Iran who are reporting the news who are being followed by the authorities. A second example: Twitter was scheduled for maintenance this evening. That would have shut off the Iranian news tweets. Twitter re-scheduled its maintenance.
Demonstration Against the School of Americas (recently renamed Western Hemisphere Institute For Security Cooperation).
Also known as "School of Assassins" its graduates have been involved in many human rights abuses of Latin American civilians up to the killing of people. This institution is run by the U.S. Army and teaches Latin American soldiers who have been involved in human rights violations against the people of their own countries. Some of the people who have become victims of graduates of the SOA are human rights workers, labor organizers, religious people and even children.
A chilling report from Glen Greenwald today (Sunday 8/31/08) documents his visit to the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis. He reports that as a part of the security apparatus, the local police with the help of the FBI have raided various headquarters, private homes, and meeting places of activist groups with plans to protest at the Convention. The raids were carried out using warrants to search for "fire and code violations." Never mind that the Fire Marshall was never notified, the fact that ONLY the protest groups that were legally planning to demonstrations were raided highlights the real intent. A description of one of the raids with more commentary and details below the fold:
Mothers' Day isn't celebrated in Nepal. Modern Mothers' Day began as Women's Day of Peace. In fact, NPK today has posted the stirring 1870 Proclamation. So it's a synchronicity that hundreds of Tibetan women in Kathmandu including Buddhist nuns chose today as an all-woman protest against Chinese occupation of Tibet.
Nepali police detained 562 Tibetan women at an anti-China rally in Kathmandu on Sunday, the first all-women protest against Chinese rule in their homeland, officials said.
Some shouted "We want free Tibet" while others wept as they were dragged along the road to police vans and trucks and driven to detention centers. Many were wearing black armbands and had their mouths gagged with cloths.
Nepal considers Tibet part of China, a key donor and trade partner, and has been cracking down on protests by the exiled Tibetans against Beijing.
Police said the protesters would be freed later.
Nepal borders Tibet. More than 20,000 Tibetans have been living in Nepal since fleeing their homeland after the recent failed uprising and China's crack-down.
"We are not against Nepal. Our protests are against China. So why are they arresting us?" asked a 70-year-old protester who gave her name as Chinjhoke, tears rolling down her face.
cannot allow Tibetans to demonstrate because it recognises Tibet as an integral part of China.
But the UN says the mass arrests are against the spirit of a society governed by the rule of law.
Today's protest in Kathmandu followed yesterday's in which
A group of Tibetan protesters chained themselves together in front of the Chinese Embassy's visa office in Nepal's capital, Kathmandu, on Saturday.
Sixteen protesters secured themselves to each other with chains and padlocks at the Chinese embassy in the heart of Kathmandu, and were joined by dozens of other Tibetans who chanted 'Free Tibet' and 'We want freedom.'
Police official Ramesh Thapa says 120 people were detained for defying a ban on demonstrations against China, Nepal's neighbour to the north.
I don't think it can be argued that arrests for that reason comply with an acknowledgement of human rights. Evidently, it's important to Nepal to mimic Chinese responses to peaceful protest.
I watch all of this with increasing frustration. I am astonished by the courage of the Tibetan protesters, that they risk so much to bring to the world's attention their grievances about the occupation of Tibet. But I don't believe that what they do will result in action that will change things. That belief brings me despair.
All I have to offer on this Mothers' Day is this Metta prayer:
May all beings be well and safe, may they be at ease.
Whatever living beings there may be, whether moving or standing still, without exception, whether large, great, middling, or small, whether tiny or substantial,
Whether seen or unseen, whether living near or far,
Born or unborn; may all beings be happy.
Let none deceive or despise another anywhere. Let none wish harm to another, in anger or in hate."
Just as a mother would guard her child, her only child, with her own life, even so let me cultivate a boundless mind for all beings in the world.
Let me cultivate a boundless love for all beings in the world, above, below, and across, unhindered, without ill will or enmity.
Standing, walking, seated, or lying down, free from torpor, let me as far as possible fix my attention on this recollection. This, they say, is the divine life right here.
We've become embarrassed to speak of it, but love is what it's all about: love of country, justice, peace, humanity...and love of one's fellow Americans - one's fellow protesters. In contemplating my most recent experience demonstrating against the war in Washington DC, that's what comes to me, the overwhelming love I feel for those who care enough to stand up and be counted.
My son Daniel and I flew out of Atlanta late on Tuesday, the 18th so I could get in a full day of work. As we approached our hotel in DC my phone rang. It was Victory Coffee. She explained that she had brought a friend and that they'd be in McPherson Square at 7:30 in the morning. Daniel and I settled in to try and get a good night's rest but could hardly sleep for the anticipation.
The alarm went off at 6:00 AM. I got up, showered, and jumped into my best protest Levis with my gen-u-ine Ben Masel 'Impeach Cheney First' button and my 'No Blood for Oil' button and then fiddled with cameras and batteries and whatnot while Daniel got himself ready. I carefully laid out the IGTNT flyers and bags that snackdoodle had mailed me the previous week. I had promised to find people to hand these out at the protest as a way of honoring America's dead in the Iraq war. I got the flyers divided into roughly equal stacks, placed them in the bags, stacked them neatly on top of the TeeVee and promptly went off without them. We were in McPherson Square by the time I realized my mistake.
This is stark, and it is maddening. This NY Times article says it succinctly:
The Iraqi defense minister said Monday that his nation would not be able to take full responsibility for its internal security until 2012, nor be able on its own to defend Iraq's borders from external threat until at least 2018.
Those comments from the minister, Abdul Qadir, were among the most specific public projections of a timeline for the American commitment in Iraq by officials in either Washington or Baghdad. And they suggested a longer commitment than either government had previously indicated.
Pentagon officials expressed no surprise at Mr. Qadir's projections, which were even less optimistic than those he made last year.
President Bush has never given a date for a military withdrawal from Iraq but has repeatedly said that American forces would stand down as Iraqi forces stand up. Given Mr. Qadir's assessment of Iraq's military capabilities on Monday, such a withdrawal appeared to be quite distant, and further away than any American officials have previously stated in public.
This means: US troops in Iraq until at least 2018. That means: ten more years of Iraq occupation and ten more years of US troops in harm's way and ten more years of death and maiming in Iraq.
Some people believe we shouldn't complain too loudly, protest too vigorously or argue too passionately - the theory being that if we appear too leftist, too radical or too seriously committed to our beliefs that people who don't share those beliefs will be offended and therefore unlikely to become seriously committed radical leftists themselves one day. Well I have big news; those dim bulbs are not likely to ever shine - certainly not in response to our stifling ourselves. For once, let's let the smart people have their say.
If one guy believes in global warming denial, torture, war profiteering, and ripping off the poor and another guy objects to all of these things, then one of these guys is right and one is wrong. This is not merely a difference this is a distinction. I'm not saying the latter individual is more human than the former, I'm saying he is a better human…period.
Reform Immigration -
March on Washington
